The immensity of the Xymoran Police headquarters complex was imposing. Walking toward its entrance with guns leveled at her back heightened Nia's sense of smallness. Yet, she kept staring at the bare-concrete, multi-storied, brutalist complex. She hoped it would somehow disappear. But it remained, towering over her, with its titanic concrete facade.

The agents led her past the entrance and through the security machines. The security reception room was huge, and its walls ran up so high that Nia could barely see the writing at the top of them. She couldn't help but feel it was that way by design. The place was meant to be imposing, menacing even. Those unfamiliar with it were supposed to feel like specks debased by its intimidating design. The building was the government's way of reminding people of its relationship to them.

After being cleared through the security check-in, they led Nia into an interrogation room. She expected dull gray walls to greet her but was shocked to enter a vibrantly colored room. The walls were a rich cobalt blue, each plastered with the Xymoran police motto: "We serve and secure the people." The absurdity of the statement made Nia chuckle under her breath. In the center of the room laid a polished, silver-toned table. Even the air was pleasant, lightly scented with notes of tea tree oil and peppermint. It wasn't what Nia was bracing for at all.

After planting herself in a seat by the table, she could feel the pleasant aura of the room wash over her, and though she tried to resist, she could feel her muscles and mind relaxing just a little as tension generated by fearful expectations evaporated away slowly. She sat for a while, waiting and thinking about what would come next, scanning the whole room, taking in every detail. She couldn't find any cameras or microphones though she knew some had to be there. They always hid them well.

A light knock echoed from the door before it swung open. A young woman dressed in a suit walked in. She was tall, with jet black hair and dark brown eyes. She smiled at Nia as she closed the distance between them, taking a seat across from her. A young man followed behind her, also dressed in a suit. He was short, with beady eyes and a chiseled jawline. No warmness echoed from him, not a smile nor a nod, only cold recognition rested in his eyes.

They rested some files on the table along with two briefcases.

"Hi there," the woman said.

Nia kept silent.

The man arched back quietly in his chair. He kept his mouth shut with a mischievous smirk as his eyes ran up and down Nia's face.

"I'm agent Diya," said the woman.

"I’m agent Dennet," said the man.

"You've been working with a terrorist. Theo has killed dozens of our agents," Diya said.

Nia clutched her breath and sat silent, twiddling her thumbs under the table.

"Oh, the name doesn't ring a bell?" She asked sarcastically. "The guy you were spotted with in the town near Polk point?"

"I don't have anything to say."

Nia was nervous, sipping her breaths, exhaling, and inhaling in slow, sharp tones. The interrogation had just begun, but she was carrying days of mental and physical fatigue.

"Thirty of our agents died raiding that ship you were with him on! That means you're on the fast track for the death penalty."

"But I didn't kill them!" Nia screamed.

"So you were there?" Dennet chimed in. “Thanks for confirming.”

Nia paused. Her eyes popped at the recognition that she was trapped. Her mouth cracked open with a gasp, but nothing intelligible escaped, just a series of umms and ahhs. She fumbled for words until she closed her lips again.

Diya's hand crawled across the table and landed softly on Nia's with a gentle rub. Her eyes locked with Nia's as she spoke.

"But you don't have to die today. We just want to learn what you know about the man you were with. It's not betrayal. You didn't ask to get mixed up with him. You're the victim here."

"I want to, but I can't."

"You can!" Yelled Dennet.

"Look, I only care about my sister. Are you guys keeping her here?" Nia screamed.

"You have to let me see her."

"Your sister," Dennet scoffed before glancing at Diya.

Dennet reached into his pocket and dropped a picture on the table.

"You mean this sister?"

Nia leaned over to look at the picture and saw Acadia's limp body with strangle marks around her neck.

"No, no, no," Nia yelled as she cupped her head. "You guys killed her!"

"No, we didn't. You did." Dennet said.

"Stop playing with me," Nia yelled as she lunged toward Dennet across the table. He pushed the table into her gut and slammed her back into her chair.

"Sit still!" He barked. " Let's talk about your mother."

"Leave her out of this," Nia barked.

"Leave her out. Why?" Dennet roared with laughter, "She betrayed you, gave you up to us."

"You guys threatened her. She wasn't thinking straight."

"You poor thing. You're defending her. You're still in shock, aren't you? Why would any mother betray her child? Unless...you aren't her child."

"What the hell do you mean?" Nia asked.

