"Idiots! Incompetent idiots, all of them! We were so close too! Now, who knows how long this will set us back! Dammit all!" The scientist known as Borys Kowalski was currently cursing his staff alone in his office board Admiral Nelson's ship. The ageing man was irate with what had happened just over an hour ago. The prototype weapon that he was currently in charge of developing had suffered a malfunction and had misfired because of his men. His men had rushed to finish the very final part of testing, and the results because of that were grim; a fire had broken out on the ship, and two of his men lost their lives. Several others, including naval personnel, had been injured because of the weapon misfiring. This caused Admiral Nelson to chew Kowalski out for the accident. The reprimand from Nelson wasn't what the scientist was most annoyed about. It was the fact that this accident had delayed his posting to the Azur Lane. The man suspected this incident could delay him by weeks at the very least.
"No matter, I will not let this setback stop me! John's Greys daughter will not escape me forever! I will find her and unlock what secrets she has! I just need to make sure nothing like this happens again!" The man wasn't going to let this stop him from getting to the Azur Lane and finding John's daughter. He was going to do whatever it took to unlock the secrets of the KANSEN-human hybrid and discover what she was capable of. A unique individual such as herself could be capable of great things in Kowalski's mind. Any weapon that he could create would pale in comparison to the girl. But before he could find and study the girl, he had to make sure no other mistakes happened the next time the prototype weapon he was developing went through it's final stage of testing. Kowalski wasn't going to tolerate another delay.
As the man was contemplating on how to make sure no more mistakes happened, Kowalski felt another presence had just entered his room. Looking behind him, the ageing scientist could see a blue skinned woman sitting on one of his desks. She had her arms crossed and had a smirk on her face. It was the Siren who he was working with. It was Predator. "You look troubled, human. I take it the weapon you are building isn't going to plan? Your technology, much like your entire species, is flawed." Predator boldly stated to Kowalski. In the Sirens' mind, the technology of humans was the perfect representation of themselves. It was flawed, chaotic, and self-destructive. The technology of Sirens was far superior. Humans were a blight on existence. They needed to be gotten rid of. That's why Predator wanted the commander's daughter. If they could turn her into a weapon, then humanity would be utterly annihilated. Predator, however, needed Kowalski for the time being. She wanted him to find out the girls potential and, if possible, take her away from the Azur Lane.
Removing the Commander's daughter from the Azur Lane would be difficult at this current moment. The group was incredibly strong, many powerful KANSEN were present. This included the likes of Enterprise, without question one of the most powerful shipgirls in existence. Predator knew those KANSEN needed to be out of the way if they wanted Kowalski to steal the girl from under their noses. Or cause so much infighting within the group that they would be too occupied to notice the girl was gone. That was why Predator was here right now. The Siren had a plan to begin the breakdown of the Azur Lane from the inside.
Kowalski didn't look too happy to see the Siren, "What are you doing here, Predator? Now isn't the best time, and you have taken a big risk coming here. What if someone sees you?" The scientist wanted to know why the Siren had come here, Predator had taken a risk coming here with everything that had just happened. Kowalski hoped that the reason she was sitting on his desk now was important and not just to mock him for the accident. "Worry not, human. You don't have to be so concerned about my presence being discovered. They have no idea that I'm here, and even if they did discover I was here, I would be gone before they knew it." The Siren told the man. "Okay, now that we have established that I don't have to worry that you will be discovered, do you mind telling me why you are here? I'm a busy man, I have a lot of work to do." Kowalski wanted to get back to making sure nothing else went wrong with the prototype weapon. The first step would be to carry out any repairs before moving on to final testing again. The longer he was delayed, the longer it would take to be posted to the Azur Lane.
Predator could see the man wanted their meeting to be over as soon as possible so the Siren decided not to waste the man's time. Predator held out a hand, which confused Kowalski at first. He didn't understand at first why she did it until an object appeared in said hand. The ageing scientist took a few seconds to look at the object that had appeared in the blue skinned Sirens hand. He then realised what it was, "A wisdom cube? Why are you showing me this, Predator? What are you planning?" the man asked genuinely, curious. Kowalski had seen wisdom cubes before. He knew that these clear blue cubes were the essence of KANSEN. With wisdom cubes, the shipgirls could be manifested into existence. Unfortunately, the technology to do so was so secret, even he didn't know how it worked. Kowalski had tried his best to recreate the technology with his theories in the past, but unfortunately for him, he could never manage to do it.
