The Ice Warrior

Chapter 42

The moment they arrived, Arthur rushed forward, surveying what was to be the temporary resting place for his mistress.

"Just like Snow White. She would've loved this." Arthur said, smiling.

"You know about it?" Silv asked, surprised.

"Of course. I have always been your AI. I was there when she told you those stories. She used to watch the recordings when she was worried about you when you were out on a mission or feeling down." Arthur said.

"What do you mean recordings?" Silv asked, confused as they lowered her grandmother's body in the glass chamber and closed the lid.

"As you well know, everything was recorded in the apartment for security reasons. However, unimportant material, such as useless meetings, was deleted. However, I was ordered to preserve every last moment you two shared in there." Arthur confessed.

"Oh, grandma," Silv said as she gently touched her grandma's glass coffin.

"It's both heartwarming and creepy at the same time. Yet, I am happy Rose did that. It must have been a great comfort for her when I was away." Silv said.

"Perhaps it will be so for you as well, my lady," Arthur said.

"What do you mean?" Silv asked.

"Well, now you have complete access to all systems and files, which means you can see everything that was stored in my memory," Arthur said.

"Including all the moments I had with my grandmother? Even those when I was really young and which I can't remember?" Silv asked.

"Yes. As far as I know, mistress Rose rarely deleted or altered anything. Everything is there. Would you like to watch the files now?" Arthur asked.

"No, not now. Before I can do that, I need to accept that my grandmother is gone. If I watch them now, it will be as if she didn't die. I need to grieve but thank you. I will definitely want to see those soon enough.

"But, right now, I need to see what I can do about the ship's mood swings," Silv said.

"What should we do?" Joe asked.

Surprised as Silv was that he asked her to give him orders, she had an answer ready.

"You take care of the people. Make sure they have enough food and water. Also, encourage them to rest as much as they can and not to wander around the ship, or they might get scared by something, and that can make the situation worse." Silv said.

"Alright, I'll get right on it," Joe said and left.

"Do you need any help?" Justin asked before leaving.

"No, I got this. You make sure your people are well." Silv said, and he left.

"Arthur, you'll come with me. I need to have a serious chat with the ship, and I think that you can help me out, having in mind how quickly you are figuring out all this." Silv said.

"As you wish, my mistress," Arthur said, following her to the control room.

Immersing her hands in the green substance no longer felt strange to Silv. She was getting used to the odd sensation, and it allowed her instant connection with Evanescence. However, what was unexpected was a strong feeling of guilt that was at the forefront of Evanescence's mind.

"Mistress, may I plug into the main server?" Arthur asked.

"Isn't that this gooey thing?" Silv asked, surprised.

"No, my lady. Those are neural connections." Arthur replied.

Noting Silv's confused expression, he went on to explain though she didn't ask him to do so. It seemed to her that he was taking more initiative, which Silv found fascinating but also scary at the same time.