“Wait, they did?” Rose knew it was stupid to be excited about this. It was a symbol of the old world, the days before the Accord. But the Rose that grew up studying Terran history was thrilled to hear that one of the old monuments had been restored. “Can we go see?”

Camilis hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “I should be clear. I say that they rebuilt it, but that is not entirely accurate. Much like the Reflecting Pool, it has been… modified. Still, if you like, we can certainly go take a look. Do you two mind?” She glanced over at Serafa and Ophelia.

Ophie just giggled and gave Rose’s hand a gentle squeeze. “She’s so excited, how can I say no?”

“Agreed! If it’s that important to you, then we might as well.”

Flushing, Rose fidgeted with her tie as the four of them followed the river northwest. This was supposed to be Ophelia’s big day, but they were all willing to take a detour just because she wanted to indulge in a bit of intellectual curiosity. Still, she knew if she questioned it, the three of them would inevitably heap teasing compliments and emphatic support on her. Rose couldn’t help but wonder if they were buttering her up to help convince her that she should officially join Ophie in being domesticated. That final leap still made her uneasy, even if she was making plans to talk to Sera about it later.

As they passed through the tree line, the structure came into view. It was immediately apparent what Cam had meant about the monument being ‘modified’. The central part was a near-perfect replica — a bright white obelisk, 555 feet tall. However, it was wrapped around almost lovingly by a massive, winding tree composed of spiraling trunks and branches that expanded another hundred feet higher into a crown that dwarfed everything else around it.

Rose stood stock still, her breath caught in her throat. It was beautiful, almost fantastical. The logical part of her mind told her that it was impossible. And yet there it was, refusing to be ignored.

“This is but one of many projects by the affini architect Virensemper Wrenfly. Xe is a genius, no?” Camilis rumbled with pride.

All she could really do was nod dumbly in reply. Something about this felt so much more… final. The Human Domestication Treaty was this large, nebulous thing. But to see this symbol of the former order being lovingly but forcefully encased and eclipsed by beautiful, eldritch foliage really hammered home the dramatic changes that were sweeping the universe.

Ophie whistled softly and nudged Rose with her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Mhm. I think it’s just really sinking in. I know it sounds ridiculous, but this makes it so real. Nothing is the same anymore.”

“Okay. I’ve decided. We’re doing this here. That’s a heck of a backdrop.”

Sera came up and wrapped them both up in a tight hug from behind. “That sounds wonderful! Let’s go nitpick!”

She just couldn’t help it. In the face of sheer affini dominance, with an unintentional reminder that they could still be fallible, Rose burst out in bright laughter. “Picnic, Sera. It’s called a picnic.”

Together, they strolled across the lawn and into the shade of the new monument. Sera carefully laid out the massive blanket while Ophelia worked on unpacking all the food they had brought along. With smooth movements, Camilis set down the large punch bowl and carefully poured out the water that she and Sera would be sharing. Rose divvied up a portion of the casserole into two biodegradable bowls before passing one over to Ophie with a warm smile.

For a while, the four of them relaxed, enjoying the delicious food and the fantastic company. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, even if Rose was plagued with nerves over what would come next.

---

With a full belly, Rose nestled herself against Serafa’s lap, watching curiously as Ophie fiddled with her tablet.

After a few final taps, she gave a nod of approval and turned to look at the others. “Okay, I think I’ve got everything set up. Are you all ready?”

Rose nibbled her lower lip anxiously, but she didn’t want to delay the big project. So she summoned up what courage she had and nodded with as confident a smile as she could manage. “About as ready as I’m going to get.”

“Yes!” An excitable little shiver ran along Sera’s body as she doled out a few pets to Rose and Ophelia. “I’m going to break your legs, my darlings!”

Ophie gasped loudly and looked back at Sera, shocked and failing to stifle some surprised laughter. “Wh-What? No, Miss, it’s… it’s just ‘break a leg’!”

“Okay, I know normally I’m the one that corrects her, but in this instance I kind of understand her confusion,” Rose said softly.

