Nina's heels clicked on the white tiled floor of LAX airport as she strode towards the arrivals gate.
Aaron was surprisingly understanding about her request for personal time on such short notice, and despite her just having finished a week's vacation.
With cold determination, Nina took an Uber to her mother's house.
"Nina? What are you doing here?" asked Anamika in surprise at Nina's appearance at her doorstep, her friendly smile gave way to apprehension when she saw Nina's cold expression.
"I have found out something pretty disturbing. I want the truth Mom." said Nina coldly.
"Well? What have you found out?" asked Anamika, once they were inside the house and seated on the living room couch.
"My father died in an accident shortly after you left him. Did you know about that?" demanded Nina, her black eyes boring into Anamika's.
Anamika looked guiltily away from her daughter's accusing stare.
"Yes I did. I found out about his death about a year after you were born" she said quietly.
"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you let me believe that he was alive, evil and let me hate him?" screamed Nina, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Because what he and his family did to me was evil! They tried to erase my identity and mold me to fit their cookie-cutter expectations! Did I know he died? Yes. Was I sad about it? Yes. But I was also grateful that I never had to see him again, and that I could move on with my life!" shouted Anamika.
"Explain how" said Nina coldly, unfazed by Anamika's outburst.
"So let me get this straight. You loved him, yet you felt his fetishes were sick and perverted and refused to indulge them, let him financially and emotionally support you for 3 years while you studied AI, and then once you got your H1-B visa, instead of asking him to come to the US with you and build a new life, free from familial pressures, you hid the fact that you were pregnant, left him without saying goodbye and broke off all contact for a year." said Nina, cold fury in her eyes.
The image of her mother as a strong, independent self-made woman who had bravely escaped an abusive relationship was shattered, and she now saw Anamika as a selfish and stubborn woman who had used her husband and denied him the opportunity to be a father.
"You don't know what it was like. My life was hell back then." said Anamika coldly, she felt that Nina had no right to question or judge her decisions.
"That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me he was dead." said Nina.
"I don't know. I suppose it was because I still hate him and wanted you to hate the memory of him. He had started to become the very sort of man I never wanted to be with." said Anamika.
"That's not good enough dammit! Why? Why did you want me to hate him? Why did you pretend that he was alive and probably living a life of degeneracy in India? What could you have possible gained by making him this villainous specter?" screamed Nina.
"Because I wanted you to be on your guard! The world is full of horrible men like Vivek! Your boss is a perfect example! It was much easier pretending that he was alive and could take you away and enslave you, instead of the truth of him being dead and that he couldn't hurt you! I wanted you to be aware of the likes of him and be sure that you never make the same mistake I did and fall for someone like him!" raged Anamika
Nina shook with fury as she stood up to leave. "Mom, you'll excuse me if I think you are still lying through your teeth. Here is what I think. You took advantage of a man who tried his level best to empower and educate you. You betrayed his love, tested his tolerance and refused to compromise to make your relationship work. And once you realized he was dead, you were so ashamed and guilty about what you did, that you forced yourself, and me to believe he was this evil being you needed to escape from." she said with cold fury, and stalked out of the house, slamming the door before Anamika could respond.
----
Nina had walked perhaps 10 meters from Anamika's house before she couldn't continue to ignore her buzzing phone. "What?" she snapped, answering the call.
"Please come back! I've already lost my sister, I can't lose you as well!" pleaded Anamika tearfully over the phone.
"You should have thought of that before you lied to me." said Nina coldly.
"Please! You're the only reason I live for!" wailed Anamika.
"Fine, but I'm still very hurt and angry with you" sighed Nina, turning around to return to the house.
----
"Well Mother? What other lies and deceptions are you going to regale me with?" asked Nina coldly once she was back in Anamika's living room.
"I'm sorry Nina. You're absolutely right to be angry, but please understand. It was an extremely dark time for me back then, having to manage a career in AI and being a single mother. I suppose it was easier to blame Vivek for everything." said Anamika contritely.
"Well no use fighting about it now. Did you ever think of remarrying?" asked Nina wearily.
"No. I decided that marriage was not for me after I had you, and besides. A lot of men are apprehensive about dating and marrying a single mother" said Anamika.
"Maybe it was your attitude and your feminist principles that turned them away" thought Nina sadly, aloud she said: "Well, since I'm here, how about we make a home-cooked meal for old time's sake?"
Anamika's eyes lit up at Nina's suggestion.
"Yes. That sounds wonderful" she said, as Nina sighed in relief, that some normalcy had returned.
----
"So, Nina Avanthika is Dr. Durgavathi's daughter. You sure know to pick them son" said Ivan.
"I had my suspicions ever since Nina's application appeared. It would take somebody with a high level of technical sophistication and influence to scrub the Internet to ensure that only Nina's application could come through." said Aaron sipping his coffee.
After giving Nina a leave of absence to seek closure about her family, Aaron himself, decided to reconnect with his father Ivan, now that he was divorced from his mother, Annette.
"I hope you know what you're doing son, Dr. Durgavathi is not a person to be taken lightly. She managed to convince an entire MIT auditorium that it was morally sound to self-censor AI models. And she's been the driving force behind the sanitizing and censoring of major generative AI models" said Ivan seriously.
"But I thought you were for responsible AI use?" teased Aaron.
"That responsibility should be with the end user! Not with the developers! And it's ineffective in the long run, just look at what a mess Prohibition caused!" growled Ivan.
"I know. I was just teasing Dad. And don't worry. I'll be careful around Anamika. I'm pretty sure that Nina was her unwitting weapon at trying to infiltrate Sirius Software." said Aaron grimly.
"Well I'm sure you'll be able to handle whatever that witch throws at you. It was nice seeing you again son." said Ivan thickly, embracing Aaron in a tight hug.
"It was nice to see you to Dad" said Aaron returning the hug.