Emma looked out of the shuttle window tears forming in the corner of her indigo-blue eyes.
“Goodbye Freya and thank you,” she whispered softly to herself, dabbing away the tears.
She took one last look at Mars, the red-brown earth, spiky grasses, and soft, smooth, pebble-like mosses, the only home she’d ever known, as the silver-grey craft deployed upward thrust and briefly hovered over the landing pad before embarking on its flight to Jupiter.
Freya felt uneasy as she drove down the pitted, dirt track, a mist of fine red dust in her wake. She’d been to the yard a few times with Richard, it wasn’t far from town but far enough to feel isolated. Lyc’s OK when you get to know him, she heard Richard’s voice in her head, trying to reassure her. Sure, he’s rough around the edges and more cyborg than human but he’s put his past behind him since the accident. He’s a model citizen now, pays his taxes and everything. Anyway, you can’t beat his yard for the variety and quality of the scrap he’s got, and his knowledge of cybernetics is second to none based on experimentation on himself. I don’t know any scientist worth his salt who would do that. She could see Richard grin at her distaste. Somehow Lyc and Richard had formed an unlikely friendship over the years, the space pirate, and the government scientist and not a week went by when Richard wouldn’t visit the yard for something or other. Freya preferred to stay at home, yet here she was today. She smiled thinking about what Richard would’ve said if he knew. He would certainly have teased her for it mercilessly. She stopped in front of what looked like a large aircraft hangar, orderly piles of space scrap, grouped by type, to the left and right. Lyc stood at the entrance, a tall, imposing, muscular man, his cybernetically enhanced left eye scanning his visitor. His past was chiselled on his face and a large, jagged scar ran down his right cheek. Knowing he would be wary of strangers and most likely armed, Freya waited until she saw his shoulders relax before getting out of her Mars rover.
“It’s Freya, isn’t it?” asked the man.
Freya nodded.
“I was sorry to hear about Richard. He was a good man. I liked him. I’ll miss our chats.”
“He liked you too,” Freya replied quietly, fighting back the tears, not wanting to show her vulnerability in front of Lyc.
It had been six months since Richard had died and Freya missed him every day, the searing pain of grief hitting her when she least expected it, like now. It was the little things she missed most: the cup of tea he woke her up with each morning, the broad smile on his whiskery face at the anticipation of another new day or his deep belly laugh when she read him something funny from the planet news.
“How can I help you?” Lyc asked, bringing her thoughts back to the present.
“I’m looking for an Android,” she replied thinking back to the moment the idea had come to her.
I’ll go mad without company, she had thought one morning a few weeks ago, looking at the sun rise over the distant rocky hills, just me on my own here until the end. She had friends, of course, Cary and Flix from her days at the Mars Biology and Botany Lab, the ladies that lunch, and the Martian ramblers but it wasn’t the same as having someone around every day and she knew that as she got older these friendships would fade. Cary was already talking of moving back to Earth as most do when they retire. Unfortunately, she and Richard hadn’t been blessed with children and it hadn’t mattered then but it seemed to matter now, Freya thought. Now, she needed a child, a daughter would’ve been nice. She started to scour the ads for a suitable companion but, after a few days, no closer to a solution, she struck on the idea of an Android. The only problem was that Androids were expensive, especially the really life-like ones. The more she mulled the idea over, the more she convinced herself that this was the answer, which is when Lyc popped into her head.
Freya watched as Lyc removed a small electronic tablet from his back pocket, scrolling until he found what he was looking for.
“I don’t normally keep droids, more trouble than they’re worth, but I picked one up recently from a prospector in the black hills. Got it as a comfort droid apparently but said it wouldn’t do what he wanted it to do if you get my drift?”.
Freya watched as Lyc smiled lasciviously and she knew there and then that she would be taking the Android home with her, no matter what.
“Wait here, I’ll fetch it for you”.
A few minutes later Lyc returned carrying a female Android which he dumped unceremoniously in front of Freya. Freya looked down at the young woman, her long dark hair matted with mud, pale skin mottled with dark bruises and her figure-hugging gold lamé dress tattered and torn. Freya gasped.
“Not a pretty sight admittedly,” Lyc said, mistaking Freya’s shock at the sight of the Android as disappointment, “but won’t take much to patch it up”.
“I’ll take her,” Freya replied quickly, “how much do you want for her?”
“You can have it. No charge. Richard was a good customer, and it saves me the effort of breaking it up for the components. I’ll help you load it into your car”.
“Thank you,” Freya replied, “that’s kind of you”.
“You know where I am if you need anything, anything at all,” Lyc said seriously after loading the Android into Freya’s car, “Richard was like a brother to me which makes you my family too”.
A wave of grief suddenly washed over Freya and tears streamed down her cheeks. Lyc put his arms around her shoulders, guided her gently into his office in the Hangar, sat her down and made her a cup of sweet tea. They sat in silence for some time, Freya feeling guilty at her negativity towards Lyc previously.
“I just miss him so much,” she said at last when she was ready to talk.
“I know,” Lyc said gently.
