"Nora, where do you come from? Is it here" Liem asked again and pointed to the north above Izaberne. It looked as if it was covered in snow and ice at the present moment. Nora awkwardly at Liem.
"I do not know, I have not seen it on a screen like this before," Nora said.
'Izaberne, It looked to be close to where I would have been positioned on earth at the time more or less of the event that brought me here. It does not matter though. What matters is surviving now. I am allowed to be ignorant of where I am, and I am technically speaking the truth. I will have to adapt, be compliant until I figure out where I stand. This is a nice room. I cannot be too far below in the social structure. What are my rights?' Nora thought. She noticed that she was being treated very well and that she had only seen men thus far. Women must exist, so there had to be very few of them. Since they were treating her well, they must be in a respected position and are a protected class with rights. Nora panicked, but kept her face as neutral as possible. She had a hunch she was safe, but one could never be sure. Her heart raced. She tried to move the map around.
'Come up with a plausible story as to why you were found there or feign ignorance.' Nora thought.
"I am sorry. My memory is so hazy, it is like I just woke up there after a bad experience. My clan was there one moment, and the next moment it was just a painful burning feeling and a flash. It looks similar. But I am not certain," Nora said, her heart pounded. She did not know what hardware she had inside of her. They could probably measure her vital signs for stress and have a type of Polygraph tool running. It was best to utter as close to the truth as possible. She was not lying, but she was under a mountain of stress. The weight of a new world hung upon her shoulders. She panicked as he read the translation slowly and the look on his face changed. This was it, she was doomed. She teared up.
"It is okay, you are not in any kind of trouble. If you do not know it is fine, we can help you and reunite with your clan if you want. Do not be afraid, you are also welcome to live here as well." Liem said, trying to console her. She seemed very scared, she thankfully did not start crying. Liem grew alarmed as he saw her pulse rate climb and her starting to intake more breaths. Liem decided he needed to calm her down, mistaking her fear for general anxiety. Nora chewed on her words while looking at the map in front of her and finally carefully selected her words while she took a couple of calming deep breaths.
"I do not know if there is a clan to go back home to. They were burned like me and not there when I woke up." Nora said. She did not lie,
'Mia must've burned, Mark must've burned. I am infinitely lucky. Maybe others were lucky to survive it initially, like her who found themselves elsewhere and died. It is true, I am so alone.' Liem eyed Nora carefully, making sure to keep a calm voice.
"I am sorry that our maps are inadequate. What is your Mother's clan name? Perhaps she is looking for you? We could not find any information in regard to your identification." Liem said, trying to help her. "No, no, no that is not it." Nora said, stalling. She bit her lip, forcing back her emotions again.
'Father said, the best lies contain truths.' Nora thought. She held herself again.
"The maps are very detailed. I just have never used anything like that or have seen it so vividly. It is overwhelming.' Nora said. She rarely lied. Nora was committed to twisting the truth about this, she did not want to get cut up or worse. She was mistaking Liem's eagerness to help with prying. She carefully used the word Matriarch in her reply but decided a white lie would not hurt her.
"My clan name is Quill. My Mother, the Matriarch, died long ago. The rest of my clan is dead. There is no way they survived. I am the only one left. How I found myself there, I do not know." She said sadly. This was true. Her mother and sister had died when she was young and left her alone with her father and his second family. She was never part of that second family truly. She could never betray her Mother and belong with that family. She knew from the start that her father had betrayed her mother long before she died. It was not until her mother and sister had died that she pieced together that her father was not always on business trips.
She could tell time, and knew how long the flight would have been. He would not be able to get to the hospital from Dubai in an hour. He would have to be within the country. When he took her home, the pain hit her. He was with his mistress and children when her mother and sister had died in front of her in that accident. Her mother and sister had died on Jennifer's birthday, and that is why he was not home. When the scandal hit the press she was moved into the family that Malcolm hid. Her mother left everything to her and Ivy. She must have known and put on a brave face. Mia was two and a half years younger than her. Melody was five years younger and shared the same birthday as her mother. He did not take much for the information to click together in her mind. The curse of intelligence hit her early. She left as soon as she found a suitable and plausible excuse. Her family was dead now. All of them. .It was just her that was left to hurt now. There was no one to resent. Her friends were dead.
"There is really no one to go back to, no records you will be able to find in your database. You must know about my people, right?" Nora pleaded. He was there for a reason. She suspected they had assumptions about her identity. It was a risky gamble. She began to cry.
"Do not cry, it is alright." Liem consoled her. He felt uncomfortable. Her face revealed the bitter feeling and enormous grief.
'It is working, some things do not seem to change,' Nora thought. She amped up her acting. She sobbed more, deliberately. She saw an empathetic look crawling across his face. Nora did not feel any relief at that moment, she was actually beginning to cry in her own stress now.
"I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine. I can see why you would travel, especially if you had no one or no place to go. Do not worry, you are welcome here, or anywhere you choose to settle. My purpose is to help you," Liem said. Nora felt like a ton of weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She felt tears start to roll down her cheeks.
"I am so relieved and grateful. I am comforted that you are here," Nora said with great relief.
"It is a privilege. I did not think I would be able to use my interest in the Northern Tribes to help someone." Liem said surprised, but smiled sweetly at the genuine women in front of him.
"I will be guiding you and helping you acclimate and learn our language first. I will work on registering Clan Quill so you can start accumulating your allowance. This will be paid every full moon. You are eighteen, so you will have a large sum given to you first. My Clan is prepared to help you afterward, as we have many resources. I am sure you will have many other offers." Liem said, trying to reassure and comfort her. The loss of her clan would be absolutely tragic. It would be to anyone. It was a pity they were gone. A missed opportunity to go north to find them. He could not fathom what she had been through. When she was ready due to the cultural shock he would introduce her to a good counselor like his family enlisted when his infant sister died. She had lost everyone.
The loss of a female in a northern tribe would be a critical loss with Morritts Syndrome; females are incredibly rare, even in a natural birth. Two or less fertilized Ovums out of a hundred resulted in females. These pregnancies had to be implanted in a uterus. Not an artificial rack. The same thing was necessary with a clone. Without the assistance of external fertilization, it would be nearly impossible. Gauging by her technology, they might have rudimentary equipment to screen the ovum and implant them, it would just be very invasive and painful. From what he had read, her garments were very coarse and partially synthetic.
"Thank you. I am so scared. It has been so difficult." Nora said. He looked at Nora compassionately, she had a lot of past injuries, her teeth had rudimentary dental care and had to be regenerated. The health care she had received prior was simplistic and patchwork. Some of the scars were unable to be removed. The one on the top of her head was quite substantial. Past fractures on her bones showed evidence of natural repair. She would have been in pain for cycles.