Robots of Avery Five.

Chapter 1

“I need a woman,” thought Alexander, gawking at the human females swaying their hips through the arrivals terminal. He blinked and squeezed the top of his nose between his eyes. 

How embarrassing. He was acting just as stupidly as all the other young Earthians traveling to planet Avery Five. 

Had he never seen a woman before? Honestly, his mother and his friends’ mothers. And of course, pictures, videos, holograms, but never a real girl of his same age. There was a time, as a curious Earthian teenager, his friends got him adult passes to the robot brothels. 

It was the closest he had gotten to female genitalia. He didn’t visit often in fear of becoming like Donie, one of his friends. The guy fell in love with the Ai-consort—as they called robots used for pleasure—from the brothel they frequented and refused to marry a real woman. Donie’s silicone-and-metal lover ended up scrapped for parts and the Human Federation ordered him to pay a hefty fine. Plus, it stained his family name. 

“Moonlanding,” Alexander cursed, trying to shake his erection in a discrete manner. Good thing the loose shirt under his jacket was long enough to cover that area. 

“Welcome to Avery Five, Earthian.” A robotic voice came from the box on the wall beside him. “You might have noticed you feel lighter. No, you are not jet lagged from an entire year traveling with the Sagittarius Driftlines. It’s the result of the pleasant Aver gravity.” 

“Shut up,” said Alexander, rubbing his headache from the year-long drift away. He tried to remember what an i***t said riding a Sagittarius drift from Earth to Avery 5 would be amazing. Not that he could punch that person in the face because he was already light years away from the solar system. The trip to Avery five was most definitely not a school trip to Mars. 

The same box made siren sounds. “Terrorism threat. This is not a drill, Earthian. For your safety, calmly walk into the safety pod.” 

“Terrorism?” Alexander hurried toward the center of the hall where humans, robots, and other species flocked through the doors. The Earthian got sidetracked, looking at the female anatomy run. He knew now what his friend meant when he said the Ai-consorts from the brothels didn’t look as real as biological women: their breasts bounced gloriously, and their limbs were delicate. Their screams made him want to protect all hundreds of them. 

In the center of the hall, he noticed a woman who wasn’t moving. She bobbed her head looking for something or someone. Curious, he moved closer. 

“Wow!” He was loud enough she heard him, then waved at him. But her beauty paralyzed Alexander. She was proportionate in an inexplicable way. The Ai-consorts he frequented had huge rears or wide eyes. Sometimes they modified themselves to have extra holes. But this woman had peach-colored human skin with pores just like him. He was afraid if he blinked, he would miss watching her ash-blonde hair cascade over her shoulders. Unlike most girls in Aver, she was shorter than him, which he liked. He had heard humans born in Avery Five were taller than Earthians, and that wasn’t appealing to him. 

But his woolgathering ended when a giant figure impelled the blonde against another traveler. Alexander ran to the body lying on the floor. 

“Yabnuk.” The man who had torpedoed against the girl picked her up. 

“Hey, did you not see the lady was there?” said Alexander. 

“I apologize, madam,” said the stranger, fixing the scarf around his neck. 

The Earthian dusted the woman’s pants without boundaries, but he quickly remembered she wasn’t a pleasure robot he could touch as he pleased. At her blushing cheeks, he took a step backward and held his hands behind his back. 

“You’re a Singapore. Alexander of Singapore. Your grandfather invented the metabolic pill.” The stranger pointed at Alexander. 

Alexander scanned the perimeter. If everyone knew he was there, television cameras would follow him everywhere. “I’m trying to keep that on the down low, if you can understand.” He raised a wrist with a yellow circle on it. The human government required all males to carry that symbol when looking for a wife. 

“Your name is?” he asked. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet royalty once in a while,” said the man, extending his arm. “I’m Mischa of Russia.” 

Alexander huffed, but shook the tall man’s hand. “An Earthian last name.” 

“My father was from Earth.” 

“Good, I found you. Let’s go,” said the girl. 

“Huh?” Alexander frowned at her. 

The tall stranger disappeared into the crowd. 

“I’ve been looking for you. I was supposed to pick you up an hour ago.” She grabbed his wrist and tapped the yellow circle. 

For a second, he froze, hypnotized by her big brown eyes and small, puffy lips. “Are you Ms. Stone?”

