Tessa hadn’t been able to see his body or attend the small funeral held for him. At the time, she’d had her hands full with learning the ropes of the newly born Tuatha de Danaan and desperately trying to win the trust of its crew. She hadn’t had time to leave the Merida Island base. She’d used her usual technique to detach from her feelings and thoughts, deciding to “leave her troubles for another day.”
But it had turned into far more than just “another day.” During her various days off she’d thought about coming here, but her heart had resisted. She’d unconsciously felt that if she ever properly faced Bani’s death, it would cause the delicate balance in her mind to collapse, and she’d find herself unfit to command her battle group.
But now, that wasn’t a concern anymore. Now, she could visit. Though what should have been “next week” had turned into two years...
She’d heard his grave was in that village. His remaining family should be there, too. She wanted to tell them why Bani had died, the truth of it all: what had happened as a result, what had been born, what had been saved...
She’d shared those feelings with Al, too. She’d brought him here for reasons more important than just serving as her bodyguard. If Bani’s idea had been to make Al more than an AI, then in a way, this was a homecoming. It would be for a human.
The hunched-over Alastor stirred, and its motor began to whir quietly. It stood up silently, leaned out of the boat, and slowly observed the surrounding area. First the starboard side, then the port. Concluding that nothing was amiss, it returned to its starting point.
Apparently twenty minutes had passed while she was thinking things over. The waves broke quietly nearby.
Better get to sleep quickly, Tessa told herself. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day...
《Captain. Miss Testarossa. Please, wake up.》 Al’s voice brought her back to consciousness. It was morning; the sun had been up for a while now.
“Mm... Something wrong?” Tessa asked groggily.
《Negative. But if you sleep any longer, you’ll be exposed to powerful UV rays. Protect against sunburn,》 Al advised. 《Take care of your beautiful skin.》
“Oh, thanks...” Where did he learn that strange phrasing? Tessa wondered. Most likely some commercial he saw online... “Looks like I overslept,” she said out loud. “What time is it now?”
《0717 hours. I reactivated on my own recognizance.》
“No need to worry. I’m not in any position to give you orders anyway.”
《I feel quite anxious without orders, though...》
“That’s rather sad,” she observed. “Shouldn’t you enjoy your free will?”
《My apologies.》
Tessa stood up with a stretch. She’d have loved to take a shower, but it seemed she’d have to go without for a while, at least. “Now...” she said, standing up in the stern of the beached boat and looking around at the illuminated shoreline. A pleasant wind blew, rustling her ash blonde hair and pleated white skirt.
The island seemed larger than it had last night. Several meters inland, on the slope of a hill covered in broad-leafed trees, there was a small stone dwelling. It was so hidden by the trees that she hadn’t noticed it at first.
“There’s a building,” Tessa pointed out.
《Yes, there is.》
“You didn’t notice, all night long?”
《I did not. But that’s not because of any issues with my visual processing abilities. It’s merely a lack of resolution in this machine’s optical sensors, so—》
“Hmm...”
《You don’t believe me, do you?》
“I don’t.”
《Either way, someone’s coming.》
“Changing the subject...”
《Heading, 10 o’clock. Distance, 300. One person, unarmed.》
Someone was walking towards them over the white beach; a small figure in a large straw hat. They wore a baggy white T-shirt and similarly baggy denim shorts. They were carrying a long staff... No, a fishing pole.
Tessa thought it was a girl at first, but as the figure got closer, she realized it was a boy, eleven or twelve years old.
《What should I do? Attack?》
“What?!”
《Just joking. There’s a chance I’ve already been seen, but I’ll hide in the back.》
“Darn it...” grumbled Tessa, who had truly been concerned by Al’s joke. It had only been half a day, but Tessa felt like she already understood why Sagara Sousuke found this AI so frustrating.
Al quickly moved into the back of the cabin.
Soon after, the boy approached and called out to her in fluent English, “Miss, are you having trouble?” He took off his straw hat and looked up at her. He had a handsome face and large gray eyes. His pale skin stood out in a tropical region like this. His hair was a dark red, straight and silky.
Tessa stared at him in shock.
“You understand English?” the boy asked again.
“What? Oh... yes. I do.”
“Then at least say something in response. I thought you were stupid or something. Sheesh...” His tone was less teasing and more annoyed.
There was a reason Tessa was so taken aback. Despite being of a different race and having different hair and clothes, the boy looked just like “him”—the “him” she never thought she’d see again. The resemblance was so close that she doubted her own eyes for a moment.
“Bani?” she asked.
“Eh?” the boy replied with a frown.
Obviously, he wasn’t Bani Morauta, or even related to him. This was someone else entirely; his name was Ronnie.
“Ronnie Semmelweis. Weird name, right?” asked Ronnie, as he led her to the house on the hill.
“I wouldn’t say weird,” Tessa told him, “though you don’t sound like a local.” She thought ‘Semmelweis’ sounded like a Hungarian name, and observed that Ronnie himself had Central European features, so at the very least he wasn’t from around here.
“Yeah. I’m technically an American citizen, and I’ve got a mixed ancestry, but that’s all I know,” Ronnie admitted. “My father’s an eccentric freelance scholar, or what you might call an unaffiliated researcher. We’ve traveled all around the world ever since I was little... but we’ve stuck to this island the past two years.”
From his speech pattern and vocabulary, he seems to be a bright boy, Tessa thought.
“Sit there,” he said. “I’ll make tea.”
“Oh, thank you.”
The house’s interior was surprisingly civilized; there was a TV and a game console. No air conditioning, of course, but there was a small refrigerator and a gas stove, and even a PC with a webcam on the table. The adjoining room, partially visible through a half-open door, appeared to be full of shelves packed with documents and books. It looked like a study.
“Where are your parents?” Tessa asked. “I’d like to ask them something.”
“Dad’s not here. Oh, but he’s not dead,” Ronnie clarified upon realizing that Tessa was about to offer her condolences. “He’s just out. He went off to Madagascar or something for his research and I haven’t heard from him for weeks. That’s pretty typical, though.”
“Your mother?”
“Haven’t seen her since the divorce when I was three. Dad says she got remarried and she’s doing fine, though.”
“So you’re all alone here? You’re not going to school? They just abandoned you?” Tessa stared at him with wide eyes.