My sonar must have been malfunctioning, because it insisted the woman lying in the sand was a battleship. Clearly nonsense. I studied the blonde-haired woman with pity. The poor thing. Her strange German military uniform did look rather snazzy though. Perhaps she had been part of some cosplay party on a cruise ship before falling overboard?

Regardless of the reason, I couldn't possibly justify leaving this woman to fend for herself. She would surely perish from exposure within a week. Scooping her up, I carried her inside the base to a special room I had prepared in case of my own injury.

As we ventured deeper, the dry cave air gradually transformed into a moist dampness, permeated by constant steam pouring from what I had dubbed the "healing sauna." The blueprints referred to it as a repair bath, but that name felt utterly lame.

I placed the stranger in the healing sauna and marveled as the miraculous water did its work. My breath caught when her skin regained its color, shifting from a sickly gray to a healthy rose tint. The power at my fingertips never ceased to amaze me, granting access to what seemed like pure magic.

It was a stark departure from the more mundane technology in my arsenal. The most logical conclusion I could come up with, short of delving into occult nonsense, was that it utilized some type of nanite bath.

Well, it worked, so why question it too hard? Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, after all. A caveman would view a smartphone with the same awe and wonder as I regarded the healing sauna. Better to simply assume nanites were at play rather than some kind of bullshit magic.

A groan interrupted my train of thought, putting my internal monologue on hiatus. Oh, she was already waking up.

The nanites certainly worked fast.

The stranger shifted and opened sapphire eyes that sparkled in the light. "W-who are you?" She broke into a coughing fit.

I stepped closer, unable to hide my concern. "I was going to ask you that. My name is Ciriel. I found you in rough shape on the beach. What happened to you?"

The woman absorbed this information before processing my question with a shudder. Clutching her head, she groaned in pain. "I-I was in a war. They turned me into a blockship and tore me apart for scrap!"

Her previously dazed eyes turned frenzied, even furious. I backed away, unsure how to respond. "Ook."

Wasn't it unwise to dispute the delusions of the mentally unwell? They might become violent. I decided to play along for now until I could find her proper help.

"So, you're saying you are the reincarnated spirit of a ship from some war?"

The woman's face became as still as a pond. "That does seem an appropriate summation of my circumstances."

"Right." I nodded. "And how does winding up on my beach factor into that?"

She narrowed her eyes at my emphasis on 'my beach' but continued.

"I appeared in my current form in the ocean. I was disoriented for precious minutes. That's when those cowardly dogs ambushed me from behind."

"Who?"

Her face fell. "Sei kein Feigling! I do not know... I responded with my rigging and drove them off. It was too dark to see."

"Rigging?" I asked, my brow furrowed in confusion.

Gneisenau nodded and stepped out of the sauna. What happened next caused my jaw to drop and my eyes to widen in disbelief. A pair of turrets unfolded from her back and sides, transforming her like a robot straight out of a science fiction movie.

I stared, my mind struggling to process the sight before me. After a long moment, I finally accepted the impossible truth - this woman, whom I had initially dismissed as a deluded cosplayer, was exactly what she claimed to be. I performed rapid mental gymnastics, trying to rationalize what I was seeing without resorting to supernatural explanations. In the end, I shoved those thoughts aside for later contemplation.

"I see," I managed to say, my voice strained.

Silence hung heavy in the room, the atmosphere thick with tension, until I found my voice again.

"I don't believe I caught your name," I ventured, trying to break the ice.

The corners of her mouth turned up in a slight smile. "You may call me Gneisenau. My designation is fast battleship."

"Right, of course," I replied, internally cringing at my own awkwardness. I made a mental note to work on my social skills.

Desperate to fill the lull in conversation, I cleared my throat. "Would you like a tour of the island?"

Gneisenau's smile widened. "I would be delighted."

As she climbed out of the sauna, a familiar black and red symbol on her uniform caught my eye, and my blood ran cold. I instantly recognized it from countless war documentaries and films.

"Hold on," I sputtered, thrusting an accusing finger at her. "You're a Nazi?"

"Ja?"

The resulting discussion dragged on for an hour as I brought Gneisenau up to speed on current world affairs and the fate of her homeland. Tears streamed down the woman's face after I explained the fate of Berlin at the war's end and Germany's current state.

