Like the ship itself, they were familiar.

“These were the service robots on the ship,” said Victor, walking up behind her. “There were dozens of them once. Most of them were destroyed in the crash. The ones that were left started building replacements for themselves out of the materials they had on hand.”

“To look after us after they were gone . . .” said Iona.

“It’s incredible what they achieved. There’s a small amount of metal inside each citizen—the brain and parts of the clockwork mechanism—but mostly it’s wood. And as I say, they self-replicate.”

Iona only half-listened to this. Something significant had been contained in what Victor just said but she hadn’t immediately grasped it. She turned to him. “Crash?”

“Yeah,” Victor began—and then stopped as he realized this was new information to her. He swallowed anxiously and turned to Alyssa.

Alyssa sighed and rolled her eyes at Victor. “I did tell you to let me do this. I was going to break it more gently.”

“No, I remember,” Iona said. “We’re not from here. We came here to make a new home. But . . .”

There had been over four hundred people on board the ship. People traveling to a new life on a new planet.

The landing gear had failed. Iona had survived. Hardly anyone else had.

* * *

Iona sat on a chair Alyssa had found for her, struggling to process the knowledge that had come back into her mind. Victor had confirmed her recollections: his own memories were also very dim but chimed with what Iona managed to dredge up. Victor had then left her alone to process this, busying himself by looking inside Carter’s hatch, tinkering with his insides. Even though she knew Carter was a machine now, Iona still found this unpleasant to look at.

“The citizens who ‘die’ don’t actually have to be destroyed,” said Victor. “Most of them are easy enough to repair. Often it’s just that their brains get crudded up with all the data they’ve amassed, and you could correct that with a hard reset. But the city prefers to recycle the parts and make new ones—with each generation they refine the design, so—”

“They get better, faster,” said Iona.

“The wooden parts burn in the furnace, the metal is retrieved for reuse.”

“So you’re saving them from the furnace because they’re intelligent beings who deserve to live?”

“Nothing as altruistic as that, I’m afraid,” said Alyssa as she brought over another chair and sat next to Iona.

“Did you come here on the ship too?”

“No, I only arrived a few weeks ago.” This was why Alyssa had always seemed out of tune with the city. Iona had recognized this about her from the moment they met. But then Iona realized—

“Does that mean you’ve got a ship?”

Alyssa paused. “Yes, but—”

“Then you can get us home?”

“It’s not functional. I don’t know if it can be fixed. I’ve hidden it, but we have to get out of here first.”