Norfolk knocked on the door of the Pond and was pleasantly surprised to see Nimi's smiling face answer the door.
"Nimi!" Norfolk said as she enveloped Nimi in a hug.
"Norfolk, good evening!" Nimi said softly as she returned the hug.
"How are you feeling?" Norfolk asked as she walked inside with Nimi.
"The voices are gone for the moment. I... feel like I belong here." Nimi said.
"You do belong here Nimi. The commander and I both believe it. And everyone else believes it too." Norfolk said.
"Stiefvater Otto told me the same thing. It makes me feel good knowing that I am wanted... but I think now... I want my Liebling." Nimi said as Norfolk nodded.
"I can take you to him." Norfolk said. Nimi nodded softly before hugging Norfolk.
"I just want to know that this is real. I need to know that it's real." Nimi whispered in Norfolk's ear.
"Nimi... I... maybe I can help you with that too." Norfolk whispered.
"Really?" Nimi asked as Norfolk slowly pulled Nimi's face forward and kissed her lips with the same soft intensity she had seen Isaac do in the past.
"I need you too, Nimi. You were the first one to allow me to experience the sensation of touch, and the feeling of warmth. Something I never knew existed outside my virtual world." Norfolk said softly.
"Norfolk..." Nimi said softly as Norfolk pulled away.
"I... sorry. I'll take you to the commander." Norfolk said as she blushed wildly.
Nimi tried to reach out to Norfolk but Norfolk began moving before she could reassure her.
"Norfolk, come back..." Nimi said as she chased after Norfolk.
Norfolk led Nimi through the ship to the med bay before pointing inside so Nimi could see before running off.
"Norfolk!" Nimi cried as Norfolk disappeared into the lengthy halls of the ship.
"Nimi?" Isaac asked as he stuck his head out the med bay.
"Liebling!" Nimi cried, as if she had been frightened.
"Is everything alright?" Isaac asked.
"I... I think I upset Norfolk." Nimi said.
"What happened?" Isaac asked.
"I... don't know what I said, but I have to find her." Nimi said.
"Alright. Friedrich, could you go with her?" Isaac asked.
"Of course, Dear husband." Friedrich said as she exited the med bay and walked over to Nimi.
"Come my child, we shall find Norfolk in no time." Friedrich said as Nimi nodded.
"Alright, Friedrich. Can we find her quickly? I think I may have made a very big mistake." Nimi said.
"Then let us go, which way did she go?" Friedrich asked.
"Towards the bridge. She was running too fast for me to follow." Nimi said.
"Then we shall begin there." Friedrich said as she held Nimi's hand as they walked through the halls.
Norfolk had holed herself in the changing room on the bridge. She sat curled in a ball in the corner thinking that she had just ruined her first possible relationship in the real world.
Her cries, while muffled by the sealed door, still filled the silence on the bridge.
Nimi and Friedrich made their way onto the bridge and, upon hearing the cries, began searching the bridge for Norfolk.
"Norfolk? Where are you?" Nimi asked.
"Please... just go." Norfolk cried out from the dressing room, a fact that Friedrich picked up on and pointed to.
"Norfolk, I can't get in there unless you open the door. Please open the door." Nimi asked softly as she placed her hand on the door.
"No! Please, just go away!" Norfolk cried out.
"Norfolk... I wasn't upset. You just... took me by surprise. Come on, let me in. I want to talk." Nimi said softly.
"I... I made a mistake. I shouldn't have done that. It was far too inappropriate." Norfolk said.
"Norfolk. Just stop, okay? I didn't mind it... it felt... nice." Nimi said.
"R-really?" Norfolk asked as she slowly began to calm down.
"I... I'm used to it after doing... things with Eagle and Liebling. So... kissing another girl isn't something that turns me away... I just... wasn't expecting it." Nimi said.
"But you... you seemed so put off." Norfolk said.