Sera nodded, running her fingers through the short hair that Rose’s pixie cut, sending a small wave of pleasure down along her spine. “I have to admit, I don’t really understand the difference.”

“It’s a replacement for ‘good luck’, not a— a threat!”

During this entire exchange, Cam just sat there rumbling with laughter. “Ah, so it is merely an interjection. I can see where the confusion would come from, though. What is the genesis of such a curious phrase?”

“Mn, I think that’s kinda been lost to time… Mostly it’s just an old superstition that saying ‘good luck’ is actually bad luck. But…” She got a wistful smile as she stared out at the horizon. “But I always liked the legend about the actor who had to break their own leg to get off-stage because the audience was clapping so much. So it’s like… ‘Hey, I hope you do so good you have to injure yourself to get away from your adoring fans!’”

Already, Rose could predict what was going to happen next. Cam’s vines wound their way around Ophie, lightly brushing against her stomach. “Oh dear. Behavior like that is grounds for an immediate domestication. What is that other saying? Be careful what you wish for?”

“I’m already being domesticated!” Adorably flustered, Ophelia returned her attention to the tablet. “Alright let’s do this before we get any more distracted!” She allowed herself one last deep breath before pressing a large, red circular button. With that done, she carefully propped the device up against the wicker basket so the camera could capture all four of them, and made her way over to climb up into Camilis’ lap. She gave some time for the audience to filter in.

Rose could see the number climbing higher, mirroring her own growing anxiety. They were getting upsettingly close to seven digits.

Finally, Ophelia launched into it with a brilliant smile. “Hey everyone! It’s good to see so many people stopping by. I’m sure you’ve been wondering about my disappearance from social media.” From what she’d told the others, it sounded like Ophelia used to maintain quite the presence online. She was especially popular on something called TerraFirma. But with the sudden invasion, and then the propaganda contract, she had to put that stuff on pause.

“I got recruited into this project helping to make a propaganda vid for the Terran Protectorate. It was kind of… not what I expected, so I dropped out. They have a bunch of people pretending to be florets, and honestly it’s a little sketchy. But! The good news is that I met these three.” She gestured to the others surrounding her. “First, this is Rose. Any of you military buffs out there might recognize her as the former…” Ophelia trailed off for a moment, perhaps getting hung up on naval terminology.

Rose did her best to pick up the slack, even if her voice shook a little bit. “I was Lance-Corporal Luna of the Eclipse Strike Team. O-Obviously a few things have changed since then…” She laughed bashfully, letting Ophie pick back up with the introductions before they explained any more about their situation.

“The rainbow-flower beauty was Rose’s pretend owner, Serafa Paradula. And this is her wife,” she said with a grin, “Camilis Paradula. She was going to be my ‘owner’. I don’t know how successful the propaganda campaign is going to be. But… being placed in a hab together, it certainly did wonders for us. We can attest to just how amazing the affini really are. If the rest of them are anything like these two, then we don’t have anything to be afraid of. They’re sweet and thoughtful, and they really like taking care of terrans.” Ophelia looked up at Cam and her face lit up. “Camilis wasted no time in showing me what it means to become an actual floret. Unlike the propaganda from the Compact and Protectorate, I’m not exactly interested in some flashy production. We just want to show you how cool the affini are. So we’re doing something real. No sets or fancy lighting, no director or camera. Just us.”

Ophie took in a deep, shaking breath, her smile growing more nervous, her cheeks glowing. “I decided that I wanted to become their floret. For real. And I won’t lie, it’s pretty scary. But I can’t imagine regretting it.”

Watching her push past such obvious fears made Rose feel as though she really could do this. Besides, she didn’t want Ophie to feel like she was doing this alone. They were in this together. “I was… i-in a really unhealthy place when I joined the project. Sera, Cam, and Ophie helped me uncover a lot of stuff I was repressing. Now I’ve got a name and gender that actually feel right. I know it’s upsetting, this idea that we’ve been conquered and taken over by aliens. And I can only speak to my own experiences. The Accord, the navy, they did terrible things. As far as I’m concerned, the affini s-saved us.” She felt a large arm wrap around her shoulders and hug her firmly. Rose looked up and saw Sera looking down at her with so much warmth it was almost overwhelming.

