The Endless Flesh retreated from the star system. Limping, with many of their most powerful ships destroyed. Much of their swarms and ships burst into clouds of gore as the Connected One fired upon them with her devastating weapon in rage after the capture of the Missing One.

  It had always puzzled the Endless Flesh how that one had managed to escape them. None escaped it except in battle where the loss was expected. But now they knew. They finally knew how.

  They had Peter Rose, and now had direction. Peter Rose and all Immortals connected to him on Gaia. Those were its targets, the Endless Flesh had a goal at long last after so long of flailing in the dark for direction.

  They had Peter Rose captured deep in the bowels of the planet that had used to be Gaia. Eventually he’d talk if only out of boredom and tell them exactly who else had known… They had plenty of time to be patient now that they had him. After all, they still needed to determine how to permanently kill the Immortals. Only then could they finally fulfill their purposes and destroy those responsible for the Connected One’s desperate imbuement of purpose within them.

  There was now a path to victory, and no matter their losses in battle against the forces of the humans… The Endless Flesh and its Queens could be nothing but overjoyed on how things had gone.

  — — —

  “I still can’t believe they just let you go,” Emily said to Sean as the both of them stared off to the horizon. Sitting next to each other out on the front porch of her house.

  “I… I never thought that they were connected to me like that,” Emily continued, “That all of this was because of what happened back at the museum. It seems like such a small thing. Given how much has happened since then, how it's defined so much of how the current galaxy is. With how many people live in it now. The deaths of a few dozen of people that I care for, the Endless Flesh trying to get revenge for them this whole time with galactic war spanning millions of years. All of it for only a couple dozen people.”

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  Sean was silent for a moment.

  “Maybe it doesn’t matter how many there are on either side,” he said, “Maybe they can both be tragedies. Their deaths don’t mean anything less because of all that happened since then.”

  Emily kept staring to the horizon towards the sunset as the sun kept sinking below the horizon.

  “True,” she said, “True. You know, these sunsets… I’ve seen so many. Over and over I’ve sat in this chair and watched them. And they're never exactly the same. Always just a little bit different than the last. I used to think that that was so sad. The thought that I’d never be able to see a particular beautiful sunset or sunrise ever again. But I’m glad I’ve gotten to share this sunset with you, Sean. It makes it feel more special somehow. To me at least, that I have a friend like you to sit here and enjoy it with.”

  “It is special,” Sean said as they both kept watching as the world grew dark as the last little bits of the sun slowly slipped below the horizon, “And hopefully we’ll see many more just as special in the future. No matter what planet we see it on or how long it has been since this one.”

  They both sat there as the reddish haze on the horizon faded away into true night and the stars came out in full force. They both leaned back and looked up into the stars from the porch.

  They sat there in silence peacefully for some time. Then the front door slammed open behind them.

  “Emily, Sean! What are you two slowpokes doing out here staring into the dark?” Asuta said loudly as she stuck her head outside, “Are you coming to dinner or what? I can’t eat all of these steaks myself, ya’know? I bet even Ash will get hungry if you keep being all wholesome and meditative out here any longer and stuff. Go go go! Dinner’s already ready, you two!”

  The door closed and Emily and Sean shared a long look in the darkness before they both burst out laughing.

  They both stood to their feet. “We can’t let her eat it all, can we?” Emily said lightly as they both kept chuckling, “She always knows how to make an entrance.”

  “That’s Asuta for you,” Sean said, “As dependable as ever. Wouldn’t want her any other way.”

  “Definitely not,” Emily agreed, “Now Sean, why don’t we go to dinner? Sounds like it’ll taste better than ever based on how eager Asuta was.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Sean said.

  Then they went inside and had another wonderful meal. One in a long line that they'd had before and a small taste of the many more to come.