Mighty Eagle, Calm Nest

by xT-Zealot

With Enterprise suffering from a crisis of identity brought on by her battles with the Crimson Axis and visions of a dark reality, Belfast has chosen to take some liberties to bring Eagle Union's ace to London to try and restore her humanity that had been smothered by duty. Meanwhile, the overseers of this timeline consider its continued worth and what they can extract from it.

11. Chapter 11

Enterprise ventured back into the ballroom with purpose as she passed tables, chairs, and the dozens of attendees either at or around them. Her past unease and awkwardness of the environment had been set aside, the carrier focusing on her mission.

She had to find Belfast.

Her first strategy was to look at the dance floor where she had last seen her, when Enterprise had let her go, completely ignorant of the cruiser's feelings that let her believe that she had been doing her friend a favor. Traveling around the edge of one side of the dancers, Enterprise kept a lookout for that blue dress or white hair but came up with neither. Not to be deterred by the initial results, she started circling around to another side to get a better angle.

Her attention was possessed of an unerring focus that it had not been graced with for what felt like forever, and Enterprise's mind worked with thinking of possibilities that would contribute to helping her locate Belfast. She may no longer be on the dance floor, Enterprise having said that she could do one or two dances. Although she wasn't familiar with just how long one would be, she was aware that she had been out on the veranda for a while. Belfast could've finished and came looking for her.

Enterprise had passed what she believed was the table that they had been seated at and hadn't seen her, but she extended her search to the rest of the ballroom regardless. Maybe Belfast had gone up somewhere to the balconies, as that was where Enterprise had thought to go-

She hadn't, Enterprise performing a double take when she saw the black bow that was affixed to the sleek, pristine lengths of white hair.

Belfast was bent in conversation with Newcastle, their faces close in order to hear each other, but it was only the features of the latter that Enterprise could see. Rather than laid out in peace, Newcastle's expression was of a neutral, business-like manner as she listened to whatever it was that Belfast was saying. After a shake of her head, Newcastle said something before heading off somewhere, leaving her former subordinate behind.

Enterprise considered the separation fortunate as she aimed to approach Belfast with her currently alone, but then halted when the cruiser turned and she was able to see her face.

Belfast was looking around, undoubtedly for the carrier, and was on the verge of coming across her if only she hadn't stopped her turn at the last second. While it kept her from seeing Enterprise, Enterprise was able see in full detail the worried lines that spoiled the gracefulness of her features. She was gently biting her lip, Enterprise having come to recognize it as a habit that Belfast had whenever she was distressed enough that it would slip out of her control or when she thought there wasn't anyone who could see it like Enterprise could now.

She looked…tired.

The lines on her face were not strictly of worry, the ones around her eyes giving off a weighty, worn appearance to Enterprise. Seeing them, Enterprise thought of what she had learned with Belfast having been out here overseeing the last of the preparations, while still having time to get dressed and ready in time to meet up with the carrier. It reminded her of all the other things Belfast had done – both obvious and not, with the latter having been mostly due to Enterprise having so little knowledge of it. Or care.

It made Enterprise feel worse. Terrible, even. She really hadn't been appreciating just what it was that Belfast had been doing for her. She would let herself be led along by Belfast's guidance, being amazed and envious of just how smart and prepared she was, but it was here that Enterprise realized that there had been so much more behind all that. She would just go with the flow of things, never really acknowledging the extent of Belfast's efforts and, on top of that, she hadn't given her the proper courtesy to really learn from them.

She had been the focus of worry before, in battle. Comrades and allies who would voice concern for her taking on the greater portion of the odds that would be thrown against them by the Sirens, and the aftermath when they would ask if she had been damaged. They were concerns that she would register, but never really respond with what was appropriate, focusing solely on the next battle, the next mission, and the next set of enemies. She remained intact, as did they, and that was enough. Even amongst her sisters it was the same or, perhaps, worse as Hornet and Yorktown being family just made it so that, in Enterprise's mind, they should better know of what she could handle and that enhanced their combat efficiency.

It had her ignore the deeper meanings behind those concerns that could persist even after the battle, such as with Massachusetts. When Yorktown would voice her regrets, Enterprise would experience remorse but would not know how to settle them other than to strive to perform better in the next fight to compensate. With Belfast, all that she had been attempting to try and teach her would fall on what might as well be deaf ears, Enterprise listening to her but only for the answer that would magically fix her and let her fight again. And when there would be no satisfactory results, she would cast aside the lessons as easily as she had been doing with the rest of her stay when presented with a threat, discarding not only the meanings behind them but all that Belfast had worked for to present them to her.

Had this been the cost that George mentioned of her ignorance? Being unable to relate to her comrades, family, or a precious friend? Had she been shunning their human aspects so much that she had become this blind?

Steeling herself, Enterprise pushed forward in order to start correcting at least this much.

Belfast spotted her at the corner of her eye, adjusting towards her approach, and for a split-second Enterprise saw the sagging relief that underscored those tired lines before Belfast swept them aside and presented one of her amicable smiles, perfectly composed.

How many times had Enterprise seen something like that, but had never pressed or thought any further about it beyond mild curiosity that wore off during the next hour? These glimpses that would show her the depths of Belfast's feelings, the cruiser who would be as frustrated and hurt as much as Enterprise if her efforts were not turning out to be enough, but would press on regardless, remaining at the carrier's side and supporting her even as Enterprise herself began to fall towards despair.

Enterprise silently reprimanded those missed opportunities of her past self. For all her thoughts on how she had never wanted to see Belfast as just a servant of her station whose acquaintanceship would end once her job here was done, it was exactly what the ace had been doing.

"You were no longer at our table when I finished," Belfast said once she was in hearing distance. "I had gotten a little worried."

What Enterprise glimpsed was something she did not believe as Belfast being 'a little worried', not in the slightest. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized sincerely. "I had gone out on the veranda for a bit."

"Ah, I should've suspected that," Belfast responded in an easy, self-chastising manner that Enterprise hated to hear from her. "You were admiring the Docklands so much on the way in, so of course you wouldn't want to miss out on viewing them from there. A much more impressive sight, I hope?"

Enterprise didn't want to be led astray. "How was your dance?"

A brow delicately rose, the only sign that Belfast showed at the question and the abrupt switch it initiated before she answered. "It was enjoyable. Enough to leave me satisfied for the night, I think, so if you want to return to our table or get…" She trailed off.

Like how George showed her, Enterprise put her body in a slight bow, lowering her gaze as her hand rose, palm turned upwards, towards Belfast. When she heard the cruiser go quiet, Enterprise used the opening. "I actually want to ask if I could have a dance with you."

Enterprise was torn when her request was met with silence, wanting to obtain some kind of visual of how Belfast was taking it, but at the same time this burgeoning embarrassment that was eroding at her integrity made her want to stay directed down so Belfast would not be able to see any of its effects that may be taking hold. Now that she had fulfilled the single-minded purpose of locating Belfast, she was suddenly left with the uncertainties of what was to come at this part and the one after if she succeeded with these steps that she had never taken before.

"You said you didn't know how to dance," Belfast carefully pointed out.

"And you said that these slow dances were perfect for beginners," Enterprise countered.

Her persistence gave her another pause. "It's nearly time for them to end."

"Is that a no?"

"No," the cruiser responded, much quicker this time, to the point where Enterprise could make out when she had to hastily clarify. "I mean it's not a no. I was just pointing it out. I don't want you to force yourself. I did have a dance, so I don't want you to feel as if I missed out on anything."

"I am not forcing myself. I…" Enterprise prayed that Belfast couldn't make it out when she swallowed the nervous ball in her throat, letting it fester further down, out of the way. "I want to. Otherwise, I'll feel like I missed out on something."

Going back to their table, letting this pass on by without Enterprise making any kind of direct engagement, was what the carrier believed she couldn't let happen. Confronting Belfast like this proved it. She had to keep going with this perspective that had been uncovered for her. If she didn't…

"In that case…" She felt a hand settle upon her outstretched one. "I'll accept."

Enterprise jerked her head up and thought that the smile that Belfast had was livelier than the one that she had last seen. Enterprise was relieved, until she remembered what George said to do next. The battleship had been insistent on it. Even when Enterprise mentioned conservative variations, George had said when – and she emphasized when – Belfast gives her her hand, she should do it, with no hesitation.

It was the Pocky Incident all over again, but in this case Enterprise's need to make amends was enough to stall the encroaching rust – the source being that festering nervousness she was trying to contain - on her human form for her to lean forward and place her lips on the back of Belfast's gloved hand.

She felt those fingers start, in time with a sudden suction of air that came from Belfast. Enterprise didn't dare look up, her burning cheeks giving her extra reason not to. "You gave me your hand…" she weakly stated.

"…You are correct." Belfast's fingers relaxed and then curled around Enterprise's. "I did. Shall we make for the dance floor, then?"

"Yes." Enterprise straightened, taking it upon herself to be the one to lead them but immediately found herself slowing, her one foot hovering over the boundary of the dance floor.

Beyond it, the couples still danced and swayed, mixed with the two separate existences of shipgirls and humans. The ones who fought the monsters and those who were shielded from them. Servants and masters, weapons and their wielders.

No, she couldn't think like that, and she couldn't let it stop her here, so Enterprise forced herself to push through the anxiety and dive headfirst into the gathering.

She sought out a suitable space for them where they could begin. Once they claimed one, they faced each other, their hands remaining joined between them, and Enterprise couldn't not stare at the light but noticeable shade of pink that tinged Belfast's cheeks, the color adding an enchanting effect to her smile that influenced the muscles in Enterprise's to contract enough to try and imitate them, the warmth at her face included.

Getting this far to where she could stand here with Belfast, she couldn't see how this hadn't been anything but a good idea.

Until they stood there for a bit longer, the movement of the other dancers continuing on around them.

…And yet they still stood there some more.

Enterprise faintly squirmed. "Um…so how do I do this?"

She inadvertently caused something that she was certain she'd never see again: Belfast gawking at her in stunned silence right before she immediately covered her mouth to smother a laugh that had her shaking and gripping tightly to Enterprise's hand.

Enterprise knew that she had gone scarlet but forced herself to endure. George's instructions had been nonexistent when it came to the actual dancing part, as at that point she just said that they'd be wasting time and that she shouldn't be the one to teach her anyway.

