“Look at this,” Luis called out.

A different video stream appeared in her visual. Nithya brushed Santiago aside and expanded the new one. It took her a few seconds to understand what she saw: Oscar’s home in Phoenix, two sides buried past the roofline by dirt and debris; the street impassable; the cars scoured. She moved the feed to her periphery and stepped from her alcove to find Luis pacing the room.

“Come on, Papa, it’s a sign from God! How much more do you need?” He paused when he saw Nithya and sent her a passive copy of the feed.

Nithya watched their conversation without participating. Oscar didn’t need her ganging up with Luis against him.

“It’s the last bit of your mother I have,” Oscar said. His shoulders drooped.

Nithya tapped out a message in text: Go to him. Help with the clean up. It will save us money in the long run, and it will give the house more value—if you convince him to sell it.

I love you, Luis replied. I’m sorry my father is so stubborn.

Nithya smiled to herself. Runs in the family.

After the call ended, she and Luis looked over their bank balance. As long as Synaxel didn’t drop her contract, they could manage his absence without too much financial strain.

“I’ll need to call in some free child-minding,” she said. “We can’t afford to hire a bot.”

Luis read her mind with the ease of a long relationship. He groaned. “Your aunty?”

Nithya nodded.

“I’m extra sorry, then. I’ll try hard to convince Papa to come over here. Maybe I can guilt him into it by showing him what you have to put up with in my absence.”

Nithya snorted. “I’d certainly prefer him to her, but it won’t be so bad. She only has to be here during the day. How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“Two or three weeks, at least, unless Papa magically changes his mind. I’ll try to gig over there, whatever I can get. And we’ll use the money Welga sent him first. The storm hit the whole region, so it’ll take some time for me to get to the house. They’ll be clearing the downtown streets and freeways first.”

They found Luis a standby option for the next day’s suborbital flight and then broke the news to Carma.

Their daughter’s reaction on hearing the news was to wail, “You’ll miss my birthday party!”

Luis hugged her. “I’m so sorry. I’ve never missed one before, though, right? And I shouldn’t have to again. This is an emergency.”