Day 240
We got into a bit of a rhythm this last week and a half. Everything remained calm just like I thought it would. Akatsuki settled in well enough, though Hannah tells me that her fellow destroyer is starting to brim with energy. They did some live fire exercises together, but the action did not help bleed off that excess.
I can tell she grows more and more anxious the longer she is away from home; Japan needs her, is what she told me when I asked. Her depressive episode has thankfully passed, but I asked her to wait anyway. I may not be responsible for the mess this ended up being, but I still feel bad about not helping when I can; the thing I want Akatsuki to wait for will be finished tonight. But I will get to that later.
Equally important is that Frostbite sighted US convoys at the edge of her territory earlier today. Her expansion continues apace and she thankfully took my advice not to attack them; the heavy shipgirl escort aside, all those ships were moving toward mainland Asia.
I also introduced Akatsuki to Frostbite yesterday; trying to hide the girl just became more of a chore than I was comfortable with. My fellow Princess was not amused at first, though I could talk her around before she actually met and killed the girl. Their interaction was kind of frosty, though. At least she no longer needs to hide in her room.
"What exactly is your goal with her?" was what Frostbite asked me later. I could only shrug, well aware there is no grand plan.
"I'm not the sort that can look people in the eye while hurting them. Akatsuki is a bit of an odd case at this point, but having her is no real risk."
I need to check if I thought something similar the first time I let her go, but I think I was well aware what might happen. Either way, Frostbite was not convinced, but agreed to play along. I am the Tech Administrator Princess after all. In her words: "Your approach and mine will differ because we have different priorities. I will accept your wisdom, though I do not share your optimism."
Or something like that. Which is a fair argument to make. She is the military arm to my science division, solving problems with violence is what she does. I guess it says a lot about Abyssals that we do not have any civilians outside of our transports and drones. The latter can not even count anymore because Orion installed guns in every single one of mine; a practice that was emulated by her peers in Frostbite's fleet.
Sure, drones with guns are nowhere near as powerful or effective as a proper warship. But it is cheap to mount a cannon on top of an existing drone, and any firepower is infinitely more dangerous than no firepower. Especially if a Mi-Class or other commanding ship coordinates volleys from thirty of those cannons.
I do not expect to need any of this in the near future, but you never know. Hence why I will never even think about telling Frostbite to slow down on manufacturing warships. Her fleet keeps swelling as she gains more territory, though she only adds a handful of ships at most. Most of her resource income goes right back into expansion. The slowly growing teleport network means that she saves great amounts of fuel on transportation. What is more, even in case of an attack she needs only a pittance of fuel to rally her entire fleet and pour out onto wherever the front line is.
That said, I talked to her about another mean paradigm that she thinks has potential: let an enemy fleet enter her territory, then hit them in the front and the back via teleportation.
Being the only ones with access to that technology really makes it a game changer. It would probably be one even if others had it as well. As is, nobody even knows we have it. That and Frostbite's sizable fleet should be enough to fight off any future assault.
And that is enough about theoretical attacks I doubt will ever come. Back to the thing my labs are inventing for Akatsuki.
It took a while even when I fast-tracked this particular line. I had to ask Frostbite to chip in once as well because it is reasonably pricey. But when it is complete, it may just be the thing Japan needs most right now. Well, maybe not most, but it will help a lot. I can not feed however many refugees there are at the moment, though the UN is already doing what they can from what I heard. No, I am putting together an anti-radiation device. A machine that can clean its surrounding area of radiation, including in living organisms, to no downsides. And it only uses a minimum of soul voodoo, which is still my favourite term.
'Minimum' meaning that it needs an Abyssal holding it to keep working; something about our nature recharges them. Right now my scientists are figuring out how to extend that to human-aligned shipgirls, which is apparently easier than they anticipated. Either way, this will be my gift to Akatsuki; it will allow her to cleanse Tokyo and her people.
It also has absolutely no combat applications, I made sure of that. Humanity can have it, reverse-engineer it, they will not learn anything new. Actually, they might. I can not even guess what insane ideas a human scientist might come up with. What I know is that there are no combat applications gated behind this technology on my tech tree. So I doubt they will come up with anything in the near future, if they even try.
And just as I wrote this, I got the report that the device is done. Tomorrow will be interesting.
