Martin Taylor

 was Aisha's father figure and a teacher.

While his natural child, Cynthia, died some years prior to his first meeting with Aisha, he nevertheless saw something of Cynthia's spirit in Aisha, and quickly formed a paternal attachment to her.

He had a complex relationship with Sharon Carter, a woman who claimed to be Aisha's mother when Martin first met them both in Dallas. Years later, when Aisha lived with Martin in Merced, Aisha no longer thought of Sharon as her mother, but instead as a therapist of some kind.

By this time Martin was aware that Aieha wasn't quite huaan, he disagreed with Sharon's assessment of her as an experiment. He genuinely considered her his daughter, and he desperately wantsd to tell her the truth about her existence. This was at least in part because he felt he was getting overwhelmed with all the lies he was having to tell his daughter.