“Oh, I see the confusion. Ms. Stone had a family emergency. She sent me to fetch you. I’m her assistant, Sadie of Raleigh.” 

“Great. Are we waiting for anyone else?” Alexander noticed other confused men.

“Actually, Ms. Stone never picks up her clients at the space station. Robots usually do that, but she told me your mother requested Ms. Stone fetch you herself.”

“I wasn’t aware of that.”

“Well, here I am in her place. I’ll take you to the office and we’ll get you set up in no time.” She started walking through the crowd. 

“Are we going to the safety pods?” He followed her. “I heard there was a terrorist threat.” 

“No. The driftlines get terrorist threats all the time.”

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Alexander followed Ms. Raleigh into a spiral-shaped parking garage for small spacecraft. The busy travelers around him continued to impress him. As an Earthian, he was used to seeing aliens, especially Xans—human’s biggest allies. But he had never seen so many robots and women in one place.

Still, none of the humans there were as beautiful as the one walking in front of him. He took a deep breath, watching Sadie’s rear bounce under her ruffled ankle leggings. Her hair undulated like silk, almost reaching her wide hips.

“Wel-come, to, Avery 5. May, I take, your suit-case, Mr. Sing-ah-pore?”

Alexander frowned at the metallic figure who wheeled itself beside him. Its body looked like a skinless human being with muscles made of metal and plastic.

“It’s all right,” said Ms. Raleigh. “He’s an Ai-way. He’s programmed to help.”

The man nodded, still disconcerted. On Earth, they had integrated all machine aids into the environment. Floors had self-cleaning tiles. Cars did not need drivers to drive them. Bedroom closets kept clothes clean, organized, and even suggested outfits. So humanoid robots were uncommon.

“How does he know my name?”

He handed his suitcase to the Ai-way. The robot slid open the side door of a small blue craft and pointed inside.

“Your pass-port data was uploaded into the planet’s Ai-way system after your arrival.” The strings connected to Ai-way’s face contracted, imitating a human smile. “Don’t worry. Your personal in-for-mation is secure.”

Ai-way’s eyebrows came together over its nose and three dots blinked on its forehead. “Mr. Sing-apore, you do not own a flight permit.” Its eyebrows returned to their original position. “It would be my plea-sure to transport you to your destin-ation.”

“He won’t be needing a driver,” said Ms. Raleigh. “I’ll be flying myself.”

“Excellent. If there’s any-thing else I can do—”

A loud screech emitted from the robot’s chest, and its abdominal muscles slid in all directions. Its jaw dropped to the floor, causing Ms. Raleigh to gasp.

“Take cover!” She yanked Alexander by his shirt and pulled him down behind the aircraft.

The Ai-way exploded into pieces.

The screeching became a bang. Sharp metal torpedoed into the columns of the space station’s parking lot. The Earthian covered his head as a metallic eyeball bounced off his knees and rolled away from his feet. All travelers trembled under the air crafts.

The parking lot was calm for exactly twenty seconds. Ceiling lights flickered in many colors. Everyone stumbled upright, looking at the place where there used to be a robot. Only a black shadow remained. From its center, a triangular device foamed and hardened into a standing white spear. Alexander and Sadie approached it with caution.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“The terrorists left their signature,” said Sadie.

The Earthian shook his head, lifting a piece of his blown up suitcase off the floor.

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The loveseat where Alexander sat wasn’t as comfortable as it looked. His seat wasn’t what made Avery Five unbearable, however. It was knowing he almost died an hour ago.

Floating on the wall beside him, a painting turned bright pink and turquoise to lighten his mood. He frowned at it and looked at other areas of Ms. Stone’s office.

A holographic panel popped above his forearm. It was a letter from the government.

Dear Mr. Alexander of Singapore,

This is a notice from the Census and Population Department of the Human Federation. As your 21st birthday approaches, you must follow your human duty of marriage and reproduction. If you do not find a suitable mate by the 16th of May 2500, you will be put in a cloning waiting list and will be fined a minimum of 26,150 Saggitarian Bitcoins (SB).

We understand that financial hardship and female Earthian underpopulation might make it difficult to comply with your duty. That’s why we have set up a fund for all applicants who wish to travel at no cost to one of four planets available: Cancri, Avery 5, Kepler 186f, and Rembrandt.

