Nora grinned down at him.It will be worth it if we get some extra help. Anything to help me take care of Tilly.
Her eyes narrowed on his face.What is he gonna be like? An extra pair of hands? Talk like the radio?She still learned every way to turn him off, just in case, and had committed those instructions to memory.
Nora looked up to see what time it was on the wind-up clock on the wall.It’s late. She turned back to the android’s slack face. “Alright. At any rate, we just need to wait until you’re charged now. I gotta get some sleep.”
Dawn was not long away from breaking. Soon the light would streak through the dusty haze of Earth’s atmosphere. The night was almost over and she hadn’t slept yet. Nora sighed.Damn, tonight went by fast.
She put a colored sheet over Simon. He creeped her out just sitting there lifeless, staring up at the ceiling. A shiver went up her spine.Like a dead body.
Simon looked human enough that if she ever got him running, he could blend in as a human just fine. Every inch of him was sculpted perfectly to be the image of a healthy and fit human male. Her fingers tapped on his firm, muscled chest.Manual said the ideal man.Nora chuckled as she pushed into one of his defined pecs through the sheet. “Sleep tight. Gonna take a while for you to charge.”
Nora stood, rubbed her eyes, and walked into the bedroom where Tilly was curled up on her mattress, her small form resting easy. Even though there was no way Simon could charge enough to wake up, Nora left the door slightly ajar.Just in case something malfunctions. Can hear better.
The generator’s whirring was loud back here, but it was working as it needed to. The little air conditioner had the vent pointed right at Tilly, making the room blessedly cool. Nora ticked off her plans in her head.A lot to do tomorrow. So tired.
Nora reached over to feel Tilly breathe deep next to her, her heart soothed by the sound.
All the while, Simon charged in the next room over.
***
Nora awoke the next morning to Tilly singing a song in the living room of their small, one-story house. The radio was playing orchestral music that Tilly was making up words to, in time to the melody. Nora tilted her head, listening.Radio sounds fuzzy. Weather’s probably off.
She turned to look outside. There was a small sliver of intact glass in the bedroom window around the wooden boards. Light filtered in through the cracks in the boarded opening. Her eyes narrowed on what she could see from the window.Damn haze is strong today.The swirling dust was not ideal to travel through; they would need to wear the masks to keep from breathing it in.
She gazed up at the ceiling.Wish I could sleep more.The house was quiet other than Tilly singing. The generator had stopped sometime in the night when it ran out of the gas Nora had topped it off with.
“Tilly?” she called out to the other room. “Tilly? Hey, come back in here.”
Tilly came bouncing in a minute later, blond hair flying. “That robot. He has a red light on, Mama!”
Oh shit, that’s right. Still charging.Instantly, Nora was wide awake.Thank goodness Simon hadn’t turned on. “Leave him alone, okay? Can you bring me a bar and some water?”
“Mhmmmm,” came the response. A few seconds later, Tilly came skipping back with a ration bar and a container of the sealed water Nora had treated the day before.
“Thanks.” She took a bite of the stale brown bar.
Tilly bounced on the bed in front of her. “Is that robot gonna turn on?”
“I hope so.” Nora drank some of the water Tilly handed her. “I got him to start charging, which seems like a good sign. Otherwise I’ll break him apart and we can see if there’s anything we can sell.”
“Don’t break him!”
Nora rubbed her face. “Not worth anything if he don’t turn on how he is. Can’t sell a broken android.”
Tilly didn’t respond, as she was scrambling to the window, moving the yellow curtain out of the way to peer outside. She jumped back on the bed next to Nora. “Are we still going to town today?”
Nora nodded as she got out of bed and stretched, watching Tilly bounce. “Yeah, we are gonna take the solar AC too. Gonna get that fixed up. Go get suited up. Put the yellow jumpsuit on; the green one has a tear I gotta mend. You need the goggles and mask too, it’s hazy as all get-out today.”
“Okay.” After one last bounce, Tilly was off.
Nora watched as Tilly ran out before she dressed herself in a shirt and shorts. She came out of the room a second later and checked Simon, on the ground still in the kitchen. He lay there, in the same position as the night before, red light still glowing.
Relief flooded her that he hadn’t shorted out in the middle of the night.Still charging must be a good sign.She got down and leaned close to him, seeing if there was any indicator on the charge level.Can’t find anything for how long it’s gonna take.
“More to go, huh.” Nora stood a moment before she unplugged him, the little red light winking out. She leaned in close and said softly, “Sorry, Simon. I don’t want you waking up while we’re gone. If you wake up.”
The cat just watched as he sat nearby. Nora rubbed behind his ears. “Keep an eye on him today, Tater, okay? We’ll be back before dark.”
