“I’ll stay too,” blurted David.

We all turned to stare at him, even Tahlia—even Second. Only Toni looked unsurprised by this sudden revelation … although she looked a little sad. It was one of the most predictable expressions I had seen on her mercurial face.

David’s cheeks darkened in embarrassment under the weight of our combined gaze. He allowed his head to lower, looking at the ground as he said, “I don’t want to go back into a war. I haven’t got any family, and it’s pretty clear that I wouldn’t be allowed to go back to work, assuming there’s any reason for my work anymore. All I ever wanted was to go to space. To see the cosmos. Here, I have a chance at doing that.”

“They’re going to kill you, you know,” said Toni. Her voice was not unkind: she was merely pointing out a fact, not trying to start an argument. “The plant people. They’re going to show you a very nice pod, and they’re going to put you inside it, and they’re going to drain your blood, and they’re going to kill you. Are you okay with that? Are you comfortable with that?”

“It’s the teleporter problem,” said David. “On Star Trek. Every time someone uses a teleporter, their original body is destroyed, converted into energy and reconstructed on the other end. So is it suicide to step onto a teleporter relay? Or is it just … this is how we move forward, and as long as there’s continuity of thought, we endure? I’ll still be me. I’ll think like me and feel like me and know everything I’ve ever known, and if the cost of getting everything I ever wanted is giving up the flesh, that’s fine. They’ll give me something just as valuable in return.”

“This is obscene,” said Mandy.

“This is very wise of you,” said Tahlia.

“This isn’t how it works,” said Jeff. “You can’t just decide that we’re going to change you. Most humans will be meat, not citizens.”

“But he’s mine, and I say if he wants to stay, if he wants to switch sides, we let him.” I looked over my shoulder to where Second was waiting. “First told me I could protect my friends. If this is part of how I protect them, that’s all right. Let’s protect them.”

// we will keep it // said Second. I knew Jeff could hear her too, from the way his face scrunched up, like he’d just bitten into something sour. // we will not consume it, unless it wishes to be consumed. unless it wishes to be reborn. //

“You can stay,” I said, to David. “They’ll take care of you, and my sister”—I indicated Second—“promises you won’t be hurt unless you ask them to hurt you. The conversion process is … it’s not pleasant.” I didn’t remember much about my own—Anastasia’s own—encounter with the flower, but I remembered enough to know that it had hurt like hell. I couldn’t imagine it would be any more pleasant for an adult.