Nathan had just concluded a meeting with the leaders of the Commonwealth of the Outer Solar System Territories concerning the possibility of joining the Confederation. Now on a mission to Venus, a neutral world, his green eyes stared wishfully at the small blue planet known as Earth while passing it by. He had high hopes for the planet, but his job as Secretary-General of the United Galactic Confederation officially prevented him from getting involved. Nathan's cat-like tail swished back and forth and his ears twitched as he listened to his children, Ja, Io, and Ur, arguing. What they were arguing about, he did not know, and in all likelihood, neither did they.
The ship made a controlled entry into the Venusian atmosphere and a gentle landing on the planet. Once a crushing, burning hellscape, Venus had been transformed into a refuge for Earth's wildlife and had a dynamic range of artificially maintained environments to accommodate them. Due to the exceptionally long day and lack of seasons, there were complex systems in place to adjust weather and lighting to simulate Earth conditions.
"Are we there yet?" asked Io.
"Yes," replied Nathan.
"Are we done yet?"
"Almost."
"I'm already bored."
"Be patient," said Ja. "Just enjoy the moment. This is a beautiful place. I rather like it here. It's a shame that our visit shall be brief."
"It's already been too long."
"I just enjoy family trips," said Ur.
"All we have to do is go to the management office and take their official report," said Nathan. "Then, we interview the directors briefly about their work. After that, we fly around for a quick look to make sure things are in order. This is just a basic evaluation. If there are any problems, those will be dealt with in the near future."
"Stop boring me," said Io.
"Never. I'm going now. You are all free to do as you wish while I conduct business. However, I'd like you to be back at the ship when I'm ready to leave."
"I'd like to go with you," said Ur.
"Thank you."
"I want to make sure you get things done right."
"Oh. Anyone else? Ja, Io, would you like to help out?"
"I don't like you," said Ja. "Why would I help you with anything?"
"Well, you didn't have to put it like that."
"If you only do what is necessary, you miss out on most of what there is to be done."
"Well said," Ur commented.
"What about you, Io?" asked Nathan.
"You're boring me as we speak," said Io.
"What's gotten into you lately?"
"Ixora installed new software when he made repairs. I was thinking of connecting to the ship's computer to make a few modifications as needed."
"That's very strange," said Ja. "Normally, you'd be contacting Ixora to have him do that for you."
"You're right, but for some reason, I just don't feel like it. All the more reason for me to make the necessary adjustments."
"So, you feel compelled to make modifications to your programming in order to make yourself want to make Ixora make modifications for you?" asked Ur.
"Yes."
"But you don't feel compelled to save yourself some effort and just have him make the modifications that you know he will do if you just ask, no matter how much it inconveniences him?"
"Quite right."
"Wow," said Ur. "That is weird. Carry on, then."
Io stayed in the ship to do as she intended. Ja went outside to look around and enjoy the environment. Ur went with Nathan to the planetary management office. Business was conducted as planned and in a timely manner. After departing from Venus, they would make a close approach to Earth.
"Whose turn is it?" asked Nathan.
"Io's," said Ja.
"It's Io's turn," said Ur.
"Do I have to?" asked Io.
"Well, no, not really," replied Nathan. "It would be greatly appreciated, though."
"Fine."
"What's the matter? I thought you liked Earth."
"I did, but that was a long time ago. I'll still go." She went to speak privately with her siblings. "I guess I'll see you when I do. And who knows? Maybe I'll even have good news this time."
"Maybe," said Ur.
"I seriously doubt it," said Ja.
"You never know," said Io. "So, are you two planning to visit Mara while I'm away?"
"Yes," said Ur.
"We always do," said Ja.
"Well, I hope you'll have good news for me," said Io.
"What do you mean?" asked Ur.
"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."
"I don't like the sound of that," said Ja.
"I know. Take care. I love you both." Io hugged her siblings. She then stood before Nathan.
"Be sure to stay in contact," said Nathan. "Most importantly, return safely when you're done with your observations."
Io teleported down to Earth's surface. Nathan wanted her to spend a few years on Earth, and then report back to him. He would have his children take turns doing this from time to time. Though this was a violation of the travel embargo placed on Earth by the Confederation, they had, as of yet, never been caught.
"I still say Earth is a lost cause," said Ja.
"Probably," said Nathan. "But still, it's what Olivia wanted."
"She hated you."
"I know, but I still owe it to her to try. I could never blame Olivia for hating me."
"You let that get to you too much," said Ur. "What happened was not your fault."
