Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was just another day in the engineering workshop.

Will was building an radar that Ida had designed. He sighed, putting away a wrench as he looked at the rotating pivot. "Yo, Ida, are you sure that this design works? To me it seems a bit... unorthodox."

Ida shrugged before she got back to tinkering over a small part of the radar.

Will sighed as he let his eyes wander, before landing them on Kay.

Or, specifically, the large-arse pile of research material that Kay had stacked around him as he sat down at a table, pouring through them as he made changes to his fighter jet design.

Will's eye twitched slightly. They had seen Kay in the same spot when Ida and him went out to head back home last night, and he had been in the exact same place when they came back in the morning to work. Did he seriously stay up all night here...?

Whatever. It was no use trying to figure out Kay's mentality when it came to engineering. He seemed like he had some extreme tunnel vision, but that was up to Kay on whether or not he wanted to go to Bremerton to see if something could be done about it.

After all, Will and Ida were mechanical engineers. They could certainly handle technology and its bountiful problems - things randomly setting on fire, mechanical failures, electrical failures, that one time they accidentally knocked out the entire city grid because Ida forgot to mention that the railgun they had built with Azur Lane funds consumed much more electricity than they anticipated and overloaded the power plant...

The list could go on, and they've fixed them all. However, they both knew that trying to solve an emotional or mental problem was beyond their scope. Could they report Kay's unusual behavior? Certainly. But - and Will regretted even thinking this - as long as Kay kept up with this, his seemingly crazy ideas were tinkered with until they didn't seem so crazy anymore.

And, with a shortage of engineers in Azur Lane who were qualified for the position, Will and Ida had no choice but to let Kay fill up their heads with wondrous ideas and insane propositions.

It saddened Will greatly. However, a month had passed by and Kay showed no signs of becoming even close to burning out. Will suspected that it would take maybe even decades before Kay's progress slowed down.

And that was a scary thought.

Fortunately, Will didn't need to worry about Kay's apparent impostor syndrome and lack of self-worth for a bit longer.

Unfortunately, it would not go the way anyone anticipated, which was clear as to how Allen barged into the workshop, her face filled with worry. "Yo! Get your butts down to the docks right now, someone just washed up and he says he knows where Enterprise and Intrepid are!" she yelled into the building. She panted, as if she had pulled a dead sprint. In fact, she had done a dead sprint - from the beach to Headquarters to notify the Commander, and then to the workshop to notify the engineers.

Silence. Then, as if time suddenly resumed, the three engineers burst out of their places and ran with Allen to the dock without a word. The secretaries had been gone for weeks now - everyone was worried sick about them and the three engineers had actually begun to design a radar that could attempt to pick up Enterprise and Intrepid's signals... if they were still afloat. In fact, they had already started to build a prototype for it - it was the same radar mentioned at the beginning of this chapter.

So, when word reached them that somebody knew where they were, even Kay was shaken out of his tunnel vision and stumbled along with them.

---

A white-haired man had washed ashore just minutes beforehand.

He was wearing barely any clothing - in fact, they were shredded when some of the destroyer girls had found him. It was as if he had escaped an attack of... some sort. By the amount of clothing ripped and torn, it seemed to have been a major battle.

When he had come to once the destroyers had gathered around him, he had remained confused until he managed to get his bearings. When he realized that he was in the Port of Cerulean City, he blanched and blurted out that he knew where the secretaries were.

... given that the disappearance of Enterprise and Intrepid, two Eagle Union carriers who were arguably one of the most famous carriers of WWII, was classified information, Allen - one of the destroyers who had found him - had immediately rushed off to tell the Commander and notify the engineers.

Or... at least, two of them. When they had run past Essex (who had been sitting down at a bench, observing the setting sun), she pulled Kay aside, curious.

"Hey, why are you running?" she asked with a curious tone. "Did Allen do something to you guys again?" Allen, over the course of the weeks, had occasionally dropped by the workshop, but not to visit the workshop. More often than not, she had left a sticker in a rather unfortunate place on a piece of machinery or made off with an interesting-looking piece of tech. It was only because Allen was the first kansen Kay had met that he never could really stay mad at her, but only lightly annoyed at most.

Kay shook his head, feeling a little winded as he tried to regain his breath. "No, but there's a guy down at the beaches who apparently washed ashore. He says he knows where your sister and senpai are," he said quickly, a bit impatient. "Wanna come with or...?"

"Wait, he knows where my sister is...?" Essex's heart temporarily stopped as she tried to process what she had just heard. She grabbed Kay's arm, stopping him before he could leave. "Can I go as well?" she asked, her worried face stopping Kay in his tracks as he stared into her fearful brown eyes.

Kay just couldn't say no. After all, Essex had blamed herself for the disappearance, as she was the leader of the Essex class and wanted to be a good leader at that. Therefore, ever since one of her own sisters had mysteriously... poofed out of existence, she hadn't taken it well. There had been many nights in which Kay had to just hug it out with Essex because she felt she wasn't good enough to be the 'big sister'. "... sure. Just follow me, okay?" he asked, giving a small smile back.

