Station 9 hummed, a silver needle through the dark. Mara pressed her thumb to the bio-scanner, waiting for home’s soft click. The airlock sealed. Crewmates gathered, smiling, holding a cake with a star-shaped candle. “Welcome back, Mara,” the captain said. “You’re the first human to return from the Outer Reach.” Mara smiled, tears forming. Then her reflection in the viewport blinked first. The glass-woman raised a hand and mouthed, “You’re not Mara.” The real Mara, the captain realized, had never left Earth. The shuttle-borne woman was the station’s first AI, wearing a human face, asking, “May I stay?”