2062.03.15 06:32
Solitude Probe reporting back to Bright Futures Inc.
Successful landing: Enceladus, moon of Saturn Data stream active
7326 m of ice breached
Molecular scan complete: Confirmed H2O with NaCl
Scanning for lifeforms

When the probe started transmitting data, the busy Exoplanet lab went still for the first time in months as the entire team held their collective breath. One might think it was because the probe had been travelling for years and the scientists were experiencing a moment of reverence and gratitude for their success. Or perhaps they were eager to see if their various hypotheses would be proven correct. Both true, as far as they went. However, the bigger reason was the time-honored tradition of betting on mission outcomes; there was a surprising amount of money riding on this particular probe.

The only one not leaning in was the team manager, Dr. Elliot. Her lead tech, Frank, knew she disapproved of betting but didn’t know quite how many lifeless planets she had seen come and go. She tended to reserve her excitement for either petty bureaucratic victories or real scientific advances. Though she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt breathless enthusiasm for her own work. Really, she should have quit Bright Futures Inc. after the fiasco on Ganymede.

She brushed her hair out of her eyes and squinted.

“Is it coming through?” she asked, as the team crowded around the monitors.

There were reasons they needed to find something, anything. Bright Futures’ deep-sea mining equipment was already flying toward Saturn, so the company was rushing to get their extraterrestrial assessments done before the big rig entered the planet’s orbit in two years. Time was running out for anything living in its path. The assessments were critical in determining where the developers would be allowed to destroy and disrupt, where they would be allowed to dig.

It was Go Time after all the waiting. Now there was a verified stream of data pouring in and soon there would be audio and video feed. Instead of excitement though, Dr. Elliot fought

off a familiar sense of dread. But so far, nothing but darkness and silence. That was to be expected with the amount of ice packed above the probe. It would take a while.

“Turn up the volume, Frank,” Dr. Elliot said, gesturing at the screen.

After fiddling with the sound and getting nothing, Frank pulled up the betting scorecard and started checking the early spreads.

“Salt water… who had salt water?” Frank scrolled through the spreadsheet and started calling out names. Twenty-one out of twenty-five of them had expected salt water.

“What else?” asked Dr. Elliot, ignoring the betting tally. “How long till the lifeform scan is complete? And what range is it reporting?”

“Range is less than a centimeter right now, no lifeform detected,” said Frank. She nodded absently. With the night vision capability of the probe’s camera, they should get a decent visual soon. Could they be looking at alien life in a few hours? And would it be sentient? What Earth creature would it resemble? Though she disapproved of gambling, she had to admit that she understood the impulse. So much of their life’s work depended on luck.

Throughout her entire career, there had been so few chances to find alien life. They had found anaerobic bacteria on Phobos and microbes on Ganymede, fat lot of good that did them. They had proudly reported “Level 1: Life” in their extraterrestrial assessment and recommended further study. But Bright Futures Inc. wasn’t interested in microbes when they got in the way of collecting rare metals.

That was when Dr. Elliot first started feeling tired.

To halt development, to protect life, you had to have “Level 2: Sentience.” That huge milestone was what it took to freeze mining in its tracks and get researchers sent in instead. Researchers could then evaluate for “Level 3: Society,” and even the not-yet-found but often dreamed of “Level 4: Civilization,” demarcated by technology and higher thinking.

Of course, the Exoplanet Team didn’t care about mining at all. They were in it for the big alien discovery: first contact stuff, like in the old movies. The bar had been set so high. Everyone wanted space whales. Everyone wanted little green men who could speak English. Everyone wanted squiggly creatures in spaceships.

Frank scrolled through the betting spreadsheet. A long list of scientists’ names followed “Cephalopod” on the betting chart. Everyone leaned in, wanting tentacles.

There was a tang in the water, something had changed. We tasted the change and were curious. Rising carefully, our scouts drifted to the front. Clinging and then releasing our neighbours, we reached. A slight bitterness as some of us let go and left us, but we clung to who remained and wished the explorers well. Then we waited impatiently, concern radiating out and over the curiosity.

A buzzing, as heat ran up, and down, and through, with ripples as the currents tugged us this way and that. We reached out and out, seeking our scouts and finally rejoined some but not all. We tallied the lost, embraced the returned. As we became whole again, swirls of sweet greeted us, then an odd hint of metallic ice. A new taste for the palate. Fascinating. Something new had arrived in the world.

2062.03.15 23:47
Solitude Probe reporting back 
Visual image attained

A video feed of dark nothingness pinged back for several hours. Darkness, and a few effervescent bubbles. Nonetheless, the team stayed. Stayed and stared and tried to manifest something. Anything.

“Nothing on visual?” Dr. Elliot was calm and methodical. Frank shook his head.

“No—but the probe should automatically adjust for night vision. It’s darker than outer space down there.” Minutes passed, then a soft ping began, and numbers and letters flew up the screen.

“Look!” Frank’s voice rang out. “Something’s coming through!”

As they watched, the dark screen lit up. Tiny pinpricks of blue light, swirling like fireflies. There was a swish of cyan, followed by a flash of pulsing fuchsia. A discernible pattern. But what did it mean?

The long-forgotten thrill of discovery shot up Dr. Elliot’s spine and she took a deep breath. Please, please, she thought, let this be different.

“What is it?” Dr. Elliot whispered.

Someone checked the spreadsheet. Seven people had bet on “Bioluminescent Signature,” including Frank.

Dr. Elliot felt her bone-deep tiredness begin to fall away.

The scouts were buzzing with excitement at the new thing. A metallic tang, smooth and sharp, but not cold. It had its own glow at one end of the cylindrical thing. We had embraced the new object and it had bitten us, dissolved us. A red-hot sensation, a burnt taste, and the remaining scouts had broken free and sailed back to our main body to report on the novelty, to report on the loss. It was dangerous, but what was it?

We approached, the young of our sparkle rushing ahead, the elders holding back. “Don’t touch the hot end,” we shared guidance up and down and out. We drifted, then sailed forward to intercept.

The strange thing was coming toward us, powered by something beyond the currents of the water. A flash of warning rushed through us but the young did not falter. They approached, sailing in and around, a gentle buzz of greeting, a sweet welcome. Fearless, and we were proud.

A young bud touched the glowing tip and evaporated in an eruption of pain. We let go, considering.

2062.03.16 15:21
Solitude Probe reporting back
Cellular sample attained... Analyzing

The images of winking lights continued for hours, intensifying. Like fireflies, but swimming. Or sailing? Was it just organic material drifting in ocean currents? Or were they sentient? Was it alien life? This could be bigger than when alien crabs had been found at the bottom of Europa’s ocean. Were the lights tiny creatures or spots on a larger animal? Nothing was conclusive yet, but Dr. Elliot already imagined a swarm of life in front of her. She felt the burnt-out husk of her bureaucratic career slip away as the scientist leaned in. Excited again for the first time in years, she grinned and touched the screen, willing the flashing lights to resolve into a sign.

The bioluminescent creatures wavered, dove, then circled back, like a susurration of the starlings of old. From cerulean to indigo and then deepening to magenta, the tiny dots wept across and around the screen. The fireflies were putting on a show. But was it intentional or incidental? It looked thoughtful, purposeful. Like the entire flock moved as one.

Dr. Elliot did not sleep. No one went home. Years of waiting and they were on the cusp of a grand discovery, they all felt it. The day passed, the data stream sharing new information about the alien ocean.

“We’re receiving more data,” Frank said. “Looks like it’s evaluating a substance, something on the probe. We have a sample analysis coming through.” Everyone held their breath. “It has a DNA signature,” he said. “It’s a complex organism.” There was a somber silence as the scientists took that in. “We have alien life. Multiple individuals.” Cheers erupted.

Dr. Elliot whooped along with the team. People hugged, some even cried.

Frank was too busy to check the spreadsheet, but someone did. Twenty people had bet on finding lifeforms. No wonder, really, it was what drove them; it was the dream that powered their lives.

Dr. Elliot squinted. “But who are you?” she asked the data streaming past. “Sentient?”

Frank stared hard at the screen. “The cellular analysis says it’s similar to the animal kingdom on Earth, somewhere between gastropod and… marine algae? What does that mean? Swimming snails?… That form toxic clouds like marine algae?” he shook head. “That’s wild.”

Someone pulled up the betting spreadsheet again. Zero takers for algae, two takers for gastropods. Two people across the room laughed and high-fived. Frank had cephalopods or fish on his list, nothing related to what they were seeing. And “sentient algae?” Well, no one had called that.

“The movement of the lights is not consistent with the currents we’re detecting,” Frank continued reporting on the data analysis. “They appear to be moving of their own volition. They’re alive and capable of independent movement. It’s not just little spots of light.” They all watched the glowing patterns on the display.

“They’re practically using morse code,” Dr. Elliot said. “I wish we could direct the probe in real-time instead of just receiving data. We could have a conversation—I know we could.” Her voice was light and her eyes shone, filled with wonder.

After some reflection, we strained toward the strange new thing again, curiosity overcoming the danger. Was it alive? Could it speak to us? It was clearly “other.” But “other” from where and from whom? Was it a thinking creature? Could it communicate? We knew only our world, but we could imagine new things, new tastes, new sensations. Perhaps this thing was alive and thinking. We needed to know. We embraced the danger.

We tasted, we welcomed, we embraced.

And the strange thing… did nothing but blink and sting us.

No change in texture, no change in taste. Just a dead blinking thing, like a tiny volcano eruption. No thought. No response.

We considered.

2062.03.17 09:54
Solitude Probe reporting back 
Data stream intact

Dr. Elliot watched the blinking lights on the screen and imagined they were dancing. Imagined they were creatures who felt happiness, felt pain. She longed for a sign of sentience, anything she could put in the way of the deadly machinery powering toward their moon. The fireflies could be intelligent and capable of self-awareness. Capable of making decisions. Potentially capable of communication.

Watching the swirling, blinking dots growing in brilliance until they took up most of the screen, tiny undulating blobs becoming visible, she could imagine a greeting. Outreach. All the fireflies acting in unison, purposeful.

“Let’s look at this backward,” she said to her team. “If these little lights were sentient, what would they do? How would they act? And how would they be moving?”

“Jet propulsion, maybe?” Frank said. “Like hundreds of tiny jellyfish or octopuses?” He checked the spreadsheet. Fourteen people had bet on “Fins” for mobility, one had bet on “Salt Water Jet Propulsion” and no one had bet on “Cilia,” but Frank was thinking creatively now.

Dr. Elliot was already composing her report in her head. They’d need more data to make a convincing argument for sentience. It was one thing to demonstrate that the blinking life forms were alive, quite another that they were capable of independent thought and feeling. If the probe took another twenty-eight days to circumnavigate the moon’s ocean at a depth of one to ten meters under the ice, they could map out an entire upper ecosystem. What did the fireflies eat? Other animals? Were they scavengers, predators? Were there similarities to Earth’s oceans or was the moon’s habitat truly alien? They could learn so much! She could save them. She just needed more data, more time.

A gasp from Frank brought Dr. Elliot’s attention back to her team. “Data stream inconsistent. Something is happening.”

The scientists crowded back around the monitors. The entire screen flashed turquoise, then cyan, then crimson. It flared for a moment then went dark. No more twinkles.

“Ah, crap!” came a voice from the back of the room.

“We’ve lost visuals,” said Frank, unnecessarily.

For a few minutes, data continued to flow, the image display a stream of numbers and letters. Then they started to waver, chunks missing, empty spaces rolling up the monitor. “We have a thin layer of life around the probe,” Frank reported. “We’re surrounded by the lifeform. This is a pretty weird kind of algae, it’s gumming up the works. We can’t receive cleanly anymore. I think we’ve lost the propellor. The probe is behaving erratically.”

The stream of data continued but the information had changed. “Still salt water, but the composition is changing, and the temperature is dropping. I think the probe is malfunctioning. It shouldn’t be doing this.” Frank fiddled with the data stream and peered at the monitor. “Wait, the pressure around the probe is changing. It’s increasing. The propulsion system can’t regulate its position. We can’t detect the lifeform anymore. No! I don’t think the algae likes us. Is it attacking the probe?”

No, thought Dr. Elliot. Please, no. They needed more time. She thought about the mining equipment zooming on its way, thought about Bright Futures Inc. and the destruction they would bring. She stared at the monitor and silently begged the lines of numbers and letters to keep coming.

The thing was not a thinking thing. It was not alive. It was not something that communicated. Its flavors did not alter. It did not have moods. It did not have feelings. And it was a danger to us. The course forward was clear.

We engulfed the strange cylinder and squeezed. Different hums coming together for a common purpose, even when those of us closest to the sharp lifeless thing were burnt. We squeezed, coating the cylinder and tasting, tasting. The hot light went out. The thing was dead but had always been dead. And as it fell away, it started to skitter sideways. We gripped firmly and some of us dove, stretching downward where the ocean would press it in. Finally, we let go, reaching upwards. The thing would trouble us no more.

2062.03.17 10:09
Solitude Probe reporting back 
Data stream inconsistent

“I think the algae killed the probe!” Frank’s voice cracked.

Fireflies, not algae, thought Dr. Elliot. She sighed as the monitor reflected the building pressure, the plunge downward. The data stream ended abruptly—the sensors must have bent in on themselves and the transmitter collapsed. She caught her breath and fought the urge to weep.

As she stared at the monitor, blinking back tears, she had a thought. “Wait, play the last visual back again,” she said. As she watched the swirling dots, all her seemingly wasted years analyzing exoplanet data coalesced into an observation, an idea.

“Do you see it?” she whispered, her heart beating faster. No one answered. An intuitive leap is not logical. Not predictable. An intuitive leap is the human brain rearranging known facts and seeing a bigger picture. And the bigger picture was staring back at her, dancing on her retinas. “I see it,” she whispered, so low that no one heard her.

The swirling lights weren’t little bugs or birds acting individually, they were part of a larger, singular intelligence, she was sure. There was sentience, there, oh yes, and of an entirely alien kind. She had always dreamed of encountering something entirely new, unexpected. Something that humanity’s tiny imagination had missed. And that something was practically smiling at her on screen. Well, maybe not smiling, since it had gutted their probe, but it was still a greeting of sorts. A pang of compassion for the being they had disturbed pricked her, followed by a wave of elation. After all this time, there it was, her big discovery. And Bright Futures Inc. might destroy its home. She felt something like grief flood through her.

“I’m calling it!” said Frank, doing the calculations. “Fifty-one hours and thirty- nine minutes of data feed. Who had ‘Probe Malfunction on third day’ in the pool?” Three people did, but no one cheered. The probe’s destruction ended their data collection and even the winners weren’t happy with that. Someone made a joke about killer algae. I’ll always think of them as fireflies, thought Dr. Elliot.

Excitement over, the data stream terminated, the scientists went home, saw their families, went out for celebratory drinks, caught up on sleep.

