By the time Trinitite had entered the area her map designated "Seattle", the day had drawn to a close. The sun had set, but night never really seemed to fall around here.

This was especially true for Seattle. The sheer volume of light the city put off was stunning. Light shone from every building Trinitite saw, every vehicle that passed the Abyssal, and even a mind-bogglingly large amount of posts that lined every road and walkway! From there, it reflected off the roads, nearby trees, the clouds that had recently rolled in, and even the oily-smelling fog that cast the town in a glowing aura.

How did they keep this many lights active. It must have required an army of maintenance ships to keep replacing so many bulbs. Were they even incandescent?

The city was so radiant the Wo had trouble drawing parallels to the ruins she was familiar with. Was Seattle smaller than Jakarta, or five times as large? Maybe if the Carrier could launch a scouting aircraft in the daytime, she would know, but that was obviously out of the question.

It was all so overwhelming.

In an effort to stay inconspicuous, the Wo-class had tried to stick to crowds, which remained thick even at this hour. That, too, had surprised her. She could comprehend a crowd, ships weren't known for being spacious, after all, but the sheer variety of humans was left her off balance. There were men and women, of course, and Her Princess had prepared her for that much, but their size! Some were tiny, escorting larger humans around the city (or was it the other way around?), while others seemed so bloated she couldn't understand how their underpowered human legs could carry them! Others were wire-thin, their skin covered in wrinkles and small hairs, while others had lost their hair entirely!

And the colors! Hair, skin, clothes- Elizabeth had told her there was a meaning behind what someone wore, but what about their hair? Trinitite never paid much attention to her own, but it looked like a lot of these looked like they required a lot of maintenance. Why? What about skin? The Abyssal was proof that one could change their skin color. Was that a statement, too?

Trinitite tried very hard to ignore these questions, but they continued to nag at her while she focused on more important topics. The chances Mother- or the thing that use to be her- was in Seattle was pretty slim, but it certainly felt most likely. Now, how was she going to search the city?

Trinitite took a step away from the foot traffic, opening her road map directly under one of the large street lights. Let's see, she'd folded the corner of all the charts which included the city itself. The fact that there was more than one was a little daunting, but she didn't need to check everything, right?

There were a lot of piers in this city, but she probably only had to worry about the military-owned ones. Trinitite doubted determining if something was truly Navy would be particularly difficult. They seemed like the kinds of people who'd slap their name on everything they did.

Hmm, 'Harbor Island' looks promising. It wasn't too far, either. Maybe she should start-

Surface contact, 500 yards!

Something stirred in the corner of Trinitite's vision, and all her questions were immediately forgotten.

There, practically on top of her, was a transport, two- no, six destroyers, a light cruiser and an Escort Carrier!

The Abyssal froze. Had they seen her? No, they were too busy talking and laughing with each other. That was going to change, though, and soon!

Uh… hide! She needed to put something between them and her, like a smoke screen or a squall or something. Frantically, Trinitite searched the area around her, before her sight focused on a gap between buildings. There.

Before she'd even realized it, her feet were carrying her towards the gap, a human in her path letting out a surprised yelp as she narrowly avoided a collision.

The Wo-class cursed she continued down the alleyway, weaving around bins and jumping over a human slouched against one of the buildings. If they hadn't noticed her already, her sudden dash- and the commotion it caused- made sure they did. Why did she have to panic!

Stupid, stupid W-

The Abyssal was so busy chastising herself she didn't notice the Chain-Link strung across her path until she'd rammed into it at flank. The thing gave away with a yelp and a series of snaps, her foot caught in the collapsing fence for just long enough for the Abyssal to lose her balance. She tumbled forwards, sliding across the concrete until she came to a stop against a vehicle parked in front of her.

The Abyssal groaned, rolling onto her back. Things were going to get much worse, and soon. Especially if the ships she'd spotted had decided to give pursuit.

The thought was enough to get Trinitite on her feet and running again. What she'd just witness had a lot of implications, but she couldn't afford to consider them until the Carrier had shaken her pursuers.

Again.

Akatsuki… wasn't entirely sure what she'd just witnessed.

The football game had been loud, crowded and confusing. The Destroyer never liked sailing alone, but there must have been thousands of people there, all shouting and jumping…

It was exhausting, but Akatsuki guessed she could see why it had taken off, even back home. If she hadn't made such a fool of herself during the halftime show, she might have enjoyed herself.

