Chapter 27
Chapter twenty-seven
Anna
Anna ate a ration bar hungrily. She was so busy that she forgot to eat, and the nausea was returning to remind her.
She sat on the boxes and kicked one foot up on a container and left the other splayed out to the side like a limp noodle.
Inside the warehouse she was alone for a minute, sweating from the heat of the day.
The door was propped open, letting cool air in, fanning across her dirt-streaked face.
She let out a long exhale. Damn, what a long day. But she was more relieved than tired. The sweat made her shirt stick to her. She pulled her hand through her hair. Hopefully Simon was right about the running water. She was gross.
Atlas stepped back inside. “Anna?”
“Yeah, just sitting.”
He held up the lanterns in his hands. “Good, keep sitting. I brought some lights.”
“Oh. Thank you!”
Night was fast approaching, and a single solar lantern was already on the boxes in front of her. Atlas put down the ones he held, powering another on as he rearranged them.
“What did the rest of the androids say?” Anna leaned forward. “Can we stay here?”
It was still light outside, barely past dusk, but the inside was even brighter now with the additional lights. Atlas turned the lantern up even higher, illuminating the heavy look on his face. “They are . . . confused.”
“Confused?” Her heart fell. “So they’re not okay with all this?”
“Enough are. We are more inflexible than you, and it’s just a big change for us.”
Anna gripped the ration bar so tight it began to crumble. “Oh, but . . .”
“I’m going to the facility to fetch supplies for tonight.” He patted her hand. “Please sit in the meantime. You are still pregnant.”
“So I can stay here tonight?”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Would you even return if I asked?”
She fixed her gaze on the window. “Not willingly.” A shiver went through her. “I am not strong enough to resist, but I absolutely wouldn’t be happy.”
Atlas slowly shook his head. “Don’t sell yourself short, Anna.” He walked to the door. “Wait here. I’ll be back.”
Anna swallowed. Don’t sell myself short? That hit a spot, deep inside. An ache. What did that even mean? She shoved her feet on the floor to follow. “Wait, it’s hot in here; I’m going to walk outside.”
Atlas paused outside the threshold. “Nighttime is cooler, but I’ll bring an AC unit as well.”
The hover stood right outside, blue and purple where it reflected the sun. The chrome-plated side was identical to the ones they had back on Earth, only this hover was in pristine condition, not salvaged and rusted.
For some reason, seeing the hover made her hesitate.
They hadn't had nature like the cow and meadows at home to compare to. But that hover . . . She fidgeted, staring at her reflection in the chrome. Nora had almost this exact model. She could almost imagine the scrap metal lining the back seat, the upholstery ripped out. This really, really was nothing like Earth. Comparisons like the hover between Earth and Mars were secondary to the real issue, though. Anna was lost. She didn’t have a full framework for how anything worked here in her new home.
Atlas grabbed her arm and gently tugged her.
“What?” She looked up at him.
“Another complication.” His expression hardened as he pointed in the distance.
Two hovers filled with androids approached. The engines were so silent that she noticed the dust that they kicked up before she heard them.
Anna’s entire body stiffened seeing those hovers. “Another complication is right. They must not be happy to come out here so fast.” She plastered a smile on her face.
Sitting inside the open-air interiors were a complement of five androids spread between the two hovers. Stella, along with several of her model-Bs, were in the front one. The dark-haired, brooding, researcher Leo was in the back one.
Stella’s hover barely stopped before she hopped out and glided to them on sensible, low-pump sandals. “Anna. Oh Anna.”
“Hi Stella.” Anna shuffled her feet. “I think you heard?”
“Yes.” There was a pinched expression on Stella’s features. She was out of place in the dirt field wearing a starched dress instead of the standard-issue suit, the rainwater perfume clashing with the cow smell. “We came here as soon as we received the message from Atlas. We were all shocked.”
The smile fixed on Anna’s face.
A Stella twin came forward. Her scowl matched the others’, though she had a strategically placed mole on her lower lip and a darker complexion.
“Stella is right. You humans are changing everything.” She pointed right at Atlas.
“And you. You are molding yourself to their wishes fast. I don’t understand it.
These humans come here, and now we must accommodate them? ”
“Leave Atlas alone!” Anna surged forward. “This is our decision. He is only helping.”
“Oh.” Stella’s eyes grew calculating. Then she gave a harsh laugh. “She’s actually defending you, Atlas.”
“How rich.” The Stella clone tossed her head back, laughing as well. “The human girl has a crush.”