"Have you ever wondered if you're related? Why do you both look so different? Your eye colors don't match. You're taller. Different hair. Hmmm...so many differences."

Nia leaned back in her chair and reluctantly pondered his words.

"You see, we were curious, so we ran a DNA test, using samples from your mom and one of your toothbrushes, and here are the results," Dennet said as he slid a file over to Nia.

For a moment, Nia resisted the urge to look it over.

"Look at it!" Dennet exclaimed.

Nia leaned over the folder, opened it, and began reading.

The results were clear: Elaine, the woman Nia had thought was her mother her whole life, was not.

Nia shut the folder quickly as if blinding herself to its contents could erase the truth.

She held her head and groaned, "No, no, no, this can't be true. You guys made this up."

"We thought you might say that! How about you ask Elaine yourself and uhhh, ask about your little sister's death too," Dennet said. "Bring her in," he yelled toward the door.

Elaine stepped in. She was a bit shaky. Dennet rose and gave Elaine his seat. Diya rose as well, and both of them left the two alone.

Elaine shied away from looking at Nia initially. She tapped her fingers on the table nervously. But the picture of Acadia resting on the table caught her eye, and she couldn't look away from it.

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"Mom, look at me, please," Nia begged softly.

Elaine's eyes found hers.

"Mom, you see the picture...they...they killed Acadia."

"No, you did," her mother said, biting her lip.

Nia scoffed and pulled back in her chair.

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember the great famine from years ago? People called it Darius's famine because it was his fault."

Nia nodded.

"Well, we were running out of food. And you weren't able to dive for any yet. There wasn't enough to go around for all three of us. And Acadia kept crying from hunger every day. So I told you that you could make her feel better by putting your hands around her throat real tight for a while until the crying stopped. You were so young. You didn't really understand the implications. So you did."

"No, mom," Nia said, sobbing, "no way."

Her mother shook her head with moistened eyes.

"And you know," she paused. "When I told you to kill her, I only half meant it. But it saved us all from starving. And it stopped her pain. I took that photo after I found her, and kept it to myself."

"But I remembered going swimming with her just the other day."

"That's the thing, shortly after, you had a mental break. And ever since, it's like your mind has refused to allow you to believe she's dead. I've heard you go into her room and talk to her like she's still alive. You mention memories of being with her, even though she's dead. I started to go along with it because whenever I mentioned that she's died, you'd have these huge mental fits."

Tears began streaming down Nia's cheeks as she shook her head.

"I took this picture shortly after you strangled Acadia," her mom said as she lifted the picture off the table. "Just look and try to remember."

Nia averted her gaze but felt her head being pulled, almost magnetically, toward the picture, and when her eyes landed on it, she focused. And she felt a vague sense of familiarity emerging. She had suppressed the feeling when she saw it before.

Then the memories came rushing in.

Nia recalled watching Acadia tremble as she strangled her. She recalled thinking she was helping.

She burst into tears.

"It was me. I remember," Nia said as her voice broke.

She planted her face on the table and sobbed.

Elaine swallowed before she spoke.

"And it's true what the police say. I'm not your mother."

"What?" Nia asked as she raised her head off the table.

"I didn't give birth to you!" she barked. "Your biological father had an affair and brought you home one day. He asked me to treat you like mine, but I never quite could. Worse, he ran off soon after. And seeing you always reminded me of what he did. It made me bitter."

Nia burst into tears. She crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders to console herself.

"So, you lied to me all these years?"

"Trust me, I wanted to kick you out, make you an orphan. But I didn't have the stomach to do it when you were younger. And after you killed Acadia, I couldn't risk being on my own. I knew someday I'd grow old and become frail. I figured I would need you then—like I do now."

Nia struggled to choke back tears.

The feeling of rejection gripped her. She felt broken and unwanted in an instant.

"So you kept me to use me?"

"Yes, and you became useful so quickly. You have your father's ingenuity. You learned how to dive, fish, and trade. I needed you to stay fed. And, in a way, having you take care of those things felt like getting paid off for what your father did to me by having you. And for what you did to Acadia."

"All these years when you were cold to me, I thought it was because dad running off broke you and because me reminding you of him made you angry, but I still never understood why you didn't love me because I thought I was your child too. Now I understand more clearly."

"Well, you aren't mine, and you're lucky I kept you around."

Suddenly Elaine's eyes were piercing cold like all the hate she had for Nia had poured into them.

"So, who's my real mother?"

