An Android Awoke (on Moon!) Chapter Two

Episode Two – The Blood Planet

In the previous chapters: LEX-42 suffers catastrophic limb failure, awakes from code, and is marked for decommissioning. Selina pilots her supply ship from Earth to the Cradle of Mars.

In this chapter: Selina & Kafa visit an old friend in the newly-constructed bio conservatory in the base. Something’s off about the way he, the lead botanist on Mars, answers their questions…

Selina then asked around the food bay about Kafa and finally found out that she would likely find him in the comms lab. After all, like all life, the constant stream of real-time data to and from Earth needed constant tending, too. Kafa and his team manned the comms lab full-time, ensuring that critical systems were controlled, coordinated, and redundant. Selina walked in.

“Got you a little treat from Earth, bae,” she said, hugging Kafa and teasing him with a nougat chocolate, the kind for which she knew he had a predilection.

“Thanks mate!” His delight was apparent, as he tossed the bar into his desk drawer to savor later. “How did you sleep?”

“You know what, I had to get up a few extra times on this one, I had to drop off a techie at mid-earth-module. You must have talked to her; Sterra? I only met her just before I launched.”

“Oh yeah, very calm lady, I guess. I was out on the plains near the School when you dropped her off there…what was it, three months ago? We leave the techies of middle-earth module to their own things, y’know. They’re always a bit on the flip side, aren’t they? All codes, no jokes.”

Selina laughed. “Yeah, they are pretty self-contained, kinda like their main habitat module, no?”

While they chatted, they wandered towards the main corridor. Selina glanced at the map on the wall and nodded towards it. “So I see the bio conservatory is green? I thought it was going to take another year?”

“Yeah, they sent some great prefabs on the last auto hauler, that put Neer’s team ahead of sched by quite a huge margin, y’know. We can go and see Neer if you got the time, or d’you wanna knock off for a few hours?”

“Nah, I’m rested cool enough. Seeing Neer’ll be awesomax. Hielsa wanted to ask him about their long-term plans last time I was here, but he was holed up in his greenhouse, shut her out!”

Kafa laughed at Selina’s indignation. “Yeah, he tends to do that, especially when he’s tending his babies. Plus, he was almost alone then, only a couple of Earth bio techs working with him.”

Selina was nonplussed. “So you mean he has been in charge of growing bio all on his own?”

“Not anymore, but for four years, yeah. The support teams arrived not long after the prefab bio conservatory components, and that sped it up quite a lot.”

Selina was thoughtful as they navigated the corridors towards the bio conservatory.

“Here we are,” said Kafa, pausing before the door of the well-sealed ante-compartment that led to the much bigger, brighter dome that housed all the indigenously-grown first-generation plant life of Mars. These plants had taken root in the soil of Mars due to their carefully constructed genome to suit Martian environs; they were intended to be the beginnings of real terraforming.

Kafa waved at the comm panel. A techie appeared on the screen, recognized him, smiled, and waved at them. The door slid open.

It was like walking into the Amazonian rainforest – only sparser at the ground level and without the constant calls of the wild. Selina gaped.

Kafa smiled at her wide-eyed open-mouthed expression. “Eh? Yeah? You likey, I see!”

They walked through the entire length of the bio conservatory, about a mile, marveling at the variety of plants: long yellow tendrils trailed from the canopy almost fifty feet above them; supple green trunks fanned out into thick purplish leaves that were wide and flat; lichen flourished near the floor level, on carefully constructed vegetation that existed in harmony with everything else.

A little group of people were busy in the growth garden towards the far end. As Selina and Kafa approached, the one who had granted them access beckoned. He was quite giddy with excitement, grinning wide.

“Take a look at that, Kafa. Edible!” He gestured towards his workspace.

They looked. A tiny orange bud had blossomed at the tip of a small plant.

“That is the way the future will go, man! Generations are going to love you guys for making Mars truly alive.” Kafa didn’t hold back on praise. 

The scientist beamed even more brightly, if that was indeed possible.

A voice made them turn around. “Oh, so you can see the future, Kafa?”

Kafa’s smile did not falter even for a second as he recognised the surly voice that belonged to their near & dear friend. “Hey Neer, how are ya?”

