The central square is buzzing with excited chatter, seemingly everyone in the entire village gathered around me and the two engineers. People constantly reach out to lightly touch Chief Engineer MacWillie and Huckens, as if they can't quite believe they're real until their fingers make physical contact, but the two of them take the attention with bemused grace. Dirt, Torch, and the clan leaders have given up on trying to keep things orderly until the initial jubilation fades, and are now just reminding people not to trample any of the little ones running around underfoot.

"Sky! Sky!"

Two familiar figures calling my name make their way through the crowd, one a girl with shoulder length wavy black hair, the other a sandy-blonde boy swinging his crutches overhead like extra long arms as he hops on one leg, his other in a cast, both my own age and sorely missed.

"Rifle! Door!"

We meet in a crushing embrace, just another knot of celebration in the giddy sea filling the central square. Prickles of wetness sting my eyes, my happiness at seeing my best friends again almost overwhelming. I didn't have time to think of them in the chaos of the last day and a half, but now I'm acutely aware I might have never seen them again. We hold the contact for another few seconds, then Rifle and Door back up and start bombarding me with questions.

"Sky! Is it true you brought back the outsiders?"

"One of the little ones said you fought a hundred Glowbeasts! Did you? Did you?"

"The Idiots claimed you last night, before the weird lights appeared - was that the reason why?"

"Where are the outsiders from? What are their names? Are there more?"

I laugh, putting my hands up to try and stem the flow of overlapping queries. Rifle and Door look at each other, than start laughing too, realizing they haven't given me a chance to say anything even if I wanted to.

"It's so good to see you two again," I say, my cheeks starting to hurt from how hard I'm smiling. "I really missed you."

"We missed you too, Sky," Rifle replies, Door nodding next to her. "When we heard that Wires was killed, and then you went running off yesterday morning with Torch, we were worried."

"Scared shitless," Door adds matter of factly, bracing his weight on his crutches, "especially after Dirt and Torch came back without you. No one knew what was going on, and all Broom would say was that the Idiots were taking care of a problem."

"I'm sorry I made you both worry," I apologize, a pang of grief passing through my heart as I think of Wires, but it doesn't last against the atmosphere of joy pressing in on all sides. "What happened out there... it was unbelievable." Before I can start telling them about my trials, a loud voice booms above the hubbub.

"Hey! Settle down!" Butterfly Builder has climbed on top of one of the many benches scattered around the square and is waving his arms for attention. Slowly, the loud commotion dies away into scattered murmurs. "You're all excited, and I am as well, but these people need to eat!"

Darkfern Baker climbs up next to him.

"Bakers, listen up! We need to set up a working lunch in the square! I want everything prepped and ready to serve in ten minutes!"

"Yes, chef," a chorus of voices grumbles as he steps down, Rifle's among them. "I have to go help my father, Sky," she says quickly, "but we're definitely talking later!" I wave as she scampers off, and Butterfly's voice booms out once more.

"Builders, let's get those tables up and in place! Chairs as well!"

He steps down and leads a cluster of people towards one of the broad warehouses bordering the square, the one where all the celebration furniture is kept. Another figure replaces him on the bench - Broom.

"Everyone else, lunch will be outdoors today so you can see the outsiders, but we need essential workers to return to your tasks." There's some mutterings but she overrides them with a steady voice. "Yes, I know it's exciting to learn we're not alone, but the village must endure. Your clan leaders will answer any questions you have after we let our guests eat." She steps down and the crowd begins to disperse, the jovial mood faded somewhat but not gone entirely.

"Crap, Sky, I have to go," Door swears suddenly, his eyes darting around in panic. "I'm supposed to be in charge of the filtration pumps today. Oooh, Moss is gonna kill me..." He swings off on his crutches, almost jumping in his haste, and I can't help but laugh.

"I'll find you two later," I call out, and he lifts a crutch in response but doesn't turn in his awkward hopping run. Still smiling, I walk over to where Chief Engineer MacWillie and Huckens are standing, engaged in a low conversation with each other. They look up as I approach.

"Aye, but that was one of the strangest things I've ever been a part of," Chief Engineer MacWillie grins at me, "and I've been chest deep in a malfunctioning engine trying to pull six different infinities at once. Seems like your people are a wee bit excitable, eh Sky?"

"It's not every day you learn you're not the last humans left alive in the world," I reply, and she chuckles.

"Aye, suppose that's true enough."

The Builders start emerging from the warehouse with wooden chairs and the long metal tables we use for celebration days, setting them up in a pair of rows with ten chairs to each table, along with a small grouping of tables off to the side for the food. I motion the engineers over to one on the end and we sink into our seats with grateful sighs, dappled patches of sunlight floating back and forth on the polished metal surface. Chief Engineer MacWillie leans back, letting her arms fall to her sides, staring up at the crimson leafy canopy overhead, while Huckens folds his own arms atop the table and rests his head on them, eyes battling not to close.

"I'm telling you, Chief," he yawns, "I could sleep for another day. Maybe two."

"Let's get some food in us first, lad," Chief Engineer MacWillie replies, stifling a yawn of her own. She tilts her head over to look at me. "Though I suppose we should let young Sky here eat before us, seeing as how we took most of the breakfast."

I shrug.

"It's fine. You're still probably hungrier than I am, if you went without food for three days." I prop my elbow on the table and rest my chin on the palm of my hand, making conversation while we wait. "What was it like, Chief Engineer MacWillie? I still don't understand some of this 'non-causal' stuff. Did everything happen really slow?"

"Call me MacWillie, and it was pretty normal for-"

"It was terrible!"

Huckens and MacWillie talk at the same time, and she laughs at him, slapping her massive hand on his shoulder.

"Aye, lad, it's always terrible, that's normal. As far as our time not matching yours, young Sky?" She shrugs. "Didn't feel any different than a normal three day stretch in the engine room under heavy load with everything to do and no time to eat. The Old Man expected us to make chardonnay out of shitwater, and so we did."

"You've done that before, Chief?" Huckens' voice is awed. Behind him, the Bakers start emerging with various platters of food they carry over to the clump of serving tables, setting them up for easy access. I consider walking over to fill a plate but MacWillie is still talking and I don't want to interrupt, and Rifle's father gets irritated if people take food early.

"Well, not the overloading of the engines at the end, but that's not the first Entity I've run up against, lad." MacWillie clucks her tongue. "Usually it's with a few more ships available to put them back in their place, though. If you want to be a space dog, you learn how to dance reality's jig right quick."

"What's a 'space dog?'" I ask.

"A space dog, young Sky, is one of those benighted souls doomed to wander between the stars serving their master's ship for life and beyond. Too skilled at their job to let go, too valuable to kill off-hand, too powerless to leave. The corpos love space dogs like me and the lad here, because we keep their ships moving when reality comes a'knocking. Most of us work with the engines, but I've known a few in navigation and gunnery over the years."

I'm still not quite sure what MacWillie is talking about.

They're people extremely in-tune with their integrators, Sky. My creator used several for research purposes when initially designing me. It represented an extraordinary investment of assets, as they're quite rare, and almost always assigned to combat support roles.