Ultradimension Neptunia

The Wandering CPU

Chapter 1: First Encounter

A light, cool breeze blew through the small town, adding to the cold weather that was already present there. A dimming silence reigned over the settlement, barely a sound could be heard save for the rustling of trees, the wind, a few birds and the occasional dog who barked at anyone who came too close to them. No cars, no bike horns, not even bare whispers of doors opening and shutting, everything was almost like a ghost town. Yet it was not, far from it in fact, for there were many people who lived in this cold town, far in the northern parts of Gamindustri where the environment always appeared to be in a mix of late autumn and mid winter, children would play in the snow or in the piles of red leaves that would pile onto each other when the wind would cast them off the trees. This was how most, if not all, people in Gamindustri lived, in small city state-like towns and villages where they would look out for themselves against nature, hoping for the appearance of a divine being to lead them into a prosperous age once more: a Goddess, a CPU.

It had not always been like this, Gamindustri had been united as a whole nation once, but that was centuries ago. Back then there was only one goddess, one CPU, one nation, but that was all over, and for good so the historians would say. The CPU who once ruled this nation – Tari – had gone mad with power, so mad in fact that she destroyed her own nation in a fit of rage due to her citizens loosing their faith in her abilities to lead. This CPU, later dubbed to historians as the 'CPU of Chaos' due to everyone forgetting her name, would disappear from history, never to be spoken of again. From then on the humans of Gamindustri had ruled themselves, trying their very best to make the world a better place, but the call for a CPU to lead them still echoed in their minds, they failed to recognise the need for a goddess to rule them, to protect them. This division would see what was left of Tari shatter into nothing and even more blood was split as humans now fought each other rather than a divine being.

Eventually, after years of war, there came a truce. Those who believed that humanity should be guided by a CPU separated from those who believed that humanity should rule its own destiny, these two groups would later spread out across Gamindustri and form colonies and town where they prospered, but those who were against CPUs dwindled in number and disappeared from history as their former goddess had. After many years people eventually found out that anyone could become a CPU if they swallowed a CPU Memory, these small stones contained the essence of a divine and could empower anyone who finds it with the power to become a CPU, but it tested those who took such stones. Those who were found to be unworthy were turned into hideous beasts and roamed the land, suffering from the pain of knowing their past life yet unable to do anything about it. Those who passed became CPUs. During the centuries there had been several CPUs, all of them goddesses, but just about all of them faded into obscurity and their nations fell into ruin, just as Tari had once done before. Eventually CPU Memories became rare and a prized item.

This was the stage where the folk in the cold – almost freezing town at times – in the northern lands found themselves in. The town was run by a mayor and a small council of wealthy locals, the idea of a CPU presiding over them and guiding them had been cast aside, they proclaimed that they needed no CPUs since they had all failed in their duties to protect humanity, therefore they would look out for themselves. While talks of having a CPU were not suppressed they were not encouraged, especially in front of the council members. The town flourished, yet not everyone had the same prosperity as others. One such family found themselves without not a lot in life except themselves, at least that was what it looked like.

During the late morning chill a young boy opened the light red door of his house and stepped outside, his breath was visible as he breathed in and out, when the young boy looked at the small breath clouds he chuckled as he swiped his hands through it. The young boy had soft, short ice blue hair, yellow eyes that looked almost snake-like and fair skin, he wore a brown jacket with a grey shirt underneath, dark blue pants and black shoes. He did not look any older than even or eight years old. As he was about to close the door he heard a booming voice coming from one of the upstairs rooms within the house.

"Where are you going?" the booming voice asked, it belonged to a male a few decades older than the boy.

"I-I'm just going down to the park," the boy replied nervously. "I'll be back soon, dad."

"Hmm, fine then, but when you get back you have to help your sister with cleaning the dishes, then I want you to clear all of that snow out of the garden. Got it?"

"I-I know, got it, dad."

The young boy closed the door and walked onto the street in the direction of the park, hoping to get there before too many people occupied the area. The street gutters were filled with fresh snow and leaves, not many people bothered cleaning it up due to the weather conditions, if they cleaned the streets and gutters one day and woke up the next it would all be filled up again, so no one bothered with it any more. There was hardly anyone around the streets that led to the park, so the young boy found himself in a better mood than before. He did not like being near people, it was not because he hated them or anything akin to that, but it was because of their opinion towards him. No one liked how his eyes almost resembled that of a snake, it made them treat him as an outsider, some even went as far as to say that he was a monster, not a human. It almost made the young boy cry, sometimes he did.

When the boy reached the park after walking down a few blocks he was relieved by the fact that there was nobody around, he sighed with relief and made his way over to the equipment, mainly the swings. He stepped across the snowy ground and sat on the leather swing, ignoring the chilling feeling that shivered through his body as the cold seeped through him. The boy clasped his hands over the cold, steel chains and began to swing himself back and forward, he sighed and accepted the wind blowing onto his face, his hair, despite being shortish, blew in the breeze, a peaceful state had fallen over the young boy. Eventually the cold breeze slipped away towards the north, leaving a cool temperature behind, which the boy gladly accepted. Some people, especially the children, would always complain about the weather they received, but the young boy welcomed it, he was a fan of the cold.

