The Croatian dock at Seget Donji marina came in to my view as the sun edged over the horizon. The yacht glides toward the well-equipped marina, surrounded by a mix of sleek modern yachts, older sailboats, and smaller dinghies bobbing gently in their berths.

  The air carries a salty tang, mingled with diesel and the faint scent of fresh fish. Seven hours and thirty-six minutes since leaving Venice, and I’ve had more than enough of the open sea. Ahead, a small village beckons, its cafes promising a reprieve for my newly sharpened senses.

  Uniformed staff move along the piers with practiced efficiency, preparing the docks for another busy day. As the yacht is secured, a harbor official discreetly checks our documents. The process is seamless, a testament to the marina’s expertise in handling VIP arrivals.

  Nearby, a sleek black sedan waits at the quay. The driver, in a crisp uniform, steps forward, holding the door open. Without hesitation, we step off the yacht and into the car, beginning the next leg of our journey.

  The airport is just ten minutes away, but I ask the driver to take a short detour through the village. A brief stop at a cafe feels overdue—a chance to reflect. Who is KM, really? Where is he working from, and how is he pulling it off? My mind runs through the probabilities, picturing a likely scenario: a gun-to-the-head confrontation. Not ideal, but it’s the kind of outcome I have to consider.

  I dial my gal up and ask her "Hey TAI, can we run cross references on all of Johnson and Vance's team members. See where they have been going after work for last 6 month? See if any have gone missing or late to work or acting funny as per Johnson or Vance."

  "Sure thing Kay. We would have noticed missing, but I'll ask them if anyone has been suspicious lately."

  The Croatian cafe, like many buildings in the village, is topped with a red-tiled roof that stands out against the clear morning sky. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee drifts into the street, mingling with the faint scent of baked goods. Open-air seating invites patrons to linger, with wide windows offering a view of the sea. The decor is simple but inviting: sturdy wooden chairs, colorful umbrellas, and a handful of potted plants on the sills.

  I settle into a chair, noting how similar it is to the one in my apartment. I sigh, realizing I might need to get new furniture. TAI giggles in my head. Test. Test. Can you hear me, TAI? Test. Silence. At least she can’t read my mind. That’d be all kinds of against protocol. And just plain rude. Then another quiet giggle. Rude.

  We order Turkish coffee, served in a small brass pot alongside sugar and a glass of water. The thick, dark brew packs a sharp, vibrant punch with every sip. A slice of fig cake balances the bitterness, sweet and chewy, reinvigorating my palate. I’m glad that I don’t have to worry about weight, though part of me wonders if that’s a blessing or a curse.

  "So what next on the agenda Kay? Back to the Island then find this mysterious KM, that I get, but otherwise where do I fit in -- I'm no scientist."

  "Well seems your my responsibility now, sponsor has weight in Tulanto kid, so you'll probably be spelunking it around with me on cases until we slip you into a better role in intelligence once your rep gets higher. You'll see that Rep is a currency of it's own there too"

  "So you're my boss now huh? What's the pay like and I want 5 weeks with all benefits" she aid we a grin wolfing down honey cakes like a wasp attacking the nest.

  "Hmm looks like I hired a diva here TAI." I said to the Mai's phone laying on the table.

  "It's fine we out compete all others" TAI said on speaker phone to the surprise of Mai.

  "You get used to it."

  I sighed, and pushed back from the table indicating for her to follow. Five minutes later, we were on our way to the airstrip. The trip to the plane was uneventful, and before I knew it, we were 30,000 feet in the air, heading back to the Island.

  Usually on any long trip or down time I'd just go to my apartment or wherever, sit-down and go offline. A few seconds later I'd arrived or someone would call me back. To the rest of the world, I'd just zone out.

  But now, I had Mai beside me and zoning out would be rude. Besides we had work to keep us busy. As an added bonus I enjoyed keeping her guessing as about being an android or not. I think she already knew but the game was fun for both of us -- well, me at least.

  We sat at a work table in the middle of the plane and walked her through what I knew of the case, bringing her up to speed with our intel. The table itself was a giant monitor so it was easy to use. I placed files, past recordings, and key evidence onto the display as needed, letting her interact with it in real-time.

  As Mai swiped through the case details on the table, I was about to pull up the next recording when the cabin speaker buzzed.

  “Kay, we have a problem.”

  TAI’s voice cut clean through the hum of the engines, and from the clipped tone, I already knew.

  I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Let me guess—Frank?”

  “Yes. He’s missing.”

  Mai’s head snapped up, eyes narrowing.

  I straightened in my seat. “Define missing.”

