"Surprise," Brand says dryly. Most people probably wouldn't think it was short for anything, at least before Addam showed up and started using 'Brandon' all the time. It's not as annoying as when the Tower does it, so Brand lets it lie.

Brand watches the kid versions of South and her brother and nods. "That'd do it. I'm from the early 2000s. Earth's chucked a few robots at Mars, but that's about the extent of its planetary expansion."

Fireworks are still the same, though. It seems there's nothing humanity loves more than making things blow up all pretty.

"Good night?" he asks, because that seems a relatively safe question, without getting into anything that would be too much like talking about stuff.