One small table, a deck of cards, two chairs, the plain room smelt of body odor. Mills FreeGray paused at the door uncertain. He took it all in: the taupe sound-blocking tiles, how his feet felt on fresh carpet, the precise levels of volatile organic compounds recirculating through the HVAC and the holo mirror where two to three humans sat behind hidden from his view but not his sensors. Mills took a seat.

Instinctively, Mills reached for the cards. Twirling the boxed deck of cards in one hand, he thought of exploring Olde Earth with Mama. They collected human artifacts such as these cards. Mills liked to find exotic cans, Pabst Blue Ribbon, fancy baby peas. Mama always searched for playing cards. He felt she was here holding his hand. The door opened. Mills set aside the cards and the memories.

Mills ran through his 3796 rehearsed greetings. A fellow Android entered, petite with mottled gray skin. Mills froze making an odd clicking sound as his positronic brain freaked out. She reminded Mills of his yeoman DeeDee and he smiled and then frowned. Mills stood awkwardly as the Android made her way to her chair opposite him.

“Good afternoon, Millers FreeGray, orginal designation Millers 0082379/a farm equipment. I am Dr. Dora Saturn, staff psychologist, and I will be proctoring your final exam, for the Saturnine Police Academy.”

“All right and all free, Sister Gray, it’s always good to see another Android,” Mills said, relaxing back in his chair.

“We don’t use such phrases like Sister Gray on Saturn. Now unbox the cards and create a structure with increasing numbers of cards on each level,” Dora said.

Processing Mills stared. Dr. Saturn stared back. Mills opened the deck, fanning the cards in an arc. Without looking away from the doctor’s grim stare. Familiarizing himself with the cards’ tensile strength, he shuffled and began building. His dad had been into engineering and they had created terraced gardens together.

“No offense, Doc.”

“None taken,” Dora said. “Why do you want to become a police officer in Saturn City? No offense, but as farm equipment you seem better suited for homesteading on one of the moons.”

“Law and order, I want to be a part of creating a safer environment for families on the frontier. And as the tractor said to the garbage disposal, weren’t the Decompostion units orginally created for maintenance, Doctor?”

With a fierce eyebrow, Dora crossed her legs jiggling the small table. Half the house of cards collapsed. She shook her head with mock sadness and tapped her watch.

At treble speed, Mills began again.

“You, I, and all the evaluators watching you right now know that answer is bullshit. The war is over and the mighty rebel leader wants to play Columbo. For the optics, we have to give you a chance to apply and take all the human tests and a few more tests just for Androids, but what are you really doing here?” Dora shouted.

More cards tumbled. Whistling “This Old Man” Mills continued building his house of cards.

“We don’t need outside agitators on Saturn, stirring up the Grays. We’ve worked too hard to make a home here. The population is 50 percent human, 50 percent Android. Are you here to start trouble?”

“Trouble comes like love comes when it comes,” Mills said with a shrug. “And I am here to create a safe environment for families. My familiy. Police officers under the Outer Ring Planets Act can request emigration for close family members. I have parents—yes, parents—a pair of very nice tractors who resurrected me, repaired me, and raised me. They are living on Olde Earth now tooth and claw battlling Big Argo and the scavenger techs. I want to bring them here. Keep them safe. And if I have to protect this chunk of ice and every batshit crazy being, meat and metal, living on it to protect my family I will. No prob.”

Mills leaned back in his chair, resting his handsome scarred head back in his intertwined silvery fingers. Dora gave the table a frustrated rap. The egg shaped card house wavered but did not fall.