Sedna and Newt were back on Mars after their Mars Days visit to Earth, Houston, and Coon Island. It would be nearly two years before the next conjunction, when the close approach would make the trip with their natural human bodies practical again. 

They had, as usual, frequently revisited Coon Island since their return, connecting via QAR and using drones available in the tech lab. For Sedna, operating a drone felt quite natural. She had spent many hours flying her own when she made her QAR recordings for the Earth Dream. 

She also spent many hours flying her own drone on Mars. It was part of their routine exploration of the surface, recording the geology in QAR for general access. Given that the atmosphere outside their lava tube home was thin, cold, and unbreathable , there would be many more such drone hours to come.

But she didn't have to like it. Operating a drone was not the same as being there in body. After the freedom of Earth, being confined to their Farm Tube was a letdown. Working in the farm tiers still felt good, and having active displays of the Martian surface on many walls was a nice illusion. But having to get in the centrifuge and use her drone whenever she wanted to leave the tube was not the thrill it had once been. 

If asked, she would be inclined to compare droning to driving a car. Or getting around in a wheel chair. These modes of transport had their special uses, but always felt confining when you couldn't simply stop wherever you were, get out and move around on your own. Smelling the roses so to speak.

A drone is a puppet body, that's what she was thinking about. It has enough basic intelligence to execute simple commands, without being instructed in detail what to do to achieve the desired result. That result, of course, was whatever would be of interest to the operator. 

The surface of Mars had already been extensively mapped by preprogrammed drones, but it would take years to review and evaluate that data. The human presence in the QAR recordings gave instant assessment of what was there.

She also knew that, in a way, a human body is like a drone. Many actions are programmed at the body level and do not require detailed monitoring by the conscious mind. Flying a drone gave a person far more freedom of movement. But although the drones had a marvelously expanded visual sensitivity, they couldn't match the full range of human senses in other ways. No smell, no taste, no warm human contact. Human bodies had evolved over millions of years. No drone could match that. Not that this really mattered much on the surface of Mars.

She had just about resolved to set aside this rather negative line of thought. It didn't seem particularly relevant. Then she remembered that it is very relevant for a shifter. That was why Bear and Xayna had brought their bodies to the Sea Shell. But she had only ever used her drone there.

She knew many shifters. Most of her family were shifters. To her, that was simply the way things were. She knew that to shift to another animal form it was necessary to first mentally be that animal, to connect with its spirit dream and become very familiar with the full sensory range of the different body.

But she had never been very tempted in that direction. Especially not after she had discovered droning and began recording her World Dream. 

As she continued these musings another thought came to her. An exciting thought. She spoke it aloud to Newt.

"Mars is like the Sea Shell."

"What?"

"The Sea Shell. I'm surprised I never though of this before. The shifters would know. When living in the sea, become a sea creature. When living on Mars, become a Mars creature."

"A Mars creature? You mean a microbe? There aren't even any of those here. At least none we've found yet. Not since the Annunaki. Or is there something you haven't told me?"

"I'm telling you now. We have found the Mars creatures. And they are us."

"Us?"

"Who else? We live on Mars."

"Well, yes. But we aren't technically creatures of Mars."

"Our children will be."

"Uh, is there something else you haven't told me?"

"No, I haven't let that happen. But maybe I should."

"Okay. I'd be thrilled, actually. But wouldn't you have to go back to Earth for that? Or live in the centrifuge for nine months?"

"That's the point, isn't it? We and everyone else who lives here use the centrifuges to stay in Earth shape. Why do we have to do that?"

"Because if we don't our bodies would get too accustomed to Mars gravity."

"And why is that a bad thing?"

"Because when we went back to Earth we'd have to adapt to Earth gravity again. That would be inconvenient at best."

"Not for a shifter."

Newt paused for a moment, his wheels turning. "Well, maybe not. But as far as I know there aren't any shifters living here."

"And why is that, do you think?"

"I get the impression it's because they are creatures of Earth. In literally more ways than one."

"Exactly. To be a shifter, you need to have something to shift into. On Earth the possibilities are abundant. Here it would feel even more barren for them than it does for us."

"Right. So where are you going with this?"

"What did you mean about our bodies getting too accustomed to Mars gravity?"

"What do you mean, what did I mean? Isn't it obvious?"

"Maybe too obvious. What would happen to our bodies here if we let it?"

"For the sake of argument? Mainly our muscles would atrophy. Get weaker. Lose mass, or at least get out of shape. Being here is not as bad as being on the Moon, or weightless, but almost."

"What's bad about being weightless? Sea creatures are effectively weightless in their natural environment."

"They're adapted to it. It's not a problem for them."

"Adapt. Isn't that what our bodies want to do here?"

"Adapt to the environment? Well, sure."

"Okay. Here's what I've been thinking. I lived with a bunch of shifters most of my life. Even helped make a bunch of new ones in the Sea Shell. Been tempted to try it myself a few times. Never got into it because I'd never actually done it before and I was hooked on the possibilities of droning, capturing the full reality of Earth in QAR."

"And the people of Earth are forever glad you did. But where are you going with this?" 

"Now we are here, exploring and capturing the reality of a whole new world. One our bodies can't survive on without help. But if I was a shifter, letting my body adapt to Mars wouldn't be a big deal, would it? Because I could shift back to my Earth body any time I wanted to. And then back to my Mars body again. Right?"

Newt had gone from looking a bit confused to catching her enthusiasm and lighting up brighter and brighter as she said this. He was positively glowing when she stopped. "Not just right, gloriously right! We wouldn't need the centrifuges anymore!"

Then he lost some of his glow. "We still wouldn't be able to breathe the air, though."

Sedna didn't miss a beat. She said, "No, not at first. But there may be possibilities. Plants, anaerobic processes, there are ways to thrive in a carbon dioxide atmosphere. Who knows. For a shifter, the possibilities are endless."