Day 241
Well. To say Akatsuki was impressed would be a great understatement. She started jumping in joy and tackle-hugged me once I explained what the Radia-Gone does. Yes, I gave it a silly name, such is my prerogative as the creator. My science Fairies do not count, they are technically a part of me.
The girl was ecstatic to even just receive one, but I gave her three. Using them is as simple as breathing; each device is the size and approximate shape of a football. The round one, not what the Americans call a football. Press the button on top to turn it on or off, then hold it while walking around. I tested on some leftovers out of Reaper's reactor just to make sure, it works fine.
It got a little less nice after that, though I should have expected it. Akatsuki insisted on heading out immediately to share this with her country. She was so excited I could not bear holding her back.
There was just one issue: we do not know it for a fact, but it is unlikely there are no Abyssals between Haven and Japan. Whatever luck had her make it here in one piece, I highly doubt she will make it back as well. So I decided to give the escort an escort; 'no' was not an answer I took on this one. The girls themselves were a little confused, but accepted well enough that I refuse to go through all this effort only to have Akatsuki sunk before it can be used.
Which is why Ariel, Jeanne, and Hannah all went to accompany her. No Abyssal will shoot at three Demons passing by. And if some human idiot tries, they are more than capable of defending themselves and her. I gave them enough supplies to cross the entire world if they must, just because I can.
I also quietly put repair speed on the research queue after all. I do not really want to consider the worst case, but if it does happen, then Reaper will sally forth once more.
Either way, I saw the girls off in the afternoon; we had a hearty meal first, anything else would not have felt right. I stayed at the beach until they were out of sight; that made me think once more, realising the downsides of being almost landbound. Then I went for a swim without my rigging, just to spite whatever convention made it so I only guzzle fuel with it on.
At least Frostbite's growing teleport network will let me get places without depleting my own reserves. It is less bad after researching several steps of fuel efficiency, but still prohibitively expensive. I am not sallying unless I must, which becomes less and less likely.
For now I will enjoy the quiet. Sapphire is on patrol duty as the only remaining warship, Orion and Ionia are frequently out to assist my partner. Reaper just slumbers below the sea. Meaning I have Haven all to myself.
I do get some alone time most days, but this is pretty nice. Usually there is always something happening; it feels a little too calm without anyone here, though. I will recharge my social batteries tomorrow and then think about what else to do.
Day 242
Turns out some plants survived the bombardment of Haven. Or rather their seeds did; they are slowly starting to sprout. So I am spending today and the next few days doing some terraforming. Frostbite did not mind giving me some plants and animals from her own isle.
Day 243
Frostbite is a bit of a bitch, making me catch those things on my own. I am a research platform, not a sparrow!
Day 247
Haven is coming along nicely. It will take years for the trees to grow back, mind, but I uprooted some from elsewhere to start the process. The animals seem happy enough, at least; I put a few of the prominent species here. The plants will do nicely with my citadel looming over the island; they should make a better look than the barren rock. Maybe it will even look a little inviting.
Anyway, the busywork felt good. I focussed on it almost exclusively and got a lot done. Though some of it was my home crew of drones; they smoothed out a few craters and connected bits and pieces. I also found out that they can do sand instead of stone sludge.
It feels strangely nostalgic to be alone with them, like the first days. I am not sure to be surprised it has only been nine months since I woke up here, or that it has already been that long.
Day 250
Akatsuki reached Japan today. I know it for a fact because there was a media hubbub. Word got out that she was seen approaching in a group of Abyssals, who swerved away far off the coast. Though I saw separate reports of my girls staying close enough to look at Japan for a little while.
Honestly, the main reason there is commentary in the international media is the connection; people speculate wildly what the Abyssals have to do with the unexplainable machine that reliably clears out radiation. Akatsuki carried it through the outskirts of Tokyo while hooked up to a Geiger counter. Works like a charm, confusing and amazing the world.
As it turns out, shipgirls can be resummoned; I know that because I saw a picture of Akatsuki with her sister Hibiki. And I know for a fact that Hibiki was sunk during the assault on Haven. The two carried the devices through refugee camps, clearing the radiation even from the people there.
There was no mention in the journals I checked, but I imagine a number of groups are salivating over these devices. Here is to hoping Akatsuki took my advice not to let any of them leave her possession until their purpose is fulfilled. I am not going to send them more just because they broke those.
