Work work work. So much work.

Today was turning out to be an especially busy day for Noire. It was a good thing that she wasn't at Planeptune right now, otherwise there was no way she'd be getting any of this done. It wasn't like she had exactly been invited either, but deep down, she knew that if she really, really wanted to, she and Plutia had given each other unspoken permission to come over whenever they wanted. It was something she certainly abused on occasion, though usually it was more to help Plutia and Neptune out than for anything personal... And Plutia, being Plutia, never seemed to be willing to put out the effort to come to her outside of a very select few occasions, which would have been fine, but... She just wished Plutia would stop bringing Neptune along, even if it was just once in a while... How many years had gone by since they'd done something together, just the two of them?

It had been since before Noire had been a CPU... No, even before that. It had been before Neptune had come to their dimension. Years ago.

Scowling, the black haired CPU dismissed those thoughts. It was for the best. Plutia, ultimately, would still just be another distraction, and while Plutia was a welcome distraction, unlike most other ones distractions, she was still a distraction all the same. She had a lot more work to do if she wanted to be able to leave the Basilicom and have a nice lunch today before she came back to working, and she really, really wanted to have something more than a few rushed sandwiches to keep her going. Yes, she was not going to soon forget her previous night's dinner, but in the end, she still needed to get done what she needed to get done.

As the old saying went, no rest for the weary.

... Boy, was she feeling weary though...

The young CPU shook her head and slapped her cheeks. She couldn't let it get to her! Lastation was on top for a reason right now, and that reason's name was Noire. If she wanted to have that lunch, then she was going to just have to suck it up and stop hoping Planeptune's CPU would barge into her office and give her something else to think about for the first time in weeks!

"Nooooiiiiiiire! Come out and plaaaaay!"

Were she the kind of person who did that sort of thing over small disappointments, Noire could have burst into tears at the sound of the singsong voice approaching from the hallway just outside her office. From the accompanying sounds of footsteps, it sounded like the voice's owner was alone, which meant that while Noire had gotten Planeptune's CPU... She had gotten the wrong one.

"Go away Neptune! I'm very busy!" Even less in the mood for Neptune's shenanigans than she might normally be, Noire made a point to be buried in her paperwork when the smaller CPU finally entered her office.

Sighing in a fashion that was far more dramatic than the situation required, Neptune turned and walked out of Noire's office, which brought Noire to let out a sigh of relief in turn. Maybe she could still make that lunch yet...

"So anyway, how about now? Wanna play?"

"Kya!"

Or at least she would have if Neptune hadn't suddenly popped up from the other side of her desk! How had she even done that!? Noire wanted an instant replay right this instant!

"N-Neptune..." Clenching the sides of her desk, Noire stood up and glowered at the purple haired CPU. How such a lazybones was a CPU in any world was beyond her, but the fact that she was the only one somewhere was just... insane. It had to be Nepgear doing all of the work back where they were from. It just had to be. "Get out of here before I make you get out of here."

"Awww, don't be like that! Can't a gal come over and see the evil clone of one of her bestest friends?" Neptune fluttered her eyelashes innocently, but the comment had pushed too many buttons for Noire for her to consider whatever Neptune wanted at this point... N-Not that she would have anyway or anything! She had work to do, after all. Seeing the look on Noire's face, Neptune finally seemed to get the message, for she actually seemed to visibly deflate. It was almost funny. "Sheesh, no wonder you don't have any friends... Stuck up in here all day doing nothing, that's no fun.

"I have plenty of friends!" Noire cried out instinctively, the words coming unbidden — through habit, perhaps. Neptune certainly did throw the rude accusation around enough for it to become one. Looking at Neptune, who was starting to grin at her, Noire found her cheeks starting to burn. In an effort to save her pride from its untimely demise, Noire lowered herself back into her seat and nodded towards the door. "Go on..." ... On the other hand, if Neptune was already here... She was no Plutia, but even Noire had her limits. "... a-and if you can stop yourself from pigging out beforehand, if you're at the Crash Cafe in an hour, maybe I'll join you for lunch." Seeing the look Neptune was starting to get in her eyes, Noire narrowed her own in warning. "I said maybe!"

Appearing like she had gotten what she had wanted, Neptune turned to leave... again, so this time, Noire made sure not to make any assumptions. Like clockwork, she didn't even make it to the door before she turned around. Noire was about to tell her lunch was off, but Neptune's expression stopped her. It was oddly... thoughtful looking.

"You ever think about why Plutie is so good with kids? Maybe she's just got some super inner mom thing in there, but I dunno... Iffy — um, uh, not Iffy! I mean, a friend of mine back home says I am because I am one, and I'm pretty sure I remember you saying it too come to think of it, which is totally ridiculous for a sophisticated lady like me, but..." Despite how it seemed like it probably would be in her best interest to do so, Noire chose not to interrupt Neptune. If this was her one semi-intelligent statement of the year, it wouldn't be fair of her to shut Neptune down, and this actually didn't sound that bad yet. Plus it was about Plutia, so Noire was obligated to find out what sort of ridiculous things Neptune was thinking about her. "Blanc's old, right?"

Noire blinked.

