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One of the many timelines out there...

This is just going to be another dead end and be plucked out from reality as if it never existed in the first place. Out there is either just an ordinary version of or another META from another timeline. I lost count on how many I've seen or how much shown to me. There isn't just one Bismarck META, there are countless duplicates from other timelines...and even an Ashes version of me. I'm just one of the many who would grow stagnant until the World's Will severs this timeline. The others are aware of this truth, and chose to accept it knowing the inevitable dead end of this universe.

"Every single one of you are gloomy, depressed, and just...edgy" King George remains relaxed and drinks her tea in one corner

"Well, that's just how they are" New Jersey joins her in drinking tea

"It can't be helped that future versions just happened to be darker versions" Hiryuu META retaliates

There are still survivors who aren't META or Ashes. Even if they're alive, none of it would matter. They don't have the enough firepower to even scratch the AI of this world's core. Not even us could scratch it as it's just an avatar to begin with. The real body is spread throughout the world in a form of ley lines surging the energy amassed from this conflict. In this world, we're just seen as programs while the AI is the admin who would routinely purge and reformat everything once an anomaly has been spotted.

"Out there is another Ash fighting for her world and struggling to reach a bright future..." Ash stares at the coast

There's no decent view anymore. The sky had gotten so dark that we couldn't recognize if it's either daytime or nighttime anymore. More than half of the land have been wiped out as part of the purge. Their ideal "Grey Ghost" rampaged and tagged as a malware by this World. As a result, countless lives ceased to exist. Only few shipgirls remains and humans are at least thousands left by now worldwide.

"I'm guessing another Ember is still hating humans for what they did but for a different reason. What is there for me to hate when humans are on the brink of extinction" Ember is just sitting on top of a crate

"You're all sulking now after everyone went up and died" Scharnhorst is leaning by a partially destroyed pillar

"We were warned, but we didn't listen. Rather, we acted late...so this is what happened to us" Helena META is sitting on a corner embracing her legs

Everyone doesn't know what to do or where to even go next. We're all lost since nothing is left for us to save. The AI performed its duty and vanished at the very heart of this world. It showed us why strength could never be absolute because you can never change fate. We struggle to turn over our grim fate, so we believed in hope...only for reality to remind us of a grim truth.

"Then it would just keep repeating then? Humanity never learns..." Saint Louis clenches her fists

"Iron Blood once had the audacity to overcome God...then we learned the hard way how this end is an absolute point. It will divert to this no matter what" Scharnhorst hit the pillar she's leaning on

"This is just another dead end. Sooner or later everyone else will get pruned including us"

I decide to speak up and join in the conversation. We're at fault, so none of us could blame each other. That's why we couldn't even gaze at each other with certainty.

"Bismarck, are you still planning to act when your cube could barely support your own existence?" Gneisenau META appears from behind me

"I have to try" I have no hesitation in answering

"What if you get flung to the wrong timeline and your existence gets rewritten?" She protests

"It's a risk I'm willing to take. Iron Blood has fallen, so what else do I have to lose?"

What I'm saying is no suicidal attempt. It's as if there's still faint hope in my chest. Perhaps I'm like everyone else now, desperate at the slightest chance I could reach with my stained and powerless hands

"If we succeed, will it undo our mistake? The commander...Kaga...will they return?" Akagi's voice shakes

"We have to try on our own way" Ash replies instead of me

"It's just an AI, not a God. After all, if one existed, we wouldn't be here gathered like leftover trash" Ember bites her lower lip

"That's already an obvious truth. We're leftovers and done for" King George V barely has her proud attitude left

From my estimation, only ten percent of the shipgirls are left alive or dying. King George V and the others are fortunate to survive with little damage, but she knows it might as well be a death sentence. There's nothing she can do, so it's like she's just existing further for no reason.

"Even if one of us succeeds, it's a common point all of us will get purged as remnants like what it did with the Sirens" New Jersey stands up

"That's a price we're all willing to pay" Ash approaches us

"..." Ember slightly nods

None of us needs to response for a confirmation because we're all desperate on our own and lost our loved ones. We have no one to fight for left, but our past selves still have the people previous to them. It's the one thing left we could protect. Even if we couldn't save ourselves, it's worth the sacrifice to let them be saved instead.

"Where will you go, Bismarck?" Ash turns to me

"I'll try to find a viable timeline. Even if it's not the same past where Tyrant originated, at least the AI has to exist there. If I could save one Iron Blood, then it's enough"

My primary goal is to make sure Enterprise's malevolent clone doesn't get awakened by humanity and kept in a deep slumber instead. The moment a malware gets unleashed, the world would response with its primary defense: the AI administrator. It has no will or self awareness to consider the importance of life. All that matters is the duty to eradicate the threat even if it dragged half of the world and made the world impossible to sustain life.


It's just an ordinary day...

As the first of the H-class projects, I lack both the history and experience in combat. My design is derived from the Bismarck-class, but I only met Bismarck herself. I heard Tirpitz was as quiet as they say but that was only because she hated being around with the echelons of the Kriegsmarine. Considering her history, I didn't question why she disliked humans. On the the other hand, Bismarck is rather the proud and lively one. She went serious after the death of her sister, and I don't want to ask how Tirpitz died.

"..."

When I'm doing nothing, I usually just stroll in the base since I rarely get visitors. There are occasional shipgirls stopping by to refuel and resupply once in a while, but I'm a permanent resident here. I do have U-boats and destroyers to accompany me most of the time, but I wish I could spend time with other capital ships.

"Uh, what is this?"

During one of my regular strolls, a small blackish crack appears high up in the sky and I think an object gets dropped. I rub my eyes only for that black spot to vanish and think it's just an imagination due to my fatigue.

