Iko dragged Cress through hallway after hallway, taking twists and turns that Cress knew weren't leading them to the guest suites. Iko pulled Cress along, never letting her speed waver. Soon Cress was panting and holding her hand against a stitch in her side, begging with Iko to stop.

"Come on, Iko! Where are we going? I'm getting tired, and I know this isn't where the guest wing is."

Finally Iko stopped and whirled around. Cress almost crashed into her.

"I had to take you here because this is one of the only places in the palace where the cameras don't record the audio," Iko said. "I'll take you to the guest suite in a minute."

"Um… why are we here then?" Iko was acting strangely, fiddling with her blue hair and biting her perfect nails. Cress knew she was probably faking both these actions; Iko didn't have to ability to fidget or degrade her body in any way.

"Because," Iko said, leaning down so that her eyes were level with Cress', "I remember you."

Cress' heart stopped. "What? But in the drawing room you said…"

"I know what I said. I didn't recognize you at first, I thought you some floozy of Thorne's." She cast an apologetic glance at Cress. "But by the time I realized I knew who you were, everyone else had already established that they didn't know you. I was confused, but I thought Cinder might have thought she had to make some intense repairs if I was the only one who recognized you."

Cress was having a very hard time processing this. "Are you sure?" she thought for a moment. "What's my favourite food?" she asked, trying to make sure Iko wasn't lying or pulling her leg.

Iko answered immediately. "Sushi. You first had it four months after the revolution and you liked it right away because it looked so cute and small." Iko smiled. "It's okay, Cress it's me."

Again, Cress couldn't stop the tears. She reached for Iko and hugged her, remembering the way her friend's arms held her tight with their inhuman strength. Iko laughed and hugged her tighter.

"Iko, I'm so scared. What's going on? Why did this have to happen to me? I haven't done anything wrong, I'm just-" She was making ugly sounds, not caring if anyone heard or saw. Iko remembered her.

"Shhh, it's okay. Cress, I'm here. We'll figure this out. There's got to be some logical explanation." Iko began leading Cress back in the direction they'd come.

Cress sniffled, and then nodded. "Let's go."

.oOOo.

That night as she lay in the massive bed with the softest sheets she'd ever slept on, Cress couldn't fall asleep. Her mind was reeling from the events of the day. She'd woken up normally, excited to be in her new apartment and even more excited to be seeing Thorne for the first time in a week. Then as soon as she arrived, she found out that as far as her friends were concerned, they'd never met her before today. She simply didn't exist to them. She rolled over, trying to untangle the mess that her thoughts and the sheets had become. The situation was impossible. How could no one remember her? She didn't think that any lunar would be powerful enough to brainwash all her friends at once, not even one as powerful as Cinder.

"Ugh."

When Cress awoke in the morning, she was greeted by a maid bringing her a hot cup of tea. Cress took it, thanked the maid, and got up to wander about the room. The bedroom itself was at least the size of her satellite, and the bathroom, kitchenette, and empty walk-in closet made it almost feel gigantic. Her thoughts strayed to hers and Thorne's apartment. If everything were normal, she'd be there right now, making breakfast with Carswell and sitting with him at their very own kitchen table. She'd be drinking tea with him instead of alone in the massive guest suite of a palace.

After about ten minutes of exploring the suite, she began contemplating putting yesterday's clothes back on when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in,"

Iko opened the door, carrying a bundle under one arm. "Good morning!" She flashed her pearly white teeth. "I brought you some clothes, I hope they fit. The pants might be a little too long." Iko held the pants up against Cress' hips, then made a face when they dragged on the floor. "Well, we can pin them."

Cress smiled. "It's okay, Iko. I'm used to clothes not fitting me. Remember how much they had to alter my dress for the Annual Peace ball last year? I felt like I was in the dress shop for a month."

Iko laughed, then pointed towards the bathroom. "You go get changed. Breakfast is in the dining room at 8:00 sharp!" She ran out of the room, her blue braids flying behind her.

Cress pulled on the clothes, a pair of flowy, loose-fitting blue pants, and a deep green shirt that might have been made out of the softest material Cress had ever felt. As much as I love our apartment, living in a palace sure does have its benefits, she thought.

.oOOo.

When Cress arrived in the dining hall at 7:54, she found Cinder and Kai sitting at the long table, both eating a breakfast that took up a good quarter of the table. Cinder was relaying the news, watching it from her internal netscreen. Kai was listening and commenting every so often, saying things like: "Do people really believe that?" and "Stars, we're not getting married tomorrow!" Cinder paused and looked sheepishly at Cress when she sat down, gesturing to the spread before them. "I told the cook that we had a guest, and she seemed to take it as 'there's a herd of hungry tigers here for breakfast.'"

"Oh, I don't mind. It all looks delicious." Cress grabbed a plate and started dishing food onto it, suddenly realizing how hungry she was. In all the events of yesterday, Cress had only managed to eat breakfast.

"How did you sleep? I'm sorry we couldn't give you the nice guest suite, it's being renovated." Kai flashed one of his signature smiles.

"It was lovely, thank you. Luxurious compared to what I'm used to." Cress remembered with a jolt that they didn't know what she was used to.

"Good, I'm glad," Kai said.

They ate mostly in silence, broken only by Cinder saying a news headline and explaining the article briefly, and the wait staff coming in to refill coffees and teas. Cress ate more than she usually did, and the food was incredibly good. She had only stayed overnight at the palace once before, and then she'd been too busy preparing herself for the ball that she hadn't eaten much.

Cress wasn't sure where Iko was, knowing that the android couldn't eat, but she wished that she was there to break the silence. It felt awkward, sitting at the table meant for 12 with two of her friends, people who had helped her through the hardest parts of her life and showed her how much better her life could be. It felt like the first time she boarded the Rampion, except that Thorne wasn't there for her to hide behind.

