Baby Power

"The baby says her diaper is wet, and something hurts her back," Sandy Lane said as she held up her phone.

That same line of text appeared on the screen.

My mom undid my swaddle and took one look. Sure enough, I was soaked through.

"My goodness, this app is amazing!"

Mom's eyes widened in disbelief.

Sandy smiled gently as she handed the phone over.

"Nina, this is an app in the closed beta stage made by a friend of mine who works in the AI industry. There are only ten spots for the entire world, and I saved one just for the baby. Whenever she cries from now on, just record three seconds, and you'll know what she wants."

At this time, my dad came out of the study. He glanced at the phone screen and raised his brow. "Can an app understand baby talk?"

"Enzo, don't dismiss it that quickly," Mom said as she patted his arm. "It really did get it right just now."

I watched from inside my swaddle, my heart clenched as memories from my previous life surged back.

This was the app that had destroyed everything for Mom and me.

In my previous life, my mom Nina Weiss had trusted it completely. Every time I cried, she recorded it and then did whatever the screen told her to do. Because of that, my reactions always matched the recordings.

Little by little, she started believing everything on the screen.

Meanwhile, my dad, Enzo Jackson, had always been cautious. But after watching that happen, he began to believe it too.

And Sandy, Mom's best friend since childhood, always appeared at the perfect moment.

When I was five months old, Dad came home early from work and Sandy just happened to be visiting.

I cried once, and she immediately took out her phone to record me. A line of text popped up on the screen.

[Why hasn't that strange man who keeps kissing me come back? Mom looks so happy when he's here.]

Dad's face darkened at once.

No matter what Mom said, she couldn't defend herself. She cried and said she had never cheated.

Sandy stood beside us with red eyes and said softly, "Nina, a child wouldn't lie...and I certainly wouldn't."

Dad ordered a paternity test. The result showed that I wasn't his daughter.

Only later did I learn the report was fake. Sandy had bribed the testing lab.

Mom took me and left with nothing, her reputation in ruins. We moved into a basement in a rundown suburb.

Mom had to work three jobs during the day. By the time she came home at night, she was sometimes too exhausted to even eat.

The winter I was three, there was a gas leak in the basement. Mom pressed our only wet towel over my face, but she didn't last until the ambulance arrived.

I was sent to an orphanage. When I was six, a couple adopted me. My adoptive father was an alcoholic, and my adoptive mother was cold. Later, my adoptive father got so drunk, pushed me down the stairs.

My head hit the concrete floor. The moment I died, I finally remembered everything from when I was a baby.

That app was never an AI translator. Sandy had prepared every "translation" in advance. She had been planning to set my mom up from the beginning.

And now…

I was back.

Sandy was still chatting and laughing with Mom as she introduced the app's features.

I clenched my tiny fist.

This time, I would never let her win!

I took a deep breath and burst into loud sobs.