But seeing Belfast laugh like this, and feeling her tremors through the hand that was clamped around hers, felt mysteriously good that Enterprise would say that this was more of a fortunate incident rather than an unfortunate one.

"I'm sorry," Belfast apologized once she recovered, her face now colored with mirth that was sparkling within her eyes and making her lips twitch. Her shoulders shook with the lingering influence before they stopped, her grip loosening around the carrier's appendage. "You were so confident up to this point that I forgot."

"You must've been seeing things," Enterprise replied. Confidence was the last thing she felt she had at this moment, or during what had led them here.

"Oh?" Belfast suddenly took a step forward, tugging their hands towards herself. Enterprise had no warning, and the action put her off balance which Belfast took further advantage of when her free hand came around to her back, trapping her within such proximity that Enterprise had to question her earlier opinion of there having been signs of weakness moments ago with the energy that she could clearly see, this close, that was charging Belfast. "I beg to differ."

Her words caressed along Enterprise's face during their journey to her ears despite their volume having lowered, with Belfast's tone having morphed into a modified form of their usual notes. Part teasing but part…breathy confidence? Was that a thing? It was the only way for Enterprise to describe such a phenomenon that had her cheeks burning to a shade that she was clueless on with how hot they were, while feeling like she should be putting some distance between her and Belfast…but not wanting to.

This was another thing she had asked herself many times already, but even with her trying a new 'perspective' there was still no discernable approach for her when it came to coming to terms on why she would react this way.

This was a failing that she did not believe was involved in her understanding of Belfast's feelings towards her, but rather her own that she felt towards Belfast. Or…was it both? For all her unfamiliar reactions to these moments, it was Belfast's unusual actions that caused them, and Enterprise wondered if there was much she was missing in terms of why Belfast would perform them. She couldn't and hadn't seen Belfast do anything like this to anyone else, and Enterprise was actually averse to any imagination of her possibly being like this to anyone else.

Was this jealousy? Was a feeling like this part of what made up the difference between comrade and friend, alongside these other ones? For all this face-scorching embarrassment she felt along with the multitude of other feelings that made basic bodily functions become so discombobulated when they were this close, she didn't want to break away from it. In fact, what came to her instead was an inclination to want this to extend. When she asked for how long, she could only think of it being as long as possible.

That defied the inevitability of their eventual separation, but other than not being able to think about it, Enterprise found that she didn't want to. What she wanted was to keep herself immersed in this present that was of such perplexity but what she believed she needed to do in order to accomplish what it was she really desired, even if she couldn't figure out what that was.

For once in her life, she had to stop worrying about the could bes of the future and restrict herself to what was so clearly here and now.

For now, it was to learn how to dance, and Belfast began instructing her. Extending their clasped hands just enough to their one side with their elbows bent, Belfast said, "Put your other hand behind me, like how mine is."

Enterprise did as she was told, her one arm snaking beneath the one Belfast had around her in order to place it behind her back, immediately encountering her curtain of hair. The white strands parted and flowed around her fingers like silk, the carrier amazed at the feeling as she sought to get around them and make proper contact with the cruiser's back. However, even when she succeeded, she felt Belfast's arm bump down against hers in silent instruction. After some hesitation, Enterprise's hand went a couple inches lower towards her waist, she suddenly having an unexpected wish of not being burdened with gloves that kept the silk-like texture of those strands from touching more of her hand, what she felt at her fingers and wrist teasing her.

Enterprise could also feel just how thin Belfast's waist was, her fingertips spreading to better secure herself to it once she found an appropriate spot. The space between where her forearm was against one very defined curve and where her palm was now resting at the small of her back proved to be very little. For all their inhuman feats and capabilities that they were able to perform with their bodies that blended mechanical and biological components together with their riggings made of tons of metal and firepower, Enterprise couldn't think of any of what made them such capable fighting machines and instead was left to wonder just how thin and soft Belfast felt to her. She had seen the signs with Belfast's different changes of clothes, but Enterprise's difficulty to believe what she was feeling for herself led to the unconscious action of her fingers slightly pushing against the material of Belfast's dress, trying to get a better reading of how smooth and giving the skin beneath was around the cruiser's spine-

Was that a shiver she felt just now?

"Perfect," Belfast continued, her features unaffected by what Enterprise was sure she felt. "Like this, simply let your body sway to the rhythm of the music." To supply it with action, she began trading her weight from one foot to the other at an even pace.

Enterprise attempted to follow suit but found what should be an easy process to be uncomfortably stiff. For some reason, the distribution of weight between her pair of feet was slow and awkward, distracted both by how silly standing here and doing that felt while also being acutely aware of how that narrow waist she touched shifted and moved against her hand. The music she was supposed to be listening to was garbled.

"Relax," Belfast said with soothing instruction. "Loosen up. Let your pace match up with mine."

Enterprise had been holding her breath, something she hadn't realized she had been doing. She slowly let it out as she tried to coax her stiffened muscles to relax and follow the movements of the cruiser. She tried to sway her body to the same speed that she saw and felt from Belfast who was giving her own support through her points of contact at their hands and Enterprise's back. Belfast's face, which remained the center of her focus, similarly moved with such languid motions of left and right, and the rigidness of the carrier's neck muscles laxed as she followed it.

"Good." Belfast began to move more forcefully now, evolving from a mere sway to the lifting of her feet in that same pattern of left and right. "Begin moving in more of a circle, left and right. Follow my lead."

Speaking was what Enterprise was incapable of right now in her attempts to follow, needing to get past a great weight before she managed to lift her foot, followed by the other, and frustration began to override her embarrassment with how difficult this was proving. With a better goal in mind to match Belfast, and with the cruiser trying to pull her along, the clearer signs of her lagging behind in such an endeavor had her becoming more conscious of these failings.

This shouldn't be so difficult. She's performed much more complex maneuvers in battle, so this meager back-and-forth should be nothing. The self-ridicule spurred her to catch up, Belfast's shift to the right Enterprise forced herself to follow as closely as possible – which led her to stepping on Belfast's foot.

The front of her foot landed on Belfast's instep and scraped down, a shot of fear coursing through Enterprise when she felt how she ran along the bare skin there before clicking off Belfast's shoe. It got them to stumble, Enterprise catching the flicker of pain that she saw on her partner's face.

"Sorry!" she was already apologizing as they straightened, feeling something sharp jab into her chest at seeing the hurt there. Harming Belfast created a panic-induced impulse to pull away, augmented by two separate memories of how the cruiser had been hurt by her hand – one from this world, and one from the other.

She shouldn't have done this. This had been a mista-

The hand on Enterprise's back better seized a portion of her dress and cape while the other grew tight over hers. "It's fine."

"But-," Enterprise began to say, her priority remaining to get away.

"It's fine," Belfast repeated, as firm as her grip that kept Enterprise in place, unless the carrier wanted to persist and run the risk of knocking them over. She stared up at Enterprise, assuring her with a gentle smile. "It's common to make mistakes. What matters is learning from them."

The urge for flight was quelled, the spike of panic blunted as Enterprise relaxed against Belfast's touch and voice.

Right, that's what she was trying to do right now: learning from her mistakes. She had to stop running from them – neglecting them. Forgetting them. She hadn't been getting anywhere like that. Quite the opposite, as all it had been doing was pitting her against what was treasured by those around her.

"I'm trying," she said,

"I know." Belfast's smile lengthened. "I can tell."

"I'm just not used to making them." It sounded like an excuse to Enterprise, but what she believed it more to be was an admittance that she needed to verbalize to herself and Belfast. "Or I haven't been able to know it when I make them."

"Acknowledging them is the first and most difficult step, but once you do so the answers to be learned from them come naturally."

"I want to believe that." Enterprise frowned heavily. "I've been wasting so much time as it is."

"The only point of time that is most valuable is the present. Here, what can take seconds to learn is what will stay with us for eternity."

Their lives had the potential to be so measureless, but Enterprise nonetheless felt the weight of the thirty years that had gone by, with her having so little to show for it. Too little for her to find any worth in, while the rest of her kind had gained so much from what she had distanced herself further and further away from. Seconds did not sound enough to correct what had resulted from that span of time.

Her doubts must've been visible to Belfast, who said, "I believe the proper phrasing for the likes of us is to float before we can swim, rather than walking before running."

Enterprise saw an additional danger with the difference. "You don't have to worry about sinking if you're walking."

Belfast smirked. "And you don't have to worry about falling off a cliff if you're floating."

"It's common sense to stay away from a cliff."

"Just as it is to stick to the shallows instead of diving into the deep end."

Enterprise opened her mouth, paused, and then closed it. She had a point there.

A weight suddenly came against her shoulder. Glancing down, it was for Enterprise to see Belfast with her forehead resting there.

"So start here," Belfast instructed quietly, her face hidden. "Dance first. After that, you'll learn what it is you need to accomplish next."

Enterprise felt herself being boxed in alright, restricted as she was with this adjustment. It could've left her immobile if it weren't for Belfast beginning to sway again, and Enterprise couldn't leave her unsupported. She adjusted her hand against Belfast's back which emphasized how much closer she was to her now. Then, slowly, gradually, she began to move.

Belfast gave her a little bit of time before she transitioned, her swaying leading to the back and forth raising and lowering of her feet. Enterprise's previous folly was fresh, but it was not enough to obstruct her if it meant falling behind Belfast and disappointing her. She moved with care, learning enough to not repeat the mistake, but not keeping her from trying what she began to succeed with.

With Belfast's head against her shoulder, her hand at her back, the other in her own, and the added closeness of their bodies, Enterprise fell into proper unison with her friend's dancing. The simple motions and the pacing came together in the rhythm that the Eagle ace began to adapt to.

This slow dancing really wasn't that hard and, she supposed, she could see what was so appealing about it. It was like a calming meditation, a state gained through motion. Achieving that required the weight and movement of the other, separate, but what was done by matching Belfast, keeping in step with her, Enterprise could center her thoughts on the oneness that came with entrusting each other in this. The togetherness, as Belfast had described it, that isolated Enterprise even further from the inherent struggles and conflicts of their lives.

Although it wasn't necessarily contained to the two of them. There were other dancers that Enterprise had been ignoring – a whole roomful -, and by matching with Belfast she was matching with them. The other dancers who she had felt awkward to be amongst with her initial shortcomings but could now obtain a measure of belonging.

Human, shipgirl. All here, all dancing, all to this music.

