"Does everyone have their Auras under control?" 

It was a useless question to ask, because I didn't even know what I would do if they didn't. We currently stood outside a human public spaceport- presumably the only one in the still sparsely populated municipality of New Alaska. It had been a long, perilous walk here, even though we'd been lucky enough to run into a few abandoned human vehicles along the way that Zaliana somehow knew how to hotwire. "I'm a Scientist. I know how things work, okay?"  she had said as she threaded her Aura through the keyhole of a small Unie rover. Lillae hadn't looked very convinced. 

Hordes of humans passed us by, not even pausing to look at us as they strode briskly toward their various destinations. I occasionally spotted an important Unie or two, distinguishable by their crisp white outfits and unforgiving stares. For an artificial world that wasn't even supposed to have lasted this long, the Program offered an incredibly accurate depiction of Liermann-era Earth. 

"I suppose so, yes." Zaliana tucked strands of Aura neatly behind her ears while drawing the bulk of it into her core so that it was barely visible. Once her brilliant eyes faded to a plainer blue, I was impressed to see that she looked perfectly human. She really had inherited the precise Aural control that most of her family shared. 

Lillae, on the other hand, seemed to be having a bit of a struggle. Despite two thick coats that dimmed the blue glow around her, her Aura still flared unpredictably, resisting her best efforts to restrain it. "Ah, I'm- it's my Gift!" she spluttered, always excellent at putting the blame on someone or something else. "My Aura is too strong. It doesn't like to stay put." 

I smiled softly, wondering what the arrogant crown princess would think if she ever found out that she wasn't really Gifted. Yet, the smug expression dropped off my face as I recalled the genesis of the royal family's biggest lie. 

Tara sat on her bed, sobbing into Thorel's shoulder as I stood over the empty crib across from her, staring down into the mess of blankets where a newborn princess had slept peacefully just the night before. 

"I- I didn't even get to name her! She was my Gifted! You know an Arystenn woman can only give birth to one Gifted... what will Lessaenes think when they find out that the next generation will be the first since before King Airel to not be blessed by Lumys' Gift? The Mystics will riot at such a horrid omen!" 

"Tara," Thorel set his jaw, wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulders. "We are the King and Queen of Lessaenes. We will search for her with all the resources in the galaxy. We will find her,"

"But what if we don't?" Tara whispered. "What if we don't!" she repeated, this time more insistently. 

At this, Thorel paused, looking out the window. "Then we'll do what we have to do, but I promise you this: Lessaenes will not doubt you as a mother or as a Queen. Lessaenes will not know that their new royal family has no Gifted."

I watched sadly as Zaliana showed Lillae the sequence of Aural maneuvers she had used to dim the glow of her eyes. Lillae wasn't to blame for what had happened to her older sister, and it certainly wasn't her fault that she thought she was Gifted. No, that was all on us. I still remembered our secret trip to the remote residence of Nyrrel Wahtvane, former Iceheart, Imperial Aurologist, and Aurological genius, the night she was born. We asked him if he could fake the Gift. He said he could, but only as far as appearances went.

"I can make her Aura look bigger, brighter," he had said. "But I cannot change the power within. That is the work of Lumys alone."

"Better?" Zaliana asked, finished teaching Lillae the steps. 

"I guess," Lillae grumbled, clenching her fists to hold her Aura in. It didn't look like the most stable disguise, but it would have to do. 

"Alright, everyone, let's get moving," I led the train of tired noble children forward, through the double doors and into the blindingly white interior of the spaceport. Rows and rows of ticket booths, each containing a uniformed worker in front of a large Unie seal, stretched out across one side of a long walkway while short, stout luggage-carrying bots lined the other, waiting to be activated for use. "Just act natural," I instructed as we approached a ticket counter. 

"Good morning, ma'am," droned the tired-looking woman behind it. "What can I do for you?" 

"My four, uh, children and I would like tickets to New California." I almost added San Francisco, but realized that I had no idea if the city still existed, or if it did, if that was still its name. We were 

"Spaceship or plane?" the woman asked robotically, typing absentmindedly on the holographic screen in front of her. 

"Whichever comes first." 