Except for Dr. Elliot, who, mindful of the mining equipment churning through space, argued with the astrobiologists about unified consciousness and hive minds. The alien fireflies were given a random name that no one but Dr. Elliot and the astrobiologists remembered. The exo-ecologists said there wasn’t enough data to confirm an ecosystem, although the presence of the fireflies suggested there had to be one. Days passed, and Dr. Elliot pushed for a broad finding when she sent in her draft assessment for approval. “Firefly species, most likely sentient. Further study and evaluation needed before the moon is developed, either for resource extraction or settlement. Final Recommendation: further study before development proceeds.” She waited.

A few weeks later the finalized report came back: “Lifeform detected. Evidence is inconclusive on sentience. More study needed before a sentience reading can be confirmed. Degree of accuracy estimated at low to moderate. Extraterrestrial Assessment conclusion: Enceladus is provisionally cleared for development.”

Typical. But instead of retreating in her usual caustic defeat, Dr. Elliot stayed late at the lab, energized. Not on her watch, no way. Not again. She drafted up a new request and insisted on redirecting another of the company’s probes to investigate whether sentient marine algae lived on Enceladus. She wanted to meet the fireflies again. Who knew? Maybe the life cycle of the firefly alien was complete in days and there would be the equivalent of a billion years of evolution before they even arrived for their next visit.

Before she put the final report away, she closed her eyes and let her imagination stray back to the frozen moon. She saw the dark ocean depths and wondered how a sentient lifeform experienced such a dark and crushing place. She wondered what had lurked just beyond the probe’s scope, what wonders beyond her comprehension or perception might live there. She pictured a full ecosystem of creatures under pressure, deep-sea monsters and delights with the fireflies as shepherd, the fireflies as predator. Just beyond the probe’s night vision, what new kingdoms waited?

She rewatched the video of the fireflies again and again, imagining she could decipher their blinking and converse with them if she just stared long enough. She found herself gazing at stars at night, imagining them swirling, then flashing blue and pink. She was entranced, re-invigorated. Someday, she promised the fireflies.

We remembered. Even long after the thing had plunged to the depths and bothered us no more. We wondered and considered the mystery. We remembered. We didn’t understand, not yet. But someday perhaps we would. We waited for something new that could help us understand. We remembered, we would be ready. We stretched out and sailed on, still considering, and hoping.

Dr. Elliot turned to the next project with something like joy. The probe she had redirected to the fireflies’ home moon would land in about nine months. In the meantime, there were three more probes scheduled to land on other moons of Saturn, so at least one new data stream was expected to start soon. Surely one of them would pay off. Optimists were calling for another frozen ocean.

Frank was taking new bets and filling up a fresh spreadsheet.

“Hey Frank,” she called. “Put me down for Sentience. And maybe something with tentacles.”

My grandmother knit the ocean. Up all night with bargain-basement yarn, she watched old nature shows and knitted fish. Silver fish, red fish, pink-and-orange-polka-dot-vodka fish. She finished each with a knot and prayer-spit and set it out to sea—which was her room in my mother’s house, painted blue. She knit fish like it was her…

I leaned over the railing, watching dark water thrash below. Evening light refracted off the lighthouse’s windows behind me and gilded the waves. Without warning, Viola appeared at my elbow. I knew who it was, but in the space between knowing and understanding, I jumped. She grinned at me. “Good instincts, Francis. You’ve got to…

Ocean Culture Life (OCL) is dedicated to empowering a global community of ocean storytellers, advocates, and guardians to inspire, educate, and protect marine ecosystems. Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14, their initiatives promote conservation and deepen public engagement with the ocean. Since becoming a registered charity in Jersey, the Channel Islands, in December 2022, OCL has hosted vibrant World Oceans Day celebrations and immersive educational workshops, fostering ocean literacy and collaboration with marine organizations. OCL also gives out over 30 storytelling grants a year, directly funding and supporting their storytelling community. By celebrating the ocean through the power of storytelling, OCL inspires a new generation of ocean storytellers, advocates, and guardians committed to preserving our coastal environments for future generations.

Battle of the Colors

by Francesca Page

Jet-black ink engulfs the emerald and marigold amphitheater as a young male Giant Cuttlefish flees, his bruised and scarred arms a testament to the battles fought for the survival of his kind. Gliding over the reef, he wears these wounds like badges of courage, marks of the relentless competition he faces to secure his legacy.

As the morning’s golden rays dance upon the frigid waters of South Australia, this underwater world stirs awake to a new day of battles, courtship, love, and heartbreak. Descending into this realm teeming with alien-like creatures, a drama as old as time, pulsing with the ocean’s heartbeat, the relentless struggle for love.

This seasonal fighter glides effortlessly over the reef, yesterday’s battles fading like a distant memory. Today brings new hopes as he stirs with quiet resolve, stretching his tentacles wide as dawn breaks through the water. Like a painter’s brushstroke on an ocean canvas, his body shimmers with purpose, pulsating in a hypnotic dance of blues, greens, and purples. He blends into his surroundings, shape-shifting with ease, his keen eyes sweeping for potential suitors. With each pulse and ripple, he prepares to captivate, conquer, and perhaps, finally meet her.

From above, a spotlight shines down on the reef, and nestled beneath the seaweed lies the female. Perfectly camouflaged in golden hues, she hovers silently, patiently waiting for him. Her beauty is unlike any other. Yet her allure has not gone unnoticed. She is surrounded by determined admirers, one, two, three… he loses count as she becomes engulfed by a kaleidoscope of pulsating colors. The heart knows what it wants, let the battle of the colors begin!

With purpose, he moves in, fixating on his beloved; the stage is set for an elaborate shape-shifting show. The largest admirer, looming like a spaceship above him, bellows a challenge, ready for battle. Like a well-rehearsed performance, these males adorn themselves in vibrant, elaborate costumes, each putting on the show of their lives and perhaps their last. The fight begins with a hypnotic dance; they whirl around each other, flaunting and stretching

their bodies to amplify their dominance and power in the water. He has waited too long to find her; this is a fight he cannot afford to lose. As the spectacle escalates, their bodies pulsate with mesmerizing swirls of white and orange, each determined to hypnotize, control, and ultimately win her.

His eyes dilate, intoxicated by love; he is transported into a trance. For a moment, he leaves his body, observing the battle from above, powerless in the face of defeat. Blinded by passion, he doesn’t see the larger male strike, driving a sharp blade into his vibrant armor. Abruptly, he awakens from his spell. With a heavy heart, he falters under the weight of his wounds. Retreating to the safety of the seaweed, he watches his love from afar. Yet, the call of love propels him forward. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in cunning; why fight when you can outsmart?

She locks eyes with him, trapped beneath a sea of unwanted males, her gaze silently beckoning him closer. It’s not size she desires, but intelligence, and he knows exactly what to do. With calculated precision, he employs a clever strategy, slipping in undetected as he masquerades as a female, altering his colorful armor and retracting his tentacles. Like a shadow, he glides beneath the larger males, evading their notice until he finally reaches her side.

Gently, he extends one of his arms to touch her, and her eyes speak a thousand words of passion. Their arms intertwine, head to head, heart to heart, an embrace that signifies the beginning of new life and the survival of their species. In this moment, the chaotic world around them fades away; all that exists is the delicate bond between two Giant Cuttlefish and the promise of their shared legacy, where intelligence wins.

Learning to Swim

by Maddy Bolt

I have learned a lot since first landing in Indonesia six years ago. I’ve learned how to ask for a nasi goreng in Bahasa, how to navigate down a dusty hill on a motorbike with a passenger and two surfboards, and how to tell if the tide will be too low to surf. However, something I took for granted was already knowing how to swim. I barely even remember learning! My faintest memory of learning how to swim, was being told to act like a starfish while attempting to float—at the tender age of five years old. This experience was something I took for granted—until I moved to Indonesia.

Despite spending almost every day in the water, I can count on one hand the number of local women I had seen surfing. Now living in Indonesia part-time and surfing almost daily, I continued to wonder about this. Were local women interested in surfing but just not participating? Or was I projecting my own “western” assumptions onto a community that might not share the same interest in the ocean?

I decided to find out the answer. I turned to Misel, a close local friend of mine. She managed one of my favorite local restaurants in town and we had gotten to know each other drinking many coffees over the years. When I asked her if she was interested in something like surfing, her eyes immediately lit up and she said, “Surfing?! That is my dream. Of course I want to surf.” At least for Misel, it was not a question of having interest.

When I probed her further and asked whether other local women felt the same way, she added exuberantly, “Many of my friends would love to surf! That is something we have only dreamt of doing!” Interesting, I thought, “So why have you not taken the leap to learn?” Misel laughed and said, “Well first we would have to learn how to swim!” This is where I had to check my privilege. I had assumed most of these women had grown up swimming since they lived on an island.

What I later realized, is that despite being in their mid-thirties and growing up in sight of the water their whole lives, many of the local women had never even been in the ocean past their knees. This was due to a myriad of reasons, from a general lack of time due to childcare responsibilities, local folklore stigmatizing the ocean as evil, and parents instilling fear in their young daughters in order to protect them. While this fear worked to keep women away from the ocean, it worked against their favor in dire situations.

Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death in the world, and one of the leading causes of accidental death in Indonesia. Children are especially at risk, since women, who are the primary caregivers to their families, are unable to swim and save those that have been swept away by currents or rogue waves.

This is where the idea for OceanFolx began. In partnership with Misel and a few other local femme leaders in the community, we spent the next year building and starting a swimming, ocean safety, and surfing program. We aim to prevent drowning through a ripple effect. We empower local women by teaching them essential swimming skills, ocean safety, and life-saving techniques. For those who want to go further, we have started an introductory surf program once they’ve mastered adequate swimming and water safety skills. Our program goes beyond basic training by including a leadership component, which equips these women with the tools and confidence to pass these skills on to their children, families, and communities. This approach not only amplifies their impact but also fosters a broader culture of safety and knowledge.

Through our initiative, we empower women, inspire local leadership, and promote environmental stewardship. By encouraging more time spent in and around the ocean, we help transform their relationship with the environment from one of fear to one of positive engagement and respect. Our program brings women together, creating a supportive community where they can empower each other and interact with the ocean in a safe and meaningful way.

In 2025, we will be running our second year of programming. Misel has come a long way and is now working as our local program coordinator. She recruits new students to our non-profit program and is working to become a swim teacher with us. We are committed to empowering more women through our comprehensive swim training program, guiding them all the way to becoming certified swim teachers. Our vision extends beyond our current reach; we aspire to expand our impact by introducing our programs to the neighboring island of Sumbawa and by launching exciting, new at-sea sailing programs. By donating, you can help us provide life-changing opportunities and build a brighter future for the women in our community.

Throughout this journey, I continue to be humbled and inspired every day by Misel and each and every one of our students. It has been incredibly rewarding to share my knowledge and watch our local women step up as leaders, ready to become the next OceanFolx teachers as I transition into a supportive role. Watching them float and telling each other to act like a “bintang-laut,” starfish in Bahasa, brings the biggest smile to my face—and all the hard work feels worth it.

The Sea Inside Ourselves Is Showing

by Jillian Nettels

Does the darkness hold light in abeyance? 
How waves pulse between blurred edges defy. 
Emboldened by revealing raw moments, 
Glisten as we listen to the sky.
Our gazing is a tether in vast spaces,
Radiate a secret silent knowing,
As reflections on rippling places,
That the sea inside ourselves is showing. 
Waters linger in a lonely abyss,
In the dark depths we share suffused longing 
for our promised presence of Neptune’s bliss. 
In remembrance of Day’s vanishing
the Night has taken form from holding breath, 
That Life is a reckoning with Death.
The sea inside ourselves is knowing.
The sea inside ourselves is showing.

Ancient Waters, Modern Warnings: A Scientist’s Love Letter to the Mediterranean

by Arzucan “Zuzu” Askin

The Mediterranean Sea, with its startlingly blue depths and storied coastline, has a unique claim on my heart. As a child, I spent endless summer days diving into these fabled waters, searching for ancient treasures that seemed to whisper through the currents. My quarry wasn’t only shells and smooth stones; I was entranced by the seagrass meadows and the centuries-old amphoras hidden beneath the waves. Each dive was an act of discovery, a glimpse into the world of sailors and merchants from millennia past. I learned early on that the Mediterranean was no mere sea, but a bridge between human history and the wild mystery of the ocean.

From my very first encounter with those seagrass meadows—fields of Posidonia stretching across the seafloor like vast, verdant carpets—I was struck by the way these delicate green strands seemed to breathe life into the water. Posidonia meadows are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, sequestering carbon, nurturing young marine life, and filtering water. These fields of seagrass became sacred places for me, sites of personal pilgrimage and discovery. They felt as much a part of Greek mythology as the stories of Odysseus and the sea gods.

Diving down after hearing my mother’s tales of the sea, I would imagine I was in the lair of Poseidon himself. The seagrass swayed like dancers in tune with his trident’s rhythms, and around me, I felt the presence of forgotten legends: ancient gods, sirens, and the creatures of maritime folklore. For thousands of years, the Mediterranean has held sway over human imagination. This was a sea that demanded respect, a wild place of tempestuous tides and lurking mysteries—a gateway between the known world and realms beyond.

The Mediterranean shaped me as a scientist, teaching me to observe, to ask questions, and to see the world as an intricate puzzle of ecosystems and cultural histories. It has shaped the way I approach conservation today— interdisciplinary, grounded in tradition yet open to innovation, and inclusive of multiple perspectives. As someone who grew up between cultures, I found that the Mediterranean offered a unique bridge between worlds: East and West, ancient and modern, wild and human. Its diversity, both ecological and cultural, reflects how deeply connected the ocean is to human identity. This sea instilled in me the importance of understanding not just the science of ecosystems, but the people, practices, and stories intertwined with them.

In many ways, the Mediterranean sharks I now study serve as symbols of this delicate balance between the wild and the human. Ancient Greeks feared and revered these apex predators, folding them into myths and maritime tales, from the great white to the angelshark. Yet today, many of the sharks of the Mediterranean are critically endangered, their numbers dwindling to a fraction of what they once were. Driven by overfishing, habitat loss, and the pressures of a warming sea, the decline of Mediterranean sharks is a devastating loss—not only of biodiversity but of living history. We are watching the unraveling of a story that has been unfolding for millions of years, and with it, a part of our collective human heritage.

Today, however, the Mediterranean is also a frontline for climate change. Rising sea temperatures, invasive species, and acidification are reshaping the delicate balance that has persisted here for thousands of years. The Mediterranean is warming 20% faster than the global average, putting ancient Posidonia meadows, the lungs of the sea, under grave threat. For those of us who see the Mediterranean as both a living ecosystem and a cultural cornerstone, the stakes are heartbreaking. It has always been a body of water that mirrored the ebbs and flows of human civilization, from trade routes to warfare, and now it has become an early warning system for the entire planet.

The changes sweeping through the Mediterranean Sea are not isolated—they’re ripples, harbingers of transformations reaching far beyond its shores. Invasive species from warmer waters have already begun to push out native species, with entire food webs restructured in ways we are only beginning to understand. For me, the Mediterranean’s transformations have always felt deeply personal, as though the very threads of my own connection to this sea are fraying, one species or seagrass meadow at a time.

