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Her tired-glassy eyes met mine. “I’m so glad you had Ayla to get you through. I’m so glad you had such a deep relationship with your business partners. It sounds as if without their support it would’ve been hard—”
“It would’ve been impossible. I wouldn’t have made it.” I smiled softly. “And I told you, Teddy and Eddie are more than just my business partners. I might have been the inspiration and was lucky enough to come up with the finished design and even envisioned most of the operating systems, but without their tenacity, skill, and stubborn belief that we could achieve our dream, Lunamare wouldn’t have had a happy ending. They are the lifeblood of this impossible creation.”
“Would it be possible to see the biospheres?” Margot asked, twirling the ends of her hair as if needing to keep her hands busy. “Would that be okay?”
I nodded. “Of course. You’re welcome to spend the night on Luna Reef if you wish. We have two spheres dedicated to showing potential residents how the homes work. Everyone who stays immediately wants to become a hybrid human.”
“Hybrid human?” Margot asked.
“Yes.” I forced a smile. “The longer you live in the sea, the less inclined you are to choose land. It’s a side effect, unfortunately, of living in such a magical water world. Everything seems better down there. Healthier. Happier. Our community is supportive and inclusive, ensuring we live in harmony rather than bickering.”
Dylan smirked. “Some might say it sounds like a cult.”
I shrugged with faint surprise. “You know...I never thought of that. But I suppose there could be rumours that we’re up to something nefarious. After all, we all share the same morals of hard work and stay mostly quiet about our successes with reversing certain medical conditions.”
“Wait, what? You haven’t mentioned that before—”
I held up my hand. “A story for another time, I’m afraid. This interview is already long enough to create a book. Two books. A trilogy even. If you’d like to know more about our advances in healthcare and what methodology we employ, you’d be best to speak to our head physician, Ayla.”
“Wait...” Margot’s eyebrows shot into her hair. “Your daughter is the head doctor?”
I smiled with pride. “She is.”
“Wow.” Dylan shook his head with awe. “You’re nothing if not a woman full of surprises. And a lineage of intelligent progressives. In fact...that would be a great angle for the article. You’re right that we have enough content to make this far longer than just a puff piece. I’ll run it by my boss to see if we could do a feature or even a series of podcasts and blogs. I’d love to talk to Ayla about her medical background and growing up half Australian and half Turkish.” Dylan’s eyes swam with ideas. “We could include photos and testimonies and—”
“If you don’t mind, Dylan, I’d like to get back to the story.” I interrupted him. “Like you said, it’s late, and I have something I need to do.”
“Of course. Sorry.” Dylan scratched his bearded jaw. “We’ll call your company next week and set up a tour.”
“Just tell them Nerida cleared your access, and you’ll be shown the maintenance side of things. I could even arrange meetings for you with Theodore and Edmund. They don’t work every day anymore—none of us are getting any younger—but I’m sure they’d be happy to go over the technical aspects with you and introduce you to their team.”
“That would be great, thanks.” Dylan settled back against the mismatched cushions. “Now...you were saying?”
Taking a sip of lemon water that Tiffany had brought a little while ago, I sucked in a breath and said, “For five years, I stubbornly clung to the idea that Aslan wasn’t dead. I researched everything I could on soul links and the often-ridiculed notion of spiritual connection. As each month passed and I waited for a sign that Aslan was truly gone, Ayla kept growing. She evolved from an adorable toddler into a wonderful little girl. A girl with my feisty streak that used to drive my father up the wall. She kept me on my toes, she leaped into our deep swimming pool the moment she’d wake up, and was obsessed with Turkish food. Teddy, Eddie, and I did our best to teach her about a culture she’d inherited yet never visited and regularly took Turkish cooking lessons, courtesy of YouTube.
“She was so bright and inquisitive and showed an aptitude for medicine early on. She was always trying to patch up her uncles’ cuts and scrapes as they fiddled with the latest prototype. She knew all the words for bandages, painkillers, tonics, and creams. In fact, I knew she’d become a doctor the same week I realised she shared the genetic trait that made Aslan see numbers in colour.”
“She has synesthesia too?” Margot asked.
