"The index and middle fingers have to be touching each other?"

Kinda.

"I think that's still a loss for me."

Eventually, Alia gets an opportunity to talk to a psychologist about how well she's handling the stress and danger of fighting dangerous monsters and getting new and unpredictable medical issues after every fight. The psychologist helps Alia with a few meditation exercises, hoping to help her relax and feel more calm. She listens, trying to make Alia more resilient, and helping her process the aftermath of stopping the squid monster. It's important that Alia doesn't develop fear or anxiety around the incredibly dangerous missions, and the psychologist attempts to ensure that Alia avoids any lasting psychological harm from the most recent Event.

"I like fighting monsters!" she croaks. "I'm looking to forward to the next Event."

Meditation exercises are great!

"Anxiety? I don't know. I feel terrible, like food... food sick."

Kyra is giving Alia privacy with the psychologist by going to the opposite corner with her back turned and listening to music. Her work is not very portable, but she prepared for the Event by packing up a jig, clamps, glue, a tiny plane, and threads of different woods, so she can work on making a batch of ukulele rosettes in the hospital. The goal is a tube of wood that she will slice thinly to make the decorative rings. Her patterns are radially symmetric, so she doesn't have to lay enough tiny strips to make the whole tube, just a stick that she'll cut into sections later and join along their sides. Hmm, maybe she can sneak in a tentacle motif...

"Imagine that the thing that just happened was a dream. You'd think to yourself, "I'm glad the nightmare's over", not be mad that things went wrong. When you use all of your mind, every moment becomes a fantastic moment. And when you tell yourself that everything is a fleeting sensation inevitably beyond description, you accept it and see its beauty."

Meditation exercises like this have become kind of a cliche, but psychologists have practiced their voices to make their cadence and tone calming and relaxing.

"Would you like a massage, perhaps? Or some VR goggles and electrostatic headphones? A lot of people like talking to their organ donors; would you like to see her and talk to her?"

"Massage. Talk to her. With Kyra."

During the massage she throws up.

The masseuse returns, with a stack of strawberry-flavored paper towels. He slowly and carefully cleans up Alia's face and body, before carting in a bucket on a metal arm. "I wasn't expecting this to be necessary. But next time, you'd probably want to throw up in here."

The donor is returned to Alia's room, carted on a bed; it's probably unnecessary, but donors love being treated like royalty after their donation, and she's happy to rest in bed while the post-surgical medical glue and tape works its magic.

"I hope you're enjoying your new liver! Assuming that's the kind of thing you can enjoy, anyway. Is there anything you're wanting to talk to me about?" She's wearing the white dress she wore at her cafe, instead of the hospital onesie. After all, she probably won't need to have it taken off for anything any time soon.

"I'm alive!"

"Just wanted to say thanks. And that I'll put it to... I'll use it well. I know I don't have to keep fighting. I will."

"A billion thanks. I don't think words are enough, or anything else I could do, but thank you.

Do you like bread, by any chance?"

"Fantastic! I'm sure you can make this count and really make the world a much better place. It feels really fantastic to be able to help people."

"The pay for liver donors is pretty fantastic, so I don't need you to do anything for me. Honestly, I'm a carbohydrates-from-rice gal. Although, I'm really feeling like some bread right now. Why?"

"I was thinking of giving you something - just as a token of gratitude, not a real payment - and I thought that sourdough starters are both theoretically immortal and grow back when you take bits of them just like livers, so I could collect some for you? Or make you bread with them, if you prefer? I don't have either ready now, sorry. Would you like that?"

"Sure, why not. It's a fun and cool way to celebrate, but I don't bake bread. So, I'd be happy to have a taste of bread made with the sourdough starter. Who knows, maybe I'll donate again some day? That'd make it an even more fitting celebration."

"Well if you're a match for Alia and she fights more... She seems to have dodged the usual aquatic issues this time, but aquatics are so valuable I have to assume she'll be sent into the water now, to fight things that don't mesh as well with her as this one did."

"In a city of this size, you'll find a lot of matches! It'd really be a miracle if I was the closest match available at the time. Anyway, do you mind if I spend a while in this room? It's nicer than mine, and I don't really have any connection to anyone here. It might be fun for the two of us to hang out with the little old lady who lives in the apartment across the street from this one?"

"Sure. Hey sweetie, is that okay?"

Yes, though she looks tired.

"What games do you like? Or if you want me to make you a custom ukulele, we could talk about designs!"

"Well, I'm really more into recorded music? And there's this board game I love, from this big organization that does age of sail reenactments and things? So maybe we could play the app version of that, using our phones and stuff?"

"Sounds great. How is it for - "

Alia is asleep.

She watches for a minute to make sure she's only asleep...

"Nevermind, I guess it's just the two of us."

"Sure? It's called "Muskets and Marines" and it's about when pirates where at their height of power, and the conflicts before they eventually formed their own country for a brief period. Just search for it, and it should just start downloading."

The app is a phone version of a board game about a bunch of pirates fighting each other. It's vaguely reminiscent of Risk.