Chalcedony has a crab-like shell of broken armor sitting over her five broken legs, which she drags behind her as she scowers the beach for beads she fits onto necklaces. A child, Belvedere, begins following her along the beach. Her machinery senses the child and her optical input needs to scan him, but she sees he is not a threat. Belvedere is curious and asks about Chalcedony’s necklaces. He sucks on a seashell, which Chalcedony calculates is a lot of energy for little reward. Belevedere follows her for the next few days.

Chalcedony digs up algae and seaweed so Belevedere can have more nutrients. She uses his bag to store her beads. Winter is coming, so she tells Belevedere to climb off the beach where it is not so exposed to the elements. He points out that she can’t climb because most of her legs are broken. She knows this.

She tells Belevedere stories about King Arther, Honor Harrington, Napoleon Bonaparte. On the solstice she has enough beads for her necklaces. She sets down to work, developing her aesthetic sense as she goods. She works for weeks. She never could understand memorials for human allies during the war, but she does now. She works for weeks. Belevedere asks who the beads are for. She says Sergeant Kay Patterson, who programmed her. She tells Belevedere stories about the war.

Her energy is waning and the declining sunlight is making her solar power less efficient. One day, Belevedere cries out for help. She scampers around boulders at the edge of the beach and fires lasers at two humans who are beating Belevedere. She buries their bodies on the beach. She works all night healing the child. One day, once Belevedere’s leg is healed, he brings back a dog who is injured and asks Chalcedony to heal it. She is hesitant but agrees. Dogs are good hunters and valuable commodities.

Chalcedony tells the child it is time for him to go. She cannot climb off the beach, so she hands him her shells. They are mourning necklaces. He must go and carry on the stories she has told him. He takes the necklaces in his hands, takes up his burden.