Luna's flattered again by Firo's assessment, but it comes years too late. The image of herself as a mother doesn't quite catch after years of telling herself it wouldn't have worked anyway. "I wouldn't know about that," she says, more out of uncertainty as much as contradiction. "We only had one child to take care of, and he was looking for a mother who was more human. I was reassigned to other work when it became clear that things wouldn't work out, so I don't have much experience even pretending to be a mother."

Would she want to do it again? Luna isn't completely sure, it's been so long. She's seen the Rhizome's human inhabitants form a family, though, and that adds a hint of wistfulness to her words. "From what I've seen, being human is a very valuable part of making a family. I don't think my creator understood that when he made me, but I've seen it."