"Look! I found something here," Gromky called out, gesturing for the Commander to take a look.

  "Hmmm... this doesn’t seem like something left by the Sirens," Gremyashchy added, examining the note she had picked up from a desk. They were currently in a small room, searching for anything useful after splitting off from Belorussiya and the rest to broaden their search efforts.

  "Let's check another room. Hopefully, we can find something useful," Greynar suggested as the three of them moved to explore further.

  After searching through the next room, Gromky shook her head with disappointment. "Nope, this isn't the information we were looking for."

  Greynar sighed. "This is just surface-level stuff. I'm sure of it. We need to go deeper into the Sanctum if we want to find anything important. Let's head back and regroup."

  The two destroyers nodded in agreement, and they made their way back to rejoin the others.

  "Hmm~ Hmmm~ Hmmm...~?" Gromky hummed with a bouncy step, her cheerful demeanor lighting up the somber atmosphere.

  The Commander, watching the little destroyer attentively, smiled. "You seem to be in a good mood," he remarked before gncing at Gremyashchy.

  Gremyashchy, however, showed no change in her expression, even amidst the splendors of the City of Light. She remained as composed and calm as ever, unaffected by the dazzling sights around her.

  "I feel the Commander's gaze on me again… Is something wrong?" Gremyashchy asked, casting a suspicious gnce at Greynar.

  Greynar quickly looked away, trying to avoid her sharp gaze. Gromky, noticing the awkward exchange, jumped in with a pyful reprimand. "Gremyashchy, it's not good to be so grumpy around Comrade Commander! You'll get along better with everyone if you just smile a little~!" she teased, her bright smile almost infectious.

  "It's not about being cold, it's just my normal attitude," Gremyashchy replied ftly, though there was no malice in her voice. "Besides, this is an escort mission, not a trip to exchange feelings." She paused, then gnced at Gromky as if realizing something. "But... I understand," she added, her tone softening just a bit.

  "Aww, why do you always have to be like this? Fine then!" Gromky grinned, clearly enjoying the exchange. "Comrade Commander, if there's anything you don’t understand, I’ll be your Gremyashchy transtor~" She gave Greynar a cheerful gnce, to which he responded with a smirk and a snort before continuing to walk.

  "Humph... whatever you want," Gremyashchy muttered, her voice a bit softer now, and a faint blush crept across her cheeks.

  "Look, look, she’s blushing!" Gromky teased, ughing as she pointed at Gremyashchy. "Gremy just acts a little cold, but deep down, she's actually really happy to be working with you!"

  The Commander chuckled at the sight. "You two are really close."

  "Hehe, that's right! We were originally in the same fleet, and then we were transferred to the por route together~ But ter, I was sent alone to the 'Secret Room' defense fleet. It’s so nice to be back together!" Gromky expined, her eyes shining. "Naturally, it’s like we were never apart! Right, Gremyashchy~?" She wrapped her arms around the brown destroyer in a pyful hug.

  "Yeah, yeah... Can you let go of me already...?" Gremyashchy murmured, her voice tinged with mild embarrassment.

  "No~ I finally get to see you again, let me hug you for a while~" Gromky replied with a wide grin. She then turned to Greynar, tilting her head pyfully. "Commander, do you want a hug too?"

  "Ahaha~ No thanks, I'll keep watch for the others. You two can rest for a bit," Greynar said, chuckling as he waved them off.

  After some time, the group regrouped. Kirov was with Murmansk in tow, and Belorussiya followed behind them.

  "Oh, you’ve returned? We’ve finally made some progress. There seems to be a passageway leading deeper into this research facility, right here on the iceberg, near the control room," Kirov said.

  "Hmm... We came here through the Gate in the control room. If we go through the Gate here again, do you think we can really return the same way?" Murmansk asked.

  "We’ll never know until we try," the cruiser replied.

  "Then, let’s head to the Gate again," Greynar said, setting the course for the next step.

  As they walked through the Gate again, Greynar felt his senses begin to blur, but he kept moving behind the others. His vision started to fade once more, though it wasn’t as intense as before. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a fleeting silhouette—a girl with a pale-whitish hair—before she vanished into the nothingness.