But Enterprise wasn't there yet. Not enough to silence this voice of objection.

A lie…

And not enough to stop a part of herself from roiling at the suggestion of how human and shipgirl were the same.

But…all this was enough for her to know what she had to do next.

"I owe you an apology, Belfast. A big one."

Enterprise felt the tiniest of movement against her shoulder. "If it's about my foot, I said it was fine."

"No, not that."

Belfast was who she had to start with so that she may be able to grasp the values that were held by the other shipgirls outside of their nature of fighting. The values that made what they did, what they gained, and what they had created for themselves more fulfilling than meager inclinations to imitate their creators. There were honest, earnest feelings that they held but what Enterprise couldn't relate to.

At every turn Enterprise had seen them in Belfast with her love of life's elegance, in all its forms, but had never appreciated them. That was a mistake that she couldn't absolve with just a dance, and it was those feelings that she needed to acknowledge. Namely, the ones that had driven Belfast to such lengths for the sake of saving Enterprise – because of the worth that she could see but what Eagle Union's carrier couldn't beyond her title as the strongest warship.

By acknowledging them, perhaps Enterprise could see her own worth that would let her find her place outside of the fighting she hated.

"You were out here before, getting everything prepared, weren't you?"

The question did not even give Belfast pause in her dancing, but Enterprise did feel it when she sighed. "You spoke with George." She stated it as the fact that she must've deduced it to be, given the carrier's actions. "And it sounds like she said some unnecessary things."

"I don't believe they were unnecessary." The pattern of the dance with its forward, side, back, side, and forward motions that created this repetitive circle, so easy to follow, was influencing Enterprise into such calm rationale. "I think they were exactly what I needed to hear."

"…If you say so."

Enterprise wished that she could've seen Belfast's face right then as she was sure that she would've spotted the hints of the emotion that she assumed to be jealousy. She had thought the prospect of Belfast feeling such a thing ridiculous, but now the carrier could see not only the fault in doing so but the value of the opposite.

This included helping her recognize if it was something that she was feeling. Along with her improving view of slow dancing, there was a much more poignant regret of missing the chance of doing so with Belfast and letting someone else take her place instead. Feeling Belfast against her, and how she held the cruiser in return as they moved together, Enterprise felt an unpleasant sensation at the thought of someone having taken this time that should've been hers, leaving them with whatever was left of the current song.

Was this really jealousy? An emotion that Enterprise felt right now, and what Belfast had exhibited with George, with the reason that they felt that way was because it involved each other specifically? If so, then if Enterprise gave into this urge that wanted her to put a bit more pressure at the cruiser's back to secure them together, then…?

She did so and acted on another urge to better wrap her fingers around Belfast's hand to gain a more confident hold. In response, she felt the press of Belfast's hand against her back, the shifting of her other to better mold with Enterprise's, and the slight move of her forehead to gain a more comfortable position at her shoulder.

Despite that, Enterprise wasn't quite sure if she should deem that trial as a success – or just what exactly she wanted to come away with in terms of meaning if she had.

She decided to refocus on her main objective. "I haven't been appreciating what you've been doing for me."

She made out the pause there, the moment when she felt she was dragging Belfast along with their dance, the cruiser's foot landing late alongside her own. But she recovered quickly, her friend already in step with her again by the time she responded.

"Nonsense," Belfast replied easily. "If there is someone who should be saying anything, it should be me. You have been more than accommodating to these selfish requests of mine that have taken you so far from what you're used to. I'm rather amazed that you've went along with as much as you have."

"I have," Enterprise agreed at first. "And…that's been a problem I want to correct."

Belfast did not stray from the pattern this time, but even so Enterprise anticipated some manner of response from her. What it ended up being was Belfast lifting her head from her shoulder so that she could stare at her with larger, more curious eyes.

Enterprise wanted to shrink away from the stare but didn't for reasons other than being unable to. The dance she was caught in and had to maintain also included the conversation she was having during it. "All I've been doing was going along with where you've been taking me and trying to show me. I haven't made any efforts to really take them to heart."

"Present conditions would say otherwise," Belfast replied with a small grin.

Enterprise inclined her head in minor concession. "They would, and it would be wrong of me to fall for it, just as I've been doing this whole time."

Belfast's grin vanished the same time her eyes grew an additional fraction at that.

"Belfast, I…" Enterprise struggled here because of how she would be admitting to her own inadequacies and, by extension, Belfast's that hadn't convinced the ace to overcome them. "…I haven't learned anything. At least…not what you wanted me to learn."

"Enterprise-"

"Please let me speak. This is already difficult enough for me to try and say."

Belfast obliged her, still regarding her with that wide-eyed look.

Even with that privilege, Enterprise was awkwardly grasping at the invisible pieces that she needed to bring together to offer a satisfactory explanation. "I'm not…used to this. This life, that is, without fighting. We both knew that, but I don't think either of us knew just how much. I didn't, until now." Enterprise took a preparatory breath to begin getting over this hurdle.

"I've only been doing this because you said how it could fix me. For me, that meant being able to fight again and only to fight. Acting like a human, experiencing these things you've shown me, maybe I did enjoy them but the entire time what I've wanted was that answer that could somehow cure me as soon as I saw or heard it. I've said how I wanted an identity beyond fighting, but fighting is all that I can identify with, even if I hated it. I haven't been able to get over that, even with all you've done for me, and I've been ignoring all of it because of that."

The music was taking that moment to die off, and with it the surrounding dancers. They began separating, the peace of the dance now broken with chatter, and Enterprise followed along with it by stepping away from Belfast, letting her grip slip away so that they were standing in front of each other with space between.

"I've also been ignoring you and your feelings," she went on. "I'm not used to that either – having someone caring about me outside of battle – and I haven't been able to acknowledge how much you've done or why you're doing it. I'm even beginning to think that this might've been the case with my own sisters as well, with how our closeness had been due to how reliable and efficient we were together when fighting. When Yorktown was disabled, it shocked me, it hurt me, but all I've been thinking about since then was how I could fight harder and better to make up for her loss and put an end to the conflict on my own because it had gotten to a point where I could only rely on myself. It hurt my relationship with Hornet, and when what happened with the Sakura Empire happened…I've just realized how lost I've become."

True to her request, Belfast hadn't interrupted, and her expression hadn't deviated even a little, leaving her standing there and entirely receptive to Enterprise's words.

"What I'm trying to say…" Enterprise began to finish, even as she was still trying to form what it really was she was trying to say, "…is that I recognize that now, I guess. It's what has been keeping me from relating to you, the others, and it's been keeping me from seeing where not only myself but the rest of us can belong in this world outside of war, even when I've seen so plainly how shipgirls have been doing so with their own efforts. Maybe that'll be enough to get me to change all that but in case it turns out to be too late…I just want you to know that it's not your fault. It's always been mine and mine alone but at the very least I want to thank you for what you've done for me so…thank you."

Though the greater event of the banquet continued, the space that consisted of the two shipgirls felt cut off from the rest to Enterprise. The silence that filled it once she had finished was untouched, the carrier perceiving only that and how both she and Belfast stood across from each other, unmoving. Though the Royal cruiser remained unresponsive, Enterprise felt relieved at having gotten that out.

This was the best way to start, right? Getting all this out in the open? Coming clean with her mistakes, acknowledging them, and doing so with the one person who deserved it the most? With that done, she could really start to learn just what it was she needed to, and with any luck Belfast would be able to assist her in that. And if it still wasn't enough…Enterprise at least wanted her to know that she had nothing but gratefulness for what she had done.

But Belfast stayed where she was, and Enterprise was beginning to get a little concerned. Before she could say anything though, the music returned.

The song had the same inviting melody as the ones that had been previously played that had been suitable for the placid dances that Enterprise thought were over with. Others must've thought the same because when she looked around, she saw the ripple of confusion that came in the form of dancers pausing in mid-exit from the floor with looks going all around and between them in silent ask. Some resumed their departures anyway, but a greater percentage decided to make a return to fall back in line to the piano keys and strings of the instruments.

Enterprise was undergoing the same process, confused at first, but then thinking that this was a fortuitous turn of events to give Belfast a longer, more complete dance now that Enterprise had become passable as a partner. Although…was there a mood for it now, with all that she had just said to Belfast?

The answer came in the form of the arms that circled around her neck and pulled her close so that a chin could rest atop her shoulder, causing white strands to brush against her cheek. Enterprise started, her hands coming up but staying in a half-raised position when they were brought up short.

"…Belfast?" she asked quietly.

She wanted to describe Belfast's position as distractingly close, but any degree of nearness that she had encountered with the cruiser was always distracting. This was…thought-scattering new, with Belfast's chest against hers, her fingers weaving through her hair, and how any movement would have parts of her lower body stretching along hers such as her abdomen that was unfairly bare and could better feel the sleek fabric of Belfast's dress and, beneath that, her own taut stomach.

No, this wasn't new per se, but any other examples of this embrace-like positioning had been with Enterprise under the torturous effects of her damnable visions and nightmares. She had been in no state to…assess this as she could now. For all the good that was doing her, anyway, as Enterprise involuntarily shuddered when she felt a breath graze against her ear.

"You can be quite infuriating, do you know that?"

Belfast wasn't expressing much anger even though the question would've been suited for it. Better than the whisper-like quality that had Enterprise suppressing another shudder. "I'm sorry?"

"You better be."

Enterprise was stuck, with no idea about what she should be saying or doing, and that was best shown with how her hands remained undecided about whether to place themselves on Belfast or not.

"You simplify what is complicated, and you complicate what should be so simple. No matter which you do, it's always to get you away from everyone else by disparaging yourself."

"I…I know that now," Enterprise replied. "That's what I'm trying to fix."

"So that entire speech you decide to give me is to tell me how you do know that now, in every little detail, and then thank me after saying it's your fault that I haven't been able to do anything for you and that I shouldn't worry about it if you're still unable to get better?"

Her tone had become tighter, more biting, and even as a whisper Enterprise flinched at it. Had that been what she just did? "I hadn't meant it like that."

"I think you all but spelled it out for me. So, in exchange, I want to make something very clear to you, Miss Enterprise."

This was not going anywhere that Enterprise imagined. Definitely not in this kind of direction, where the revelations she had made would be angering Belfast.

