A knock at the door summoned the dinner party out of its trance. Bugz rushed to see who it was. “It’s my dad. He’s here to pick us up.” Bugz turned the doorknob as Liumei straightened out the shoes near the landing.

“Hey, Buggy!” Frank said, pulling his daughter in for a hug. “You guys ready to go sweat?”

“Hi, Frank,” Liumei said.

“Hi, Dr. Turukun.”

“Please, it’s Liumei.”

“Alright. Hi, Liumei. How were they? Didn’t eat too much, did they?”

Bugz gave her father an annoyed look.

“No, it was great. They even talked to me a bit before they disappeared behind their phones.”

“You were looking at your phone too.” Bugz felt defensive.

“C’mon, Buggy.” Bugz’s dad nudged her. “Yeah, I know how kids can be. We had phones back in the day too. I’m guessing we’re around the same age?” Bugz watched him smile when he saw Liumei nod her head in affirmation. “But it’s nothing like it is now. Even in the heyday of Instagram and Snapchat, we didn’t look at our phones as much as these guys do. Zombies.”

“Well, what happens in the Floraverse is important to me,” Bugz said.

“But is the digital world as important as the real world?” Liumei asked.

“The online world is more important to me than the real world.” Bugz sounded serious.

“That’s a shame, though. You’re missing out,” Frank said from the other side of a generational divide.

“Feng and I were just talking about the social media days and how it screwed everyone’s brains up for a decade,” Liumei offered.

“That and the social distancing. None of these kids grew up playing with others the same way we did,” Frank added.

“No. We did all that. The difference is you lost yourselves in your phones,” Bugz said almost plaintively. “We found ourselves online.”

“We weren’t so different, Buggy,” Frank cut in. “I had a great Instagram back in the day. I was practically an influencer.”

Bugz cringed visibly.

“Should we go?” Feng asked, ending the exchange.

“Yeah, we better get to it. Waawaate already has those rocks red-hot,” Frank said. “You want to come too?” he asked Liumei. “Be a good chance for you to meet some other folks in the community.”

Bugz noticed that whatever anxiety Liumei displayed earlier had evaporated. Liumei cocked her head. “Sure…what should I bring?”

“Well, bring a can of fruit as an offering, maybe. Bugz can help you with the rest,” Frank suggested.

“Leftovers alright?”

“Sure. Buggy, you want to show her what to wear? I’ll take this guy out to the truck,” Frank said, nodding to Feng. “Don’t take too long,” he added with a smile. “I’ll do my best to take it easy on him.”

Bugz sighed and followed Liumei to her bedroom.