There it was, that feeling again. The ‘vibe’ Ophie had mentioned. The ‘bio-something’. As much as all the domestication stuff filled her with myriad conflicting emotions… If she just focused on Serafa, and Ophelia and Camilis, then it seemed almost reasonable. A logical progression.

“Yeah,” Ophie finally continued with an approving nod. “I like that. We weren’t conquered, not in the way we all feared we would be. We were rescued.” She looked right into Rose’s eyes as she spoke, breaking out in a bright smile and giving her a quick wink before bringing her full attention back to the tablet camera. “Anyway. We’ll be streaming for a few hours while we explore the Second District of Columbia. Don’t be afraid to ask us anything. Y’know, within reason.”

Rose had used up most of her confidence for the time being, so she was happy to help Sera and Cam clean up from their picnic while Ophie took the lead on interacting with the viewers and answering any questions that came up. Once everything was neatly packed, the affini carefully stored all the assorted objects in their vines.

After eating and reclining in various positions for a while, Rose’s body was feeling a little stiff and she stretched out some of her muscles. Suddenly she was aware of the camera being turned in her direction, and she shot up to stand, blushing heavily.

“Rose, HesitantWombat says we have a good energy and wants to know what our ‘deal’ is. What should I tell them?”

Her chest felt tight and she started fidgeting with her tie once again. “Wh—! W-Well, we haven’t… haven’t really decided! We just— Mnn, w-we are what we are!”

Ophie managed to maintain her composure for all of one second before breaking out in bright giggles and bringing the camera back around. “Sorry there, Wombat. Nothing definite yet. Still, I don’t want to leave you fine folks completely empty-handed…” She strolled around to Rose’s side and nuzzled into her gently with a playful smirk. “So I’ll give you all a live reaction shot when I tell her where we’re going next.”

Rose lifted an eyebrow in curiosity. She had been under the impression that after the picnic they would be returning home. What was Ophelia planning? “Er…?”

Her smirk slowly turned into a grin. “While Miss Camilis was doing her research, she found out the affini have also been hard at work putting in new museums right where those old ones used to be. We’re gonna go look at nerd stuff.” Her voice was low and teasing and she was hovering so close to Rose’s ear, causing the hairs on her neck to stand on end.

For a moment, she almost forgot there was even a camera on her. “B-But this whole thing… It’s your day.” Rose had already been indulged once, getting to see the monument. But the idea of an entire afternoon spent looking at relics and technology — that felt almost too sweet. She didn’t know how to process it.

“Mhm, it is my day. And I like making you all blushy and happy. So we’re both winning. Isn’t it nice when everybody gets what they want?”

Yes, Rose was certain of it now. Those were some very carefully chosen words. Part of the reason Ophelia was voluntarily getting domesticated was the symbiotic nature of the relationship. Sera and Cam got a pet, Ophie got all the affection and xenodrugs she could ever want. Everybody was happy, so why shouldn’t they indulge? When she couched it that way, Rose felt like she could almost understand. Almost.

A familiar viney hand petting her head drew Rose out of her thoughts. And she watched in real-time as the recording showed her face, overcome with that same expression she had seen from Ophelia and other florets so many times. Vacant, dreamy… happy… She looked away from that, ignoring all those confusing feelings, and up at Serafa as those fingers worked their way through her hair a few times. “Don’t worry, little one, I’ll help you find a way to get revenge. I’m almost certain we can find a theatrical performance to get darling Ophie all hot and bothered.”

Rose wasn’t generally the type to yearn for revenge. But there was no denying, the look on poor Ophelia’s face as she stammered was priceless. Laughing softly, Rose pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Come on, let’s ‘go look at nerd stuff’.”