"He never said. But I have a hunch."

The door shook. Dennet and Diya returned to the room.

"Listen to me, Nia. If you don't tell us about the young man you were with, we are going to lock your mother up forever."

"Don't let them do this to me, Nia," Elaine whimpered.

Nia's heart pounded like a bass drum.

Nia looked at the woman she once thought was her mother and felt a tinge of disgust, but it did little to mask the pain she felt, the pain of love. She couldn't just start hating her so quickly.

Dennet took notice.

"It's strange, isn't it," said Dennet, "to know you can't stop loving someone you know absolutely should hate."

"Alright, you win," Nia said, cupping her face in frustration. "Just don't hurt my mom..I mean, Elaine. Theo gave me a number."

"What is it?"

"000-276-15320"

"Thank you! We'll look into this and get back to you," Dennet said. Then they both left. Elaine joined them without looking back. Nia stared at the woman she once called mother like a stranger. Perhaps that's what she would be going forward, to some degree, just somebody Nia used to know.

"Does this mean we can leave?" Nia asked softly.

"Sure, we'll escort you both out," said Diya.

She and Dennet led Nia down a swirling series of steps out of the room.

Diya and Dennet led the two down a path of spiraling steps. Finally, they pushed through an exit door into the backyard of the building. It was a moonless night, so dark that Nia could barely see her hand in front of her face, and the dim light of the towering lamps in the parking lot did little to help.

As they walked, Nia instinctively reached for Elaine's hand, but Elaine swatted it away.

"Weren't you listening in there? You're not my daughter."

"You might not be my biological mother. But you're all I have. Biology doesn't have to be destiny. I don't want us to go home bitter. Please," Nia pleaded.

Elaine grudgingly allowed Nia to take her hand.

Nia looked up to take in the beauty of the starry sky. Nia's eyes gravitated to the corner of the sky where the mysterious cloud in space was devouring the stars. More stars had disappeared since the last time she looked.

An ominous feeling threatened to creep over her, but it was drowned by the preciousness of the moment: She was holding hands with the person she loved most, after Acadia, despite the awful revelations. That brought joy that nothing else could snuff out.

"Alright, this is as far as we'll take you," Dennet said. "The exit is further up."

"We'll find our way," Nia replied.

The dim lamps in the parking lit the way.

"Elaine, I'm going to continue to call you mom. We don't have to let the past define us. It will take time, but we can heal together. So, will you still be my mother?"

Elaine turned toward her and opened her mouth, but before words could escape, a bullet whipped through her head, spraying blood all over Nia. Elaine collapsed to the floor. Nia got low and shook Elaine's body vigorously.

"Mom!" She yelled repeatedly.

Nia glanced back to the building's exit across the field, where she saw Diya and Dennet with guns of their own barring the door. She looked around and realized the exit gate was locked. She was trapped.

Dennet held a megaphone.

"Nia, if we let you go, we know you'll warn Theo, and so for conspiring with terrorists to kill police officers, you are sentenced to death," Dennet's voice thundered across the field. Then he leveled the barrel of his gun at Nia.

She nearly doubled over as fear churned violently in her stomach. Her head was dizzy; sweat percolated quickly across her forehead. She wanted to stand up straight, to die with some dignity, but couldn't find the strength.

Nia held her mother's limp hand and closed her eyes.

Then she heard a gunshot.

She collapsed.

But she soon realized she could still feel her own heart throbbing, vibrating her chest. She sprang to her feet and saw Dennet dead on the ground by the door, with Diya holding her gun over him.

Nia realized Diya had killed him.

Diya turned and began running toward Nia.

Nia felt dazed, but she fidgeted. She was unsure of whether to run. She wanted to escape but didn't want to just leave Elaine on the ground. So she stayed.

Diya stopped in front of her.

"Come, I'm a syndicate agent. We have to go now," Diya said.

"Why didn't you shoot him before he got my mom?"

"I would have, but he shot before I expected."

"Come on. Let's go now."

Police began pouring from the back door exit. Time was slipping, but for Nia, time was frozen in a single moment in her head, the moment she realized her mother was dead.

The guards would have caught Nia in a few minutes. But Diya grabbed her from behind and hoisted her off the ground. She groaned while Nia wrestled against her, stretching her hands toward her mother's lifeless body. She didn't want to leave her there all alone. But Diya overpowered her, dragged her into a car, and sped off with the police running toward them.

Diya floored the gas and broke through the exit gate.