The deep sea is something to be feared.
Alice is a doll, but she has expressive eyes and emotions that are hard to explain. Duncan can easily see the fear and discomfort she has towards the deep sea... or rather, certain "things" in the deep sea. Thinking back to the spiritual realm and the strange sights he saw at the borders, he quickly realizes that the vast ocean around him definitely hides great horrors.
Yet, the Lost Home ship sails on this endless ocean, and the mechanical ship he encountered in the spiritual realm is also navigating these waters.
This makes him curious about things that are even farther away—what is the land like in this world? Or is there even normal land in this world?
However, the doll in front of him cannot answer his questions. Most of Alice's memories are hazy. From Duncan's perspective, it seems like some kind of seal... or "suppression" is affecting her.
He remembers when he passed by that mechanical ship, he observed the cabin through the Lost Home's massive perception. The mysterious symbols, the religious decorations, and the markings outside Alice's "coffin" all indicate one thing: this "cursed doll" is definitely feared in "civilized society."
Duncan looks at Alice with a thoughtful expression, and she meets his gaze calmly.
"Let me confirm again, you have no memory of where you came from, and you can't recall your past experiences, right?"
"I don't remember," Alice replies seriously. "Since I have memory, I've always been lying in this big box. I don’t know why, but it seems there have always been a group of nervous people around me, afraid that I would come out, so they sealed the box in various ways. To be honest, thinking back, I suddenly feel that the nails you hammered into my box lid were quite friendly... even though you later added eight cannonballs, at least you didn't pour lead inside, right?"
This time, Duncan ignores Alice's rambling and continues to ask, "Then where did your name come from? Who gave you this name? If you really never left the box and never interacted with anyone, why do you have a name? Did you give it to yourself?"
Alice suddenly freezes.
She seems truly confused, staying in a daze for over ten seconds. Just when Duncan worries that this doll might also have a "crash" setting, she finally stirs back to life: "I... don’t remember. I’ve always known my name is Alice, but I didn’t come up with it myself. I..."
She mumbles in confusion, instinctively holding her head with her hands. This makes Duncan's heart skip a beat, and he quickly interrupts, "Alright, if you don’t remember, that’s fine. You don’t need to pull your head off..."
Alice: "..."
After this, Duncan asks Alice many more questions, but unfortunately, most of them lead to no results.
As the doll herself stated, she has spent most of her conscious time in that "coffin," alternating between sleep and half-wakefulness. She knows very little about the outside world, and the bits of knowledge she has come from overhearing conversations outside the coffin while in a daze. These scattered bits of information hardly help Duncan piece together the outline of this world.
Still, Duncan does gain some insights from his conversation with Alice:
This world has a power structure called "city-states," a term that comes up repeatedly in Alice's stories, forming almost the entirety of her journey. Her original destination was a city-state called "Prand."
It seems to be a prosperous place, as sailors say it "holds an important position on many trade routes."
Additionally, Alice has a title "Abnormal 099," which seems to be some kind of "official" name in the civilized world. As for the name "Alice," so far, it seems that only she and Duncan know it.
Finally, Alice has been transferred from one city-state to another, and it seems she is not the only "abnormal" being moved in this way. During some journeys, she overheard the escorts talking about "other sealed spaces."
Based on this, Duncan boldly speculates that this constant transfer of "abnormals" might be a necessary measure to seal them and prevent them from escaping.
It’s clear that the team responsible for transporting Abnormal 099 has run into big trouble—because of the sudden appearance of the Lost Home, the "doll" they were escorting has escaped.
But he wonders what exactly is so terrifying about this strange cursed doll, and what kind of destruction her escape might cause.
After all... she seemed quite harmless while on the Lost Home.
To be honest, Duncan feels quite disappointed.
He thought he had finally found a source of information to help him understand this world, only to find that the person lying in the coffin is just as confused as he is.
But as he looks at Alice, who is still quietly sitting on the wooden box, his disappointment fades a bit.
At least now he has someone to talk to on the Lost Home—though she seems to be a doll, and it’s a bit shocking when her head falls off, and she definitely has more secrets, and sometimes she says silly things.
But she is still better than that noisy goat-headed creature.
And when it comes to the strange and dangerous... this endless sea, this Lost Home, and the odd things on this ship, what really looks safe?
From an outsider's perspective, it seems that he, Captain Duncan, might be the most dangerous one in this boundless sea.
Duncan sighs, and without realizing it, his expression softens a bit. With a casual tone, he asks, "I want to know, if I throw you off the ship again, what would you do?"
Alice blinks: "Are you going to stuff cannonballs in again?"
"No."
"Then are you going to hammer nails again?"
"Uh... no."
"Pour lead?"
"No... cough, I mean, if I refuse to let you stay on the ship..."
"Then I’ll just row back," Alice says, sitting gracefully and speaking calmly, "I don’t want to be swallowed by this sea; at least this ship has a place for me to land."
Duncan is shocked by the doll's calmness, unsure whether to call her honest or thick-skinned. After some thought, he finally says, "You could be a bit more tactful..."
"Well, you already know the answer, don’t you?" Alice smiles and says, "But if I come back, I might try to hide in some corner of the cabin so you won’t find me. I haven’t been awake long, and I didn’t think things through during previous returns, but now I have experience..."
Duncan interrupts her: "My perception covers the entire ship; I can even tell where every wave hits the hull."
Alice’s words get stuck in her throat: "Ah..."
Duncan continues calmly, "And I can also choose to destroy you directly to avoid you bothering me and my Lost Home."
The doll seems to have never considered this possibility. She instinctively widens her eyes, and then there’s a click near her neck...
The headless doll hurriedly catches her head and starts awkwardly trying to press it back onto her neck. The atmosphere becomes awkward, and Duncan can only sigh in amusement. After Alice manages to put her head back on, he continues, "But I suddenly think having another crew member on this ship isn’t a bad thing—if you can behave, I can arrange a spot for you."
"You should have said that earlier! I almost lost my head!"
Duncan can’t help but twitch at the corner of his eye: "So what’s up with your neck?"
Alice looks innocent: "I don’t know! I usually don’t have many chances to 'move around.' How would I know why my body has this problem...?"
Duncan silently watches Alice for a few seconds and seriously says, "It seems long-term bed rest is bad for the neck."
Alice: "..."
Seeing the speechless doll, Duncan's mood suddenly improves a bit.
"Well, anyway, we have a new crew member on the Lost Home—follow me, and I’ll find you a place to rest."
(End of Chapter)