"Mutants absolutely run in families. And yeah, that sounds like it would do it. Although all things considered I'd be surprised if there wasn't anyone who didn't come up with an excuse to hate you."

"There are such people, but not very many, at least near us. Might or might not have helped particularly that for high school we had to go to a gemini school where everyone was a twin."

"We also went to a school for only people with powers! Boarding school, even."

"Ours is not a boarding school. There exist boarding Gemini schools but ours was just like a regular public school, only with uniforms and arrangements to keep twinsets in the same classes and no gym class until after one turned sixteen."

"...Now, like, after Yellowstone exploded? School everywhere for everyone is canceled for - a while. It'll start up again eventually."

"Uh, yeah, that's pretty much what I meant. And--yeah, that makes sense."

"It didn't get my dad's house, so me and Alli and our mom moved there. Our parents get along better than a lot of divorcés, or it'd be awkward."

"I can imagine."

"I think they might get back together," opines Alli. "Sometimes I go down for a midnight snack and there's nobody sleeping on the couch."

"Well that's an. Interesting way to find out."

"The couch is very uncomfortable and if they're managing to share a queen size bed that doesn't mean very much by itself. I don't think we'd better read into it."

"Yeah, but still!"

"I mean, it's better than random bedspring creaks, I'd imagine."

"Thank you for that mental soundtrack."

"Sorry."

"What color do you want your ashbot, and do you have a use for small unfaceted diamonds?" asks Lorica.

"...Blue, and, uh, not... really...? I think the De Beers cartel makes it pretty impossible to trade in them usefully? But that might change, or I might be wrong, and I don't know what the alternative is."

"I could make it facet them but I'd need more parts than I originally budgeted. Eh, I'll just have the ash annihilated and then you won't have to plug it in." Lorica hops to her feet and collects some more objects from Bar.

"Blue's a good color. I'm pretty sure you can pawn diamonds even if you can't set up a jewelry shop with them."

"Unfaceted ones?" says Flicker. "You think?"

"Well, they're still diamonds. I'm pretty sure some kinds of gemstone get put into jewelry without facets."

"...Lorica, if I do have to plug it in how much electricity will it need?"

"Mmm, if you run it all the time in an ashy area - oh, and it'll get dust and any dirt inside your house too, easier that way, but restrict itself to ash outside - maybe forty kilowatt-hours a day?"