––“Where are the photos? What, can’t you even find the pants?”

Kaura startled, but didn’t admit she’d lost focus.

––“You said no photos! I’ll be there in ten minutes.” She hung up and, still running, leapt into the flipp.

Switching to manual control, Kaura shot upward, above the autopilot stream. Her bracelet read aloud the measurements her cousin had sent. At top speed the flipp reached the shopping center. Kaura dashed up to the second floor of the nearest store, grabbed the pants matching the specs, scanned her bracelet at the exit sensor, and raced back.

Back at the apartment, she found Gayana sorting her clothes by color. For a moment Kaura paused in the doorway, softened by the sight: in those neat, color-coded stacks she recognized her cousin’s familiar touch — precise and gentle at once.

––“What a mess you live in!” Gayana clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “How can you build systems when you don’t have any of your own? I’ve already had dinner — eat by yourself.”

Kaura hesitated; she had thought the talk about the catastrophe would begin over dinner. She went to the kitchen, uncertain whether to start the conversation herself or wait for her cousin to.

When Kaura finished eating, Gayana came in, ordered a shake from the auto-chef, and while waiting, absently stroked her injured arm.

––“How are you? Does it hurt?” Kaura asked.

––“It aches now and then. I just feel sorry for the apartment — I’d only just finished making it my own.”

A silence fell between them.

––“I was just about to get into my flipp and fly to work,” Gayana began. “Then the ground lurched. At first I thought I was just dizzy — I’d had a few drinks the night before and went running in the morning. But the shaking grew worse. The path by the house split away, and the house itself began to crack. I fell and tried to crawl. The path buckled, then gave way — a slab pinned my arm, and I blacked out.

––“When I came to, I was in a field hospital outside the city. I didn’t really see Onilam — only a haze of dust. Judging by the number of wounded and what they said, the city’s in ruins. There were more tremors later, but the hospital domes held.”

She fell silent, then added quietly, “My house folded, slab over slab. Everyone inside died… most were at work, but twelve for sure.”

Tears welled in her eyes. Kaura wanted to embrace her, but suddenly she saw a glowing disk above her cousin’s head and froze, entranced. Gayana turned away and headed for the bedroom. Kaura snapped out of it, caught up, and embraced her on the threshold.

Gayana broke into sobs; the disk drifted slightly to the side, glowing brighter. Kaura stroked her cousin’s back and softly hummed a lullaby. Gradually, Gayana calmed, and the disk dimmed and vanished.

Kaura stepped into the corridor. Inside, she felt as if a spark of someone else’s light had settled beneath her skin — gently pulling her thoughts back toward her cousin and the enigmatic Psycho-Field. She took a deep breath and walked on.