  'Shit, I guess I have to be quick in finding her,' he silently thought, feeling that something is definitely wrong with this pce.

  As soon as they arrived, the scenery shifted. They were still in the same location, but something felt off—everything had changed in an incomprehensible way.

  "Woah! The whole atmosphere around us has changed!" Gromky excimed, gazing around at the walls surrounding them.

  "I’m sure we're in the same pce, but nothing else about this facility matches what we saw before. I don’t think this is the same console from before," Tallinn hummed, running her hand over the control table in front of her.

  "This pce also has some of our style, just like that dazzling city in the distance... It feels more like a combat command room," Belorussiya commented.

  "That’s the impression I’m getting too." Kirov scanned the area and spotted something unusual, she called out to the team. "Belorussiya, I don’t think I’ve seen that insignia anywhere before."

  As Kirov pointed out, the insignia above them caught everyone's attention. Greynar, too, felt a strange sense of nostalgia stir within him as his gaze locked onto the emblem. He recognized the symbol, but its significance was blurred, like a distant memory just out of reach. It seemed connected to a force that allied force that resisted X back in the original timeline, but with his memories so distorted, all he could grasp were fragments—clues that refused to form a complete picture. To the Commander, the symbol felt both familiar and foreign.

  Belorussiya examined the insignia and shook her head. "I can’t say I recognize it either. This pce is full of mysteries."

  "Ah, look at all those doors ahead of us! Why don’t we explore them all?" Gromky bounced excitedly, her energy contagious, bringing a few smiles to the girls' faces.

  Murmansk chuckled softly. "Since it looks like a combat command room, it must contain a lot of useful information. It wouldn't hurt to explore it a bit~" she added with a pyful hum. "Besides, it’s not like we have anything better to do right now..."

  Belorussiya paused, thinking for a moment. "Considering this pce is hidden in such a unique, mirror-like sea, it’s likely tied closely to the Sirens. Even if we’re just trying to gather information and figure out a way back, exploring here is crucial," she said, her voice firm with resolve. "However, it might be challenging to get through every room… There are so many of them."

  "Then how about this?" Greynar stepped into the conversation, he said with a decisive voice as he id out his pn. "We can split up. All of us will search for an archive room together, but I'll head deeper to see where the other rooms lead. There are seven of us, so you can pair up while I go alone to cover more ground."

  Belorussiya frowned slightly. "Are you sure going alone is a good idea, Comrade Commander?"

  Greynar gave her a reassuring smile. "Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. We need to make the best use of our time here."

  "If Comrade Commander says so, it can't be helped~" Murmansk chimed in with a pyful grin, clearly on board with the pn. "Besides, it'll be faster this way. The Commander is sharp when it comes to analyzing things in the room."

  "Hey, I'm not—" Greynar began to protest but was cut off when Murmansk gave him a cheeky wink.

  "Just go with the flow, Commander," she whispered mischievously.

  Belorussiya sighed, though a faint smile tugged at her lips. "Alright then. Let's do as Comrade Commander suggests. Stay cautious, everyone."

  As everyone split off to explore their designated rooms, the Commander found himself alone with Murmansk.

  "Thanks for backing me up earlier, but... why did you?" he asked, genuinely curious.

  The heterochromatic girl smiled softly. "There’s just something about your face, Commander. It looks like you’ve been carrying some painful stuff for a while."

  "Ah, you noticed, huh?" He scratched his cheek in embarrassment, a sheepish grin forming.

  Murmansk chuckled lightly. "Well, it’s hard not to when I’ve been paying attention to you ever since we stepped through the Gate. Go do your thing, Commander. I have a feeling that this pce has something to do with you~" she teased, pyfully shooing him away.

  "Alright then, see you ter." Greynar waved as Murmansk went off to join her teammates in searching the archives.

  "Just don’t spoil me with what you find, Commander~" she called back with a pyful smile before disappearing into a nearby room.

