Fresh out of cheerleading practice, Neesa helped Moira set up an interplanetary video call, making sure the connection was stable so the conversation would go smoothly. Moira entered the password to join the group meeting hosted by Nardho. Soon, several different screens popped up, revealing the host, his sister, and Vannie. After making sure everything was done, Neesa nodded and left her cousin to enjoy the meeting uninterrupted.

"Hi, Moira! Good to see that our virtual meeting began on time. I was worried the signal would be weak on my end, but it turned out pretty decent. How was your day?" came Nardho's enthusiastic greeting, his voice deep and soothing. 

All she could say was "You'd make a pretty good singer, if the whole scientist thing doesn't work out." 

"Oh, is that so?" Nardho smirked at Moira's remark. "Unfortunately, I don't like singing. I'm more of an electric guitar and ukulele type of guy. But Nardhia does! She always sings whenever we are on a road trip or whenever she's happy, really. I grew up listening to her making up her own tunes. They're very catchy," He started humming a cheery melody.

"Aw, Nardho, you make me sound as if I am an excitable little kid!" Nardhia chimed in. "But yeah, I do like to make up my own songs. Maybe I'll teach you how to sing them when we meet in person, Moira. Now, though, let's focus on Vannie's project!" she chirped, sharing the screen so everyone could see the contents of her desktop. 

Vannie's jaw dropped as Nardhia displayed the folder containing news article excerpts of news articles and interview transcripts from decades ago, complete with photographs and captioned social media posts.

"You two did my homework for me? But you shouldn't have! Wouldn't that be cheating?" Vannie panicked. 

On her screen, Moira could the twins glanced at each other, communicating without words as only siblings could.

Nardhia looked back at Vannie and shook her head. "Nah, we are not gonna let you be a cheater. We simply want to share primary resources, but you have to write the essay yourself! Our late  grand aunt and her husband were still alive during the Disability Revolution and they witnessed the events unfolding firsthand. Our grand uncle was a journalist who left behind a diary--"

 "It's more of a collection of newspaper clippings," Nardho interrupted.

"--that has been passed down through the generations as an heirloom," she explained. 

"Woah, that's super cool! I'll read the diary later, I want to see the pictures!" Moira could tell Vannie was genuinely fascinated.  "Let see if Moira feels comfortable turning photographs into paintings!"

Nardho sent copies of the pictures to Moira, who went through them one by one. She finally settled on three out of the collection of over sixty pictures. She then showed them to the group and asked for their thoughts. "Would they look good as oil paintings?"

Realizing something, she turned to Vannie. "Why do you want an oil painting anyway?"

"The school will be displaying all the projects in an exhibition in a museum--which, in this case, will be like an art gallery. So, I suppose I can kill two birds with one stone: I get to learn about our solar system's history and you get to have your art recognized!" Vannie said, beaming with a smile that said 'I am a genius.' Then, her excitement increased even more. "Hey, I heard my teachers talked in the staff room that the school plans to invite TV crews to broadcast the event live. Who knows, you might have your first taste of fame!" 

Moira turned scarlet. She had never considered her art worthy enough to be displayed in   a gallery. She thanked Vannie, nevertheless.

The first picture Moira chose was of an elderly woman in a wheelchair shielding a little boy. Two police officers carrying a tank of tear gas seemed ready to unleash it upon the protestors crowded behind the old woman. 

For Vannie, the picture represented selflessness in the name of solidarity, while Nardho said it depicted the cruelty of figures of authority.

Nardhia was saddened to see people who fought for equality were met with such hostility from those who were supposed to be their protectors, not siding with the oppressors. Moira, with  an artist's eye for details, commented on the posters brought by the protestors with strong statements like Disabled Lives Matter, Nothing About Us Without Us, and Ableism is Death Sentence. They told their own unique stories.

The group agreed that the picture would be an appropriate one to include in Vannie's project. 

Some might question why a little boy was present at the protest, but Nardhia said "Well, it's a good thing to teach kids about just and unjust, so they wouldn't grow up without a sense of empathy."

The second picture was difficult to look at but Moira understood that her discomfort was nothing compared to the horrors experienced by survivors of the sterilization efforts. In the picture, a woman was being dragged from her wheelchair to a room that said  'Mandatory Surgery'. She was crying and screaming, while the men who restrained her had nonchalant expressions, seemingly blind to her distraught state.

The last picture was emotional for Moira. It showed a young lady being confined to a bed while two surgeons observed a screen showing what looked like a fetus--with stunted growth. A man sat next to the bed, face buried in his hand. 

Moira had chosen the picture because it reminded her of her late mother and made her question what could have been if the government had known that she--a patient of spina bifida--was pregnant with a developmentally-challenged baby. She'd have been forced to undergo an abortion. Moira was pro-choice but the thought still scared her. 

The group was reluctant about Moira painting that picture, but the girl was adamant. Seeing her resolve made everyone agree to let her paint it, with a reminder that she could talk to any of them if she started to feel her mental health deteriorating.

The air in the room felt heavy. For a moment, no one said anything, until Nardhia broke the tense silence. "Hey Nardho, why don't you show them one of your guitar tricks? You said you wanted to form an EDM orchestra once you got to Blue Orchid, right? Let's see if Moira and Vannie think you have what it takes to establish an orchestra!"

Nardho excused himself to grab his musical equipment and came back with a professional-looking set. Moira asked if she could record the session. Nardho readily agreed. 

It was glorious and soon, Moira's heart felt light as a feather, no longer troubled by thoughts of never being born. 

Soon, Nardho's mini-concert came to an end. But, it seemed like the group wasn't ready to leave yet. 