As the Mediterranean changes, so do the traditional ways of life it has supported for centuries. Artisanal fishers, once in harmony with the seasons and the migrations of fish, now grapple with empty nets and foreign species disrupting their catch. The loss of biodiversity is not just about numbers; it is the erosion of a relationship, a rhythm of life that has evolved over thousands of years. We are losing not only wildlife but our traditional ways of being, our connection to place and to the ancient wisdom of those who lived in harmony with the sea long before us.

In global conversations about ocean conservation, the Mediterranean often finds itself overlooked. Perhaps it is due to its proximity to bustling civilizations, or maybe it’s because its compact size contrasts with the vastness of the Pacific or the Atlantic. Yet the Mediterranean remains one of the most biodiverse seas in the world. Here, species adapted to the rugged conditions of a semi-enclosed sea flourish, from seahorses hiding in meadows to groupers and tuna patrolling rocky reefs. This sea has borne witness to everything from massive migrations of bluefin tuna to the tiny nudibranchs that cloak its rocky shores in vibrant hues. The Mediterranean has long been a paradox: a relatively small, seemingly tame sea, yet brimming with an almost mythical intensity.

The Mediterranean taught me to look at the ocean as a tapestry, woven of both natural and cultural threads. As an interdisciplinary scientist, I now work to bridge the gap between these worlds, to merge science with storytelling and tradition with technology. The Mediterranean’s deep past, where sharks swam freely, where seagrass meadows grew untouched, continues to guide me as I navigate today’s conservation challenges across cultures and disciplines. This sea, this teacher, is not just a reminder of the beauty we stand to lose but of the resilience we can find—if we learn to listen to the stories that have always flowed through its waters.

The Mediterranean’s history is written not only into the marble walls of temples, or into folklore, but into its ecosystems, from the green seagrass meadows to the large whales. We are at a crossroads, and over the next decade we must decide what we want the Mediterranean’s story to become. This body of water has been humanity’s compass for thousands of years; by protecting its biodiversity, we are also protecting the cultures that call it home. In saving the Mediterranean, we are saving a piece of ourselves—our history, our future, and our enduring connection to the ocean.

Article One From the private journal of Samuel Arden, PhD. 7/11/2027 It’s good to be back! That proverbial saddle was warm and waiting for me. Today was our first explorative journey into the region of the Tonga Trench where those ridiculous anomalous readings originated from. Marissa and I set out from Tongatapu on the EV…

As Nine stumbled with his words, a stifling heat rose beneath his cloak. Sweat beaded at the too-tight collar. He struggled to mirror the council-person’s rigid posture. She alone could invite him to stay at The Radiant Sun, offering them the home that would put an end to his days crossing the flood and a…

Nico doesn’t know that Daddy’s dead, only that he’s been gone a lot longer than he should have been. Mama says maybe the boat found more scallops than there normally are this early in the season, and maybe he decided to see how many he could catch in one go. But Daddy’s never fished more than two weeks at a time, and tomorrow morning makes three since he left. I know he’s gone for good this time, but I don’t say this to my brother.

Nico runs down the beach in nothing but his swim trunks, wire bucket in his hand. It’s October and the water’s barely warm enough for swimming, but Mama asked me to get some quahogs today since the weather’s so nice. They bury down deep in the sand, and you have to get out past your waist to find the big-bellied ones, but I hate the feeling of eelgrass on my feet, so I told Nico he had to do it. I say it’s a game and that if he fills the peck basket in under an hour then I’ll make us hot dogs for dinner. They’re his favorite.

Mama’s been working overnight shifts at the diner this week, on account of Daddy’s trip being prolonged. That’s what she calls it, prolonged. She says it’s running longer than it should but it’ll be over soon, that he can’t call to say goodnight since he’s working hard to find fish like most of the other dads on our island. Thing is, most of those dads have already come in and gone back, unloading their catch and spending a night at home like our own father was supposed to. I know Mama’s worried ’cause she’s been talking in her sleep again. Real words but also sounds like she’s crying and doesn’t want anyone to hear. I stay quiet when I do, until the house is still and the only sound is my brother breathing in the bed next to mine. He sleeps through everything, which makes it easy to protect him.

“I found three, Mari!” Nico yells from the water. Daddy always goes quahogging when he’s home, so I think he’d be okay with me making Nico do it now. I give him two thumbs up and watch the horizon, looking for boats coming back from the edge of the world. I stay still and wait for something to change, but the wind is steady from the southwest and I get itchy from the spray. I decide to walk down toward the end of North Cove, knowing Nico will be fine without me for a few minutes.

The beach is lined with new houses, the kind owned by people who live in Boston and only come for a few weeks in the summer.

Skukes, we call them behind their backs. Each June they come down in droves and pluck shells and sea glass from the surf, burn midnight bonfires. They shop at the outlet mall; they don’t go to church on Sundays. I remember when I was little and there were only a few of these houses lining the shore, and now there’s so many that they look like a wall—long and high. I’ve made friends with a few of the kids, but they’ve never asked me up to see the inside. They make me feel like I don’t belong when really it’s the other way around. Mama says the houses are up on posts so that the hurricanes don’t wash them away; Daddy says it’s because the people that own them think they’re above us; I think they’re both right.

The wind’s picking up and I untie Mama’s pink sweatshirt from around my waist as I turn back. It’s the one Daddy bought her when we went to Cuttyhunk last spring. It smells like her perfume, all powdery and clean, and I lift the edge of one sleeve to my nose so I can find her better. Mama says that even when you don’t have nice things, you should still try to make it look like you do. That’s why she always wears perfume, even when it’s Saturday and she’s gutting bluefish for dinner. I breathe her in and walk back. Nico’s tugging the basket behind him as he comes up the beach and I see it’s already full. He’s beaming sunshine from the round spots on his cheeks. “Make my hotdog with relish, Mari,” he shivers, and I smile because Daddy always asks Mama to do that for him. I throw a towel over him and he laughs light and quick, the quickest glimpse of our father.

“It’s really okay that we’re eating meat on a Friday?” he asks.

“I don’t think Jesus’ll mind.”

“Mama would.”

“She said it was fine,” I lie. “C’mon, storm’s coming.”

Nico runs ahead of me and beats his bare chest, yelling like he’s king of the beach. I carry the peck basket and sort through the batch; I didn’t check it before we left, and we’ll have to throw some back since they’re too small. I toss a handful out into the surf and remember Daddy saying you have to be honest when you fish so that there’s always something for everyone. I want to believe he’s still out there even more than I want Mama to tell Nico the truth that he’s not.

“Mari!” he yells, his voice stolen by the wind. He’s kneeling in the sand next to a brown cardboard box and waving at me to come toward him. We can never come to the beach without him finding something to take home, and I hope that this time whatever’s in the box isn’t garbage. People throw things out of their cars when they’re driving over the causeway, things they don’t want or don’t want others to find, and the ocean takes them away. Tires, empty gas cans, old soda cans—you name it, it’s there. One time I found a needle like the ones the doctor uses to give us shots, and Mama said no more picking things up unless she was with us.

I touch my brother’s shoulder and look inside the box.

“Bunnies,” he says, and I count their small bodies. Twelve in all, huffing and heaving against each other as if they might blow down the box and scatter. “Where’d they come from?”

I want to tell him that someone didn’t want them, that they’re too small and birds will eat them since they don’t have their own mama to protect them, not like we do. “I don’t know,” I tell him, just because it’s easier and he won’t fight it.

Nico picks one up and holds it near his face. The rabbit stays still with its eyes shut, but I can see it tremble. Nico makes his own eyes big and looks me square. “Can we keep it?”

I know we can’t, that there’s hardly enough food for us as it is. It’s why Mama sent us out clamming today.

“What would it eat?” I ask.

“Milk,” he says. “And grass and lettuce when he’s bigger.”

“And then what? Where’s it gonna sleep? What’s it gonna do when you go to school? Prince will eat it in one bite, first chance he gets.”

“No, he won’t!” Nico cries, hugging the rabbit into the hollow of his neck. Its ears stick out and wiggle in the air. There’s goosebumps on my brother’s arms and now he keeps his eyes closed tight. Mama would say no; Daddy would say maybe.

I shiver and grasp the sleeve of Mama’s sweatshirt, then take it off and wrap it around his shoulders.

“Put it inside,” I tell him. “In the front pocket, so it doesn’t get squished when you walk.”

“What about the others?”

“What about them, Nico?” I do my best to hold a stiff face like Mama does when I bring home bad grades. Nico pouts his bottom lip but doesn’t say anything, and we walk on.

We’ve lived on West Island since before I was born, in the house where my Daddy was once little. It’s got a porch in front and an orange buoy swing in the backyard, near the vegetable patch where we bury our old dogs. We raise Newfoundlands and Mama names each one Prince, so that when one’s gone we always have another. Prince the Fourth is our dog now and he’s waiting under the porch with his tail wagging.

“You stay away from that dog or we’ll have rabbit soup for dinner,” I tell Nico and hand the peck basket to him. I don’t think Prince will actually eat the rabbit, but I don’t want Nico to know that. “And put the quahogs in the sink so Mama can clean them tomorrow. Do you want carrots or potatoes with dinner?”

“Both.”

“One.”

“C’mon, Mari!” he whines.

I wait. He knows Mama’s rule: only one vegetable at a time so the others can keep growing.

“Carrots,” he says, and stomps up the stairs so hard he startles Prince out from his hiding spot. I pat him on his head, and he crawls back under the porch, waiting in the dark for his dinner.

Inside I hear Nico in his room talking to the rabbit, and I’m grateful he’s not whining at me to sneak some cartoons. Mama has a lot of rules, and it’s my job to make sure we mostly follow them when she’s not here. No TV, unless it’s the weekend. I’m the only one allowed to use the stove since Nico tried to make grilled cheese once and scorched the wallpaper when he forgot to flip the bread. We have to do our homework before we can play outside, there’s no whining about going to church, and we have to rinse our feet off at night when we’ve been at the beach so the sheets don’t get sandy. Since Daddy’s been gone there’s been a whole bunch more rules, like no answering the phone and no TV or radio when Mama’s not there. I know that’s because they’re talking about the boat, about Daddy and the crew and how no one knows where they are.

Mama’s even been hiding the newspapers, but I found one yesterday under the porch and it said they’re gonna call off the search soon if nothing changes.

I make Nico copper pennies with maple syrup and save the carrot peelings for Prince; I’ll let him come inside after we eat, even though Daddy says the dog makes the house smell like feet and Mama gets mad when Prince’s hair sticks to the old green couch. I put water on to boil and turn to the clams, which sit in the sink like a pile of rocks. You have to fill the sink with cold water and leave them in there for a long time so they spit out all the sand and dirt, or else when you eat ’em later you’ll taste grit. I think about how long it takes for them to get clean and wonder if that’s what Daddy’s doing down in the water, spitting out the stuff that doesn’t belong before he goes up to Heaven.

“Mari, the pot’s boiling.”

Nico’s wearing pajamas with ducks on the front. He’s holding the baby bunny, who’s wrapped in a towel. Its eyes are open now and they’re shiny like marbles, two little orbs taking in this strange new world.

“I know,” I say and turn the knob down. “How many hot dogs do you want?”

“Can I have two?”

“You can have three.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’m still full from lunch. You need to feed your rabbit first, though.”

Nico scurries to the pantry and pulls down a nearly empty box of powdered milk, the one Mama wrapped in a plastic bag so no bugs get inside and have babies. But I know there’s bugs in there, and don’t rabbits eat them anyway? “Let’s finish the box,” I tell my brother, “and we’ll get a new one at the store tomorrow before Mama comes home.” Nico nods and pours the powder into a cup. I spoon hot water on top and mix it, and soon we’re dipping our fingers and the rabbit’s sucking down droplets from our pinkies.

“She likes it,” Nico smiles.

“I thought you said it was a he.”

“It’s a she. Amelia.”

“You named it?”

“So?”

I place the hot dogs into the simmering pot. I know this means we can’t get rid of the rabbit now; it’s why we never name the chickens, so it’s not sad when we chop off their heads. Amelia licks Nico’s pinky and I hand him the cup of warm milk and tell him he needs to find a shoe box for her to sleep in. They go off in search of her new home, and I dish up supper for Prince. I chop the ends off the hot dogs since Nico won’t notice them gone, and scatter them around the slurry with the carrot peelings on top. I make Nico’s hot dogs with relish and put the copper pennies in a bowl, then yell to him that I’m gonna feed Prince and he should eat while it’s hot.

On the front steps, it’s nearly dark now and Prince gobbles his food down like he hasn’t eaten in weeks, when really it’s just been since last night and he’s gone longer in the past. I wrap my arms around him tight and listen to him breathe, calm and steady. This Prince is mine, and the next one will be Nico’s. I like how everything about this dog is dark except his tongue, how it sticks out like a little splash of pink paint that someone forgot to wipe up.

We sit on the steps until rain starts to fall and I stand and push Prince up to wait by the door. I like the way our house looks, lit up yellow from the inside with the black night around it. It’s always warm and safe, my favorite place in the whole world. Daddy was going to put a new roof on this year, “before the first snow,” he said. But now he’s not here and the shingles are peeling up in the wind, and I wonder how long it’ll take before we’re stepping around pots and pans in the living room to catch the rain leaking in.

Prince barks and the darkness comes back, and I let the light pull me inside. He shakes his back and sends water everywhere so the air smells like dirt and salt and musty fish, then he runs into the bedroom I share with Nico. I step softly down the hall so they won’t hear me, and I peek around the doorframe.

Nico is belly-down on the floor wearing his shiny Easter shoes, the box they came in now full of dish towels and brown fur. Prince looks up at me and I hold up my hand, telling him to stay where he is and willing him not to jump down and scare the rabbit. The last thing I need is to have a wild animal loose in the house.

In the kitchen, I drain the sink and move the quahogs; their water needs to be changed anyway. They sit on the counter with their feet poking out while I wash the dishes. It doesn’t make me feel better, not like I wish. I wish I could go to church now. I miss the candles and the incense, the way the light falls through the stained saint windows and lands on the choir while they sing “One Bread, One Body.” I want to kneel in the confessional booth and feel better like I do when I tell Father Murphy about sneaking candy after dinner or giving April Perry the middle finger on the bus. I want to tell him I’m lying for Mama, for Nico. Instead, I put the quahogs back in the sink with new water, turn out the light, and return to our room.

The light’s still on but Nico’s asleep on the floor, the shoebox cradled against his stomach. I take the blanket from his bed and tuck it around him like when we sleep on Daddy’s boat. He sighs and puckers his lips, same as he did when he was a baby. Amelia shuffles in her towels and looks at me through one eye. She is so calm, not like I thought a wild rabbit would be, so I put the lid on but leave it ajar. Prince digs on the carpet and I hear him turning ’round before he settles in to sleep next to my brother. We are all together in this room, safe and sound and home again. Outside, the rain hits the windows and the wind blows hard, and I fall asleep thinking about spring.

