"Cautiously is good," I said. "Optimism without caution got us exterminated. Caution without optimism kept us hiding. We need both."

Cassandra pulled out her camera, showing me photos from their travels. Supernatural beings of species I'd never seen. Cultures I'd never imagined. All of them connected by the treaty, by the hope that peace was possible.

"The world is bigger than we knew," she said. "More diverse. More beautiful. And more afraid. We're helping with the fear part."

...