The sound of laughter felt like a whipcrack. Anna’s cheeks flushed. She balled her fists. “He’s a good person.”
“Person? We aren’t like you.” Stella scoffed. “Atlas, you’re not saying anything; are you compromised?”
Anna turned to see Atlas's face hardened.
“Enough,” he said. A chill radiated from him as he shifted farther in front of Anna. “Anna and the others are doing nothing dangerous.”
Stella’s eyes were like ice chips. “I guess we couldn’t expect you to be civilized.”
Shock, hard and heavy, made Anna’s ears buzz. She met Stella’s eyes. “What do you mean?”
“We should have anticipated this.” The look on Stella’s face became pitying. “That humans used to chaos would like to live out here with the animals. Ria and Pearl were right.”
Atlas stepped forward. “Stella, this is not appropriate.”
Stella tilted her head, tapping her ruby red lips with her finger. “Why not?”
The three other Stella models were walking all around the farmyard with various expressions of disdain, as if the cows themselves offended them.
When they turned back to Anna, she was not surprised to see matching disgusted looks.
Behind them, indifferent to the entire argument, cows snorted.
The two worlds next to each other were almost comical.
Leo slowly got out of the hover and stood nearby, silent.
Anna felt herself detach, shrinking her shoulders to appear small, but she ground her feet in the dirt to hold her place. The talk went in a circle around her, Atlas’s and Stella’s voices growing increasingly heated, but she didn’t move. That’s the way it’s gonna be? Fine.
“Yep, you’re right!” she yelled over everyone. “We’re not civilized. I know I’m not. I never pretended to be, though.”
Stella’s mouth hung open, but her eyes quickly darted behind Anna.
Nora was running up from the barn, slowed down from where she was holding Tilly’s hand. “Woah, a lot of you came here. What is going on?”
“Hey Nora.” Anna kept her eyes on Stella. “We’re being lectured about how humans should act. They think we’re gonna hurt everything here if we stay.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Nora’s wispy hair flew around her head as she turned back to Stella. “We will not harm anything.” She waved her hand overhead. “You’re already watching us. You can see everything we’re doing—it’s no different from Earth.”
Tilly looked back and forth. “Are they not gonna let us stay here, Mama?”
“Wrong!” Ignoring them both, the Stella twin leaned forward. “This is not Earth. We do not want you doing your own thing. This is our sanctuary. We expect you to attempt to fit in and integrate where you belong.”
Integrate? The word felt wrong. Anna said quietly, “No.”
Nora scoffed. “Those humans don’t want us there anyway.”
Stella waved her twin down. “Their wishes don’t matter.”
Don’t matter? The longer this went on, the more Anna heated inside. This is how they really see us? Not as equals at all?
They didn’t really. Between the chip discussion, the separate segregated area in the facility. The lack of any meaningful contributions they could do for work. They saw humans as inadequate. Why else were they watching them? The drones above, even now were still hovering.
Anna pointed above her head at one of the drones. “You’re watching us close enough already.”
But Stella’s stare became calculating and hard. “Not close enough.”
They all stood at odds across from each other. A stalemate. The only thing that made this more tolerable to Anna was hearing Atlas defending her to Stella and staying only an arm’s length away.
“Mama?” Tilly’s voice broke it. “What’s going on?”
“We’re just discussing.” Nora tore her eyes away. “Can you go find and get Simon for me?”
“. . . Okay.” Tilly ran off toward the barn.
“Stella. They are fine,” Atlas ground out. “Half the colony is already in agreement with them staying here . . .”
“Half,” Stella hissed. “The rest of us are not. And now they’re out here. We are receiving no data. No integration. And look at them. It’s not like they’re even offering to help, not even offering to think of the people back on Earth. No. They’re here wanting to play house in the forest.”
“That’s not true.” Heat rolled down Anna’s back. “I’m willing to work.”
“Work?” Stella scoffed. “What could you help with?”
Anna shrank. What could I do? Her hands worried in front of her. The cows were in the pasture. “We could help out here? With the animals?”
A laugh went through the androids watching. But Leo tilted his head with a contemplative look.
“Fine then.” Anna put her hands on her hips. “What would make you agree to let us stay here? We can work, grow things, maybe trade knowledge.”
“We don’t need your help.“ Stella’s smile faded. “But if you’re insisting . . . Yes, it could be good to do a trade.”
Anna scrunched her nose. “What kind?”