Creation

The Tokyo Shipyard was a massive structure, spread out across a quarter of the island and an equally large amount of ocean. It had berths for at least two hundred ships, most of which were empty, and had about a dozen slipways. Dock workers covered the shipyard like ants, scurrying around as the loaded and unloaded various ships.

The presence of the slipways confused Hasegawa, since they didn't have the ability to make shipgirls, but Myōkō, upon seeing his confused expression, provided an explanation.

"We can't actually create shipgirls, but we can create dead hulls, which the Singularity then gives life to. Now, the slipways are just being used to conduct repairs, not that any of us really know how to do that."

She motioned to the nearest slipway, where a crane was awkwardly trying to remove a broken gun from a destroyer.

Aside from the slipway with the destroyer, only two other slipways were occupied. One, right next to the destroyer, had Myōkō's hull, but Hasegawa couldn't tell what work was being done to it. She had probably sustained minor damage in Eastasia, but it hadn't been anything that he had noticed at the time. 

The third hull was in the farthest slipway. It looked massive, like a battleship hull, but it was missing everything from the deck up. Unlike the rest of the shipyard, this slipway didn't have any workers going about, and was just left abandoned. 

"This," said Yamato, gesturing to the hull, "is Large Hull 137, a dead hull that has not yet been given life. With the destruction of the Singularity, this hull became a useless piece of scrap metal. But, now that you're here, Hasegawa-san, it can fulfill its purpose, as an Imperial battleship."

So this was a dead hull. It looked as big as a small skyscraper lying on its side, filling the slipway completely. It was a dull grey, the colour of the medal it had been made of, and some parts of the prow were starting to rust.

How was he supposed to give life to this thing? It didn't make any sense. He turned to look at Yamato, hoping for some advice, but she just stared back at him expectantly. 

Hasegawa gave a small sigh. It looked like he would just have to figure it out on his own.

He closed his eyes, and began to picture the hull, but not as a ship, rather, as a flashlight with no power. He imagined taking a battery and putting it in to the flashlight, and then turning the flashlight on. 

He opened his eyes. 

Nothing had happened.

"Are you sure you're doing it right?" asked Myōkō. "It doesn't look like you've given it any life."

Hasegawa started thinking. 'Given'... why did that word seem so important? Unless...

Yamato had said that the Singularity gave the shipgirls life, not created it for them. If he was right, then instead of trying to create life, he needed to give the hull some of his own.

He closed his eyes again, and imagined the hull as the flashlight, but this time, he imagined taking the battery from himself, and then putting it into the empty flashlight. He felt a shock go through him, and his eyes flew open. 

The dead hull was now covered in a bright white light, and a... a feeling?...no, a vision?... At any rate, it was something that gave him an idea of the design of the shipgirl he had just created.

"Well," asked Yamato, walking up to him, "what's her name?"

Her name? Right, Hasegawa had to name her. From his mental image of her, he could fell that she was massive, far larger than any other battleship, and she carried incredible firepower, almost volcanic in nature. 

A volcano...

That was it!

"Her name," started Hasegawa as he turned back to look at Yamato, "is Fuji."