The young engineer came to his senses. "Great, another blackout in my memory." He tought. "I really hate these black spots in my memory, they bug me out." He continued his monologue to himself. The next thing the young engineer realized was that he could barely seem to see anything in front of him. His sight was similar to the effect one had when looking straight into the sun or a light and trying to make out the shapes and forms through the light. "Wonderful. If that is the quality of my sight through the welding goggles, I would probably be blind if I had not put them on. I just hope my eyesight recovers and I did not mess it up that badly." Getting on his knees, the young engineer felt the pain emanating from his hands. He realized that he had probably burns on his hands beneath the gloves. Knowing that, he would not take them off himself without hurting himself even more. Standing up and shuffling to the next wall, he thanked his good orientational sense that allowed him to shuffle into the right direction and find the wall close to the southern exit of destroyer dock 2. Slowly making his way through the hallway towards the entrance he heard steps coming his way. "Hello Fritz, is that you?" He asked into the bright glare that was his vision. "Can't you see who is in front of you, you idiot?" Came the angry voice of Admiral Hipper in return. "Ohh, Admiral Hipper. It is good to hear you. I can't really see and my hands are probably burned. Can you help me get to the doctor?" He asked. "You can be happy you are even alive and you will wish you died in that experiment when I am done with you." Was the more than angry answer the young engineer received. He was grabbed by the hair on his head and dragged by the cruiser into the direction of the entrance to the bunker. "Hey, that hurts. Please let go of my hair." He pleaded, but to now avail. "Hipper! Let the boy go. Can't you see he is not capable of keeping up with you? You will rip out his hair if you continue like that." The voice of Wiedling was a blessing to the young engineer. "Urrgh! Fine!" Yelled the heavy cruiser. "When he is well again I will get my hands on him." She exclaimed. "You deserve what happened to you, you moron!" Were the last words Hipper shouted at the young engineer. He was let go and almost fell over by the unexpected lack of pulling force.
"How are you doing?" Were the first words of Wiedling to the young engineer. "I think I am alright. My hands are probably burned and I think I temporarily blinded myself." He explained his situation. "You look like a piece of charcoal." Stated the old engineer with a chuckle. "Come, I will lead you to the doctor." Said Wiedling. The young engineer was grabbed by his left arm and tugged into the direction of the exit. When they got out the young engineer could hear many different voices. Some congratulated Wiedling that he had found the young engineer. Others brought forth their astonishment that he was still there, while others asked how he was doing or what had happened. "Fritz, why don't you and the other engineers take a look at whatever he managed to do with the rigging. I will be with you after I bring this mole to the hospital wing. It might just be a good idea to invite the Konteradmiral as well." Wiedling addressed Fritz Mahler. "I will take a look at what happened." Agreed the latter. The young engineer, unsuspectingly, got smacked on the back of the head. "I told you I would hit you if you managed to survive that lunacy." Came the words of Fritz afterwards. The young engineer was then led away from the crowd and into the medical building of the base.
"Hello doc. I got a patient here for you. Probable burns under the gloves and blindness " Greeted Wiedling the doctor who was currently residing. "I will leave him to your tender hands." Said the old engineer before letting go of the young engineer and leaving the hospital building. "Hello there." Was the greeting of the doctor. Ahh, General..." The young engineer was stopped from continuing his phrase. "Yes yes, Generalarzt Kenode. At least your humor is intact. Now shut up and hold still." Came the less than enthusiastic instructions of the main doctor of the base. "Just because your wrist was just about healed up, did not mean that you should try to break other parts of your body." Was the dry humored comment the doctor made. He carefully cut open the thick leather gloves the young engineer had worn. "Well, you are an idiot." He stated. "I guess so. A lot of people told me that today." Replied the young engineer, by now sick of being called that. "Well, your burns are not too bad, they should heal with some time. But you should know better than to wear asbestos insulated gloves. That stuff causes cancer, you know. In this case it prevented you from getting worse injuries than those burns though." Explained the doctor. "A good ointment against burns should help there. Let's see how your eyes are doing." He continued and pulled the welding goggles off the young engineer's face. " Looking at your eyes I can tell you that they got a bad glare, but nothing you should not recover from within a couple of days and enough rest. I will put a dressing around it so you don't get any more light into your eyes and they can recover faster. My estimation would be that you should be able to see again in about 3 to 4 days." He explained to the young engineer. "Until you can see for yourself again you will remain in a bed here on the station." Concluded the doctor while slowly pushing the young engineer further into the room until they arrived at a bed.
