“Yes, Miss Molly,” her familiar voice echoed through the bathroom, and I don’t know who had changed the AI back into the Ruth avatar, but I had never been so happy that they did.
“Um, do you mind showing me or telling me the extent of your capabilities? You can come sit here, if you like,” I said. Instantly I saw Ruth’s image appear at the end of the longshower, standing tall amongst the steam. Seeing her complexion, her pale skin, her long red hair instantly made me jump at first, before she took a seat down at the end of the shower, leaning against the glass screen. I gulped as I eyed her long red hair which was draped over her shoulder. I wished I could reach out and touch it, feel its realness. I wonder if it felt how I had imagined it in my vision, so soft and strong or if it was more like the hair of the stranger that I had just held tight too for the past two hours, walking home in the rain.
“It’s so good to see you again, Miss Molly,” Ruth said with a wide smile on her face. Ruth had seemed so real to me, so conscious, but now as she sat there smiling back at me, she appearedunreal since she couldn’t read the room of dark hidden emotions right now.
“Ruth…” I said, “I was wondering what exactly your full capabilities are.” I was talking to her like she was well the artificial intelligence that she was, and no longer like a human.
“I can help you out with anything that you need. I can read the entire internet for you, assist you with finding the information that you need, and I can also help you out with anything that you need assistance with, within this house and the entire property.”
“This property as in this whole island?” I questioned.
Ruth’s head tilted, as though she was deep in thought. “Is there something specific you would like to know. You can just ask me the question and I can see if I can find out theinformation for you,” she said, still smiling wide at me, her voice a little too peppy for what I needed right now.
“Do you know who were the last visitors here and how long ago they visited?” I asked.
I knew that Henry was going over that information right now with Jackie, but I couldn’t help myself in asking Ruth. Besides, whatever Henry found out before the police came here, he wouldn’t share all the information with me. Not because he was trying to keep secrets, but because he would be protective. And in a situation like this, the less you knew the safer you were. But I couldn’t just go around pretending that I didn’t see what I did, that I didn’t feel it for myself.
“Yes, I do,” she said. “The last group here was a three-day retreat for the three co-founders of a creative agency. They spent their time here cultivating their plans for growth for the next financial year. This island is always a go-to place for people who really want to take their businesses to the next level. And a lot of them do follow through with their plans after they visit here. I think it helps to immerse yourself in a certain lifestyle, particularly if it’s one that you want to envision yourself in for the future. That’s why this island does so well gaining so many business leader retreats.”
“Right, and do you remember who these three people were who owned the creative agency?”
“Yes, I do remember their faces and their names that are clearly filed within my files. It was Thomas Bradshaw and his son Caleb alongside his best friend Richard Whey.”
“Oh,” I sighed, “So there were no women here last weekend? Only three men?”
“Correct,” said Ruth, “May I ask you why you’re asking me all this information, Miss Molly. If we get to the root of the question, I might be able to help you get to the answers that you’re looking for a lot quicker.”
I wasn’t going to tell her that we just found a body. And we didn’t find a body. I didn’t know if that was even the truth yet. All we had found was some blonde hair and some blood stain on the rock. For all I know a long haired labrador could have been out by the waterfall. Although everything in my gut told me this was unlikely. That hair was human, I was sure of it. I could have just told her about what I had found, but I also didn’t know enough about the technology that Henry had built. If Ruth was smart enough to read the entire internet, who’s to say that anything that I told her wouldn’t be added in a way for anyone else to read. Thinking about that now made me overthink any other conversation that I had had with her. I ignored Ruth’s comment and continued with my questioning.
“So there was no blonde women out here last weekend at all? Or even the weekend before that?”
“Last weekend was the only business retreat that had been out here all month. We have been giving the island and the staff a break lately. And yes, you would be correct, there have been no blonde women out here in the past couple of weeks,” said Ruth.
“And you’re one hundred percent sure about that.”
“Yes, from my records, those are the absolute facts.”
I wondered if there was any chance that Ruth’s facts were wrong. Or at least misguided, if there was any way that they could have snuck some women into the retreat, or maybe she wasn’t snuck in, maybe she worked here?
“Ruth, has there even been a blonde woman that has worked here on the island?” I asked.
Ruth instantly shook her head. “No, Miss Molly. Since I have been a part of this island there have only been three main workers here, there is Jackie who runs everything, Dylan, who is the cook, and there is also Joan, who is the cleaner, but she is currently on a holiday in Japan. That is the very reason that Henry created me. Or us I should say, so that we can help with everything else on the island that isn’t physical. Of course, there are some extra staff that do get bought in occasionally for large events, extra cleaners, waiters and cooks. But I can still tell you that in the past month there has not been any blonde women here.”
I tried to rack my brain for any other explanation of what we saw.
“Miss Molly, I am here to help you with anything that I possibly can, but do you mind getting to more of the point about why you’re asking me all of these questions? At the beginning of this conversation, I sensed that you were sad. Now you seem confused. You can trust me, you know. I am here to help.”
I sighed, “I know, but right now I really don’t know what’s going on.” I couldn’t look at her for any longer, her long red hair kept flashing back the images of the moment I nearly drowned. Before she could reply, I interrupted her again. “Ruth, do you know much about the origins of this very island? Like are you able to tell me, or at least look up any stories about the sunken statues or maybe any of the origin natives of this land?”
“Sure,” she said still smiling as she turned and stared blankly at the wall. I watched her for a moment. She must have been looking up the information as her image looked so still. It was another moment that made me realize she wasn’t my friend, not at all. She was nothing but a very realistic human computer.
Ruth turned back to me, and I jumped as she instantly released herself from her trance. “I can’t find any information about any sunken statues, but I can tell you that it has been uninhabited government own land dating back all the way to the 1500s. It has been optioned for sale many times, but due to the limited resources and how long it can take to get here, as well as the rising flood waters over the years, it has never been inhabited until the sale of Henry Bentley. Your boyfriend and the man who created me.” She smiled. “As much as I have read, the sale of the island was kept private, and Henry has been able to keep this place that way, which I must say has been very well done on his part because the rest of his life has been very public. There are already articles online of the two of youdarting around the city together and how long have you been dating.”
I knew what Ruth was talking about. Raven had sent that very article to me before I left for the island. But that was the last thing that I cared about right now. I shook my head, everything that Ruth was saying didn’t make any sense. “So you’re telling me, you have found information about this very island dating all the way back to the 1500s but still you haven’t found anything about the sunken statues?”
Ruth nodded her head. “There is no information about any sunken statues that I can find.” An instant chill ran down my spine and I felt sick. How could there be information dating back to this island, without any mention of the sunken statues?
“Ruth,” I said again, my voice shaky.
