## Valdieri House Courtyard — Afternoon
After opening the door, the man led Rain onto a pale gray stone path. Closely cropped lawns flanked it, their grass deep and even in color, clearly tended with meticulous care.
A small fountain stood in the middle of the courtyard, its murmuring water spreading softly through the open space. It wasn't intrusive; instead, the sound was reassuring. Several orange trees grew beside it, thick green leaves sheltering fruit not yet fully ripe. The air carried a faint, bitter plant fragrance, along with the smell of damp stone and cold water.
Rain slowly approached the fountain. No cluster of angels crowded the sculpted basin. At its center stood a single goddess, a little taller than an adult. She wore a Greek-style robe falling to her ankles, her head slightly bowed, both hands supporting a shallow stone bowl. Water overflowed from it, running along her slender fingers into the pool.
Rain held her breath. She recognized the statue. It had appeared in her Philosophy of Art textbook.
“Hesperides. The garden goddess who guards the golden apples.”
She murmured the words. Looking past the statue, she saw bitter-orange and lemon trees directly behind it. This sculpture was a masterpiece by a European Renaissance master, virtually priceless. Yet here it stood—in the courtyard of a mansion on New York's Upper East Side. She inhaled deeply, then turned to find that the man who had guided her had vanished at some point.
Collecting herself, she looked at the sculpture once more and continued along the path.
After she crossed a covered walkway planted with rare flowers, Valdieri House emerged at the far end of the courtyard.
Its white stone exterior looked cool in New York's afternoon sun. The windows were tall. Deep green vines climbed black wrought-iron railings, yet the house itself did not look old.
One room on the side of the second floor had an almost entirely glass wall. Ivy curled around the frames, partially veiling the panes, while wisteria stems wound downward like a natural green curtain.
The building was vast and still. Gazing up at it, Rain unconsciously slowed.
Several people stood beneath the porch. Some wore dark suits like her guide; others were gardeners in work clothes and gloves, busy in the flower beds. At the sight of Rain, they stopped and removed their broad-brimmed hats to look at her.
Instinctively, she mustered a false smile and gave them a reserved nod. They looked no different from ordinary Betas working in wealthy neighborhoods, but their attention unsettled her. What truly stopped her, however, was a young man beside an orange tree.
He wore a dark gray uniform. Tall and slender, he was flawless in every detail: skin, eyes, hair, fingers.
The only strange thing was his stillness. Standing beside the tree, he sprayed its leaves with a bottle, his movements smooth and natural. Each squeeze of the trigger lasted almost exactly the same length of time and applied almost the same pressure. Even the arc of his arm seemed to follow an intricately designed path.
Warm afternoon sunlight rested on his shoulders and back. A bee flew to the tip of his nose. He showed none of a normal person's startled reaction, merely turned his face slightly aside. As he did, a faint ring of silver-blue light flashed through his pupils.
Rain froze, eyes widening.
“An android...”
She spoke so softly that she seemed afraid to disturb him.
Of course she had seen them before.
On the city's giant screens. In promotional films for technology exhibitions. On the company homepages she opened again and again while sending out résumés.
On those screens, they always stood in sterile white laboratories, practicing smiles and handshakes, serving coffee, caring for the elderly, assisting engineers. An excited narrator announced in the background, “The next generation of intelligent agents has arrived.”
Rain had always thought those were merely concept demonstrations. Surely they were nowhere near the point of quietly tending an orange tree on the porch of a private residence like an actual human employee.
Yet one really had been built. And it was evidently already in use.
Suddenly, she understood more clearly that Celestina wasn't merely “rich.” What she held in her hands might be changing an entire era.
Just then, the phone in her pocket vibrated sharply. Rain startled and fumbled it out. Looking down, she saw Emily's name.
Emily: It's been 30 minutes since you left. Safety check. Over.
Rain: I'm here. Everything seems normal. Over.
Emily: Seems normal? What's not normal?
Rain hesitated and looked up at the android nearby. He was turning to hand the spray bottle to a gardener. Taking the opportunity, she turned away and furtively moved farther off before typing.
Rain: I think I just saw an android in her garden...
Emily: ...
Emily: Do you want to read what you just wrote?
Rain: It's real! He was watering a tree a second ago.
The typing indicator kept appearing at the top of the chat. After a long time, it vanished without a reply.
Rain waited, then put her phone away with a faint sense of disappointment. The next instant, she looked up to find the android, who had been some distance away, standing directly before her. His expression was natural, even carrying precisely the right degree of polite amusement.
“Oh my God!”
She cried out.
The android stirred at the sound, then lowered his eyes slightly as though performing some identification check. The gesture resembled human thought so closely that gooseflesh rose lightly along Rain's back.
Two seconds later, he looked up.
“Miss Rain.”
His voice was gentle and clear, without any stiff mechanical quality.
“Miss Valdieri has already authorized visitor access to the small sitting room. She is waiting there with Rongrong.”
After half a second, he added with a smile:
“If you like the grounds, I can take a photograph of you in the courtyard.”
Rain blinked, then replied quietly, a little uncomfortable.
“No, thank you. I'll go see her now.”
The android inclined his head and stepped half a pace aside.
“Please follow me.”
Taking a deep breath, Rain followed him into the main building.
Inside was even quieter. The entrance hall soared overhead, its floor pale stone. She walked carefully, the soles of her canvas shoes making faint echoes in the empty space. Even that sound made her nervous.