  The dim, pale blue light of the sanctum’s hallway cast a surreal glow over everything, making it feel like a maze of confusion. Greynar moved along, opening door after door, but each one revealed only empty darkness—no signs, no clues, nothing to indicate the carrier’s whereabouts.

  Then he reached a door, pale red in color, standing out against the cold hues of the corridor. Slowly, cautiously, he opened it.

  Before him y a vast chamber hall, reminiscent of the training grounds in the Northern Parliament’s underground facility. Pale light emanated from each side, casting long shadows across the room. Greynar stepped inside, scanning his surroundings, and then his eyes locked on a figure standing at the far end of the chamber.

  It was Volga, waiting for him.

  ※ ※ ※

  As the door closed with a soft click, Greynar took measured steps toward the carrier. Each footfall echoed in the vast chamber, but he stopped midway, maintaining a cautious distance.

  "Volga," he called out, his voice resolute yet filled with curiosity. "Expin to me—what exactly are you hiding?"

  Their eyes met briefly before Volga let out a resigned sigh. "Commander, you might already know, through Observer, right..?"

  Greynar's eyes widened in surprise. The shipgirl in front of him was aware of the Siren he had secretly worked with all this time. He had always been careful, making sure no one noticed when Observer or Purifier was around. Yet, here she was, fully aware of the hidden dealings and the things he thought he'd kept from everyone.

  "How...?" He whispered, unable to hide the shock in his voice.

  Volga chuckled softly, watching his stunned expression. "Well, Commander, I am your girl, after all," she said, her tone pyful at first but quickly shifting. "But you might also realize... I’m not from this..." she paused, looking at him with a hint of sadness, "timeline."

  Greynar’s brow furrowed, concern cing his voice. "Huh...? What are you talking about?"

  Volga tilted her head slightly, as if pondering how to expin. "Well... How do I put this?" Her tone took on a teasing edge again. "It’s like... having your memories extracted from the past, only for them to be blocked, leaving you with just your name. Everything else... gone."

  "Uh, I don't follow." He murmured. "Do you mean that you were sent from the past...? Or, were your memory came from the past...?"

  Volga shook her head with a smile. "If I tell you about Kronshtadt failed operation, would you click with it?"

  "...You don't mean..." He widened his eye.

  "Yes~," she nodded. "Our story ended there. Kronshtadt’s failsafe failed to activate, and it was a mess, honestly. If I could somehow redo it, I’d want to save her." Her voice carried a tinge of sadness. "Since I’m the big sister, I was pretty determined to save her, but I had no power..." Volga continued, her expression darkening. "I almost turned META, and that transformation... it was a painful one, then—"

  "But... if your memories were blocked, then how did you...?" Greynar interrupted, trailing off, confusion still lingering in his voice.

  Volga blushed, her gaze shifting uncomfortably. "Well, that's..." she hesitated, her fingers fidgeting with the edges of her coat.

  The Commander paused, then slowly connected the thread. "Oh, sorry, I guess it was... something that triggered it, wasn’t it?" he asked as his realization dawned on her.

  "Mhm, at first I didn’t notice it, but the second time... I became aware that it was slowly coming back," Volga said, her voice softening.

  "Then... What are you saying? I triggered your unlocked memory? And somehow you also gain access to my memory?" Greynar asked, his confusion ced with disbelief.

  "Yes, I could access some of your memories, but not everything. Anything cssified was automatically blocked by you," she chuckled. "Guess our Commander is quite secretive."

  "And what are you then? Are you really a shipgirl?" Greynar asked, narrowing his eyes.

  "Well, on the outside, I might still be considered a shipgirl, but inside... I'm not even sure," Volga muttered slowly, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

  "And the way you accessed some part of my memory, it sounds like you went to... the White Room?" Greynar continued, his curiosity piqued.

  "Is that what you call it?" Volga chuckled lightly. "From my perspective, it looks more like inside of a Wisdom Cube. I call it the 'Wisdom Cube Network'—basically a multidimensional thread of passage."

  "Wisdom Cube Network?" he tilted his head, trying to process the term.

  "How I got my memory back was during my short walk to the White Door. It flooded me with a bit of a headache, but I remembered everything... and also got a part of your memory when you were talking about me," Volga expined, shrugging nonchantly, her tone was a lighthearted one.