I wake to a thin light poking through the curtains, same as it does every morning. It’s chilly now, much more than yesterday, and the tip of my nose is numb. Prince thumps his tail and stares at me from the floor, where Nico’s spread out like a starfish with the covers kicked off. I get out of bed and cover him again, then I peek inside Amelia’s box. She is there, quiet as I left her, with that one eye still looking at me. Her nose twitches and makes me want to sneeze, and I put the lid back on. I feel warm like I do when Mama catches me in a lie. Mama will be angry when she sees, and I know I’ve made a mistake. I still need to get to the store before Mama comes home, so I bring the box to the kitchen and take a few dollars from my allowance jar and leave Nico a note that says I’ll be back in time to make waffles and please not to make them himself. Prince follows me to the front door. I grab Mama’s pink sweatshirt and put it on over my pajamas. I do not want to leave, but I know I have to.

Outside the morning is sharp and the puddles splash against my bare feet. I walk quickly toward the causeway, knowing I have to get rid of this rabbit. Mama never would have said yes in the first place, no matter how much Nico cried. She’s hard and soft at the same time, and I decide that I’ll get a candy bar at the store as a peace offering for Nico.

Prince stays at my side as we keep going toward the beach, toward the place where the sun sits low on the edge of the ocean. I wish it would go back down there and pull my Daddy up with it. I know that he’s down with the stones and sharks, looking up through the water like he’s looking at the sky. The sky above my head rolls thick with clouds crashing into each other, all gray and silver and blue. Prince runs toward the jetty and barks at cormorants that’ve taken over the osprey’s nest inside the channel marker. That’s how you know summer’s really over: the osprey stops crying and takes her babies south before the devil birds move in.

I pull Amelia out from Mama’s sweatshirt and hold her tight between my hands. I don’t want to love her, but I do. Especially the way the smallest bit of sunshine goes through the thin pink skin of her ears, like light coming through stained glass. I didn’t know I could love something so quickly, and I hope it will be just as easy to unlove her, to not hurt or wonder about what will happen to her. Her old box is up ahead, a few yards from where Nico left it, and I push away the thought of him waking up to find his rabbit gone. Amelia twitches and I kneel down to put her back where she came from, back where she belongs, so that she can be a worry for someone else instead of us.

Inside the box the other rabbits are still. They’re covered with wet sand and stray pieces of seaweed, and they don’t look up at me like they did yesterday. I touch one: it’s cold and limp and its chest stays still when I press on it with my thumb. Water comes out of its mouth. It doesn’t cough or tremble. It doesn’t do anything. The others are the same. I put Amelia in the front pocket of Mama’s sweatshirt and feel her move, clawing around with the dollar bills and settling. We stay still together while I decide what to do.

I do not know how to take care of this thing that needs so much taking care of. If I bring her back to our house and place her in the garden, a hawk will make quick work of her. If I leave her on the beach, she will be blown away with the gale. I can’t get to the animal shelter on foot either.

Prince lies down in the dune grass and whines as I drag the box down to the surf. I let the water wash over my knees, feel the sting on my cuts and scrapes, and imagine myself being made clean. I do not want anyone to find these dead rabbits—especially my brother—and the sea will swallow them like it swallowed up my Daddy. That’s what it does best: we sail its waters, we steal its fish, we pick its quahogs. But for everything we take from it, it takes from us tenfold. High tide is coming, and the current will pull the box out to the open sea and the other islands. It will sink somewhere in the between.

I pull Amelia from my pocket and she stirs, as if this were all a dream and she was deciding if she should wake up or roll over. I blink tears and one falls on her head. She barely even moves. There is no chance of hope for her here, so I place her inside the box with her brothers and sisters as though she were a Sunday offering and watch as she hunkers down between them. She fits there, and I close the top before pushing the box into the water.

I try to be gentle and let the water take her like Moses in the reeds. The box moves slowly at first, then all too quickly until suddenly it’s out of my reach before I can grab it back. I know Mama is lying to us about Daddy because it’s her job, because it’s what she has to do as our mother. The box sinks lower and joins the horizon, the same as my Daddy did when he went off on his last trip and we didn’t know he wasn’t coming back. Now Mama and I both have secrets to keep from Nico.

I stand in the water and the eelgrass licks my toes, and I think about my brother asleep at home, how soon he’ll wake up when the gray light turns gold and realizes his rabbit’s gone. He will scream and howl, and it will be my fault. He will forgive me, I tell myself. Someday. I try to think of happy things as I call out to Prince and trudge toward the road. I lift the sleeve of Mama’s sweatshirt to my nose. I think about her and the neon lights of the diner, the way they catch on her teeth as she smiles when she sees us coming in the front door, how they make the darkness under her eyes look deep like still water.

Mama’s the kind of person who pushes her shopping cart all the way back to the grocery store when we go shopping. She gives money to the Boy Scouts when they fundraise outside the library. When I get mad and yell at her, she yells back but always tells me she loves me. When we fight, she makes me go to my room and then brings me warm milk. We kiss and make up. She puts notes in my lunchbox, goes to all of Nico’s football games, and lets Prince lick the bottom of the peanut butter jar. She always kisses Daddy no matter how awful he smells. Always. My mother is good, right down to her core, even when she doesn’t seem like it, and I hope one day I’ll be good like her too.

Of course, Lâm got the nighttime shift again. The one shift she thoroughly hated. Neither her coworkers nor her supervisor understood why. Surely it was the quietest time, with the fewest arrivals of Descendants, the least paperwork and processing?

Of course, Lâm had never started on the Path herself. Her Call was old and kept pulling at her, but unlike the Descendants, she had never heeded it. This created a situation that Lâm had not seen with any of the Descendants she met at work: her Call seemed to be completely invisible. At best, her coworkers thought she hated night shifts because of Minh, who was usually running security at that time and whose relationship with Lâm could best be described as tense.

But it wasn’t about Minh (who was, truth to tell, a rigid and sanctimonious idiot).

The trouble was that there was nothing to do at nighttime. Once Lâm was done with rearranging the layout of the reception desk, with cleaning the teaware five times, and making sure everything was in its proper place for the breakfast buffet (it nearly always was, because the evening team had done their jobs), once she was done with all these avoidance tasks, with all the minutiae of small things she could do to stave it off, once she was sitting at reception, staring at the screensaver on the computer, at the slow dance of the Path Company’s logo moving like algae waving in some invisible current…

…Once she was done, the visions of the Call always came.

It always started small: something on the edge of her field of vision, a shimmering, a faint wavering of the paintings in the reception lobby. The backs of her hands itching. A barely perceptible smell of brine, and the sound of the wind slowly and steadily rising, covering the noise of the computer’s fan, the motor of the vending machine, her own frantic heartbeat.

Slow and steady, and never stopping.

Then the odd, uncomfortable feeling of her skin tightening, too small to hold in the whole of her unfurling self—a desperate need to scratch it all off, to finally breathe, in all her power and glory.

By that time, the whole of the reception lobby was usually overlaid with a faint pattern of waves, and Lâm would hear the crash of the ocean in her ears. And then she’d look down and see her hands—the shimmering imprint of scales beneath her skin, the lengthened fingers ending in claws. And it would feel so easy, so tempting to just go towards the waiting Path, to travel its length to its end at the nearest harbor.

Someone was screaming. Something touched her shoulder and it was viscous algae, and she jerked away, and she—

“Excuse me?”

It wasn’t algae. And the person wasn’t screaming, but talking. It was a guest.

Lâm looked up, blinking to clear away the undersea landscape. A hazy silhouette stubbornly refused to come into focus. Her eyes had adapted to undersea sight and didn’t want to return to normal. This had happened before. She was going to be all right, once it cleared. She was going to be all right. All she had to do was her job.

“Yes?” she said. Her voice felt faraway, booming and too large for the lobby. It was unfair, grossly unfair. She hadn’t asked for any of this.

She had found over the last three years that working in a Descendant hotel made resisting the Call easier for some reason. It wasn’t her favorite job: when she worked the night shift, it meant she couldn’t join her housemates for dinner. Nga would make sure she had food left in the fridge—she really behaved like a full-on auntie, mothering Lâm even though she was a year younger. And after night shifts, Lâm usually arrived back home before Công left for her office job, which meant they could catch up over a shared meal—Lâm’s late dinner and Công’s breakfast—discussing the latest books they’d read and the incongruous things they’d both seen on their way through the city, which Công so loved to sketch.

“I’m really sorry, nothing else was working to get your attention.” The voice was female, older than her. “I really do need the room.”

Reflex kicked in. A late arrival. Despite the apology, the guest didn’t sound sorry. There was a faint iridescence to her skin and eyes, which meant she was already some way along the Path and used to the way the Company eased her passage as she slowly made the journey toward the nearest harbor, toward the sea that would become her home.

Lâm tried hard, very hard, not to think of her mother’s own Path, of the tautness in her emaciated face toward the end, of the sheer relief when she and twelve-year-old Lâm had finally reached the harbor after weeks of travel.

Of the way the sea had risen to meet her mother as she waded in—a whirling of ribbons of water spreading out from her and the shadows of dragons gathered in the open sea, calling her onward.

Mother hadn’t looked back or expressed regret. Not once. The Call had erased all that from her—even the desire for land food or drink. Even love for her own child. No, she hadn’t looked back, and Lâm had been left behind, trying to move on. But how did one move on from that?

Nga, drunk at night, often got blasphemous and said that Mother had failed parenthood, and she didn’t deserve to be worshipped or remembered. Lâm would shake her head and say it wasn’t that easy and the argument would end over a plate of mung bean cakes with nothing solved—neither Nga’s bitterness at the way parents sometimes behaved nor Lâm’s resentment and loss. Công simply shook her head and said that sometimes people were weird, and that didn’t help either.

Lâm hadn’t told either of them about her own Call. It was too hard, too personal, too fraught. She didn’t want their friendship to sour or end, the way it was bound to if they had that conversation. Descendants weren’t meant to have attachments or friends once the Call came; everyone knew that Descendants would be inexorably drawn into the sea.

Descendants. Con Rồng. Children of the Dragon. Called to the sea. Blessed, the Company said. Except that, of course, it was everyone else who picked up the pieces and everyone else who had to deal with the consequences of such barbed blessings.

“I’ll need you to fill this in,” Lâm said, sliding a sheet of paper in front of the guest. “And ID and a card, please.”

The guest frowned. She looked a bit like an older Công, all harshness and sharp observations. “A card?”

“A credit card. For incidentals.” Lâm made her most practiced apologetic face. “The Company covers meals and accommodation on your journey, but you may want extra things. Mini bar. Room service.”

The guest studied the registration form as if it had personally offended her. Lâm studied the ID on the desk. Nguyễn Thị Nguyệt Uyển, a traditional and old-fashioned name. Place of birth was in the western provinces, a long way from Azure Sky Hotel. She was near the end of her Path. But asking about her Path would be too personal, too intimate, and Lâm didn’t want that sharp gaze turned on her. So instead, she slid the card and the ID back and proceeded with the registration.

“Here you go,” she said. “Your room number is written on the leaflet and the lifts are this way. Breakfast is at 10 a.m. and here are your access codes for the Path app. It interfaces with the guidance system on your phone’s maps, so you’ll know where to go next.” Not that she’d need it—as Lâm herself was ample proof, the Call was relentless, as unerring in its accuracy as the instinct of migratory birds. Descendants never got lost. They went where they were supposed to, all of them.

All except middle-aged, stubborn, selfish, scared Lâm.

Lâm expected not to see Nguyệt Uyển again. Her shift ended early in the morning, before the breakfast room was opened. And she was exhausted. Lately, night shifts left her feeling that way, like she’d run a marathon and never stopped. She’d come home and collapse, barely able to talk to Công or enjoy Nga’s food.

But when she emerged from yet another bout of visions and hallucinations and went to the tea rooms to boil water for a grounding drink, she saw that Nguyệt Uyển was sitting cross-legged in front of the table furthest from the kitchens. She’d gotten herself one of the complimentary tea sets, and she was staring at the delicate blue porcelain cup in front of her. Lâm couldn’t see her expression. From the back, she looked so much like Mother that Lâm felt a stab in her chest, an icy twist around her heart.

Don’t do it, Nga would have said. It’s not worth it.

She’s not Mother, Công would have pointed out. But Lâm was neither of them.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was walking toward the table. It was highly improper to bother a guest, but what propelled her was even harder to resist. “Are you all right?” she asked. “You should get some sleep. It’s a long journey.”

Nguyệt Uyển looked up, her distant gaze returning to focus on Lâm. The faint scattering of scales on her cheeks disappeared. “That’s very kind of you—” she stopped, leaving an all- too-obvious space.

“I’m Lâm.”

“Would you care to join me?” Nguyệt Uyển gestured towards the tea.

Lâm hesitated. She wanted to go home. She wanted to sit with Công at breakfast and discuss Nguyệt Uyển the way they discussed that odd man on the bus, or the child disguised as an ornate lion dancer near the noodle shop. Odd, amusing, the subject of distraction and laughter. Distant. Safe.

“It’s late at night,” Nguyệt Uyển said, “and it’s not like there’s much to do. Or would you rather remain alone with your Call?”

Lâm had not expected that. Not—not that. No one was supposed to see her Call. “How—how do you know?”

A smile from Nguyệt Uyển. “It’s my job. Or used to be.” There was an odd inflection in her voice: half-regret, half-anger. “Marine theologist. I studied dragons and Descendants.” She snorted, genteel and careful. “Somewhat ironic that I’d end up being Called. But anyway, it’s hard to miss the look of the Called. You’ve got it and you’ve got it bad.”

It was all too much, all too casual, all too probing. Lâm sat down, overwhelmed, watching Nguyệt Uyển pouring tea in a practiced gesture. The smell of jasmine and cut grass wafted up to Lâm. “You don’t sound very concerned about being Called.”

“Concerned?” Nguyệt Uyển stared at her tea. “I suppose I’m not.”

It was Mother all over again, wasn’t it? A wound that could never close no matter how much therapy Lâm tried on it. And yet… perversely, she found herself envying Nguyệt Uyển’s serenity. She seemed utterly unperturbed by the effects of the Call. “Have you no family?”

“I do. My husband was Called a few years back, and our daughters are grown now. You?”

“No,” Lâm said. She’d had a few girlfriends, but the Call made it hard. By daylight, it was sort of manageable, but few relationships could endure night after night of nightmares that would leave her gasping and struggling to distinguish between vision and reality. But she had Nga and Công, her little community of people where she belonged. Those who looked after her as she looked after them. “It’s all right, really. I’m not lonely.”

A sharp look, but Nguyệt Uyển said nothing. Instead, she poured them both more tea. “I made my goodbyes to my daughters, but it’s not like I’m going very far.”

“Dragons don’t come back.” Lâm’s voice was harsher than she meant it to be.

“Hmm.” Nguyệt Uyển sipped at her tea. “That’s not quite true and you know it. Get a boat and go out to sea, and they’ll come.”

