Tevun-Krus #103 - Androids

Android World - A Story by @guywortheyauthor

Android World

by guywortheyauthor

Glen glanced at Shirley in the pilot seat next door, then leaned over and kissed her cheek.

She giggled and tore her eyes from the viewport where planet Earth sedately spun. "Happy to be home, Glen?"

His eyes crinkled. "Happy-sad. And maybe a little worried. I hope Earth's still more-or-less the same."

"Special relativity's a bitch, but it's only been ten years, Earth time." Shirley punched up the communications menu.

"Sure, but when we left, they had just voted to give the androids administrative control." The fond facial expression that he usually wore when talking to Shirley fell to a worried moue. "Of the whole planet."

"Stop worrying. Earth is still there. It's still sparkly and blue. The Sol navigation grid's still up. More to the point, the com says we're cleared for reentry."

"Well, great! I can't wait for a long bath and a walk on the beach." He listened to the beginnings of atmospheric hiss on the hull of their interstellar scoutship. Reentry had commenced. His eyebrows scrunched together. "Nobody's hailed us."

Shirley giggled again. "Worrywart. Here." Her fingers danced deeper into the communications menus until she found the voice channel.

Vibrations began, the first indications of turbulence caused by their supersonic speed in the tenuous upper atmosphere. Time passed, and the vibrations deepened. Glen's forehead wrinkled.

Just as he opened his mouth to vent, the com bleeped, and an android head appeared on viz. "Space traffic control. Got an issue, SmallcraftT4RX?"

A grin of relief spread on Glen's face. "No," he said. "Just making sure everything's okay. We've been away a while."

"All's well, bro." The android engaged its facial morphersto mimic a reassuring smile. "Anything else?"

"I guess not."

"Welcome back to Earth, travelers. Ta."

Another beep announced the termination of the phone call. "Huh," Glen said.

Shirley's forehead wrinkled. "Yeah, that was a little weird. Awful casual for an android, wasn't he? Complete with stilted slang."

"A little cultural evolution never hurt. I'm happy, now. Let's land!"

The roar of thickening atmosphere cut off further conversation anyway.

After a routine landing at Miami spaceport, Glen and Shirley packed their kits and scurried. Married or not, the interior of a scoutship started out tiny and during a long trip grew even tinier. They entered the conveyor tube and inhaled deeply of the filtered, climate-controlled air. The tube spat them out into the main terminal, where various mechs roamed.

"Kinda empty," Shirley noted.

"With a bunch of new robots," Glen said.

Shirley emitted a laugh of amazement. "I don't see a single android!"

Glen snickered. "Running the world must've tired 'emout."

"Let's get to the hotel." Shirley's face glowed with anticipation. "I can't wait to feel warm sand between my toes."

The lack of androids continued to impress them as they traveled by mech-driven bus to the beachfront skyscraper hotel. The lack of humans did not surprise them. They barely noticed.