If you benefit from this program, reply to this email within the next 24 hours and attach a copy of your human blueprint and Earth citizenship.

Please notice that because of the Organic Advancement Laws we can not accept Naturalized Robot applicants, clones, and or androids.

Best Regards,

Jabulani of Mozambique,

President of Census and Population Department -Human Federation.

Tap your wrist twice to exit the message.

Touch the corner of your left eye to reply to this message.

Alexander grunted, smacking his wrist.

The floating canvas turned into a ball of gas and lowered itself toward the Earthian. A dim red light began shining from its center, getting Alexander’s attention.

“Moonlanding! I don’t need therapy.” The man punched the armrest.

The ball rushed away and collided with the wall. Paintings of flowers and butterflies glittered on the surface.

The Earthian rolled his eyes and reached into the inside pocket of his leather jacket. In his hand, there was a red rectangle made of a thin, flexible material. His index fingers traced over the golden strokes printed on it.

“Gong Ji Nian,” Ms. Raleigh whispered.

“Excuse me?” He turned around while putting the rectangle back inside his jacket.

“The writing.” She grinned and walked around the love seat. “It’s an ancient Earth language called Chinese. It’s like Huowen, the language of the people of Mars.”

“I know,” he replied. “My mother’s from Mars. Do you know what the writing means?”

“Gong Ji Nian. Year of the Rooster. Can I see it?” She showed him her palm.

Alexander reached into his pocket for the red rectangle again. “Be careful with it. It’s old. I’ve been spraying it with anti-decay matter, but I still don’t want to mess with it.”

Ms. Raleigh fell back on the chair in front of him. The hairs on her spine raised at the sight of the golden characters that Alex placed on her hands.

“Is this,” she paused agape, “paper? Is this what paper feels like?”

The young man made a half smile at the way she pouted her lips to express her astonishment.

Neither of them noticed the flowers on the back wall disappeared. The lights in the room became dimmer, and the temperature was one degree warmer. Her brown eyes turned a shade of yellow.

“My grandfather gave it to me. I didn’t know that’s what it was until I learned about paper in school.”

“Amazing.” Ms. Raleigh placed it back on Alexander’s hand as if any brusque movement could make the sheet dissolve into dust.

The back wall disappeared. A tall, middle-aged woman with straight black hair rushed inside the room. “Mr. Singapore, I left my meeting as soon as I heard what happened.”

They saw other transparent cubicles where employees spoke to holograms that popped out of their forearms.

Alexander jumped off his seat and the abstract art painting appeared again. “Ms. Stone, were you aware that Earthians are being targeted by a terrorist group?”

“You told him?” The middle-aged woman widened her eyes at her assistant.

Ms. Raleigh shook her head.

“She didn’t have to. It’s all over the news.” He swiped his right arm and a recording of the attack popped between them. “I wasted a year of my time to get here. I will file a complaint with the Human Federation. I can’t believe my mother trusted you.”

“And you can trust me, too.” Ms. Stone raised her arms, fanning the angry man. “I was going to memo my clients, but communication between planets of different solar systems travels slow—”

“You should have instructed your assistant to tell me about it at my arrival.”

“Mr. Singapore, your Duty of Marriage notice expires May 16, 2500, YOE, year of Earth. Today is May 28, 2499. That means you have a little less than a year to find a human female and marry her. And I can help you do that like I’ve helped hundreds of Earthian men find beautiful Aver women. Your safety and happiness are of my business’ interest. Please, let me help you.”

Alexander placed one hand under his elbow and scratched his temple. He glanced at Ms. Raleigh, whose strained face meant keeping her job depended on his decision.

“Okay, but all my clothes and my money were in my suitcase, which blew into pieces. Do you have a place I can stay until my father sends more Saggitarian Bitcoins?”

“Yes,” Ms. Stone stuttered. “You can stay at, at, at my assistant’s house.” She pointed both hands at Ms. Raleigh.

“My house?” Sadie raised her eyebrows. Her boss squeezed her tricep. “Of course he can stay at my house. I live nearby. Great neighborhood.”

“Problem solved.” Ms. Stone’s pitch increased. She opened her arms, then clapped her hands.