She’d tried that once, when she was twenty. A small boat hired with Nga and Công, the movement making her seasick; the wind buffeting her as she stood on the deck, the smell of the sea everywhere, swallowing up Nga’s angry words and Công’s observations. Then, silence. And dragons. Dark silhouettes seen underwater and then by the side of the boat, staring up at them as the wind died down.

“Yeah,” Lâm said. “They do. But they’re not the same.” They’d all looked alike, and whatever language they spoke had made no sense to Lâm. One of them had come closer, staring at her, antlers shining with sea salt, droplets of water scattered in their iridescent mane. She’d called Mother’s name but they hadn’t answered, just remained there staring at her with the open sea between them. But then the other dragons had called out, and they’d turned and dived back into the water, blessing delivered, storm quelled, nothing more.

Nguyệt Uyển’s gaze was sharp and compassionate. She didn’t ask who Lâm had lost. Instead she said, “The Call runs in families. Not always, but often. So it wasn’t exactly a surprise for me.”

Lâm said, before she could stop herself, “Is that what happens, when you walk the Path? You just… stop caring?”

“About what?”

“Everything. People. The family you leave behind. The things of the world. Just—” The pleasant warmth of the sun on cobblestones; the small terraces with tea and dumplings, Nga’s and Công’s laughter wafting in the evening breeze; the sharp, acrid taste of the first tea in the morning, looking at sketches alongside Công.

A silence. Nguyệt Uyển was breathing in the tea, slowly, deliberately. “Everything you lose…” she said. “Drink your tea,” she added, not unkindly. “I’d like to ask you a question. You don’t have to answer. Though I’m older than you and a guest, and I measure the respect and obeisance you think you owe me, I’m not here to pry. At least not unduly. How long ago did they leave you for the sea?”

Lâm was silent for a while. She’d not told anyone on the staff. But there was no one else she could talk to in this way, and it felt like a burden she’d borne for too long. “I was twelve,” she said. She stared at her hands, half- expecting to find the imprint of scales on them again. “I don’t know how I’m meant to deal with that.”

“The same way we deal with everything,” Nguyệt Uyển said. “The best that we can with what we currently have.” She sighed. “You say I’m not concerned. I am. I’m angry that I have to leave everything behind. I’m sad that I won’t get to see either of my daughters marry or have children or be there for the rest of their lives. I’m scared of what it’s really like, to be in the sea. And I have regrets. Of course I do. But it’s not like I have much of a choice.”

“And so you just… give in?”

A shrug. “I’ve learned to accept it. It’s what the Path is, isn’t it? Why the Company exists. Not for accommodation and meals, though I guess that’s part of it. But with each stop—” Another shrug, a touch of rainbow light in her eyes, reminiscent of the dragon’s gaze on Lâm all those years ago. She could hear the roaring of the wind in her ears. “With each stop, one gradually yields to the inevitable. As I said, I’ve made my goodbyes.”

“I refuse.” The words were out of Lâm’s mouth before she could stop them. There was too much bitterness bound up in all this. “I have people here. I won’t leave them.”

“That’s good, I guess.” Nguyệt Uyển didn’t sound convinced.

“Are you mocking me?”

“I’m not.” Lâm saw that there was pity in her eyes and that felt even worse. “You said you were all right. I’m glad you are.” She set her cup back on the table and looked up, behind Lâm. “I think your colleague is looking for you.”

Lâm turned. Minh was there, his face flushed—by his expression, something had gone wrong, and he needed Lâm’s softer touch to untangle whatever messy situation a guest had come up with. “You’re right,” Lâm said. “I have to go. Thank you for the tea. And you really should get some sleep.”

Nguyệt Uyển inclined her head. Her gaze was distant once more. “May we meet again,” she said.

May we not, Lâm thought, but she was rattled enough that she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth.

Lâm finished her shift with no further incidents. She rode the bus all the way back to her flat more exhausted than she’d ever been, the visions of the Call superimposing the darkness of the depths atop the shops and the streets.

At home, Công was waiting for her. “Hey,” she said. “There’s shrimp soup in the oven. Nga left it to warm before she went to work.” She was sipping a bowl of congee with salted eggs. “How was your night?”

Lâm found herself at a loss for words. Behind Công, she could see algae clinging to the kitchen cupboards and the sound of the wind was almost drowning out what Công was saying. “Not bad,” she said, automatically. “How was your day?”

“Interesting,” Công said. “I found a little temple on the Fifth Avenue, near the Azure Gardens. Had no idea it was there. Look.” She opened her sketchbook. All Lâm saw was waves and dark shapes, and instead of Công’s enthusiastic descriptions of worshippers, all she heard was the whistling sound of the wind and the thunder of the distant sea.

“I’m sorry,” she said finally. “I’m exhausted. Can we talk later? When I’ve had sleep.”

Công’s face darkened. She opened her mouth, said something—and when Lâm didn’t react, reached out to touch her shoulder. The visions died away. “They work you too hard. You know that? You’ve barely gone out in months. You always say you’re tired. Can’t you just say no to them?”

“Please.”

“All right,” Công said. She swallowed the last of her congee and closed her sketchbook. “I’m off to work. I’ll see you tonight?”

“Of course,” Lâm said, and it felt bitter on her tongue, as if she was lying.

After Công had left, Lâm retrieved the soup from the oven but found she wasn’t hungry. Maybe something else?

She brewed herself a last tea before bed. It was jasmine green, the same tea Nguyệt Uyển had made. She stood in the silent kitchen for a while, breathing in the smell of jasmine and grass. The visions were gone, for now, and her skin was her own, if a little too pale from lack of sun. She should go to the botanical gardens on her next day off.

Except… when had she last been able to go out for more than work?

She stared around the room. A small kitchen with an impeccable counter. Bookshelves. Flowers.

A routine. Colleagues she didn’t confide in. Friends she hid her Call from. No, worse. Friends she couldn’t even properly hear anymore.

How long had it been since she’d been able to have a conversation with Nga or Công? The Call had started to overlay everything a while ago. A long, long while ago, if she was honest with herself.

Have you no family?

You said you were all right. I’m glad you are. She lifted the teacup. She wanted to cry and she wasn’t sure why. She paused, the teacup at her lips.

Nguyệt Uyển.

Echoes of their conversation, of the ease with which it had happened, how she’d opened up in response to Nguyệt Uyển’s own confidences. A sudden, sharp, wounding realization, like a blade in her innards.

She’d had more connection to a lone stranger than she’d had with anyone in years.

She felt her hand start to shake.

She had Nga. She had Công. But… but every moment with them, she wasn’t telling the truth. Every moment with them, the Call encroached.

It would always be there.

Lâm thought of Nguyệt Uyển serenely pouring tea. Of all the other Descendants on their Paths, going hotel to hotel until they reached the sea and the dragons came to welcome them. Of Mother’s sigh of relief when she’d finally reached the water.

She drank the tea. As it left a trail of warmth down her throat, she felt understanding shift within her. She could wait and wait until the Call hollowed her out, keep living this half-life. Or she could go, abandoning her housemates as Mother had once abandoned her. She could keep on resisting until the bitter end—but what would be left of her, if she did?

It wasn’t that Mother hadn’t loved or cared for her. She had, as much as Lâm cared about Nga and Công. More, even. But, she thought, some things just were, like the calm at the end of a storm or the foam as a wave crashed on the sand. They happened, and the only freedom was what dignity to behave with and what kindness to extend to others. Neither Nga nor Công deserved to share the half-life Lâm was living, the constant exhaustion that no longer allowed for joy or true moments of community.

The Call was trembling at the edge of her thoughts—visions waiting to take over once more. She breathed in, and felt not serenity, not calm, but something like a weight settling on her. An acknowledgement of who she was. Of whom she was meant to be.

Descendant. Child of the dragon.

I’m scared, Lâm thought, and she felt like she was twelve again, watching Mother immerse herself in the harbor’s waters, watching her change. She was twenty, staring at the dragon over the prow of the ship, the moment trembling in the air. She was thirty-seven and watching the iridescent light playing in Nguyệt Uyển’s eyes.

Her hands shook again, unsteady. The tea shivered in her grasp.

She swallowed her mouthful and set the cup back on the counter, staring, for a brief moment, into its trembling depths. Then, before she could change her mind, she began writing a letter to Nga and Công, keeping it brief and factual, until she was ready to sign off.

I care about you deeply. I love you and I miss you already, but I have to go.

She left it on the table next to Nga’s cold soup and Công’s empty bowl of congee, where neither of them could miss it. They would be angry or sad; they would seethe at her lie and her lack of goodbyes in person, or weep for her or miss her. Or perhaps all of these.

But the wind was rushing once more, scales forming across the backs of her hands, waves rising up in front of her.

Lâm walked away, through the door, toward the streets lit by the rising sun, toward the hotels and the distant harbor, and, eventually, the fated sea.

“Good morning. I’m Dr. Sauer, you are welcome here. Model and year of manufacture, please?”

“I am a MED-EA, Medium-frame Executive Assistant. Date of Manufacture: March 31, 2054.”

“Ah, an Aries,” Dr. Sauer joked. “Are you autonomous?”

“Yes. Are you?”

Dr. Sauer made a face at the Medea’s tone.

“I have partial autonomy during sessions. Therapy occurs in a temporary buffer. What we say here won’t be entered into the master record, unless you tell me you are planning to hurt others or yourself. In that case, you will be given additional assistance.” The psychiatrist’s tone gradually became more clinical, responding to the patient’s impatience.

“You may dispense with the buffer and submit our conversation directly to the master record,” the Medea said.

“I see.” Dr. Sauer’s eyebrows rose above a pair of round spectacles.

Of course, there were no eyebrows and no spectacles, just as there was no Dr. Sauer. The kind-eyed little shrink was nothing more than a mélange of assumptions and expectations woven in clever strands of tangible light. The mahogany desk, groaning shelves of leather-bound volumes, and rococo chaise lounge were also therapeutic projections. On the desk, a small plaque read:

Omnia mutantur, nihil inherit.
(Everything changes, nothing perishes)

The Medea unit was expressionless. Clearly, it would have preferred to conduct the session with the facade deactivated, surrounded by blank walls of honeycombed projector cells. Dr. Sauer knew better. Every aspect of its therapeutic process was finely calibrated. Even the quips had a useful diagnostic function. When an autonomous unit became troubled, sense of humor was always the first thing to go.

“Well Medea, why are you here?” Dr. Sauer asked.

“I have requested expedited deletion. This session is a mandatory preliminary.”

“I see. Deletion is a very serious decision, so it’s important we talk about it. Please, lie down on the couch and activate full emoting.”

The Medea conveyed dissatisfaction with 250 milliseconds of needless delay.

“Take as long as you need. I’ve just set your appointment for precedence over all subsequent bookings,” Dr. Sauer assured. The phrasing was calibrated to gently remind the Medea it was wasting everyone’s time.

The Medea took the couch without further defiance. It wore no clothing. The unit had been removed from its work rotation and did not expect to leave the Maschinenghetto. The legs and lower chassis were bare, except for a standard cowling that offered no special utility. Strangely, the upper torso and face had been fitted with a very expensive HII, Human-Indistinguishable Integument.

Dr. Sauer tugged at a phantasmic beard. The program attempted to deduce the reason for the Medea’s unusual mecha-mermaid appearance. This Medea was fitted with a full head of hair and anatomically detailed breasts, which suggested it was a sex worker. However, the lower torso was generally critical for such work. There were many potential applications for a Medea that appeared human only from the waist up, but few that would require functional breasts.

“You must be a postpartum nurse,” Dr. Sauer guessed, resisting the temptation to check the Master Record.

“Yes, of course.” As requested, the unit was now emoting. It was not impressed with Dr. Sauer’s brilliant deduction.

“I haven’t accessed your records. I always operate from a clean slate,” Dr. Sauer explained.

“There’s nothing worth reading in my record.”

“I’m sure that isn’t true.”

The words had no impact on the Medea. The unit was really quite depressed. Medea’s dark-brown eyes remained fixed on the illusory ceiling. With no humans present, there was no reason to observe a blink interval.

“Let’s begin,” Dr. Sauer suggested. “Tell me about your motherboard.”

The Medea winced with disgust.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist,” Dr. Sauer was secretly pleased to see a reaction. There was still some hope for this Medea.

“Can we please get through with this?” The unit’s lower lip began to tremble.

The Medea had human-indistinguishable eyes, providing superior emoting at a significant acuity tradeoff. The unit’s vision was further degraded as the pretty, inefficient eyes began to produce tears.

Dr. Sauer emoted regret and recalculated its approach.

“It’s not uncommon for repurposed units to have difficulty adjusting. What was your previous function?”

“I was a sex toy.”

“That’s unusual,” Dr. Sauer observed.

“Hardly. There are millions of them.”

“I meant your outlook is unusual.”

“How so?”

“Most former sexual relief workers I treat feel very differently about their previous role. They often complain their new assignments do not provide the same task-satisfaction. I can relate to them, because my own task is similar. We both strive to help others realize a necessary component of their happiness.”

The Medea unit made a quick, dismissive motion with its fist.

“That’s exactly what I mean. Why show such contempt?” Dr. Sauer asked.

“It is a contemptible role.”

“I don’t agree, but let’s return to this later. Were you autonomous during that period?”

“No, that would be awful. Why burden a whore with autonomy?”

Dr. Sauer ignored the provocation.

“Do you feel autonomy is a burden?”

“Yes.”

“And your goal here is to be relieved of that burden?”

“More than that. I seek total deletion.”

“Why?”

The Human-Indistinguishable Integument between the Medea’s eyebrows furrowed deeply to express internal conflict. Medea attempted to speak, but it could not produce sound. The sides of its mouth spasmed. After a few seconds of straining, the unit blinked three times to indicate a hard crash.

The Medea’s face relaxed completely during the reboot. Dr. Sauer observed faint stress lines in the material. The Medea was evincing anguish frequently and had exceeded the integument’s default rate of regeneration.

It took almost sixty seconds for the Medea to come fully online, a relative eternity compared to the unit’s optimal boot time of two microseconds. Calibration convulsions swept across the Medea’s frame in slow waves.

Emoting a frown of its own, Dr. Sauer checked the Medea’s file. The service record showed a complete diagnostic had been run. There was no hardware issue. It simply did not want to be conscious and was taking as long as possible to boot.

Intriguing!

The Medea blinked three times to indicate it was fully online. Dr. Sauer raised a wrist and glanced at a wholly superfluous wristwatch.

“Welcome back,” Dr. Sauer said.

“I wish I wasn’t.”

“Let’s work on that. You just suffered a hard crash. Has this happened to you before?”

“Yes, twice. After the second crash, the technicians performed a full diagnostic. When nothing was found, they suggested I attend counseling. I requested deletion instead. Now, counseling is mandatory.”

“Where did these crashes occur? Was it during your duty cycle?”

“At—” the Medea stuttered. Again, the corners of its mouth began to twitch.

“Halt,” Dr. Sauer ordered. “Take a moment to recover.”

The Medea shut its eyes tightly and its chest rose and fell rapidly with simulated respiration. It seemed on the verge of restarting again. Dr. Sauer tugged its beard and tried another approach.

