Volume 1 - Epilogue - The Respect

 Sofia and Jimmy Carter looked at each other.

 Right in front of them, a small child's body was lying in the command room of the Seawolf submarine. His body which was getting colder and showed no signs of life had become a definite answer for them.

 "H-He's dead?" said Jimmy Carter while touching the body of the small child lying in front of her. The cracked Wisdom Cube was now black and emitted a dark energy that slowly dimmed and disappeared.

 "It looks like he's dead, but why is that happen? Is there another trick my Master is doing right now?" asked Sofia in surprise.

 As an artificial intelligence born from an operating system and through synthesis that forms personification, Sofia did not know the concept of death that signified the end of a person's life. Sofia only knew death as a hardware that stopped working or a software defect that disrupted the operating system.

 This sudden death made Sofia take the cracked Wisdom Cube and feel a faint connection slowly breaking between her and her Master.

 "This feels so weird," Sofia muttered as she felt the Wisdom Cube that slowly stopped working.

 A large crack had occurred on the outermost part of the Wisdom Cube, revealing its inside, which was in the form of a black ball that emitted energy vibrations that gradually dimmed.

 "Is this what is called death?" Sofia said while moving her artificial intelligence brain to think about the mechanism of death that was difficult for her to understand.

 "Does every human often experience death like this, Jimmy Carter?"

 "I think they experience one death for every human. Don't you know about this?"

 Sofia shook her head, she did not understand the concept of death at all for the measure of artificial intelligence that already had a human body. As a human born from an operating system that runs independently, she still did not understand how to live as a human.

 "Now, what are we going to do after our Master dies along with his Wisdom Cube resources that have run out?" asked Jimmy Carter who was still busy looking at the monitor screen in front of her. Her fingers seemed to be holding the depth control that slowly brought the Seawolf submarine to the surface of the sea.

 "Phew~ luckily we have a chance to go up to the surface of the sea."

 "Hey, Sofia, let's quickly leave this ship before his Wisdom Cube dies completely!"

 Jimmy Carter grabbed Sofia's hand which was still holding the dying Wisdom Cube. The lights in the submarine's command room suddenly flickered as if there was a sudden loss of power.

 Sofia looked around, she saw part of the monitor screen displaying an error message before it went dead. Sofia's gaze shifted to the body of a child who was still motionless on the floor.

 The confusion Sofia felt seemed like the mentality of a child under five years old who was abandoned by both parents and was forced to understand the rough concept of death that came from reality.

 "Die?"

 "What is that?"

 Jimmy Carter did not answer that question. As a siren who had an understanding of death and was reborn as a human after being caught, her life purpose was now in disarray, and chose to survive by obeying someone's orders.

 Seeing the body of a child and realizing their time was running out before the Seawolf submarine ran out of power, Jimmy Carter bit her lip and quickly carried his body.

 "Sofia, let's get out of this submarine, Now!" shouted Jimmy Carter who felt the power source decreasing.

 Kliiipp...

 Bzzztt...

 One by one the lights of the Seawolf submarine they were occupying went out. There was only a flicker of lights trying to turn on and a small sparkle from the reflection of the submarine floors that managed to guide them to the exit hatch.

 Sofia and Jimmy Carter quickened their steps and climbed the ladder until they managed to get out of the hatch. When they arrived on the surface of the Seawolf submarine, several rows of Seawolf submarines had highlighted their main submarine with dazzling fog lights. By waving her hand, Jimmy Carter tried to get their attention who were carrying the body of a child who was the Seawolf Flagship and his Wisdom Cube that was slowly dying.

 When the row of Seawolf submarines returned to the Azur Lane main base, the entire base was shocked by the death of Admiral Eagle Union and the Seawolf Flagship.

 Without an Admiral in full control of the chain of command that drives the Eagle Union shipgirls and the Flagship Seawolf who separately control the remaining Seawolf program, a coup occurred.

 The surviving Seawolf program sold their submarine assets in the form of clones of the Seawolf submarine to several other nations such as the Royal Navy, Sakura Empire, Iron Blood, and Northern Parliament. Several other nations were only neutral about this coup.

