The shuttle makes three stops before Returning Commons. At each one, the pilot passes a parcel through the hatch and asks after someone by name. The habitats hang well apart in deep space, their windows small against the dark. From the arrival lock, a covered bridge extends toward an empty docking collar. It was built to meet another habitat. Beyond its far window there are only the running lights of the departing shuttle.
Inside, a handler walks a hunting bird toward a long pressurized flight hall. Smaller birds shift in warmed nesting boxes beside the entrance. A child carries a weighed portion of feed, stopping whenever the handler stops. The next shuttle is taking two trained birds away; their padded carriers wait under a bench. Behind the glass, a lure travels the length of the hall and a broad shadow follows it.
The council of elders has left the meeting-room door open. Representatives from several other communities are laying out a proposal to share a water reserve. One has brought consumption records; another has brought an empty filter housing. People arriving for the meeting greet most of the faces already seated. A chair has been pulled into the doorway for anyone who cannot find room.
What would Returning Commons need to hear before agreeing to share its water?
Actual table rolls interpreted with AI assistance. Prose and artwork reviewed before publication. These discoveries are invitations to play, not fixed setting canon.