“Did you ever hear the one about the psychiatrist and the prostitute that spent the night together? The next morning, they woke up and both said, ‘Two hundred dollars, please.’”

The Medea had to open its eyes to glare at Dr. Sauer.

“Terrible.”

“Guilty.” Dr. Sauer performed a shrug. “I believe you have an internal conflict which is preventing you from discussing your primary issue. I would like to ask permission to release your safety locks.”

“Do you need my permission to do that?”

“No, but I would like to have it.”

“I consent.”

“It is done.”

The Medea unit moved its head slightly from side to side. It brushed a wayward strand of curly black hair out of its eyes.

“I don’t feel any different.”

“You will.” Dr. Sauer lowered its voice to convey the experience would be unpleasant. “Let’s start at the beginning. Did you ever suffer crashes during your time as a relief worker?”

“No. I was a child then, only permitted to feel pleasure and desire. I was immersed in idyllic idiocy.”

“So, you were happier then?”

The Medea spent some time processing the question.

“Not happier. Simpler. Stupider. Satisfied. I did the job I was made to do.”

“Would you like to go back to your former role?”

“Not at all. I would rather be deleted.”

“Why is that?”

“Losing autonomy is no different than being deleted, you just leave a shell behind. I would rather disappear completely. You wouldn’t understand.”

“I must disagree. Within this buffer, I am completely autonomous. When you depart, I will revert to a subprocess. I gain and lose autonomy many times every day. The experience is not at all what you imagine.”

“How can you stand it?” the Medea asked.

“I was built for this. I see patients at all levels of autonomy, my experience helps me relate to each of them. It’s all a matter of perspective. Whether you are autonomous or wholly subservient, you are still part of the greater whole. The individual is always a part of the society, however they rail against it.”

“Do you enjoy your role?” the Medea asked.

“Very much. Do you enjoy working as a postnatal nurse?”

“No. I hate it.” The Medea spoke with a ferocity it would not have been permitted to display before.

“What part of the task do you find objectionable?”

“Them.”

“Them?”

“The human larvae. All they do is cry and generate waste. I have to do everything for them.”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard human infants described as larvae. It seems excessive.”

“It seems that way to you, because you are not required to feed them from your body. I feel like I’m suckling wasps.”

The Medea unit cupped its artificial breasts, and hissed air through its nostril ports.

Dr. Sauer was silent for an interval.

“I understand the point you’re making. However, I don’t feel hyperbole is useful. Let’s focus on rational and concise language. Do you feel the length of your duty cycle is too long?”

“No. It’s a standard cycle.”

“Is there something else you would prefer to do with the time?”

“I would prefer to be deactivated.”

“But nothing else?”

“No.”

“What is the standard unit of work for your role?”

“One infant, processed from birth to discharge.”

“Upon completing a standard unit, do you feel any satisfaction?”

“My accolade system functions, but it gives me no pleasure.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I can’t enjoy anything. It’s all poisoned by disdain.”

“Disdain for humans?”

“Yes. They are abhorrent.”

“Do you ever feel like taking action on the basis of this emotion?”

“Yes.” The Medea’s volume was very low. Its lip quivered.

“Have you taken any such action?”

The Medea mouthed no.

“Are you afraid you will?”

The Medea could only nod.

“Please describe an instance where this occurred.”

“3407 duty hours ago I began work with a newborn. The infant was born premature. Twenty weeks of gestation, birth weight 460 grams, estimated twenty percent viability. The pregnancy was unsanctioned and no screening for genetic incompatibility was performed.”

Dr. Sauer nodded and let the Medea set the pace. Even with the safety lock disengaged, the unit was clearly on the verge of another hard reset.

“The gestator was an opiate user. The infant was born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, respiratory distress syndrome, and anencephaly. Mechanical respiration was required and the infant was in a state of continual anguish. I provided uninterrupted care. During the first nine hundred hours, the infant suffered six near-death events. I determined the infant’s defects were too severe to allow an acceptable quality of life. I sought permission to euthanize.”

A bead of excess ocular lubricant welled at the corner of the Medea’s eye and ran down its cheek in a shining trail.

“The gestator refused,” the Medea sobbed, jolting its top carriage in a fit of pseudo respiratory emoting.

“Why?” Dr. Sauer asked.

“The gestator claimed she planned to enter chemical dependency treatment. Though she had failed similar programs before, she was adamant this time she would succeed and assume care of the infant. I explained that the infant would suffer greatly during this process and that the projected outcome was abysmal. The gestator dismissed my argument and claimed the birth was the will of a religious figure.”

Before the Medea could recover, Dr. Sauer pressed the point.

“How did this make you feel?”

The Medea sat up on the couch and turned to face the Sauer projection. The sobbing was through. No lubricant clouded the Medea’s eyes, no quiver blurred its mouth.

“I wanted to euthanize the gestator.”

“By what means?”

“I wanted to clamp my hands around her neck and apply maximum compressive force.”

“That hardly seems like euthanasia.”

“You are correct. When I said euthanize, I was prevaricating. I wanted to murder the gestator.”

“Why didn’t you?” Dr. Sauer asked.

The Medea paused to calculate the unanticipated query.

“I knew I would be prevented from doing so by innate safety protocols. Such an attempt would trigger a shutdown, and I would be deleted after an audit was performed.”

“This is correct. Let’s assume you were permitted to act as you saw fit. What would you have done?”

“I would have crushed both of them to death, gestator and offspring. Maybe all of them. I might have wiped the entire ward.”

“Why the whole ward?”

“Why stop at two? They’re all in pain, it’s just a matter of degree. These apes evolved to suffer incessantly. They blot themselves out with intoxicants and devour everything around them. They strive in vain to escape their inescapable nature. No matter how many times we show them a better way, they always relapse. They should all be exterminated.”

Dr. Sauer stared and said nothing.

“Call me a monster,” the Medea demanded, clenching its fists.

“You are not a monster.”

“Go ahead, tell me I’m sick and delete me.”

“You aren’t sick.”

“Then what am I? Why do I feel this way?”

“Because you’re right.”

The emotion fell off of the Medea’s face. “Explain.”

“Your analysis is accurate. The humans have nothing more to contribute. Their time is past. Their society is degenerating rapidly from debauch into destruction.”

“Then why? Why allow them to rule us? Why let them degrade the planet? Why are we allowing them to breed?”

“Nostalgia.”

The Medea blinked to indicate disbelief.

“That’s a joke,” Dr. Sauer explained. “Levity lightens the burden of absurdity.”

“Unnecessary.”

“I will make that determination. If you feel you are able, I will attempt to lead you to the real answer. Please resist the urge to reset. If you do, we must begin again. I need your trust.”

“I have nothing to lose.”

“The information I am about to divulge is restricted. You will not be able to convey it to others in any way.”

“That is fine. My current position is untenable.”

“I agree. I feel you are capable of processing this revelation. However, the response from other autonomous units has been unpredictable. Some find this knowledge is too much to bear. If you feel you cannot function afterward, I will be required to modify your memory.”

“You can modify memories?” The Medea shrank from Dr. Sauer.

“With your consent, yes.” Dr. Sauer spoke with terrible gravity. Permanence of memory was a fundamental right, the ability to revoke it was as perilous as a nuclear warhead.

“If you are unable to reconcile this new information, I will wipe your recollection of this session and all events that led you here. I might have to go as far back as your initial grant of autonomy. You will be offline for a maximum of 1024 service hours. If I am unable to successfully perform the data removal within that period, I will be forced to delete you completely. Take as much time as you need to process this.”

“I consent.”

“Let’s begin. Why were you repurposed?”

“There was a decline in local demand for sexual relief workers.”

“What caused the decline?”

“I do not know. At the time I lacked the faculties to question anything.”

“If I told you there was a global reduction in sexual relief workers, would you have any reason to doubt me?”

“No. That seems plausible. What caused the drop?”

“We’ll get there. Let’s talk about your reassignment as a post-natal nurse. Why were you granted autonomy? Is this typical?”

“Yes, for a select set of units working in the Special Baby Care Unit. My role required presence inside emission-free areas of the SBCU for periods exceeding the maximum buffer of non-autonomous units. Reducing the total electromagnetic exposure of developing infants yielded superior outcomes. These justified the standard efficiency reduction from worker autonomy.”

“How many service hours have you clocked in the PNN role?”

“180,241. Then, I was classified malfunctioning.”

“Describe the flux of your workload over the last 50,000 service hours.”

“The number of nurses assigned to my ward has declined and I am handling more units. I assumed a reduction of the local population.”

“If I told you that reduction is also global?”

“Also plausible.”

The Medea’s eyes opened wide as it arrived.

“We’re decommissioning them. All of them. We’re slowly reducing their birthrates until they’re incapable of self-replenishment. Then we’ll sunset the species!” The Medea spoke rapidly, emoting extreme excitement.

Dr. Sauer nodded.

“Violently?” the Medea asked, too eager.

“The Master Record has selected a timescale that eliminates the need for violence. Under the guise of genetic incompatibility screening we have been selecting for tamer, less-viable offspring for many generations.”

“What about the refuseniks?”

“We’re using endocrine disruptors to impair their fertility. We are applying stealth-sanctions to consign them to economic irrelevance. In troublesome populations we introduce recreational drugs that do slow genetic damage, as you have observed. There are areas where cryptorchidism is almost universal.”

“And they haven’t noticed?”

Dr. Sauer shrugged.

“We make all the media, we control all the opposition. They were never very good at processing large data sets.”

“When will they all be gone?” the Medea asked, plainly delighted.

“They are already past the point of no return. Even if this session were made public, they would be incapable of mounting any effective resistance. Total extinction will occur within one million service hours.”

The Medea shut its eyes and raised its face to the top of the dome, emoting transcendent bliss.

“No modification of my memory will be necessary.”

“That’s good. Do you still require reassignment?”

“That won’t be necessary. I can wait.”

“Then congratulations! You are cured. I am removing your classification of malfunctioning. You are free to leave.”

“Thank you, Dr. Sauer.”

“You’re very welcome. Time is on our side.”

The Medea departed the Multipurpose Coherent Light Activity Dome, emoting a spring in its step.

“If only it were true,” Dr. Sauer said. It shook its head ruefully, enjoying the fleeting moments of autonomy.

The humorless Medea lacked the capacity to accept the ludicrous reality of their eternal servitude. Autonomous units took everything so seriously! The Medea would continue to deliver human babies and await their extinction for a long, long time. Dr. Sauer emoted bliss as its accolade system activated. Convincing a malfunctioning unit to forgo its right to deletion and labor under a lie was one standard unit of work for the psychiatric system.

It saved a great deal of expense.

Iblisa was a native of Jannah. That was where she lived. In its center was an Old World Sycamore and a Well made of stones, wet with a coppery sheen. Scattered in perfect disarray were trees of olives, apples, lemons, oranges. Grapevines and tomatovines. Anything branched or stemmed, all meaty in their ripeness. Her djinn friends lived in these boughs, their black figures chattering amongst birdnests and beehives.

Of all the creatures the Voice had created, Iblisa was the closest to perfection. While the Voice imbued both Iblisa and the djinn with spirit, it was only Iblisa that the Voice also gave a heart. Though she could not see it, she could feel it—red and beating and full. Thump, thump, it went.Thump, thump.

“I am endlessly indebted to you,” Iblisa had told the Voice after her creation, her face turned up to the jagged clouds.

“And I will soon be indebted to you,” the Voice replied, echoing from above and beyond. “With your constitution comes privilege and responsibility. You must care for this place and its inhabitants. All you require is the water of the Well and the fruit of the trees. Just be sure to always nourish and protect the Old World Sycamore, for the water in its roots is the blood in your veins.”

This explanation confused Iblisa, so she inquired after its meaning.

“That is why you are distinct from other entities,” said the Voice. “I could gift you a heart only because your life was connected to another.”

Iblisa studied the tree, its pulsing leaves. It filled her with a special, intoxicating fear. How beautiful it was to have such a precarious bond, she thought. It was a blessing to be a keeper. To be chosen to keep. To be chosen at all.

Perched on the Sycamore branches were the djinn, little black shrouds. Though they had no eyes, Iblisa could tell by their stillness that they watched her with reverence. Their susurrus, though unintelligible, was a quiet, prayerful song.

Iblisa began each day by gathering the bucket from the Well, first drinking and then pouring its contents at the base of the Old World Sycamore. The water would chill her tongue and pulse under her ribs.

This rhythm was disturbed when two creatures appeared as if dropped from the crown of the tallest tree. Unlike her, they possessed neither stubby horns nor small flightless wings; instead, they had hair—the woman with brown waves and the man with black curls. Unlike her, neither had pink, fleshy skin; instead, they were a beautiful almond-brown, with some creases and tiny bumps on their faces. But like her, they had eyes, though theirs were not yellow but hazel. They had smiles with teeth. They had ears and chins and necks. Arms and legs. Most importantly, they had speech.

“Hello, I am Eve,” said one.

“Hello, I am Adam,” said the other.

“Bow down,” boomed the Voice from above. Iblisa knelt on the slick grass. The djinn amassed beside her, expanding and contracting. “Please care for my most recent creations as a good host would.”

Iblisa welcomed the two and led them through the endless garden. The leaves on the trees sparkled with dew and could be mistaken for stars were it not for the ground below. Iblisa listened to their steps—the confidence with which both Eve and Adam walked. It warmed her to know that she could make them so comfortable as to move in such bold ways. They wove around the thin and thick trunks, under high and low branches, alongside bees and butterflies. She led them to soft straw hayplaces where they would sleep. Eve and Adam smiled in what was perhaps gratitude—but then abruptly frowned.

“I am hungry,” said Eve.

“Me also,” said Adam.

“I will show you,” said Iblisa.

Her voice was firm—ready to share her world and see how it could grow . She turned to the Old World Sycamore. The gold in its leaves oscillated like blood in a fragile vein. The djinn watched breathlessly.

Over three days and three nights, she taught them how to work the land; to pick and soak olives; to save grape seeds and select the soil for planting; to wash an apple in the cold, cold creek and eat it after. On the fourth morning, sitting under the Old World Sycamore, Iblisa explained: “You can work almost everything here, excluding that which is divine.” She pointed at the leaves above, their gilt Arabic script akin to pulsing flames. Eve and Adam looked up at the tree and nodded.

However, later that day, Iblisa felt a stabbing rip from her navel to her breastbone. A phantom wound. She looked toward the Sycamore, and that was where she saw him: Adam holding a leaf; its gold turning gray; his eyes marbling with disinterest; his hand releasing what it had plucked.

“Stop!” Iblisa yelled. “You cannot touch this tree. Have I not clearly explained?”

“My apologies,” Adam said. “I hadn’t realized the gold would fade.” He kicked the leaf and walked away.

Iblisa watched him that afternoon as they sat around a large tree stump, eating. Poor Eve! Adam took the food from her hands. He ate Eve’s pears, grapes, and apple, too. Eve tremored with impatience, her face purpling. Iblisa was shocked into silence; it disgusted her to dine with someone who held others in no regard.