Essex nodded, a smile gracing her face. "Alright. Lead the way," she responded, letting go of his arm and letting her hand drop to her side.

"Noted." They had managed to become more used to talking to each other as time passed. That wasn't a bad thing - in fact, it was the complete opposite - but there was many a time where Kay realized that he had always smiled whenever he talked to Essex. Was she just that much of an influential figure on him? He never smiled so much ever since he joined Azur Lane.

Kay couldn't tell if it bothered him or not.

---

When the two managed to make their way down to the beaches, they saw the male talking with the two other engineers while the destroyers stood to the side, letting the pseudo-interrogation take place.

Of course, the engineers weren't qualified for MP type of stuff. However, they were still trying to grill as much information out of him as they could... to little effect. Oftentimes, the male figure would just dangle a piece of information in front of them before snatching it away with a simple 'I'm sorry, but that's classified for the Commander's ears only'. It annoyed them greatly, but they couldn't act how they felt. After all, he claimed that he knew where the missing shipgirls were.

When Kay and Essex came down, not much changed, but there were some perceivable differences that were easy to miss.

Firstly, when the male laid his eyes on Kay, he momentarily flinched before continuing his discussion with the engineers. It was something that only Kay noticed, and while it slightly irked him, he assumed it to be because his hair wasn't looking particularly fine today.

Secondly, his eyes seemed to glow, but that could have been just from the light of the setting sun as it dipped below the horizon. Nobody noticed that.

And lastly, he began to ask questions about the mission that the secretaries were sent out on. His reasoning for this? So that he could ensure that they were talking about the correct kansen instead of completely different ones. Fortunately, they were indeed talking about Enterprise and Intrepid.

Kay didn't get much of a chance to talk to the male, if at all. Will and Ida (well, mostly Will) handled most of the questioning, and they managed to glean a few bits of information from the male.

1. His name was Neris. Specifically, Neris Retiba. While the name was somewhat strange, Neris pulled out a passport from his pocket to show that his name was indeed Neris and was from the Panama region, which helped explain the strange name. Nobody in Panama had a normal name by Eagle Union standards - such names included Kir Yeltsa, Dlanod Murt, and perhaps most confusing, Leeroy Jenkins.

2. Adding onto the passport, he had been going on a 'cruise 'round the world', as he put it. That's why he had the passport on hand - when the ship sunk, he kept his passport on his person in case he managed to end up ashore, which thankfully, he did manage to end up doing.

3. He had seen Enterprise and Intrepid face off with... someone when he was on the cruise ship. The ship had unfortunately sunk because of the battle that ensued, and Neris couldn't say what had happened to the two kansen. As for who the other person was, he refused to say, citing that he wasn't sure.

4. The day he saw Enterprise and Intrepid fight the mysterious figure was January 4th - two days before Kay had met Allen. This lined up with the fact that the both of them had left port several days before that.

That was all the evidence that they managed to extract from Neris before the MPs came - they had come in place of the Commander, who was currently waiting inside his office for the newcomer. They got Neris up by his arms, and without a word, they escorted him towards the headquarters, where the Commander was located.

The rest followed, not sure what they should do.

---

The Commander was sitting at his cherry wood desk, reviewing paperwork, when he heard a knock on the door. Looking up, he asked, "who is it?"

"It's the MPs, sir. We brought in the newcomer, per your request," came a firm tone from the other side.

Nodding to himself, the Commander spoke. "Ah, yes. Bring him in, please. Is there anyone else?"

"Just the engineers, Kay, and Essex, sir."

"Keep them outside. You may enter with the newcomer."

"Understood." There seemed to be a brief exchange of words before the door opened, revealing the MP, dressed in their black armor, and the newcomer. With his tattered clothing and white hair, he stood out from the rest of the MPs. "Welcome. Have a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair opposite him.

The newcomer nodded while one of the MPs closed the door and sat down at the chair, his legs shaking. Noticing this, the Commander looked to one of the MPs. "Would you mind making the both of us some tea? This young fellow seems to need it-"

He was soundly interrupted by the newcomer speaking up. "Sir - Commander - whatever you want to be called," he said, a fearful tone coming into his voice as he visibly relaxed now that he was alone with the Commander and the MPs. "You have a traitor amongst your midst."

He said that rapidly - so rapidly, in fact, that it took him having to repeat that statement before the Commander understood. "What do you mean, traitor?"

That was when the newcomer dropped all pretenses of having any pride at all and began to shake. "That... thing, who calls himself an engineer. You have to understand, he isn't human," he blurted out loudly.

The Commander was confused. "Who, Will? He may be a bit... unorthodox, but as my son, I can personally vouch that he-"

"No, sir. The... other male engineer," he replied quickly and fervently. Standing up rapidly, he placed his hands on the Commander's desk with a fearful look in his eyes. "The black-haired one - he isn't what you think of him as."

