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

No. 9 Chapter 8

The engineer thought about the conversations he and Prinz Eugen had last night while going through his morning routine of checking on all the riggings before the ships arrived. While writing down his notes he added another couple of sticky notes to technical questions and points of interest before grabbing another book out of his safe. It was differently colored and not like the others black backed. The cream colored booklet was his side hobby. Here he continued to work on ideas and thoughts about a ship he had only met once but whom he felt obliged to help after she had helped him in more than one way. Thanks to her he understood more about the personality and being of the living ships than he had before or rather he finally was able to accept their humanity for a lack of a better word. Next to that the information she had provided him with had ensured that he understood that issues with a rigging could actually affect the Shipgirl as well and undermine their health. It was her condition that made him realize that he had to fix Prinz Adalberts diesels before the bad filtration system could cause her harm. But he was still at a loss on how he could fix the fluctuating strength of Wisdomcube energy within the battlecruiser that by now he guessed came from a combination of her damaged hull being turned into a living being. His latest theory was based on the idea that it was probably the wisdomcube and its energy source within the Shipgirl that had taken over the damage of the hull and therefore adapted to the damaged ship. At least his understanding of the adaptability of the Wisdomcube to form all sorts of ships in different forms of human-like physique and the most different and unique forms of rigging suggested this idea to him. But it still left him without an idea on how to fix the issue.

Before he could add any further thoughts and potential solutions to the issue he was once more interrupted by a knock on the door to his office. Storing away the booklet and closing the safe he stood up and opened the door. "Good morning." Friedrich der Große greeted him. The ship that literally encompasses darkness for the engineer smiled a motherly smile and her brimstone yellow eyes mustered the engineer. "Here this early and already done with work?" She asked. "Someone lives after the Prussian virtues." She chuckled while entering. Towering over the engineer she crossed her arms and put a satisfied smile on her face. "Now I know where you got your insights and shrewdness from." She stated. "Prinz Eugen must have been a great teacher indeed." She explained. "My namesake learned a lot from her namesake when he was a young man like you were." Friedrich explained. "She is and will be a great asset to the Ironblood as one of our great strategic thinkers and tacticians and is just as well suited for political issues." The battleship added. "But you know that and have already experienced that." The black clad woman added. "Don't worry, I appreciate her just as much as you do. But I am not here to talk about our new and old friends. Instead I am here to tell you that everything concerning the matters of tomorrow's presentation has been taken care of and I convinced Herr Mahler to give you a day off early so that you can enjoy the festivities and nice weather while we use the free time to further organize smaller details." Friedrich der Große explained. The engineer nodded. "Thank you for informing me about the current situation." He thanked her. "No need to thank me, my child. It was the natural thing to do." She answered. "I do suggest that you take your leave now. I would not want you to learn of any of our surprises we want to organize." The battleship laughed an amused laugh. To the engineer her laughter was similar to that of an opera singer. It was full and perfect in tone but just like her presence it had something unsettling about it despite being genuine and kind as well. He shook himself out of his captivated observation of the battleship and nodded in affirmation before quickly grabbing his black notebook and belongings. "Thank you again and have fun planning things." He said his goodbye to the H-class battleship before taking his leave. Outside the workshop the sunshine and distant screams of the seagulls felt more vivid and lively than they would normally. It was the vast difference the presence of either of the two H-class battleships caused with their presence, he knew. Yet still he was fascinated by their aura of darkness and dread and yet happy when he was outside their passive influence as well.