I'll Buy This Data!

The departure from the Black Shores was scheduled for noon. The reason was quite good: there was a pot of purple coral porridge to be served at noon.

The restaurant was bustling like a shareholders' meeting in the morning. Zhou Yu slammed a stack of receipts on the table and pushed them in front of Aalto. The receipts included the cost of two nights' supper in the observation room, two payments for tea in the greenhouse, the cost of the visitor number tag, plus Dania's special calorie consumption allowance.

"Please forward this to Counselor Changli; it's a routine expense for the publicly funded trip, and I'll reimburse it later."

"She'll probably regret knowing you if she sees this list."

"No." Zhou Yu put her pen down on the document. "She'll regret not including a cap clause in the contract first."

Aalto tucked the receipt into her sleeve and didn't say anything more.

When Aimis announced that she would stay, she was still holding half a grilled fish cake in her hand.

"Linnai and I will stay a little longer. It's rare to have such a long vacation, and we haven't had enough of the purple coral on the Black Shores yet."

"We agreed to travel together," Sigelica slung her backpack over her shoulder. "What about splitting the fare?"

"You're on the big ship, we're on Aalto's speedboat; we weren't even sharing a ride in the first place," Aimis matter-of-factly.

Linnai sat cross-legged on the bench, holding her guitar, without even looking up.

"The sound of the tide receding on the island has seven notes, and I've only recorded the third one. I'll need to spend at least another half a month recording material for three albums."

"Alright, the two who stay, put their meals on Aalto's tab." Zhou Yu finished speaking, then gestured with his chin towards Aalto, "The standards for family members of leaders, you know what I mean."

The Black Shores is not under your company's jurisdiction.

"It's back now, I just bought it."

On the pier, Encore waited there, holding a sheep doll, and solemnly extended her little finger.

"It's a promise, Encore has to have some purple coral porridge next time too."

Dania hooked her finger around hers and shook it three times.

"Your name is on the schedule, Encore. I've kept it in effect."

Before leaving, Dania took out the jar of dried plums with Jinzhou peel that she had brought from the side pocket of her canvas bag and poured half of it into Encore's hand.

"I brought this with me on the way; it's sweet with a hint of sourness. Next time we meet, I'll bring you a whole jar."

Encore placed the dried plums into a small croissant bag, along with the piece of purple coral, and tied the drawstring of the bag in a knot.

At the entrance of the greenhouse, the woman in the white dress stood at a distance, not approaching, but merely nodding her chin in their direction. Zhou Yu also raised her hand in return.

"Keep the flowers," he said. "I'll check the accounts next time."

When the porridge was served, the man in the old coat was already sitting at the end of the long table, with the number tag pinned to his chest—number one, neatly arranged.

He drank very slowly. After finishing, he gently pushed the bowl away and said the longest sentence he had uttered that day.

"Next time I come, I'll take this number again."

Just as the bowl was taken away, a beeping sound, three short and one long, came from the direction of the observation room.

In the main control area at the Tethys' Deep, the star map was in chaos again. An external frequency was pushing against the three layers of firewalls and squeezing into the core, causing nodes to become misaligned in patches. Zhou Yu could recognize the pulsating rhythm of those dark spots even with his eyes closed.

"The target isn't permissions." Aalto issued one command after another, "It's after H's gravitational data. Once we get our hands on it, Tethys's computational logic can be rewritten."

Inside the canvas bag, the digital watch lit up by itself, with a line of green text floating on the dial.

[Aleph One - Target confirmed.]

Zhou Yu looked down for two seconds, too lazy to even press the button.

It's you again.

"The waveform is exactly the same as last time, I can physically disconnect the chain directly." Chisaki's fingers flew across the tablet.

Zhou Yu raised his hand and pressed her back down.

He didn't block anyone, didn't change any parameters, and didn't even peek at the schedule in his pocket. He walked to the control panel and first glanced back at Dania.

Dania stood outside the yellow line, clutching his canvas bag, and nodded vigorously at him.

So he turned to the control panel, facing the formless data stream, his tone as indifferent as if he were dealing with a salesperson who had dialed the wrong number.

"I'll buy this data. You can find another source."

The star chart paused for a moment.

The frequency remained stuck outside the firewall, unable to advance or retreat. Finally, the entire data stream sank back into the depths of the system segment by segment, the pulsation of the dark spot slowed down, the misaligned nodes returned to their positions one by one, and the star map was rearranged neatly.

A voice came from deep within the system, very soft and distant, as if separated by an entire ocean.

