Xavier sighed heavily, his own wings flapping behind him as he rose to meet her gaze head-on. “I want our people to thrive as much as you do. But this is untested technology, Leila. How can you be certain—”
The man didn’t get to finish his sentence. A loud banging on the door drew his attention. He held a finger over his lips, cautioning the woman to be silent as he landed gracefully on the floor and strode towards the door. He slid back a small golden fob over the peephole and stared out. The muscles in his back tensed and he turned to face the woman. His face paled as he met the woman’s gaze.
“What is it?” she asked. “What’s happened?”
He held out a slip of paper. Her parents were too far away for her to see what was written. Leilani scanned the note, her lips quivering as she reached the end and stared up at Xavier.
“What do we do?” she asked, her voice taking on a high-pitched whine.
He shrugged and looked down. It was as if he were staring straight into Layla’s eyes. He reached down and touched her brow. It was strange, but Layla felt like he was actually touching her. Heat swept across her forehead, leaving her feeling relaxed and cared for.
“We will do whatever we must to protect her,” he whispered.
Leilani wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned her head and against his shoulder. “Whatever it takes,” she agreed.
The image began to shrink, blackness creeping in from all sides before finally snuffing out entirely. Layla stared in front of her. Was that truly one of her memories? Whoever those people were, they weren’t her parents. And, why were they talking about Penny like that? Was it because she was artificially intelligent? It would make sense. Layla had never met anyone with an AI for a PEA before.
Bright light blinded Layla as she lay in a small crib. Cold spots covered her face, arms, legs, and chest. A computer whirred in the background. A metal band arched over her forehead, holding her in place. She moved her eyes across the room, but only saw more of the same stark whiteness.
“Are you sure about this?” Xavier’s voice came from behind her, but she couldn’t see him.
“We have to protect the data at all costs, my love, even if it means destroying it. If our daughter lives beyond us, this could be her only chance at survival. No one can know who she is,” Leilani said. Her voice came in a rush of passionate emotion. “She is all that matters.”
“But if we are gone, this measure will erase us from her memories.”
Layla strained to hear more, but Leilani’s response was too muted. Her jaw clenched tightly as she fought the wave of emotions pulsating through her. Anger. Fear. Love. Remorse. Back to anger. They had knowingly taken away her memories. She still didn’t know how she’d ended up in the care of her mother—the woman who had raised her—but it didn’t matter. Everyone had lied to her.
Penny’s voice filled her consciousness as she sang a lullaby to her baby mind. Even now the sound calmed Layla in a way nothing else could. Heat radiated from the metal band and the pads adhered to her body. She instinctively wanted to press on the wounds, but her hands were still restrained. Penny’s voice abruptly cut off, leaving her in an eerie silence. She cried out, begging her PEA to return to her. Neither of her biological parents came to soothe her.
“Command.” Leilani’s voice boomed loudly in her ear. “Reveal what you know to no one, not even this babe.”
“Affirmed,” Penny voice said through Layla’s mouth. It was strange, hearing a baby speak like that. Unnatural.
“Command,” Leilani aid again, “Engage self-destruct if forced. Encrypt all data.”
Again, Penny spoke through Layla, accepting the command.
“No,” Layla whispered. She knew she couldn’t change the outcome. It was already done. Had been completed over twenty years before. But she couldn’t stop herself from wanting to change the course of history.
“Command,” her mother said one final time, “protect your host at all costs.”
With Penny’s last ‘affirmed,’ the scene disintegrated into a myriad of multi-colored particles. They scattered, leaving a void of darkness in their wake. Layla’s chest ached from the two memories she’d just seen. She didn’t want to admit it, not even to herself, but those people had been her parents. And they had knowingly taken the memories her PEA could have provided to her. She had been left alone. To be raised by people who, although they kept her fed, clothed, and protected, had never seemed to love her. Even when her mother—the one who had raised her—had held her when she was sick as a small child, she had never offered words of love.
She clenched her hands tightly and focused on the way her nails dug into her skin. She was still alive. She had survived everything she’d been through as a child and adolescent. She could survive this, too.
A pinprick of light illuminated the darkness around her, pulling Layla out of her thoughts. Leilani looked down at her, her face streaked with an oily, black substance. Tears mixed with the liquid as she clutched Layla close to her chest. Footsteps echoed in the hallway. Layla attempted to turn her head and see who was coming, but she was unable to move. Bound by cloth and Leilani’s embrace, she was trapped by her circumstances.
A single, piercing wail echoed down the hall. Layla almost began crying herself, but Penny’s voice whispered in her mind, soothing her. A tinge of sadness crept along Layla’s mind, sending a sharp stab of remorse through her. She hadn’t realized how much she missed Penny until she heard her voice.
“Shhh, now, baby of mine,” a woman cooed from a distance.
Layla’s shoulders tensed. She recognized that voice. She would recognize it anywhere.
“Mother,” she whispered, disbelief taking her.
“Give the babe to me, Naomi,” Leilani said. She clutched Layla more tightly to her chest. A rapid thumping on her side indicated how afraid the woman holding her really was.
“I need to say goodbye,” Naomi whispered. “My sweet baby girl, my Layla.” She bent down and kissed the babe on the forehead. Tears dripped onto the child’s face, causing another round of wails.
Layla watched the exchange with cracks splintering across her heart. Naomi had given Layla her daughter's name. She was certain it had been to keep up the ruse, to protect her. But still, her heart ached for everything the woman who had raised her had given up.
“I will never be able to repay you,” Leilani began.
“Don’t,” Naomi interjected. “Please, Leila. You are the closest thing I have to a sister. Your child is the future of our kind. If I am unwilling to make this sacrifice, then who will?” Although her words came out strong and without stutter, her face was twisted with despair. She held her baby closer to her chest, her body quivering.
“I pray the Light protects us,” Leilani whispered, squeezing her daughter tightly. “And that this deceit proves unnecessary.”
Both women held their babies for a moment longer. Wordlessly, they exchanged children. Her mother carried her back down the hall. She didn’t look at Layla as she walked, tears streaming down her face. Layla wanted to scream. To tell her mother that it was alright. She forgave her.
But the woman holding her wasn’t her mother. Leilani had been.
She really was the lost princess.