9
Cassi found Arin on the balcony overlooking the automated crop fields. They were located in a huge room with walls of red rock and bright lights in the ceiling. Even from the door, she could hear the robots working below.
Arin stood with both hands gripping the metal railing, his face tight with the strain of working through some turbulent emotions. “Come to cheer me up?” he grated. “Don’t bother. I brought the pain on myself.”
Leaning one shoulder against the lumpy wall, Cassi glowered at him. “You may have chosen to accept the pain,” she said. “That doesn’t mean you deserve it.”
“Ha.”
She cautiously approached and stood beside him in silence, peering over the railing. Down below, several thousand hydroponic units were set up on shelves. Robots moved through the aisles between them
