She was too busy to pay attention to the conversations drifting in from the dining area, but it added another layer to the kitchen noise, creating a choppy blanket of sound that was unique to this fleet. Now that she was too occupied to focus on the voices that filled human songs, she found the music constantly flowing from the 1MC less annoying as well, and they helped fill the occasional quiet moment.

"Here you go, Sir."

The Wo-class gave a practiced smile, sliding the tray across the counter.

"Thank you." The customer smiled back, nodding as he inspected his tray. Trinitite's rangefinders flicked to the next customer, mentally preparing to give the canned greeting, but the human continued to stare at her. Hesitantly, her attention turned back to the customer.

"Something wrong?"

"The, uh-" He motioned over the tray. "The cheesecake…"

"Oh!" He had been wanting one of those, hadn't he? "Let me get that for you, sir."

As she leaned over to a refrigerator and withdrew a pre-made slice of cheesecake, the Wo-class silently cursed herself. This kind of absent-mindedness would have gotten her sunk in the crossroads fleet! Why had it set in here?

"Here you go, sir," She hid her frustration with another smile, adding a tired "my apologies."

"That's fine." The customer smiled back.

And with that, the situation was resolved. No consequences, no danger, no… reason to keep herself focused. Even if the customer had flown into a rage, she wouldn't have enjoyed it, but ultimately the only thing she'd lose would be time.

Besides, it was difficult to keep her thoughts off of last night and the fleet she'll be finishing in just a few hours. Valkyries of Ran was just much more interesting! Alex warned that he might be too busy with 'homework' to finish painting his tiny fleet alongside hers, but if he did the human had promised a practice match so they both could figure out the game's rules. Plus, Paloma had apparently promised to cook something 'mild' for her, perhaps as an apology, and they never did finish The Princess Bride…

With the cheesecake situation dealt with, she turned to the next customer.

"Welcome to Jack in the… Box..."

The abyssal's greeting faltered as unsettlingly familiar figures pushed through the glass entrance, sending her watch team into a panic and yanking her thoughts away from the current customer.

Trinitite didn't recognize the human's faces, thankfully, but she'd never forget those clothes. The only other human she'd seen wearing that mottled mix of green and black had been on the bow of that missile destroyer, calmly tearing her hope apart as he explained just how far The Navy was willing to go to keep her from Mother. She wouldn't forget the mottled green-and-black uniform of her enemy, which was right here.

"Uh… I'll take a Sourdough Jack…"

"Ah-" Her attention snapped back to the customer in front of her, but not before one of the intruders met her gaze. Crap, they knew she noticed them. "Sourdough jack, aye. You want anything with that, sir?"

She did her best to serve the customer's order, but her thoughts remained on the seemingly nonchalant hostiles. They'd clearly noticed her, but their reactions hadn't been especially strong. Perhaps they were acting?

She turned her stern to them to accept a finished meal from Alex in the kitchen, but when her attention returned to them they hadn't moved. They had the perfect opportunity for one of them to run for help, and they'd blindly missed it.

Maybe they just didn't recognize her. None of them were shipgirls, after all. Perhaps this was just a coincidence. If these humans were sent to spy on her, then they certainly wouldn't be wearing their unsubtle fatigues.

Unless they were some kind of bait… no, no! Why was the entire task force filing into her line!

Considering there were only three other customers between them and herself, she didn't have much time to think of a plan.

"Number one, not a combo..." the first customer requested, before pointing to a smaller human whose attention was entirely focused on his phone. "...and a kids chicken nuggets combo."

She could try to fight them, and she certainly would win, but who knew if that was all of them? If their humans were around, The Navy's ships could be as well. Even if they weren't, she knew how fast human aircraft could move. Deep, those cross-shaped jets that had been hunting her earlier were awfully quiet. One could be loitering far above the roof right now and she wouldn't know! It wasn't just The Navy she had to worry about, either. Alex thought well enough of them to buy a miniature fleet, and her other coworkers probably thought of their protectors similarly. Destroying the Navy had never been a goal of hers, it simply wasn't realistic, but she wouldn be too busy fleeing to explain that if shooting started.

"Chicken Teriyaki Bowl, Iced Mocha." the second customer stated. If the uniformed task force wasn't right behind him, Trinitite would have wondered about the dark coloring that had settled under his eyes, but at the moment the detail hardly registered with her.

