"Alright,
So that's that, the stones can stick" Daniel said.
He tried to pull them, apart.
They didn't budge, like they were welded together.
"Huh, they won't come apart." Daniel said.
They then melded into one another, becoming one bigger piece.
"Something tells me that we will have to find more of those." Daniel thought
This must be like some quest in one of those fantasy video games streamers play,
Well, he was inside of a video game, so perhaps he could have expected something like this.
Perhaps he'll need this as a tool to defeat the sirens when he eventually encountered them....
..Or maybe he was just overthinking and he was making a complete fool of himself.
"Huh, I knew that wisdom cubes were strange objects, but I never anticipated pieces of them to do that." Bismarck said.
Well, it was reassuring that the even a military leader that knew much more than him on how wisdom cubes work was just as confused as he was.
Daniel was pretty speechless at the current moment.
But he wasn't just going to sit down and develop theories about it, he was actually going to find answers.
He took the red wisdom cube out from his pocket.
"Hey bro, do you know what on earth these two wisdom cube pieces are doing?" Daniel said,
No response
"I got no time for this..."
*SLAM!
He threw the wisdom cube on the floor
"Wake up!" Daniel shouted
The cube started glowing again
"OKAYOKAY IM UP!" it said to Daniel, telepathically
"Just because I'm in a cube doesn't mean I don't have the essence of a human, okay?!?"
"What do you even do as a cube? Huh? Sit there and be your own personal lightbulb?" Daniel said.
"No, I was just simply resting because containing a whole universe and stopping it from breaking open every other nanosecond isn't exactly an easy job." The cube said.
Bismarck and Prinz Eugen watched as Daniel continued to shout at the cube on the floor
"Okay! What is it that you need??" The cube said
Daniel yanked out the wisdom cube fragments that fused together.
"What are these? And why are they showing up everywhere?" Daniel said,
"Oh, those things....
Those are part of the wisdom cube that shattered when the Ironblood tried to manifest the ship that we are on"
"I figured." Daniel said,
"But how did it end up with Prinz Eugen?"
"Well, considering you know the history Daniel, you should know who got the fragments." The Cube said
"Uhhhhh, okay.... History.
what does history have to do with bits of glowy cubes?" Daniel said.
"A lot actually."
"Us wisdom cubes are actually essences of human beings.
Some are lucky, since humans got ahold of wisdom cubes, some of them had the privilege of being merged with ships from the Second World War.
Like your girlfriend Bismarck back there." The cube said, rather smartly
"How many times do have to day that she isn't my girlfriend???!" Daniel said, getting rather frustrated
"Ara ara, looks like somebody is having a heated conversation, ehehehehe!" Prinz Eugen said, still intoxicated
*SLAP!
Bismarck slapped her once again across the face, really hard.
"Poor Bismarck isn't coded to interact with real human beings, this is completely new to her." The cube said
Okay, now all kinds of 4th walls are being broken now.
Luckily, Bismarck was shouting her lungs out at Prinz, so she wasn't able to hear their conversation
"Real humans?" Daniel said,
"Look in a mirror, you have regular-sized eyes, gaps in your teeth, a distinguishable nose..."
"Wait a second cube, if this is an anime game, why do you know what a real person looks like??" Daniel whispered.
"It's fun to have a peek into other universes from time to time, being a metaphysical object has its perks"
"Unfortunately, those most loathsome sirens figured out my ability to actually see outside of my universe.
To finally figure out just how menial my existence was.
Us wisdom cubes weren't powerful objects, but rather a currency in a mobile video game,
We were nothing but ones and zeros in a screen, just waiting to be transformed.
My whole life, as a human, and as a wisdom cube, was a complete and total lie.
The sirens were trying to keep this secret from escaping, to try and keep souls like me contained
They see us all as playthings, toys, lab rats
And when one of their playthings finds out the truth? even just one or two people, and they find out about the meaning of their perpetual existence?"
They burn their whole world, and slaughter everything alive.
And then move onto the next one,
I was slated to be melted down on suspicion for finding the truth, so I did the only thing I could, and I summoned you, and this whole ship here. And I turned quite the shade of red while doing so" The wisdom cube said.
— Flashback to the Prolouge —
A blue cube shook in it's container,
*mighty..
... German
...battleship..