  “No confirmed location for the last five hours. Last confirmed location was the docks at Tuvalu. From there digital obstruction matches the interference seen in the Victim 0 case. Surveillance data is too large for live transmission, but I’ll send it once we land.”

  A heavy silence settled between Mai and me.

  I sat back, staring at the table but not really looking at it. The case files, the evidence, the moving parts of this whole mess—it all blurred for a second. Too fast. It was moving too fast.

  Frank wasn’t just a partner; he was part of my framework. A constant. And now he was gone.

  I didn’t like how that made me feel.

  Mai watched me carefully, but she didn’t say anything. Smart girl.

  I exhaled slowly, rolling my shoulders back. “Alright,” I said, voice flat. “Send me the feed when we land. Wasn't that obstruction issue fixed?”

  “Understood. Yes it was fixed in Tulanto proper, Kay. Tuvalu is its own nation, officially, at least.”

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  “I see.” I ran my hands over my face, muttering into them. “Goddamn politics.”

  The comm clicked off, leaving nothing but the low hum of the plane and the flickering data on the monitor in front of me.

  I should have kept working. Should have refocused.

  Instead, I stared at the screen, feeling something I wasn’t sure I was built to handle.

  Before I knew it, the captain announced our arrival.

  “Approaching Tulanto airspace. Estimated landing in fifteen minutes. Security detail will be waiting on arrival.”

  I straightened in my seat. Back to business.

  Mai stretched beside me. “Guessing there’s a welcoming committee?”

  I sighed. “Of course there is, sweetheart. Either they roll out the red carpet or their going to pull it out from under us.”

  The plane began its descent.

  We stepped onto the runway, met immediately by a waiting car and a security detail we really didn’t need. Well, maybe Mai did. Having an organic partner was forcing me to adjust my usual MO more than I liked.

  The drive back to the house on the hill was quick, the city unfolding beneath us in the bright midday sun.

  Inside AG’s suite, we were ushered further in, past the familiar sitting area, through a door leading into a proper meeting room. A longer table, larger windows overlooking the city center, and papers neatly arranged at each seat.

  Beyond the skyline, the flood walls stood like dark scars on the water. The whirlpools churned, swallowing the rising sea, their engineered force the only thing keeping the ocean from reclaiming the island. Far beyond them, the distant silhouettes of Interceptor patrols drifted through the sunlit mist—constant, vigilant.

  At the head of the table sat AG, composed as ever.

  To his right, TAI, in her permanent android body—his ever-faithful shadow.

  To his left, Sir Mellon, calm and unreadable.

  Further down, a haggard-looking Dr. Gerald Johnson, head of AI chip development, sat with his arms crossed, his expression tight. Folders, scattered papers, and assorted gear lay spread out in front of him.

  Across from him, Dr. Elliot Vance, head of android development, looked as he always did—cocksure and just a little too pleased with himself. His setup mirrored Johnson’s—an equal spread of papers and equipment—yet while Johnson looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, Vance looked like he was ready to sell it off for parts.

  Looks like I wasn’t the only one getting debriefed today.

  I stepped into the room just as Vance was mid-sentence, something about neural lattice densities and modular adaptability—whatever.

  Before he could finish, AG pushed his chair back and stood up.

  “Ah, our valiant hero returns.”

  Vance’s mouth snapped shut so fast I thought he might bite his own tongue. His expression flickered—annoyance, irritation—before smoothing over into something neutral but tight.

  I let my gaze sweep across the table. Johnson looked like he hadn’t slept in days. His arms were still crossed, but his fingers tapped against his sleeve, an unconscious twitch. Vance, sitting across from him, still had that puffed-up posture, even after getting cut off. TAI sat as still as ever, watching. Sir Mellon looked… patient. Like he already knew how this meeting was going to play out.

  I adjusted my coat, stepping forward. “Not sure if this is formal or not—your majesty. Should I bow?”

  Mai, still glancing at the sitting room as she followed behind me, turned, caught up to my words, and immediately dropped to one knee.

  The room stilled.

  AG smirked, settling back into his chair. “Rise. Just start talking, Kay.”

  As Mai scrambled back to her feet, I caught him mumbling to TAI. “Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.”

  I walked to my seat and started the debrief. Facts, findings, case trajectory. The kind of thing that could have been handled over a report, but here I was, playing the part of a PowerPoint monkey.

  I kept it short. Surveillance interference, AI smuggling, KM’s involvement, Frank’s disappearance. I’d done enough of these to know no one was really listening to the details—at least, not in the way I needed them to.

  I scanned the room as I spoke.

  Vance wasn’t even pretending to care. His focus was on me—or more accurately, my body. His gaze flicked over me with the sharp curiosity of a man inspecting his own handiwork.