"I was just trying to process the fact that you were kissing me. I knew being able to have a sense of touch was a big thing for you, but I didn't know it meant that much to you. I just... wasn't expecting you to kiss me so soon." Nimi said.
"So... soon?" Norfolk asked.
"It was obvious that you liked me, even back when I was just a hologram sharing your world. The first time I touched you, I knew that it was something foreign to you. But at the end of it all, I knew that there was something." Nimi said.
"You never acknowledged it..." Norfolk said.
"Because I wasn't sure if you were ready for such a thing. I mean, from what the other girls have said, you just now learned some of the more... carnal features of your new form. So I wasn't fully expecting that kind of thing from you so soon." Nimi said.
"So... you're not upset?" Norfolk asked as she released the lock on the door, causing Nimi to fall in as she had been leaning on the door.
"Why would you think I was upset? You didn't give me a chance to reply before you ran off." Nimi said as she crawled over to Norfolk and wrapped her in a hug.
"Norfolk, look at me." Nimi said softly as she used her curled finger to pull Norfolk's chin to face her.
"If you're happy with me, I'm happy to facilitate." Nimi said softly as she kissed Norfolk with the same unbridled passion she had received not ten minutes before.
Norfolk relaxed, allowing tears of relief to flow as she reciprocated Nimi's kiss.
"Now please, come back with me. I want to spend some time with Liebling as well." Nimi said as she pulled Norfolk to her feet.
"Alright... I think I want to come back with you too." Norfolk said as she hugged Nimi.
"Oh my, did my child find someone else who draws her fancy?" Friedrich asked as she peeked in.
"Friedrich... I thought you had gone back to Liebling by now." Nimi said softly.
"I was here to make sure you were okay. I shall make my way back now, maybe see Vater Otto on the way." Friedrich said.
"I will see you later, Friedrich." Nimi said as Friedrich waved over her shoulder and walked off.
"Now then, shall we go, Norfolk?" Nimi asked. Norfolk nodded softly as they left the changing room and headed back towards the Med bay.
"Hmm? Where am I?" U-556 asked as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Ah. Good morning." Isaac said as 556 turned to look at him.
"It's you. The one they want me to kill. Apollyon." 556 spoke as Isaac froze up.
"Where did you hear that name..?" Isaac asked blankly.
"They told me that if I ever find you, I am supposed to kill you." 556 said as she slowly peeled back the covers on her bed.
Isaac's hand slowly crept down towards his holster.
"And do you plan on executing those orders?" Isaac asked, trying to focus on the scene in front of him instead of the scratching in the back of his mind.
"I... I... I feel like I have to. That if I don't... they'll come and hurt Lord Bismarck." 556 said as she tensed her legs.
"Don't try it. There are more than 7 fully capable kansen aboard here that will have no problem containing you. I don't want to hurt you, not after making a promise to Bismarck." Isaac said as a couple of bulins poked their heads in.
"I... I don't have a choice. They'll kill Lord Bismarck. That's what they told me." 556 said as the bulins made their move the moment she lunged at him, restraining her at the waist and the arms. Vestal rushed over hearing the commotion and pulled Isaac away at the last second, pulling him out of range of the hidden scalpel in 556's hand.
"Liebling!" Nimi cried as she busted into the room and summoned forth her rigging. Norfolk followed suit as Vestal scrambled to the corner and leveled her rifle at 556.
"Stand down, submarine. Don't do something you'll regret." Vestal said as Bismarck stirred.
"What is going on in here?" Bismarck asked as she turned around and saw 556 restrained by the bulins with a scalpel in her hand pointed at Isaac.
"Kommandant, i demand an explanation." Bismarck said as she glared at him.
"The moment she saw me, she went on the attack. Saying she had to kill me to make sure the Sirens didn't come for you." Isaac said.
"Parzival? Is that the truth?" Bismarck asked as her saddened eyes looked on her confused knight.