"If what you say is true..." She spoke slowly, hate igniting her eyes. "My home is gone."

I sympathized with her plight. My own memories beyond the basics were hazy at best. Indistinct blurs replaced my parents in my mind, and I couldn't even recall where I had gone to school. Thankfully, the ROB had been kind enough to leave my memories of anime and countless sci-fi books intact.

Patting her shoulder, I said, "There, there. It could be worse."

"HOW?!"

"You could have gone to hell instead." I shrugged. "I mean, you are a Nazi, you know."

Gneisenau slouched over, the wind taken out of her sails. "Scheiße, I forgot about that."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Everyone does." I nodded sagely. "I tend to be a woman of science and reason, but who's to say that hell isn't real with all this outlandish stuff happening to us?"

A bitter laugh escaped Gneisenau's lips. "My sins are beyond redemption. I revel in them even. I know where I am going when I die again." Her eyes locked with mine, sending a chill down my spine. "Are we allies in this life then, Fräulein Ciriel?"

Grinning, I rolled my shoulders. "Sure, why not. I need all the help I can get. Just lose the swastika and we're golden."

"Ja."

I led Gneisenau on a tour of the rest of the base after bleaching out her swastika. As we walked, we chatted and shared jokes that required some explaining due to our cross-cultural origins.

The weight on my shoulders lifted, and my chest felt light. For the first time since my isekai, I no longer felt alone—and that made all the difference.

----------------------------------------

Gneisenau's arrival ushered in a paradigm shift, her presence catalyzing unexpected changes in my life. After integrating her into my command structure via the command link, I wasted no time in explaining my current capabilities and strategic goals.

Some might have considered it foolish to trust someone so quickly, but I didn't care. My instincts told me Gneisenau was trustworthy, and I chose to follow that gut feeling.

The German woman exceeded my expectations, swiftly reorganizing my forces. Efficiency skyrocketed by 30%, and the island's progress measurably increased as the drones began employing construction techniques I had been ignorant of—a stark difference between practical knowledge and book smarts.

The island's surface now took shape through the "filling-in method," a complex procedure involving the gathering of sand from specific seabed areas. The sand, carefully moved and placed, formed the island's foundation and bulk. This method had quintupled the island's expansion rate.

While I was engrossed in planning future surface facility expansions, a soft chime echoed in my head. Gneisenau's expression turned vacant, a telltale sign of focusing too intently on the mental interface. A smile tugged at my lips; it was time for the first battleship to spawn.

It hadn't taken me long to realize that the 'battleship' had somehow been compressed into human form, a topic I had pored over with my new companion the previous night. The exact science behind it resembled magic, yet I remained skeptical. Countless sleepless nights spent reading sci-fi novels had exposed me to esoteric explanations I had no way of verifying.

For now, the truth of our existence remained obscured, hidden behind the veil of "it's magic."

Chuckling, I pushed myself up from my seat. "Let's get to it, then."

The trek to the spawn room proved arduous. Driven by my desire to construct a defensive installation capable of repelling a multitude of hypothetical foes, I had divided the subterranean levels into ten floors, each a labyrinthine maze of twisting caves and illogical turns. Without a doubt, any ordinary person would lose their way and succumb to starvation before even reaching the second floor.

This design forced potential invaders to painstakingly map out the convoluted base, lest they risk becoming hopelessly lost. The use of demolition charges threatened to bring the ceiling crashing down upon them, and the considerable space between floors rendered attempts to destroy lower levels by the same method futile.

However, this architectural choice came with the unfortunate consequence of significantly hindering my resource collection rate. All drones had to navigate these serpentine paths, as providing them with a backdoor posed far too great a risk. I envisioned a scenario akin to the Death Star's fatal flaw, but instead of Luke Skywalker, some audacious individual riding a nuclear warhead straight down the secret tunnel, reducing me to ashes.

One must never underestimate the capriciousness of ROB and their machinations.

Gneisenau crossed her arms, surveying the scene before her. "So, this is our new comrade."

We had arrived too late, much to my chagrin. My latest creation, a young Asian woman of nineteen, stood before us. Her midnight black hair cascaded down her back, and her eyes, a deep amethyst, glittered in the artificial light. She bowed deeply, her voice soft and reverent. "This humble one greets Hime."

