walked closer to the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Wow.”

Deviant came up behind her and hesitantly put his arm around her waist. “I like this view. I’m high enough to see over the city walls to glimpse the ocean in the distance.”

She hugged his arm and leaned back against him. “The water is so blue. And look at all those trees between it and the wall! I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I take it you lived in a populated city area on Earth? My father said they are full of buildings as far as the eye can see.”

“You could say that. We didn’t even have trees or real grass except in a few small park areas. I rarely went. The price of admission can be steep, depending on where you go. They had to put domes over the parks and vent them with oxygen so the pollutants in the air wouldn’t kill the vegetation.”

“I can’t imagine.”

“My city does have one park I visited every year for my birthday. It had flowers. We weren’t allowed to touch them but the smell was heavenly, and they were so beautiful with how colorful they were.”

Deviant held her tighter. “I could get you flowers. Would you like some plants for our balcony? Some cyborgs have them. It’s easy to add a watering filtration system and the oxygen is clean on this planet.”

She looked up at him. “I don’t want you to go to all that trouble.”

“It wouldn’t be. I worked two years of duty in our agriculture gardens, remember? I’ll take you there and you can pick out some plants you enjoy to look at. We can bring them here and give them an environment they’ll thrive in. That way we won’t have to tend them constantly but you can enjoy them whenever we’re on Garden.”

She stared out at the other buildings inside the city wall. “Where is this park?”

“You can’t see it from here. Come. I’ll show you our bedroom. There’s a guest one too but it’s empty. I’ve never had anyone stay with me.”

He loosened his hold and she let him go, following when he walked toward a hallway. He pointed to the first open doorway and she looked in. It was a bare room and she saw that it had its own bathroom, since the door to it had been left open. They moved down the hall and entered a larger room. This one held a king-size bed, a dresser, and two nightstands. Deviant turned to her, looking uncertain.

“It’s very bare. We can buy different furnishings, and I know some enjoy paintings on the walls.” He advanced across the room to a big window that seemed covered by a dark film, and pushed a button. The window cleared, lightening, and revealed another view.

Venice went to stand at his side and stared out. “Oh, it’s beautiful!”

There weren’t any tall buildings next to them within sight, only a large stretch of land. Green and other colors of vegetation had been planted. The sight of a space vessel near the city wall wasn’t something she’d expected, nor cute cottage-style house being built next to it.

“Is that a shuttle parked on the other side?”

He chuckled. “Yes. That’s the Jenny. Coal, a cyborg, married the captain of that shuttle. Her name is Jill. She had a strong attachment to her shuttle and wanted to keep it, rather than allow us to salvage it for building materials. They lived there inside it for a while but recently began to work to create their dream home next door to it. Their androids will remain living on the shuttle once they are able to move into the house.”

“They have personal androids?”

“They belong to Jill, and she’s fond of them in an affectionate way. They aren’t just machines to her. That section of land belongs to them, and her androids grow food there. It gives them a purpose. Some of the agriculture teams are appreciative.”

“Why? Do those androids help them work?”

“Yes. One of the androids, named Rune, was an advanced prototype of a sex bot.”

“Oh.”

He surprised her by laughing. “It’s not what you might think. She refused to allow her body to be used for that purpose. She was designed to learn and evolve her own programming. One of the things she decided was that she hates to get dirty…and sex is messy.”

Venice stared up at him. “What?”

He grinned. “A few cyborgs approached her for sex. She threw them on their asses and told them to stay away from her. She’s a source