She could skip the fight and start running. It was a bad idea for all of the reasons fighting was, but it wouldn't reveal her nature to her coworkers. Besides, she could be more subtle in her escape. If this all was a mere coincidence, then Trinitite wouldn't be giving the Navy her location in the form of four dead humans.

"Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger." The last customer between the Navy and herself asked. "I want it with the Bacon Potato Wedges and a large soda."

Damn, the line was disappearing way too fast. Why couldn't work seem to move this quickly when she didn't need time to think?

Engage, disengage, and… that seemed like all of her options, really. Anything more clever would probably just be a variation of those two, with similar consequences. That left the abyssal with only one real course of action.

As the small group's flag… human... stepped up to the register, a silver-and-gold anchor emblazoned on the front of her uniform, the abyssal forced a smile.

"Welcome to Jack In The Box! How can I take your order?"

She didn't have any good options, so the abyssal figured staying on course in the hope this was a coincidence was the least worst one.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," The human started, resting an elbow on the counter as she leaned forward. "I couldn't help but notice your interest when we entered. Have you ever thought of joining the Navy?"

What.

"J- Join?" She repeated. Whatever she'd expected from the humans, it hadn't been a job offer. Were they allowed to walk up to other fleets and steal employees?

"Sure, Shipgirls do most of the fighting these days," the human continued, "but we still need everyone we can get to back them up."

The abyssal didn't know what to say. On one hand, the Navy woman clearly wasn't being honest- It was a human missile that struck her in Bikini, and human-piloted aircraft constituted a (slim) majority of threats she faced escorting convoys. The Navy woman wasn't being honest with her, but they didn't seem to be treating her as if they knew what she was either, so she could safely go with a 'normal' response.

…What even was a normal response? Was it really okay for human fleets to try and entice people away from other fleets like this? She knew loyalty wasn't as strongly valued here as it was among the abyssals, but over there trying to steal ships from another princess's fleet was as much an act of war as stealing any other vital supplies was. Obviously this wasn't an act of war- The Navy had the firepower to defeat Jack in the Box without resorting to underhanded tactics like this, but perhaps that was the reason they thought they could be so blatant. Perhaps her fleet even allowed it, because they figured losing a couple fleetmates was a good trade for bolstering their protection against abyssals like herself.

"Pay's pretty good, too." The human continued. "It's a government job, so it matches inflation better. All of us got a twelve percent raise this year, and there's also a signing bonus, sea pay, combat pay…"

Another thought suddenly occurred to the abyssal. What if they did know about her, but instead of publicly attacking her, they were attempting to deal with her more peacefully? A traitorous thought suddenly surfaced. The feeling of water under her keel, the freedom of controlling aircraft, and the prospect of finally being a ship again, but she quickly crushed it. The assumptions it was based on were far too flimsy, and even if it was a genuine offer, siding with the fleet that had crushed her own wasn't something she was willing to consider. Rejecting the offer, however, might sound suspicious, so instead she decided to change the topic.

"...can I take your order?"

The navy woman snorted, smirking.

"Number twelve combo." She handed two cards to the abyssal when she paid for her food, and left one of them on the counter when Trinitite gave them back. "History's being made right now." She finished, tapping the white card knowingly. "Call this number if you want to be a part of it."

With that, she pivoted and left the line. Relief warring with caution, Trinitite picked up the card, flipping it to read the words transcribed on the back.

RATCHIEL J. GALINDO

CSC(SW), U.S. NAVY

ONBOARDING

There were several numbers and what the Wo-class recognized as an email address there as well, along with the Navy's own symbols, but she didn't pay them much attention.

"Have a nice day."

And with that… it was over. The rest of the humans in the little Navy flotilla were content with their princess's offer, and didn't add anything but their own food orders. They didn't cause any trouble when Trinitite gave them their assembled meals, either. They just… left together, the glass doors cutting off a conversation the abyssal had been too busy to follow anyways.

Just like normal customers. Just like normal humans.

It hadn't occurred to her until then, but that's what most of the Navy was, after all. Unlike herself or the ships they used, the humans who'd gotten so close to sinking herself and the ships under her protection hadn't been created for the war they were fighting. They'd started out… however humans started out (she needed to finish that wikipedia page sometime), and at some point chose to join the Navy over a safer job like the one she had right now.

