Eva took off her jackvest and balled it up into a pillow. As she settled down, she spied Muthr standing silently in the gymnasium doorway, the robot’s silicone skin glowing in the pale lantern light.

Eva tucked the deteriorating WondLa into the inside pocket of her tunic, next to her beating heart, and closed her eyes.

CHAPTER 19: FOREST

Eva winced as the late-morning sunlight danced across her face. Once again she was aboveground deep in a forest—the Wandering Forest, as Rovender had called it, before he’d walked off to relieve himself.

Compared to the previous day, her morning had been uneventful. Normally Eva would have enjoyed the tranquility, but she had been excited, hopeful that they would find other residents living in the neighboring Sanctuaries.

After rising and eating a quick breakfast, the trio had opened the hatch leading to the next adjoining Sanctuary. To Eva’s dismay, she’d discovered it was more overgrown than the previous one. A sense of wonder, mixed with sadness, had fallen upon her as she’d walked through the familiar structure. It was laid out exactly like her home, but had disappeared under thick carpets of bizarre fungi, lichens, and moss. The main entryway to this third Sanctuary had been wide open and covered in small bulbous growths. With each step that Eva had taken as she’d helped Muthr ascend toward the surface, the growths had whistled, puffing their spores.

“Well?” Eva asked now, watching Muthr. At present the robot was quiet, save for her blinking eyelids. Dappled light glimmered upon her through the canopy. All around, a concert of forest voices chirped, buzzed, burbled, and chortled. A sweet scent wafted through the air, mixing with the familiar smell of wet potting soil.

Eva noticed a bright pin light blinking on the back of Muthr’s head—a light she had not noticed before. She neared Muthr, grasping one of her rubber-tipped hands.

“Eva, I cannot fathom . . .” Muthr’s voice drifted away and she appeared lost in thought. Eva wondered how the codes and programs that allowed Muthr to operate were processing all of this new information. Muthr turned as a tiny, thin leaf landed on her lacquered metallic torso. The leaf walked in slow strides, then hopped off. It landed on the moss-covered trunk of a tree and became inconspicuous. “It is more vivid, more alive, than I expected,” Muthr said. “In fact, my optical sensors may be overloading. There seems to be an error in my programming.”

“Are you okay?” A look of concern settled upon Eva’s face.

“It is odd,” Muthr continued, “but the emotional replicator program that I normally use for interaction with you is sending me mixed signals: both of wonderment and of fear.”

“Wonderment and fear? That’s weird,” Eva said, perplexed.