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  It spread across 400 acres of carefully manicured gardens, lawns, and outdoor activity areas that catered to his interests, such as a swimming pool and tumbling gymnasium. Maintenance bots roved the grounds maintaining an almost sterile perfection, while others prepared his most often used retreats now that he'd returned and might have need of them on a whim.

  Up ahead his manor dominated the center of the estate like a small mountain, a bit over 100,000 square feet of mostly infrequently used space. Meaning he regularly tired of his current living area and moved to a new wing, where he could be surrounded by different architecture and have different views of the estate grounds. Most of the remaining space in the structure was taken up by a huge variety of recreational areas that catered to interests more suited to the indoors.

  Although like the outdoor recreational areas, Tycho had long since stopped using most of them.

  Save for his two companions he lived alone on the estate. Same as the millions of other people on Helios 4 lived alone on theirs. Same as on every other terraformed planet scattered across the explored universe and every person living on them.

  Over a trillion humans, all living alone with plenty of acreage between them and any others of their kind, and only companions and acquaintances on the allnet to keep them company.

  Tycho had lived on this estate for seventeen years now, ever since his mother decided she wasn't up to caring for him anymore and shipped him here at the age of eight. Which was a regular practice for custodial parents, almost none of whom kept a child over the age of ten.

  So he'd been brought here to this strange new place in the care of his nursemaid companion, Diana, and his new house companion Loran. Although of course their efforts were aided by the house AI and the plethora of maintenance bots that cared for the house and grounds.

  Since that time he'd come to view the place as home, and in spite of its vast size there was nowhere on the grounds or in the manor itself that he hadn't explored. Or, for that matter, that wasn't so familiar that he was now thoroughly bored of it all.

  But in spite of that it was oddly good to be home, even after less than a week out in the wilds. “See you soon for another lesson,” Tycho told Pilot as he left the cockpit.

  “Acknowledged. This unit is ready for further utility.”

  Pausing, he stared back at the controls and frowned. The ship's AI just wasn't any fun like this. “Resume personality and human behavioral subroutines.”

  “About time,” Pilot groused. “And might I add that I can't wait for the next opportunity to allow you to handle this state of the art vessel as if it were a toy being clumsily splashed about by a toddler in his bath.”

  “Yeah, I had fun too.” Grinning to himself, he turned away.

  His smile faded when he reached the exit ramp and found Eva waiting at the bottom. His companion looked oddly tentative, an expression he'd almost never seen on her since she'd become more familiar with his personality and expectations near the beginning and could more perfectly cater to them.

  “You'll want to get washed up and checked over for further injuries,” she said, almost a question. “And shave that scraggly scruff off as well, I'm sure.”

  “I will indeed,” Tycho agreed, stepping past her. “Loran can handle that. Go make yourself useful somewhere.”

  It was probably petty to continue snubbing her, but now that he was home he had a dreaded reunion to make, one that she'd just reminded him of: Lady, Laird's mate and constant friend. The poor mastiff wouldn't understand what had happened to her mate, and Tycho dreaded witnessing her sorrow as she waited for Laird and a reunion that would never happen.

  He didn't think she'd understand him if he tried to explain it to her, but he had to try.

  “Any specific tasks?” Eva asked, showing no sign of hurt or affront at his brusque manner. After years of intimacy and shared confidences he sort of felt like she should, but maybe that just served to highlight what a sham their relationship was.

  “Anything that keeps you out of my sight,” he replied. Then he paused and turned to look at her. “Or actually, I'll be going to bed after I've cleaned up and had something to eat. Be sure the tumbling gymnasium is ready when I wake.”

  His companion brightened. “You haven't used that in years. It'll be good to see you doing something you used to enjoy so much.”

  Yeah, he mostly just wanted to work out some of his tension through physical activity, use it as a chance to shove his roiling emotions to the back of his mind. But he supposed it might be nice to sharpen his technique some, maybe even try to master something new.

  A sudden storm of excited barks from around the side of the estate heralded the approach of Lady, a big tan shape streaking towards him with astonishing speed for such a squat, solid body, tail wagging furiously in pure joy at seeing Tycho finally home.

  Loran must've let her out so she could be there to greet him on his return, a rare miss for his normally astute house companion. It looked as if Eva hadn't alerted him of Laird's death, otherwise he probably wouldn't have planned to have Lady there right away, before Tycho was ready to deal with her.

  But perhaps this was for the best. Tycho owed it to his faithful friend to not waste time giving her the bad news.

  Lady was smaller than Laird, but not by much, and she nearly knocked him over with the force of their reunion as Tycho dropped to his knees to throw his arms around her neck and begin scratching between her ears and around her neck.

  “Miss me, girl?” he said quietly, tears coming unbidden to his eyes. Lady obligingly licked at them, making him laugh in spite of his grief and gently push her head away.

  Then the dreaded moment arrived. With a confused whine the big mastiff began looking around, then nosing around the ramp of the ship. The last place she'd seen Laird before Tycho took him away. He sucked in a shuddering breath, steeling his nerves, and made his voice as firm as possible. “Lady.”

