“What’s the count up to now?” Louise asks, tossing another fresh coin onto the pile in the middle of the floor where Valerie and Lin are putting them into the small white envelopes they are folding themselves from some fancy paper that got delivered this afternoon.

“That’s number fifty-seven there,” I tell her.

Andrea, Evan, Louise and I continue minting coins from the ingots of gold the Geologists provided. They’re stamped with a stylized dragon on one side and a picture of Yang Song in profile on the other. Designs courtesy of Andrea. She’s really been great through all of this. The soft metal is easy to work with, but there’s a lot of detail in each one. I was tempted early on to just build a press, but hand-making—well, bot-making—each one seems more appropriate.

“And how many do we need?”

“Two hundred and fourteen,” Lin says. “That will cover all of the Butler siblings, miscellaneous family, and the staff. We should probably make a couple of extras in case I’m forgetting anyone.”

“Why did we have to have so many brothers and sisters?” Louise asks, clearly not having a lot of fun with the task. I find it relaxing. With the template to copy, it’s barely an effort for me. But then again, I’m much more tightly attuned to my cloud than Louise is. For all her understanding of how the cloud and implant work, there’s no substitute for the constant and obsessive practice I’ve put in.

“Because Father was a dirty old man with a god complex who needed an excuse to bang a different twenty-something girl every day,” Evan responds dryly, tossing another coin on the pile.

“I can make them if you’re tired, Louise,” I offer, tossing three more coins onto the pile. “It’s really not a big deal.”

“No, I want to be part of this. I’m just not used to doing this kind of detailed work with the standard bot models. They’re usually just for moving big stuff around for me. It’s giving me a headache.”

“You could try it with the medical bots,” Valerie suggests. “You’re so good with those.”

“No good,” Louise answers. “The medbots don’t have the right attachments to work on metal.”

“Here, let’s make an assembly line for it. You just make the blanks and I’ll do the detail work.”

She agrees and that goes better.

“Did you get the flowers you wanted ordered?” Valerie asks Lin as she seals another envelope.

“Yes. Alan found a florist in Phoenix that had enough white irises. They’ll be here in the morning.”

“Was that the last thing you needed?” Evan asks as he finishes another coin.

“Marc still isn’t home from Vegas with the spirit paper and the incense,” she says, “but he should be back here any time. And I still need confirmation on the band.”

“What’s the paper for?” Louise asks.

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“Ghost money. We’ll burn it,” Lin responds. “It ensures a safe journey to the next life. I don’t believe in any of those traditions, but Yang Song did. We’ll burn all of her belongings at the same time.”

“I guess that explains the wood pile and the big new firepit Gramps was shoveling out,” Evan says. “I wasn’t sure if that was something he was doing for the food or what.”

The amount of burning involved in this funeral seems a little weird, but I don’t say anything. None of my sibs seem bothered by it, so it’s probably fine.

“No, for the meal we will be catering in some authentic Chinese cuisine. There was a restaurant in Las Vegas that Yang Song particularly enjoyed.”

Lin’s phone rings. “Hey Alan.” She listens for a moment. “Thank you. Exceptional work on everything today. I appreciate it more than I can express.”

She disconnects.

“The band is arranged,” she reports, folding another envelope. “They’re flying in from San Francisco tonight.”

“Good, I was worried you wouldn’t find one,” I tell her.

“It certainly helps that there are lots of expatriate Chinese on America’s west coast,” she says. “And it appears that quite a few of them maintain some of their traditions.”

We work in silence for several minutes.

“That’s one-fifty.” I pop another five coins onto the pile.

Andrea smiles and slides ten more over. The number 160 pops into the air above the pile then evaporates in a white puff.

“Aren’t the people attending normally supposed to give the money, not get the money?” Evan asks. “I read that somewhere.”

“Very little about our situation could be considered normal,” Lin says, cracking another sad smile. “But yes. Traditionally the invitees give money to the family. Then, following the funeral proceedings, the family gives out small envelopes with coins. Since we’re going to be all one family now, I thought this was the best way to keep the spirit of the traditions.”

Everyone perks up suddenly.

“All one family?” Louise asks. “Did something happen that we should know about?”

“Apologies,” Lin says. “I had intended to tell you, but the events of the day interceded and I neglected to make the announcement. Noah and I are now formally engaged.”

A chorus of squees come from the girls and Evan.

From Evan: Congratulations man! I knew you’d see the light soon.

To Evan: Yeah. You were right.

“Ring!” Valerie insists. “Where’s the ring?”

Lin looks down at her hand. “Oh. Apologies again. I had it on last night. I wore it to sleep. When I woke up, I removed it when I took my shower. Noah, can you check our bathroom?

“It’s there,” I say, feeling it on the countertop by the bathroom sink. “One sec.”

I grab it and pull it under the door, down the hallway, and through the open doorway into Lin’s waiting hand.

“Ooh, shiny,” Valerie says as Lin puts it on. She holds out her hand for Valerie and the others to admire it.

“Wait, did you say our bathroom?” Evan asks.

“Yes,” Lin declares. “Noah and I will also be moving in together permanently as soon as we can find the time to make the arrangements in our quarters.”

“See!” Evan says to Valerie. “It does make sense to move in together even if you’re already in the same building.”

“Yeah, but I bet Noah doesn’t snore,” she retorts.

“Noah totally snores. I’ve heard him snore.”

“Not like you do,” I claim, accessing my logs. “I’ve got it down that you snore every single night. I’m surprised Valerie even lets you have the room next to hers.”

Andrea snorts and starts laughing, then Valerie joins in. It’s contagious and soon even Lin is laughing, which turns into crying, then laughing again. Then they’re all crying and laughing.

I love my family so much. I just wish I could share half the feelings that they’re experiencing.