Shelly Greene

Simone, a female-identifying android, is part of a scientific team sent ahead of the first colony to return to Earth, which is finally habitable again after centuries of radiation recovery. She mostly finds her human crewmates irritating, and the most irritating by far is Dr. Lucy Zhong, who slowly becomes Simone's best friend, more important to her than anyone else has ever been.<br><br>When Lucy is fatally injured, she kisses Simone during her last moments of consciousness. Only then does Simone realize they may be more than friends. To save Lucy, Simone places her in the last functioning cryo-pod, even though this means sacrificing another crewmember. Simone's programming should not permit that kind of choice, but if this is a malfunction, Simone doesn't care as long as it saves Lucy.<br><br>When the colony ship arrives, Lucy is revived, and discovers it’s her turn to play rescuer, as Simone has been slated for deactivation. Does the android's "malfunction" mean she returns Lucy's feelings? If Lucy can't save her beloved Simone, she'll never find out.

Programming

And then it was done. Every indicator light on the cryo-pod was green. She estimated Lucy’s odds of successful revival, in her condition and with substandard prep, to be roughly 50%.


That was if their mutilated ship, manned by a single android, retained enough function to support the cryo-pod until the colony ship arrived. Simone spent the next few hours shutting down damaged or unnecessary systems, rerouting power and shuffling the ship’s priorities to favor the pod above all else. Then there was nothing more she could do, not for another four years.


This mission had been different for Simone from the start.


Chapter 3