Kiara opened the door. "Liana? It's me, Kiara."
Sunbeams slipped through cracks in the wall, carrying suspended dust, illuminating fragments of a lost time. An old oil lamp swayed in the half-light, casting elongated shadows over wooden furniture, too clean for such a forgotten place. The house smelled of mold.
An elderly woman sat in an old chair. She wore a green shawl. Her gaze lost in the view of the docks. Who was she?
My eyes settled on a young woman. In a nurse's uniform.
No.
An android. A Rhea. Nanosystems programmed with medical knowledge.
"Oh, hello. I've just prepared Alícia's bath." She glanced at the elderly woman. A tense smile. "But she's having a bad moment."
Kiara nodded. She understood the situation. "This is Akiko."
I held out my hand, smiling. "Nice to meet you."
"Are you the doctor?"
I frowned at Kiara. She looked away.
"I am."
"Great. I'll give you Alícia's clinical overview." Liana turned to Takashi. "Is he your assistant? Can I send it to him?"
I agreed, somewhat confused. What a strange atmosphere. Why did it feel as though she had been expecting me?
Liana smiled. Her eyes went dull for a few seconds.
Takashi's response followed. "Alícia Relaisse. Seventy-one cycles. Born in France in 2809. Diagnosis: Stage 3 Alzheimer's, approaching Stage 4. An 82% loss of cognitive functioning."
"What?! What do you mean?!" Horror escaped in my breath. "There's already a cure for Alzheimer's! What happened?!"
Kiara stepped in front of me. "Easy. C'mere. I wanna show you something."
I swallowed hard under her gaze. Reluctant as I was, I followed her. What kind of disturbing situation was this?
Dusty furniture. Frozen in a distant time. Kiara opened the wardrobe. Inside, small clothes with childish prints. She took out a box and placed it on the bed. Gestured for me to sit beside her.
"This box is special to Maia. It contains things she kept as a child. She asked me to show you." Kiara pushed the box toward me. "Please, take a look."
I picked it up carefully, as though it might fall apart. Well-preserved wood. A simple opening. Secrets revealed with ease.
I almost choked when I opened it. Dust rose. I caught my breath.
Inside, a piece of paper:
Day 1: Today we decided to codiscover the world. Maia and Saymon.
I picked up the photograph. My heart skipped a beat. No need to think. I already felt it.
Two children. A girl with white hair. Beside her, a boy with two-colored hair. Half dark brown, half white. Mixed eyebrows and eyelashes.
Perfect duality. Identical features. The same blood. Two fates.
Maia's eyes, mirrored in him.
But she had kept silent about him. Why?
Behind them, a woman held them in an embrace. Probably Alícia. Younger.
Kiara ran a hand through her dark hair. "This is Maia's older brother, Saymon. At seven cycles, the mercenaries took him to the Nobody's Lands. One solar cycle later, they took Maia." She pointed to a toy in the box. "This doll."
I took it in my hands. Its faded paint revealed a likeness of Maia.
"Saymon gave it to her as a gift."
"Why did they take them?"
It was unimaginable that anyone could act so repugnantly.
"Here, childhood doesn't exist. Children are raised to be sold. Or taken. Some families accept it and get paid. Others try to fight. They all lose. Some are born in there. It's the only life they've ever known." Kiara shrugged.
How could she say that so coldly?
"What do you mean?" My gaze lingered on Maia's childhood face. So this was what she looked like as a child? Those striking features already there. The white hair. The honey-colored eyes. So familiar, yet so different.
I put the items back in the box.
"The details are vague. They connected me to Maia when she joined the mercenaries. There's someone who could tell you more." She looked toward the door. "You saw her. She can't."
I fell silent.
Within that silence, Kiara seemed to want to say more. The words eluded her.
Rain fell outside.
"About Alícia… I think she chose to forget. Maybe it was the only real choice she ever had. The illness was a relief."
I frowned. "That disease is terrible!"
Kiara nodded.
Empathy? I suspected she had some.
"You can stay here a little longer. I have some things to take care of." She stood, gave me one last look, and left.
I opened drawers. Searched among clothes. Enough was revealed to me about Maia.
I could only imagine how sad it had been to witness her brother's departure. How painful her own journey to the Nobody's Lands must have been. They were seven cycles old. My heart tightened.
I remembered her. The weight in her amber eyes. An unnameable absence. What had remained silent. What she would carry through the cycles.
An inaudible promise. I did not know whether it had been kept.