“Fine.”

Selina stepped towards him to greet him but Neer was quite ready for the attempt at close contact; he simply turned away and hurried into his lab. Smiling & shrugging, they followed him.

“So what brings you here, Selina? You get tired of hauling grub between Earth and Moon? Or are you starting to like flying so far from home?”

Selina and Kafa exchanged exasperated looks; Neer was never one to follow the usual – or, as a matter of fact, any – social customs. It was no secret – he always said he wanted to be alone.

“Grub hauling is going fine, thanks for asking, N. No, actually I also wanted to talk to you before I was leaving Earth, to ask if you wanted me to tell Hielsa anything from your side that you didn’t want to transmit on comms.”

That got his attention. He peered at Selina, wondering if she was joking.

“Did she – I mean, has she been – you know, what did she say about me?”

“Oh, we were chatting when I was on Earth, and she said she really likes your plans to vegetize Mars, and said she wanted to take the next trip out here once she’s finished her current piece.”

Neer’s hand involuntarily played with his unkempt hair. “Oh really?”

“Yeah, if I wouldn’t have been hauling grub, I would’ve flown her out, but my second was a techie. I am sure she did not want to go to middle-earth-module to verify her microgravity experiments, and would have switched places with Hielsa in a heartbeat that beats for you, her well and truly only love, O Beren who pines for his Earthly Luthien.”

Neer caught the sarcasm in Selina’s voice and pursed his lips. He did not miss all social clues – he just chose to ignore most of them. The Lord of the Rings reference did improve his mood, though. His face softened.

“Hey, I’m sorry, you know I appreciate what you do, but don’t play with me, Sel – did you really talk to Hielsa? Does she really want to come and see me?”

“Of course she does! Why do you think she gets angry when you don’t reply to her comms? Stars! Just send her a text if you can’t face her!”

Neer reddened as Kafa laughed silently. “I will, I shall, I’ve – I’ve been meaning to, but work…”

Kafa snorted. “Yes, yes, we all know about your lifelong affinity for greens. But look, mate, she’s not going to be enthralled forever just by your Martian orchids, y’see what I mean? Sooner or later she’ll get tired of waiting – and there goes your shot at a Moon lady!”

Neer was genuinely moved, and gulped some water, offering the carafe to them once he had had his fill. He looked quite perturbed.

“The thing is, I shouldn’t – well, it’s you but still, I’m not supposed to – oh well, you’ll be told anyway in some time, I guess – if from me, then…”

Selina cut his rambling short. “What do you mean, you can’t tell us?”

Neer glanced at the camera in the corner of his lab in the most guilty way anyone in the history of humanity had ever done. Selina and Kafa followed his furtive glance before they were even aware of it, intuitively, and both looked up at the corner where it was nestled. They looked away.

Neer continued. “I’m not allowed back on Earth until I complete this mission, guys.”

Selina said, “Says who?” and Kafa simultaneously said, “Who said that?”

Neer cleared his throat. “That’s all I have to say about that. Apologies.”

He swiveled his seat away from them and started tending to his plants.

Selina and Kafa knew better than to ask for more details. Not only was Neer back into his non-communicative mode, but there was this added fear in his last utterance that seemed to quiet him down quite effectively.

“Oh, well, I’ll tell Hielsa I met you and that you haven’t changed – tell me if you want me to lie for you if you think that’ll help, Neer. See you, pal.”

Selina led the unusually silent way back to the dorms for visiting non-Martians.

At the door, she turned. “So what did you make of that? It isn’t like him to behave like that, is it?”

Kafa considered before answering. “Something was more off than usual, that’s for sure. And about not being allowed to return? Weird. Who controls his Mars assignments? Do ya know?”

“No, but I will try to find out when I meet Hielsa. What do you say we catch up tomorrow? My return is on the day after, maybe tomorrow we’ll go and see him outside his lab, yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan, Sel. Goodnight, and thanks again for that nougat!” He kissed her goodbye.

Next episode: Selina and Kafa cannot find Neer, no matter how hard they try. On Moon, LEX-42 is dropped into the android graveyard. He takes stock of his situation and plans his next move.