Camellia wandered the grounds that belonged to Sten and the Dyelan robots. It was a brand-new building, built from remains of the old, and it was finally in the kind of place that Camellia would call a home.

Bright sun streamed onto green grass. A chill wind blew, but it was always chill in Lurren.

Somewhere behind, Sten and Florian talked. Camellia heard their conversation, as she tread the garden, with Valerian in arms.

“I’m sorry. I know you loved her,” Florian said.

“I did, but she wasn’t ready. I don’t know if she would have ever been.” Sten made a sound of sadness, not quite a sigh.

“You couldn’t will it to happen.”

“I would have waited. I would have waited a century. She was…there was no other android like her.”

Florian cleared his throat. “There’s still a chance.”

“I’m not so sure. How could I be with her now? I might wait and see what happens. But, I’m so worried I’ll mold her into something I want her to be, and that wouldn’t be right.”

Florian answered, “I don’t think you’ll do that.

Camellia missed the last of their audible words, as Valerian burbled a sound and waved his hands. Her child’s excitement directed her gaze to Tiny Tin.

She passed the boxy robot and gave him a nod. He gave her a small wave. Wheelian spun his wheels and cruised by. Again, Valerian vocalized and wiggled. Wheelian smiled. Ferrou worked on something beside the house, but Valerian didn’t recognize him as a person. The last of Eva’s household, Spring Peeper, lay in the grass and watched Camellia go. To be most accurate, he watched Valerian, now a big baby of eight months. Valerian watched him too.

Valerian called to Spring Peeper and reached. Spring Peeper hopped out of the grass, a clear expression of hope in his eyes.

“Not yet. We see Eva first.” Camellia motioned for Spring Peeper to wait. She walked under a trellis and past a hedge.

On the other side, she saw a patio, set with table and chairs. Eva sat and stared at a handful of pictures.

Camellia took a seat across from her. She sat Valerian in her lap. On the table, she placed a box. She slid it close to Eva. “Hello Eva.” Camellia pointed to the box. “That’s for you.”

Sten had warned Camellia that Eva would take a good year to organize that new brain of hers. It wouldn’t be a quick download or adaptation. Eva’s new brain needed to mature and grow.

Camellia put a hand on Valerian’s chest. He nibbled at her thumb as she reached across the table and flipped the top off the box. She dumped out a small puzzle cube.

“I took the liberty of making a mess of it. You can take your time to solve it.” Camellia smiled but felt it didn’t reach her eyes.

Eva picked up the cube.

Camellia felt her eyes widen. “Oh, I’m glad you like it. I really stressed over what to get you. Well, while you work on that, let me introduce you to Valerian.” She pointed at the baby. “This is him. His favorite activities as of this moment are flopping in a pile of stuffed animals and knocking down block towers. He’s going to be a good friend of yours…I hope.”

Eva glanced at Camellia but continued to fiddle with the cube.

“You’ll be happy to know that the Volanter are gone, and Pen Pal wasn’t a giant mistake. Although, I’m not so sure about that.” Camellia shook her head. “Nevermind. I don’t want to fill your head with that stuff.”

Camellia watched Eva work the cube. She smiled. It was bittersweet. It was Eva, and yet, it was not. Eva had all the same parts. Her nanites hadn’t changed, and much of the base programming would be the same. But, the things that shaped Eva could never be a perfect match, including Camellia.

Camellia put her hand over her mouth. She shuddered but managed to keep control.

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Eva paused her work on the puzzle and gave Camellia her full attention.

“There’s a lot of people I miss, Eva. But, especially you. I probably will miss you for the rest of my days.” Camellia reached across the table and touched Eva’s hand.

Eva watched Camellia’s hand. She didn’t pull away.

Camellia sighed and slowly withdrew.

Eva resumed her puzzle.

The sounds of a quiet breeze and the click of the puzzle reigned over the small garden. Valerian rattled his toy. Camellia would have called it silence, if not for the sounds of play.

“Hey. Mind if I join you?”

Camellia turned and saw Meladee, for the first time since Meladee brought Pen Pal. Camellia stared. Meladee carried a box.

Camellia straightened. “No. Of course not. I haven’t seen you…”

“In ages, I know. I didn’t want to…” Meladee shook her head. “And, then, I got pretty uncomfortable cause I gave in to Benham. He wants one of those.” Meladee nodded at Valerian. “It’s not so bad now that I’m past that part. But, damn, you might have said.” Meladee took the last chair at the table. She put her box down on its surface.