"... would you care to explain?" The Commander didn't seem to be fazed about the sudden burst of emotion - he had seen his fair share of those in his lifetime. But he was curious as to what he was talking about.

"The other engineer. Him. He was the one who faced off against your Enterprise and Intrepid," he said quickly. "I-I saw him beat them two. I saw h-him tear off Intrepid's rigging and throw her against Enterprise. I... I saw them sink below the waves before he, floating in the air, turned to my ship and..." he shuddered. "He tried to kill us all." The newcomer's voice now seemed haunted as he sat back down, seemingly drained and with the thousand-yard stare.

Now the Commander was intrigued. "Go on."

"He tried to kill us all," he repeated. "I managed to hide from him, as well as a few others, but... but..." he began to shake as he hyperventilated. "He blew up the ship! Everyone but me - everyone who hadn't managed to escape by lifeboat - was burnt to a crisp!"

The MPs stiffened, and the Commander could tell why. "... my good fellow, if what you're saying is true, then-"

"Yes! Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying! You're harboring that very same person who killed almost everyone on my ship! He killed Enterprise and Intrepid! I bet he showed up practically out of nowhere, didn't he? I'm betting that he played his cards correctly and arrived here to kill us all-"

"Alright, alright! Enough!" The Commander had to shout in order to drown out the frantic man's desperate cries. "I understand your plight, fellow." In truth, he was very worried. If what he was saying was true, then...

"So, what's your name?" The Commander asked, trying to change the subject while he tried to think of a way to deal with the situation.

"Neris, sir. Neris Retiba."

"Well then, Neris. I assume that you must be very hungry, thirsty, and tired no?"

"Yes, sir. I've been holding it back for now, but I feel like I'm going to collapse if I wasn't sitting down," Neris responded, suddenly coughing.

"Ah. Well, in that case..." the Commander turned to the MPs. "Would you mind escorting him to the hospital? There, he can be cared for and properly nursed back to help."

The MPs nodded and walked towards Neris, prepared to escort him out. Before they could do so, though, Neris spoke up. "What are you going to do about him?" he asked. "The... 'engineer'."

"... he will be dealt with soon, boy. Don't worry - you are safe now," the Commander responded.

"A-alright... but don't let him get too close to the kansen, alright? I think he's trying to manipulate them."

"Okay." His stern response was the signal for the MPs to escort Neris out.

They other people were gone by the time the MPs opened the door - much to everyone's relief. Walking Neris out, the MPs shut the door and the Commander sunk into his chair, suddenly feeling very exhausted. "Oh, what am I going to do...?" he asked himself in a hushed and worried tone.

---

Later that night

Kay had finished up his work for today early, surprisingly - something that surprised Will and Ida. Normally, he was the last one to leave for the day. Not that they weren't mad - they were actually relieved that he was finally going home early.

As he said goodbye and left the workshop, he looked at the night sky and sighed, seeing the stars in the sky. He suddenly felt very small. He knew that those stars were big - bigger than anything he could imagine - and yet, they just looked so small. If they looked small to him... then how small was he in relation to them?

Guh. He was now feeling a sense of vertigo - something that he didn't really like. Looking down suddenly, he began to the entrance of the Port to head back home. He was still living in his small apartment - he had yet to move down to the Port, even though he now considered it his second home.

Or, at least, that was his plan. In reality, he had taken no more than 20 steps when he felt a sharp sting against his thigh. Looking down in shock, he saw some sort of... syringe-dart injecting something into him.

What...? Everything now started to spin around him as he stumbled, falling to his knees as he tried to control his breathing. What was happening? What did the syringe do to him?

The last thing he heard before he sunk into a deep unconscious state were some words. "Restrain him with chains, and then carry him down to the cells. He will await..." there was a brief pause, "judgement."

---

At the hospital

Neris was sitting up in bed, watching as the monitor next to his bed showed his vitals. So rhythmic. So tranceful. So...

[Expletive] it, it was now time to drop the pretenses. He was the same Arbiter that had faced off against Enterprise and Intrepid.

He wondered how long it would take the others to realize that he was messing with them. Probably now. Probably soon. But most likely, never. He was sure that he had covered his tracks effectively. After all, he had went into the trouble of creating an entire alias for himself! No one would assume that Sirens could easily hack into computer systems if the Sirens were stealthy about it, right?

But for now, he supposed he ought to just buy his time while he 'recharged his batteries', so to speak. The fight against the two kansen had taken a particular toll against him - after all, stopping time was hard to do, and he had to use that ability multiple times to finally subdue the two. As he lay down on his bed, they were tied up firmly in chains back at his lair. He didn't care what happened to them until he got back.

As far as he was concerned, they were his playthings. He didn't need to care about playthings, did he~

In fact, everyone at Port were just playthings to him. 'Neris' finally found himself thinking of the guy that he had framed. Of course, he had done prior research on him - name was Kay, aged 21, skilled engineer, and just so happened to be personally recruited by the Commander himself.