"That's a random topic change." Maybe she had given Neptune too much credit here. Rolling her eyes, Noire leaned her elbow on her desk to rest her face on the back of her hand. She was starting to suspect where Neptune was taking this, and if she was right, lunch was definitely off... Though considering she wasn't getting any work done now, it probably would end up having to be put off anyway. Thanks, Neptune. "But... Yes, Lowee's been around since before I was born, so Blanc is 'old'. I suppose you're even older than that, right Miss 'Real' Goddess?"

"Huh? No waaaay, I'm a regular spring chicken here! A pure maiden, fresh off the tree and ready for love!" Given the initially surprised reaction Neptune showed her, followed by a recovery like that, Noire supposed she had been wrong after all — she had thought Neptune was going to pull some kind of "I am older and wiser than you" schtick. Well, that didn't mean what she was going to say instead still wouldn't be stupid. "I've just been wondering about it is all... That's a pretty big difference, at least right now, huh? It won't seem like it later on, but she's got a lot on you."

"Did Blanc put you up to this, Neptune?" Noire asked flatly, closing her eyes as she tried to imagine where Neptune could possibly be going with this, but all roads ended in some kind of backhanded (and stupid, don't forget stupid) insult.

"No, Blanc has nothing to do with this. Sheesh, Noire, don't be so paranoid!" Noire didn't need to open her eyes to know Neptune was in some kind of stupid pose, probably making some kind of stupid face right now. Gritting her teeth, she let out a low growl, to which Neptune responded with an "eep!" of sorts. "Okay, okay! We never get to see you, sue me for making small talk. What I really wanted to ask was about Plutie and you."

And her? Well, that explains it. This was all probably some sort of convoluted buildup to a lame joke then. Might as well get it over with...

"And me?"

"Well, Plutie only became a CPU a little while before I got here, right? So even though she tries to act like a super-mom, which is actually super-creepy since she's even like that when she transforms, she's barely old enough to be a mom." Noire's brows furrowed at this line of thought. Neptune had been thinking. That... wasn't a good sign. Was it because of the kids they were taking care of at the Basilicom? Better there than stuck in the harsh world outside of the nations' borders, of course, and certainly better under the watchful eye of Iris Heart than of some sleaze running some rundown place to get money for the kids they would never use for them. Still... "You were a regular girl when I got here, right? I was even turned into one for a little while! Oh, right. Woopsie, got distracted. What I mean is, I know Blanc probably doesn't anymore since she's old, shouldn't you and Plutie, like... have families and stuff?"

"Surprised" didn't really cover what Noire was feeling in that moment. She had never expected Neptune to go there with her. Then again, the fact Neptune had reached out to her on a whim, out of some strange sense of homesickness, should have been her first clue that the girl was in a weird mood today. Noire really couldn't think about it right now. Or anything, for that matter, because she was shocked to have that question thrown on it. She was so surprised, in fact, her arm slipped — meaning she was now falling face first towards her desk at a ridiculously high velocity. Ridiculously high for sensitive places like heads, anyway.

It would figure that the last thing Noire managed to think clearly before the world was consumed with darkness was that really wished Neptune had just been going for a stupid joke.

Before the establishment of Planeptune, the only nation that had existed throughout the entirety of Gamindustri for many, many years was Lowee up in the north. The long standing nation was powerful, certainly, and it was more than a little prideful about letting people know it. However, even with that as it was, it could hardly account for the entire land. Gamindustri was a vast place, and Lowee had enough to deal with within its own borders, after all. Its CPU could hardly concern herself with the people who were in all of the lands unassociated with Lowee when the people in it needed her much more. At most, there were missionaries, and their concerns were typically either furthering Lowee's reign or using the power that position granted them as they saw fit. In the end, the people within Lowee's borders were the ones who got the most out of their CPU.

Unfortunately for those people who were not so fortunate as to be within those borders, that didn't mean much for them. Most of them lacked the means to make the trip all the way to Lowee, and typically, most of those that did would quickly find those means being taken from them by looters and pirates and the like. Needless to say, this meant that it was not the ideal situation in which a parent might wish to bring a child into the world, but life goes on, and thus, children would continue to be born as well. More often than not, children would be taken to shelters and orphanages when parents found themselves at the end of their ropes, down on their luck, hoping that at the very least, their child might still be able to survive in this lawless wasteland through the care of another.

Today was a day that was no different. Today was a day in which a fresh batch of fresh eyes were bring corralled around like little animals. Today was a day during which, among those "little animals," a young girl, barely seven or eight years old with messy, unkempt black hair cropped this way and that way, found herself being taken to one such orphanage. Some might have felt pity for the girl, with her tattered clothes and worn looking body, but they would be wise not to. This girl was no stranger to this type of situation at all. While the other children in her group were looking around for friendly faces and checking out what kind of food they might be getting, the only thing this child was looking for, with her sharp red eyes, were which kids she would be able to get the most out of before she got shipped off to the next place for bad behavior.

You see, this girl didn't play nice. She played for keeps. She played to win. She played for herself.

It was all she knew.

This girl's name was Noire.

And today was the day that Noire would meet the girl that would change her life.