Norfolk Naval Base, Portsmouth Naval Hospital, 11th of February 2030, 1200 hours:

Thick gray clouds continued to shadow the earth below, with no sign of it ever ending. Activity was running as usual in the naval hospital. Nurses running around and about through the halls, the constant beeps of heart monitors and the odd smell of hospital sanitizer. But there was certainly something different that day. Walking inside the reception, a door could be seen, leading to a hallway with multiple other doors , each with different labels on them, except for one.

Inside one of the rooms was Medellein, standing beside Rosey on her hospital bed. A tube protrudes from the back of her hand and was connected to an IV bag hung above her. Special electronic equipment made for shipgirls were present on her bed side, monitoring her current condition. Across from her was a middle-aged man wearing a long white coat with predominantly grey colored clothes and dark ties. In his hand was a clipboard presumely the patient's chart. Medellein continued to observe Rosey as the she remained asleep, her chest moving up and down.

"Good thing they didn't aim for the engine compartment, or else her recovery would be much harder to do." Said the doctor.

".. It's been a while since I've seen the SMR become active again. I just didn't expect it to be one of my own." Medellein released a sigh before taking a seat beside the unconscious Rosey.

"She'll need to recover her metabolism, which would take a month or so, or just a few weeks even if they want her back in action as soon as possible. She'll be fine, Madame." The doctor reassured her, before then unwrapping his right sleeve, revealing his wristwatch, looking at the time. "Oh well, mind if I leave you alone here, Madame?"

Medellein looked back towards the doctor and nodded. "Sure, doctor."

The doctor left the room, leaving Medellein and Rosey inside the room alone. Medellein looked towards the still unconscious Rosey, her chest rising up and down every time she took a breath. Medellein sighed before hovering her hand over her head and stroked her hair.

"Poor girl."

Then another figure came into the room, a dark-haired woman wearing a service dress, carrying with her a sealed paper bag that smelt sweat and baked. Medellein looked back after hearing the door being opened to see Marie standing behind.

"Oh, hey, Marie, you're here." Medellein pulled her hand off of Rosey's head before then looking at the paper bag Marie's carrying, smelling something from within it. "What's that?"

"Oh, well, um. Something I bought from the old lady's shop, ehehe.." Marie laughed a bit; a small blush could be seen on her cheeks. "Something for her to eat when she's awake; she loves this stuff."

"Oh, I see." Medellein nodded.

"Where are the other girls? Like Nana, Alisia, and Lily." Marie grabbed a chair before sitting down right beside Rosey as she remained asleep on the bed.

"Meeting with their parents; they're having a long holiday currently and will be back in a few months." Medellein explained. "Oh, and also, CSG 1 is going to take our place in the 2nd fleet until we get the Tienderoga's replaced with the Flight III's. So we won't be back at sea anytime soon, unless the situation calls for us to be back."

"Oh." Marie nodded before placing the paper bag on the night table. ".. The last attack wasn't from the Chinese, right?"

"Obviously not them. What kind of enemy launches their munitions at 40 or 45 nautical miles? Not even the Chinese or Russians have anti-ship missiles with such low range. 100 nautical miles is the bare minimum of most nations's anti-ship missiles. Or hell, sending 250+ aircraft without fighter escorts? What kind of idiot does that?"

"Yeah.. you're right.. Aliens?"

"You're telling me a civilization that does spacefaring stuff does not have missiles that cannot go beyond 50 nautical miles and can only travel at subsonic speed? Hell, I bet they have missiles that can go over 1000 nautical miles that can go through the earth's curve using help from outer space and hit supersonic speed. Unless they're one of those generic laser beam aliens from the old movies." Medellein scoffed.

"Right.." Marie looked up to the ceiling with a blank stare, thinking once more. "Oh, hey, uhm.. Aren't you from... outer space, Madame?" She asked in a low tone.

"No need to be scared asking me that. Well, sorta." Medellein answered. "Why?"

"Maybe it's the aliens trying to get you back?!" Marie pointed at her. "You're their lost chief, and they wanted you to be back but don't know how to do it nicely; that's it!"

Medellein gave a heavy sigh. "What gives you that idea?"

"Eh? Uhh… Hmm.. Huh." Marie gives a puzzled look, unable to answer back, and just raised her shoulders.

".. You got a soul cube filled with knowledge, yet this is the conclusion you can think of?" Medellein slapped her own face, releasing a heavy sigh.

"S-So mean.." Marie pouted.

Rosey's eyes fluttered open, staring at the two as they continued arguing. She then smelled something from beside her, turning her attention towards the night table, where there was a familiar paper bag. She grabbed it and opened it, sniffing the content before looking inside.

"H-Having a soul cube filled with knowledge doesn't make you smart!" Marie continued arguing.

"So you just admitted that you're dumb? Hm?~" Medellein teased.

"W-What?! You-Uhh.. Ghh.."

Rosey watched as Marie miserably tried fighting back Medellein's argument. She looked towards the bottom of the paper bag, where a plastic wrap could be seen taped on the paper bag. She ripped the plastic wrap, taking out the spoon, and scooped the content, where a long, cheesy texture like potatoes could be seen stretching like a meltec mozzarella, which she then took a bite of.

"I hate you.."

"Getting a bit cheesy, eh?" Medellein giggled.

"Grr.. Ugh!" Marie stood up from her seat, before then proceeding to head outside of the room.

"Ah.. typical Marie.." Medellein then stared towards Rosey's bed, only to see her being awake, eating the food Marie brought earlier. "Oh, you're awake."

"Just Marie being Marie, am I right?" Rosey continued eating her food.

"That doesn't exclude you, silly."

"Hey! I'm not the Air Force. And at least not a Marine.." Rosey gave a poutty look towards Medellein.

"Heh, fair." Medellein then looked at her wristwatch, with it showing the time being 1230. "Oh, well, I gotta go. Got an invitation to go to." She stood up from her seat, straightening her skirt.

"From who?" Rosey asked.

"The president, of course; he told me he's a fan and wants to talk a lot with me, face to face." Medellein then walked towards the door. "Oh, and also, don't worry about deployments; CSG 1 will take care of our job, so just rest."

"R-Right." Rosey nodded after receiving the information.

Medellein headed out of the room, walking through the hallway and making her way out of the hospital. While it, she pulled her phone, ordering a transport service. She eventually got out of the hospital, and a white low car could be seen approaching the lobby. She stared at the car as it approached, looking at the license plate for confirmation. Then, the car stopped right in front of her, and the window opened.

"Are you Ms. Medellein?" Asked the driver.

"Yes, I am."

Medellein entered the car, putting the belts on. The driver then lowered the brakes, switched the gears, and pushed on the gas, driving the car out of the hospital.

(Author's note:

Glossary for the terms:

- SMR: Shipgirl Medical Room.
- CSG 1: Carrier Strike Group 1.
- Ticonderoga: Ticonderoga Class Missile Guided Cruiser.
- Flight III: Flight III of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer, supposed to be the Ticonderoga's replacement.)