---

After some debate, everyone agreed to start with the Pre-Accord Museum of Terran History, North American Branch. There were quite a few museums being built around the city, and it was impossible to visit them all in a single day. Even the places that were were mid-construction with ‘limited’ exhibits could easily take up a full afternoon.

Serafa hoped, desperately, that her little family would stay together long enough that they would have time to visit them all.

Even this museum, while mostly complete, still featured several gaps. The Compact and the Protectorate were in deep conversation across Terra determining which relics and artifacts were suitable for being displayed, and which needed to be returned to their proper communities. Contemplating the incredibly complicated cultural significance of everything filled Sera with an intellectual curiosity that likely wouldn’t be sated any time soon. Despite what the Accord tried to preach, there was no monolithic terran society, and there never had been. Even within the bounds of a single continent, there were countless cultures that each had their own beliefs, rituals, philosophies, art, and more!

It was absolutely thrilling.

To account for all the important artifacts that were still in dispute, the museum instead made extensive use of realistic hologram tech to recreate important objects. Historians had even been working alongside programmers to develop interactive AI that could answer questions visitors might have.

At the moment, Camilis and Rose were engaged in a deep conversation with a projection of an indigenous Powhatan native.

Still, not everything was purely modern tech. Ophelia was chatting with her viewers while looking over a case filled with tools and garments. Serafa stood next to her, delighted to see her future floret shining in her element.

“Woah, wait, this one here is the real deal… They managed to preserve it for like a thousand years!” The clothing and accessories were being worn by a realistic statue. The bulk of the clothing was a fur and leather wrap that draped over the shoulder and covered most of the torso. A bit of metal was fashioned into a set of earrings, feathers adorned the hair, and a necklace of shells hung above the neck. The statue had even been decorated with appropriate tattoos and makeup.

Ophie cooed softly and focused the camera so that everyone in the chat could get a proper look. “A thousand years… That’s really impressive. And it looks beautiful!”

Sera couldn’t help but laugh softly.

Ophie looked over at her and pouted. “What? What’s so funny?”

“I suppose I’m just marveling at what you consider a long time, little one.”

“Okay, yeah, I know it’s not that huge in the grand scheme of things! But humanity has still been around for quite a while now, right?”

Knowing there was an audience watching this conversation, Serafa felt it was her duty as an affini to show off. “We were already traveling the universe for several hundred millennia by the time you all reached your current stage of evolution. Our kind has been around for… hm, it’s a little difficult to measure in terms of terran years.”

The look of awe on Ophie’s face was absolutely delicious. “Stars… Um, you all measure stuff in blooms, right?”

Sera let out a thoughtful tremolo as she tried to find the right way to explain it. “Not exactly. Blooms are too nebulous to be true measurement. They’re simply how we keep track of our personal regeneration cycles. I guess you could loosely compare it to terran generations. They’re simultaneously individual and cultural.”

“Regeneration…” Ophie muttered softly to herself. “How often do you do that?”

Thankfully, Camilis was returning to join them with Rose in tow, and Sera knew she could explain it far better. “Blooms generally last anywhere from one hundred to three hundred years. Though it can be shorter if an affini needs to rebloom following some dire circumstances. Or longer, if they are especially… stubborn.”

Rose furrowed her brow in concentration, perhaps doing a bit of mental math. “Wait, so Sera is in her fifth bloom… And Cam is on her sixth…”

Giggling, Serafa gestured to the garment in the protective case, then glanced down at the two terrans with a wide grin. “Yes, we’re older than some of these artifacts, darling.”

Ophelia’s awe turned to an almost primal wonder as she stared up at them. “T-Then why waste your time with us…? Humans can maybe make it to… 120 years old under the right circumstances.”

Crouching down, Camilis cupped Ophie’s chin and looked directly into her eyes. The poor thing nearly dropped her tablet as the entirety of her focus was drawn toward those eyes. Only Rose’s swift instincts allowed her to catch it and continue filming. Which was good, because this moment was prime material for showing the audience what the connection between an affini and a terran could look like.

