He forced his right eye to remain focused. But it was difficult to see, especially the children who stood, hungry, on the street. It was mostly women and children out right now, at this time of day.Nora had alluded to the daytime being safer.His processors superimposed Tilly’s image on the children he passed, making him stumble a step as he walked.This is poverty. I never saw this in person, anywhere, before.There was none of this kind of struggle back in his time, not when androids worked tirelessly for man’s comfort.
What he was seeing now was what he imagined a dream might be like. The disdain he briefly felt fled, becoming deep sorrow as he made eye contact with a little girl holding a sack doll similar to Tilly’s.Not a dream. A nightmare.He didn’t like humans, but it hurt him inside to see anyone’s suffering so openly displayed. It felt wrong. To see humanity reduced to this level . . .
“Hey, handsome.” The drawl came from his side, causing him to turn. “You new around here?”
Simon was pulled out of his musings. He glanced in the direction of the sound and saw a scantily clad group of women on the corner. They were sitting, turned to each other talking, clearly not really engaged in trying to get business.That also must be for later as well.His gaze lingered on their desperate eyes. Their defeated postures brought back unwelcome memories of himself, programmed as he was to approach his hated mistress in the same way. Only he was never allowed to show anything other than enthusiasm, never allowed to have a moment to relax.
He shook his head and walked on. “No, not right now.”
None of the women followed him, but he glanced back again, feeling the same sorrow he did when looking at the sad, hungry children and imagining Tilly in their place. Only he thought of Nora now instead, sitting there. His hands balled at his sides.These women appear even less healthy than Nora.He noted how thin they were.I do not believe they all are choosing this life. Do they feel like I did?
The woman who addressed him tilted her head as he made eye contact. “Aw, you sure? I’ll make you feel good.”
He shook his head no again and moved out of the area quickly. The woman said something as he walked away but he didn’t listen, his mind steeped in memories of how he felt with the roles reversed.Humans are the sex workers instead of androids?In his time, every home had an android that could serve that purpose for the humans they attended to if desired. His eyes darted across the dirt street as he retraced his steps back to the bakery.
It was not accurate to say that there was nothing in this area that reminded him of Nora. After all, she came from this town. And he saw breaths of life, touches of humanity that even he could recognize. Potted plants put out in the sun, in whatever kind of cracked container they could find. And the children, even though they had hungry eyes, ran in groups, chasing each other. Once he got over the shock and the dilapidated infrastructure, he could see hope in corners.More exceptions. Like Nora.
He checked his internal time to see if he should explore further. The hour was almost up. He was both frustrated and relievedthat he had no more time to explore.Haven’t even been able to find a connection.He had wanted to find a neural hookup, an internet connection, to see if there was any broadband access anywhere but . . . his eyes lingered on the faded, chipped paint of a building’s rusted siding.This area won’t help me.
Simon assessed the worn-out concrete structures and refuse that lined the streets. The town was livable, unlike the mall, but just barely.There would be none of that here. Nothing electronic is here anywhere.If anything, he should have walked in the opposite direction, where the houses were bigger and electricity still flowed. His feet walked the path back to Nora.Next time.
Where the street opened in between the segments of the city, he could see more of the sky above. A drone was overhead. He squinted up at it as his feet kept up their leisurely pace. In fact, the drone might have been following him a good portion of the morning, from a distance. He was certain it was the same one that he saw on the journey to the mall with Nora; there was a dent on one of its sides that he could see as it flashed around.
He watched it out of the corner of his right eye.There has to be electric airwaves to power those.There had to be a hookup he could find . . . somewhere. He pushed upward at the drone, using his internal wireless connections, but met the same resistance.There is something there.
His feet kept him on the path back to Nora, however, worried as he was about being late.I’ll search again next time.His footsteps quickened.I don’t want either Nora or Tilly to walk the streets to try to find me.
Chapter twenty-two
Nora
“Ah, your hunk is back,” Anna said sneakily, pointing to the video feed.
Nora’s heart did a flip, hearing him referred to that way.Simon.She looked where Anna pointed, to the small, closed-circuit video feed that had stripped wires running to it through the wall.
The picture did indeed display Simon, and Nora took a minute to marvel at the screen.I need to ask Simon about videos later.She knew there were actual movies that played on screens like this; the discs that were sometimes scavenged were able to be played in some of the houses that had a black box that could read them. She’d never come across one, because apparently discs like that were an older, faded technology even back when the wars happened. The big bulletin from Mars was the only thing she had ever seen similar to this video feed, but that only displayed beautiful nature scenes and announcements.
Simon was standing dutifully by the hover, leaned against it, waiting and watching the small amount of traffic pass in front of the shop.
Anna chuckled, tapping on the small screen. “Your man even comes back instead of getting himself drunk in a tavern or forgetting the time. I’ll go get Tilly and meet you out there.”
Nora’s stomach flip-flopped in an unfamiliar way as she exited the bakery and walked toward him. “Hey Simon.”
Simon’s eyes lit up at seeing her, his posture loosening as she came close. “Where’s Tilly?”
Nora gestured toward the shop. “She’s coming. With Anna. Anna saw you on a video feed and wanted to say hello.” She twined her hands nervously.
“Ah,” Simon said. He took his hand and put it over hers, holding both steady in his own. Nora’s heart rate spiked immediately at the contact.
“Simon!” Tilly came hurtling out, running straight to Simon as if she hadn’t seen him only an hour ago. A small amount of dust rose up in her wild steps.
Anna waved the dust aside and came trailing behind her, waddling a bit from her stomach starting to poke out.
Nora pulled her hands away from Simon’s and waved toward her. “Ah, Anna. Here, let us come to you.”
“No, it’s fine. I needed to move around anyways, this baby was sitting on me weird and hurting my legs.” Anna’s eyes traveled up and down Simon's frame. She gave an appreciative grin. “I’m Anna.”
Nora stepped back and watched the exchange as Simon gave a professional smile and his name. “Simon.”