After swinging about for ten to twenty minutes the young boy quickly realised that he was not the only one in the park any more, in fact there were several more kids running about and playing games, all of them avoiding him. The boy locked glances with one kid and swiftly looked away when the other kid looked at him with fear and disgust, it was the usual response the boy would get whenever he looked at someone. Soon enough as more children and their parents began to fill up the park the young boy got back onto his feet and quickly made his escape without drawing too much attention towards himself, not that anyone would have minded it.

When the young boy successfully got away from the crowd of children and their parents he stopped and breathed deeply for air, he fell to his knees and grabbed some leaves, crushing them with his hands. "Why… why do they hate me?" he asked himself, his voice filled with complete sadness and sorrow. "I'm not a bad person, I'm not, really. Why do I even bother getting up in the morning? Why do I bother with anything?"

The young boy sniffed and wiped the tears away before leaning up against a nearby tree, he looked out ahead of him and saw the lake, its water was cold and seemed inhospitable yet life thrived in the freezing depths of the lake, fish who had involved over the last few centuries had adapted to the weather and have thrived. The boy found evolution to be utterly fascinating and he would research about it whenever he found himself in a library, although he was not in them for long, much to his misfortune.

The boy sighed and looked over to his left, he gazed at the large bushland surrounding a tree with a thick trunk, he grinned and made his way over to the area. The boy arrived at a thickish and tall wall of bushes that was overshadowed by the tree, his right hand entered the bush and he moved aside a thin area that made up the door to an entrance, the boy moved into the pathway and closed the bush-like door behind him. Once the boy made his way through the bushy path he entered an open space surrounded by the tall, thick bushes with the tree in the centre of the space, its branches shadowing the area around it, a few planks of wood and tin were strapped between the tree and a small portion of the bushes, small timber columns kept the planks in place. A container made of steel was up against the roofed area, when the boy peered inside he pulled out a book on geography – he was always interested with the layout of Gamindustri.

"Alrighty then, time to relax," the boy said to himself as he leaned up against the tree, opened the book and began to read away to his hearts delight. After a short while a strong breeze blew through the area, causing the boy to hold up an arm over his face to protect himself from any incoming loose leaves and branches. When his sight returned he saw a small, red and white object flying through the air, the wind had taken someone's possession again. It's probably some sort of hat again, it's usually hats. People really need to do something about it. The boy thought, paying no heed to the hat as it floated down onto a branch just above him, he tried to ignore it but the object stole his full attention. The boy stood up, put down his book and grabbed the hat after he climbed the tree to get it, he then fell back onto the ground with a loud thud, but he got the hat.

"Well, this is a weird look," he mumbled to himself as he turned the hat around, gazing at the design of it. The hat was of a round shape with a white top, red marks around the side and black lining, a circle was in the centre at the front. "Haven't seen this before, or anything like it. I could go back out there to look for the owner, but then I would have to deal with the people out there." He mulled it over for a moment before he finally decided what to do. "Alright then, I'll try to find the owner, maybe I can show people that I'm not a bad person after all."

He left his sanctuary and emerged back into the park, the happy cries of children ran through his ears as he quietly approached the main area of the park, the hat held firmly in his hands. When he finally walked into the main area he was met with the cold stares of children and adult alike, each stare felt as if they pierced his very soul. The boy did his best to walk up to each person he could get near and present the hat to them, asking if it belonged to them, but he was met with glaring expressions from parents and most of the children would hide, some even walked away as soon as the boy even began to approach them. One by one they avoided him or refused to answer his question, the few who did answer him would usually do so rudely, especially the children who thought they were 'cool'.

The young boy felt dejected and defeated, he walked away with the hat still in his hands and a depressed expression on his face, he had failed. At least that was what it seemed like at first. As he started to make his way back to his sanctuary he came across a girl who looked around his age, she was leaning over a tree trunk with her legs flailing around in the air, her dress barely keeping her backside covered due to the movement of her legs. "Damn it! Where the hell did it go?! I'll smash whoever stole it!" she swore as she got back onto her feet, her back was to the young boy so she failed to see him.

The boy cautiously walked up to her, he could feel the stares and glares of onlookers nearby drilling into him, but he did his best to ignore it. When he stood behind the strange girl he cleared his throat and coughed, the girl turned around and stared sternly at the young boy. "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" she pointed out.

Much to the young boy's shock the girl seemed to ignore his eyes, he stood there, shocked at the revelation. The girl, however, seemed disinterested in his presence and was about to resume her search when she suddenly noticed the hand in his hands. "Hold on, where did you find that?" she asked him.

This broke him out of his stupor. "What? Oh, r-right. I found this out that way." The boy pointed over at the direction from where he came. "F-Found it in a tree branch. H-H-Here."