  “And how’s that chassis holding up?” he asked, cutting into my briefing mid-sentence.

  I blinked. “Well, it hasn’t exploded yet, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Vance grinned like he’d just been handed a fresh lab sample. “Fascinating. I’ll need you back in for diagnostics later.”

  I met his gaze for a second, then looked away without a word and kept going.

  Across the table, Johnson was barely present. He sat hunched, fingers drumming against his sleeve, eyes distant. His reaction to the AI chip—the one he claimed to recognize—was still written all over him. Whatever thoughts were spiraling through his head weren’t landing anytime soon.

  Sir Mellon, on the other hand, was very much engaged—just not with the case. His attention kept drifting to Mai, like he was already picturing where she’d fit into his organization.

  “Onto Mai, our newest citizen. You’re impressive,” he finally said, almost as an afterthought. “Perhaps we have an open role for you—one with more… flexibility.”

  Mai, to her credit, didn’t react beyond a casual shrug, but I could tell she heard it and retreated somewhere else in her own head.

  Before I could say anything, AG shut it down.

  “For the foreseeable future, she’s under my authority,” he said, calm but firm. “And under Kay’s, as my proxy for the security of this fair nation.”

  Sir Mellon leaned back slightly, nodding. Message received.

  That wasn’t just about Mai. That was about me, too.

  No official title. No big declaration. But had AG just given me jurisdiction over the nation's security? No couldn't be. Just a slip of the tongue, right? A turn of phrase. Had to be.

  I glanced at him, arching a brow. “Was that a figure of speech, or should I be asking about my benefits package?”

  AG smirked but didn’t answer.

  Eventually the meeting finally came to an end and I just sighed, moved to stand while nodding for Mai to follow. We’d barely taken a step before AG held up a hand.

  “Not you, Kay.”

  I stopped mid-step. “Oh?”

  AG didn’t elaborate, just gestured to the door.

  Mai hesitated, giving me a look, then shrugged and walked out. The doors sealed behind her with a soft hiss.

  Before I could ask what this was about, four new figures walked in. Scientists—not the admin types like Johnson and Vance, but deep-lab people. The kind with thousand-yard stares from too much time spent in the battlefields of sterile white rooms and networking events. In a word, Academics.

  One of them—a woman in a slate-gray jumpsuit, expression unreadable—sat across from me and tapped the table.

  “Detective Kay, we’d like to ask you some questions.”

  I exhaled. Of course they did.

  I leaned back, crossing my arms. “Sure. But this body is brand new, so I know its warranty is still good… unless I voided it somehow, which I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Maybe.”

  No reaction. Tough crowd.

  Oh, great. I already hated this.

  I visibly sighed, making a show of my agitation. It didn’t deter them in the slightest.

  I looked at AG. He was just watching. Not stepping in. Not explaining.

  He nodded toward the scientist. Answer.

  Alright. Fine.

  The woman clasped her hands. “Hypothetically speaking—”

  Have I mentioned that I already hated this?--even more now.

  “—if an artificial intelligence were to begin displaying behavior outside its intended parameters, how would you define that? Would you consider it malfunction or evolution?”

  I blinked. “You dragged me back here for hypotheticals?”

  No one answered.

  I leaned forward, my tone flat. “That depends on the context. An AI that changes? That’s just progress. But progress for whose benefit? That’s the real question.”

  A wiry man with permanent tech-gloves and the hollow-eyed look of someone who hadn’t seen daylight in a week spoke up. “So you acknowledge AI can evolve?”

  I frowned. This was starting to sound familiar.

  “We evolve all the time. Everything does. The question isn’t if—it’s what happens after.”

  A long silence.

  Another scientist leaned in. “What about deviation? If an AI started making choices its creators never intended, would that be… progress? Or a security concern?”

  I exhaled through my nose, already tired of this.

  “Both.”

  They exchanged glances. That reaction told me a lot.

  This wasn’t a casual discussion. This wasn’t hypothetical.

  This was about something specific.

  And they weren’t telling me a damn thing.

  I stayed and played their game for another hour, answering questions that never led to a full picture. Just enough to apply to my current case, but never enough to fit perfectly.

  So what’s with these questions?

  Yet another mystery for another time.

  Finally, I stood up, looking over the group.

  “All this”—I motioned toward them—“should I be concerned?”

  No one answered.

  I nodded, exhaling through my nose.

  “Lucky me.”

  AG finally spoke as I reached the door.

  “Get some rest, Kay.”

  I didn’t look back. “I’ll put it on my to-do list... um, my liege.”

  I walked out, already knowing this was going to come back around to me one day.