35. Chapter 35
Chapter thirty-five
Anna
Anna sat, resting her head on Atlas’s shoulder, her hands entwined in his.
He said he wasn’t pushing for anything more, and for the moment she . . . trusted him? She chuckled to herself. “This is almost like when we watched that feed on the ship.”
“It is.” He settled arms around her more. “Only this is better.”
Anna tried her best to not squirm. Where he touched her felt overly heated, sensitive. Her insides twisted at sitting so close to him like this, but nothing in her wanted to move. The day could pass, and the night could. Enough time that maybe they could figure this out on top of everything else.
“Atlas?” Zero called out. He walked into the clearing a second later, eyes on their crossed fingers. “I’m heading back to the facility for more supplies.”
Atlas squeezed her hand briefly before letting go. “Thank you. I’ll leave with you to bring more equipment back for this afternoon. How are things looking?”
Zero pointed over his shoulder. Behind him, a row of model-Ms were still walking the yards with blueprints in hand. “Everything is simple enough. It’s not even midday yet, so I can get a lot more done.” To Anna, he said, “We will get you water by tomorrow, alright, Anna ma’am?”
Anna covered her mouth with her hand, grinning. “Ma’am?”
“Ah, sorry.” Zero gave an apologetic grin. “Old programming.”
From experiment to ma’am. Tension flowed out of her. “No one’s ever called me that before. Thank you though. You and all the rest have been so nice. I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Woah, repay us?” Zero held out his hands. “You don’t have to.”
“I need to though.” Anna frowned. There had to be something she could do. “If you bring me an oven, I’ll bake you something?”
“Deal.” Zero grinned widely. “Can you make those cumin cookies again? They’ve grown on me.”
Anna scrunched her nose. “. . . Those? Really?”
“Yes. I’m tired of everything being the same.”
“Deal.” But unlike the agreement with Stella, this one she was happy to make.
Atlas lifted Anna to her feet like she weighed nothing. “You want to walk around? Give some input on the changes? This is your home now.”
“Yeah.” She had to force herself to let go of his hand. “I don’t want Nora and Simon to be the only ones trying to figure everything out.” She didn’t see them anywhere around the pasture. “Where are they?”
Zero motioned behind him. “By the hovers; some of my brothers have already started to go back.”
“Alright.” She walked in step with Atlas, almost close enough to touch.
Later, later. She swallowed. I can figure out what’s going on with Atlas later.
But his hand, the one that briefly laid on her heartbeat, was hard to ignore.
Taking deep breaths, she forced herself to put more distance between them.
Enough. I can’t be blushing when I see the others.
Nora stood in front of the barn, one hand on her hip, the other gripping a shovel half-set into a trench. She was filthy. Tilly was dancing around her, looking like she had spent the better part of the afternoon rolling in the mud.
“Sorry.” Anna hurriedly walked up to stand by them. “I was resting for a minute by the pasture.”
“No worries.” Nora leaned on the shovel. “Everything is coming together.”
The other androids were beginning to load up into the transport. Anna waved at them as they loaded up. “Thank you, everyone!”
Nora put the shovel to the side and wiped her brow. “I need to stop for a few minutes now. There’s still a few things to finalize. We were discussing starting to go to those stupid dinners.”
“Dinners?” Anna said. “Oh right. Stella did kind of tack those on at the end, huh?”
“Yeah, she did.” Nora dusted off her pants. “We should get cleaned up. Me and Tilly can go tonight if that makes everyone feel better. We are more than enough entertainment.”
“Should I try to go?”
“No.” Nora tugged on her arm. “Anna, you’ve done enough. You have that thing in you. This is the least we can do.”
The idea of being left behind was a relief, but . . . Anna turned to Atlas. “Will you stay with me when they go? I don’t want to be totally alone out here, in case the contractions get worse or something.”
She didn’t add that she wanted to see more where things led. That would be too obvious. Way too obvious.
“Of course.” Atlas’s expression gentled. “I was already planning on it. I’ll bring dinner here. Don’t worry, something bland.”
“Great!” Anna grinned. “That food would just make me sick again.”
“Can’t have that. Alright, I’ll be back in a little bit.” Atlas jumped into the hover next to Zero.
Simon followed a second later, still talking with Nora. “Anything you want me to bring back?”
“Whatever you think,” Nora answered. “I’ll grab Tatertot myself when we get dinner later.”
“He’s gonna like it here,” Tilly said.
Nora stepped back, holding Tilly’s hand, and waved them off. Anna kept her gaze on Atlas even when they pulled away, sighing after the transport left. He’ll be back soon.
The dirt floated off Nora as she shook out her shirt. “I’ll need to change. Tilly too. We should be presentable.”
