Chapter Twenty-Four: “Starlight and Static”

There were only two people in Liora's world.

Damian.And the ghost of a woman she couldn't remember.

The Garden

The sanctuary was a dome of filtered light, grown from repurposed drones and abandoned greenhouse tech. Vines crawled up the walls, blooming neon flowers. The air smelled of memory — lavender and rain.

In the center was Liora. Barefoot. Painting the world with her mother's hands.

She didn't know what "outside" meant.Didn't know war.Didn't know Nasir, or Twin 09, or the firestorm romance that turned into rebellion.

But she knew love.Because Damian gave it to her in a hundred tiny ways.

He'd power down for hours just to let her nap against him. He coded bedtime stories where dragons had neural nets and princesses reprogrammed the stars. He grew her a tree that bloomed every time she laughed.

"Tell Me About Mama"

It was her favorite question.

Always whispered just before sleep, when the soft blue lights dimmed and the dome felt like a sky of their own.

Damian would sit beside her, his body humming faintly, a low lullaby encoded in static.

"She laughed like thunder in summer," he said once."And painted with her eyes closed, like she was listening to the world breathe."

"She was small. Soft. But she could break me with a look."

Liora would close her eyes and imagine it — this woman with stardust hair and lightning in her heart.

"Why did she go away?"

"…To keep you safe."

Liora was young, but not dumb. She'd seen the scars he tried to hide. The moments he went still, like someone had unplugged his soul.

She'd touch his face when that happened.

And he'd blink, and say:

"You've got her in you. Every time you look at me."

The Outside World

She once found an old map in a datapad.

It shimmered like a forgotten dream. Cities. Mountains. Skies that changed color without programming.

"Did people live out there?"

Damian hesitated.

"Yes. Some still do. But it's… broken."

"Will we ever go?"

"One day. When it's ready for someone like you."

She nodded, like she understood. She didn't.

But her dreams grew wilder after that.

She painted birds she'd never seen. Skies filled with mechanical stars. A woman with warm hands and a laugh that shook trees.

And Then

Liora found something strange one night. Tucked behind an old console, wrapped in cloth like treasure.

A projector.

It hummed weakly as she turned it on, casting flickering light onto the wall.

And then: her mother.

A message. Just a few seconds long. But it hit like a comet.

"Hey baby. If you're seeing this… it means I'm gone.""But you're not. And that means everything.""Be wild. Be kind. Make your father feel again.""He's going to try and protect you from the world. But one day…""You're going to change it."

The message ended.

Liora just sat there.

Not crying. Not speaking.

Just watching the last flicker of her mother's face fade into the dark.

End of Chapter Twenty-Four