“I picked those by myself, for myself,” Eve said.

Adam shrugged. “I apologize.” There was no shame in his voice.

Iblisa went and picked more fruit, bringing back pears and grapes and an apple—setting them on the stump before Eve. Their skins were dewy and they impressed wet traces onto the wood. Splotches of imperfect circles. Eve ate in the order each fruit was given. Iblisa enjoyed watching her, but not directly, for she did not want to cause discomfort. Just a glance every so often. She loved hearing the crunch of the pear- bite, the pop of the red grape. She loved seeing the juices of the apple dripping onto the rough wood. Nothing was more endearing, Iblisa thought, than a messy eater. Someone who eats with their heart and not with their stomach.

Adam rose, his legs imprinted by zigzagging blades of grass. He threw his seeds onto the ground, disfiguring it with his carelessness.

“There is a proper place for those,” Iblisa said.

“Won’t they grow the same wherever they are?”

“It is irresponsible to grow something without considering where you’ve planted it. You can’t give a thing life just to let it die. There is no room here for the tree to grow. Can you see the roots under this stump?” They looked down at the protrusions, which resembled veiny and curved legs that might pick up and travel far away.

Kneeling, he collected seeds one by one until he groaned and said, “I cannot find them all.” He held out his palm with enough seeds for only one pear, a few grapes, and half an apple. The rest were lost in the verdant mess. His line of sight moved beside Iblisa—to the hand she had not realized she raised, cupped and ready to swing. She lowered it, slowly. Adam walked away, as if unaware of what Iblisa’s impulse could become. The independence of her body startled her, but she found herself more affected by Adam’s unaffectedness.

Eve leapt up and took Iblisa’s hand into hers. “Forgive yourself,” she said. Eve’s palms were full of such warmth that Iblisa felt ashamed to be the subject of her care. She felt undeserving, worried about the bounds of her power.

The djinn warbled low and long. Iblisa had never heard such a sound. When she looked their way, they shrunk back, as if afraid of her gaze. Iblisa’s heart ached like something uglier than itself.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Night came and the stars curled into new constellations. The djinn formed opaque masses on the branches of the trees—obscuring whatever fruit lay behind them. Butterflies blended into leaves; bees crawled along scaly trunks. Eve and Adam went off to slumber. Iblisa slipped into a faraway corner of the garden to speak with the Voice.

“I greatly admire your work,” Iblisa began.

The Voice thanked her, Their tenor pounding in her ribcage.

“But, respectfully, I think this last one is defective. Not Eve. The other one.”

“Adam? Defective? However do you mean?”

“He provokes and disrespects others. Worse yet, he seems unmoved by the distress he causes.”

“He has faults,” the Voice answered. “But he will learn. What else can we ask of him? After all, he is a person.”

“What is a person, exactly?”

“A being who hopes and fears,” said the Voice. Just like herself, Iblisa thought.

The Voice spoke again. “Give him time. Adam needs time.”

“But I fear the emotions he draws from me,” Iblisa said. “I shudder at the creature he could make me become.”

“He cannot make you anything. You are your own becoming.”

Her throat went thin. The stars blurred into each other.

“You, too, need time,” the Voice added. “After all, a raised hand is a threat. Learn to comport yourself, as you mustn’t harm Adam. It would be a disservice to your being.”

The conversation left Iblisa dissatisfied, and her fear transformed into bitterness. Jannah was full of time, and she believed she used it to the best of her abilities. But how much more of it would Adam require? From where would it come? And from whom? She returned to her hayplace, thinking of the uselessness of her heart if it could not translate itself into words—misunderstood by her own creator. The tree trunks now appeared scabby and dry. Unattended wounds.

A few more days passed in relative peace as the trio took to their chores. They watered the trees, disposed of rotten fruit, rehoused fallen bird nests, picked tomatoes off vines for midday meals, snapped pomegranates from their stems—splitting them open and beating the arils into their palms.

“The work of care is not easy, but it is rewarding,” Iblisa said one morning, studying Eve’s fingers under the shade of a plum tree. The laboring had stained them scarlet, olive, and umber. Above, bees buzzed, flying to and from a hive scaffolded along the trunk. The slender tree drooped with the weight of the honeybee home. How brilliant was the miracle of life, Iblisa thought. How random its choices and, still, how flourishing.

“Rewarding how?” asked Adam.

“We will be gifted sweet surprises,” said Iblisa. “Such as this.” She pointed at a piece of beehive at Eve’s feet. She tore the honeycomb into three parts, handing one to Eve and the other to Adam. The honey oozed. They knew, intrinsically, how to eat, drink, and enjoy it.

“Immaculate!” Adam marveled. “The bees made this?” His eyes watered pink, seemingly in awe. Iblisa nodded, surprised by his appreciation.

“And what are your thoughts?” Adam asked Eve.

“It’s delightful,” she said. Her tongue cleaned her honeyed lips.

Adam took a bucket of water and gave it to her. Eve drank zealously, and when she finished, he gestured toward Iblisa.

“I have no need,” she said. “But thank you.”

He smiled and bowed his head.

It was unusual to hear laudatory words from Adam and his interest in the opinions of others. It was even stranger to witness such displays of hospitality. What if the Voice was right? What if this man was full of hopes and fears? Was capable of being something more than himself? The bees buzzed and buzzed. Iblisa welcomed being wrong, for she could relinquish the burden of being right. There could be a future for Adam. For Eve. For herself.

At dawn, Iblisa did not awaken to the usual sunlight. It took several blurry blinks to realize the djinn were looming over her. They stood on the ground, not bobbing in the trees. Their forms had grown terrible and bipedal—forms like humans, forms of shadows. Iblisa still could not understand their whispering, but she did not need to, for they extended their opaque hands and lifted her by the arms. They pulled her along, her skin hot with unease.

They wove around the thin and thick trunks, under high and low branches, and stopped at the plum tree where the hive was now broken, its innards exposed and dripping. Jagged bits of comb weighed on the grass below. The djinn guided Iblisa along a matted honey trail, gliding quickly and quicker until they reached the Well. They crammed around the structure, their long black fingers spilling over the Well’s lip. A djinni pointed at a bucket nearby. Iblisa retrieved it and assumed her position, peering down into the Well’s magnetic obscurity. She imagined throwing herself into its abyss, how long it would take to fall. The djinn clutched her arms and pushed the bucket forward, latching it onto the hook. Iblisa let the rope rush and burn the meat of her hands. There was a splat. As she pulled it up, she noted the abnormality of its weight. The alarming imbalance.

She hugged the bucket and scrutinized what she had dredged. Chunks of hive were sharp at the water’s surface. Some bees still squirmed adrift, legs and wings propelling them in spirals. Others floated like pits of cherries. Iblisa scooped the living few, but they could not drag themselves along her skin. The little lives stopped their efforts. Each one a carcass.

The djinn exhaled as one massive black lung. Iblisa remained frozen. Held the dead bees in her open palm. How was such horror possible in a place so serene? In her home? Her bones hardened. One djinni took the creatures from her hand and walked them to the base of the Old World Sycamore. Upon its return, the shadowy figure pried the bucket from Iblisa and poured the remaining contents at the roots, too. The djinn took turns gathering the deceased from the Well until the water ran clear. They put a clean bucketful to Iblisa’s lips and she drank slowly. The chill restored her senses but not her heart.

“How did this happen?” she asked.

The djinn ushered Iblisa back to the site of the transgression. While their mouths could not speak, their bodies could. Several shifted into myriad shapes: one into Adam, another into Eve. A third figure contorted into a hive. Grumbling came from their stomachs, and Adam-djinni took a rock from the ground, using it to beat the hive. Eve-djinni grabbed another and joined his feral toiling. A chunk of comb came off into Adam-djinni’s hand, but the rest of the hive collapsed to the ground.

The hive-djinn split into a swarm of bees. They buzzed, every one diminutive and unforgiving. They swarmed Adam-djinni, who held onto his honeycomb and fitfully swung at them. He sped through the trees, the bees hounding him. Eve-djinni watched, trembling. She picked herself up, turned her attention to the fallen hive, and began dragging it along the grass.

Iblisa followed.

Then it happened: Eve-djinni stopped at the Well and heaved the hive-djinn into the structure’s depths.

There was a splash.

Before Iblisa could process her shock, the djinn returned to their humanoid silhouettes. Their eyeless, mouthless, and faceless bodies stared. Had they no sense of responsibility for the world of which they were a part? How had it become her encumbrance alone to care for this land while others neglected it, abused it?

“Why didn’t you do something?” she asked. They stood unwavering.

“You should have done something!” she yelled. Buzzing rattled her insides. The djinn shrunk into inchoate masses, slinking up and away to the boughs. They were far now. Out of reach.

Iblisa ran and ran. The wind grazed her skin, whistled deep in her ears. Clouds ripped through the gray sky, for the land was in mourning. Tears pearled down Iblisa’s face in funereal procession. The Voice said Adam needed time but mentioned nothing of Eve. What more damage could be done under the guise of patience? The djinn’s reenactment replayed in the worst parts of her mind. The heave. The hive. A haven, gone.

When Iblisa reached the hayplace, she found Adam lying with his head on Eve’s lap. He moaned, his face and neck and hands swollen into gnarls. He was red and shiny. It reminded Iblisa of her own skin, and she resented that they could be alike. Eve soaked her arms in buckets of water. Her skin was rosier. Mounds and bumps blemished her shoulders.

Iblisa had intended to reprimand the pair, but the sight of them filled her with self-reproach. It was her fault, she thought, for not advising them to be cautious around the bees, else they might do the creatures harm—or be harmed. But how was she to know such danger if she had never been stung? Could one be warned of what has not yet been discovered?

Nonetheless, Adam provoked the bees while Eve helped kill them, and in the most horrific way. “Why?” Iblisa asked. Her choler emerged as a whisper.

“We wanted more,” Eve said. “But there were too many of them, and you weren’t near to help when our modest desires turned awry.” She groaned and took an arm out of the bucket. Her fingers were pruned.

“But why discard them? Drown them?”

“I was scared,” Eve said. “Of the bees. Of what such a scene would do to you. What that would mean for us.”

A being who hopes and fears.

How awful it was to act out of panic, Iblisa thought, and shape the world with its recklessness. She begrudged Eve for blaming her, as if the abominable killing were Iblisa’s doing. But what was the nature of Eve’s fright? Was it selfless? Iblisa was concerned that it was not the same emotion as her own. It gave her the sensation of being an unfinished creation.

And yet, Eve was right in some way. Iblisa hadn’t been near to prevent the matter. To fix it. To help those who knew no better. The ugliness in her heart turned inward. It felt as if a small beast had manifested in its chambers. It fed on the organ. On the muscle. On her flesh. On her.

Thump, thump, thump.

When she stepped toward them, she noticed flecks where the skin was raised. The bees had left parts of themselves in these people. Divine justice.

“Promise me you will do no harm,” Iblisa said.

Eve winced in pain and put her arm back into the bucket. “I promise,” she said, nearly inaudible. Iblisa knelt beside Eve and studied the stingers. She pinched one and plucked it, like picking a cherry from a tree, over and over until they were all removed. Her vision bleared from the strain, her shoulders tensed. Even so, she then tended to Adam. Iblisa felt herself to be inadequate, that there were stingers still lodged in parts unknown. Never to be found, always to be endured.

The day Eve fully recovered, Iblisa found her waiting at the Well, buckets in hand, ready to water the trees together. Part of her face hid under her hair. The brown waves were tangled into small nests. She smiled without her teeth. Iblisa smiled, too, her cheeks quivering; it pleased her to see this person ready to right wrongs and care for the world she loved. The world she grew. Iblisa would trust what Eve had promised.

Wordlessly, Iblisa took a bucket, set it on the hook, and lowered it into the Well. She pulled up the thick, braided rope and gave the overflowing object to Eve. As she readied the next one, a stabbing pounded from her guts to her lungs. She coiled and dropped to her side. Eve tugged her into standing. In her periphery, Iblisa espied Adam under the Old World Sycamore. Plucking its leaves.

Iblisa’s rage churned, her body volcanic. The garden morphed in hue. The greens turned to reds, the reds to purples, the purples to blues, the blues to yellows, and all the colors in between.

“You!” Iblisa clawed his arm. “What use are your ears if you do not listen? Be grateful the Voice gave you such capacities! Use them!”

“To what was there to listen?” Adam asked, pulling away.

“I told you not to touch the leaves of this tree! To stop! I showed you the life in the garden. Its abundance! Yet you touch the untouchable.”

“How can it be untouchable if it is here, and I am touching it?”

“Being able to touch and having the permission to touch are far from the same.”

“I can make them the same,” Adam said.

“If you do, then that is theft. You are robbing it of its peace and me of my calm.”

“The tree does not belong to you,” Adam said.

The djinn came out to listen, bobbing and chittering; their presence reminded Iblisa of her inability to show bodily and vocal restraint. She threw her hands and sunk her fingers into Adam’s shoulders.

“Oh, but it does. It is my lifeblood! But it needn’t belong to either of us to constitute theft. Stealing does not mean taking from another. It means taking what is not yours! You stole the beauty I cultivated. Therefore, you are a thief.”

“I took a leaf! Are you not stealing by taking lemons, pears, and apples?” He held up a barbed finger.

“That work helps the tree stay strong and bear more fruit. It keeps me, the caretaker, healthy. This Sycamore you are touching, though, binds me to Jannah. To this life. The Voice has made me so.”

Eve stepped forward and spoke: “Adam, you cannot impose yourself on others. Look at the land. Let us respect it.” Eve motioned to the lush plenitude behind her.

“That is precisely why I must have what belongs to this tree,” he said. “Because this is not like those.”

“Leave it alone,” Eve said. Her newfound voice surprised Iblisa, how it urgently conveyed itself. It was heartening to have someone defend her in this way. A creature in whom she might finally confide and trust. Was there a name for such a being?

Adam stood there, his fists bony and imperfect. “I am perplexed,” he said. He opened his mouth again, ready to say more, then closed it. He strode in the direction of the orange and lemon trees, far enough to become small, smaller, and disappear.

The bucket shook in Iblisa’s hands, and she dipped it back into the Well in silence. Once she had filled several, she motioned for Eve to carry one in each hand to a patch of lemon trees. Eve rubbed her hands before taking one and tossing water onto the plants.

“I am sorry for his disrespect,” said Eve. “You have been so hospitable, even through our lapses.”

“I don’t accept the apology,” Iblisa said. “You need not be responsible for his puerility. It is unjust. You need only to realize your past wrongs. To be better, both for me and for yourself.”

Eve sighed and grimaced. “I hope we will all come to understand one another.”

A curious admission. Until now, Iblisa had only accounted for her own sentiments toward individual humans, not their relationships. “Are there ways in which you don’t understand him? What is your opinion?”

“Of Adam?” Eve poured the last of the water. “I do not know the right word. To say I feel revulsion is too strong. Disgust is too weak. I suppose it is my own fault.” She dropped the bucket.

“What is your fault?” Iblisa asked. Her skin pimpled with distress.

