I cast a bemused stare around the room. It makes sense that Great Grandpa Axe would take in MacWillie and Huckens, my parents' room has been empty for over a decade and a half, it just didn't occur to me that's what would actually happen. Huckens twists atop the bed, half-formed whimpers accompanying his thrashing form, and I tuck the blanket back up to his chin. He settles into a quiet breathing rhythm, hands folded beneath his cheek. I leave him to his rest and walk over to the ornately carved armoire opposite the foot of the bed, a collection of faded mementos visible in its open upper half.

Most are poorly drawn abstractions, impossible to understand without context. I recognize them as finger paintings I made as a little one, trying to capture the grandeur of the sky with more enthusiasm than skill. Others are tidy schematics of various organs and skeletal structures, or scribbled notes on the veracity of an ancient text. My Doctor father and Memoriam mother, echoes of their lives captured on impermanent ink and paper, the only real evidence I have they were real.

I run a finger over them fondly. I've had my entire life to process my parents' deaths, and while I wish they were still here, their absence is a constant I'm used to. A door creaks behind me, and I turn to see MacWillie emerging from the bathroom, one towel wrapped around her body, barely long enough to cover the things needing covering, a second coiled around her head.

"Now that," she exhales gratefully, "was something I didn't know I needed. A sonic wash does the trick, but nothing's better than hot water." She looks down at Huckens and her lips quirk. "The lad's still sleeping?"

"Great Grandpa Axe said Broom and Stove put him straight to bed, and he hasn't moved since."

MacWillie sniffs, then undoes the towel around her hair, feeling at the black locks.

"Looks like he needs more toughening up. I don't suppose you'd be having anything resembling a moisturizer?"

"Crabroach butter," I reply, flicking my gaze back towards the bathroom. "If Great Grandpa told them what to get for the bathroom, it's white wax in a blue box."

MacWillie walks back into the bathroom, then re-emerges with a small azure container. She opens it, takes a small sniff, then raises an eyebrow at me.

"Hair or body?"

I shrug.

"I use it for both."

She sniffs it again, then works a small dollop into her hands, warming it up. She sits on the edge of the bed, running her fingers through her hair, slowly at first, then at a more measured pace.

"...I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that this is better than anything I'd have a right to be expecting."

I lean back against the armoire, arms folded across my chest.

"What do you want me to say, MacWillie? It's crabroach butter. It's what I've been using for moisturizer my entire life. What should I compare it to?"

She scoops out another dollop, working it between her hands again, then starts applying it to her legs with a soft sigh of pleasure.

"You could make a fortune with this on the Galactic Market. I've splurged on generic NuSkin before, but this could seduce a corpo veepee."

"What's a 'veepee?'"

"Vice President. They're the corpo's field generals. If one of them shows up, you know the shit's about to impact the impellor. Ain't one of them below level seventy and they're paired with an integration matrix that does not fuck around."

I watch Chief Engineer MacWillie rub the crabroach butter into her skin with obvious pleasure, wondering how I should respond.

"...I'm glad you like it."

"Like it?" MacWille cackles, hands moving up to focus on her broad shoulders, "-this is the most pampered I've been since-"

Her eyes focus inward, and then she seems to shrink in on herself, a titan collapsing back to mortal form.

"MacWillie?" I ask, stepping towards her. "What's wrong?"

She gazes at me bleakly.

"Nothing you can change, young Sky. The cycler found an access protocol. I can tap into your trees for energy, work them like engines."

"...isn't that supposed to make us happy? Since we can hide the village?"

She doesn't respond, blank stare fixated past my shoulder.

...Sky. Ask her what level she is.