She’d known it was a different Sea as soon as the wind hit her face..

Well, she’d known that it would be before, of course. But she would have known anyway.

It wasn’t something specific that stood out to her as different, just a mix of smells and humidity and — she needed a more scientific way to say “vibes.” But she’d known it — it was like the opposite of walking into your childhood home. Or, well, it was like stepping off a plane into a new city.

She wondered why she hadn’t had that feeling last time. The shock of the darkness, probably — by the time she recovered from that, she was already past the initial moment. This time, there hadn’t been a noticeable time change. Instead, a sunny day was replaced with an overcast one, with ominous clouds closing in around them.

Not that there had been room for doubt once they’d looked around. It was the water — it was a different color, more of a green and with a lot of seaweed. Well, Adelaide didn’t actually know if it was technically seaweed or even if seaweed referred to a specific organism or if it was just a word for “ocean plants that float near the surface.” Really, she should have spent more time learning biology — it was becoming embarrassing to just have no idea what she was looking at.

Regardless, the seaweed had given them something to do while Percy ran the programs to find possible Node paths. The crew had found some nets, and they had pulled in nets of seaweed with the plan of drying and reselling it later. Adelaide had wound up with a net small enough for her to throw and pull back herself. It was relaxing work - a bit of exertion pulling the net back, followed by a process of peeling off strips of the seaweed and laying them on fabric to dry. Emma said it was possible to sell this stuff for sushi at a reasonable price, and it wasn’t like they had anything else to do.

People were passing the time chatting about what they’d done with their shore leave, short as it was. Adelaide most let it wash over her — Trish was talking about their clubbing and the rest of her time exploring Bermuda’s restaurant scene with Emma, and Adelaide knew she’d get the benefits of whatever recommendations were procured when Trish inevitably dragged her back out.

She’d instead just looked at the seaweed in her hands. There were three distinct colors. The most common were green blades that looked to her untrained eye like something she would have seen at home. But there were also red frondsthat had strange little hooks on them, causing them to stick to the cloth on which they were drying; it was hard to imagine anyone rolling sushi in these. And there were small purple ones that spread out from each other to make little networks that Adelaide tried not to break.

That had continued until two events happened in short succession. First, Percy’s analysis concluded, and Trish was called to a meeting to agree on a course. Luckily, there was no controversy this time. There was only one plausible path, it hit three nodes with plenty of time to return to the Triangle when they finished. So she had given Mattson the all clear to set sail.

Almost as soon as the engines started, rain started to fall. They quickly packed up the seaweed, and by the time they had finished, it was pouring. Adelaide felt an odd temptation to go out anyway, braving the weather like a true explorer, but there was no reason to do that and she wasn’t actually doing anything to make the ship go anyway.

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So she was now sitting in her room, rereading the instruction manuals for the drones she’d picked up. She’d gone with something smaller and with a longer battery life in order both to save money and to focus more on exploration. But part of buying something with bells and whistles was the long process of learning how to operate it. Not that she didn’t enjoy that process — it felt like a mix of doing a puzzle and learning a magic trick or something. The context here, however, added pressure — she might actually need to operate these things in a high-stakes situation. She’d need to find time to practice, but doing so in the rain seemed needlessly risky.

So she was just reviewing the manual when there was a knock on her door. She felt briefly like she’d been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to before she remembered that she was an adult, she’d bought these, and there was no reason to be embarrassed. She deliberately left them on her bed as she said, “Come in!”

Alessio walked in, and it took her a minute to realize why he looked so different — he wasn’t holding a camera. Or, at least, not any camera that Adelaide could see. He bent over to look at the drone she’d been inspecting. “Ooh, that’s nice. Did you just get it?”

“Yeah. I thought it would be helpful, with all the exploration we’ve been doing. Or at least that we did last time. But I’m kind of intimidated by the controls, to be honest.”

Alessio grabbed the controller. “Don’t be, these are easier than they look. You’re right that there are a lot of options, but you mostly don’t need them when you start. Just focus on takeoff and landing for a while, and you can figure out the rest as you go.”

“You know how to use these?”

“I mean, I’m not an expert, but yeah. I messed around with drone photography for a while, but it never really did numbers. Fun though!”

“Maybe you can show me sometime when the weather is clearer.”

“Sure. I’m glad to see you got to go shopping while you could.”

“Yeah — hard to resist, honestly. How have you been? How did the content do?”

“The stuff I ran while we were out was a touch mediocre, but livable. But the new stuff — I am pacing it, but I dropped some of the dawnbat content this morning and it was already trending well by the time we left. So we’ll see, but I’m optimistic.”

“I’m glad! Hopefully this trip gives you something else interesting to show. Not that I want danger or anything, but — well, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah. And, actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to interview you.”

“Now? You have a hidden camera or something?”

“No, not now, unless now is best for you. But this isn’t an ambush. I just think it would be good to have your perspective on all of this. And it gives you a bit of control.”

“I don’t really think I’m what people will be interested in.”

“Never underestimate the human element. And you’re a young woman leading an expedition — that isn’t as common as it should be. Maybe showing people that helps inspire a few people, and make it seem more normal for the next generation.”

“I doubt I could — but let me think about it, ok?” Adelaide tried not to be flattered, but it was a compelling idea. And maybe more press could lead to more funding somehow. She realized she was already imagining her answers and —

“Of course. And look, in the spirit of not ambushing you: I didn’t forget about my big question. I still don’t know what we’re doing here. And I’m not done trying to find out.”

Alessio left with that, and closed the door behind him. Adelaide picked up the instructions and tried to focus on them.