Nobody forced them to fly into dangerous airspace, releasing a stack of bombs over a convoy at insane speeds with only the hope they wouldn't be hit to defend them, or to crew a submarine, from which there was no escape if the enemy- her- managed to score a hit on them.

She didn't have to speculate as to why they'd do this. Every reason the woman with an anchor uniform had given her had clearly been hollow and manipulative, with one exception:

We still need everyone we can get.

A majority of abyssal fleets wouldn't stop until they'd killed every human on the planet. She knew the concept was folly, especially now that she'd seen just how many humans there were, along with her deeper knowledge on The Fire. However, that didn't change the fact that towns like Chehalis would be in serious danger from carrier aircraft if the Navy wasn't doing everything it could to make life for abyssals like herself hell.

Trinitite didn't regret fighting the Navy, downing aircraft and sinking submarines who'd attacked her convoys. She wouldn't forgive them for the obliteration of the Crossroads Fleet, either. However, over the next couple of hours the memory of a handful of survivors from those ultrafast aircraft she'd managed to hit continued to return to her, their parachutes collapsing against the sea as they fell into the water. Had they eventually been rescued by their allies, or left in the ocean to succumb to starvation or other abyssals? In hindsight, she probably could have gone and rescued them, ensuring they were alive and well for a return to Bikini. Perhaps keeping a few of them alive at their home would have averted the destruction that had come to the Crossroads Fleet.

Except her 'allies' would have just killed them later. Deep, she wasn't even sure Jellyfish would have tolerated humans in her atoll, as harmless as they would have been.

As work wrapped up and she found a suitable trash can to 'lose' the contact card, she couldn't shake that final thought. It wasn't a new revelation, but it did add an element of melancholy to her walk to Alex's place.

The abyssal braced herself against the table, easing the paint brush towards the miniature face of the Wo-class she was working on. The dot of fluorescent orange at the end of the brush was as small as she could make it, but it still felt like the glob could easily spread over the tiny figure's cheek if she wasn't careful. She hadn't made any mistakes like that yet, at least none she could see from a few feet away, but that only made her more nervous. There was a margin of error with the dark steel and light clothing, but now that she was working on the luminescent eyes the cost of a mistake was much higher.

Finally, the tip of the brush made contact with the miniature Wo, and the dollop of paint was suddenly sucked into the miniature's eye socket. Just as slowly, the abyssal withdrew the brush, careful to avoid her miniature sister's rigging. With the process finished, she relaxed, forcing air out of her funnels and the tension out of her hull in a deep sigh.

That was about half of the eyes, done. Once that was over, she would finish gluing the more complicated figures together, then interrupt Alex to get help with the confusing washing process he'd mentioned earlier. He'd printed out the internet article which had the instructions for the process, but the mixture of all that paint, water and glue was a technique she wanted shown to her at least once.

It was too bad her coworker was busy with what he was calling 'college work.' Through questions she'd asked, they seemed to be some kind of training exercise, but her coworker had been much more interested in talking about the miniatures Trinitite was finishing so she hadn't gotten much information out of him. The Wo-class didn't want to interrupt him, but surely he wouldn't mind if she asked for a situation report…

As she shifted to wash the orange off her paintbrush, something in the edge of her vision caught her eye. She was working in the house's living room, so Paloma and Mitchell were constantly passing through her awareness, but this time there wasn't any movement.

She was being watched.

The abyssal's rangefinders immediately snapped to the human, who turned out to be Paloma. What did the Princess of the Martin-Campos Fleet want with her? She wasn't doing anything wrong, was she? How long had she been there?

"Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you." The human smiled, politely nodding. "We're just going to be having nachos tonight. What do you want on yours?"

More new food… stamping the pang of guilt from taking more free food and the dread that came with memories of her last meal from Paloma.

"I haven't had nachos before." Trinitite admitted.

"That's fine." the human replied, unsurprised. "I'll throw everything on that isn't spicy, then." She started to turn to return to the kitchen, but abruptly froze. "Uh, one other thing, before I start dinner. An apology, really."

The abyss braced herself, a sinking feeling settling into her keel. There was no way a maneuver like that hadn't been planned.

