John still couldn't believe what was in front of him; it was his sister-in-law Zuikaku, but in a META state. "Where did she come from? How did she get here? What caused her to end up like this?" were the questions swirling around in John's mind; he wanted to find out, but looking at the META ship in the bed and the condition she was currently in, he knew he wouldn't get those answers at least until she woke up. John then turned to Vestal and began questioning her. "Vestal, what injuries has this Zuikaku sustained? Did the shipgirls manage to give any explanation?" Vestal replied. "She has suffered what looks like a gunshot wound to the stomach, commander, she has lost a lot of blood. As for how she got these injuries, none of the girls knew how she got them. Hipper and Tirpitz said that they found her in this condition." That answer only gave John more questions; who shot this Zuikaku? And, most importantly, why?

"Does anybody else know that this META ship is here? Other than myself and the shipgirls I sent out on the mission?" John asked Vestal. Vestal shook her head and responded, "No commander, not that I am aware; I told them not to say anything about this until I told you. If they did say anything, other shipgirls would have been here by now; they probably wouldn't be happy that a META ship is here." John was relieved that Vestal told them to keep quiet; it would be pandemonium if anyone knew that a META was here. He needed to make sure this stayed under wraps until it was the right time to reveal it; he also knew that he would need to speak with Bismarck and her team, as they might not have told Vestal everything and he wanted to make sure nothing was kept from him. John also had to keep this from Shoukaku and Zuikaku for the time being; if they saw the META version of Zuikaku, he dreaded how they would react.

John then decided to leave the medical bay; he would have to talk with Bismarck's group. He headed to the door, but before he left, he turned and spoke to Vestal. "Vestal, make sure nobody comes into this room to see this. Use the other rooms in the medical bay if you get any patients. When this Zuikaku wakes up, let me know immediately." Vestal nodded and replied, "Understood, commander. I will make sure no one finds out. Any changes, I will let you know." John nodded in reply and left the room, leaving Vestal to carry on with her work.

As John walked toward the Iron Blood building, he was still in shock; this was the last thing he ever expected to see today. "Zuikaku in META form…could there be a Shoukaku META out there somewhere?" The thought chilled his blood; the last thing he ever wanted to see was a potential enemy wearing the face of his wife. It was something he hoped he would never have to see, and he dreaded the idea. Eventually, he arrived at the building of the Iron Blood. He looked up at the sky and could tell it was very late. "Hopefully, they haven't gone to sleep," he thought. "I don't like having to wake them up, but this is important." John knew that every faction had someone on night duty just in case something had happened. Looking at a chair just to the left of him when he entered, John could see Z23 engrossed in a book she was reading. When Z23 realized someone had entered the building, she looked up and saw John, knowing it was her commander. She immediately put down her book and stood up, saluting the man. "Good evening, Commander. What brings you to Iron Blood? Has something happened?" Z23 asked John.

John saluted back and replied, "Good evening, Nimi. My apologies for coming here so late, but I need to speak with Bismarck and her team regarding something earlier; are they awake?" He asked Z23 using her nickname. Z23 said, "Yes, commander. I will go and get them right away." She then left and went to search the building for Bismarck and the other KANSEN. After twenty minutes, Z23 arrived with Bismarck and the other shipgirls. Once he confirmed that they were all here, John spoke, "Thank you for bringing them here, Z23. I will let you return to your book." Z23 saluted John again and then sat down in her chair and got back to reading her book from earlier. John then looked at Bismarck and the other shipgirls. "Bismarck, I need to talk with you and the others in private; could we use one of your briefing rooms, please?" Bismarck had a feeling what this talk was about and why it needed to be private. "Yes, commander," she responded. "Follow me; we will all talk there." Bismarck led the commander and the other shipgirls to a room that she knew would be quiet and they could talk without fear of being listened to.

