The Record of Unusual Creatures

Sirens — this peaceful and mysterious species had been living quietly under the ocean for ten thousand years. They seemed to be contented creatures, slowly going through their lives in the depths of the sea, untouched by the environmental and cultural changes on land.

However, they were not really a stagnant culture. In fact, contrary to what their ninja-esque image suggested, sirens were a curious lot. They enjoyed learning new things, and once they found out about their origins, they grew even more eager to learn more about their culture and history.

“We are currently thinking about rebuilding Nasaton. This includes not only the structures destroyed from the war last time, but also the ship’s hull and lower level containment tanks. There is a wide hole at the base of the city. Sand and metal scraps are blocking the transport tubes down there. The place has been abandoned for ten thousand years, but it is only now that we realize the hole was due to the ship crashing into the seabed.” Katreina brushed her fingers against the holographic projection. “We think that repairing the ship is the first step in beginning our reconciliation with Io. Besides, the process of repairing the ship will help us recover lost knowledge from the past.”

Hao Ren raised his brows. “That’s why you want an ark? To gather building material?”

“It’s not just the building material.” Katreina smiled. “It is also for reference. We have lived under the sea for ten thousand years, and this long period of isolation has made us unfamiliar with the sky and anything beyond it. While I would frequently send observers to the surface, we have only ever had a superficial understanding of this ‘Air World’ concept. This planet is now controlled by humans, so living on land is not an option. However, if we can acquire a spaceship from another civilization, it will be tremendously helpful. We can study it, and use it to educate the younger generation.”

Katreina then pointed towards the side of the holographic projection. Since Nasaton sat on a wide area of sand, that location had nothing on it. “Besides, we are going to build a new settlement beside Nasaton, which will be at least as large as a third of the city. The siren population remains mostly stagnant, but many years have passed now. The city is overcrowded and in need of an expansion. If we can get one of these arks you speak of, not only do we get to repair Nasaton, the remaining hull and building material can be used to expand the city.”

Hao Ren finally appreciated how much the Queen of the Sirens had in mind. No wonder she agreed to rent out their home planet so eagerly — she needed to expand the city and repair their ship. The unexpected arrival of the arks was a great relief. Since she and her people would not be able to return to Io in the immediate future, they might as well lease it. It was like exchanging something they were no using at the moment for a huge spaceship!

“You want to repair and expand the city. You’re right — a spaceship will be very useful to have.” Hao Ren stroked his chin. “Just one question — the ark is designed for space travelling, not for underwater excursions. While I figure those sturdy metals on the ark are fairly resistant to rusting, are they really suitable for Nasaton?”

“We sirens are experts in solving that problem.” Katreina said, and then pointed at the table in front of Hao Ren. “Do you know where this table come about?”

Hao Ren studied the table. It was a long table with bold, circular patterns. The material was not metal, and it felt slightly warm. “Where?”

“It’s mostly made of from one of the broadside cannons on the Mary • Ross. A third of it came from ship’s keel. One of the siren observers took these materials back as a souvenir. We later performed an elemental breakdown of the materials and used them to create this new material.” Katreina tapped lightly on the table. “We have lost much of our technology, but we did preserve some of them. As long as there is water, we can work with almost any material. Besides, didn’t you see the strange things on the streets of Nasaton?”

Hao Ren was taken aback, and could only reply instinctively, “The strangest things I saw when coming here were the sirens…”

Katreina coughed. “Cough cough, today is a special occasion… I meant the ship anchors, keel fragments, and other human trinkets. They were all brought back by sirens when they return from their travels. Many of them are over thousands of years old. We have our ways to make them suitable for use underwater.”

Hao Ren was astonished. He never had the opportunity to study the abilities of these sirens. It was only now that he realized these deep-sea ladies were as capable as master level alchemists!

“If you’re that confident, then consider it done.” Hao Ren stood up. “I can promise you that ship on their behalf. However, bringing that thing to the Surface World is going to take some work. It’s not against the rules to bring something inanimate out of the Plane of Dreams, but the ark is simply too massive. I will have to make some arrangements.”

Katreina nodded in assent. “Of course. There is another request — I would like to meet with the representative of the arks myself. After all, we are allowing an alien society to live on our home planet. I would know more about them, at the very least.”

It was a reasonable request, and part of Hao Ren’s initial plan. “That’s not a problem. I am only the mediator. It’s better for you to meet with the other party directly when you sign the official documents. Only one person in the fleet understands what is happening, and only he could understand this agreement we speak of. So, in a way, when I say the people of the fleet, I really mean just this one person. The rest of them are like a primitive society, they are more like…”

“Barbarians?” Katreina could guess what Hao Ren was hesitant to tell her. “I know what they are like. It is alright. I have met the most superstitious pirates from Holland and the most brutish pirates from the middle ages. Only a thousand years have passed, and already humans have learned to don themselves in tuxedos and eat with knife and fork. Barbarism is never a problem; even ignorance is not a problem. Humans will learn, given time.”

At the end of the meeting, Hao Ren stretched himself. He was simply unsuited for formal occasions like this. That the Queen would shapeshift into a torpedo just for laughs unsettled him, so he felt much more relaxed when the meeting ended. Vivian studied Hao Ren, looking surprised. “So your mouth didn’t wreak any havoc this time. I should have just skipped this meeting entirely.”

“Havoc?” The Queen looked towards them curiously.

Hao Ren froze halfway through his stretching because of Vivian, and nearly twisted a muscle. “Cough cough, it’s nothing, nothing at all… She’s just joking.”

“You two are quite close.” The Queen smiled warmly at them. “Since you’re here, please enjoy yourselves with the our siren celebration. I believe you will find this to be a very novel experience.”

“Absolutely novel. When you swam towards us as a torpedo, my worldview was turned upside down.” Hao Ren’s lips twitched involuntarily. “Even so, I should probably go find my cat, dog and fish trio first. Those three are probably up to no good the moment they’re left alone.”

Soon, Hao Ren and Vivian made their way back to the great hall. The sirens were will partying madly as expected. Odd shapes and objects swam around the hall, and not all of them familiar looking. It seemed that these joyful sirens still had plenty of tricks up their sleeves. With all the things humans had dumped into the sea, these sirens could shapeshift every ten minutes and never had to repeat themselves until next year!

Katreina soon disappeared into messy crowd. Hao Ren briefly scanned the crowd and saw no sign of the animal trio he spoke of. Before he could search further, a siren cried out sharply, “Aah! Something bit me ~ !”

Hao Ren’s first guess was the one of the animal trio. He turned to look, and was not disappointed — Shaqira was running around screaming, with his stupid cat dangling from the tail of the unfortunate siren!

The dumb cat probably left her mind somewhere as she bit into the siren’s tail and refused to let go, despite the siren’s desperate wriggling. Poor Shaqira scurried about like a siren on stimulants. The cat girl hanging from the siren’s tail was too far gone in the enticing fishy scent around her. It was absolute chaos in the hall.

Hao Ren felt like his head would explode. He should have known this would happen, and just tie his cat to the door frame!