[she glances up at the pod that she remembers from vague conversations that she hadn't been fully present for, and grins at its suggestion. that thing would make a lot of conversations way easier, she thinks. when 2B listens, when she asks the follow up question, anna's weight rocks to her back foot. she hooks her thumb into the pocket of her jeans.]

Yeah. I mean, mostly. I washed up on the shore same as you did just about a year ago. My actual home is Earth, a little less than ten thousand years in your past. I lived in a city full of other humans who all had kind of the same thing going on—getting their souls mixed with souls from people from worlds they'd never seen, never been to. [the soul may be an abstract thing, but that's a bold thought for a squid to have. she'd better get used to it.] I still don't think I know everything about what my future, your present looks like. But I'm trying to keep my future safe, at least.

'S all I want. For you, for her, and for me.