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“Does that count you?”the man she called Ollie countered.“You’re still living in a family home.”
“My family’s home that they built when they originally settled here,” Hannah shot back.“And of course, that counts me.”She raised her hand, then glared defiantly at the crowd.
The blonde woman raised hers as well.Slowly, other hands lifted.
A knot of tension that RH103 hadn’t realized he’d been holding in his shoulders loosened.Based on the number of people willing to let out rooms in their homes, in addition to the few empty houses available, his brethren wouldn’t have to live aboard the cruiser indefinitely.Their fuel reserves were safe for now.
“I have a spare bedroom,” Hannah said.“I can offer space to one person.”
SP29 stepped forward and turned around to face her.He opened his mouth to speak.
A flash of jealousy—unexpected and unfamiliar—rose in RH103 like hot bile in his throat.The very thought of his fellow cyborg, someone he’d always considered a friend, living with her made him want to throttle him.
What in the galaxy’s name is wrong with me?
“I could stay with you,” RH103 said to Hannah, voice low.
SP29 resumed his position in front of the stage.
Hannah looked at him in surprise and slowly lowered her hand.“Okay,” she said.She plunked her hat back on, its brim flopping a little over an eye.“Why don’t you get your stuff, and I’ll take you home?”
ChapterThree
Of course,it hadn’t been as simple as RH103 grabbing his things from the spaceship still resting in the field.They stayed behind at the amphitheater, helping to assign billets, while Hannah spoke to the people restoring empty houses to figure out how many cyborgs could be put up in them.
By early afternoon, housing had been decided for all twenty cyborgs, and only she and RH103 were left in the amphitheater.
“I think that went better than expected,” Hannah said, barely suppressing a yawn.
“Were you expecting more opposition?”
“Yes.And I don’t think the worst of our growing pains is over yet.”She looked at the rows of empty stone benches in the audience, at the scrubby grass growing between them.“Do you need any help getting your things from your ship?”
“I don’t have much in the way of personal belongings, but perhaps we have some tech on board that will be useful in your home.Do you want to take a look?”
She had never been aboard a spaceship before.Curiosity had her asking, “Why not?”She fell into step with RH103.His stride was longer than hers, but she forced herself to keep up.“Although I doubt I’ll know much about your toys.We don’t use a lot of that sort of thing here.”
“We noticed that, and all of us have questions as to why.”
“Our ancestors settled here for the purpose of getting away from all of that.”She adjusted her hat brim against the light of the twin suns blazing in the sky.“I think a lot of us are resentful over that decision, for obvious reasons.We really needed help the last couple of years.”
RH103 slowed down to match her pace.“Why would your predecessors do such a thing?”
“We’ll have plenty of time to talk about how our great-great-great-whatever grandparents screwed us over, roomie.”A dirt road led away from the amphitheater to the edge of the city where the spaceship had landed.Puffs of dust swirled around their ankles, marring the shiny finish on RH103’s black boots.
Roomie.She couldn’t believe she had agreed to such a thing.
Nor could she quite process RH103’s eagerness to live with her.Maybe it was because she was the only person he had spoken to so far.She was as close to familiar as he could get on New Eden.
At least this would mean she would learn more about the cyborg clone society from their leader himself.If nothing else, their sharing her house—her parents’ house—could make both of their jobs a little easier.
The spaceship’s exterior door was closed when they arrived, the ramp gone.This close to the ship, Hannah felt a little intimidated.But it quickly gave way to curiosity when RH103 stripped off one of his gloves and pressed his hand into a white screen next to the door.A buzzing sounded before the door cycled open and the ramp extended.
RH103 replaced his glove.“Follow me.”
Heart pounding in uncharacteristic excitement, Hannah did so.
It took a few seconds for her vision to adjust to the interior’s harsh yellow light.It was the only color that she could see.Everything else was dull gray metal panels and decking, broken up by the occasional flashing light.It was far more sterile and boring than Hannah had expected.“Where’s your room?”she asked.