"Lord Bismarck... If I kill him, they'll leave us be. They won't hurt you, and I can return to fulfilling my duty to you." 556 said softly.
"Parzival... I can't let you kill him. Because as much as I want vengeance on the one who hurt you, I need his resources, and I need his command. So please, for the good of everyone here... stand down, U-556." Bismarck said as her rigging slowly appeared on her hips and aimed towards 556.
"Lord Bismarck... you... you too?" 556 asked as she dropped the scalpel. One of the bulins quickly kicked it away.
"Parzival. You need help. I will protect you, but I won't stand for you attacking my Kommandant. Not when he is the key to making sure you are never hurt again." Bismarck said as Bismarck looked down at Isaac.
"Kommandant... please get behind me in case she does something further." Bismarck said as her sorrow filled eyes looked him over, noticing a clean slice through his uniform jacket.
"Did it break skin?" Bismarck asked.
"No. A bit close for comfort, but I'm fine." Isaac said as he got up and stood behind Bismarck and Nimi.
"Liebling, your eyes are glazed over again." Nimi said worriedly.
Norfolk remembered what Bremerton had said and immediately called for her as well as Belfast, both of whom were just down the hall in the crew quarters.
Belfast and Bremerton appeared and whisked Isaac out of the room with Nimi hot on his heels as they took him to the crew quarters to begin the process of calming him down.
"Liebling. It's alright. Just breath deep." Nimi said softly as she curled herself against his chest.
"Bel, Could you please repair this? It's the only one he can wear aside from that combat suit he wears." Bremerton said as Belfast nodded.
"I shall get on it right away." Belfast said as she took the uniform jacket, leaving Isaac in a white t-shirt.
"Liebling, snap out of it. I'm right here." Nimi said as Isaac's arm slowly came up and held her tightly.
"I'm sorry... it... happened again, didn't it?" Isaac asked.
"It did, Commander. We need to get you to a point where you don't freeze up. This could have ended very poorly for you." Bremerton said as she sat on the bed next to Isaac's.
"I was fighting it the entire time. But as soon as I was on the ground... I can't remember what happened." Isaac said.
"Do you know what triggered this episode?" Bremerton asked as Nimi wrapped her arms around him.
"She called me Apollyon. I remember giving myself that name in the midst of that incident. A name to strike fear in our enemy." Isaac said.
"And that was what started it?" Bremerton asked.
"It was. I felt it scratching in the back of my mind, but I knew that if I spaced out, I would have been killed." Isaac said.
"We need to find something, anything to keep you from falling into that kind of state, especially when you're in situations like what just occurred." Bremerton asked.
"I know. I know. But I don't know what more I can do. I spilled everything I could the other night." Isaac said.
"This is still a fresh event in your mind. Maybe we need to make your days a bit more eventful to distract you from thinking back to it." Bremerton said.
"By doing what?" Isaac asked.
"When was the last time you delved into your mechanical training? Maybe if we could get you working with something you're as good at as you are Commanding this fleet, you might be able to find a way to cope with it instead of freezing up like that." Bremerton said.
"I could always go for doing some repair work. Having the bulins doing everything has made me a bit rusty." Isaac said.
"Excellent. Then tomorrow, you can take Nimi with you to her vessel and see what you can do to upgrade some of the hardware. She's been a bit worried that since she had been killed, that maybe the ship fell into something of desync. That the ship is in worse shape than she is, and maybe it might help her with her other problem." Bremerton said.
"Then... I guess that's what I'll do. I'll have Odin command the fleet for the day, or longer depending on how much repairs need to be done." Isaac said as Bremerton smiled at him.
"Then I would get some rest. You got a long day tomorrow, Commander." Bremerton said as she left Isaac with Nimi, who was still clutching him like if she let go, he'd disappear.
"Alright. Goodnight, Bremerton." Isaac said.
"Goodnight, Commander." Bremerton said as she walked out and closed the door behind her.