Instead of an extravagant chandelier, a group of glass lights resembling suspended water droplets hung at the center. Several oil paintings lined a side wall. The figures wore formal clothes from another age, their calm eyes looking beyond the frames, across centuries, to scrutinize everyone who entered.
Staircases rose gently on either side of the hall. Black wrought-iron handrails formed elegant lines, the dark wooden banisters polished bright. The air smelled of orange leaves with a faint trace of leather.
Nothing bore a price tag or an expensive logo, yet Rain knew every object cost a fortune, even though their owner seemed to have no desire for decoration or display.
The android led her through the hall toward the small sitting room on the right. Passing a decorative mirror, she caught her reflection: ordinary clothes, an ordinary canvas bag, hair loosely tied in the rush of her early morning.
She frowned, suddenly feeling out of place. Profoundly out of place.
Then a soft cat's cry came from the sitting room.
“Meow.”
Rain immediately hurried the last few steps to the doorway and peered in. A kitten lifted its head from a pale wool rug. The instant it saw her, its pupils widened in excitement. Fluffy tail raised, little bottom wiggling, it hurried toward her.
“Rongrong!”
Rain crouched at once and opened her arms. The kitten barreled into them, purring. She picked it up and examined it carefully. It was plumper than when she'd last seen it, its fur fluffier too. Around its neck was a tiny green collar, a small silver nameplate sewn along the edge.
It really had been well cared for.
She looked up and saw a cat carrier, thick medical files, food, assorted toys, and even a small medical kit arranged neatly on the rug. Setting the kitten down, she went closer. Every item bore a little label listing its frequency of use and precautions according to the vet's advice.
Rongrong rubbed against her feet. Rain picked up a labeled can of cat food, her feelings suddenly complicated. She hadn't expected Celestina to be so thoughtful. For an instant, she even wondered whether wanting to cut ties because of her uneasiness had been an overreaction.
The android stood by the door, taking it all in. Adjusting his tone, he said softly:
“Miss Valdieri will be down shortly. You may review Rongrong's inventory first.”
Rain nodded gently.
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome, Miss Rain.”
He withdrew to one side without making even the slightest sound, standing as silent as a furnishing.
The room seemed to contain only Rain, Rongrong, and a carefully measured display of tenderness spread across the floor.
A few minutes later, light footsteps sounded outside.
Celestina stopped in the doorway.
She had deliberately dressed casually today, wearing only an ivory blouse and dark trousers. Her golden hair fell loosely behind her shoulders. Rolled cuffs revealed the lovely lines of her forearms.
She didn't come closer. Her gaze paused on Rain, then quickly shifted to the kitten beside her. Rongrong was working hard to squeeze its head into the crook of Rain's arm, its fluffy tail swishing, looking blissfully without conscience.
Celestina laughed softly.
“It seems to have forgotten who fed it these past two months.”
Rain turned toward her. Her tone was light, almost joking. Yet there was a faint, unmistakable disappointment in her eyes.
“Everything's here,” Celestina said. “The medical records are in the folder on the left. The food is the brand it's used to now. The kit has basic care supplies. If it's too much, you can take some of it first.”
She paused, then hurried to add, as though afraid of being misunderstood:
“I'm not trying to put you in my debt. I just don't want it changing food as well as homes and upsetting its stomach.”
Rain blinked and glanced at the lively kitten, feeling considerably more at ease. She turned to thank Celestina, but her phone vibrated again.
Celestina's gaze followed the sound to Rain's pocket.
“Your friend knows you're here?”
Her question was calm, its emotion unreadable.
“Yes. She's a little worried about me.”
Looking down at her phone, Rain realized how that sounded only after saying it. She hastily looked up to explain.
“Not that you'd do anything. It's just... she's rather anxious.”
Celestina was quiet for a moment.
“She should be,” she said.
Rain hadn't expected that answer. It seemed to acknowledge that Celestina was inherently dangerous. She froze briefly.
With a faint smile, Celestina entered and naturally sat on the rug beside her.
“Does she like androids?”
Rain paused and looked at her in puzzlement.
“How did you know?”
Celestina laughed softly.
“You told me before that you had a friend studying computer science. If she likes androids, she might be a good fit for our company. Valdieri companies don't hire people because of personal connections.”
She paused for half a second and gazed at Rain with a smile, her blue eyes overflowing with tenderness.
“Nor do we reject them because of personal connections.”
Rain drew in a quiet breath. Somehow, they had become very close. She stared at Celestina's long eyelashes, still trying to decipher her words, and didn't know how to respond.
During that impasse, Rongrong finally achieved the goal it had been working toward and burrowed into Rain's arms. Once it had claimed the spot, it promptly lifted its head and meowed triumphantly at Celestina.
Celestina turned her gaze to the kitten and lightly touched its ear.
Displeased, Rongrong shook its head away and burrowed deeper.
Her expression softened further. Lowering her eyes, she murmured:
“Traitor.”
Whether it understood or not, Rongrong stretched a paw toward her in a show of bravado.
Celestina touched its head very lightly with a fingertip, then looked back at the wary young woman.
“Rain, before you leave, could you give me a little more time?”
Those clear blue eyes regarded her quietly. Her tone was gentle, but her gaze seemed to leave no room for refusal.
“I won't stop you taking Rongrong.”
She said it plainly.
“But I don't want us to end with nothing more than handing over a cat.”