"Stop trying to comfort him," said Ja. "He deserves any and all suffering that comes to him."
"You do have a point," said Ur. "After all, there are too many things that are his fault that he feels no sense of wrongdoing for. He may as well feel bad for some things that aren't his fault. It helps to balance things out."
Nathan continued, "Don't worry, this is our last stop before we go back home."
"You can go to your home after you take us to ours," said Ja.
"What?"
"We've made other plans," said Ur. "We were planning to stay with Mara while Io is away. While one of us is visiting Earth, the other two always go to visit Mara."
"I honestly hadn't noticed," said Nathan. "And how were you planning on going to her?"
"You're going to take us," said Ja.
"What makes you so sure I want to?"
"You don't. Still, all the same, you're going to take us to her."
"So it would seem. Very well then. I have the time."
Mara's planet had changed remarkably little since Nathan's last visit. From orbit, he scanned for Mara, as she had no permanent residence and could be anywhere on the planet. He eventually located her near the planet's north pole. He brought the ship down for a landing near the tiny igloo where she presently resided. Nathan, Ja, and Ur exited the ship and walked toward the igloo. There was a few centimeters of snow on the ground, below which was solid ice several kilometers thick. Their steps through the snow were easy to hear, and Mara came out to meet them. Ja and Ur went forward to her, while Nathan turned around to return to his ship.
"Nathan, wait," said Mara.
Nathan could not believe his ears. After their breakup, he had never seriously expected Mara to speak to him again. Even now, he wasn't sure if it was really happening. He turned around to face her.
"Won't you stay a little while?" she asked.
"Of course!" Nathan replied enthusiastically. "I would be delighted!"
Ja and Ur were just as surprised as Nathan was.
"Are you sure about this?" Ur asked Mara.
"Yes."
"Nathan, don't you have work to do?" Ja asked.
"Yes, but it can wait. I have some time."
"We should be friends," Mara said to Nathan.
"Absolutely! I've learned so much, including about sex. I can be the friend and the lover you wanted. I still love you. This whole time, I've always loved you."
"That's nice, but all I said is we should be friends."
"Oh. Very well, then. Sounds good."
"Good. Let's just take this slowly and see where things go from here."
"As you wish. But know that I do love you."
"The truth is, I do still love you," said Mara. "That will never change. After everything we've been through together, I will always love you. But as it is now, I am not in love with you as I once was. However, I am willing to give that another chance. If a romance should be rekindled, so shall it be. But if not, I still wish to always be your friend."
"I would like that very much."
"While you're here, why don't we go inside the ship?"
"That's fine with me. Let's go, everyone."
The four of them entered the ship. Ja and Ur sat down and waited. Mara seemed eager to look around, so Nathan gave her a tour of the ship. "Some changes have been made, but other than basic essential repairs, there have otherwise been very few renovations since you were last here. I do wish we could have a proper family reunion sometime."
"So, I take it Io is otherwise occupied."
"She's visiting Earth."
"So, that's why you're here," said Mara. "Ja and Ur dragged you along."
"Quite right. Had I known you wished to speak to me again, I would have liked Io to join us."
"Well, the thing is, she already knew I planned to resume contact when we next met. She was the only one I let in on it. She knew her turn to visit Earth would be coming soon, and she didn't want to be around us when we met again, just in case you did something to ruin everything. However, things are going well, and I think she would be delighted to join us in the future."
"It would indeed be nice for all of us to get together. You, me, Ja, Io, Ur, Ib, Wu, and Seraphim."
"It hurts me, not knowing where Ib and Wu are or even whether they're still alive, but I still hold out hope they will return," said Mara.
"In all this time, I still have no leads, but I will never give up hope," said Nathan. "We will be reunited with them someday. I don't know when, where, why, or how. But I believe it will happen. I wish I could say the same of Ruby and Henry. I know they're dead. My sentimentality won't change that. They were inevitably going to die. Their lives were going to be short, and I knew that. Nothing can ever bring them back, and I know this."
"I only met them on a few occasions, and never for very long," said Mara. "Still, it was enough to understand the sort of wonderful people they were. With that in mind, I really don't think there's any sense in holding out hope for Seraphim."
"I don't really have much other than hope. I need to believe that she can change."
"When was the last time you spoke to her?" asked Mara.
"Just after she killed them."
"I spoke to her rather recently. She told me she intends to destroy everything you have worked for. I was surprised she visited, as I had thought that she wouldn't really have much reason to make contact with me, but I had figured that maybe she would have at least kept in touch with you."
