““Come on now,” Arankadash says, “I’m halfway through my pregnancy and you don’t see me whining about it.” “I thought there weren’t any child-bearers in your settlement,” I say. “Didn’t say I was pregnant with a child,” Arankadash says. “Most people don’t give birth to children. We give birth to things the world needs.” She gestured expansively to the ruins around us. “The world always needs bits and pieces of itself to be reborn. That’s why we’re here.””