Such a shame that such a talent had to be wasted so that Neris could have more fun. What was even more a shame was the fact that kansen seemed to be interested in him - specifically, the blue-haired individual - Essex was her name, wasn't it?

He would go for her first, he decided. He would earn her trust, and then slowly reel her in while Kay was watching. She would be tied to him now. She would be his next little plaything. A personal pleasure doll, perhaps? It didn't matter - the look of despair on the... engineer's face would be icing on the cake.

He loved it. His sadistic nature loved it. It was a good plan, even if his mind was screaming 'go and kill everyone right now'. That old man looked frail beyond belief, Neris thought. Maybe I could kill him and then blame it on the engineer?

... maybe.

---

The Commander put the final touches on his letter before folding it up, frowning before he handed it to a MP. "Send this to Kay right now," he ordered. The MP nodded before he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

The Commander let loose a shaky breath, the events of what had happened just a few hours prior racing through his mind. It was obvious that this 'Neris' person was bullcrapping. After all, it didn't take a genius to figure out that 'Neris Retiba' was just 'Siren Arbiter' backwards and with the 'r' missing. What did the Arbiter take him for, a fool?

But that was what worried him. He had to somehow fool the Arbiter that he himself was fooled, which was going to be no easy feat for both him and Kay. He figure that the poor boy ought to know - after all, he was the one falsely imprisoned per his orders. It only made sense to let him in on what was happening and why he needed to stay in the cell.

It... wasn't something that the Commander was happy about doing. He cared for all of his workers dearly, regardless of if they were human or kansen. It pained him greatly to send one of his employees to rot in an inhumane environment, even if it was for the greater good. That was because of what the cell was. It was something left over from the older days of humanity - back when Cerulean City was Seattle and humans were more barbaric with their prison system. Nowadays, it was considered cruel, but to an 'Arbiter', it was 'fitting'.

He was, of course, referring to solitary confinement.

... he just hoped that Kay would keep his sanity intact. But for now, while he worked out a plan to trap the Arbiter...

Kay would not be able to see anyone. He would be fed meals three times a day, and while he would be allowed visitors, it would be screened to make sure that no sensitive information was leaked. Kay would spend his days in a concrete cell with an uncomfortable futon and no natural light; the only light given off by fluorescent bulbs. He would hallucinate, there was no doubt about that. No one could take on solitary confinement and win.

But above all, no one else could know - for now - that Kay wasn't an Arbiter. If no one believed the Arbiter's words, then 'Neris' could believe that the jig was up and kill everyone before anyone could do anything about it.

This was dangerous territory he was walking on. And currently, he could think of no other plan that involved Kay being treated humanely.

He just hoped that everything would work itself out eventually.

Chapter Text

Kay came to in what seemed to be the inside of a large block of concrete. His head hurt like [expletive] - how long had he been out?

He narrowed his eyes once he realized that above him was a set of fluorescent lights - their buzz nonexistent. Weird. That meant that they were new. This place couldn't have been set up long ago.

Sitting upright, he found that he was laying down on a bed. It wasn't comfy, but that was to be expected given the circumstances.

Right, the circumstances. Why the [expletive] was he here?!

That was when he realized that to his right, a simple envelope laid there, presumably for him to open and read. Stumbling out of bed, desperate for answers, he opened up the letter and began to read.

---

To Kay,

I'm sorry that you had to be here in solitary confinement. If there was a better, more humane way that I could treat you at the moment, given the circumstances of our dire situation, then I would immediately consider it. However, because of the danger that has now graced this Port, I am afraid that you will have to remain here for the time being.

To further elaborate, remember that newcomer who supposedly 'washed up' ashore? He is no normal human. He is a Siren, and I have reason to believe that he is not just a Siren, but an Arbiter. Precautions have thus been made to ensure that my plan to capture this Arbiter, and unfortunately, you being locked up is one of them.

Here's the thing - he singled YOU out. He claimed that you were the Siren that fought against Enterprise and Intrepid, which I assume to be false. How do I know this? For one thing, your hair is naturally black - I know this from the background check I did on you. Another thing is that I know you. I hired you personally, and if there was any reason to believe that you would hinder Azur Lane, then I would not have come to you on that fateful night.

So, I am sorry. I really am. The most I could do without raising the Arbiter's suspicion was send this letter to you, and even then that might raise his paranoia. This will be the last letter you will see in a long time.

---

The letter continued on and on, with the old man writing out the list of ways he could pass the time. 'Think of a fighter jet concept', was one idea. 'Figure out what you're going to do with the paid leave I'm going to give you after this is all over' was another, more happy-sounding idea.

But Kay already knew what this message was trying to avoid. He was going to spend a long, long time here. That was the gist of the message, anyways. Strangely enough, he didn't mind. It was solitary confinement, how bad could it be?