  The well trained mastiff immediately shifted to face him, posture straight and head attentive. Tycho made his way over and rested his hand on her head. “Laird's not coming back, girl,” he said quietly. She whined in patient incomprehension and he bit his lip. “He died saving me. I'm sorry, I couldn't protect him like he protected me. I failed him, and now he's gone.”

  Still she looked at him with those adoring brown eyes, waiting for him to give her a command or play with her. It broke his heart to see such simple trust there. Looking away, Tycho spoke quietly. “As you were.”

  Tail wagging, Lady returned to the ramp and continued sniffing around it, searching for Laird. Tycho wasn't sure when she'd finally realize he wasn't coming back, or even if she'd just keep waiting patiently for his return for the rest of her comparatively short life.

  Behind him he heard Loran clear his throat to announce his arrival. When Tycho didn't turn to him the companion spoke with patient sympathy. “Eva told me you wanted me to see to cleaning you up and feeding you tonight. Shall I take Lady back to her yard, then return and see to your needs?”

  Tycho shook his head. “I'll do it. I'd like to spend some time with her anyway. And I'm not in the mood for a bath right now anyway . . . I'll just walk through the sonic cleanser once I'm done with Lady.”

  Loran didn't miss a beat. “Very good. I'll have dinner for you when you're ready.”

  As his companion walked away Tycho joined Lady by the ship. But no matter how much he coaxed he couldn't distract her with any other activities, even ones she usually enjoyed like chasing thrown toys or play wrestling.

  So with his heart breaking anew he spent time with her the only way he could, by helping her search for the mate that wasn't coming home.

  Chapter Two

  Reaching Out

  Tycho woke up in a sour mood the next morning.

  He could readily admit that most of that was Eva. After years of sleeping with her soft form cuddled up to him his bed felt cold and empty without her. He kept waking up to find himself reaching for her, only to remember he'd
sent her away and grumpily grab a pillow to hold onto instead while he waited for exhaustion to reclaim him.

  It only added to his irritation to realize that Eva had been perfectly accurate, pointing out that after almost a week away from her he had other physical needs that were insistent on being relieved. At first it annoyed him how distracting they were, then it frustrated him when they made sleep difficult and refused to let him think of anything else.

  But he persevered until fitful slumber finally claimed him. And each time he woke missing her, arm reaching out across the bed to discover where she'd gone until he was alert enough to remember, he grit his teeth and fought his way back to unconsciousness.

  He could've called her back at any time, of course. Part of him felt stupid and childish for refusing to. But his stubbornness won over his loneliness, and so he spent the night cuddling a pillow instead.

  By the time Tycho grudgingly gave up on sleep and pulled himself out of bed he'd come to a realization: this situation was intolerable. He was either going to have to get over his irrational resentment towards his adult companion for doing what she'd been programmed to, learn to live without her, or replace her.

  The first was obviously the way forward. He didn't see how it would be anything but detrimental to his health and mental wellbeing to not have an adult companion to meet his needs, and Eva had been the ideal companion in all respects so replacing her would probably be a downgrade in quality. Aside from the novelty of a new companion, of course, but the prospect didn't really appeal to him at the moment.

  Tycho's hesitation in simply giving up and letting Eva resume her daily role was tied into a deeper dissatisfaction, though. She just wasn't real, nor were any of his experiences with her. It had taken nearly dying out in the wilds to realize that some deep need in his life wasn't being met at the moment, and he wasn't sure his companion even could meet it.

  For a brief, insane moment he contemplated trying to find a real human who actually wanted to meet in person. He could talk to other people whenever he wanted on the allnet, of course, but if that kind of interaction could fill whatever void he was discovering in his life then it would've done so already.

  He'd spent plenty of time on the net. Lifetimes, if you counted slowtime in full immersion.

  Finding someone to visit might be worth considering, at least. He hadn't seen his mother in person since she'd shipped him off to his estate, and he'd never been in the same room as his father at all. Maybe he could start with them, try to strengthen the family ties. Whatever that meant.

  In any case, at the moment he wasn't in the mood to figure out what to do about Eva. With his stomach growling he was in the mood to eat, however. And his stubborn mood from trying to fly his ship and then sleeping alone stayed with him, making him feel daring.

  So he headed into the kitchen to cook his own breakfast.

  It couldn't be that hard, could it? Eva and Loran made it look simple, just preparing ingredients and tossing them into hot pans or ovens to cook, fry, saute, or whatever. Tycho rummaged in the refrigerator for eggs, cheese, and crisp vegetables and got to work preparing his favorite omelet.

  It took less than five minutes to realize that this was another thing that required experience and skill; he must've started with the pan not hot enough, because rather than cooking to a nice brown on the bottom the omelet stayed a goopy mess. He might've needed to put some sort of oil or grease in the pan, too, because when he tried to flip the omelet it stuck and ripped into pieces.

  Before too long he was basically cooking scrambled eggs.

  Even worse, when he occupied himself chopping up the vegetables to add in he didn't have anywhere near his companions' efficiency or speed, so it ended up taking much too long. His only clue that the contents of the pan had started to burn came when his house AI issued a warning for a fire hazard, and he turned to see the eggs were a blackened mess belching smoke up into the air.