"She wants nothing to do with me," said Nathan. "She does delight in hurting me, but she doesn't need to see or speak to me to know when she succeeds."
"I figured she'd be like that. She and I got along fine while she was here. She seems to genuinely want to be able to spend time with me and her siblings as family, but she keeps her distance because she knows how we feel. She is evil, of course, but not entirely. I know she has a conscience, but I think she's too far gone. I don't want to believe it, though. I want to believe that she can change for the better. I hope that there's a good side to what she's doing that somehow I just can't see, but I don't think that's the case."
"I do believe she is evil. There is no rational reason for me to think otherwise, but I still have hope, which I recognize as a totally irrational feeling. I still love her, after everything she's done."
"I know," said Mara. "So do I."
Nathan and Mara joined with Ja and Ur.
"We were hoping not to contend with Nathan's presence while here," said Ja. "Still, as it's what you desire, it's fine, as he must be leaving soon, anyway."
"I'll leave when I do," said Nathan. "Until then, let's enjoy our time together."
"I like that idea," said Ur. "Ja, please stop being so hostile."
"I want us all to be able to get along, like we used to," Mara said.
"We've always had problems," said Ja.
"I mean like we did in the best of times. I know there was fighting most of the time, but there were still times when we were all able to get along."
"I was unable to experience much of that," said Ur. "You and Nathan went separate ways not long after my creation."
"I'm sorry about that. I do not plan to have such a relation with him in the future. I acknowledge it as a possibility, though. In any case, I do not want relationship status to interfere with the ability of us to function as a family."
"Fair enough," said Ja.
"So, you're not going to try to sabotage everything?" asked Nathan.
"Not today. However, I may in the future if I believe it to be in Mara's best interests."
"Please don't," said Mara. "For better or for worse, I wish to make my own decisions."
"If that is what you truly desire, I shall respect it."
"Try not to interfere with things that do not require interference," said Ur.
"That's why Ur is the smart one," said Mara.
"Indeed I am."
"Are you saying I'm not smart?" asked Ja.
"All of the children are wonderful in their own way. Ur just happens to be the most sensible. It is in no way an insult to you, as you are brilliant in your own way. It is simply a statement of the truth."
"I suppose I can accept that."
"As you should," said Nathan.
"I didn't ask you."
"Please stop looking for any excuse to fight with him," said Ur.
"Can't we all just get along?" asked Mara.
"I'll try," said Ja.
"Good. So, how has Io been?"
"Still insufferable," said Ur.
"And Ixora?"
"He's still not interested," said Ja. "Still, he's always there when she requests his presence."
"That's because he doesn't feel like he can just explicitly reject her," Mara said. "I'm pretty sure he does love her. He just can't deal with her behavior."
"That sounds about right," said Ur.
"So, what have you all been doing recently?"
"I painted a representation of my emotions on the ceiling of my room," said Ja.
"I'd like to see it."
"Well, actually, I set it on fire when I was done. I didn't watch, because it was a work of performance art intended for no audience but the universe itself."
"Oh my. How very artistic."
"He certainly is," said Ur. "At times, it can be excessive, but most of it just helps to keep things interesting."
"What about you, Ur?" asked Mara. "What have you been up to?"
"The same as always. In other words, not much of anything."
"You must have done something."
"Well, I did help out Ja with some art projects. I also helped Io with some of the bizarre things she likes to do. And I've been helping Nathan with his work. I guess it would be fair to say that I've been mostly spending my time helping others."
"That's lovely. It's good to be helpful. What about you, Nathan? What have you been doing?"
"It's been so long," said Nathan. "I'm not really sure where to begin. After we broke up, I spent much of my time in misery, and it only got worse after Ib and Wu disappeared. I did very little of significance from then until meeting Ruby and Henry."
"I still regret that I turned you all away when you first tried to introduce them to me," said Mara.
"We lived on Ruyfira for a while before moving to Mars, where they had their daughter, Olivia. While promoting the Confederation, we met Schkalmfeld, and she joined us. Aurelia joined soon after. When the Confederation finally got set up, Schkalmfeld returned home to Beilufa, Aurelia left me, and then I made Seraphim. Since then, it's mostly just been politics and misery for me."
Eventually, it came to be time for Nathan to leave if he wanted to make it to his previously scheduled meeting. Ja and Ur exited the ship. Mara paused to hug Nathan. "I do hope to see you again. Maybe we can talk more."
"I'd like that," said Nathan.
Mara exited the ship, while Nathan prepared for departure. While Ja and Ur stayed behind with Mara, Nathan reluctantly departed.