....blew up the battlecruiser hood.... It said in a tone similar to a 1940's esqe radio, it's bright glow intensifying.
The cube turned from blue, to a dark crimson shade, starting to vibrate slightly
It heated up drastically, surpassing 2500 kelvins,
Eventually the alien metal container gave way, the cube melting its restraints.
The cube then melted through the submarine's hull
And then it rose to the surface...
— Flashback end —
....
".....Alright then, if you were trying to escape from the sirens, why did you summon me here? What do I have to do with this?!? I never wanted to be an Isekai protagonist, I have a family, I have friends, I have aspirations, and I have good grades!
And for god's sakes I've never watched anime once in my life!
So why me? Why me and not some lifelong loser who has nothing to gain in life..." Daniel said
"You tore the book I was residing in"
— Flashback to Part 1 —
He snapped up a book about the Naval Battle of World War II off of the side of his bed.
It had come in just yesterday from his grandparents living in the further reaches of the country.
He hadn't gotten the opportunity to read it yet.
He peeled open the fresh, untouched pages.
It was always a cool thing to get your hands on a new book, so you can read about the same things in a different way,
It felt almost refreshing.
He started rapidly flipping through the pages. As he glanced by the pages,
He momentarily looked back at his console, which was screaming about a lack of Wi-Fi connection.
The Wi-Fi had not been on for at least five minutes at this point, that lightning must've done a number on the system.
Daniel sighed and looked back at his book.
After looking through a bunch of pages, he finally found Operation Rheinübung,
He looked through the pages some more.
Sinking of hood,
Hunt for the...
"Ah here it is" he said
"The Bismar-"
He flipped the page, revealing the cross section of the mighty battle-
*rrrrrip!
"Ah.... Noooooo.." he said, cringing.
This was brand new book, and he ripped the page, absolute genius he was.
— Flashback end —
"You were just... casually possessing my book." Daniel said
"Well, what do you expect me to do, sit there and glow meaninglessly? Probably get collected and sold for a wad of cash?"
"It's a good way to read up on your universe's interesting lore, it is far more developed than the video games that I was inhabiting earlier
You just happened to know your fair share of warfare and were in proximity, if I stuck around I would've been found sooner or later, besides, I can't just pick anybody I please, I'm not a god" the cube said
"Well genius, you have literally just kidnapped me, brought me here, and left me to die away from my parents, you sure have some excellent judgement." Daniel said,
"If you weren't here, the sirens would surely find and kill-" the cube began
"I'm sorry, that sounds like a you problem." Daniel retorted
"Well if I just let the sirens kill me and commit mass genocide, they'll come for your world too." The cube began
"Okay... we have nukes and warships that make the sirens break like play-doh, they can't possibly win."
"But that wouldn't change the thousands of deaths that would inevitably happen." The cube said
"Can you get to the point?"
"Yes, yes, I need the help of a capable person to free this world from siren clutches, you help, you get sent back to your world, which is free from alien invasion. I stay alive, and Uh..... survive another day and the inhabitants of this world can learn to live in a world without war. And the crew and this ship can be spat out in their respective timeline, and nothing insane will hopefully happen.
Can we agree on that?" The cube said
Not much of a choice, at least Daniel had a goal outside of short-term survival
"Fine, fine, you have a deal."
"Besides, you can increase your affinity stat with Bis-"
".....Affinity? With who?"
"Oops, did I touch a nerve?"
"I don't know who you think you're fooling, I'm girl repellent. A pixel girlship surely doesn't care about me." Daniel said.
"Oh, c'mon now, you're obviously falling for her, you can't stand to look her in the eyes."
"That's because I'm not a simp! I've never simped before and I see no reason to start now! We're just friends, okay?!" Daniel said,
"Ara ara? Just friends with who?" Prinz eugen began, overhearing Daniel's conversation.
The blush of a real person's face is far harder to see than an anime character, but Daniel, did in fact have a visible blush of embarrassment for a moment.
"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS DRUNKARD!" Daniel shouted.
"Okay, if you won't do it for me, and won't do it for the world, at least do it for her? Huh?" The cube said.
"I already agreed to it, and so far I'm starting to regret it."
"Ah, okay, that's good"
"But I swear, the second we're in the clear and the world is saved or whatever, I'm going back home, and this whole scuffle neeeeeever happened. Got it?" Daniel said.
"You have my word"
—————