The Record of Unusual Creatures

Katreina rose slowly from her seat, her lithe tail waving naturally beneath her. The Queen was deep in thought. She maintained her posture for a few long minutes without a word, and then finally, she turned to Hao Ren and smiled. “I’m very happy that you have come to discuss this issue with me.”

“Err…” Hao Ren was taken aback. “It’s only proper, right? After all, it’s your home planet we’re talking about — even if you don’t live there.”

“This is why I find myself surprised sometimes, how there can be such wonderful qualities in a human being like you. You wield great power, and yet your conscience is strong — it’s unthinkable.” Katreina smiled regally and held her gaze on Hao Ren. “Perhaps is it because of these qualities that you came to be the observer and protector of the worlds.”

“Err… Do you mean that it’s not necessary for me to discuss this issue with you?” Hao Ren was beginning to understand Katreina.

The Queen’s tail undulated smoothly as she bowed slightly at Hao Ren — not in greeting, but as a sign of respect and acknowledgement in the culture of sirens. “You have the power to travel between planets. You control the gates and travel routes. You know exactly where Io is, and have used your drones to take over all the travel routes around the planet. Don’t you realize this? You are the one with real control over Io. By usual standards, you are the actual governor of the place. We are but descendants of the planet, and only in name. You do not have to discuss anything with me. It matters not who you wish to relocate to the planet. Just a word from you, and we will have to accept it as fact. No one can do anything against you.”

Hao Ren scratched his head. “If I really did that, you won’t be smiling right now.”

Katreina nodded seriously. “Yes. I would feel regret, and even animosity, against you. Perhaps the sirens will try to exact revenge? It matters not, in the end. The fact will not be altered, since you have actual control over matters. Hence. I find myself… surprised, by your actions.”

“I think you’re underestimating me a little too much there.” Hao Ren spread his arms and said. “What you just said is just so unreasonable.”

“It’s not a matter of ethics, but of human nature.” Katreina smiled. “I rarely visit the surface, but I do know that as rulers and empires repeat their cycle of rise and fall, the only constant throughout is the greed for power and control. Few people could be like you — to be in a position of power, but still insist on following the way of the righteous.”

Hao Ren always thought he had thick skin, but he was now hopelessly embarrassed by the Queen of the Sirens. He did not think of himself as someone so lofty. Everyone wants power, everyone wants control. No one is free from selfishness and arrogance. He remembered himself preening when the Aerym Elves called him Sun King. Nevertheless, the fact that he was now discussing the issue of relocation with the sirens was not a matter of being lofty or righteous, but because he was afraid Raven 12345 would tear a hole in the Void to reach him and kick him in the *ss when she found out he was breaking the rules of relocation again. Hao Ren had to think carefully about whether his body could take a round of abuse from Dear Sister Raven…

Only he was privy to his personal reason, but there was no need to share it, really. Having the respect of the Queen of the Sirens was useful to him. Hence, Hao Ren kept his expression solemn and nodded in agreement. He tried to keep a poker face when he said, “Cough cough, it is only right to be fair to others, or I would not be given this duty… As the protector of so many cultures and civilizations, my personal interests have been long since abandoned…”

Vivian forced a cough. “Cough cough, back to business, back to business!”

Any more from Hao Ren and she might just explode.

Katreina did not doubt Hao Ren’s words, however, because she had seen the man’s ship and his ability to cross between worlds. She believed that Hao Ren was trying to be fair in spite of being in control, thus she nodded seriously and said, “We agree to the relocation.”

Hao Ren started with the script that he had been going through over and over again without thinking. “Of course, it’s only natural for you to have reservations, but we could… Wait, you agree?! Just like that?!”

Hao Ren had prepared a list of reasons to convince the Queen, but now that Her Majesty had agreed to his request so readily, he was momentarily stunned. He stared at Katreina. “Those people on the arks are not sirens, you don’t know them…”

“They can’t live on a planet without land forever, yes?” Katreina narrowed her eyes. “Even if they learn to mine resources from under the sea and use technology to tame the native wildlife, they will never life as comfortably as they would on land. The seas will always belong to the sirens.”

“You are right. The arks will only anchor temporarily on Io until reparation and replenishing works are done. I will be finding a more suitable planet for them in the meantime.” Hao Ren promised. “During this time, they will not be going anywhere. The arks are the only place for them to stay on Io.”

“It will take years until we can return to Io.” Katreina nodded regally. “It’s not a bother to have those people take a rest on our home planet for a while.”

Katreina then sighed. “Besides, we share a similar fate, having lost our home in the disaster…”

Hao Ren kept silent, but Vivian looked to the Queen and said, “Surely there are terms to your consent. You are Queen, after all. This is no time to be generous without getting something out of it.”

Katreina smiled. “Of course. Both parties must offer something for this agreement. If the people on the arks want to rent out our place, they must be willing to pay the rent.”

“What do you want?” Hao Ren asked curiously at the Queen of the Sirens.

“I want their ship.” Katreina straightened up one finger. “Just one is enough. A fully functioning spaceship. I know that the ships are their lifeline, but if they have an entire fleet, surely they can manage to do with one less.”

“Err… That should not be a problem. The people on the arks don’t even know what a spaceship is, anyway. Lorenz would be happy to trade a ship for the lives of the people, I’m sure, so I’ll just agree to this in his place.” Hao Ren stroked his chin. “But, what do you need a spaceship for?”

Katreina did not answer immediately. Instead, she took out a small gemstone that looked like a sapphire from her stomach and placed it on the table. Hao Ren stared. “Mind. Blown. Where’d you keep that thing?”

Katreina was all serious and ready to show him something, but nearly choked because of Hao Ren’s response. “Cough cough… In my body. Always carry your belongings in your stomach, isn’t that common knowledge?”

Vivian blurted out. “Ah… It’s common knowledge for sirens, you mean?”

“Something like that.” Katreina waved dismissively. “We stuff luggage into our stomachs when travelling. It they can’t fit, we just make ourselves bigger until they do. Sirens are expert travellers, even if we stick to underwater travelling most of the time. I thought Nangong Wuyue and Ayesha stayed with you? Don’t you know about this?”

Hao Ren considered the question, and recalled that Nangong Wuyue did tend to stuff things into her stomach, though most of time it was for dirty dishes and laundry…

These deep-sea creatures were simply too fascinating.

Katreina curled her lips and ignored the “ignorant” duo. She pressed on the gemstone, and the latter suddenly flashed in blue light. Next, the light flickered and then stabilized into the schematics of a structure.

This was the master plan for Nasaton.

“What is this?” Hao Ren stared at the holographic projection.

“For as long as I can remember, I have had this gemstone with me. I don’t know what’s so special about it, but if you transfer some magic into it, it will be able to project images. If you place this gemstone on the control platform underneath the palace, it will activate many of Nasaton’s systems.” Katreina explained. “I believe that this is the captain’s access key. As ‘Queen of the Sirens’, I am probably Nasaton’s lead navigator.”

“So this is your spaceship’s schematics?”

“Yes.” Katreina nodded slightly. “I want to fix this ship, or at least… figure out how it works.”

Hao Ren and Vivian asked in unison, “Are you preparing to fly?”

“No, that’s too far off for now.” Katreina smiled again. “Of course, if the ship is able, I am quite curious of outer space. However… For now, I just want to find out more about this city that our siren sisters have lived in for over ten thousand years. We want to try and rebuild some parts of it.”