And she was angry. When the cruiser pulled her head away so that she could look at her, there were no blank masks or tight smiles or disapproving frowns. There was unfiltered anger that created such tension at her jaw while her eyes were enflamed with such intensity that Enterprise was leaning away but was impeded when she felt the painful tug of follicles from where Belfast's fingers had woven and were now using her hair as a very short leash.

"Yes, Miss Enterprise," Belfast seethed, "I do care about you, very much so. Enough, I'll have you know, to be mad at you when you say something so inconsiderate to me. You speak about not being able to acknowledge my feelings, so I'm telling it to you straight because that seems to be the sole method that'll work with you."

Enterprise expected a slap to be a part of that method – the threat that she had been supposed to have been saved from but what appeared very likely to happen anyway.

"I had wanted you to learn this for yourself, but you remain so persistent with just focusing on your own faults, your own failures, and how you view finding your place in this life as just another battle that you can only succeed in by proving your worth." Belfast sighed, letting some of that building pressure leak out. "Enterprise, there is nothing and no one for you to prove yourself to. Not for this. All I wanted was for you to see that the world you keep struggling against, saying how difficult it is for you to find your place in it, has already and always been accepting of you, ever since you were born into it. Where and how was not something I wanted you to decide; it was for you to recognize that the freedom of choosing where and how had always been available to you. You may've been brought here for a specific calling, but you always had a choice to be more than that. We all did."

Enterprise was rendered mute and did nothing when Belfast brought her chin back to her shoulder, her mouth coming near her ear so to better whisper her latest bit of guidance, reverting to gentleness. "If you've really come to understand just what it is that you've been ignoring, then what I want you to do – right here, right now – is to stop thinking. Listen, see, feel – just let yourself become a part of what had always been meant for you."

With her advice delivered, Belfast began to sway against the carrier again. Her hair caressed Enterprise's cheek, which was then nudged by Belfast's during the second before it pulled away only to repeat the process again. Her fingers skimmed through her hair while her body, soft and warm, rubbed against her.

Very slowly, Enterprise's hands came to Belfast's waist, encircling around it. She began to follow Belfast's movements and, with a step they took together, they began dancing again.

This wasn't pretending.

Enterprise felt the tension at her back beginning to tighten around her shoulder blades, but a light squeeze from the arms that were around her neck loosened it.

This wasn't an illusion full of falsehood, or some show that they were performing. This was real.

Enterprise kept that in mind, finding it easier to do so with the body wrapped around hers, the soft music drifting into her ears, and the presences of the others that began to seep back into her awareness as the two danced. As instructed, Enterprise tried to keep her thoughts as simple and complication-free as she could.

With her own chin perched against Belfast, Enterprise could catch glimpses of those other dancers. Trying not to stray from what was being presented, keeping her focus limited, all she could see and think of was how everyone around her with their human forms danced and experienced exactly what she was experiencing right now, no matter what their different natures may be. Humans, shipgirls…the same.

The opposition that tried to make a return was suppressed when she felt Belfast's cheek come against her own, staying there this time, as the rhythm had become enough where the cruiser could better rest against her, Enterprise now feeling her breath passing over a point in her neck that was strangely sensitive to it and what had the ace better hugging Belfast's waist to bring in her warmth.

This was happening right now. Away from the battles, away from the fighting, there was nothing attached to all this. This was being done because everyone wanted to. Because they could. Because they were able to.

Nothing drove that home better than when Enterprise found the three destroyers who were responsible for helping make this happen. With a generous amount of space having been granted to the three of them, she could see how Laffey, Javelin, and Ayanami were performing their own dance.

Laffey's movements were as lazy as always, making any spectator wonder if it was her who was lifting her arms or if it was her two dance partners, each having claim to her hands and who spun beneath them. As the Sakura Empire and Royal Navy destroyer completed them, the two matched their movements in order for their Eagle Union equivalent to follow them, her upper body bending and twisting almost like a rag doll to their handling but what Laffey rose from in the end, straightened, for when she was brought into the circle that they created, Javelin and Ayanami both smiling, their heads touching hers, as they guided her to the same back and forth swaying that everyone else was following before they broke again to repeat the maneuver with Javelin lifting her arm and spinning under it, Ayanami doing the same as they passed each other, and what Laffey performed when they were through.

With her hair bound up, there was no hiding the sleepy but happy smile that she had.

For those three to be able to be here and do all that…for Enterprise to be here to witness it…to feel it…

This had always been here. This had always been what Enterprise could do. This was what it meant to have humanity. What it meant to be alive.

She felt there was a point where she had known that, it having been made plain to her at some point in time…but she had forgotten.

And just like that, she remembered it.

---

It had been right after she had been born, when she had taken her first walk upon this world.

During that time, Long Island was still Long Island and not the unbreakable defensive line that it would later become for New York. The beginnings of it were already in place though: a few shore artillery guns with more already in the midst of construction, the anti-air batteries that were intermittently placed, and the hastily constructed berths and facilities that were meant to house and support the ships that were forming a proper defense fleet. These included the still-manned production ships and the newest vessels that had become coupled to the latest evolution of warship design and groundbreaking technology where all the man and firepower would be consolidated to a single being who was part girl, part ship.

This included the second ship of the line of what was swiftly becoming a new and highly favored method of naval combat: the aircraft carrier. For this one, she was called Enterprise.

That was the name she had been given as soon as she had been released from her incubation tube, but the fact of the matter was that she had already known what her name was before her creators had even uttered it. It had been a name that she referred to herself as soon as she became self-aware – the moment when a lifeform became sentient. Alive.

Or was it more appropriate to instead call it when she became operational? Functional?

Whichever it may be, she had known her name, and she had known her purpose. Those same creators had been more detailed about what that purpose entailed, but the carrier known as Enterprise had been as knowledgeable about her primary function as she was to her own name.

Her purpose was to fight.

She was Enterprise, second ship of the Yorktown-class of aircraft carriers, hull number CV-6.

Time had been spent with checkups and minor exercises – 'soft trials', as it were, to make sure that there were no flaws to be found in her core or her human body. A day after that, when they told her that she had permission to go outside, Enterprise assumed that it was a continuation of her trials. To accomplish that, she was taking a walk, putting the construction that was her body through this simple test to identify anything amiss, no matter how small it may be.

But everything was optimal. Her legs moved as commanded, whether it be putting one foot in front of the other in a natural gait, or when she suddenly sped up into a run which she would then stop, without fail. Doing a few jumps in place proved their integrity when they did not buckle upon landing. The smaller flexing, curling, and stretching of her toes within the confines of her boots were similarly done without anything out of the ordinary.

She ran through the rest of her mental checklist performing what meager feats she could come up with on the spot. Her arms that she rolled and swung around, her fingers that clenched and unclenched into fists and, bending down, she pulled some blades of grass from the ground and tossed some stones that she picked up. All of which were done with satisfactory results.

At one point, when she was becoming low on ideas, she eyed one expanse of green grass. No impediments, no dangerous obstructions that could damage her. She then ran, dropped, and landed shoulder-first to initiate a roll that ended with her lying on her back, arms and legs spread out.

…Nothing unusual.

Enterprise laid there, staring up at the blue sky and letting her eyes track the few white clouds that were up there with easy success. Upon coming across the bright yellow ball that was up there, she judged her reflexive squint as a proper, compensating response to ease the sting that came with staring at it. It was not entirely adequate, but she did not consider that as a fault of her body. Reaching up, she pulled down the brim of the cap she was wearing, blocking out the sun.

Useful.

She raised her arms, bringing the sleeves of her coat into view and watching when they slid partially down her limbs. She dropped them, then pulled her chin down so that she could see the lapels of this black coat that she tugged on, doing the same to the cloth of her shirt, her skirt, and finally wrapping the length of her tie around a hand before then unwinding it.

These clothes she had already been donned in, even when she had been floating in her incubation tube. They would do to provide protection from the elements, serve to fulfill the required measures for modesty, offer proper identification for her allegiance, and express the authority and discipline behind it, but that was all. Outside of that, she didn't feel like there was anything else to note.

She laid there for a little longer, her gaze returning to the sky. She watched a few more clouds, and then snapped to a flight of birds that happened to fly overhead, keeping them in sight until she could no longer do so. A breeze went on by, Enterprise listening to the shuffling of the grass, the feel of it on her skin and ruffling of her clothes. At either side of her, her fingers pressed into the dirt before seizing some more grass that she held above her and then released, watching the manipulations of the wind send them spinning and scattering, with some still landing on her.

She ran out of ideas and deemed this soft trial as completed. The current state of her form was acceptable, and she wondered just what it was she was expected to accomplish that couldn't have been done at the labs. They had told her that it would be a good way to get her situated, and though she assumed it had meant to be towards her form, she wondered if they meant situated in this environment. The one with the bright but warm sun, the cool wind, and soft green grass.

With her hands still raised above her, Enterprise turned her palms towards herself so that she could examine the flecks of dirt and a blade of grass that was stuck between the lines of one palm before the carrier's flexing of her appendages freed it.

These feelings weren't unpleasant, she supposed, but she didn't really see how they could really contribute to what was her primary function. Dropping her hands to either side of her, she raised herself up into a sitting position and looked to her right.

Long Island had not been anywhere near as urbanized as the city of New York, the densest population centers having been in growing suburbs while the rest of it had consisted of farmlands and villages before the arrival of invaders had forced the extraction of those settlers. This specific spot had been the location of one of those suburbs that had housed an old ferry terminal with a nearby railroad running through it, both lines of public transportation having served to connect it to New York. It was why Eagle Union had chosen to construct one of their latest strongpoints here, even if it meant cleaning the ruins that may've been left behind.

Of them, Enterprise couldn't see. A dent in the earth that could've once been a crater was nearby, but the grass had regrown, making it part of the sea of green that Enterprise sat in. If the few roads that were here had been broken by the beam weaponry that had blasted the area, then they had been restored. If there had once been human structures of stone, wood, and steel that had been warped or vaporized, they had been effectively replaced by that of the more formidable – but still rather scant, separated by expanses of undisturbed/regrown nature of grass and trees – military structures that had taken their place.

The section of railroad had already been restored with the intention of being reused again, and the aged ferry terminal had been replaced with modernized berths that not only held a small guard of warships, but also cargo ferries delivering supplies. With this future strongpoint still in its infant stage, it fought with the natural landscape to become the dominant force it wanted to be. But Enterprise was not ignorant of what these signs of combat expressed.