"Spaceship it is then- is the 12:00 okay? And you said New Estonia?" 

"No- California," I said, this time slower and clearer, hoping that my Greater Glaisse accent wasn't too prominent.

"Ah, my bad," the woman shook her head, looking embarrassed. "You'll have to forgive me- this is my third shift today. Liermann's wartime labor laws... it's all starting to get to me." 

"Tell me about it," I rolled my eyes, pretending that I knew exactly what she was talking about. 

"And here's five tickets for the 12:00 to New California. Have a nice trip," the woman handed me a roll of white slips of paper, which I took quickly, wanting to get out of the crowded area near the ticket booth as quickly as possible. There was no telling when Lillae's Aura would flare up, and a few people were already giving her suspicious looks as she folded her arms inward, trying to bury herself in her pile of coats. 

"Okay, we leave in ten minutes, so we'd better get over to the platform," I muttered hurriedly, pulling my coat tighter around my body as I walked briskly away from the counter, elbowing my way through groups of people trying to take my place. 

"Lillae, Lerrel, Zaliana..." I muttered under my breath, making sure all the kids were accounted for. "Sparrow!" I turned around to see the tiny human girl standing in the middle of the walkway, gaping at all the people as they passed by around her. "Sparrow, come on!" I walked toward her, reaching over to pick her up, but she didn't come. Instead, she continued to stare blankly at the crowd. 

"Aunt Vivi..." she whispered, transfixed. "Is this my home? Why have we never been here before?" 

The utter innocence of her question caught me off guard. I stood there, looking down at her confused face, and despite all my oratory prowess could not think of a single thing I could say to her. 

"This is not your home, Sparrow." I looked behind me to see Zaliana approaching. "This world is not real, but Lessaenes is. Glaisse is your home, and we're going to do everything we can to get you back there."

"Really?" Sparrow squealed softly. I could see the delight in her eyes as she ran up to Zaliana, attempting to hug her, but due to their height difference, she ended up wrapping her arms around her waist instead. At first, Zaliana stiffened in surprise, but then relaxed, gently patting the top of Sparrow's head.

"Weird,"  Lillae mouthed as Zaliana returned to her side. Zaliana rolled her eyes. "She's a kid and she's confused." I watched them, interested: this was the first time I had ever seen the two of them disagree on something. 

"Are we ready, everyone?" I asked. 

"Yeah!" Sparrow's enthusiastic answer came first, followed by Lerrel, Lillae, and Zaliana nodding their heads. 

And with that, we headed down the hallway into... a circle of grass? The world seemed to shuffle around us as the Code rearranged itself into a dewy clearing. A few yards ahead of us, sticking out of the ground, was what looked like a piece of a wing, engraved with an unmistakable snowflake insignia. It was an Iceheart-era Lessaenite ship... Amanda's ship!  

I turned around to see Sparrow emerge from behind a tree, looking strangely refreshed. And that was when I realized: it was her. She had somehow manipulated the Code to take us straight here- but that was beyond even what WGO's Codies were capable of... how did she do it? 

And that was when I saw it. A good portion of the right side of her body was- not missing, exactly- but blended in. It was as if she was a part of the Code around her, with a bundle of green sequences taking the place of her right hand and leg. 

"Look, Aunt Vivi! I helped! I have powers, too!" she gasped excitedly. With one flick of her right index finger, the tree in front of us erupted into a swarm of monarch butterflies, circling us overhead before taking off into the sky. I watched her with pride and awe as she pranced happily around the clearing, a perfect blend of flesh and Code. It was all beginning to make sense now: her parents were Justin and Iveya. She was half Glitch and half Code. She was the Code and she could control it. 

"Why does she have Code powers?" Lillae frowned. "She's not even Lessaenite!" 

"Exactly," Zaliana patiently explained. "But it just so happens that her blood is just as special as yours. We just never saw it. Or you never did, more specifically. Why did you do this for us, Sparrow. As if we've done anything for you."

"You told me Glaisse was my home," Sparrow smiled, withdrawing a glowing, green hand from the Code in front of her as she looked at Zaliana. "I want to go home, now. I want us all to go home together."