Jove sat down for a moment after getting dressed, clothes still warm from the station's drier. He wasn't as sure as he had been on arrival that his stay within the tiny dormitory would be a short one. He made the bed and reset his travel possessions into places that made sense.
His mother and aunt were waiting in the cafeteria, sitting at the same table but not nearby one another. Kira immediately stood to pour him hot cocoa from a thermos, whereas Aster skipped over to pull him into a hug.
"My nephew is a fucking hero," she said, leaning her weight into him.
"Thanks," he said. "It felt good. Always feels like I get bonus points when I do something that makes Eve have to say nice words to me."
"What about my nice words?" Aster let her fingers brush along his arms, still standing close to him. "I have quite a few after today, darling."
"Jove." His mother stepped into view, mug in hand. "Your cocoa."
"Thanks, Mom." He let out a breath, feeling some of his exhaustion. It had looked like it was midday when he'd been outside, but it was actually still early. Between the power outage waking him up early and his buzzing adrenaline, his body felt unsettled. "What a weird day."
"It's about to get a little weirder," said Kira.
Jove noticed how serious his mother suddenly looked. He took his cocoa over to the table and she moved to the spot across from him.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"As I already explained earlier this morning, Andromeda's last message to me was a warning of the outbreak of widescale nuclear war. With the power back on, I tried to use our communication array to reconnect to Overhead, our usual satellite ISP, and Starlink, our backup. Nothing. I'm getting an error I don't recognize. I don't know what's going on."
"You're jumping to conclusions, as per usual," said Aster. "The internet being down is not the same thing as the world having ended."
"Andromeda already warned us," said Kira, seeming to talk to herself. "This is in line with what I would expect, though it's happening faster than I would have liked."
"There are other possibilities!" snapped Aster. "This could be a prank, maybe that punk Ryan set something up."
"He is not a punk."
"If you say so. Or how about this - your house AI has a virus?"
Kira shook her head. Jove thought about it, though. The idea wasn't completely preposterous. A couple of house AIs in Beverly Hills had been revealed to be malware taking real nude photos of its incredibly rich and famous occupants.
"It wouldn't necessarily need to be a virus," he said, looking at Aster. "Even corporate and medical AIs sometimes hallucinate. It's why a human usually has the job of verifying output when it matters."
"That hasn't been a real problem in years," said Kira.
"I think this is more in line with your climate change doomerism." Aster folded her arms and jutted her chin out.
Jove suddenly realized that he'd all but chosen a side in an argument that was probably older than he was.
"I was right about climate change," said Kira.
"In some ways, maybe, but the oceans still have fish!"
"I never said…" Kira gritted her teeth. "Look. This is happening. I know it's scary, Aster, but you have to accept it. You're in denial right now."
"You said that to me once before." Aster slowly walked the length of the table, coming to stand at the head of it. "Bet you don't even remember. It was just before I landed the part of Rose. I called you up and asked what I should do about my acting career. You said that it was already over, and that I had no career, and that I was in denial."
"Yes, I did," said Kira. "Aster, you have a chemical engineering degree. It was good advice."
"Unbelievable." Aster turned around and sat down against the table, arms folded.
An awkward silence held for a few seconds, but Eve entered just in time to break it. "What did I just walk into?"
"Apparently sibling feuds run in the family," said Jove.
"Is that your idea of a joke?" asked Eve.
"More of a morbid observation."
"Eve," said Kira. "I'm afraid your stay here in Termina might be a little longer than you expected."
"Okay," said Eve. "Wait. What does that mean, exactly?"
Kira shook her head and looked away. Jove set a hand down on the center of the table.
"Look, we can figure this out," he said. "One thing at a time. Let's think about our situation. We have electricity."
"Solar panels supply us with all the power we need," said Kira. "Heat is propane. We only have about a weeks supply, which is unfortunate. Normally we have two months' worth, but deliveries have been slower recently."
"Food?" asked Jove.
"At least a month of food, probably far more with the hydroponics," said Kira. "But that hardly matters without heat."
"This is ridiculous!" snapped Aster. "I feel legitimately nauseous watching you play at this… survivalist fantasy! When was the last time you saw a therapist, Kira?"
"Why don't we just go to Port Sirius?" asked Eve.
"I wouldn't feel comfortable snowmobiling that far in this weather," said Kira. "None of you could make it on your own, though I don't think I really need to point that out."
"We're your hostages, in essence." Aster shook her head in disgust. "Wonderful."
"I don't mind staying here for a bit longer even if you are having some kind of mental break, Mom," said Eve. "The skiing is sublime. I'll watch more carefully for crevasses, don't worry."
"This entire family is insane!" said Aster.
"Mom." Jove reached out and took his mother's hands. "What can I do?"
She let her fingers thread partially into his, small intimacy, but so much at the same time. They really had grown apart.
"Help me cook?" she said. "Andromeda did all the cooking."