Making his way up onto the bed, he was apparently left alone since he could hear the more and more distant footsteps of the doctor. "What happened to you?" Asked a girl's voice. "I played with a power that I barely know anything about in order to fix a rigging that was almost destroyed." He answered. "Are you one of the destroyers who got injured during the last battle against the Sirens?" He now asked her. "Yes, I was told I was too damaged to be repaired." She answered, sounding rather sad. "Don't you worry, my friends Fritz, Otto and I worked on your rigging and if my attempt was successful, it should have fixed your rigging. I also know that there are two Bulins here that are there to help you recover Erich Köller." He said encouragingly. "You helped Fritz in trying to fix me and my rigging?" She asked, surprised. "Thank you for trying. I am sorry you got hurt while doing so." She apologized. "Don't worry, it will be fine and all worth it, when it all works out." He said, trying to sooth her. They were interrupted by the doctor. "Isn't that lady a bit too small for you to make acquaintances with?" He asked. His inappropriate humor did not find any sympathies with either of his two patients. "Tough audience I see." He concluded. "Here is your ointment for the burns on your hand. I will apply some to the back of each hand and you can carefully spread it like you are soaping your hands." He explained while applying the ointment. The young engineer spread the ointment on his hands, causing a light stining sensation. Meanwhile the doctor seemingly left him and paid attention to the other patient. "Do you take care of the Shipgirls as well?" Asked the young engineer. "More or less. I am not a self sacrifice pixi, but first aid stops them from bleeding out as much as it prevents you from bleeding out. Although their blood is worse than any corrosive acid I had the misfortune to work with. That is because of the high amount of energy in their blood." He stated. Apropos, there is your girlfriend outside, wanting to see you, as well as one of the engineers. Should I let them in?" The doctor asked. "My Girlfriend?" Asked the young engineer. "You engineers are more or less married to the ships you take care of. Might as well love them now that they are people." Said the doctor and chuckled. The doctor's weird sense of humor did not appeal to the young engineer. "Prinz Eugen is not my Girlfriend. But please let the two in." Said the patient to his doctor. "Sure." Was the answer he got.The footsteps of the doctor became more distant. Shortly after the sound of two pairs of shoes came closer to him. "There you are. What were you thinking doing stupid stuff like that again. Especially without any proper protective gear." Prinz Eugen accused him. "It was a risk worth taking." He answered abashedly. "You are normally cautious about everything you do, but since we were in the Northern Pairlairment you seem to have become reckless." Think about your Godfather and friends. They care and fear for you." She accused him further. "I know. I just get carried away when my passion is in it." He agreed. "Become more careful, alright?" She asked him. "I will try." He replied. "Okay. So what happened to you and what did you do?" She asked.
The next couple of minutes were spent telling Prinz Eugen about what the engineers were up to and what he tried to do and what kind of injuries he suffered.
"So, did it work?" She asked at the end. "I have no idea. I could not see the result." He answered her latest question. "Here I can help out." Interjected Fritz Mahler, who had spent time with Z-13 while the cruiser and young engineer were talking. "Wiedling sent me in after they got you out and I assessed what you did." He explained. "And what else can I say other than that you are an insane genius." He overstated. "I have no idea how you did it, but when I arrived at Z-13s rigging, it had come back to life. The refited hull seems to work completely fine with the fixed and altered rigging core. All we need to do now is to heal Z-13 and adapt her to her rigging." He concluded. "You mean it worked out?" The young engineer asked, surprised. "It sure did." Was the answer. The young engineer sat there in silence with a wide grin on his bandaged face. "He looks like a retarded pirate wearing two eyepatches and smiling like a fool." Exclaimed Prinz Eugen laughing. "Could you please stop calling me any form of stupid please?" Asked the young engineer, being ripped out of his racing thoughts and excitement. "If you don't behave like an idiot we will." Said Fritz chuckling. "Anyways, I am sure we will be able to discuss all of these topics when you can see the results yourself. I for once will leave and try to reorganize the mess we made." With that Fritz seemed to leave.
"Can I ask you something?" Prinz Eugen asked the young engineer. "You just did." Was his reply in a serious tone, which was discredited by his grin. "Oh haha.You think that was funny right?" She asks ironically. "I was wondering about this morning. You seemed upset." She asked the question she wanted to ask. "Yes, I was not fine with you sleeping in my bed. I let a lot slide but that got too personal. I disliked you just entering my house and my private room the first time you came with me. But actually taking up such a private place as one's bed is a step over the line even I can't just tolerate." He explained. "Why did you not say anything?" Prinz asked. "What was I supposed to say? I don't like you to be in my bed, please get out?" He asked. "There is no way I could have made you get out, especially with your strength and power. If I were to try to get you out there you could literally break every bone of my body with ease. Not to mention the mockery." He explained further. "So you felt powerless and I used or abused my power monopol." She concluded for herself. "Pretty much." He agreed. "I didn't want that to happen. I thought I would tease you but I did not want to play power plays to such a level." "Was that an apology?" He asked her. "I guess so." She answered shyly. The young engineer did not need his eyes to see the cruiser squirm in an uncomfortable situation. Neither could Prinz Eugen overlook the widening of a grin that once more creeped up on the young engineer's face. "Wait a second. Did you just mess with me and made me feel bad?" She asked. "Perhaps?" He answered before bursting out in laughter. "Seeing the ever smooth Prinz Eugen squirm uncomfortably is a feast. For once you are the one that was uncomfortable and insecure." He chuckled further. "I admit it. You got me." She admitted. "I believed I had played my game too far." "You did go too far. But don't worry. I would and will tell you when you are pushing it too far and afterall I am used to your shenanigans by now. Although my patience was strained by your actions" He assured her. "You can be lucky you are already in a hospital." She said while giving the young engineer a nuge strong enough to make him fall over backwards. "I guess so. Thank god I already got injured and was therefore spared the wrath of the mighty cruiser sisters." He chuckled.