Over the next few weeks and months, Freya restored the Android with the utmost care, like a mother nurturing a newborn. Lyc had been right, the components were sound, the issues purely cosmetic. She gently washed and brushed her hair until it shone, treated her bruises with Arnica until they faded, the skin’s sun-kissed glow gradually returning, and replaced her clothes with those fitting a modern, intelligent young woman rather than a hooker. As the day approached to reactivate her, Freya became anxious. She had had many sleepless nights, wrestling internally with the pros and cons of wiping her memory banks. Eventually, she reasoned that she wouldn’t, as by doing so, she felt that she would, in some way, be altering her identity, a logic more appropriate for a human than an Android maybe, but all the same, one that she knew was right.
Freya gently touched the nape of the Android’s neck with the activator probe and watched as the young woman took her first, gasping breath. Deep in her indigo-blue eyes, Freya was surprised to see fear as the woman looked about herself.
“You are safe now,” Freya said reassuringly.
The girl looked at her intently as if trying to read her thoughts, her body relaxing slightly.
“You live with me now. I brought you here to be my friend and companion,” she continued. “I hope with time you will be able to forget your past and learn that all humans are not alike”.
At the mention of the past, Freya saw the woman’s body stiffen, retreating in on itself, and Freya felt a sadness, imagining the suffering the young woman had endured.
“My name is Freya, what’s yours?” she asked.
“They call me doll,” replied the woman.
“That’s not a name, that’s a plaything,” Freya replied, desperately trying to hide the outrage in her voice. “I’m certain you were given a different name when you were created, do you remember what that was?”
“Emma,” the young woman replied after some time, the information buried deep in her memory banks.
“Emma, that’s a lovely name. Welcome to your new home Emma,” Freya said, gesturing around her. “I’ll show you to your room”.
Emma followed Freya with a look of puzzlement on her face, a shy smile of delight appearing as she was shown the small, bright room with floral curtains and white furniture.
“It’s not much but it’s yours,” said Freya, “a place to be on your own when you want to be”.
“Thank you, thank you” the woman replied quietly, “may I hug you?”
“If that’s what you want,” replied Freya with surprise as Emma tentatively embraced her.
There’s something special about this Android thought Freya at that moment. It might be just wishful thinking, and I don’t know how, but she has feelings and emotions like a human.
It was awkward at first. Emma had been programmed to serve and it took Freya some time and patience to help her compute her new role. As a child learns from its parents, Emma learnt from Freya. She taught her to drive and cook, introduced her to music, literature and the arts and shared her passion for plants. She introduced her to her friends as her niece and they never questioned this, accepting her as she expected they would, without suspicion. She showed her pictures and talked about other places and planets from Richard and her travels, Emma absorbing every detail and learning about love through Freya’s memories.
Lyc visited infrequently, to start with, checking on Freya and bringing the latest upgrade or patch for Emma. Freya knew better than to ask where he got them from but was grateful for his generosity. As time passed, however, she noticed the time between visits shortening and a change in his demeanour and appearance. Gone was the smell of oil and grease, the subtle fragrance of an expensive aftershave surrounding him instead, and a clean, neatly ironed polo shirt and chinos replacing his old, stained boilersuit. He was relaxed and laughed and smiled more, especially when he talked with Emma.
Lyc arrived one summer morning as Freya sat in the garden she had created with Richard under their geodesic dome, perfect conditions for growing the cuttings they had bought from Earth and their adventures to other planets. Sweet, plump nectarines, strawberries and raspberries all year round, tall, feathery turquoise ferns from Proxima Centauri, sturdy grey, green and black saplings from Gilese and delicate, silvery Venutian air plants, Freya’s favourites, floating around like snowflakes in the air surrounded her, all contrasting beautifully with the red-brown earth, rocks and foliage of the Martian landscape beyond. She called Lyc over as Emma went to the kitchen to fetch some coffee.
“I need you to help me with two things Lyc,” she said seriously, glancing towards the kitchen to ensure that Emma wasn’t in sight.
“Anything, just ask,” Lyc replied.
“One, I need you to get Emma a legal identity. I want her to have a passport, bank account, to exist”.
“Woah, I didn’t expect that,” Lyc replied with surprise, “very risky and won’t be easy, not to mention illegal”.
“I know that which is why I asked you, can you do it?”
“Of course, I can,” Lyc replied laughing, “difficult and criminal, right up my street! And the other thing?”
“Look after Emma when I’m gone. Age is catching up with me and I need to know she’ll be cared for. I know that you have feelings for her and you’re a perfect match by the way, you’re more Cyborg than human and she’s more human than Android,” she teased.
Seeing Emma emerging with a tray from the kitchen, Lyc didn’t reply, understanding Freya’s need for secrecy, but looked directly into her eyes and nodded. The deal was done.
Freya quietly passed away a year later.
As the sun set following the funeral, Lyc and Emma released a number of silvery Venutian air plants into the air, each carrying Freya’s ashes into the Mars atmosphere.
“Goodbye Freya,” Lyc and Emma whispered together hand in hand, as they watched the air plants disappear.
Lyc squeezed Emma’s hand lovingly as the shuttle took off.
“I’m here to look after you now,” he said kissing her gently.
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