  Greynar paused, taking in her words. "And now that you have your memories back, what do you suggest we do next?"

  Volga hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "I’ll... reside in this world’s Volga’s memory. We might not have much choice in the matter." She paused, then continued, her voice shifting slightly. "You probably know Bon Homme Richard, right, Commander?"

  Greynar nodded slowly. "The Essex-css carrier Bon Homme Richard. She's affiliated with the unknown enemy we're facing."

  "Good," Volga said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Then it will only take a short time to expin everything to you." She took a soft breath, her golden eye locking with his. "She's coming, and you know what that means, right?"

  The Commander slowly nodded. "The test site might be in danger."

  Volga nodded in agreement. "That's not all, though. We’ll probably need more countermeasures—like the previous darkened timeline. Richard found it and devoured it entirely. The fleet that fought her was completely annihited, and the Sirens failed to defend it. But... a miracle happened. You were there, Commander."

  "Ah, you don't mean the reset of the timeline, right?" he asked, it was some realization he had taken moments ago before coming here.

  "Correct," Volga replied, her tone steady but tinged with sadness. "When you were there, everything went back to zero as if nothing had ever happened. My body vanished without a trace, but my memory still lingers inside the Wisdom Cube Network, since I wished for it."

  "The memory you spoke of... it was also reted to the Commander from that st test site-β timeline, right?" he asked, hoping she might know more about it.

  “Yes,” she confirmed, her voice softening. “After I was rescued, we went to face the elite Siren known as Compiler. When Compiler was defeated, though, the Northern Parliament’s Crown began acting… strangely. It forced the entire Northern Parliament fleet to retreat. Over the next week, the Winter’s Crown began shifting into something even stranger. And… around that same time, all of us, across every faction, received a message from the Royal Navy. They had encountered something dangerous, something more wicked than even the Sirens.”

  “And that was about Bon Homme Richard… right? She appeared on the timeline.”

  “Mmm…” Volga nodded. “She was the one who shouldn't be appearing in the test site. Though at that time, we didn’t know who or what we were facing. It was a disaster. Queen Elizabeth died while evacuating everyone from Camelot and sent them to Avalon. The Singurity, the Gate of Avalon, was also active at the same time.”

  “How did the survivors from Avalon fare?”

  Volga shook her head. “The only survivors were the research ships. They were horrified by what they saw inside. They said Queen Elizabeth had been in some kind of trance, her body slowly being consumed by a bck tornado. The other ships with her shared the same experience—they were all caught in the trance.” She paused, the weight of the memory settling over her. “Afterward, every faction under the Commander’s fg returned to Scapa Flow, preparing for a fight to recim Camelot. The Sirens were there, too. They watched us, but didn’t attack—only warned us of a doomed timeline.”

  “Then the bck tornado appeared from inside Avalon…” he murmured, finally beginning to understand. He gnced back at her. “How did the battle go?”

  “It was... a world-ending disaster. We didn’t stand a chance. Everyone was defeated. The Sirens fought back, but even they were crushed immediately by her power. The source of that power was unknown—no one knew what it was but the Sirens was muttering about X or something. It was just a catastrophe, to be honest.”

  “And… how does the Commander rete to me?” Greynar asked, his curiosity growing. This was just the outline of the story. He needed to hear the main part.

  “The Commander was at his lowest point, emotionally breaking apart. But something happened—a sort of miracle. A blinding light appeared above him, as if answering his desperate plea. To be honest, I don’t know what it was, but it looked like a make-a-wish star, so I made a wish. And then it shone.”

  “A light… was shining?” he muttered in disbelief.

  Volga nodded. “Yes. As the light shone, I was already lying on the ground, helpless. I looked up at the sky, where something gleamed brightly. It was beautiful, almost otherworldly.”

  "That doesn't looks like me," he muttered, frowning at her description.

  Volga chuckled softly. "Well, it looks just like you. Perhaps you are the true Commander this reality—no, this entire multi-timeline needed."

  "Continue then, what happened to that Commander?"

