Introduction: [Participant in the January 2025 Community Magazine Contest]Ivan and Peter Smertsky are the descendants of a long lineage of necromantic interlocutors capable of performing a ritual to allow the living to speak with their recently departed family members. Among their ancient family''s many covenants is the rule that no interlocutor may perform the ritual for themselves. But after Ivan and Peter''s father dies prematurely, the two are forced to consider whether obedience to this rule is worth more than closure....