  Tycho cursed and abandoned the vegetables to stare helplessly at the ruined food. He knew he should do something about the fact that it continued to burn, but the sight of the charred eggs reminded him of the intense heat of the pan, and he felt a sudden fear about getting burned.

  His companions had always taken great pains to protect him from heat sources, informing him solemnly that getting burned was one of the most painful injuries.

  But he forced the fear down with an angry growl. Just yesterday he'd been bit by a huge wolf, and while it had been agonizing he'd survived it. He could survive this too, and he needed to do something before he burned the entire house down.

  So after taking a deep breath Tycho grabbed the pan's handle and started to move it off the heating element. Unfortunately halfway there the pile of charred eggs exploded, sending a clump of hot steamy goop from inside to land on his finger.

  Almost immediately pain like he'd never imagined blazed up his hand, and he screamed and jerked it away, slapping at the burn and the egg still stuck to it. Then he jammed his finger in his mouth, sucking on it to soothe the burn as tears of pain pricked his eyes.

  That was about when Eva finally decided to show up.

  In spite of his stubborn mood he felt a sincere surge of relief when he turned to the doorway and saw his companion standing there, ready to solve the complete botch he'd made of things. Still sucking his finger, Tycho stared at her with hunched shoulders and felt like a naughty child as she took in the miserable mess he'd made of his breakfast, the smoke still billowing so fiercely the air scrubbers couldn't whisk it all away fast enough, and his clumsy attempts to soothe his burned finger.

  But why should he feel ashamed or embarrassed? This was his house, to do with what he wanted. “What?” he demanded.

  “A very good effort for your first try,” she said smoothly, moving over to the door into the dining room to open it so the scrubbers there could help clear out the smoke. Then she came and gently took his finger so she could apply a regeneration field to the burn, speaking as she worked. “Would you like me to take over here?”

  “No.” She gave him a slightly hurt look, then glanced wryly at the charred mess in the pan on the stove, and he flushed. “No, what I'd like is for you to show me how to do it properly.”

  Eva smiled eagerly at the suggestion as she released his hand, the burn already feeling better. “A new passion? I think you'd have a wonderful time honing your skills as a chef!”

  To be honest Tycho had almost zero interest in learning to cook, especially not after this disaster, and not when it might take him a long time to get to the level where he could produce meals of the same quality as Eva or Loran. “I just want to be more self sufficient.”

  His companion paused in retrieving the pan to scour it, giving him a confused look. “Why? I and Loran and any other companions you requisition will always be here to provide you with whatever you need.”

  He pointedly took the pan from her and carried it over to the sink himself, putting it through the cleansing field. The charred eggs began to fragment and drift away into nothingness as the field scoured the metal. “Maybe what I need is to not be handed everything all the time.”

  The words sounded absurd as he said them, as proven by the incredulous look Eva gave him. But at the same time they also felt right.

  He'd been strangely content doing his own camp chores during his excursion, in spite of the inconvenience of having to do it all himself. But there'd also been the satisfaction of not needing Eva to be there shaving away his stubble, turning out his blankets, or wiping his bottom after he attended to the unpleasant business of producing waste.

  There was a certain satisfaction to knowing that even though companions could do all those things for him, he didn't need them to.

  “Very well.” She gave him a wry smile. “I'll be sure to do a better job of teaching than Pilot did for your flying lesson yesterday.”

  His companion wasn't lying, either. With her help he slowed things down a bit, spent more time preparing so he wouldn't be rushed tr
ying to get ingredients ready when timing mattered. His next attempt at an omelet didn't come out looking flawless like Eva's usually did, but it tasted just as good.

  Better, in many ways, eaten with the satisfaction that he'd made it himself.

  As Loran appeared to clear away the dishes and clean up with his usual perfunctory efficiency Tycho pulled off his bedclothes, Eva appearing from the bedroom moments later to hand him his exercise clothes and take his dirty laundry away to be washed.

  “I'll be out with Lady,” he told her as he pulled on a pair of comfortable shorts. “Meet me at the gymnasium in an hour.”

  “Of course,” she replied, eyes lingering on his bare chest as he reached for his shirt. “Are you sure you don't want to-”

  “No.” Tycho really did, to be honest, but at the same time he really didn't. Not after everything that had happened yesterday. So he finished dressing and headed out to the ground car he used to get around his estate, or at least to the parts of it that were too distant for convenient walking. Which was most of it.

  The mastiffs' yard was near a small pond on the southwestern edge of the grounds, roomy and full of things to occupy a dog's attention when their masters were away. He found Lady in the kennel lying dejectedly on her bed, looking morosely over at where Laird had slept.

  When he entered the yard she stood and came over to greet him, tail wagging. But she showed none of her usual boundless energy, and her eyes strayed past him searching for her mate.

  “I know, girl,” he said, dropping to one knee to rough her short fur. “I miss him too. I wish I could tell you he was coming back, but we'll just have to learn to go on without him.”

  Lady whined sadly, almost as if she finally understood what he was trying to tell her. With a sigh Tycho stood again and went over to the toy bin. “Come on. You don't seem to have too much energy today, but you should still exercise.”