Then again, beggars can not be choosers. The existence of these devices is already public knowledge, even if everyone speculates about their workings and origins. A number of people have already guessed the correct answer, if not the circumstances; there are some wild rumours that Akatsuki defeated an Abyssal Princess in single combat to gain access to her powers. Sapphire and I had a good laugh about that one.
Day 251
I am getting a little worried now. On one hand, Akatsuki seems to do as I suggested and keep the Radia-Gone closeby. On the other hand, she has been carrying them across the country in precise patterns since her return to Japan. It has been over thirty hours and she shows no signs of stopping or slowing. Her sister helps, but nobody seems able to convince her to stop or let someone else do it.
It is definitely too early to tell, but so far nobody tried to take the devices away from her either. At least there are no mentions of such a thing happening. Then again, there is actually a livestream following her around after confirming there is no danger of radiation in her vicinity. Four or five people keep switching the camera between each other over the hours, intent on documenting her progress.
It is a pretty calm stream, all things considered. There are a lot of people and I have no idea what anyone is saying, but Akatsuki seems to be warmly received wherever she goes. Sometimes she turns around to wave at the camera; I can see the shadows under her eyes, but she still does not seem ready to take a break.
Hibiki does argue more with her as time goes on, though. They were talking back and forth at least three times over the last hour. Which tells me I probably spent too much time watching this today. At least Akatsuki is doing well.
Day 252
Second verse, same as the first. Akatsuki is still going strong. From what I saw, people took to feeding her as she walked. It is kind of cute to watch an old lady pop sweets into her mouth and wiping it with a napkin, even as neither of them stops walking.
The international response continues to be baffled, though news of the war are also trickling in. I am honestly not looking at that because I do not want to. The minutiae of what happens there are not conductive to my mental health. I know ignoring it will not make it go away, but this is an issue I refuse to engage with.
The quiet is starting to bother me, though. I have Sapphire out patrolling less to keep me company. Reaper moved to nap on the beach and the storm hides us all from view, so anyone coming at us needs to get through her first. My Colossus may need a ton of repairs, but she can hold long enough for Frostbite to mobilise.
Something else I noticed is that Sapphire makes decent progress with her carving hobby. She looks up some guides on the Internet and seems to take a lot of mileage out of them. Maybe I should get back into drawing as well, I definitely have the free time for it. Writing is kind of covered with these logs, though I write too little here to qualify for my previous pace.
It just occurred to me that if another version of the old me exists here, I may be able to find him via the works I know I wrote. But even if those are the same through whatever divergent experiences he had, I do not think I want to meet myself. The Abyss is silent on the matter, not that I expected an answer.
Moving on, I rather forget this entire train of thought. Sapphire is getting pretty good, so I am pondering to let her refine the carvings along Haven again. My citadel is looking nice, but a more personal touch would be even better. Maybe I can synthesize some paint as well, though I am not sure how well that would stick to the walls.
Haven is really starting to feel like a home of late. It has been for a while, but the feeling was odd.
Maybe I should be more sorrowful about the people left behind in my old life, but there is really nothing I can do. I do not even know if the Abyss took me along after death, abducted my body and soul, or just made a copy of my brain to stuff into this new chassis. Then again, copy-paste sounds like the easiest approach and I already know the Abyss is as lazy as I am.
It also just confirmed that this was copy-paste. So I do not need to worry about being gone from my previous life. I still miss them, but that is alright. Simply move on along.
I went to distract myself for a bit and checked the livestream again. It turns out that Hibiki finally called it quits and manhandled Akatsuki into a bed. She was out like a light the moment her head hit the pillow, but from what I saw her sister takes no risks there; she is still hugging her tight. At least Akatsuki will get some proper sleep.
Also, some people are poking and prodding the Radia-Gone. Nobody tried to take it so far, they are just curious what it does. The glowering destroyer may play a part in this, though she does not stop people from being around them. It was honestly interesting to watch, even if I did not understand anything they said. Shipgirls are somewhat divorced from human norms in that sense, perfectly willing to let others be near. Not like they could hurt them anyway.
Day 253
The Internet is still the same. There is so much art of the two destroyers in bed, and most of it is porn.
Nothing else of interest today, I just wanted to have it known some things will never change.