"It's quite simple, Human. When you arrive at the Azur Lane, I want you to give this to the human commander. That is all I want you to do." Predator explained to Kowalski what she wanted him to do with the wisdom cube she had just given him. "You want me to give this to John Grey? That's it? Surely you want me to give this to him for a reason, Predator? He would certainly find it suspicious, John Grey already must distrust me enough after our last meeting. Tell me why you want you want me to simply give this to him." Kowalski was suspicious of why Predator wanted him to hand over the wisdom cube to John. He instinctively could tell the Siren in front of him had a reason for wanting him to do so and wanted to know. "I have my reasons, human. So do as I say. If not, then we can terminate our working relationship if you wish. The choice is yours." Predator gave Kowalski an ultimatum, either give the wisdom cube to John or they would stop working together. The Siren had her reasons for not telling the ageing scientist why she wanted him to do this, and Kowalski knew no matter what he said, she wouldn't tell him.
Kowalski however didn't want his work with Predator to stop. She was the one who had informed him of the existence of John Greys daughter after all. If it wasn't for her, he never would have discovered the existence of the KANSEN-human hybrid. Predator still had a lot of information that he wanted and decided it was best to do as she said. This did have an unexpected benefit as well. The scientist realised he would finally get to see a shipgirl physically manifest for the first time. He could find out the secrets of how wisdom cubes were used to do it. If he saw a KANSEN manifest in person, then he could find a way to replicate that technology and possibly even improve it.
"Very well, Predator. I will give this to John Grey as soon as I arrive at the Azur Lane. But, unfortunately, due to this...mistake, I have been delayed. I trust you understand my situation, I can not leave until this weapon has finished its final stage of testing." Kowalski had to explain to the Siren why it would take some time to arrive at the Azur Lane. "Very well, human, finish your weapon. But know this...my patience has it's limits. I will not wait forever. You had best complete this weapon of yours as soon as you are able. Otherwise, there will be consequences. If I think you are taking too long, then our working relationship is null and void. Do I make myself clear?" Predator warned Kowalski that there would be consequences if he took too long to complete his weapon. The Siren did see the benefits of working with the man, but she wasn't going to afford the chance of him becoming a potential liability to her plans. If she couldn't get her hands on the commanders daughter through him, then Predator knew she would have to look for another way.
The ageing scientist replied to the Siren that he understood what she said, Kowalski didn't want to know what the consequences would be if he thought that Predator was thinking he was taking too long. The man knew time was against him. He had to finish the weapon and fast. Satisfied that Kowalski understood her, Predator opened up a portal and disappeared into it. The Siren decided that her business with the human was concluded for today. She had given him the key that would start the breakdown of the Azur Lane from the top all the way to the bottom. The essence of the shipgirl in the wisdom cube she had given Kowalski would certainly create a rift between the commander and his wife. Predator was smiling as she thought about the potential scenario's that could happen once the shipgirls' essence in the wisdom cube she had given to Kowalski had been manifested. The Siren couldn't wait for the results, but unfortunately, that was what she had to do. In the meantime, Predator knew that Shoukaku META would certainly be up for killing more humans. The META cranes bloodlust was a sight to behold. She wanted to destroy any human unlucky enough to cross her path. Travelling to another timeline and destroying it alongside Shoukaku META would be a great way to pass the time as she waited for the ageing scientist to complete his weapon.
Kowalski looked at the spot where Predator was before she disappeared, then looked at the wisdom cube she had given him. The man wanted to understand Predators plans and why this wisdom cube was so important that he had to give it to John Grey, "I wish I could research this wisdom cube, I want to know what's so important about it. But I don't think Predator would be too happy about that. I guess I can only wait until I get to the Azur Lane. Until then, I need to make sure those idiots don't screw up again. I can't afford another setback." Kowalski thought to himself as he put the wisdom cube in a safe place located in his office. As much as he wanted to conduct research on the object given to him, he knew the Siren would be livid if he tried anything. He didn't want to suffer her wrath. His main priority for the moment was to make sure his group of fellow scientists didn't make another mistake once the prototype weapon had been repaired. It had to successfully pass its final stage of testing. Once that was completed, then he could look forward to being posted at the Azur Lane.
Kowalski knew he had to supervise his scientists more carefully than before. He couldn't take his eyes off them for a moment. The ageing scientist sighed before returning to repairs and testing. As much as he wanted to push his men further, he had already seen the results of rushing the work. He couldn't afford to do it. Kowalski left his office and marched down to the testing area to begin the repair work of his prototype weapon, the thoughts of getting to the Azur Lane the main motivation on his mind...