One of the shore guns was nearby, Enterprise scanning the full length of the long barrels that protruded from the bulbous turret and pointed out towards the sea, and then she stared out at the sea itself. Save for the waves that splashed upon the shores, further back the waters were flat and placid, stretching out towards the horizon and going further beyond that. Enterprise couldn't see that far but knew of the thousands of miles of the open ocean that was waiting for whoever would voyage upon it.

A frown came unbidden to Enterprise at seeing this calm ocean but keeping in mind the heavy cannons that were nearby, pointing out at those waters. Eventually she rose to her feet.

She should probably return to the research facility where she had been constructed and where the staff would be waiting for a report on her status, but she wanted to make a detour first. Nothing wrong with adding some extra time to make sure that her body was error free, even if that wasn't her intent as she made her way to the berths.

She decided that the amount of time she could add was enough to get her down to those docks. There, amongst the small guard of destroyers and cruisers with cargo ships was her ship.

Even if it wasn't such a steel platform over eight hundred feet in length that dwarfed the support vessels, Enterprise would've known it was hers. While her human body had been manifesting within the labs of the research facility, her ship body had been built and synchronized to the signature of her Wisdom Cube. Though her primary consciousness was stored directly within her human form, a tether had been established between it and her carrier form that was nearly identical to the physical spinal cord that connected her to and let her manipulate her body.

It was ethereal in nature, but its function remained the same. The flex of a finger was a manipulation similar to what she could exert over one of her planes – although the Wildcats and Dauntlesses numbered in the dozens rather than the ten digits of her appendages. Walking and running was the same as accelerating and decelerating, a squinting of her eyes becoming a view of targeting reticles and bomb sights, and so on. There was an inherent disconnect that came with her primary awareness being attributed more to one form over the other, but the amount of control remained the same.

Although Enterprise believed that she had more of a preference for her ship body.

The opinion came to her as she walked on the deck, using it to travel down the length of the docked warship with her head turned up the whole time, eying the solid hull. Down here, she couldn't see any of her aircraft or much of her flattop deck at all save for the edges, but it didn't matter. She didn't need to see her limbs in order to know where they were or to move them, and the same was true here. With her link, she could take control and send her fighters and bombers out to explore the whole of Long Island without her needing to move from this spot. She didn't, because that wasn't what she had been ordered to do.

Enterprise stopped at the end of the dock, right next to one of the tied lines that kept her ship in place, before looking down at a hand she raised for examination. She flexed her fingers as she had done before, waggling them one after the other, and then regarded her ship.

She was out here testing her human body and would have to do the same with this ship, too, but it was the former that felt unfamiliar to her. This ship, with all its tens of thousands of tons, on the other hand, felt unquestionably more familiar, which could translate as being more reliable to her.

She just felt that there were additional…unnecessary components to her human body than there were to this war machine. And she wondered if that may get in the way of her purpose.

Pivoting on the docks, Enterprise stared out at the great waters that went past that horizon.

Like her name and her purpose, there were things that Enterprise knew. Knowledge that a part of her understood that she shouldn't have but was nonetheless available to her. And when she looked out towards these oceans, there were things that she knew she would find out there.

The number one being war.

Something that she had learned from her creators were the identities of her enemies: Sirens. It had been Sirens that had attacked this area and countless others. The reason for her creation was to fight them and break their hold on the oceans that they had stolen from humanity. She was a shipgirl, and there were other shipgirls like her who had already been fighting and defeating them. Not just in Eagle Union but in other nations around the world. Sirens were the enemies of humanity, and the only enemies that shipgirls such as herself would fight.

There was…death out there, on those clear blue waters. Hot, cold, loud, filthy, and inevitably silent death. She was taking her first steps, her first exploration of this world she had been born in, but while the functions of her human body puzzled her, the feeling of controlling it appropriately new, there were sensations that she had yet to experience with it but what she already knew.

The sounds of incoming planes, bombs, gunfire and explosions, smoke and ash. She knew what they were, what they caused or were part of what could only be a brutal aftermath of such violence. She was so certain of it that she was ready to believe that she had undergone it before, at such faraway places, where her deck would shudder and be left shocked from near misses, to the explosive detonations that would blow holes in it, buckling and warping her bulkheads and frames, and the humans housed there would die, blood and oil and fires sullying her ship body.

With her human body, Enterprise experienced different kinds of sensations, ones that she was not used to. Destruction and death were solid, indisputable results of violence, but what she felt in the wake of them were reactions that did not feel as stable to her.

Destruction became…pain, and pain was just as malleable when it came to its form. There was the pain of physical harm, but then there was a kind of pain that came when Enterprise thought of harm not to herself but others. Others who would no longer be there after the battle was done, leaving her alone. This pain was a very hollow, empty feeling that she did not know the name of. What came next, when Enterprise imagined not one battle but the many more that would come after it, one after the other, she felt a great weight pressing down on her, a heaviness that believed that she could feel resting on her shoulders when there was nothing there, not even her coat that left them naked.

But what she believed to be the worst feeling was the one that came when Enterprise imagined the end of the battles. There was all this pain, all this death, for herself and others, but it was not death that would come for her. Not like how it did with the others. Instead, what she felt to be certain to be waiting for her at the end was…

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

She would just be…nothing.

And not once did the name Sirens cross her mind as being the cause.

That feeling made her suddenly feel cold, so cold that her breath shook. The coat that she wore she pulled up, covering her shoulders before drawing it closed. It wasn't doing much, especially not to this quickening of this internal component she remained unfamiliar with but knew to be important, given its placement within her chest.

What was this? What was this feeling? A reaction to whatever it was that this body was doing? A malfunction that was revealing itself now?

She didn't like this. She didn't want this, this unreliable form with what had to be a faulty construction, inadequate for her purpose that would entail so much. She should return, report this to the ones who built her, and get herself repaired.

She was Enterprise. Her hull number was CV-6. She was a warship. That was all she was. That was all she needed to be.

That was all she wanted to be.

Her plight was interrupted when there came a gasp behind her. Enterprise sharply spun towards the source.

Who stood there wore a coat like hers, but fitted accordingly to her form, with the top couple buttons closed over her chest, the rest of it left open so that the ends could fall with those of the skirt of her white dress. It was a blend of authority and tenderness, as were her mature but maidenly features. Her ivory hair was long and flowed freely, but her blue eyes were of deep, enduring experience.

Those eyes were currently wide, right above the hands that were clasped over her mouth as she stared at Enterprise. The newly minted carrier returned it, confused as to who this was and why she was looking at her like that.

The other woman lowered her hands from her mouth, just enough for her to ask, "…Enterprise?"

It was the very first time that Enterprise was seeing her in this world, and it was the first time she was hearing her voice. But in that instant, something within her clicked, another segment of knowledge surging to supply the identity of who this was.

Enterprise knew her. She was another shipgirl, like her. Another carrier. But not just any carrier, as Enterprise felt a connection to her, nearly as ethereal as the one she had with her ship, but also nearly as distinct, nearly as attached.

It was a connection that could only be shared with sister ships.

But…she should not be here. Enterprise knew that but all she could do was stop and stare at who was before her regardless. "Yorktown…?"

The lead ship of the family of carriers that Enterprise was a part of, with the hull number of CV-5. Yorktown, her sister, who had sunk far too soon, whose name became linked to those thoughts of her losses, of the unbearable pain.

How could she be here?

Yorktown got over it faster than Enterprise, although when she began to approach, she did so gradually, looking at Enterprise as if she were a ghost. As she got closer, Enterprise could make out that her clothing was not clean. Her coat was ruffled, and there were dark stains that stood out starkly on that white dress. Though her face kept to that picture of surprise, Enterprise did make out what had to be fatigue, sections of her hair slightly disheveled. When she got closer still, Enterprise smelled the scent of smoke.

Had Yorktown been fighting? Were there enemies nearby? The possibility made Enterprise stiffen, her body going into what she believed to be a combat mode as she was suddenly alert and ready to launch herself at the enemies that were nowhere in sight on these peaceful shores.

She wanted Yorktown to tell her where the enemies were, and then order her to retreat. She wanted her away from any danger that was here. She didn't want to lose her again-

At the last leg of the journey, Yorktown flung herself at her.

The reaction that Enterprise wanted to make was to pull her off when Yorktown suddenly embraced her, her arms winding tight, so tight that it was almost painful. That alone impeded Enterprise from going through with any such attempts to separate, but what ended any plan of finding another way regardless were the fierce whispers of relief and joy that came to her ear.

"My sister!" Yorktown breathed, squeezing like her life depended on it. "You're finally here! I knew you were coming, but to have you finally here…!"

Seeing her, hearing her, feeling her, with such surety, that Yorktown was also here, influenced Enterprise to return the embrace. Her body felt less in her control in this moment, the way her arms came around Yorktown based on these more reactive, unstable emotions being done without the need of conscious effort. However, Enterprise found such a worrying thing to be the farthest from her consideration as all she wanted was to hold Yorktown in a way that she had never been able to do before, with these human forms that were so soft. Not as reliable or as durable as steel, but perfect for this embrace that was so warm, both outside and inside, that vital component within her chest filling with something both weakening and empowering.

"Yorktown," Enterprise finally spoke, now returning the embrace almost as hard as she echoed, "My sister."

Yorktown was here. Yorktown was alive. Against all these things that said that she shouldn't be, Enterprise could perceive for herself how she was here, and she felt so very grateful for it, which was why she felt such dismay when Yorktown pulled away.

But she didn't go far, Enterprise able to see how her features shone as she smiled so joyfully. "Come with me!"

Enterprise would've gone wherever she wanted, but as soon as Yorktown started to go towards the end of the docks, towards the seas, her feet suddenly became rooted as she resisted her sister's order.

No, she wanted to say out loud. Not out there.

Not out towards the danger. Not on those waters, where war and battle and destruction and death awaited. Yorktown's death, the death of others, and leaving Enterprise alone and, after that, letting her waste away to become nothing.

Yorktown turned to her, still smiling widely, ignorant of her fears. "Don't worry about the researchers. It'll be quick, I promise!"

But Enterprise shook her head, all she was able to do to convey her unwillingness to go out on the ocean.

Yorktown came back over, taking her hands, her fingers lacing through hers as she lifted but did not pull them towards the ocean. "Please," she requested with breathless excitement. "I've waited so long for this."

