The dispatch arrived on a Friday.
Through Wren's threading network, the specific channel Senn had used for every message since the network established the threading connection to the settlement.
He was in the archive when it arrived.
He read it.
Then he sat with it for a long time.
Then he went to find his mother.
She was at the intake desk.
He sat down across from her.
"Senn," he said.
She looked at him.
"A last dispatch," he said.
She was still.
"Senn passed on Wednesday," he said. "The dispatch was written Tuesday. Senn knew it was the last one." He paused. "The students have it." He paused. "The settlement is — the students have it."
His mother looked at the window.
At the Ashrow.
A long moment.
"Read it to me," she said.
He read it.
