Nishant was Usha's elder brother by only a minute; his umbilical cord was cut first. It was that same fate that delivered Nishant to his death when space debris severed his tether just as Usha entered the airlock. If the crew hadn't held her back, she would have swam out into the void to join him.

 

* * *

 

Usha sat in the ship’s chapel surrounded by rows of chairs where friends and colleagues had come and gone. Garlands of digital marigolds surrounded a holographic image of Nishant in dress whites. She held an empty canister to her chest. She stared blankly out of the oculus and wondered if the heat generated by each star would be enough to thaw the cold that engulfed her.

 

"Usha?" It was Captain Rivera. She attempted to stand, but he quickly touched her shoulder and sat beside her. "Thirsty?"

 

Usha swallowed. Thick saliva in her mouth struggled to move. Even tears no longer flowed. She nodded, repositioning the urn like a child at her bosom.

 

"Here, drink this." He held a small glass filled with golden turmeric tea. The steam curlicued under Usha's nose as she inhaled deeply. Thoughts of eating or drinking felt like luxuries from happier times. A week gone and I still look for you in every room.

 

Nishant and Usha were twenty-three when they were accepted aboard the Samsara, a colony ship to Beta Earth. In their twenty years there, she never expected to be without him.

 

"Thank you," she said, placing Nishant’s empty vessel on the dais. She took the cup and let the warm tea fill her mouth and soothe her throat.

 

“I'm not sure about the customs here." He was dressed in white as she was.

 

"With no body to cremate, we’ll pray to free his soul." The icy glacier of her heart thumped, and pain tore through her chest. She pushed away the memories of his body hurtling away from her, the helplessness of looking on, and the loneliness of circling in life's orbit without him.

 

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

 

Usha felt her heart beating in a steady thrum to the ship's engines. Soon, the urn would be jettisoned out into space. A homing device within would allow it to follow the ship's path and eventually take orbit around its new home. She imagined a trail of canisters, death's wake behind a ship brimming with life.

 

Within the womb-like belly of the ship, thousands of inhabitants slept in cryo, waiting to be birthed when conditions were perfect. Like my preserved eggs. She thought of another frozen body floating in space.

 

A jolt of pain tore through her. Usha clutched her chest. Nishant, we’ll be together soon.

 

The captain alerted the medics and escorted her to sickbay.

 

* * *

 

By the time she was fit for duty, Nishant's thirteenth-day ceremony had come and gone. May he be at peace, not reborn as someone stylish. He’d hate that. She found herself grinning.

 

Sibling bickering had kept them sane in a colony ship manned by a skeleton crew outnumbered by AI replicants of decreased crewmembers. At least they’d agreed on one thing; they abhorred the thought of preservation by artificial means. They believed death was the beginning of a new cycle, a new chance. AI meant endless recycling with no chance for salvation.

 

As she walked the corridor to her quarters, she saw Nishant walking toward her. Her knees buckled, and she reached for her pills. 'Hallucinations are the mind's way of coping,' her tele-therapist had told her.

 

"Nishant?"

 

"Hello, Usha. I, Nishant, have been replicated. My duties aboard the Samsara are vital."

 

Usha reached out and touched the silicon surface of her faux-brother. "How is this possible? Nishant opted out."

 

"According to my… I did, unless I died first, then I replicated to keep you company."

 

"I never asked this of Nishant." Usha's hand recoiled as if burned.

 

She entered her room only to have it follow her in. On closer study, she saw that the faceplate mirrored roughly her brother's image, brown skin tones flickered white in the light, and its smile held no warmth. She closed her eyes and felt for the pull of their twin connection but sensed nothing.

 

"I never believed in reincarnation," said NishantAI. It was pacing the room, touching objects, and feeling their heft before putting them down.

 

Usha looked up at it. "Who told you that?" She grabbed the teddy bear from it and cradled it in her arms.

 

"I struggled with my faith daily and took copious notes detailing this. Did I not share it with you, sister dear?" The words that flowed from the AI's mouth made Usha sick.

 

"How dare you read my brother's private notes and spit them out to me."

 

"I don't want to leave you, Usha. You need me."

 

"I need Nishant! Whatever you are… needs to go. Now!" Usha flung the bear at its retreating frame. Only then did she cry.

 

* * *

 

As weeks progressed into months, her relocation to data security helped her avoid working with her brother’s replicant. None of her colleagues seemed fazed by NishantAI. They assimilated him into their usual workflow. Many seemed to prefer its banter to the caustic wit of her brother. It was harder to commiserate about loss when everyone preferred his doppelganger. Soon, she would end her work cycle and enter cryo as a welcome respite.

 

On her last night, she cornered NishantAI in its recharge bay.

 

"It’s not in Nishant’s diary, but we spoke often, so I know."

 

"Know what, sister dear?"

 

"Replication would be his hell."

 

"Hindus don't believe in hell." NishantAI plugged himself into the mainframe and flickered briefly before going dark.

 

"Neither do androids."

 

She'd be deep in cryo before the new crew realized anyone had wiped the database of all the replicant crew. They wouldn’t wake her team until reaching the new world. The trial would wait. As cold slumber took hold, she dreamed they floated in space together, twin souls traveling toward Nirvana.