The Destroyer's cheeks flushed at the memory. How was she supposed to know a football was that fragile? So unladylike…

"The crowd, the combat…" Akatsuki's division leader gushed, drawing the destroyer away from her embarrassment. Tenryuu laughed to herself, swinging a dark blue thunderstick around her in excitement. "That was great!"

"Would have been better if the Refs were on our side…" The American destroyer in their group groused, Fletcher adjusting her Giants cap and sending the other Americans an exaggerated pout.

The Destroyer's accusing glare seemed to be ineffective, however. The Liberty Ship Robert E Peary returned it with a smug smile, while Ommaney Bay was much more vocal. The escort carrier's voluminous red hair and oversized jersey shook as she laughed.

At least someone had enjoyed the game.

Akatsuki's attention had returned to the rest of her division. Inazuma, despite being as overwhelmed as Akatsuki had been, seemed to be as excited as the Americans were. Ikazuki was a lost cause from the beginning, clad in as more football memorabilia than Akatsuki thought possible. Hibiki, however-

Capital Ship, about four-fifty meters west.

Huh? Who could that be?

The Carrier- and looking for herself it seemed obvious- was frantically searching the road around her, a gigantic booklet of some kind clutched in her hands. Even for a fleet carrier, she seemed massive, bigger than any CV Akatsuki had seen in her old life. One of Intrepid's sisters, maybe?

Before Akatsuki could ask, however, the ship broke into a sprint, narrowly avoiding a pedestrian as it dashed into an alleyway.

One moment passed, as the Destroyer realized the group had fallen into silence.

"Anyone else see that?"

Akatsuki wasn't the only one who'd spotted the mysterious carrier, as almost half of the impromptu fleet replied to Peary's question.

"Anyone know her?" Tenyruu, of course, was the first to ask the obvious question.

"No…" Fletcher replied, before continuing. "But I haven't seen all of the Essexes. Maybe she was part of the Seattle Express with you guys?"

With Abyssal installations at Wake, Midway, and Dutch Harbor, keeping a link between Japan and America's breadbasket had become harder and harder. DesDiv 6, along with a good portion of both nations' navies, had an almost permanent job of protecting the massive convoys required to punch through abyssal territory. The specifics were beyond the destroyer, beyond the fact her Admiral wanted her watching Football games and exploring American cities "to build comradery."

Still, the convoy's screen was massive, and try as she might Akatsuki couldn't remember everyone she'd sailed with to get here.

"Shangri-la" Hibiki murmured, and the group's Carrier lit up.

"That's right!" Ommaney Bay exclaimed, bouncing some more. "She's a part of your convoy, right? I heard the ONI grabbed her right after she made landfall!"

Akatsuki nodded, although she'd never heard the rumor. Ommaney Bay's home was Everett, so she had to be more in tune with the local rumor mill. It was an exciting thought, though. What would ONI want from a carrier?

Something stirred in Akatsuki's mind, another rumor from a previous life.

"She's the one that did the raid with medium bombers, right?"

Silence. Akatsuki spared a moment to look at the three Americans in their group, shrinking a little at their questioning look.

"Doolittle?"

"Ohh…" Fletcher finally replied, removing her hat and taking a moment to fix her hair. "That was Hornet. The President called her Shangri-la because he didn't want you guys to know the real Carrier who did it."

"But what did-" Tenryruu asked, cutting herself off as realization dawned. "Ohh, so they named her after a fake ship, who was named after a fake country?" At Fletcher's nod, the Light Cruiser broke into a grin. "That's pretty badass, actually."

"Well, regardless of her name, I hear she's a little… loopy." Peary spoke up, restarting their walk. "Why don't we get back to our parking space and let her continue doing… whatever she was doing."

"Agreed." Tenryuu added, although someone as familiar with her as Akatsuki was knew she didn't, really. "Let's go, kids."

"Hai."

Akatsuki wanted to have to ask about the strange carrier later, but sticking her prow into other ship's business wasn't all that ladylike, was it?

Besides, Tenryuu had promised them ice cream after the half time debacle, and she still hadn't decided what flavor to get. The odd Essex would have to sort out her own problems.

She needed a new plan.

