"I got it! I got the job!" Sawarisa bounded through the pressure locked doors to her quarters. Her mother Riaal looked up from the screen in her hands, brows agog. "I got the job," Sawarisa repeated. "I mean I have to go through a training period for this moon cycle, but that'll just breeze by."

The smile that illumined Riaal's features already began to dispel the chill from Sawarisa's time outdoors, and she came around the table, pulling her oldest child into her arms. "Now, what'd did I tell you?"

In the solace of her mother's proud embrace, Sawarisa melted – her worries scattering faster than fog in the warmspells. "Thank you, Ma."

"This was all you, Momo," Riaal murmured, tightening her hold.

They held on to each other, suspended in that small moment of respite, before separating begrudgingly. Sawarisa looked at the screen, asking, "so, what've you been up to?"

Riaal sighed, the weight of it settling on Sawarisa's shoulders. "Just studying the quarter's upkeep and Sustentation..." Riaal deferred momentarily, before continuing, "our west end insulation stopped functioning, and that's frozen some of our plumbing."

"Will the Sustentation cover it?" Sawarisa dreaded the answer, but subdued that dread under the hope her new employment had fangled in her spirit.

"No, but we can afford four canisters of water."

"Four... okay, well that should last us until my credits come in for this moon cycle." Mentally calculating, Sawarisa added, more surely, "yes, we just need to hold out until I get paid. We'll layer up and sleep together in the common room, ration the water canisters, we can ask the Toros next door for baths. As soon as I get the credit, I'll allocate it to Sustentation."

This time, Riaal's smile was sad, even still pride threaded it. "My Momo, you've grown up too soon. I'm so sorry you have bear such burdens."

Laughing, Sawarisa wrapped her arms around Riaal again. "I'm twenty-one, Ma," she said, "and this is my duty to my family."

Riaal let out a forlorn tut. "I hear you, however—"

She was interrupted by three children who came tumbling in, racing and wrestling amongst each other. Her father Dorji barely dodged them in his powerchair, exclaiming, "Momo! You're back!"

Bending down to put an arm around Dorji's shoulders, Sawarisa informed, "I got the archivist job."

"I never doubted you." Dorji gave her a congratulatory pat on the back, beaming toothily. "This calls for a celebration. Ri, my love, the kids and I have brought some good harvest from the greenhouses. How about we cook up a fancy meal for tonight?"

"That sounds fantastic," Riaal replied, affectionately pressing her lips to Dorji's temple.

"MomoMomoMomo!" the little ones – Rosha, Tavir, and Mij – clamored.

Squatting on her knees, Sawarisa gathered them up and set about trying to keep pace with their inquisitiveness. They peppered her with questions about where she'd gone, what an archivist was, could they visit the Annals, had she seen the archeogeologgers up close, and suchlike.

Thus went the night, the family's joy and hearth keeping them warm.

And thus went this new chapter in Sawarisa's life. She loved working in the Annals; every day there, learning about the bygone life on the obsolete planet Earth, the biotic and abiotic components in the lands of yore, renewed her sense of awe and childlike curiosity. Watching her credits accumulate only drove her to work harder and be more efficient, determined to become an indispensable asset to the Guild of Archivists.