"Wake up, Daiwa! It's time for breakfast!"
Nimi's voice pierced the morning quiet as she grabbed Daiwa by the shoulders, shaking her awake.
"Okay, okay, okay, I am awake!" Daiwa snapped, her voice dripping with irritation.
"Get ready. I am heading to the cafeteria," Nimi sighed, shaking her head before turning on her heel. Daiwa, still bleary-eyed and grumbling under her breath, dragged herself out of bed and followed close behind.
Upon arriving at the bustling cafeteria, the pair were immediately greeted by a familiar face standing behind the serving counter.
"Oh, new faces and old faces," Nevada drawled with an easygoing grin. Without waiting, she slid a standard Destroyer-class meal toward Nimi. Then, her eyes shifted to the girl standing beside her. "And who are you?"
"I am Daiwa Scarlet, a Wasp-class ship!" Daiwa declared proudly, puffing out her chest.
"They made *another* Wasp-class?" Nevada muttered, a look of brief surprise crossing her face. Shrugging, she dished out a massive, overflowing Carrier-class meal and slid it across the counter.
Daiwa's proud expression instantly crumbled into sheer bewilderment. "Eh?! I don't think I can eat all this!"
"Nonsense. Carriers need to eat a lot, you know," Nevada countered with a chuckle.
Realizing there was no arguing with the chef, Daiwa defeatedly accepted the mountain of food. "Only Oguri could eat this much..." she muttered, carrying her plate over to a dining table where Nimi was already waiting.
Sitting at a nearby table, two other shipgirls were watching them intently. Javelin and Laffey had been waiting for their arrival. Javelin was practically vibrating with nervous energy, her fingers twitching, while Laffey slowly sipped from a cola, her drowsy eyes tracking Nimi's every movement like a hawk.
"Good morning!" Javelin called out, trying her best to sound cheerful despite the tension. "Did you sleep well? The Commander said we should show you around the base today to help you... um... adjust!"
"I am fine, thank you," Nimi replied, her tone, stiff, and thoroughly guarded. "But I would prefer to inspect my ship's maintenance progress. And hers."
"Oh, Vestal and the repair teams are handling it!" Javelin reassured her quickly.
"But... Nimi, are you sure you don't remember the Commander's meetings? Or the time we all went to the beach? You wore that really pretty swimsuit, and—"
"I have never been to a beach for leisure," Nimi interrupted, her face entirely deadpan.
Laffey blinked slowly, lowering her cola. "The fake Nimi is scary... and a bit of a buzzkill."
"I am not a fake!" Nimi snapped, a vein practically popping on her forehead.
Meanwhile, deep within the hidden compartment of Nimi's destroyer hull,
The Space Marine groaned, his massive, power-armored frame shifting slightly, the heavy metal clanking against the flooring.
"Do not move, organic," Mecha Sonic Mk2 commanded. His mechanical voice was muffled and distorted by the internal dampening fields of the cloak. "Your heavy stomping will be heard."
The Marine grunted, glaring down at Mecha Sonic with clear disdain. "So, any new orders from Lady Daiwa or Lady Z23?" he asked, his voice a low rumble.
"No. The local defensive forces have detained her and Nimi," Mecha Sonic replied, his head tilting sideways with a cold, mechanical whir. "They are currently undergoing interrogation by the local leadership. I am monitoring their communication frequencies. For the most part, they do not know about us yet."
The Space Marine's hand instinctively reached for the grip of his boltgun, but Mecha Sonic swiftly moved to intercept him.
"We must break them out," the Marine growled, the armor's chest piece vibrating with his anger. "An Imperial warrior does not sit idly by while that people assigned to mr to protect are held by unknown xenos."
"Your tactical assessment is flawed and driven by biological inefficiency," Mecha Sonic retorted, stepping fully into the dim green light. "Our current objective is resource acquisition and structural repair. If you compromise our position I will personally terminate you to ensure Daiwa's safety. Am I understood?"
The Marine stared down into the cold, unyielding visage of the metallic hedgehog. He recognized the brutal, pragmatic calculus humming within the machine's programming.
"...Very well," the Marine finally grunted, relenting. "But the moment they threaten her, we strike."
"The local forces utilized basic scanning arrays," Mecha Sonic concluded, turning back to his monitors. "They lack the sophistication to pierce my active camouflage, let alone Agnes Tachyon's localized dimensional masking. We remain undetected. For now."
"Alright," the Marine muttered, settling back into the shadows.
Down at the busy docks, a group of Iron Blood ships had just arrived. Among them was Z23.
*'I wonder how Javelin, Laffey, and Unicorn are doing,'* Z23 thought to herself as she disembarked from her rigging.
Before she could head off to find them, Prinz Eugen stopped her, handing over a thick stack of documents. She requested that Z23 deliver the paperwork the Commander urgently needed.
Nodding, Z23 made her way toward the Commander's office. But as she rounded the final corridor, she caught sight of Laffey and Javelin walking alongside... herself?
"Eh?"
The two identical shipgirls froze, staring at one another. In her shock, Z23 dropped her paperwork, the sheets scattering across the floor. She pointed a trembling finger at Nimi, who instantly mirrored the gesture.
"Faker!" they yelled in unison.
"Faker? You're the faker!" they shouted at the exact same time.
"Don't copy me!" both irritated voices ringed out, their tempers flaring.
"Hmph. You're not even good enough to be my fake," Nimi huffed, crossing her arms.
"Likewise, faker," Z23 shot back, her eyes narrowing.
Before the argument could escalate any further, the heavy wooden door clicked open. The Commander stepped out into the hallway, looking completely bewildered.
"Who's yelling over here?" he asked, rubbing his temples.
"Commander! There's a faker that looks exactly like me!" Z23 cried out, pointing at her doppelgänger.
"Me, the fake? You're the fake!" Nimi barked, snapping her head back to glare at Z23.
The Commander held up his hands, letting out a weary sigh. "Calm down, both of you. I will explain."
A lengthy explanation later inside the office, the tension had finally begun to simmer down.
"Mhm... So you're me, like a clone?" Z23 asked, leaning against the desk as she analyzed Nimi.
"Eh, not really. We have the same body, but I am definitely different from you," Nimi explained, her posture rigid.
Z23 processed this for a moment, and then a bright smile broke across her face. "Cool, I guess... Still confusing, but that also means I have a new sister!"
"Eh!?" Nimi gasped, completely thrown off guard by the sudden enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, back in the cafeteria, Daiwa was dealing with an entirely different kind of handling.
"So cool! Another Wasp-class!" Wasp cheered, practically beaming with excitement as she leaned over the table.
"Yeah... cool..." Daiwa muttered weakly, staring blankly at her massive plate of food.
"I finally have a sister!" Wasp cheered happily, completely oblivious to Daiwa's exhaustion.
As Wasp continued to celebrate, Daiwa slumped in her seat, staring desperately at the cafeteria doors.
'Nimi, save me...'* Daiwa thought, her soul practically leaving her body. *'She acts just like Vodka!'