Thank you... for coming back.

The communicator in Dania's arms flashed. Just once.

A blue butterfly emerged from the depths of the data stream, circled halfway around the control panel, landed on Dania's shoulder, flapped its wings twice, and scattered into a layer of pale blue light.

Dania looked down at her shoulder, patted it lightly, as if brushing off a petal.

Aalto's fingertips paused on the edge of the control panel. She didn't ask who she was referring to.

"Um," Chisaki's pen hovered above the tablet, "How do I fill in the purchase record? What should I fill in for the amount?"

"Fill in zero." Zhou Yu took the canvas bag back and slung it over his shoulder. "Asset purchase, account for it as a publicly funded inspection, and record it under Changli's name."

What if she asks for details?

"Just say you bought a sea."

Before boarding the ship, Dania climbed onto the highest rock on the shore and sat on it, swinging her legs.

Zhou Yu walked over and sat down next to her, flipped to the last page of the schedule, bit off the cap of her pen, and wrote a line.

Black Shores – Permanent validity – Unlimited round trips.

Dania leaned closer and read it word by word, then looked up when she finished.

"Is my name written on this?"

"It's written."

Where?

"Every single word is."

Dania didn't ask any more questions. She took the schedule and looked at it for a long time before returning it, then leaned on his shoulder. The sea breeze blew her pink hair onto Zhou Yu's face, carrying a slightly salty scent.

"Xiao Yu, what are we having for breakfast tomorrow?"

Zhou Yu folded the schedule neatly and put it into the innermost layer of the canvas bag.

"Make a note of it. We'll deal with tomorrow's problems tomorrow."

As the ship departed, Aimis and Linnai stood on the pier waving frantically, Encore held her sheep doll high in the air. Aalto stood still, hands in her pockets. Tsubaki's greenhouse was behind the fog line, only a section of its glass roof visible.

"Remember to register in advance next time!" Aimis shouted, cupping her hands to her mouth. "Follow the procedure exactly!"

"Even the parents in your family are voluntarily lining up," Zhou Yu waved at her. "That's quite a set of rules."

"I'll send the album over once it's finished!" Linnai shouted, "Royalties will be split equally!"

The bow was turned, and the sea fog parted on both sides.

Zhou Yu leaned against the ship's railing and suddenly asked Chisaki.

"It's a rare holiday, how about we go home on the way?"

Chisaki paused in pushing up her glasses, and her eyes behind the lenses slowly brightened.

"OK."

Where is your home?

"Ashihara, Honami City," she said. "My family runs a coffee shop on Honami Pedestrian Street, called Train Conductor Café. The mascot is called Bozai, the capybara-shaped one. My parents are always in Ashihara harvesting beans, Bozai usually looks after the shop."

"Bozai's minding the shop?" Dania's eyes widened. "Can he make coffee?"

"No. But it will lie on the bar and watch you make it." Chisaki was unusually talkative. "That city is really nice. In the morning, there are the Morning Voice of the Rainbow Sound Tower, cherry blossoms all over the streets, and the wisteria in Central Park droops down when it's in season. The river is full of koi kites. The houses all have small yards, and the eaves are very long. When it rains, the water forms a line along the eaves."

"Capybaras, coffee, koi kites," Sigelica counted on her fingers. "Sounds better than our college cafeteria."

Chisa switched her sword to the other side of her waist, leaned against a stack of suitcases, and kept gazing at the direction at the end of the sea.

"Chisa- senpai is also from Ashihara, right?" Chisaki suddenly turned around. "It's written in Supervisor Aalto's file."

"Hmm." Chisa turned her gaze back. "Scorching Cherry Blossom Terrace is south of Ashihara. It takes a whole day to get to Honami by railcar."

"How about we go back together this time?" Dania's eyes lit up. "We can even see the cherry blossoms along the way."

"Priestesses don't get holidays." Chisa paused, twirling the tassel of her sword between her fingers. "But this time, it's Chisa's own holiday."

"That's even better." Zhou Yu didn't even look up. "With a fellow villager leading the way, we can save on guide fees."

"But let's get this straight first." Chisaki touched the back of her neck, where a thin metal ring was attached. "Ashihara is strict with Resonator; all Resonator must register upon entering the city, and mine is on the register too. Don't complain about the process later."

"Register then." Zhou Yu flipped back to the schedule. "Our materials are all complete."

"It's settled." Zhou Yu lowered her head and wrote three words on a new page.

Honami City.

The bow of the ship cut through the waves and headed towards the Ashihara.