Enterprise's resistance withered. She stared at Yorktown's ecstatic countenance, then towards the ocean. Dangerous, but right now appearing so harmless, the waves splashing softly against the docks, the sunlight gleaming on the surface.

It has been a long time. Enterprise didn't know how long but was somehow certain that she would be incapable of measuring it even if she could, the last time she and Yorktown were together.

So, reluctantly, she nodded.

Yorktown summoned her rigging, Enterprise right after.

It was more than having the flight deck that became latched to her back in its harness, or the stabilizing fins that appeared at her boots. Other than the cubes that had split and reconfigured to form them, Enterprise felt the change within the internals of her human body. The biological components shifting, even strengthening, as something combined that made her muscles denser, her bones more solid, her blood and flesh thickening. With this fusion, she felt closer to the metal and oil that made up her ship body.

It was more familiar, and Enterprise had been right in her musings of how she would be able to navigate more reliably. As soon as her feet touched the waters, she accelerated as if it were natural, the way her body adapted to the weight and strength changes flawless.

But her human body and its emotions remained, although in this instance Enterprise didn't mind when she heard Yorktown laugh, her sister ship immediately circling around her as soon as she touched down. Enterprise was turning her head to follow her, watching the waves that leapt from behind her feet, her smile illuminating under the sunlight that reflected from the water, her laughter flowing with the wind along with her hair.

What she felt in response…it was enough for Enterprise to smile her very first smile.

"This way!" Yorktown suddenly called. Rather than out towards the open ocean, she stuck near the shore as they traveled along it, going further inland.

Not knowing where she was going, but not caring either, Enterprise followed her.

"Hornet's coming, too!" Yorktown informed her, once Enterprise was alongside her.

"Hornet…?" Enterprise asked, but as soon as the name passed through her lips, she knew who Hornet was. Another sister ship, one who she felt a great reliance for with their time together that took place after Yorktown had left them.

But that was before Hornet, too, eventually disappeared as well.

"Our sister!" Yorktown confirmed. "They told me it would be you two! You would be the first, and then her! Just a little longer and we'll all be together!"

Together. Fighting together. Enterprise's smile grew smaller. "We…are supposed to fight." She took another look at Yorktown's disheveled state. "Have you been fighting?"

"Yes, for quite a while now." Admitting that was doing little to diminish Yorktown's high spirits. "But it's been worth it for this day alone! To think of what it'll be like afterwards!"

"Afterwards…?" All Enterprise had to think about such a thing was what this enigmatic knowledge was granting her, these things that felt so real to her.

But it was that same knowledge that was proving to be so contradictory. It was saying that Yorktown wasn't supposed to be sailing next to her as she should be, that Hornet should have long expired instead of waiting to be introduced to this world. It was saying that her enemies were someone that wasn't these Sirens.

And it was also saying that Enterprise should've been reduced to nothing by now.

With this contradictory clash of what should be and what clearly wasn't, there were these faulty defects that Enterprise possessed – these emotions. She was sure that she wasn't supposed to be having them either and were, in fact, something she didn't in this insight of such darker tides. Yorktown shouldn't be capable of smiling and laughing like she was doing, or how Enterprise was smiling in return and feeling such warmth and lightness as she witnessed her sister ship.

It was reason enough for her to reconsider her opinion of her human form and what was packaged with it.

A horn blared in the distance, getting Enterprise to swiftly look ahead again. Along with her muscles, her planes were tensed to be launched towards whatever threat that turned up as soon as she willed it. A surprise attack?

There were ships up ahead, but they were much like the ones from where they had just left: warships, but they were meant as escort vessels for the transport ships that were tucked within their formation. And other than the ones that were crewed by the figures that moved along the edges of their decks – human sailors -, there were similarly-shaped figures who were in their shadows, except these ones carried cannons and torpedo launchers on their riggings: shipgirls.

Yorktown glided to the side to get out of their path, Enterprise following and decelerating when she did, leaving the two to drift and watch the ships go by. Some of those human sailors waved at them, but it was only when Yorktown waved back that Enterprise mimicked her. One shipgirl – a battleship, whose rigging was large enough that she was riding on the hull, with her triple-barreled main batteries flanking her – also drew close enough for her answering gesture to be seen. That same horn sounded again from one of the production ships, though this time it was an obvious greeting.

Enterprise looked to where they came from, and despite the distance she could see the sharp tops of the towers and skyscrapers of the city that they were leaving behind. That, she knew, was New York.

The supply fleet was sailing away from it and out towards the ocean.

"They're leaving?" Enterprise asked.

"Yes," Yorktown replied. "There's other territories that need supplies."

"But there's enemies out there." She recalled the names of their enemies. Not from her knowledge, but what the researchers had told her. "Sirens."

"They are out there, and have made several attempts to breach New York, but every day we push them further and further back. We're taking back our lands and our seas. That is the job that humanity needs of us for."

Enterprise frowned as she watched the rear of the fleet, having now passed them to commence their journey. "Do we…have to?"

Yorktown took her question with a quiet giggle. "Oh, my darling sister, how could you say such a thing? Even if we aren't human, there is much trust that is being placed in us. So many hopes. You can feel it for yourself, can't you? The yearning to venture out into those azure lanes, as free and right as it should be? Not just with what had been imparted into us by mankind, but how we ourselves as ships are part of the seas."

Enterprise had been feeling many things, but what Yorktown described wasn't one of them. All she could feel was that recognition of danger. No matter what was or wasn't supposed to be, the fact that they had enemies that they needed to go out and fight, and that they could be damaged or sunk, remained true. And that fact was enough for that cold, unsettling feeling to reassert itself; this emotion that she didn't have a name for but what made her so unwilling to go out into the seas because of it. But it was something she didn't want to say out loud to Yorktown as she didn't like how her sister may see her if she did.

"Besides…" Yorktown maneuvered closer, and soon enough Enterprise found herself in another embrace, though this one was more tender than the last. "If nothing else, this alone is enough for me. To be brought to life, and to help create a world where you and Hornet can be as you are, that is more than enough. Blessed be the azure lanes, as they have so blessed me with this day and the ones I'll be able to witness with you two in it."

Enterprise could still detect the hint of smoke from Yorktown, and she had noticed how her rigging had shown visible wear and battle damage. But she was able to ignore that and that frigid emotion because of how Yorktown hugged her, how grateful and relieved she sounded, and that was because of the sister that she was finally able to see. So all Enterprise was able to do was hug her back, the two of them remaining there for a while, in those peaceful seas and bright skies, awash in those warm emotions.

As special as that moment had been, so shortly after her birth, it was something that Enterprise would later forget. It was that moment that would let her sortie out together with Yorktown, let her experience their first victory together, and then, later, when Hornet was born and the two of them had been nearly tackled by her, swinging an arm around each of their necks before she brought them in hearty, back-slapping hugs.

That cold feeling had gone missing, but with it was a very warm feeling that made her feel so light as she got through those opening times with them. Those grim proclamations of what should be she had never thought of again, and how could she? She was with her sisters, a union that felt more like a reunion, and as they fought, smiled, and laughed together, that warm feeling grew and came to encompass more than their family circle as more comrades joined them, their numbers increasing, and more of their oceans freed for them to sail in peace while they fought their one, common enemy.

During those times, she had become thankful of the world and what her existence granted her, once she had learned what this warmth was.

It was happiness.

And she had been happy to be alive.

---

The music hadn't changed, but it sounded different to Enterprise. It had just been another layer of noise, and when she came to dance it became a guide that let her fall into a rhythm with Belfast.

Now it was becoming something different, somehow. The strokes of keys came more poignantly, their higher notes raising her before the softer, mellow tune of the violins brought her down, their joint melody penetrated further than her ears, flowing through her body, and getting her to move with more feeling.

This sudden empowering of her awareness didn't stop at the music. She could better detect the people around her. Moments ago, it had been due to how she was able to become a part of this movement of dancers – comfort and a degree of pride of having been able to do so that let her better ease into the whole of the dance floor.

But now she could hear them – feel them – to a point where she did not consider herself a foreign entity that had managed to adjust to their standards enough to not be out of place. They moved as she did, breathed as she did, felt and heard what she did. Shipgirls, but humans, too.

Even the ballroom, already bright, had become bright. Not in the illumination provided by the lights, but how apparent everything was becoming visually. The hardwood floor, the shiny brown coloring, and that of the attire of the dancers, the dancers themselves, and the people that were sitting by on tables with their white tablecloths that had become whiter, the bronze and marble of the room's decorations with the Royal Navy red enhanced.

Something was happening to her.

She wasn't being overloaded by her enhanced senses, the sounds she could hear not becoming loud, or what she was seeing becoming painfully bright. There was nothing wrong with what she felt either, but she was becoming…overwhelmed. The music, the colors, the very life of those around her fed inwards, overflowing.

The only action she was persuaded to do was hug who was against her tighter, feeling like the soft and warm body was something she needed to hold onto against this flooding.

The arms around her neck loosened. "Enterprise?"

Enterprise didn't answer, barely registering to her that all she was doing was standing still, having been unable to continue the dance with what she was experiencing.

The arms came away from her neck so that Belfast could grab her shoulders. "Enterprise, what's wrong?"

Wrong…?

Was something wrong? She…wasn't sure. She was having trouble thinking, but her head felt strangely clear. Still, it was only when Belfast began pushing lightly against her shoulders, wordlessly asking her to let go, that Enterprise did, even though it was something she didn't want to do and regretted it immensely when the cruiser backed out.

Something was happening to her, but she couldn't make sense of what it was, let alone try and tell Belfast what it was. She found a more obvious problem when she tried to bring Belfast into sight anyway: that being how she couldn't.

Enterprise could make out the shape that was Belfast, but she was distorted. A wavy, blurred form of white and blue. She blinked, trying to clear her sight, but all it did was squeeze out something cool and wet that started trailing down her cheeks.

Huh?

Enterprise looked down, her hands reflexively coming up when she felt the first drops fall. They splashed onto her gloves, her fingers, and she could feel for herself when more of these droplets dripped down onto them.

…Huh?

Enterprise stared, a wasted effort with her vision remaining blurred. She closed her eyes, a more forceful squeeze to drain what was filling them, but all that happened was more of this liquid leaking out, contributing to the two streams that fell from them and dripped from her face with the source still spilling out more.

