Susan and her son, Mark, boarded a hovercraft for oceanic feeding.

  “Momma, is it true? Creatures swam and were caught for food?”

  “It’s true, Mark, before the transition.”

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  “You mean when the world was …”

  Susan raised an appendage. “We don’t speak of that in public. I’ll explain more at home.”

  Once the ship arrived at its destination, the passengers came outside.

  The captain spoke:

  “We give our thanks to The Great Patch, for in which we rejuvenate and remain whole … Amen.”

  “Amen!” repeated the crowd.

  Each one extended their polymeric tentacles to consume the patch’s synthetics for nourishment.