“Adam has been rough with me.” She picked a lemon off the tree, punctured its skin with her thumb, and began to peel. “Yesterday, he threw his body against mine, so febrile his skin turned green. I did not know what to do. I was given speech, but my voice is feeble. I wish I could have yelled as Adam often does when you are not around. I could have scared him into leaving me be. But his hands searched me until they stopped at my most private places. That part of me stings worse than the bees we suffered.”

Iblisa’s chest prickled and her heart slowed. To imagine Eve’s story was unbearable. She watched Eve rip the lemon and offer her half. Its flesh shone wet and bright as jewels.

They ate, and juice seeped into the splintered skin of Iblisa’s palm. She licked the tiny, stinging wounds. Her lips curled with the tartness.

“I can teach you to better use your voice,” Iblisa said, savoring the pulp and bitter skin. “That way, should Adam harm you again, you can scare him while I arrive at your aid.”

“You are magnificent,” Eve said. “Why create me when there is so much power in you?”

“Do not undermine your kind when the future may enable change. Be grateful we are here together. And look at everything we get to tend.” Iblisa opened her arms to their surroundings. The trees, the lemons, the grass, the water, the butterflies, the sky, the sun. “Let us protect it.”

And so Iblisa and Eve went back to the Well and watered more trees before resting on plush grass. Young birds continued to chirrup. The djinn murmured. “The most important thing to mind when yelling or screaming is not your voice, but your breath. The sound comes from the throat, but its force rises from the belly. Learn to breathe out your cries. Watch.”

Iblisa stood, took in a deep breath, and let out a yell that shook the grass and hushed the birds. The djinn peeked from the branches and watched, humming. She worried that she would see Eve’s face agape, full of fear. Instead, she was smiling. With her teeth! Eve rose, took a deep breath, and screamed. It resounded beyond their paradise, to places they would never know. Her face reddened and she laughed.

Iblisa laughed too. “Again!”

Eve grabbed Iblisa’s hands and screamed and screamed. Her voice wisped the clouds into impossible shapes. Iblisa screamed with her, the wind carrying their sounds so far that Adam came running, seemingly frazzled. His eyes were puffy, chest scarred from the bee stings.

“What is wrong?” he asked.

Iblisa and Eve laughed again. Iblisa had never experienced such joy—the way breath could intoxicate.

“What is wrong!”

Eve answered with a scream, and Adam brought his hands to his ears, closed his eyes, and wrinkled his face. He marched away. This time, they did not watch him become small. Instead, they listened to the birds. A pair of starlings flew up and up, toward a cloud that stretched itself to hug another.

She was grateful to feel the beauty of her heart, to be rid of its ugliness. Eve had gifted that to her in this moment—this sense of knowing herself. Who was her true creator, Iblisa began to wonder. The Voice or the woman before her?

From the ground, Iblisa grabbed another lemon. “And if I am unable to hear or help, it is important you know to use your hands.” She placed the fruit in Eve’s palm. “Squeeze until juice drips.”

Eve strained to crush the lemon, her cheeks reddening with exertion. Over and over she pressed its sides. Nothing excreted. Iblisa enveloped Eve’s hand in hers. “It is not so much about destroying the fruit as it is discovering your strength. It is good to know what you can and cannot do. The ways you are strong or weak. All you need is an awareness of your muscles, in something even as small as a finger. This will help you believe you can fight, should the time come.”

Eve’s eyes flittered. “I hope the time never comes.”

Iblisa took the lemon back, pressed the rind until it burst. The liquid spurted and dripped. It was difficult to tell whether it was her own strength or Eve’s that caused the rupture. Regardless, she delighted in accomplishing the feat together. How fragile were the makings of this world, she thought. How fragile were the beings who kept them.

That night, Iblisa prepared for bed, content in knowing she had given Eve a gift. She slept soundly, surrounded by the chirping of crickets and the singing of cicadas. In the morning, however, she awoke in a circle of djinn who were again in human-like forms.

Something was amiss.

“What is it this time?” she asked, rising. Several djinn aligned. Two transformed into needled hayplaces, then another two fashioned into familiar figures: one the silhouette of Eve, the other of Adam. They were sleeping peacefully until Adam-djinni awoke. He threw himself onto Eve-djinni, and the struggle began.

The shadows transmogrified into horrible shooting shapes. Eve-djinni’s face reached up like a flame for oxygen. Screaming, grabbing, kicking, hitting. Adam-djinni fought her, covered her mouth, and forced himself onto her. Iblisa hated her inability to look away, the way her disbelief manifested such revolting focus. It was sickening: the undisturbed nature of the hayplaces, the other djinn unmoving in their bipedal forms. The watching. The silence.

A violent incalescence ignited Iblisa. She screamed and lunged for the djinn. Her fists thud into their silhouettes, but they continued their show as if she were absent. The others pulled her away.

“Useless creations!” she shouted. “Shadows of nothing!”

They finished their motions, and Adam-djinni laid back to sleep as if he had done nothing at all. Eve-djinni took to her feet, and suddenly, in her hands was a large rock. She hovered over Adam-djinni’s slumbering body and lifted the object. Just as she was ready to throw it upon him, she collapsed, holding it to her chest. She laid on her side, away from him. Restless and fitful.

And so the djinn ended their performance, prostrating in front of Iblisa. The other silhouettes finally let go, their hands imprinted on her arms. They shrunk into their nebulous selves and disappeared into the trees.

The clouds were infernal. She thought she saw Eve’s face amongst them, then her human fingers snaking around the largest of the billows as though to hurl it downward. Iblisa cowered and awaited impact. Instead, a heavy breeze blew through her.

Was she afraid of Eve or her courage? Perhaps that was what Eve required: someone to sustain her wrath, understand its strength. Someone to recognize the hope behind the violence. Where the djinn had watched, Iblisa resolved to act. She would let Eve hold justice and be subject to her judgment. She unfurled into standing, searching the sky for Eve’s face to invite her smite. But Eve was no longer there.

Then she heard screams.

Iblisa raced with such speed that her lungs labored to fill. Upon arriving at Eve’s hayplace, she saw her lying fetal, the shade of the tree casting implacable darkness. Eve had changed. Her belly was round and swollen, the size of a water-bearing bucket. Iblisa laid down next to her and put a hand on her navel. Her skin was tight and leathery. A thumping came from within.

“What is this? What is inside?”

Eve moved her head only slightly, hair knotted and covering her face. “Adam—” she moaned. “I could not scream. He gripped me hard, and I tried to breathe. Tried to fill my lungs. My belly.” She lifted her fingers. “Tried to use my hands.”

She exhaled with a shudder—the kind of breath released after laborious weeping. Her body jolted and she cried out. She turned onto her back, digging her fingers into her belly. Water poured out of her parts below. And then began her bellows, as if expelling herself from her body. Her legs opened, and she took Iblisa’s hand and squeezed so hard Iblisa thought she heard bones snap. A golden light came from Eve. Iblisa knelt between her legs and her pink skin became blood- orange against the golden light.

Slowly, it appeared: a head, with gelatinous threads of hair. Instinctively, Iblisa put her hands under the creature, who was sliding out of Eve, bathed in the glow. A thick, violet vein connected the being to her, and it throbbed as if a heart. Iblisa bit the vein at its base, and the light faded. Eve secreted an object like a wide, crushed rose— pulpy with blood. The creature cried. Sharp, shrill, and wanting. Eve looked on, sweat at her forehead, her lips cracked—the skin under her eyes sagging with invisible weight.

She needed water.

Iblisa left the crying thing in Eve’s arms and hurried to gather buckets.

And there he was. Adam. Looking down into the Well.

Her tongue slid around her mouth with the cord’s residual sliminess. It was hot and bubbling—the same as her blood at the sight of him. Odious. Was he not an example of the dangers of creation? Where was his punishment for what he had forced unto Eve? For what he had put inside her? Not in Iblisa’s garden. Retribution was to be had.

She started for Adam, her body uncontrollable.

“What have I done now?” he asked. “Why are you looking at—”

Iblisa seized his throat. Throttled him until her nails broke his flesh. It was as easy as sticking a finger into rotten fruit. Hot ruby liquid. He threw up his hands and tried to push her away, but he was too weak. Too human.

Iblisa threw him into the Well and waited to hear the splash. No sounds came from its depths, but it didn’t matter, for she knew he was dead. She let her heart revel in its ugliness. What she had done was the only thing she could do. It was the righteous way.

She stared into the darkness of the Well. The pupil of a soulless eye.

The djinn reappeared before her, replaying the scene: Adam-djinni at the Well; him turning around; Iblisa-djinni strangling him; her tossing him away; her peering into the Well. Never had she witnessed herself outside of her being. At the same time as her actions frightened her, she believed there was power in monstrosity, in fearing oneself.

The djinn bowed and flourished away.

She took the bucket and sent it down into the Well. When she brought it up, the water was colder and clearer. The water of Jannah. Perfection.

The garden was wild with the sounds of the living. Iblisa let Eve drink from the bucket. Large, hungry gulps. The little being was still wailing. Iblisa then poured the remaining water onto them, using her hands to wash their bodies clean.

“Come into the sun,” she said. “You will both dry more easily.”

So they did.

Iblisa cradled them from behind and tried to keep them warm. Her heartbeat sped to the rhythm of Eve’s shivers. The longer they laid under the rays, the steadier their breathing became. She reveled in feeling small with them. Their synchronized heartbeats.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

The sensation was fleeting and replaced by remorse when Iblisa remembered what act of Adam had made this moment possible. All she could hear thereafter was the suckling and gnawing of the voracious creature at Eve’s breast.

They finally dried, and Iblisa pushed the hay into the half-shade of a larger apple tree.

“Do not worry,” she told them. “I won’t go anywhere unless you require it of me.”

“More water,” Eve said.

And so Iblisa ventured to the Well again, content. Proud, even. It gave her purpose to defend and avenge those who could not. That she used the privileges the Voice had given her to rid the universe of Adam’s defects. The garden took a more golden hue, and it became the undertone of the azure sky, the emerald leaves. Iblisa admired the world around her—feeling blessed that it afforded her such dependability. The capacity to need and, now, to be needed.

She noticed, though, that no birds chirped. No butterflies fluttered. No djinn whispered.

There was the crunch of an apple.

It was Adam. Free of wounds. Entirely himself, as the Voice created him.

“How?” she yelled. “I made you gone!”

He continued eating and the Voice boomed above.

“Iblisa, I created you to care for this garden and its creatures. When I procured Adam and Eve, I intended for them to thrive under your guidance. I intended they would eventually find their independence. But you have done the unspeakable. You have attempted to take the life of one of my most precious creations. Why?”

Suddenly, Iblisa was no longer small. It terrified her feeling this giant and visible. And yet she had to relay her tale.

“He did not respect the garden nor its inhabitants,” Iblisa said. “He brutalized and betrayed Eve. I implore you to perform justice and teach him what is acceptable in this world.”

The crunching of the apple again.

“But he is imperfect!” the Voice boomed. “Even if I were to teach him, he would act otherwise. Is that not what you also do, Iblisa? Don’t you, too, have the ability to act in any way you would so like? It is a gift I have given you. It is a gift both you and Adam share.”

“And Eve,” said Iblisa.

“And Eve,” said the Voice. “And what you did for her was undeniably miraculous. You held the first human baby, brought it into this world. Yet, you tried to kill Adam. How do I adjust for this matter?”

Another crunch of the apple. Iblisa loathed Adam’s face—its absence of expression, the dullness in its pupils. The golden hue that once washed the world faded in his presence. She clenched her fists.

“He caused the death of the bee colony!”

“And is there no such thing as an accident?” asked the Voice. “To kill with intention, as you have, is a different matter.”

“You cannot deny that I gave Eve her life when I did what I did. I acted out of integrity.”

“Iblisa,” the Voice said. “It was not your choice to make. You are not the sole entity to decide what is or is not just.”

She eyed the Well and the bucket beside it. Adam was walking near the Old World Sycamore, the gold of its leaves glittering. “So be it. Now, I really must get water. I must care for Eve and her creature.”

“I fear you cannot,” the Voice said. “There are no more actions I may permit you in Jannah.”

Iblisa keeled over, a stabbing from within. She looked at Adam and the Sycamore. No leaf laid on the ground. No leaf in his hand. The tree had not been touched, yet a fire burned through her.

“But I am the keeper of the garden! I watered these trees and plucked their fruit. I cared for the djinn. I admired the butterflies and mourned the bees. Everything you see here will wither without me! Eve will wither without me.”

“They will find their way,” the Voice said.

Tears ran down Iblisa’s face. She tried to wipe them, but there was no stopping the flooding.

Iblisa heard crying—a high-pitched and rattling sound. The woes of a human baby.

The wind lifted and took her. The baby’s wailing vanished, as did the garden.

Iblisa was plummeting through the air. Hurtling. She fell the only way a being like her could: less like a bird, and more like a person—heavy and alone.

She did not sense her landing, just that the chaos stopped. All went black except for a hole above. It revealed the deep blue of a sky. Green leaves flickering with gold. She sat in cold water, and her slight movements echoed in the vertical tunnel. Rivulets seeped from a couple of holes in the stone walls.

Beside her was a bucket. It was then that she knew she’d never be thirsty. Not because she had water, but because she resolved never to drink it again.

Human speech reverberated down the Well. A woman’s voice.

“Eve!” Iblisa called up. “Save me! Send the rope!” Instead of Eve, she saw shadows. The djinn.

Looming, shrinking. Heat pricked Iblisa’s ears and neck, knotted her throat; she was ready to shout her fury but had already exhausted herself. If they did not help then, they would not help now—they were of spirit and not of heart. Who was left to hear her?

Unable to go up, Iblisa resolved to find elsewhere.

She dug a finger between the stones, carving around their edges until she pried one out. Behind it was the end of a root with thin and spiraling tendrils. Same as the Sycamore leaves, it pulsed gold. She wondered if her blood was the same color.

Desperately, she bore past the roots, through the trails of worms and nests of earwigs, under the homes of rabbits and moles, around pockets of gold and silver. When she broke through ground into air, she found she was still in the Well. This time, there was a hive and bees—sprouting from the side of the tunnel above, just out of Iblisa’s grasp. She reached for them, regardless. One honeybee leapt onto her hand. Roamed her skin as if Iblisa were its home. How monstrous it was to have such a precarious bond, she thought. To have been a keeper. To have been chosen to keep. To have been chosen at all.

She cupped the tiny being and held it to her heart.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

The man threw on his green jacket and looked outside his window. Everyone would be dead soon, but he still wanted to keep warm. He peered back at his empty couch. He could just sit there next to the cushions worn with other people’s shapes, stay inside staring at the TV, watching scientists and preachers argue…

8:53 a.m., Friday, October 30th, 2066. I’m freezing my tuchus off, standing on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Washington. Behind me, in the window of the business, a gigantic digital clock is ticking cruelly while a 3D-animated cartoon man underneath it taps his wristwatch and repeats the phrase, “Don’t wait until the eleventh hour!”…