Creatures born after the viral video now had children of their own.
Grandchildren who'd never known fear. Great-grandchildren who couldn't imagine hiding.
"They don't understand," an elder fretted. "What we went through. What it cost."
"Good," Glad replied. "That means we succeeded."
The youngest generation played in Anino Garden—chasing, laughing, shifting between forms with casual ease. The Watcher and Gahom chased with them, eternal cats in eternal play.
"What will their world look like?" Ariel wondered.
"Hopefully better than ours. Hopefully they'll have new challenges we can't imagine."
"That's how progress works."
"Yeah." Glad smiled. "That's how progress works."
The children laughed.
The garden glowed.
The future continued.