The official they used to bribe in the old days met Maria and Andrew when their ship came in to port. He greeted them with a smile and a, "Welcome home!"

Gazland – formerly known as the Southern Constructed Territory – was somehow more rundown and more closed off from the world than it had been when they disappeared from it, but it was home, was theirs. They could belong there.

The military reactivated Maria's commission even before she arrived home, so she had something to do and money coming in. The small place she used to live had an occupant, but the members of her community still remembered her, and they helped her find a two bedroom place for her and Andrew to stay, then carefully turned a blind eye to Andrew's inability to work.

After that, all she had to do was settle into the routine of her days and wait for Mnemosyne to decide where she wanted to be.