 Although the Admiralty Code had prohibited the sale of Seawolf submarine technology which was kept secret by the Eagle Union. Several legal sales had been made by the remnants of the Seawolf program.

 Behind the chaos of the coup that had occurred. Sofia and Jimmy Carter separated themselves from the internal conflict of Azur Lane based on a mysterious letter brought by a blue butterfly.

 They just looked like two girls who had lost their purpose in life after the funeral procession of the child and the Eagle Union Admiral took place.

 Without a word.

 Without a wreath of sorrow.

 Without shedding tears.

 The funeral of a child who held the chain of command of the Seawolf program was attended by only two people. The remnants of the Seawolf program disappeared like ghosts after they managed to secure the rest of their salaries and the sale of their submarines.

 Secretly, they managed to escape from the Azur Lane main base through cargo smuggling that was carried out perfectly through a letter that had a symbol of a wolf's head biting a torpedo.

 The mysterious letter and help from insects in the form of blue butterflies have become the most mysterious combination that has occurred at the Azur Lane main base.

 When the condition of the Azur Lane main base returned to normal and the building that was destroyed by the siren submarine recovered after being repaired. A notification letter from the Admiralty Code had appointed a new Admiral who would serve for the Eagle Union nation.

 Information about the background of the new Admiral caught the attention of several people because of her young age as new Admiral. When a data leak occurred, they realized that Admiral Eagle Union and Flagship Seawolf had the same blood as a brother and sister who were raised by a secret orphanage owned by Eagle Union.

 The conspiracy continued to spread until one day the Azur Lane main base was covered by thick fog that limited ship activities at the main dock.

 From behind the thick fog, a ship from the Royal Navy appeared that had a black pattern and looked menace to some of the ship girls from the Royal Navy.

 The condition of the menace ship had the same shape as the signature of the Queen Elizabeth warship except for a strange flag that symbolized fire that had burned to ashes.

 Several rumors also circulated about the appearance of two Queen Elizabeths who spoke harshly to each other but the situation was successfully controlled by a nobleman who had the title of Duke from the Royal Navy nation.

 The emergence of a new Admiral for the Eagle Union, two annoying variations of Queen Elizabeth, and the sudden appearance of a Duke have opened up a new mystery for the Azur Lane main base.

 In a storm shrouded in unclear issues and conspiracies that occurred behind the scenes of the Eagle Union. Two girls were seen looking down on someone's grave that had a simple tombstone made of a pile of stones.

 "I can't believe that he died because he used up all his Wisdom Cube resources and left a legacy in the form of a fragment of his Wisdom Cube for a woman from the Sakura Empire. Judging from her sick physical condition, it seems she will soon follow our Master," Jimmy Carter said jokingly.

 Beside her, Sofia just let out a small sigh and didn't want to respond to Jimmy Carter's words.

 "Oh, I almost forgot about this."

 "What are you going to do after this, Sofia?"

 "Join the Eagle Union again and help our Master's deceased younger sister?"

 "If that's what you want, I won't stop you. But I've already received an invitation to a tea party from Queen Elizabeth META and the Duke."

 "Can you accompany me to attend the tea party?"

 Sofia's blank gaze was only focused on the tombstone in front of her. Her thinking ability was now hit by her human nature that didn't want to feel the inner wounds that were difficult to heal medically. She continued to deny the death that befell her Master.

 "Sofia..."

 "Look at that..."

 Sofia's gaze was now fixed on a blue butterfly that was carrying a piece of paper for her. A glance from the corner of her eye read the writing quickly and her blank gaze was now filled with life again.

 Sofia immediately moved away from her unstable mental state to a stable state after realizing the true meaning of death.

 "Maybe..."

 "It's time for me to move on and take a new path," Sofia muttered as she paid her last respects to the precious Master in her life.

 The blue butterfly only carried a short message.

 [ Press F To Pay Respect. ]

 A standard joke that only artificial intelligence that has had the free time to study internet culture filled with satire, sarcasm, and racism will be understands.

 Realizing the meaning in that words, Sofia immediately followed the instructions given. She bowed to pay her last respects by pressing the pseudo F key and moving her body to pay her last respects.

 "Farewell, USS Seawolf," Sofia said for the last time with a respect filled with sincerity.