The adventures of the young engineer and Prinz Eugen Volume 2.

No. 8 Chapter 4

The engineer returned to the Eagle Union base and entered the dormroom to which Prinz Eugen had handed him a second key. Entering the room he did not really care for its interior and furnishing. Instead he grabbed his duffle bag and started to unpack. After taking his coat out he found a brown envelope with the seal of the Sakura Empire on its lid. He looked at the flower pattern in wonder for some time before breaking the seal. In the envelope he found a large file of papers and what seemed to be blueprints and reports next to a letter. He read the letter first and his disappointment about the day so far was gone.
Amagi had sent him her riggings blueprints and the protocols of her awakening into consciousness. He got excited like a little kid on Christmas day. He opened up and unfolded the large blueprints of Amagis rigging after the ship had turned into a humanoid shape. Next to the intricate plan of every cord through which wisdomcube energy ran and every mechanism was displayed, he found the maintenance and checkup protocols after her awakening. He sat down for a moment, gobsmacked about the things he held in hand before he started to devour the protocols and memorandums of the engineers that had awoken Amagi and had tried to fix her. What bothered him was the fact that he had not received a report on how exactly she was awoken into consciousness. But the fact that apparently all the lines through which wisdomcube energy flows through her rigging like an artery system, had seemingly irreparable damage in the form of tears and fissures surprised him. What actually scared him more to read was the matter that the energy with which the Ships were filled and their riggings operated seemed to fluctuate within Amagi. Almost like a circulatory disorder in the human body. But as far as he knew only damage sustained to the body or the rigging of the Ships themselves could cause them to lose that much energy. But from the reports he read, it was Amagis rigging that was damaged but her human form had no apparent injuries. The sakuran engineers guessed that Amagis Wisdomcube had become unstable. It gave the engineer more food for thought than he could have hoped for. While he pondered that issue there was another thing that tingled his mind. Something was absolutely wrong right now but he could not figure out what it was. Trying to figure out what he had overlooked he started to read the reports again.
Now it struck the engineer like lightning. He was reading reports from the Sakura Empire, written by sakuran engineers. But the reports he had in hand were written in Ironblood. Someone must have translated them for him to be able to access them. Now he understood why Amagi urged him to destroy the papers. Whoever was the translator would be responsible to answer to someone concerning the matter why they needed to translate sensitive files into a foreign language. That realization served as ample motivation to write down everything he thought was important into his notebook before he started to systematically destroy every report and the blueprint. It took him almost the rest of the day. With a hurting hand, aching head and exhausted concentration, the engineer sat at a table with a notebook with many more filled pages and an open envelope full of torn paper slips.

While getting a glass of water he looked at his pocket watch and realized that he was due to meet with Essex in about half an hour. He shrugged, downed a glass of water and grabbed his light cloth jacket and the envelope. On his way over to the dorm building he disposed of the paper slips by throwing some down into sewage gullets, a public trash can, into a partially filled oilcan that was market for disposal, a waste paper shredder and the last half of the slips he light up in a public grill at one of the recreational spots of the base. After he had rid himself of every bit of the papers, he went on to reach his destination.
Arriving there he had no reason to go into the dormbuilding. Instead he already saw an open basement garage and two bikes out in front of it.
Walking over to them he looked down into the garage and saw Essex in company of a leisurely clothed other woman. "Good evening." He greeted them. "Hey, good to see you." Essex smiled and waved the engineer down into the garage. "So, you did show up to come and see my spare bike." Essex informed everyone present as to why the engineer was there. "I think introductions are in order." Essex continued with a slight blush. "This is the fleet carrier Enterprise CV-6." Essex introduced the tall, ashen haired woman with lavender colored eyes. Enterprise stretched her hand out for a shake but the engineer smiled in return and greeted her with a nod of his head and slight bow of his torso instead. "It is nice to meet you." He greeted her. "Nice meeting you. So you are Eugens buddy that is supposed to race against Essex?" Enterprise asked the young engineer. "Well, I guess I am. I was not asked or informed about it until meeting Essex earlier. But I suppose I have to keep Eugens word." He explained. "She did not tell you and enlisted your skills just like that?" Enterprise asked, astonished. The engineer nodded. "Now that is messed up." Enterprise concluded. "She has her moments where she can put one out of the frying pan into the fire." The engineer agreed. "And you are still doing what she signed you up for?" The ashen haired carrier asked. "Is that one of these Ironblood corpse loyalty things?" She asked. "Not at all. I just stand with my friends." He explained. "Wow! Now that is something different." Essex chimed in. "Sure is." Enterprise agreed. "If you want to go through with it, we can get out and about on the bikes so you can get a feeling for yours before the race the day after tomorrow." Essex offered. "I need to get the right gear and I am ready to go." The engineer agreed. "Gear? Everything you need is here." The blue haired carrier stated. "Well, yes, but no. I need protective gear like a helmet, jacket, boots and pants. I am not nearly indestructible like you two are." He explained. "That is true, humans are more fragile." Enterprise agreed. "There should still be stores from the MPs motorcycle unit. There should be protective equipment as well." She offered a solution. "That sounds good, can we go and get it?" The engineer asked. "I can get some, but not today." Enterprise answered. "I suggest we go for a test drive tomorrow then." Essex planned out their next steps. "If it can't be helped." The engineer agreed. "Alright, tomorrow at ten in the morning at the Diner?" Essex proposed a date and place for their meetup. "Sounds good." Enterprise agreed. "I will ask Bache and Cleveland if they want to join as well." Enterprise concluded before waving the two their goodbyes. "I will see you tomorrow then." She ended and left. "She is something else." Essex stated more to herself than the engineer. "She sure seems to have quite the influence on you." The engineer agreed. "She is a hero and certainly a good measure to have as a role model." Essex stated her admiration for the other carrier. "Do you need any help with the bikes?" The engineer offered help. "No need to bother. I can handle them." Essex declined. "I wish you a good evening though. I hope your first proper day in the Eagle Union was not too much." She smiled before waving the engineer goodbye.