The Settlers (27 page)

And he knew.
 

In the dark of his grandfather's beach house, the one he had hoped to raise children in, the one he hoped to grow very old in, the one he had so proudly introduced Mae too, the one that he had constructed his dreams around since he was a child, he knew.
 

Micah wakes before the first sunrise of the morning, which is scheduled to happen at 4:32 a.m.
It occurs to him that, 33,000 miles above his home, his sense of time has vanished.
He wonders if Station Argus is high enough above the Earth to have affected the way time works.
Yes, he imagines.
But he decides that nobody has rewritten the number of minutes in the day for purely nostalgic reasons.
 

Knowing that twenty-four/seven hasn't changed is one of the most basic comforts, he imagines, for those who have chosen to step off of the spinning ball they were raised on.

Bob says, Good morning, sir.
 

Micah doesn't respond.
He's only sleeping in his apartment, in this bed, because he doesn't know how to access his finances.
He feels strangely like a traitor, though he cannot decide whom he has betrayed.
He settles on Bernard, and Mae.
By accepting this privileged existence, by leaning on it, he feels as if he is being disrespectful to that kind old man and his granddaughter, and as if he is thumbing his nose at the memory of his deceased wife, who was the sweetest of souls.

If he knew how to get to his money, he'd have stayed in a hotel in Argus City last night.

He'd have looked for a place of his own.
 

May I recommend a breakfast selection, sir?
Perhaps a coffee?
 

No, thank you, Micah says.
Let's continue with the education selection of your programming.
Tell me where I can find my bank account.
And how do I shop for food?
 

Sir, your assets were neutralized upon entry into the Onyx system, Bob says.
 

Micah wishes that Bob had a face so that he could stare dumbfounded at it.
I worked for most of my life to save that money, he says, finally.
And it was -- neutralized?

Onyx-class citizens enjoy unfettered access to all station systems, sir, Bob says.
You will have no need for funds.
To order food, simply speak your list of items, and it will be delivered to your apartment in as timely a manner as you wish.
All other services are similarly free of charge.
 

Free, Micah repeats.
I get everything for free.

Yes, sir, Bob says.
 

Such as?
 

Bob says, There are no charges or fees for your apartment or its support systems.
Food is free of charge.
Entertainment of all types, including physical, is free of charge.
Clothing and any items you wish to purchase, including customizations for your apartment, are free of charge.
Body modifications and enhancements, including neural adjustments, are free of charge.

Physical entertainment?
 

Physical entertainment is a polite way to describe intimate companionship, Bob explains.

Whores, then.
 

That is a less-polite way to describe it, sir, but you are correct.

Who chooses to be a prostitute in space?
Micah wonders aloud.
 

Physical companionship is one of the four thousand seven hundred sixteen employment channels that Machine-class citizens are preselected for, Bob says.

Preselected, Micah repeats.
You mean, the government taps new arrivals and says, You're a ship mechanic, you're a bartender, you're a gardener, you're a...
piece of meat?
 

Machine-class citizens are invited to submit their qualifications for their preferred positions, Bob says.
Physical companions often select that line of employment for themselves.
I believe the consensus is that it is less physically-taxing than other Machine-class employment positions, and therefore, in some segments of the population, a desired position.
Like other more interesting employment positions, physical companionship is one option with a waiting list.
 

Micah shakes his head.
Okay, I can't think about that anymore.

As you wish, sir.

So the things that are free to me, Micah says.
Are those only things I can get in the tower here?
 

No, sir, Bob says.
Services that are free to you can be found all over Station Argus, both in the towers and in Argus City.
 

So I could go to the city today and buy a sandwich.
 

Of course, sir.
At no cost to you.

I could buy a new wardrobe.

Yes, sir.
At no cost.

I could visit the holopark.

Yes, sir, Bob repeats.
At no cost.

I could...
stay in a hotel?
 

In theory, sir.
I would be remiss not to instruct you that sleeping out-of-quarters will raise an alert that you did not return to your apartment.
 

An alert.
You mean someone tracks me.

I track you, sir, Bob says.
 

Stop tracking me, Bob.

I'm not at liberty to do so, sir.
Personal tracking is less invasive than you may think.
I simply observe your activities in order to better serve you.
 

So if I didn't come home --
 

In that case, sir, I am required to submit an alert to station government.

You have to tell
the government
if I don't come home at night?
Jesus.

I am required to inform the station government, sir, and when you return to your apartment, you would be contacted by an administrator.
The administrator would be charged with ascertaining why you did not return to your quarters at night.

Jesus fuck, Micah says.
Why is that anybody's business but my own?
 

Absence from your apartment can be an indicator of several scenarios that the government must monitor, sir, Bob says.
For example, it may indicate that you have begun a physical relationship with a Machine-class citizen.
 

Which is the government's business
why
?
 

Such a relationship may lead to complexities regarding that Machine-class citizen's status.
If that citizen were impregnated, for example, without administration approval --

Holy shit, Micah says.
I don't want to hear this.

-- then protocol regarding said pregnancy would go into effect.

You're talking about abortion.
You're talking about forced government-sponsored abortion.
Population control.

No, sir.
Not strictly population control.
Unauthorized class expansion is taken quite seriously.
As I mentioned before, Onyx-class citizens are welcomed and even encouraged to reproduce among themselves as frequently as they like.
 

This is one goddamn horrible experiment you're running on this station, Bob.

I am simply your apartment's artificial intelligence, sir.
 

We'll see about that, Micah said.

He pulled on his clothes, threw open the door, and stomped into the hallway, still pulling on his coat.

Bob closed the door behind him.
 

What did you think when you first saw me?
 

We've talked about this before, haven't we?

Tell me again.

Well, I thought there was no one more beautiful in the whole world.

And you wanted to marry me right then and there.

I wanted to marry you a thousand times in one day.
 

And you wanted lots of babies.

All of the babies.
 

Did you think, wow, check out that bod.
 

I didn't.

Not even a little bit?
I'm sad.

I really didn't.
I was captivated just watching you smile and laugh.

You didn't even notice my butt?
I have a very nice butt.

You were standing behind that food cart.
I couldn't see your butt.

Ah, so you tried.

I didn't.
But I'm sure if I had seen your butt, I really would have liked it.

You're a pervert.

I remember thinking, I bet she looks this amazing in any light.
Because it was a very lovely morning, and the sun was shining through your hair and doing that thing where it makes you almost glow.
And I thought, you probably glow at night, in the dark.

Like a radioactive princess.

My radioactive princess.

Micah.

Yes.

I'm sorry.
 

Sorry?
What for?
 

For all of this.
Look around.
It's not what I wanted.

It's kind of scary, isn't it.
 

I wanted to have babies in in space, in the glow of a star, to make them shine and then push them out into the dark and let them light up the universe.
 

You're such a romantic.
 

I wanted to huddle together with you over a space campfire, all of the darkness around us, and know that we were special, we were together, we were the only two people for a hundred million trillion miles.

And instead, it's terrifying.

I don't even feel like I know who human beings are anymore.
 

They say it's an experiment, Mae.

It's a horrible one.
You thought that the lower-class citizens were like animals in a zoo, but you were wrong.
You all are.