"Yeah?"

She leaned forwards, whisking the orange paint off of Alex's brush before it dried any more. Plaoma found a seat on the living room's couch, sighing as she leaned forwards to rest her elbows on her knees.

"Alex really shouldn't have forced you to go home alone." She pronounced, her tone suddenly dark. "I talked to him about that after he left."

Trinitite could feel pressure rise in her boilers at the human's report. Alex had gotten in trouble because of her? Had he been punished?

"I told him not to, though!" she defended.

"You did," Paloma grimly confirmed, "but that means you were walking home, right?"

"Right…" she confirmed. She could tell that the princess was leading her somewhere, but where? She'd gotten plenty of 'suggestions' from abyssal princesses of other fleets, and had her strategy of dealing with them, but it was very possible that the seemingly kind human had a legitimate reason behind her upcoming command.

"Sarah. You're smart. I'm sure you're strong as well, but this isn't the island you grew up on." She stood, her gaze turning to the living room window as she paced there. "You don't know everybody here in Chehalis, and while I love this town I can guarantee there are people here who would hurt you if they saw you alone at night. There's plenty of dangerous wildlife around these parts, too. Bears and Mountain Lions normally stay away from town, but attacks have been known to happen."

"I… see." The Wo-Class allowed. She'd gotten this talk before, from the state trooper. Then, she'd been focused on the confirmation that inter-human conflict happened, but her relatively peaceful time in the Seattle area meant she hadn't really thought about it until now. It wasn't like she appeared to have any supplies worth taking, with the possible exception of that nebulous genetic material, but if humans were worried about night combat here as well...

"So you understand why getting you a car ride at this hour is so important, right?" The dark-skinned woman turned, rangefinders suddenly boring into the Wo-class's bridge.

"Yeah…" Trinitite agreed, despite herself. She was in this family's territory, so they had plenty of options if she didn't agree with their princess, but if this car ride actually did happen it would lead to plenty of other problems! How could she get out of this?

"Alright, then!" She concluded, passing the abyssal as she made a course for the kitchen. "Alex or myself can get you a ride there later tonight."

"Okay, but-"

Paloma froze. Trinitite tried to think of a story, excuse, any reason to politely kill the deal now, but no matter how much she scrambled for an answer it failed to materialize. She had to think of something now, as presenting a story in front of Alex and the rest of the family would look like- no, it would be her going back on the deal she was being pushed into. She was already indebted enough to this fleet without a betrayal adding to the scale, no matter how minor!

"Well…" she stalled. There had to be something she could say here, couldn't there? Her only option might be just refusing the offer, refusing to provide an explanation, and accepting the consequences, but…

Her gaze drifted to the slowly forming fleet on the coffee table. Alex had been so excited to try that practice round once he was done with his training exercise, but if he emerged from his berthing to learn 'Sarah' had been expelled for throwing his mother's hospitality in her face...

"Sarah." Paloma interrupted, returning the Wo to the present. "You have a home, right?"

She froze. How did she know? Had Trinitite been secretly followed into the woods? At those thoughts, Paloma's expression shifted, and the abyssal realized her mistake. She hadn't known, until Trinitite had confirmed it with her panicked expression. By reading her face, the princess had tricked her into revealing the truth without saying a word. Defeated, the abyssal sighed, admitting what the princess already knew.

"No."

"I thought so." Paloma confirmed, nodding grimly. Her expression softened, and for a moment it looked like she would try to make a hug, but as the abyssal tensed she merely patted the Abyssal on her shoulder. "Thank you for admitting that, Sarah. We'll figure something out over dinner."

And with that, she left, disappearing into the kitchen. Was this a scheme to indebt Trinitite even further to the Martin-Campos fleet? From a detached perspective, she wanted to think that, but Paloma's expression lingered in her mind, forcing her to discard the theory. That last moment lingered in her mind as she dipped the paint brush in the iridescent blue paint, the human's face continuing to puzzle her.

That concern… She didn't dare to speculate what that meant. She wasn't even a part of her fleet, after all, and didn't have any plans to be.

The princess cared about her… Why did she care about her?

The question echoed in the Abyssal's mind as she started easing the paintbrush towards the miniature wo's other eye. There was so much about humans she still needed to learn…