... that was his bravado speaking. In truth, Kay realized that he would need all the paid leave he could get when... if he managed to get out of here without losing his sanity.

And so, the wait began.

Day 1

Kay tried to make sense of the situation. He managed to understand that the person who had wrongfully accused him was the actual Arbiter, and the whole situation was basically being kept under wraps - the Commander hadn't even contacted the greater Azur Lane HQ yet, for fear that they might also believe the Arbiter. But he was most worried about what the shipgirls would think. Would they also believe the Arbiter? They probably would - after all, the Commander did lock him up. He wondered what Anchorage thought.

Day 2

He busied his mind with trying to solve the design problem he had with a personal engineering problem of his. Recently, he had noticed that Siren air power was getting better - not enough for anyone but a few determined minds to notice, however. He didn't to spread chaos by telling a carrier, so for now he kept the whole thing under wraps to ensure that, when the secret was out and everyone knew that the Sirens had the better air power, he could counter with his own fighter jet design that would blow away the Sirens.

He was already making substantial progress - in fact, the solitude of the cell let him imagine away with all of the design ideas that he could incorporate. In his mind's eye, he could envision a 3D model of the fighter jet he was envisioning and he added 'parts' to it as he saw fit, trying to figure out if it would work. Eventually, though, that got boring once he realized that he couldn't write his ideas down.

Day 3

Day 3 came about, and this time Kay felt the corners of his sanity start to slip. When he woke up on his bed, he could have sworn he heard some tapping sounds in the cell. Upon getting up and trying to find the sources of the tapping - even checking under his bed - he found nothing. That was bad - auditory hallucinations were symptoms of a failing mind that was falling to the grips of insanity.

He had to snap out of - he had to, lest he fall even deeper. But he couldn't figure out how he could forestall it. Everything was monotonous - the lights were constant, the gray color was the same all around the cell, and he still wore the same clothes with no chance to shower. He assumed that he would be able to take a shower eventually... whenever that was. That would be a break to the monotony of the situation.

Day 4

Kay was starting to wonder what was going on in the outside world. Had the Commander managed to subdue the Arbiter and had just forgotten about him? Was the Arbiter interacting with the kansen now? Oh god, what was he doing with Essex?

No, no. He had to calm himself down. The Arbiter wouldn't go for Essex, he was sure of it.

... or would he? He would try to comfort her, Kay was sure. After all, Intrepid, one of her sisters, was missing, possibly dead. Knowing Essex, she would want answers and would go talk to the Arbiter as soon as possible. Who knows what could happen then? Would Essex even... fall for him?

No, no. That was impossible. After all, in the brief time Kay saw Neris talk, he was suave and... cool. His white haired glimmered in the sunset, and his tone of voice and accent was just... better. He was also charismatic and funny - there were times when he made Will crack a smile with the occasional joke. Before Kay found out that Neris was secretly a Siren, even he had thought that Neris was just your generic nice guy that had found himself in a tough situation, even if he was a bit annoying.

... shiet.

Day 5

Kay had a weird dream. It involved the Port, that he knew, but he couldn't remember the other details of it. The memory of it was already fading from him when he awoke, which was a bummer. He needed to remember that dream to get through today.

So, instead, he worked on getting to know the room. After all, if he was going to spend a while in it, he might as well know its layout, right?

After a few minutes, Kay managed to figure out the layout of the concrete room. The dimensions were about 20 ft. x 20 ft. x 10 ft. - not exactly roomy, but it worked well enough. Of course, he was trying to just keep his mind distracted from Essex and what she might be doing with Arbiter, but... no. He couldn't afford to think about that now. He had to keep his sanity, not daydream about some girl!

Yet, that girl was Essex. The first person who he could actually feel... really comfortable talking to. The other girls were definitely nice, but Essex made him feel truly safe at Port. After all, when you have volatile weapons of war that could blow up Cerulean City many times over, you had to be careful to not disturb them in any negative way.

... god, he needed to get a life.

Day 6

He was beginning to see things now.

When Kay woke up, he could have sworn that he had seen something out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to see what it was, however, there was nothing there.

He hated it. He hated that he knew that his mind was slowly slipping into the vestiges of insanity - of not being able to tell reality from whatever image his mind could conjure up. And yet, he couldn't do anything about it. There was nothing that he could literally do - all he could do was stare at the wall and hope that his symptoms magically went away.

But what Kay should have truly feared wasn't the sinking insanity. It was the depression and feelings of insecurity that he was beginning to feel again. Over the month at the Port, Kay had started to push those feelings out - after all, he was working on something that would benefit something when he was employed as an engineer. He knew that he was at least helping someone, and that had managed to bring temporary joy into his life. Even if his tunnel vision was worsening, he would have gone down that path if he was able to just interact with the kansen some more.

But here, where he was alone and there was no one to come visit him, those feelings of insecurity, loss of self-worth, and depression came back. Vehemently.