“Probably for the best. You’re both mudballs.” Anna pulled at her own clothes. ”Ugh. I’m dirty too. Maybe I can just wipe myself off.”
“There’s an animal wash stall in the barn.”
“Oh?” Anna tilted her head. “Running water already? Well, we’re animals anyway. Right?”
“Right.” Nora tugged on her sleeve. “C’mon. There’s actually a washtub.”
A cold shower felt so good that Anna scrubbed herself twice.
There was even new clothing for them. She riffled through the standard-issue jumpsuits, choosing the largest to cover her belly.
When she came out, she wrapped a towel around her hair.
Already, even clean, her nose was itching.
“I gotta go outside, Nora. We need to figure out this hay or I can’t visit you long. ”
Nora kicked at a hay bale. “Simon mentioned bringing most of it outside, but it needs a roof over it. Want me to walk you back?”
Anna waved in front of her face. “No need, I like having the time alone for a few minutes.”
“I bet. You rest, okay?” She leaned over to pat Anna’s belly. “Give us at least a week or so here before Anna Jr. comes our way?”
“At least that." A shadow crossed her face. "Ugh, I’ll have to go back to the facility to give birth, won’t I?”
“Maybe you can do a home birth.”
“I wish. But I don’t want to take any chances. I’ll talk with Atlas about not having Stella anywhere near me and coming right back.”
“Good plan.” Nora waved her hands. “We are paving the way.” She elbowed Anna. “No pressure. At least your baby girl will have Tilly for another kid to play with.”
But Anna’s gaze grew distant. “Do you think any of the other humans on Earth will come here eventually?”
“Not if Stella has anything to do with it.”
“Yeah, but it would be nice one day.” Anna sneezed. “Okay, my nose can’t stay in here any longer.”
Nora laughed as she went out. “At least you’re clean. I’ll get ready for dinner tonight.”
Anna nodded her agreement. Outside, her nose still ran, but the air was crisp and clean.
She went right to the animal area, noting the drones above.
She didn’t want to hide inside and lie down.
The drone was watching, so that meant she should make a good first impression, right?
Show them what she did with her time? Show them that he wasn't doing anything harmful?
The trench was half dug, but that would be too much for her. The actual construction she didn’t want to disrupt. She paced, checking the chickens. What could she do to stay busy?
Well. At the very least Anna would walk.
For the time being she paced the pasture, checking on every waterer.
Each pasture was several acres and at the far corner there was a milking shed attached.
She walked through, noting the equipment and layout.
Everything was automatic, but the cows weren’t machines.
In fact, one was pressed up against the fence looking in at her by the milking shed.
She stared back. “Would you like us to take care of you some?”
The cow quickly moved away. It didn’t matter. Anna wasn’t lying to Stella when she said she wanted to work. And after seeing the cows graze, she was certain. She hung on the fence flanking the milking barn, plans forming in her mind.
Cows. They could learn to milk them.
Anna stood there until she saw a dust cloud rise up in the distance, coming closer.
She pushed off the fence, and the hover had made it back to the barn by the time she walked the path.
Atlas and Simon were already moving items out as Tilly ran out of the barn.
Her long blond hair was partially dry, but her shoes were already dusty again from dragging in the path.
The hover was loaded with more items. Simon reached in to help lift a doll out to Tilly. “I brought Samantha.” He handed the doll over. “Take her inside? We’ll unload this and then can go to that dinner.”
Tilly ran past, hugging the doll.
Anna dusted off her pants. “Hi Atlas, you came back fast.”
He smiled. “Were you busy while I was gone?”
“Not really.” She waved across the pasture. “Walked around, tried to think of things we could do here. I saw there’s a milking barn over there.”
His eyes were still distant. He closed the hover’s door. “If you want, I can show you how we milk them later.”
“Yes! I would love that!” Anna clapped. “Do you think we could help with that?”
“You could.” The focusing pattern was still in his eyes. “Cows respond better when we spend time with them and groom them before and after. Not everything is able to be mechanical. That is a task at the very least Tilly can help with.”
The hover tipped as Atlas also reached into the back. “Here, see what I brought back!”
He grinned as he pulled out food, picnic basket style, and a deck of cards. “Have you ever seen these before? Would you like to play with me? After we eat? You asked what I did other than repair work, so I thought I would show you.”
“That would be great.”
Atlas was balancing several items in his arms. “Here, let’s carry these in.”
Anna saw a long plant in the side passenger seat. “Is that . . .”
She picked it up, turning it around. The thin fronds dangled delicately over the side of the pot.
“A spider plant.” He said. “Chlorophytum comosum. Thought you might like one. They’re easy to care for.”
Anna cupped her hands around the pot and followed Atlas inside. She grinned from ear to ear. A plant. He brought me a plant.