The ships she'd seen didn't have their rigging out, weren't wearing a uniform and certainly didn't seem to be acting unusual, but she'd still instantly identified them. She'd seen directly through their disguise, meaning they'd probably done the same. This was devastating!

Enemy ships on the water would have no problem picking her out on shore, while every nearby city would be crawling with unwitting patrols. How was she supposed to reconnoiter any of the enemy's naval bases? Since her disguise now was significantly less effective, Trinitite would need a new approach. Could her scouting aircraft get a good enough view of the base, or would that be risking hell divers for nothing? How did submarines do this?

She could only panic for so long, however. It still wouldn't be impossible, just more difficult. Already a new plan was forming, although at this stage calling it a 'plan' would be generous.

Of course, every operation was built on logistics. Maybe Trinitite's view of strategy was tainted by her experience guarding convoys, but without a fresh source of supplies her options seemed much more limited. Sure, her earlier raid bought her a lot of flexibility, but those supplies weren't going to last forever and the navy was probably going to be ready for another raid.

Luckily, the human's supply system was perfect for streamlining logistics. Trinitite didn't need to negotiate separate deals for constant food, raw materials, and fuel, but only needed a source of this 'money'.

A job, then. If almost every human had one, how hard could it be?

First off, Trinitite needed to distance herself from Seattle. The city on the opposite side of Lake Washington might still see the occasional naval outing, but it was a far away from Everett (which, judging by the map, seemed to be the primary naval station in the area) as she was willing to get.

"Welcome to Panda Express, what can I get for you?"

This building, located behind a runway filled with vehicles, seemed entirely dedicated to serving cooked food. Since a new day had dawned, it had just opened, but it still seemed to be crawling with activity. When the Abyssal had entered, a peculiar smell filled her bridge, and her attention was drawn inexorably towards the cafeteria-style bar not too dissimilar to Trinittite's own mess. The food was… unfamiliar, but Trinitite recognized the white pellets from the fishing trawler. Could this food be just as dangerous?

It didn't matter.

"I saw your help wanted sign."

Like a switch had been flipped, the woman's countenance changed from an empty politeness to cold assessment. Instinctively, the Wo flinched, as her gaze wouldn't have looked out of place on some of the more dangerous Princesses.

"We do all our applications online." She started. "You should be able to find them at panda-careers-dot-com, but googling 'panda' should get you there without an issue. Just fill out the application, upload your resume, and we'll email you when we've looked at it."

By this point, Trinitite thought she'd gotten used to unexpected aspects of human society. With the sheer scale of Seattle and the destroyed cities she'd seen, it would be surprising if she didn't encounter human vocabulary, sayings, and methods that she didn't understand. This, though? This was an order of magnitude more confusing than she'd prepared for.

Where could she start decoding that statement? On what line? Where was dotcom, and how did goggles help in finding it? Was she supposed to have this 'Resume' pre-prepared, or did every human already have one? What even was email?

The human had said it so matter-of-factly, too! Was everyone supposed to know this stuff?

The overwhelmed Abyssal felt her cheeks flush as she met the Human's expectant gaze. Eyes behind her were boring into her back, and suddenly the Carrier felt dangerously exposed. Again.

"Ah."

"Anything I can get you?"

She'd lost this one. The human's question was a dismissal, plain and simple.

"Uh… no." Trinitite replied, backing out of the line.

"Have a nice day!"

And with that, the Human's attention shifted to the man behind Trinitite. She'd been merciful enough not to dwell on the Wo's failure, but Trinitite could feel the gaze of several other humans as she retreated from the building.

Getting a job was going to be harder than she thought.

Surprise DesDiv6!

In all honesty, I hadn't planned for them to be there. I wanted an east coast ship and a west coast ship, but the idea of googling Japanese ships Fletcher had encountered popped into my mind and after a little research I had to add them. Tenyruu seems more like a hockey fan, though. Hope I got their characters right, as a last-minute addition of minor characters I didn't spend too much time trying to get their feel down.

I've never been a huge fan of football, but this seemed like the best way to put a bunch of ships in the middle of Seattle late at night.

On the topic of our unfortunate Wo, however, I gotta say I'm pretty hyped to start with this. Before we begin any real workplace shenanigans, she needs some proper job-finding skills. For that?

We're gonna need a montage.