Over the course of the six days, Kay began to have doubts of what the shipgirls actually thought of him. Did they really consider him a friend? Did even Anchorage think of him as a friend and not just 'another human'? There were other humans at the dock - including Will and Ida - who they had known longer. They were definitely more well-liked.

Was he... was he even worth anything?

Day 7

He didn't even know if it was Day 7. Had it really been a week ever since he had woken up in here? He was counting by the number of meals that they had given him. Every so often, a small slit would open up on the wall and a tray would be slid in before being shut back in again. It wasn't even good food - just some porridge and such. At this point, Kay was starting to wonder if the Commander had lied about the Arbiter and just needed a reason to lock him up.

Wait... what if that was the real deal? That... probably was true. No, it couldn't be true. The Commander had hired him personally because... because what? Because he had skill? He didn't have any skills whatsoever! If I had any skills, then I wouldn't be here! he thought to himself.

It was at this point Kay gave up with the notion that anybody loved him at all.

Day ???

The auditory and visual hallucinations were starting to get out of hand. There were some points where Kay would snap out of staring at the wall and realize that somebody had been trying to talk to him but decided to give up, apparently disappearing when he refused to respond.

Not that he would give the hallucinations any benefit of the doubt. He could remain strong. He needed no one. He wouldn't make anyone think that he was going insane. He wasn't going to talk to some illusions that his mind conjured up!

Little did he know that they weren't illusions.

---

"What do you mean, Kay's the Arbiter?!" Georgia said to the Commander, slamming her fist down. "That's bullcrap, and you know it!" Once she had heard that Kay had been locked up and that Neris was the one to indirectly cause that, she had directly gone to the Commander, expecting answers. Unfortunately, she didn't like those answers. "It has been 16 days now! Are you going to let him rot in solitary confinement, having his mind melt away and unresponsive to anyone? Anchorage tried to hug him. Anchorage! And yet he didn't respond!"

"I'm sorry, Georgia. All will be told in due time, but now is not that time," the Commander said, not even trying to hide the fact that he knew that Kay wasn't the Arbiter. "But for now, he shall have to stay in the cell that we've provided for him. It's a... tough decision, but I'm afraid that it's our best decision."

Georgia sighed angrily, balling her hand into a fist as she looked directly at the Commander. She knew that she couldn't stay mad at the Commander - he was too nice for that - but she was just... annoyed? Irritated? Desperate for answers? She didn't know. But she wouldn't stand for someone being falsely accused and locked up! "Then why don't you do something against Neris? God knows that he's suspicious as hell, and you're doing nothing about him!"

"He is being kept under watch by the hospital staff and our cameras. We will not imprison him, because I don't want to face the... consequences," he stated. The implications behind 'consequences' were clear as day.

Georgia bowed her head, not ready to realize the gravity of the situation. Oh, how she wanted to just go to the hospital, unleash her rigging, and... she let out an angry huff. "... fine. But no one else gets hurt, do you understand me?" she asked the Commander. "Please. Kay doesn't respond to anyone, now." Her voice cracked at the mention of him - she couldn't bear to remember trying to talk to him, day after day, only to be met with the same thousand-yard stare.

The Commander nodded, knowing that what the kansen was saying wasn't a threat, but a genuine request in her own weird way. "Do not worry. Kay will get paid leave and any available therapy from Bremerton after the... situation is over. For now, try to keep this away from the Siren. Understood?"

"... Understood," she said through gritted teeth. Although it pained her, she eventually just had to turn on her heel and leave the office.

---

"So, what'd he say?" Allen asked as she saw him leave the HQ. She, along with the rest of the Sumner class, Formidable, and Anchorage had been waiting for her to leave. FDG would've joined as well, but she was out on a sortie and couldn't return until later tonight. "Is Neris evil?"

"We were right. Neris is..." she sighed. "He's a... very good person," she said through gritted teeth, hoping that they would pick up on her irritation and sarcasm. The wind picked up gently, tossing her hair up into the air a little as she managed to get it under control. "We just need to wait until the situation is... clear." She huffed angrily, trying to get her emotions under control as she thought of Neris.

Ingraham nodded, seeing through her thinly-veiled words. "Gotcha. So what do we do now?"

"What else? Pay him a visit!" Bristol piped up. "We gotta get to the bottom of this-" her mouth was covered by Cooper. "Mmph! Mm mmh mmmph!"

"I believe what sis is trying to say here is that we can only watch from the sidelines, right?" Cooper state. Bristol nodded quickly, trying to get herself away from Cooper's inquisitive gaze as quickly as possible. Letting go of her, Cooper continued on. "But that aside, I really do wish we could do something. We shouldn't tread on the Commander's feet, though. Maybe he's workin' on something?"

"I believe that maybe the Commander IS working on something as well," Formidable replied solemnly. "Though, it might be a secret, knowing him." After a bit, she added on something. "And we shouldn't be talking about this in the open. Shall we go in? I can serve tea in my dormitory."