“Humans take animals as pets despite knowing that they will outlive them. Does this knowledge make the experience any less worthwhile?”

Ophie shook her head as much as she was able with the strong hand holding her. “No Miss. I-If anything, it makes it more meaningful.” There was a brief glimmer of melancholy affection in the girl’s eyes, and Sera wondered if she was remembering a pet of her own.

With a satisfied rumble, Cam kissed her softly on the forehead before standing up to her full height. “And there you have it. We share our lives with you in spite of that brief time frame, so that we can bring one another joy and fulfillment.” She turned her gaze toward the tablet, toward the audience — and perhaps also toward Rose. “That is the Compact’s grand mission, when you strip away all else. We seek to make your lives better, and allow you to do the same for us. It is as simple as that. Independent or floret, even those precious little rebels out there… We are here to take care of you. Leave everything to us. You will not regret it, this I swear.”

There was a moment of silence as the two terrans drank in that wonderful speech.

Eventually, Ophelia broke the silence as she carefully took the tablet back from Rose. “Hecking… wow, Miss. That was… dang. I-I don’t think I could possibly follow that up.” She looked back toward the tiny camera and smiled bashfully. “Um, there’s still a bunch more museum to see! Keep sending us those questions. Or just tell us how cute we are, that works too!”

---

Serafa was elated, as though she was pressing a vine to the Everbloom itself.

The more obvious reason was the exhibit they were currently exploring. A significant portion of the wing was dedicated to Pre-Accord entertainment, representing a trove of information that was beyond precious to her.

But the thing that truly made her core sing was Rose. She was just as excited to be exploring this area. Even the displays relating to the Former United States’ obsession with military culture no longer seemed to elicit that same trigger response. The little darling had made so much progress in such a short time.

Camilis and Ophelia were off by themselves looking at a collection of fashion through the years, which seemed perfectly suited to the girl.

Rose’s attention had been drawn to a hallway providing information on the varied musical styles practiced throughout terran history. So, of course, she was currently perusing information about the development of blues and jazz. And Sera most definitely wasn’t going to miss one second of that.

As she scanned through some text on an interactive screen, it slowly became clear what Rose had meant about the sheer horrors that had coalesced into something so beautiful. Even at a glance, there were words and phrases that caused her to let out a little whimpering rumble of distress. Why did such violations of rights have to be committed? Was all this art worth it when you considered the cost? If only the affini had been a little faster, they could have—

“Maybe…”

Tearing her eyes away, Serafa followed the sound of Rose’s voice and found the woman carefully studying a strange instrument. “Hm?” She broke off from the panel, deciding she would return to this particular subject when she felt more prepared to engage with the darker elements of terran history. Why let herself get swamped down in that when she had such a precious woman who she could be doting on? “What’s on your mind, cutie?”

She flushed instantly and shuffled her feet before gesturing awkwardly to the instrument. It was a heavy wooden thing with a propped lid revealing a series of taut strings. One end was capped with a row of little black and white buttons. The basics were easy enough to glean, but she wanted to give Rose the opportunity to gush. “I was just looking at this baby grand piano. I remember getting to see one, a long time ago. Some ceremony my mother had to attend. They were a huge status symbol since they take up so much room. After all, you really only need to press the keys to play the notes. There are plenty of models that are tiny by comparison. But the quality comes from the craftsmanship shaping it just so, and all the strings needing space to stretch out fully. It’s… really beautiful.”

Sera rubbed Rose’s back gently and nodded in agreement. Terrans were such a strange people. So many of their accomplishments came with caveats. Art created out of trauma. Beautiful instruments that could only be operated by a select few. Precious artifacts stolen and moved to the other side of the planet so strangers could gawk at them. Frost, she was getting distracted again. She needed to keep her focus on Rose. “It sounded as though you were considering something a moment ago.”