Heat rose to my cheeks as I sputtered, taken aback by her words. Beside me, Gneisenau's laughter echoed through the chamber. Me, a princess? The notion seemed utterly absurd. Glancing down at my paper-white skin and dark armor, I marveled at how she could perceive me as royalty.

A thought gave me pause. Perhaps a dark, gothic overlord, but a princess? The idea was laughable.

Shaking my head, I smiled and addressed her. "None of that, please. I am no princess. Call me Ciriel."

"What?" The girl's brows knit together in confusion. "You are my Hime. This request is unconscionable."

My forehead creased as I pondered her response. Was this some bizarre aspect of her programming? Early on, I had realized my creations came pre-loaded with basic knowledge. Without it, they would be as helpless as newborns, needing to learn even the simplest tasks like walking.

I sighed. "This is unfortunate. Perhaps it's some mechanism to prevent a mutiny? Well, regardless, if you can't go against your programming, I won't make an issue of it."

The girl's face lit up with a radiant smile. "Thank you, Hime."

"Princess, please. The Japanese term feels a bit too weeb for my taste."

"Yes, my Princess!"

Beside me, Gneisenau spoke up. "She will need a name, Ciriel." I glanced at her briefly before focusing back on the new girl. Gneisenau was right.

Before I could utter a word, the new girl caught sight of Gneisenau and gasped, her complexion turning ashen.

"K-Kanmusu!" The girl's rigging unfurled, but I intervened through the command link before she could open fire.

[Cease] I ordered.

"I obey!" She wrestled back control of herself, grimacing as she bowed.

Anger flared within me. "Explain yourself," I demanded, glaring at my newest creation. My new friend had nearly been shot, and I had no idea why.

"Yes, Princess. I spotted an enemy and assumed she was an assassin. I apologize for my hasty assumption."

Gneisenau appeared as perplexed as I felt. "What is a Kanmusu?"

The new girl's tone turned icy. "The enemy."

I cut in, addressing both of them. "Then what is an ally?"

She fixed her gaze on me. "Abyssal."

Exchanging a furtive glance with Gneisenau, I turned back to my new creation, a lump forming in my throat. This did not bode well.

"I see." My voice hardened. "Ensure that you remember Gneisenau is my friend and second-in-command. I won't tolerate another lapse in judgment like that."

"Yes, Princess."

"Your name from now on will be...Enten."

"A name translated into English as Abyssal Heaven." Enten's reverent whisper filled the room.

I nodded, satisfied. After my newest subordinate finished prostrating herself before me, I sent her to familiarize herself with the lay of the land, keeping her out of my hair for a bit.

Gneisenau's voice cut through my brooding thoughts. "That was certainly something. Scheiße, I almost blew her head off back there."

Though the German Kanmusu tried to hide her nerves, my instincts told me she was far more shaken than she let on. I pondered the term Kanmusu, which roughly translated from Japanese meant 'ship-spirit.' Enten had likely been programmed to view these ship-spirits as enemies.

This implied that I was an 'Abyssal,' the natural foe of the Kanmusu - at least, that was my leading theory. I had no desire to murder my friend, and Gneisenau wore her heart on her sleeve. While she harbored plenty of murderous intent, none of that hate was directed at me.

Drawing conclusions so early felt premature, but a nagging suspicion told me I wasn't the only Abyssal out there. Something had attacked Gneisenau before our meeting, and I had an inkling about what that something might be.

I turned to Gneisenau, my eyes hardening with resolve. "We need to ramp up warship production."

She tilted her head, considering. "I will oversee the creation of new ships. The command link allows me to stop them as you did, correct?"

"Yes." I affirmed with a sharp nod.

"Then by your leave, Fraulein Ciriel." Gneisenau snapped a crisp salute.

Returning the salute, I raised a fist over my heart, unsure where I had learned the gesture. As Gneisenau left to attend to her duties, I stared out at the horizon, my thoughts churning like the restless sea.

The future stretched before me, shrouded in uncertainty, but I refused to let it stop me. Not now. Not ever. My eyes narrowed as I sensed the approach of a gathering storm. Whatever challenges ROB decided to throw my way, I would face them head-on.

My fate was my own, and I would seize it with both hands.