Amongst the rubble the child perched, looking for any semblance of her past. A marble, or scraps from a doll perhaps. To most this would seem like childlike curiosity, but her neighbours knew otherwise. They too shared the tension in her clenched jaw and her jittery reaction to unexpected sounds. Their anticipation, however, was useless. As the child listened to the radio, her family’s last piece of electronic luxury, the words of the men in suits simply faded into the background. There was an almost comforting familiarity in the foreign accent she had been hearing more and more of. The child, however, did catch some of the words spoken in a disconnected manner. Something about “war zones” and “alliances”. Although she was quick to learn new words, she still could not understand why humans were the only species to hurt each other with such disregard.