Maia is the only female Shareem ever created. Sequestered by the researchers at DNAmo, her lonely existence is made bearable only by Rylan, a level-two Shareem, who has found ways to meet her in secret. DNAmo, a genetic engineering company who makes the forbidden Shareem, is about to be shut down. Rylan promises Maia they’ll flee to the secluded canyons on the other side of the world and be together—always.

But on the chaotic day when DNAmo is forced to close, Rylan enters Maia’s room to find it empty, Maia gone. For the next twenty years, Rylan searches for her, barely clinging to hope. When finally, finally, it seems he’s found her at last, there’s a danger Maia won’t even remember him, and the bond between them will no longer exist.

A novella in the Tales of the Shareem series.