  "Well, I think he was muttering something... I don't know the details, but his body—then, it was as if he was absorbed into the light and vanished. That's where my mind went bnk, and my body faded away," she expined.

  “Then you’re here, remembering the details of that memory before it was sealed into the Wisdom Cube Network you mentioned, right?” he asked.

  “Sealed might not be the right word... Maybe 'preserved,'” she corrected, offering a slight smile. “And I’m thankful for that, since it means I can meet you here without carrying any of those bad memories.”

  “Haha, I guess that’s true for both of us,” he chuckled, before the weight of his next question settled in. “But how did you survive the Suliko incident? What happened to Kronshtadt?”

  Volga hesitated, reluctant to answer, and only offered a brief response. “Kronshtadt… it was because her failsafe didn’t work.”

  “Failsafe…?” he tilted his head in confusion.

  “Yes. Honestly, I didn’t know much about it. But I heard it was impnted in every girl,” she said quietly.

  Greynar sighed, a frustration was threading through his voice, feeling like she wasn't answering his question correctly. “Haaa… Alright.” He paused, his gaze fixed on her as a deeper thought crossed his mind. “What should I do to help you, I can feel that we don't have much time.”

  "Ah you're right," her eyes took a gnce at his watch. "It looks like my time is running out quickly, my cube gradually fading ever since the first command was used at the Gate, maybe because there can't be two existing origin of a shipgirl." she muttered quietly then gnced at him. "Quick, Commander! Use your magic on me!" she said jokingly.

  "Even if you say that..." he nervously ughed.

  She stepped closer, gently pcing his hand on her own. "Just trust me, my dear Commander~," Volga said with a warm smile. "Since this big sis needs to exist to make sure you don’t stray into sickness, we need to do it right here, this is also my chance to save Kronshtadt and enable her failsafe. It's my first time practicing this but I've grasped a bit what I must do."

  The Commander slowly nod and closed his eye.

  'Alright, then one thing I need to do,' he muttered under his breath.

  ~Command Savior, transfer data 538-2 to data 538-1~

  ~Command accepted, transfering data 538-2 immediately~

  It seemed to come naturally to him. With fwless precision, he used his power, creating a copy of the data and seamlessly overwriting the current world’s data with the new version. The process felt like extracting a file from a ZIP archive and repcing the old file with the updated one—almost seemingly instinctive.

  "...What’s this? This feels different from what I know," the Commander muttered, his eyes narrowing as he observed the process.

  Volga’s voice remained steady, though a faint trace of bittersweet resignation wove through her words. "This process transfers my Wisdom Cube to the version of me in this world. The me from this timeline has entered a deep state of sleep, and with your power, my memories are repcing hers while my current existence on this world was fading away. To everyone else, there is only Volga from Kronshtadt's meteoric expedition, believed to be trapped within Siluko submarine. And perhaps..." she added softly, her tone tinged with quiet bitterness, "that’s the way it should be. My presence here is an irregurity, a disruption to the natural course of this timeline's future."

  The Commander shook his head. "If you're, an irregur, then I'm extraordinary due to my existence," his pyful word evoking a small chuckle to her.

  As Volga’s body began to emit a radiant glow, slowly dissolving into shimmering light, she offered him a soft, wistful smile. "Don’t wait for me, Commander. Keep moving forward, just as you always do. I’ll find my way back to you soon, in the future of the rescue. Take care of Aurora and the rest of the fleet, alright?"

  She leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss against his lips, a fleeting yet heartfelt farewell.

  "There’s so much I want to ask," he said, his voice trembling slightly as tears threatened to fall. "You’ve left out so many details about your story. But we’ll save that for ter, after I get you back." His smile wavered but held, filled with quiet determination. "Well... see you soon. I hope it won’t be long before we meet again."

  "Yes," she replied, her voice growing fainter as her form began to dissolve into shimmering particles of light. "It won’t be long before my rescue, so don’t just stand still. Perhaps you can create something meaningful before we meet again." She paused, her fading figure flickering softly, before her final words resonated like a gentle echo. "I love you, Commander."