After a short walk, Bismarck opened a door, and everyone else went in before her; she then gave a quick look around just to make sure no one else was around. Once she was satisfied that no one would be listening in, she went inside and shut the door. Everyone in the room knew this conversation would take a while. After a short pause, John opened up the conversation: "Bismarck, I want you to tell me everything that happened today, give me all the details that you can. This is important." Bismarck's feelings were correct; she was right in thinking that this was about what happened earlier. She sighed and then began to tell her commander everything: "We went to the location that the signal showed up at, which was a small island. Once we landed, I gave the order that we would split into teams to search for anything suspicious. Me and Eugen weren't the ones to find the META ship; that was Tirpitz and Hipper." John nodded, and then he turned to Tirpitz, wanting to hear what she had to say.

Seeing that her commander wanted her to speak, Tirpitz then began to tell him what happened. She said, "Me and Hipper searched the area that my sister ordered us to go to, commander. For a while, we didn't find anything." Tirpitz paused, took a deep breath, and continued, "I then saw what looked like a person, and I showed Hipper what I saw. We then went over to them." Tirpitz stopped there and saw that John nodded to show that he was listening to what she was saying, satisfied that he got all that information Tirpitz carried on. "When we got to the person, we could see that she was injured, and I began first aid, but Hipper was the one who noticed that it was your wife's sister, and that she was a META." Tirpitz paused again, taking another deep breath before continuing. "Hipper, thinking that I was in danger, pushed me away from her and wanted to destroy her right there and then, but I disagreed. I believed she could have information on other META ships."

Hipper spoke up to explain her actions, "Commander, I know that the META ships are dangerous; I didn't know if she was an enemy, so I didn't want to take that chance. I stand by my decision, whether you decide to punish me or not." Before John could say anything, Bismarck interjected, "Do you want me to punish her, commander?" John replied, "No, that won't be necessary. I understand her reasoning; we all know how dangerous META ships can be. She was just looking out for a teammate, so no punishment is required." Bismarck nodded, and Hipper was relieved that she wouldn't be punished. Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Bismarck then continued the story. "Me and Eugen heard their argument, and I agreed with my sister to bring her back here. Graf Zeppelin carried her, and before we reached the base, I used my cloak to cover up the META ship's identity. Thankfully, we didn't encounter anyone on our way to the medical bay. We handed her over to Vestal and made our way back here. We've been here ever since, commander."

Now that he understood everything that had happened, John only had one more question for them. "And none of you have told anyone else what happened today?" Bismarck replied. "No commander, none of us have said anything," Bismarck said. "I trust you want us to keep silent?" John responded. "Yes, not until I have the information that I need from Zuikaku's META. She is still unconscious, and I've told Vestal to keep everyone away from that room. Other rooms in the medical bay will be used if she gets any patients, but try to keep away from the area if you can." Bismarck nodded to what John said. He then got up and spoke. "Well, I need to get back home. I apologize for having to talk to you this late, but I thank you for the information. Please remember to keep quiet for the time being. I bid you all good night." All the shipgirls told the commander good night as he left the room. John bid Z23 goodnight on his way out before leaving the building, to which she responded the same.

John then started to walk back to his home; after fifteen minutes of walking, he could see the house where he and his family lived. It was right on the edge of the base, and he could see that all the lights were off. "Both of them must be asleep by now." He thought to himself. When he got to his door, he pulled his key out of his pocket and carefully and quietly opened the door so as not to wake up anyone else in the house. When he got in, he turned on the hallway light, looking into the living room with the little bit of light he had. John could see Shoukaku asleep on the couch. "She must have been waiting for me all night to come home, I'm sorry, Shoukaku," he thought. Seeing that she didn't have a blanket on her, he opened up one of the hallway cupboards and pulled one out for her. He then went back into the living room and carefully placed it on top of Shoukaku so as not to wake her up. He then went upstairs to his and Shoukaku's bedroom.

On his way there, he quickly peeked inside his daughter's room to see if Tsubaki was asleep; hearing her light snores, he was relieved that she was asleep and quietly shut the door. John then turned off the hallway light before going inside his own room to get some sleep. He took off his uniform and hung it up before getting into bed. "Two o'clock, damn, I have to be up in five hours," he bitterly thought to himself as he saw the time on his bedside clock; he wouldn't get as much sleep as he would like. Within seconds, John fell asleep.

