Tilly leaned back and chirped, “Yeah! We can both learn. The radio said that Mars wants people who can write good.” She pressed a piece of chalk into Nora’s hand. “You learn too.”
Nora took the chalk, hesitating, but then put it aside. She didn’t meet Simon’s eyes. “Maybe in a bit.”
“You always say you wish you knew how to write better!”
A wince went through Nora at that, her hands clutching the half-made pants.Oh, Tilly . . .She didn’t respond to Tilly, but just nodded while she went back to her sewing.
Simon reached for the chalkboard. “Here, Tilly, let me give you something else to learn. Do you know your numbers?”
Nora watched with interest. Two parts of herself warred within her chest. She thought back to all the things she still had trouble reading, most recently with Simon’s manual when she was fixing him up. And how much she had to rely on the pictures instead in some parts, and trial and error.Did it though.Her jaw clenched.Yes I did.
But she had to admit that everything would have been so much easier had she known how to read better. No one in town put much time into learning beyond the basics anymore. Working on practical things was always more important. Even when her parents were alive and she did visit the schoolhouse, the lessons were brief. Only the ones in town who lived in the large houses with electricity were properly educated anymore.
Tilly held up another row of lettering and Nora forced yet another smile. She bit her bottom lip as Simon and Tilly focused on each other.Tilly is right. I need to learn too.She hesitated though, feeling small within that part of her that felt she should already know how to do what he showed.
Eventually, after she was done with the pants, she picked up some chalk and the chalkboard, her hands sweaty. She didn’t speak but instead took Tilly’s lines and copied them, her handwriting making a third line on the board, underneath Tilly’s and Simon’s, while her heart pounded.
Tilly clapped her hands, watching. “Yeah, Mama!”
She shook her embarrassment aside as she started to copy another.Don’t say anything . . .Thankfully, Simon just looked at her before returning to teaching Tilly how to make letters again.
Nora didn’t speak either but pushed the pants aside and set about tracing Simon’s elegant scrawl with her own that resembled chicken scratches. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth.I don’t need to impress him, a robot, by hiding what I don’t know.She wrote as carefully as she could.Don’t need to impress anyone. That’s why I’m here in the desert, right? Nothing gonna hurt me here. Just gotta learn when I can. Dumb is not trying.
After a few minutes, Nora read what she wrote and exhaled in relief.Not that bad.It had been a while since she tried to write anything. Her letters weren’t anywhere near as neat as Simon’s, but they weren’t completely awful either. She knew the basics at least.
Simon looked at her speculatively. Nora held his eyes like she did with Max and every other merchant in town when she made deals. But tears pricked behind her eyes this time, even though she willed them back.
Very quickly, he looked down and began writing out another sentence for her to copy, then said in a controlled voice, “What would you like to learn?”
She began to copy the letters. In a small voice she answered, “Everything.”
“Alright.” He began correcting her movements gently like he did with Tilly.
“I’ll go get some more.” Tilly waved her almost used up chalk piece in the air. The chair squealed as she pushed back. She leapt from the table and left Nora and Simon alone for a moment.
A flush came over Nora as she focused on the chalkboard.
Simon said in a low, measured, tone, “I take it there are no schools in this world now too?”
Nora shook her head, trying to keep her hand steady. She tried to keep her voice calm as well while copying the letters. “There’s some in the town but . . . well, I already told you that place isn’t the best.” She forced a sheepish smile. “But with you here now, maybe we can learn some without needing to go there.”
Chapter seventeen
Simon
Simon’s eyes widened, taking in Nora’s pleased expression as she went back to writing. They widened further when she softly added, “Thank you.”
The words sparked something inside of him.Thank you.It filled him with an unexpected satisfaction to see her look at him that way.Like I hold an answer to a question she needed solved.He watched her as she returned to copying his letters carefully.Why is her reaction so satisfying?He stared at her, examining the way her brows furrowed in concentration. A little V showed on her forehead as she focused. What Nora was doing was so foreign compared to the humans of the past. She was obviously embarrassed, from the way her cheeks flushed and she avoided eye contact.
But why? Why does she feel that way?Her reaction confused him. Not knowing something just required more data. He didn’t understand how her efforts to learn could warrant embarrassment at all.In fact . . .
Attraction. He unwillingly admitted to himself.That’s what I feel.He frowned at her downturned head, wispy brown hair curling around her shoulders.Am I that pathetic to feel this over the first human that seems like they’re trying? That’s showing some semblance of kindness? What is causing this? Is it because she helped me?He turned away from her, disgust rising, not from her actions but from the memories in his processor. His old mistress’s hated face resurfaced.Nora is still a human. Like her.
Despite that association, the feeling persisted, the sensation foreign in his neural waves, unwelcome in his mind. Almost a buzzing feeling, as if his body was tracking her movements. Simon shifted a bit away from Nora, uncomfortable.I don’t want to feel this.
He had to pretend to feel attraction before, if he was called to service his mistress in a sexual manner, but it was not a true feeling like he had now, watching Nora copy his letters with her untidy scrawl. Her obvious embarrassment showed that she worried what he might think of her. Him. An android.She cares what I think about her.What a change.What a change.
It was appealing how hard she was trying, her face screwed up in concentration, looking remarkably like Tilly’s did only a few minutes ago.Why is her trying so appealing? Why is that?
