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Veyr looked uncomfortable. "What did you tell her?"

"The truth."

Which could mean several things. Earth's destruction had become simplified over time. Human educational programs often reduced it to broad concepts because the full history was complicated, ugly, and difficult to translate into minds that lacked access to much of our archival language.

They destroyed their planet. It was technically true. It was also incomplete. Climate destabilization came first in some regions. Agricultural collapse in others. Resource depletion. Habitat loss. Conflict over water and habitable land. Political fragmentation.

Veyr frowned. "One thing that I have always wondered: did they know what they were doing?"

"Some did," Terosm said.

"Then why didn't they stop?"

Terosm answered before I could. "Knowing something individually is not the same as being able to change a civilization collectively."

Pluralis stirred their drink. "Mara asked if humans were stupid."

"What did you say?"

"I told her humans were humans."

I approved of that answer.

"Lucca dislikes being told his species destroyed Earth," I said. None of the humans alive now remembered Earth directly. Even with their extended lifespans under Aconchian medical care, too many generations separated them from the rescue populations. But inherited history had weight. The first rescue vessels had found scattered populations surviving in protected settlements and failing infrastructure. Billions had already died. The humans brought to Aconche had arrived malnourished, traumatized, sick, and socially fractured. Early records described attempts to reconstruct independent human settlements. Most failed. Not because humans were incapable of survival, exactly, but because the surviving population had been too small and too damaged to recreate what had been lost. Our households came later. At first as guardianship. Then companionship. Then something more permanent.

Three centuries later, the distinction between human family member, dependent, companion, and property had become less clear than our legal language suggested. I thought of Lucca asleep in his crate. Lucca stealing food. Lucca kneeling in the discipline corner with his cheeks flushed. Lucca following me through the house simply because he wanted to occupy the same room. Property was an accurate legal term. It was also an absurdly insufficient one.

"I don't think individual humans should carry responsibility for Earth," I said. Pluralis made a quiet sound of agreement. Terosm leaned back in their chair.

"Eli insists she would have saved Earth."

"Of course," Pluralis said, laughing.

"They have never successfully maintained a houseplant," Terosm completed.

I felt amusement vibrate through my chest.

My wrist pulsed sharply. Once. Twice. Then accelerated. My attention snapped downward instinctively even though there was nothing visible there. Lucca. The pulse wasn't merely fast now. It was uneven in the way I associated with emotional distress. I brought up my personal interface. A small message waited.

DAYCARE STATUS UPDATE—LUCCA

I opened it immediately. “Afternoon supplement completed with encouragement. Minor resistance. Second behavioral warning issued. No correction required. Transitioning to scheduled rest period.” I read it twice.

Terosm watched me.

"Problem?"

"No."

"That sounded like a problem," Pluralis said.

"He refused his supplement," I sighed.

Pluralis looked sympathetic.

"The standard paste?"

"Yes."