BZZT* BZZT* BZZT*

The sound of the alarm woke John up, but he was still tired from yesterday. After taking a few minutes to adjust to the light, he then got up out of bed and grabbed some clothes and a towel. After his shower, he got changed and headed downstairs to get some breakfast. When he arrived in the kitchen, he could see Tsubaki eating her breakfast and Shoukaku cooking something. Noticing her father, Tsubaki said, "Morning papa." Hearing her daughter say that, Shoukaku turned her head and saw John. She then said, "Morning John, did you sleep well? and thank you for the blanket last night." John replied, "Morning Shoukaku, Morning Tsubaki, sorry about last night, things got busier than I expected." John then walked up to Shoukaku and gave her a quick peck on her cheek before sitting down. He then looked at Tsubaki and spoke to her, "How is my little angel this morning? Are you looking forward to school?" Tsubaki smiled at her father and then replied "Yes papa, I'm just waiting for Auntie Zuikaku to come and pick me up."

That name brought back memories from yesterday; he was still having trouble believing what he saw. John knew he had to make sure nobody found out yet, especially Shoukaku and Zuikaku. He just hoped that Zuikaku META would wake up soon, then he could get the answers he wanted from her. Shoukaku brought John out of his thoughts by placing a plate in front of him; looking at it, he could see she had cooked him a rice omelette. She also had one for herself; thanking Shoukaku for the meal, the two of them began to eat. As they were eating, a knock at the door was heard; knowing who it was, Shoukaku got up and answered it.

When the KANSEN opened the door, she was greeted by a woman in red and white. "Good morning, sis," the woman said. "I've come to pick up Tsubaki; is she ready to go?" Zuikaku asked Shoukaku. She didn't need to answer as Tsubaki had come racing to the door when she heard her aunt. "Morning, Auntie Zuikaku! I'm here." Looking down at her daughter, Shoukaku could see she had gotten everything she needed for school. Then, she bent down and spoke to her. "Have fun today, sweetie, and try not to tire out your Auntie when you come back home, okay?" she then gave Tsubaki a kiss on the forehead. Tsubaki then left with Zuikaku, with Shoukaku seeing them both off.

Back in the kitchen, John had finished his breakfast and was ready to head upstairs to change into his uniform. Shoukaku went back into the kitchen to finish her own breakfast. Once he finished changing, he went back downstairs and could see Shoukaku at the door, ready to go. They both left and started walking to the HQ building, ready for the day's work. Once the pair arrived at John's office, Shoukaku went to check what mail he had received, while John began carrying on his paperwork from yesterday that he hadn't gotten to finish. After ten minutes, a letter landed on his desk; looking up, he could see Shoukaku looking at him, her face telling him that he needed to open it. When John saw the letter, he could tell it was from high command, so it was more than likely important.

John opened up the letter and began reading it; when he finished, his face had turned pale. Shoukaku saw this and asked, "What's wrong, John? What does high command want? What's gotten you worried?" John was silent for a moment, then he spoke to Shoukaku: "They are coming down here in the next few days; they want to inspect the base and talk to me." The KANSEN couldn't understand why this got her husband worried; she had seen all the admiralty before, and they never had any issues regarding the Azur Lane and what John was doing. If they did, she would be the first person to defend her husband from whatever criticism they had, as he had done so much not just for herself, but for every one of her fellow shipgirls here, regardless of what faction they belonged to.

The reason John was worried, however, was because a META ship was here on the base, and he was hiding it. If the admiralty found out, the consequences for him would be severe. He knew deep down that many officers in high command didn't trust the KANSEN he was leading; many saw the shipgirls as a potential threat, even though they were protecting humanity. Them finding out that a META ship was here would give them justification to destroy all KANSEN, which included his wife and possibly even his precious daughter, herself being part KANSEN.

"I need to think of something fast!" John exclaimed. "Zuikaku META has to be off the base before they arrive! But what do I do?" He knew he was in a difficult position; he knew he needed help and quickly. Time was against him, and he needed a plan – and soon, or else his whole world would come crashing down around him...