"W-wha…?" Enterprise tried to say but found her voice hoarse. Her throat felt thick, nearly choking her, and it got more of these droplets to fall.

What was this?

She lifted her arm up enough to swipe at her eyes with it. When it did nothing other than make her arm wet, she used the other. When the same results were achieved, with the tears continuing unabated, she wiped more vigorously.

Tears?

"Wh…" Another question that was so weak that it died before it could really begin.

Why was she crying?

"Enterprise?"

Her hearing wasn't affected, but her name sounded so quiet when Belfast said it. She stepped close, wanting to do something, but Enterprise's response was to step away. Something really was wrong with her, but she needed a moment…or two…to figure it out. Or at least recover enough that she could start to.

But the tears weren't stopping, and Enterprise identified an almost chalky texture that took over some of them with her next wipe. It was her makeup. That facial powder getting wiped away, along with what had been applied to her eyes that was staining her skin with black lines that she could barely see.

She had to stop. She had to stop.

"Enterprise."

Belfast tried again, and Enterprise retreated again, but then the carrier jolted when she bumped into a pair of dancers, with all involved stumbling. She wanted to turn and apologize, but what she did instead was duck her head down, blindly grabbing and pulling at a section of her cape to not only assist with this futile cleanup but to hide how pathetic she had to be looking right now.

She felt Belfast grab her, the cruiser speaking to who she bumped into. "Apologies," she perfectly delivered. "Stepped on her feet one too many times. If you'd be so kind to excuse us." She was already pulling Enterprise towards somewhere while her voice dropped into a whisper. "Come with me. Quick."

Enterprise obeyed, tucking herself against Belfast and keeping her head down as her friend guided her with an arm around her. The assistance proved necessary, the heels of her shoes she was inexplicitly fumbling with to walk properly, her coordination shot.

Belfast pushed open a door, bringing them both into a hall outside of the ballroom. It closed behind them, the cadence of the event muffled but still there. Enterprise gave Belfast two more steps and then she broke away from her, ducking out of her arm.

She needed a minute to herself. Just a minute. A minute for her to just stop.

Trying to tell Belfast at least that much demonstrated how impossible that was. Her mouth gaped open but no sound came out, the lump in her throat choking off any words. Though having consciously ceded Belfast's assistance, Enterprise desperately needed something to replace it, something she found when her one shoulder touched and leaned heavily against a wall. It lasted for all of two seconds before she found herself sagging down it, unable to hold herself upright.

She wanted to describe how it felt like something was breaking inside of her, but it sounded too violent. What was more appropriate was how something was being worn away, the influx of feeling and sensation washing against it over and over again. Though Enterprise had left the ballroom, she could still hear enough, feel enough, and even out here she was being assaulted by how smooth – almost impossibly smooth – the wood of the wall felt against her shoulder, the carpet that her knees sank down upon soft, the colors of it patterns vibrant to even her crippled vision.

Cracks formed, the flood rushing in, filling a chamber that had previously been sealed up, broken, sealed up again, and was now entirely compromised. What it held became deluged, Enterprise feeling how her heart began to ache so badly. There was a shadow of an attempt to repair the seals, reinforce it, but such efforts were foiled as the very organ itself rebelled, being revitalized even though it was being entirely submerged, and the last barriers around it blew outwards as the pressure became too much.

And all Enterprise could do was cry. At her knees, with her body bowed, Enterprise became wracked with quiet sobbing.

It felt like her soul had become sick with emotion. She was sinking, but she wasn't drowning. Every heave she made, every sorrow-stricken noise she made, was in their own way a breath of new life. Her body, her heart, her soul being filled with so much life that there was nowhere else to put it, with so much extra being expelled with her tears and her sobs.

She couldn't and didn't fight when Belfast knelt next to her and draped herself over the Eagle carrier. Enterprise pressed her face against Belfast's lap when the cruiser positioned it there, the tears wetting her skirt, while the carrier's hands bunched what else of her dress they could grab at her sides so that Enterprise had something to hold onto. She felt Belfast stroke her hair, her back, and it coaxed out more of these shakes and quiet lamentations.

"I…I can't…stop…" Enterprise managed to croak out, having emptied out enough to say at least that much. "I can't stop…"

"You don't have to," came Belfast's response. Unworried, patient, comforting, as were her strokes. "Let it run its course."

Enterprise had no other choice. Though Belfast was providing such a stable point for her to rely on, it also had to be because she was that Enterprise cried for a while longer. Eventually the sobs began to lessen, enough for her to begin taking fuller breaths that had her settling enough that she was lying against Belfast rather than clinging to her. She didn't pull away though, feeling so weak now.

"What's wrong with me?" she quietly asked.

Similarly, Belfast hadn't ceased providing what she could, even as Enterprise recovered. It was after Enterprise asked her question that she felt Belfast sit up, her hands coming to rest atop her head. "There's nothing wrong with you, Enterprise. There's nothing wrong at all."

Her palms dropped down, cupping Enterprise's cheeks, and Belfast raised her head just enough so that she could lean down and press her forehead against the carrier's. This close, Enterprise could make out the cruiser's eyes and her faint smile.

"In fact," Belfast said as her fingers brushed away at the remnant moisture, "you never looked as beautiful to me as you do right now."

Back towards the ballroom, the door opened, Enterprise barely making out the clicking of someone's heels as they entered the hall. "Is everything all right, Belfast?"

Without breaking her gaze from Enterprise, Belfast replied, "Newcastle, I'm going to have to request some additional assistance."

---

Newcastle went to carry out Belfast's request without asking a single question about the scene that she had discovered. The time needed for her to complete it was used to bring Enterprise into some semblance of shape. Enough, at the very least, for her to be mobile enough for when Belfast guided her back to the front entrance of the Royal Palace and, soon, outside.

By then Newcastle had their transportation prepared, the front lights that had been turned on in response to the dominance of night illuminating the roadway and where the maid was standing with the passenger door to the limo open. Without a word Enterprise practically fell into the seat and dropped into a lean against the passenger door when it was closed.

She had made no objection to the suggestion of leaving, given her state. She couldn't imagine how awful she looked right now after that sob session. After exchanging a quick word with Newcastle that involved the two exchanging respectful bows, Belfast joined her.

It was a long, quiet ride back to the hotel.

The entirety of it involved Enterprise remaining immobile, even when the cool glass of the window against her head became warmed by her body heat. She just stared outside, watching the passing of the royal grounds and then the gates that acted as its perimeter, and shortly after they were driving back through the city.

Enterprise was not experiencing any inclination to look away from the cityscape when she saw it. She wasn't feeling anything at all – at least not towards the outside world. It was a different matter entirely when it came to herself. Though extraordinarily drained in more ways than one, Enterprise could make out something occurring inside of her. Now that the internal squall had passed through, her body was trying to make some kind of assessment of the aftermath and respond accordingly to create a state of normalcy again.

Though nonviolent, the vortex of emotions that Enterprise felt swirling within her was hampering such efforts.

At certain points when Enterprise did move, it was to use the handkerchief that Belfast had later given her to dab at her face when she felt an errant tear break through. She didn't think she had anything left, but even though she was viewing the passing city emptily, something about the lights of the buildings with how they not only outlined them but shone down on the pedestrians in the streets below was so vivid and moving in a way that encouraged what little that could be squeezed out through her tear ducts.

During what she thought was the middle of the ride, she felt someone slipping their fingers through her other hand in order to give it a soft squeeze. Enterprise didn't have the energy to even try to bring Belfast into view. All she did in response was produce a very weak grip in return, their hands staying like that until they got back to the hotel.

Enterprise wouldn't be able to recall making her way back to the room. She had registered seeing the hotel once they arrived, but passing through its doors, taking the elevator, and so on she couldn't remember. Nor did she know how it was that it ended up being the balcony that she ended up on. Had it been Belfast who was responsible? Herself? Again, she couldn't remember.

All she did know was that she was sitting in the same chair that she had been in that morning. The cup of tea that had been left for her and what she hadn't touched had still been there until Belfast took it when she retreated into the room. She wasn't gone for long, a different cup in her hand which she gave to Enterprise.

The carrier silently took it, taking a sip, and was a little surprised to taste plain water. She realized that she was thirsty and guessed that all that crying would've caused some measure of dehydration. She drank the rest of it, not keeping conscious track of it, and only when the last tipping of the cup came up empty did she set it aside.

Belfast remained standing at her side the entire time. She didn't say anything, and even after Enterprise finished the silence extended for a bit longer with Enterprise not saying or even looking at her either.

Then, "So it finally happened."

Enterprise didn't react in any way.

"I had been waiting for it and prayed for it every day since we started – and I don't mean when we got here. Your heart has been reopened. Whether you were able to remember it or figure it out for yourself, you have come to really accept that there is more to our lives than just fighting. You can see the value in this world that you've protected, and by extension you have come to see the value in yourself. Though you were born a ship, you remain just as human as those we serve, meaning that you have your own rightful claim to a make a future for yourself. Accepting that elegance, letting it grace your human heart and spirit, will go a long way for you to obtain what you wanted."

There was still nothing.

"…Yes, well, such a revelation could only be expected to be so intense, but someone who's solely a warship wouldn't have been able to shed tears like you did or feel what you must be experiencing right now. Please keep that in mind." Belfast waited but was met with more silence. "I guess there really isn't anything else that needs to be said. I'll leave you alone now. Take as much time as you need to think over what happened, but do not neglect your health by staying out here too long."

She was about to walk back inside but Enterprise detected when she hesitated at the door. "Good night, Enterprise. I'll see you in the morning."

And then she was gone, leaving Enterprise alone.

Alone with these reawakened emotions that churned and mixed inside of her, trying to find where they belonged in one who had forsaken them, with a heart that was struggling to remember how to accommodate them. It left Enterprise's body heavy and unresponsive, all non-essential systems shutting down while such a reset was taking place. When she did deign to do something, it was to look at the view of London.

She did feel something different for it now. No longer did she feel repulsed by it, she able to look at it without wanting to turn away from it. To reject it and, more importantly, rejecting that she had anything to do with it.

Yorktown…I think I understand now.

This was the world that Yorktown fought and been injured for, and though Enterprise had always been inspired by her to do the same, she hadn't known why.

Except that she had, once, with Yorktown having said it straight to her – she had just forgotten.