There was a general consensus to drink tea. Except Georgia. Thankfully, there was also Oxy-Cola in Formidable's room, and so everyone was... happy enough.

But they couldn't shake the attempted conversations that they had with Kay. On the ninth day, they had decided to head to Kay's cell to talk to him, but he wouldn't respond at all. They had tried again on the 10th day, then the 11th day. The sixteenth day was when they finally had to give up after the guards just refused to allow them entry. After all, this was an entire operation to fool the Arbiter, and he couldn't see anything suspicious, right? Daily visits couldn't happen.

---

The Commander's computer beeped as it received the notification for a video call, and the Commander straightened up in his chair, now fully alert. This was what he was waiting for. Activating the video call, he watched as the monitor now showed him in a call with other Commanders of Ports around the world.

"Greetings. I assume Friedrich Der Grosse sent you the invite to this meeting?" he asked, assuming an aura of authority even though he knew that he was practically equal rank - and popularity - with the other Commanders. "Commanders, please report in with your name and Home Port.

"Commander Ishima Kuwaru of the Tokyo Port," a thin-faced man replied with a formal and respectful tone. "This simple man here is pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Commander Alex Johnston of the New York Port," the rather boisterous man responded. "Here and ready for them Sirens!"

"Commander Isabelle Bianchi of the Port of Rome," a calm female spoke. "To what matters have you summoned us?"

"Commander Felix Knight of the London Port, sir," a young Commander said nervously into the camera. "What Isabelle said - why'd you bring us here?"

And then there was him - the Commander of the Cerulean City Port. "Greetings, all - and hello, Felix, congrats on your recent promotion to the Commander of the Port of London. Isabelle, you were the one who inquired as to why you have been summoned here via a link from Friedrich Der Grosse?"

"Correct, signore."

"Well, for starters, I'd like to see your faces again sometime," the Commander said calmly. "It's been a while since I taught you all, was it not?" he couldn't keep a grin from popping up on his face as he stared at his former students, back when he was a teacher for Azur Lane and they were all aspiring young people.

A simultaneous groan echoed throughout the call. "Oh, c'mon, man! Did you really wake me up in the middle of the night for this shit again?!" Alex responded, though not in an annoyed tone. "We already had a meet-and-greet! Like, two months ago!"

The Commander chuckled. "I know. That isn't the reason why I brought you here, anyways." His face suddenly became serious, and the other Commanders, who weren't used to see him suddenly change to his 'game face' straightened up, realizing that the situation was dire. "I assume you know of the existence of Arbiters, yes?"

"Correct, monsieur," another person said, having just joined the call. "Commander Zoe Fontaine reporting - sorry that I couldn't join in time. I had to contact our Ironblood friend to ensure that he was awake," she spoke rapidly, her naturally fast-paced personality shining through.

"Ah, welcome, Zoe. Where is Lukas, then? Sleepin' with ya?" Alex teased, watching the blush grow on her face and grinning. "Relax, I'm just kiddin'. Though, where is he?"

"Ahem. Gutentag, Alex," Commander Lukas Schmidt responded in his deep tone, logging in. "I see that you haven't lost your sense of... humor."

"Ya know it!"

"Alright, alright, may we get to the point?" Ishima inquired. "Shikikan-sama - what is your true reason for having us here?"

"Well, now that... almost everyone is here," the Commander said, "I'll let the truth out - we have an Arbiter at my Port." When he had sent Friedrich out a few days back, he had expressively told her to not mention anything about the Arbiter, lest the news be leaked. If she was asked about the situation, the Commander had told her to insist that it was a dire situation. Since they all knew him, they knew that that meant business.

A ripple of shock sounded throughout the call. All of the Commander had their fair share of interaction with Arbiters, and it wasn't something that they'd rather recall. Felix, in particular, paled. "An... Arbiter, sir?"

"Yes. He goes by the name Neris Retiba, and he washed ashore a few days ago claiming that one of my engineers was actually a Siren and had killed Enterprise and Intrepid," the old man stated. "Unfortunately, he did not bother to hide his hair color nor the fact that his eyes glow when indoors. His name is also suspicious - reverse it and what do you get?"

"... ah. Siren Abiter... Arbiter?" Isabelle asked. Nodding, the Commander continued. "Naturally, I am currently treating the Arbiter well as to not give him any reason to believe that we know what's up."

"Understood. Have you reported this to Azur Lane HQ?" Zoe asked. "... actually, don't do that. Knowing them, they'd probably raze the Port to see if that would work on subduing the Arbiter." She sighed. "Is that why you wanted us to send out our PR ships?"

"... yes. Our PR ships, for now, are our only weapon against the Arbiters themselves." The Commander paused. "Assuming that you have sent them out with Friedrich, may I know which ships you have sent out?"

Alex sighed, reaching for something out of camera and brought out a can of Cola, taking a swig before responding. "I sent out USS Seattle to join the fight. She should be arriving with Friedrich to help y'all with your little problem."