“I… keep thinking about that first day when we all met. I struggled to come up with anything interesting about myself, any pastimes or interests. And I know this is just me focusing on the one thing that feels completely mine, not put there by someone else, but… It could be nice to learn an instrument.” She finally looked up from the piano, and Sera could see the faintest shimmer in her eyes, her mouth in a wide smile. “My old life was all repression and destruction. It would be so nice to do something creative and freeing. Y’know?”

Nurturing instincts kicked in and Serafa unthinkingly pulled Rose up into her arms for a crushing hug. “Oh yes, yes of course! That sounds incredible, Rose!”

“Hrng!” The small cry of pain reminded Sera that even a strong human could be quite squishy and she quickly set Rose back down on her feet. “E-Eheh… Thank you. Um, so…” Rubbing her arm, she cast a nervous glance back toward the piano, then cleared her throat bashfully. “Post-scarcity, right? Would it… be possible to—?”

Sera playfully booped her nose with a vine, grinning wide. “Our home would look lovely with an instrument like this in the living room. And I’m sure with a bit of hunting, we can find someone to craft one for us. Would you like that, cutie? We could even get some custom accents… Ooh, and we’ll have to find you a teacher!” A pleasant shiver ran across every single one of her leaves. She could already picture Rose operating one of these instruments — or at least she was fairly certain she knew what it would look like when someone played it. Rose had called them ‘keys’ so perhaps a bit like typing? Stars, what did the instrument sound like? Oh, this was magnificent!

Rose cleared her throat again, still looking anxious. She stepped in a bit closer, hugging herself lightly. “One other thing, and then I’ll stop bugging you with requests—”

“Nonsense. Burden me with all the requests you want, Rose!”

In spite of her obvious nerves, she giggled softly at that, her cheeks turning that beautiful blushing shade of red. “Can we… talk about stuff? Later tonight?”

Oh.

Now it was Sera’s turn to blush. She seemed to be blushing a great deal lately. Perhaps that was simply the price of inviting so many wonderful people into her life.

Even with that vague phrasing, there was no ignoring what Rose was thinking. “Yes, we should do that.” She realized a moment too late where this must have been coming from and laughed gently. “Hm, I’m assuming our dear companions have something to do with this? They’re forceful, but they lack subtlety.”

Rose joined her in laughing while she played with her cute little tie. “You can say that again.”

There was a sudden discordant sensation that completely interrupted the moment. While Sera may not have shared the level of connection with Ophie that Camilis did, she could still recognize the tone of her poor human in distress. Something truly upsetting must have happened to her if Sera could feel it like this. She took Rose’s hand and sighed. “Speak of the angels, I think Ophelia may need us… Her rhythms are off…”

There was a spark of something in Rose’s eye, but there was no time to find out what that meant.

She pulled her along back out to the main hallway and into another passage where the two had been looking at the fashion exhibit. Sera couldn’t see anything immediately wrong, which only made her more nervous. She moved just fast enough for Rose to keep up, drawing close just as Ophelia was bidding farewell to her viewers.

“Mn, we’ve been at this for a while, and we should really get ourselves home. But this has been incredible and you all are beautiful and wonderful and I hope to do this again really soon!” She gave a forced smile and a cheerful wave to the camera one last time before ending the stream. The moment it was over, she leaned into Camilis’ side and nuzzled against her vines with a small sniffle. “Ugghhh, I almost broke there…”

Rose instantly moved to Ophie’s side, her face a mass of affection and concern. “What happened?”

Ophelia hastily wiped at her eyes with a slightly bigger sniffle and passed the tablet over to Rose. “J-Just some… Gah, what are they calling themselves? F-Free Terranist jerks were bombing the chat. My mods got to them pretty quick, but… y-y’know, not quite fast enough.”

Peering over Rose’s shoulder while she scrolled through the messages, Sera saw what it was that had wounded her poor future floret so deeply.

[AccordAegis]: Plantfuckers are traitors to our noble heritage. Once the weeds are dealt with, you’re next. Watch your back. The will and spirit of Free Terra will live forever and never be crushed!