Camellia laughed. “Didn’t I say?”

“No, you never complained.”

Eva stopped and stared at the box. She slowly put Camellia’s puzzle down, close to her. She reached for the new box but hesitated.

“Go ahead. I’m glad you’re learning about presents. You go for it. Get what’s yours,” Meladee said the next part with less enthusiasm. “You definitely deserve it.”

Eva opened the box and out came a star puzzle. She held both puzzles and, with wide eyes, studied them.

“She likes it,” Meladee said.

“She does.” Camellia brushed Valerian’s hair, with two fingers. “Florian, Valerian, and I are going to Scaldigir later. Are you coming?”

Meladee waved a dismissive hand. “Nah. I’ve been. Don’t think I’ll go back till next year maybe. That’s usually how I do vacations.”

“It’ll be my first time.” Camellia stared into the sky and couldn’t remember one over Lurren so blue. “You know, I kind of feel…”

“What?” Meladee asked.

Camellia shook her head. “No, nevermind. It’s not that important.”

Scaldigir had the inevitable problem of reminding Camellia of the Volanter. The Dipinta trees towered. The cities seemed to imitate nature, in all but the most commercial of buildings. The flickering lights in the trees painted starscapes beneath canopies, where none should be seen.

Camellia held Valerian close. He rested his head on her shoulder and drifted to sleep. Normally, Camellia would have him in bed. It was early morning by Iruedim’s standards, but she hadn’t wanted to leave him behind. He slept on the ride over, and then, she gave him his first glimpse of another world, decades earlier than her own. He loved the lights of Scalidigir’s evening. He watched the colors as the evening faded to night, and then, he drifted back to sleep.

Soft footfalls padded in the grass.

Camellia turned around. “Pan.”

“Camellia.” Pan had her infant son in her arms. The child was no more than three months. He also slept. “This is Orfir. He’s at that age where he’ll sleep through anything. Sotir has a whole year off, and…it’s been great.”

Camellia smiled at the genuine sentiment. “It is great…to have your very own family.”

Pan stared into the night and waved to someone.

Camellia looked back in time to see Aria. Aria also cradled a small child, her daughter. She sat on a bench and Gavain and Sotir hovered by her side. Gavain gestured for Pan to return. Sotir just held his staff and waited.

Pan held up one finger. “So, how do you like Scaldigir?”

“It’s…it reminds me so much of the Volanter. Sorry.” Camellia shrugged. “I don’t know if we did the right thing. So much fighting. There had to be a way…”

“Who knows? But, if it makes you feel better, I’m not so sure either,” Pan said.

Camellia startled. “Really?”

“Yes. I think about how they wanted to conduct magical research and how that’s all your people and mine have really been doing. At least, it’s what we’ve valued most.” Pan let out a slow breath. “But, I think it’s better to do it on our terms.”

Camellia’s heart beat fast, to find someone who questioned what they’d done was a rarity. Camellia could not talk to Florian or Meladee or even the conscientious Rooks. They all declared it was done and moved past the notion that they’d done wrong. If Camellia had asked Pen Pal, he would be just as adamant.

“Pen Pal said that we were what he hoped the Volanter would become.”

“That’s a comfort.” Pan shrugged.

Camellia glanced left and right. She saw no one that would stop their conversation. “That might be easy for you to say, but a whole civilization is gone. They…”

“No, they aren’t.” Pan shook her head. She pointed to herself. “We are the Volanter.” Pan nodded to Camellia. “Or, at least, we’re what they should have been.” She paused and stared hard into space. “Well, we will be what they should have been if I have anything to say about it.”

Camellia took a deep breath. She felt her eyes narrow as she puzzled it over. No civilization stayed the same for fifty years, and yet, many still called themselves the same name and practiced the same core beliefs.

How different were they from the Volanter? Only time and study would tell. And, how exactly did Pan want them to change? If Camellia thought hard enough, she would probably come up with a laundry list of what the Iruedians and Scaldin could do better.

“Oh, I wanted to ask you…” Camellia’s eyes flicked through the celebration.

People laughed and talked. Lights sparkled, and food scents wafted on the air. It was merry, not really a place for ghosts.

“Yes?”

Camellia smiled. “Nevermind. Let’s go visit with Aria. I would like to meet her daughter.”

Pan curled her finger in a beckon. Camellia followed. She watched the Dipinta tree and pushed thoughts of its use as a burial chamber out of mind.

The Volanter of the past millenia were gone, but the Volanter of the present were alive and well.