"I sent out Monarch..." Felix chipped in with a bit of a guilty look. Everyone knew that Felix was oathed to her, so sending her out on a mission without him joining along was a bit of a deal for him. "She better stay safe, alright? I also brought in Cheshire and Neptune."

"She is a PR ship, monsieur," Zoe replied casually. "She will be safe. As for me, while I was not able to send out Saint Louis, I have instead given Jean Bart the go-ahead. Her long-range artillery should be able to do at least something."

"Unfortunately, sir, I have not been able to send out any PR ships," Ishima said reluctantly. "I, however, did send out Shinano, Suruga, and Shimakaze to aid your conquest against the Arbiter."

"That's wonderful, we got the floof lady!" Alex responded heartily. "How 'bout you, Lukas?"

The German Commander was silent before he finally spoke in his deep tone. "Roon."

Immediately, the entire call went nuts - Alex most of all. "You sent the psychopath?!?" he yelled out of disbelief. "Are you trying to kill all the PR girls - you saw what she did with the Velvet Snappers Incident! Yes, I know that it's still a ridiculous name, but still!"

The German nodded. "You are correct, American," he said. "She indeed screwed up the... unfortunately named Incident. However, that was only because someone insulted her lover in front of her. Her mentality will be perfectly stable, assuming that the PR ships are respectful of each other."

Felix grumbled to himself, and Ishima spoke up next. "But... it is a sizable enough force, correct?" he asked. "After all, we don't know if the Arbiters have become more powerful over the years - our forces might still not be enough to subdue an Arbiter."

The old man frowned. "If the Arbiters have grown powerful enough so that our PR ships will not be able to defeat them, then we might as well throw in the towel," he declared. "But for now, that is still up in the air. We don't know the extent of their full capabilities yet, and besides," he smirked, "if we do manage to defeat the Arbiter, we can use its tech to help bolster our strength."

Murmurs of agreement could be heard, and the old Commander grinned. "Then, with that, are there any more questions before I end the call?"

"Yeah," Isabelle replied. "Are we going to get anything out of this?"

The Commander sighed, knowing that this question was bound to come eventually. "I'll send some blueprints over to your Ports for potential designs that could help bolster your Ports. Anything else you want?"

"Send one of your men over to collaborate with us and we'll consider it a deal."

"... fine."

---

And so, the operation began, seemingly without a hitch. That is, until you realize that an Arbiter was a piece of tech, themselves - they were perpetually hooked up to the Internet, and as such, Neris managed to hear the conversation.

He was... less than pleased, to be honest. How had they figured out his ruse? He had put a solid five minutes of thought into it! It was bound to be foolproof!

He sighed, sitting up in his bed and letting any pretense slide that he was really injured. Hopping out of bed, he flew out of the hospital window before anyone could come in.

Remember when he said that he was less than pleased? Well, in reality, he was more... furious. How dare they try to stop him? He was strong! They were weak! What gave them the right to interfere with his business?!

He would take his anger out on all of them. All of them! He would make the kansen his playthings. He would prove to the other Arbiters that he was more than a crazed sex machine! He would... he would...

He saw Essex and immediately figured out a plan.

---

Essex wasn't doing too well over the past few weeks.

First off, she had repeatedly visited Kay, but every time she had done so, she had been refused entry by the guards. Something about the Commander not wanting her to see him in his current state? It grated on her nerves.

Next up was Intrepid's disappearance. Her own sister was possibly dead! How could she not feel depressed? She already missed her whenever she spouted off some astronomy fact; she missed her when Essex waited for Intrepid to finish gazing at the stars with her telescope before falling asleep. She missed her smile, she missed everything about her.

And... there was Enterprise. Essex had failed her, hadn't she? She was supposed to protect her senpai when things went wrong, and yet... she wasn't there when Enterprise went beneath the waves.

No matter how much she could spin the story in her head, it always ended up with her feeling as if she had failed someone. That was why she was sitting on a bench outside late at night, in fact - she wanted some cool air to help her think. Was she useful? Was she not? Could she even call herself the leader of the Essex class anymore?

She was so entranced in her thoughts that she didn't notice the Arbiter creeping up behind her, ready to abduct her and take her away.

By the time morning rolled around, the both of them were long gone.

---

Enterprise woke up with the weight of the chains binding her being lifted off of her.

She was still groggy - in fact, she could say that she hadn't been thinking clearly ever since that fight with the Arbiter. The most she could remember was that she had fallen unconscious, and then slipped in and out of consciousness over... how much time had passed?

She couldn't tell. How long had she been out? Her breath quickened as she tried to scan her surroundings, only to realize that the place didn't matter at the moment. It was just a normal seaside cave overlooking the ocean, it seemed. What mattered was the person who had freed her from the chains, looking down at her with an expectant look.

"Well, you're up," he said in an amiable tone, his silver hair seeming to glow in the dark. "Let's skip the semantics for now - my name is Raul and I'm going to help you out of this mess."