"...!"

My initial thoughts are proven wrong when a loud crash to one of our warehouses startles me. I would think it's just one of the scraps collapsing, but the sound is clearly from a heavy object falling on concrete. Rather than flee, my first course of action is to drag my legs to the source of the noise. It could be a meteor or an explosion, but I can't confirm it until I check on it myself.

"Huh?"

I kick the door open without caring for the collateral damage. They say battleships are physically stronger than regular humans and damn they're right because I broke the door with a single straight kick. It causes an alarming noise because I just kicked the warehouse gate and shattered it's lock in pieces. Inside is not a meteor, aircraft or anything. What's inside...is a living person or at least this person is still alive.

"Ugh..." The unknown person groans

"H-hey, are you okay?" I take one careful step forward

"..." She keeps weakly groaning

"I wouldn't be able to speak properly either if I just fell from down the sky..."

Her body lands on top of an empty container unit and she fortunately didn't shot through inside. Rather, her body lies on top of it with a visible dent on the enormous steel. From the looks of it, a little more and she would have fallen inside.

"..." I look up

I suppose this young woman really did fall through the sky judging from the large circular hole on the roof and the light peeking to her from said hole.

"Where..." The woman finally manages to speak

She lifts her left hand only for it to collapse back at where she's lying down, clearly weakened and injured from her fall. I'm surprised a living person survived a fall from the sky even if I have no clue to how it's even possible - both how she got dropped and how she survived without much wounds.

"H-hello? Are you...okay?" I slowly approach her

"Who...there...?" The woman still groans in pain

Upon making a few steps forward, I begin to see clearer of her appearance and unknown identity. She's completely human in appearance so she's no Abyssal, and her uniform somewhat resembles old military uniform. The only difference is her tattered cape. Other than that, she's a rather beautiful yet depressed looking woman with long bland hair and dulled sapphire blue eyes.

"Uhm, are you okay? Do you want to go to the infirmary first?" I nervously ask her

"...I'm fine. Who...are you anyway?" She lifts her upper body first

Now I can see more clearly of her mature and elegant appearance dulled by fatigue and possibly depression. It's like she's one of those war veterans who's on the verge of emotionally breaking down. Rather than going mad, she's simply tired and cares little about the world anymore.

"What is this place?" She rubs her head

"This is a Kriegsmarine base...in Sweden. To be specific, this is just an anchorage where ships refuel and resupply" I briefly explain to her

"Kriegsmarine? Sweden? I see...so that bastard did drop me off here"

She looks completely uninjured, just in pain from the initial fall. In fact, she could raise her back with only little problem and only shock from hitting solid steel upon landing. Surface water isn't painless either considering how dense the ocean is...

"Excuse me, but who are you? You're not an Abyssal and I don't think you're an enemy" I immediately ask her

"Bismarck. My name is Bismarck"

The one claiming to be Bismarck slides down to the ground, completely ignoring her fall earlier. I'm surprised she can move so well after barely moving in body pain earlier.

"You can't be Bismarck even if you look a bit like her" I go into a defensive stance

"I don't know what to call myself. Bismarck META is what I heard someone call me before. I'm obviously not the Bismarck you know" This Bismarck META looks...lost

"..."

"What do you call yourself?" She asks me in return

"H-39. My designated name is Charles William Ferdinand. Although I'm not the actual Duke of Brunswick because that's a dead guy from a long time ago" I joke on the last part

"You also have that kind of name, huh. Our people likes to name their ships from important people"

(Ah, that's because Bismarck is from Otto von Bismarck, a chancellor of Germany)

"Anyway, I should take you to the infirmary because you might have broken a few bones" I rush to her

"Do you not suspect me?" Bismarck META looks visibly puzzled

"Eh? You're human and German. It's good enough for me"

She's clearly questioning why I'm treating her normally which shouldn't be unusual for her. There's no reason for me to be hostile against her even if her name is strange because she's an unarmed human and visibly weakened from her fall. I would strike her down or apprehend her at least the moment she shows any form of hostility.

"H-39, what's with all the racket?" Prinz Eugen arrives in the scene

"Eugen? Ah, this woman just fell down from the sky but surprisingly unharmed" I immediately turn around

"Eugen? As in Prinz Eugen? I see, so she's not - forget it" Bismarck META shakes her head

"Hello?" Prinz Eugen warily approaches us

Of course she's very confused to what I said earlier. Not everyone would believe that someone just fell from the sky and stands up intact. Other people would have been smashed like a tomato or break their bones if they survive. This Bismarck META can stand up straight without any difficulty like the pain earlier instantly vanished.

"..." Bismarck META falls silent

"I know it sounds strange but she calls herself Bismarck META even if she's not our Bismarck" I tried to explain clearly

"..." Prinz Eugen is speechless out of confusion

"I'll explain later. I need to take her to the infirmary first" I give up right now

"Perhaps you should look after her instead. In case she goes behind your back" Bismarck META is slightly less friendly towards Prinz Eugen

"What do you mean?"

"Forget it. I just keep thinking of someone I trusted and further made my sister to astray..."

"She's kind of strange" Prinz Eugen whispers to me

"Not the strangest one I met. One time I saw an Italian cruiser running around in her underwear" I whisper back

"..." Bismarck META is silent again

Her gloomier mood is affecting us now, and I don't even know why she's so solemn and serious in the first place. Usually this is caused by loss and huge regret, but I can tell for certain because I know very little of her other than the fact she fell from the sky and doesn't look interested. It may be just my instinct, but I don't view her as an enemy seeing she has no interest and confused why I'm relaxed around her.