"Gotta make good little Martians," Amos says. His tone is neither his approximation of amiable nor sarcastic. Another risk with Gideon: letting his voice drop into the emotionlessness of the machine.

"There's cereal on Earth, but I never had any. Space food's better. Holden'd disagree." But they're from very different parts of Earth, not that it's something Amos ever harps on.