"Hey, I want to play an online multiplayer game with you guys! It was released just last week and it's about treasure hunters! Let's go on a treasure hunt!" suggested Vannie.

For the next few hours, the group ran around in an augmented virtual reality, battling monsters in dungeons, reading maps and solving puzzles. They managed to collect a great deal of bounty and unlocked an achievement called Master of Navigation. Before Moira realized, it was dinner time and, unwillingly, she said farewell to Vannie and the twins.

Aunt Zoe was in the kitchen, cutting a buttercream cake into equal pieces. Moira was curious because she usually didn't bake desserts. Whenever the family had any, they were store-bought.

"Hi, Moira. How was the meeting? Good?" The teenage girl nodded. "I'm glad. By the way, Kenta dropped by when you were upstairs. He said something about rock music and forgetting to plug the headphone into the music player. This cake was a gift from him."

"It tastes heavenly! I'm in love! Oh man, I wish I were his boyfriend, so I could get spoiled with this baked goodness more often," Neesa declared from the living room, making Aunt Zoe roll her eyes. 

Moira chuckled, teasing her. "Or you could just become his trainee, like I am!"

Neesa scrunched up her nose at the idea of being a nerd over plants. Now, if it was an internship about culinary sciences, she wouldn't mind being nerdy!

The next day, instead of going to the library after school, Moira hosted Vannie in her art studio and the two exchanged ideas about painting the survivors of  the sterilization efforts. Vannie promised to buy Moira a new set of brushes as an added incentive. 

The two finished half a painting and agreed to complete the project at least five days before the deadline to give ample time for revisions. Moira was not one to procrastinate as having too many items in her to-do-list stressed her out which manifested physically as headaches, stomachaches, and sometimes even non-epileptic seizure--something she knew all too well.

Afterwards, Moira was ready to go to Kenta's apartment, but was surprised to see him in her house instead. 

Moira found him in the living room, engaged in a conversation with Neesa. 

"Could you teach me how to make that buttercream cake?" asked her cousin. 

Kenta laughed. "I wouldn't mind divulging the recipe."

Neesa squealed and hugged Kenta, almost knocking him off balance. Then she ran off to her room, still squealing. Kenta shook his head and laughed heartily.

"Okay, Moira, remember your assignment with the chemistry equation? Cracked it yet?"

"You bet, Kenta. I've busy as a bumble bee but I worked with Ms. Roberts in a free period and reached some conclusions. The formula is mainly the ratio for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in unbelievably high doses. NPK. Nutrients?"

"You're right, those are the nutrients ordinarily found in fertile soil. I guess the Crimson Yeasts have evolved to the point that either their roots store those nutrients indefinitely once they got transplanted from regular soil to ice or they can turn the minerals in the ice into NPK", he said, nodding as if he had already anticipated the results. "My other hypothesis is that the seeds themselves contained the nutrients and somehow, once the seedlings sprouted, they no longer needed them."

"I'm leaning more toward the second possibility, because it seems more likely to me." Moira flipped through the pages of Kenta's dissertation.

"I'm going to defend my dissertation next month, Moira. Wish me luck in getting a PhD!"

The next four weeks passed by like a turtle running a marathon, but finally the anticipated day arrived. Kenta was declared a doctorate degree recipient, diploma pending. Moira was named as his assistant, so she won free tickets to go to the arboretum for the whole family. 

On the same day, Vannie presented her history project and Moira was praised by many of the teachers as well as students. She was even interviewed by a local news reporter!

The day after Vannie's exhibition, Moira received a video call from Dr. Lee Kinoya and the entire admission committee. She was frightened, but accepted the call nonetheless.

"Moira, allow me to extend my sincerest congratulations!" Lee exclaimed. "I was going to wait until the letters of recommendations arrive, but the team and I caught news about your stellar paintings. Many art critics praised you to high heavens. The news elaborated how you soldiered on, despite having a tight deadline and the sensitive nature of the paintings. If that isn't true grit, I don't know what is. So, congratulation once again. You are a determined young lady, and I'm honored to award you the coveted scholarship and a position as one of my research assistants for your perseverance!"

Moira had barely registered the news, when she realized something. "One of the assistants?"

The twinkle in Lee's eyes was hard to miss. "Yes, Moira," he said.  "I have decided to hire four research assistants for the upcoming academic year. So, you will be working with three other freshmen. I do believe you know them already."

"I—I am humbled, Lee," Moira stuttered. "So, what is the next step? May I apply for a room in the dormitory yet?" 

In the background, Neesa grabbed her parents for a group dance.

"Yes, you may request to be roommates with whomever you prefer. I will email you the student guidebook and lists of things to pack beforehand. I think, however, the first step should be to get in touch with both Student Health Center and the Office of Disability Studies. They will be ensuring your matriculation is handled properly."

"Yes, I will. Thank you very much for the opportunity, Lee. Thank you for giving me a fair fighting chance. The last few weeks have been really fun and I made new friendships all because you did not go easy on me."

"The pleasure is all mine, Moira. I am excited for you too!" Lee's voice took on a serious note. "Keep in mind, though, university life will be much, much harder than the internships. However, you will have me as a mentor and advisor, so don't hesitate to come to me whenever you are confused, lost, or just homesick."

When Moira finally closed her laptop, she leapt from her chair and hugged Neesa. The cousins screamed together, much to the amusement of their guardians. 

Once they had calmed down a bit, the family went for a celebratory dinner at an upscale seafood restaurant, with Kenta and Vannie also in attendance. Kenta brightened the room with his silly jokes, while Vannie shared stories from her collection of fairy tales. Moira felt like her heart could burst from the overwhelming love and gratitude she had for these people. 

That night, Moira slept well.