The same maid that had brought Cress tea earlier that morning came in and started clearing away their empty plates.

"So, Cress," Cinder said, "What do you want to do today? Kai and I have a press conference on the wedding this afternoon at three, but other than that our day is pretty much free."

Cress nodded. "I was thinking about this last night, and I think it might help if we checked to see if my parents still have records, or if I'm in any of the shell databases. I know there are some, I hacked into plenty while I was on the satellite." And I also want to talk to Iko, she added silently. "Will Thorne be coming today?"

"I can ask him to if you want," Kai offered, "He isn't doing any antidote runs today, they let him have a break."

"That's right; he has been doing it for a long time by himself." When her friends nodded, Cress realized that Thorne must have been doing all the antidote distribution alone, without her. She'd meant that he's been by himself during the week when she was at the apartment, but her friends thought that he'd been doing it alone for years. "But, yeah. I'd appreciate it if he were here."

"I'll comm him," Cinder offered. "Speaking of comms, Cress, do you have a portscreen?"

"I do. It's back in the guest suite."

Cinder nodded. "Good. I can try comming you, see if it comes up as a recent contact or anything."

"Sure, I'll go get it." Cress stacked her cup on top of her plate and hurried back to her suite, anxious to check her port.

COMM RECEIVED FROM CINDER AT 08:24. TEST TEST.

Of course Cress' port would recognise Cinder's contact ID, but Cress knew that there was a very slim chance that Cinder and her internal portscreen would recognise her ID number.

She sat down on the plush bed and typed a reply to Cinder's message.

ANYTHING?

She only had to wait a moment for her portscreen to ping.

NO, NOTHING. SORRY.

Cress sighed. She knew it had been a long shot, but she had felt hopeful. That hope was gone again. She stood up and debated returning to the dining room, but she felt like she'd rather talk to Iko, if she could find her. Cress had always wondered what Iko actually did all day, while Cinder was doing her Ambassador duties and Kai his emperor ones. Cinder and Kai didn't seem to think it unusual that Iko wasn't present at breakfast, so maybe she was out shopping, or something.

She sat down on the bed again, deciding to try and locate Iko. She sent her a comm, then got up for the second time and walked to the window overlooking the gardens. All the lilies and the jasmine plants were beautiful and groomed, not a leaf out of place. Cress wondered how much time the royal androids spent each day just looking after this garden. And she couldn't see a single soul in it. So much beauty wasted on busy eyes, she thought, then immediately felt guilty for thinking. The amount of work that Kai and his cabinet put into their country was astounding, and nothing to ridicule them for.

Her port dinged, and she picked it up and opened the comm from Iko.

COMING. I'LL BE AT THE SUITE IN 7 MINUTES.

Cress spent the seven minutes waiting for Iko searching herself on the net, looking for any trace of herself. Searches for 'Crescent Moon Darnel' came up empty, as did those for 'Cress Darnel', 'Cress hacker', and 'Cress shell'. She thought that her name had been relatively well known, being one of Linh Cinder's friends, and friends with the emperor. Cinder's story had been told time and time again, and Cress was a part of it. She should have been on the net somewhere.

But who was she kidding? Cinder had a computer in her brain and couldn't find a trace of Cress' name anywhere, even in partly confidential lunar records. And Cinder had also been the queen of luna, and was now an ambassador. If she couldn't find anything about Cress, Cress doubted anyone could.

Iko banged on the door and yelled, "Cress open up! I've got news!"

Cress leaped off the bed and flew towards the door. When she opened it, Iko burst in and plopped down on the bed, moving right past Cress, who was still standing at the door.

"I went to the markets this morning. You know, where Cinder's old mechanics booth used to be?" When Cress nodded, Iko continued. "I had a portscreen with a picture of you on it, and I went around showing people and asking if they could tell me your name. I got a lot of funny looks, but it was worth it. Want to know why?" She stopped, bouncing up and down on the bed in excitement.

"Of course I want to know why! Hurry up and tell me!" Cress almost yelled.

"They all recognized you." Iko grinned.

Cress' heartbeat sped up, and then slowed down so much it almost stopped. Her eyebrows creased together. "That doesn't make any sense. How can a bunch of people I've never met know who I am but my friends swear they've never met me?"

"Because," Iko said, and Cress could almost hear her wires humming with energy. "They think your name is Amelia Davis."

Cress sat there in stunned silence. She couldn't force her mouth to form words. Iko seemed to think this was great news, and in a way, Cress supposed, it was. She hadn't been completely erased from the entire planet's memories, just the people who she cared about. And somehow they all thought she was named Amelia?

She looked at Iko. "How… why do they think my name is Amelia?"

"I thought about what we've been searching the net for: only your name. Not your face. No pictures or files on you showed up, because as far as the net is concerned, Crescent Moon Darnel doesn't exist. But I thought, 'There's no way someone could erase all the pictures and news articles about you' so I checked to see if people still recognized you." She winked. "Like it or not Cress, you are actually kind of famous."

"So…" Cress was having difficulty processing this information. "So someone changed the identification on all my pictures and articles to the name 'Amelia Davis'. But who? And why?"

Iko frowned. "I don't know. That's really the biggest thing that doesn't make any sense. Who, how, and why." She said. "Got any old enemies?"

Cress thought for a moment, her brain coming up empty. "None."

Iko made a noise that was probably supposed to be a harrumpf, through it didn't sound quite right thanks to her mechanical voice box. "Well, I guess we should tell Cinder and Kai. They'll need to know."

"Yeah," Cress agreed, even though she had the feeling that this lead wasn't going to help them much.