community-and-resistance

In this chapter, Neci Roybal campaigns among the salvagers to have the tentacles of two alien-human hybrid girls removed, arguing that their alien features prevent them from being truly human and that they should be raised as human children. The group debates the ethics and risks of performing such a surgery, with some opposing the idea due to the children's health and alien nature. Ultimately, the girls, Shkaht and Amma, decide to escape to avoid the forced removal, recognizing the danger posed by Neci and her supporters.