Epilogue

"Do you think this is going to work?" Anya asked, looking over the monstrosity in front of them.

"I'm positive." Mira floated beside her, held aloft by Arges's tail as he talked to the other undines behind them. "I stand by my work. I know what will happen when we turn the air on. I think this is going to be the best thing I've built yet."

Maybe it would be.

Anya and Mira got along well enough, but the dome was small. So tiny that they were often running into each other and sometimes that got a little frustrating. They had realized quickly that they couldn't live together forever.

Anya had spent a lot of time with Daios in the ocean after they realized how difficult it was going to be. He didn't mind. But sleeping under the water and being entirely reliant on him to breathe for her... it was a little hard. She knew when she woke up that she was fine, but the panic attacks of feeling like she couldn't breathe were really getting to her.

Not to mention the amount of times she'd gulped in a giant mouthful of salt water and ended up having to swallow it. Her stomach couldn't take much more.

That was when Mira had decided they would expand. There were plenty of materials left over from Alpha. Huge chunks of glass and metal and big panels they could use to make more living space here.

Mira wanted to keep the original dome for herself, so a large portion of their efforts had gone into building a new section. Anya had been asking Ace for schematics that would work, and Mira took them and welded the whole thing together. Once the inside was finished and there was air flowing inside it—something she still wasn't sure was going to be possible—then Anya could get in and do whatever else needed to be done.

There would even be a moon pool in her section. Daios could visit her whenever they wanted, and she was very much looking forward to enjoying her mate without being under the water.

Even now, the thought heated her cheeks. He grunted behind her, the sound shaking against her back as his arm tightened around her waist. The metal one he mostly left off these days, unless he was helping with building the extension of the dome.

Otherwise, it was just him and her.

His short arm joined the other, and she hugged the stump tight to her belly.

"Ready?" Mira called out.

They all shouted and she felt the elation expelling from her body with all the others. She knew they were pleased, even if it didn't work. Even if they hadn't built this entire building to spec, at the very least, they had tried their best.

She held her breath and then watched as the windows drained of water. They'd have to test if that air was breathable, of course but... there was no water in those rooms.

She could walk in there and decorate it how she wanted, live the way she deserved, and do… anything. There was air, which meant that at least four more rooms of space were theirs. Another garden so they didn't have to ration vegetables. A bedroom, a big shower for both of them to share?

Something rumbled through her chest and then she had to press her hands against her mouth because she wasn't sure what sound she had just made.

Daios chuckled behind her, and some of the tension eased. He pressed his mouth to her shoulder as he signed in front of her, "You sound happy."

She was. She really, really was.

Signing back, she replied, "I don't think I've ever been happier."

And it was the truth. She had fled from her cage. Freedom was something she never dreamt would feel like this. She was so happy, all the time. Exploring the ocean with him. Kissing him. Loving him. Working on making friends and doing everything in her power to find adventure every single day.

Daios tapped the droid on her head and signed, "How is she?"

Bitsy was... "Complicated," she replied.

The droid wasn't back to herself yet. Sure, the functions worked. There was a small hard drive that had survived the blast and the subsequent smashing against Anya's skull. But she missed the little quips and jokes that Bitsy had put on her lens at all hours of the day. She was starting to get some of that, and Byte claimed that Bitsy was still in there. A droid just needed time to heal.

She wasn't sure how a droid healed, but... Well, she wasn't one to question it. If she could get Bitsy back someday, then she would keep holding onto hope that one day her friend would return.

"Droids are all complicated," Daios grunted, snuggling her a little tighter against his chest.

"I suppose they can be."

Anya glanced over to see everyone so happy. Mira and Arges were twisted up in each other now, and he tossed her up into the water with a laugh as they disengaged from their air tentacle. Mira rolled her eyes but floated down into his arms gently and without any issues.

A few of the depthstriders had stuck around, although she wasn't entirely sure why. Fortis and his son were a remarkable duo, but the two of them were terrifying as they stalked around camp.

And then Maketes. She had a soft spot for that yellow finned brother. He laughed all the time, but she noticed that laugh wasn't reaching his eyes as much as she thought it should. When she'd asked, he just shrugged and gestured around him as though that was an explanation.

If she had to guess, it was starting to sting that he was the only one without someone here. So many mated pairs. Well, two of them. And here he was, still the odd one out.

At least he had Fortis. As much as anyone had Fortis.

"Anya!" Mira called out. "Let's go inside!"

She nodded, wanting nothing more than to do that. But then a message flashed on her lens and she froze.

She read it over three times, barely noticing that Mira and all the others were giving her an odd look. Then she shook her head, took Bitsy off, and handed her to Daios.

He frowned at the words as well, and then she watched him read over it again.

"Anya?" Mira asked, her tone a little more serious now. "What's going on?"

"I..." She didn't know what to say.

"Spit it out. We've already had more go wrong in our lives than most people do in a century. How bad is it?"

"It's not bad." She took Bitsy back when Daios offered it, looking up at him as though he might be able to answer for her. "It's just... Ace."

Maketes reacted like he'd been struck by lightning. He stiffened, his entire body lighting up with a sharp glow before he quickly asked, "What's wrong with Ace?"

"Nothing, brother." Daios expelled water from his throat gills, hard enough that it stirred Anya's hair. "Ace has been speaking with the leaders of Gamma and they would like an audience."

"Here?" Arges gestured around them. "Where would we host achromos?"

"No, they wish for us to send an ambassador to their city. To Gamma."

Mira was already shaking her head. "No, that's a trap. None of us are going until we know more about that. I know Ace is your friend, Anya, but we can't trust anyone who claims that they can fix everything by?—"

"I'll go."

The words interrupted all of them. Anya turned with the others to see Maketes floating by himself, his hands twisting at his waist. He sighed before repeating, "I'll go."

"Go where?" Mira blurted.

"I'll go to Gamma." He grinned, that smile never quite reaching his eyes. "I'm the only one with nothing to lose now, don't you think? Besides. I'd like to meet Ace in person, if possible."

Anya focused on her lens to see Bitsy had already sent that message to Ace. All that remained was one more message from her friend, hovering in the air like everyone could see it.

I can't wait to meet him.