The young girl took the hat and beamed a bright smile at the boy as she took her hat and placed it on her head, causing him to break out in a slight blush. "Thanks a lot, this hat means a lot to me." The girl had brown hair that was jaw length, blue eyes and fair skin, she wore a red dress with fold-skirt and a leafy pattern along the bottom, it had a black tank top piece with an accessory with red lining and a blue sphere in the centre with thin strings, at the top of the dress was a golden flower piece with a black strap around her waist along with a thin white jacket.

The boy smiled, but he could not get over the stares that were piercing into him, the boy felt more nervous than ever. Eventually his nerve broke. "SORRYIHAVETOGONOWBYE!" And with that the young boy turned around and ran back into the eastern part of the park, leaving many onlookers pleased that he was gone as well as some confused ones as well. The girl, on the other hand, was surprised at the sudden change and merely stood there, unsure about whether to go after him or stay where she was, the young girl also did not like the looks she was receiving from everyone else. In the end she ran after the young boy, hoping to know what was wrong with him.

The young boy, meanwhile, ran back to his sanctuary, hoping to put some distance between him and the onlookers, he did not like leaving the girl there without saying a proper goodbye though. He sighed and fell to the ground, his back against a tree that was situated close to the entrance of his sanctuary. That was too embarrassing, all those people just looking at us… that was scary. Pity I didn't get to know her name, she was kinda nice to me. I wonder if I'll see her again? He soon got his wish after ten minutes of breathing in and out over and over again, once he had calmed down enough the boy gazed up and saw the young, brown hair coloured girl, she was looking at him with a concerned expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, her stoic face concealing her concern. "Why did you run away like that? Did I do something wrong?"

The boy shook his head. "No, i-it was just those people back there, all the s-s-staring, it… it freaks me out." He started to shiver from fright and chatter his teeth.

"You'll be fine, I'm sure of it." She knelt down next to him and smiled. Never before had anyone been as caring as she had to him, and they barely even knew each other.. "Hey, what's your name?"

The boy was caught off guard with that question, no one had ever asked for his name, nor had he ever expected it. "A-A-Aetius, my name is Aetius. What's yours?"

"I'm Blanc, nice to meet you, Aetius." She sat down next to the young boy and looked at the lake before them. "Nice place, isn't it?"

The boy nodded in agreement. "It sure is, I always come here whenever I can." The two remained silent as they sat next to each other, only the sounds of birds and the rustling of trees could be heard, the two young children did not say anything for the next few minutes. That was until Blanc looked over at Aetius, more specifically at his hair, she then firmly stared at his ice blue hair and ran her fingers through it, her face remaining expressionless. The young boy, however, was more than calm. "B-B-B-Blanc?! Wh-Wh-What are you doing?!"

Blanc retracted her hands and looked at Aetius. "Sorry, but I couldn't help it, you have nice hair."

Aetius looked away and clutched his legs tightly. "Th-Thanks, I got it from my mother."

"Is she a nice person?"

Aetius shrugged. "I don't know, she isn't around. Dad says she's gone somewhere, but he won't say where."

"Maybe she'll turn up someday, like my father might one day." Blanc then took a closer look at Aetius' eyes, she looked confused and bewildered as to why they looked like they belonged to a snake. "Um, Aetius, sorry if this is personal, but why are your eyes… well, like a snake?"

The young boy looked back at Blanc, his expression was one mixed with depression, sadness and an overall unknown. "I wish I knew, no other family member has eyes like mine as far as I know. Do I look like a monster? Do I scare you too?"

Blanc gently patted Aetius on the head with a small smile on her face. "You're not a monster, you're just misunderstood is all." She looked at a small watch that she had around her wrist and sighed. "Dammit, I have to go now or my mum will be angry again. Sorry, Aetius, I have to go."

"Alright then. Bye, Blanc." As the young girl stood up and began to walk away Aetius spoke again. "Will I see you again?"

Blanc turned around and smiled. "I think so, this town is small and we like this area so I'm sure it's highly likely that we'll bump into each other again. See you then, Aetius."

As Blanc disappeared into the distance Aetius was left to his own devices and thoughts, he smiled to himself as his thoughts turned to the young girl known as Blanc, she was the only person to see him as another human being. He thought of her as a great person, whether they were friends or not he did not know however. But he did not care, he just smiled away as he stood up and made his way home. I do hope I get to see her again, she's an interesting person, and I don't want to loose the only possible friend I have around here. I'm sure we will meet again.


A/N: Yes, I know, some of you are probably thinking: 'Hey, Bluebottlejr, why are you starting another story when you've already got two going on? B-Baka!' - well, minus the baka of course. The reason is because I got an idea a while back and I just could not contain myself any longer, The Rising Darkness is almost reaching the finale sooner or later (there will be a sequel to it however) while Subject 13: Mars is going along smoothly with irregular updates but said updates are starting to become a bit more common.

Future chapters will also be small, in fact nearly all of the chapters in the first arc will be short, containing around 2000 to almost 4000 words or somewhere in between. At any rate, I'm glad I got this out, I've always wondered what the lives of the Ultradimension CPUs were like before they became goddesses. The first arc will be essentially a slice of life while the second will have more chapter and be much longer, I'm sure you will all know why. If you have any suggestions or requests please inform me, have a great day and may a car never run your foot over.