Chapter 4 Weeks later after the attack

Weeks had passed since the werewolf attack. The royal mermaid guard, alarmed by the frequent attacks near the sea, had forbidden the sirens from interacting with humans until further notice. They could only surface if they stayed close enough to the ocean and we always had to inform the mermaids guard about our return to the sea.

There was no curfew at the moment, as they were still investigating the motive behind the attacks. Were they planned by the irish syrens, or did the werewolves have a plan to access the kingdom of the sea?

After the accident on the beach, people and humans were closing their businesses early. The official police report claimed that a gang of killers had arrived in the city and attacked the party. The only survivors were three men who could only vaguely remember what had happened and one girl. Due to the trauma they had witnessed, they couldn't provide more details to the authorities. Upon hearing the news, we confirmed that Seila's spell had worked, and the werewolf hunters barely remembered how they had survived the attack. Obviously, being hunters themselves, they would have drawn their own conclusions about what had happened that night. I hoped they wouldn't associate the attack with the mermaid world and leave us in peace. I hadn't heard from those men since then, and a part of me, conflicted and disappointed, had wished to see that human man I had spoken to before the attack, one last time.

Seila continued putting all her energies on her work as makeup artist, now boasting to her friends about her new hero, the human Matias, who had rescued her, and how he had been enchanted by her voice, crying and begging to never forget her.

Yryhnna and I would laugh every time she told the story, as she always contradicted herself and added qualities to the human named Mathias that neither Yryhnna nor I remembered.

In the morning, I made myself breakfast, packed my books in my pearl bag, and put on a turquoise dress with floral patterns. I swam to the surface. Now there were guards ascending to the surface, registering every mermaid or marine creature leaving the kingdom. I had to arrive before sunset, or they would send coastal guards to search for me. And my father would start to worry.

When I reached the surface, I didn't have to worry about getting dressed, as I was already wearing the dress. I put on a pair of shoes from my bag and felt the wind move my wet hair. I don't like wearing underwear, it's uncomfortable for me to walk wearing it, but Seila made me understand that sometimes it's fun to wear underwear, especially if you want to look seductive for guys. I felt the sun's rays warming my legs and back. I headed towards the beach, filled with human visitors peacefully bathing in the water, unaware of our existence. I made my way to the center of New Orleans, near the coast, where there was a bookstore I used to frequent. When I arrived, the receptionist greeted me with a smile.

"Beautiful Mia, what a pleasure to see you here," a girl with jet-black eyes and curly hair falling on both sides of her cheeks greeted me.

"Hello Tatiana, glad to see you." I answer to her smiling with kind. I left my identification card on the table, and she brought me the books by Hakumi Murakami that I had been reading for weeks.

"It's fortunate that you prefer physical books," Tatiana said. "With the advancement of artificial intelligence, I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years, everyone forgets the pleasure of reading an old book."

"Not to mention" I said, smiling. Tatiana looked at me perplexed, captivated. She was used to men and women looking at me in that way. I picked up my books and walked, holding them with both arms and against my chest. I sat at one of the tables in front of a huge bookshelf and searched for the page where I had left off my reading last time.

Shortly before sunset, I began to feel Yryhnna's disturbing thoughts.

"Come back soon, dad will be worried, you know he doesn't like you being there."

I tried to continue reading but it was impossible. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I closed the book on page 253 and delicately picked it up to return it. Tatiana was absorbed in her phone and music was playing from the player. I heard a song that I recognized, the band playing was called "My Chemical Romance," the song was "I don't love you," a classic.

Tatiana looked up and our eyes met. She held her breath briefly and handed me my ID and books.

"Hey Tatiana, I was wondering about artificial intelligence."

"Do you want some apps for reading online with audiobooks?"

"No, actually I was wondering if you know of any place or company in the city that works with robots," I asked, my eyes fixed on her. Her face was beautiful and natural, but I suspected she was unaware of her beauty, as was the case with most human women. I shrugged when I saw a flash of resentment in her gaze. At that moment, she too was observing my face.

"Where I work, the city is full of artificial intelligence. I think I'll lose my job next month because the owners want to install a new voice system to speed up the book search."

"I see," I said, regretful. "So you can't think of any place?"

"Perhaps at Mykon Enterprises, where they develop robot software. There's a feast of artificial intelligence there."

"Yes, of course," I inquired, slightly disappointed. Tatiana seemed to read my mind when she added, "Do you want me to look up the address on the GPS? That way you can just take a taxi to that location."