Enterprise didn't think that Yorktown really believed that they were human, but she had nonetheless believed that there was something about their existences that made them more than just ships born to fight. It was enough for her to find so much value in them and in the world that could let them come to be as they are. That was what Yorktown fought for and let her hold out for so long: to create the opportunities for the sisters she loved so much to be born and find their own joys in their lives, because of this world that would let them.

Even when her legs had been taken from her, as was her ability to be with her family, Yorktown had been content. She had fulfilled the mission that she had set out to do. The ocean that she was able to view from her home, on those calm shores, was all the proof that she needed to show how much she had done, where mankind had been able to grow so much that there were such peaceful waters for her sisters during the breaks in the fighting.

Her nest had already been there for her the moment Enterprise and Hornet had come into her life. Her legacy would be what they would accomplish in her stead, even if she may never recover.

Enterprise hadn't been able to understand that. By then, the battles had been wearing her down, and when the sister she admired so much had been so badly damaged in the battles she hated and wanted to end, she had descended back into those haunting thoughts of how she was a warship – all she needed and all she wanted to be. It would be what would get her through them to the end. An end that she had come to believe would have nothing to do with her, or the rest of the shipgirls who she fooled herself into believing she fought for, without any idea of what she was allowing them to live for afterwards.

By doing so, she had perverted everything that Yorktown had done for her.

But if she was able to talk to her right now, Enterprise would be able to say that she was able to understand. Looking at London, Enterprise felt it. Her reawakened heart and spirit were letting her know that there was a place for her here. She wasn't rejecting it, and she wasn't seeing it as something that was separate from her. Experiencing these sensations was letting her connect to this city and all its millions of inhabitants; from the ones who were within the floors of this hotel, to as far as the bright lights of the city would let her see.

Except it went further than London. It included New York, Eagle Union, and all of the factions of Azur Lane. They were all the same.

Even the Crimson Axis.

They all had these feelings, all these sorrows and joys, fears and dreams. There was no difference whether it be borders or what they were born as. They all wanted something out of this life, and if they tripped and fell there were others to help them, no matter what their differences may be. In that way, anything was possible.

Enterprise looked up towards the night sky. It was so far away, but tonight it felt so very close. Enough so that it did not feel as impossible as it may appear to be when she raised her hand up towards it with the possibility of touching it.

One day…could the future that she marveled for humanity also be hers?

She lowered her hand so that she could stare at her palm.

Am I human?

It didn't even twitch.

Enterprise inhaled slowly, then said, out loud, "Am I human?"

Again, there was nothing. Nothing but these hopes and dreams that could be the start of a future that was hers to make for herself.

---

The current of data slowed and settled, the broken crags of the stream smoothing as the subject's code repaired and reformatted itself. Lines of data, once stricken with errors that had been predicted to further degrade, were instead being mended. Not to the original specifications either, as alterations were created that not only repaired them but established new vectors in order to accommodate the latest impulses that were the result of the shift in the subject's central nexus.

"How fascinating," Observer mused, her one index finger tapping against her cheek as her chin rested upon her palm. Her golden yellow eyes illuminated at the display, highlighting the additional curve in her amused smile.

So against the odds, the Key had managed to restore herself, and Observer took a few moments to admire the makeup of her code directory, recording and storing the copies alongside the previous ones so as to better catalogue the process that this iteration was undergoing. While doing so, she reviewed those previous recordings that made up the timeline that she was forming around the subject known as Enterprise.

Observer made an amendment. The Key did not restore herself but had undergone a modification that was made plain to her when she compared the current state of her nexus to what it was before the start of Project Orochi, so much so that 'modification' was not an adequate term to use to describe the contrasts between them. It was an entirely different conversion.

"But that was the obvious outcome," she spoke further. "Maybe not the nature of the result itself but the degree had to be unquestionably vast, all things considered."

There was no one around her, no others to listen or be informed of her musings, but Observer found that her form's verbal speech was a helpful tool to better designate a degree of her processes on the here and now, in this timeline – in this world. Her multitasking that stretched through the massive Siren network – a network that was unrestricted to the rules of time and space that they manipulated for their multiple experiments – was anything but silent as she was constantly fed trillions upon trillions of streams of data that required her oversight even as she focused on the other passages of her recordings of this Enterprise iteration.

It was a very interesting timeline that had been set up throughout the decades of this subject's life cycle, clearly defined in these templates of data. Concepts such as emotions, wants and desires, and all other manner of passive and active cognitive function all packaged and converted into a discernable language of number sequences that was all for Observer to read and edit as she saw fit.

Even something as the 'soul' was nothing but data clusters, effortlessly shaped and manipulated so long as the appropriate factors were introduced with the predicted consequences.

It was the recordings before the subject's transformation that Observer gained the most entertainment out of, particularly when it came to the timeframe of when the Key had undergone the failed merging with the Orochi. Bringing that up, Observer examined the tightly-wound code layers that surrounded what made up Enterprise – her nexus. Rigid and uncompromising, but not formidable as Observer had set up the very collapse of these layers in their myriad of simulations, and not just with the Enterprise iterations.

Then again, it was also Observer's guidance that had built them up this way so who better to dismantle them?

It was with a projected chance of failure that barely exceeded five percent that Observer had calculated that the same would result here, when the Orochi program was introduced.

A vast sea of foreign code enveloped Enterprise, a thousand times more in size and scale than she. Her code layers had held for but a moment, and then began to be stripped one by one from her nexus. Brute force had not strictly been the cause – nor would it have been as efficient -, as within the Orochi's coding were segments that had been meant to be compatible with Enterprise's seemingly inflexible code in order to create a smoother deconstruction process, just as Observer had meant for it to be. With this, dissemination had been well on its way and was meant to be followed by Enterprise's seamless integration into the Orochi.

But then there came an interruption – a pause in the process. And during that pause, Enterprise managed to destroy the Orochi. Its core was wiped out, and the vast sea broke and scattered in an instant.

Even though she had been at the scene herself and made as close an observation as she could, Observer had needed to dedicate extra time and processing power to examine the recordings and discover the cause of the error. The exquisitely complex and vast makeup of the Orochi that she commended herself on became…frustrating, she would let herself designate, when it came to that endeavor.

But she had been rewarded with some insight when she noticed the irregular operation of one set of algorithms in the Orochi program. They had gone against the flow of the rest of the data, and that had been enough to create the error that led to such a spectacular failure.

Data segments, already converted to the Orochi's massive directory, had managed to oppose the prime program, usurping control, and that alone was enough to cause its downfall.

"Five percent, was it?" Observer regretted not having been able to obtain samples, but other than the unexpectedness of it, there had been nothing that she could've been able to do. The data had been sourced from another simulation, the transfer to this one incomplete, so even she wouldn't have been able to salvage anything from the space in between where they all scattered and disappeared once their anchor point had been erased.

But that was what these tests were for, with newly theorized safeguards ready to be implemented in future ones.

Moving on, Observer focused on what this had done to Enterprise, who had been far from unscathed. The interruption had not only left Enterprise with those dismantled layers and their errors, but with portions of the Orochi's code – namely, that of the other Key.

The last couple weeks – well, that was the passage of time within the space that this world occupied had undergone, anyway -, hadn't been as exciting, but Observer had nonetheless been entertained to see the progression of that foreign data and how the segments were duplicating in order to replicate their source. In the process, they were degrading the rest of this subject's directory that had been resisting and trying to adapt, only to be altered into disjointed sequences that could've ended in irreparable damage. Maybe even termination, although that wasn't even the most extreme case. That would be the Enterprise subject continuing to function despite being plagued with such corruption.

So, yes, the result that Observer returned to at the end of the review couldn't be anything else but fascinating, even if it hadn't been due to the Key's efforts alone. This world's profile and that of the other subjects were variables that had been unquestionably responsible in guiding the Key to this transformation, and Observer had identified one specific subject that held the greatest responsibility.

But those details did not detract from the result, not in the least. It was not one or two subjects that these experiments were meant for, but to see how the very simulation contributed to their evolutions and compare them to the others to glean their valued information for future simulations. In that respect, this simulation had accomplished that much, especially with how it had managed to stimulate such recovery and changes in this Enterprise.

However, there was a little bit of a problem…

Observer leaned back in her throne, her perception widening to register and isolate the data streams of this world from the rest, focusing on their flow, and experienced a measure of disappointment.

"This world…" she murmured while making a show of tilting her head in examination, "…is getting a little too peaceful."

The stagnation that she had predicted was coming to pass. The struggle of the Key had been one of the only factors that warranted her continued interest, and though she had collected an unique recording to be catalogued, Observer had to question if there was any value in continuing this simulation.

There were limits to even her processes, and stretching them too thin could lead to lapses in data documentation of the numerous simulations that were running in concert with one another, not to mention address any interferences that could occur. Such lapses were inexcusable and, even worse, detrimental to their efforts as multiple simulations and their results could become entirely worthless due to mere bytes of data going unrecorded and leaving their findings as less than absolute without the knowledge pertaining to how they got there to back them.

Time was of no concern to Sirens, but efficiency was paramount for what they wished to achieve. To maintain that efficiency, they had to debate and judge just what simulations could continue and which others had to be terminated for the sake of their continued research.

"So should I end it here?" Observer questioned.

She already knew the answer as soon as she asked it: not yet. She still had something left to witness pertaining to this simulation.

One of her tentacles lowered, and Observer held out her hand for the fragment that fell and then halted in a hover an inch from her palm. All it took was a glance, and Observer's lips stretched further. "Oh…"

The fragment pulsed and glowed, so volatile that she was already computing the odds of how the delicate crystal may very well shatter. Although the broken piece remained intact, with her sight Observer could see how it was more than just power that was leaking out from it. There were pieces of fractured codes, the compromised lines and pathways that looped into obvious errors that she could easily read.

The rate of deterioration had increased exponentially. If she didn't do anything, this Key was going to end up terminating herself. Of that Observer could rate with one hundred percent certainty.

She surveyed the fragment a little longer, and then her attention drifted back to the calming rivers of this world's data streams.

What a sight that she could make if she tossed this pebble right into middle of this and create very interesting, information-filled waves. Even she couldn't predict what would happen…and that was enough for this simulation to continue for a little longer in order to see just what kind of results she could get.

The prospect even got her to giggle as she judged herself warranted to do with rare, authentic excitement.

---

Author's Note: And like that, we're halfway there.