Ch.2 Governance
It has been about two months since the beta testing began for Blanc and Vert's new game and they have found everything except for a few glitches that they swiftly patch. Because of their duties as goddesses, they can't check the game every day. Rom and Ram are still holding hope that Blanc will change her mind and let them play the game with her.
Last Night
Vert is programming the finishing touches for another region and is tired as she yawns. She examines the time and says.
"Oh my, I've been working for three days now. I should return home and get some beauty sleep."
Vert is so tired once she ends the typing that she fails to shut the door completely before leaving for home. Blance won't be able to notice immediately either.
Present
At the moment, Blanc is taking care of an issue in a town close to the main city. There are some mushrooms that are causing trouble because they are causing people to shrink when consumed and flowers that cause people to breathe ice are being picked everywhere. Reportedly, there have been sightings of weird men dressed as plumbers being seen around the farmlands in the last few days.
Blanc arrives in the two in her goddess form, White Heart, to solve the issue at hand. The law enforcement of Lowee has had little effect on the problem, so she is here to end it. She appears to the people who are awaiting her arrival. This town in particular is filled with her worshippers who are border-line in love with her. As soon as she reaches the ground, the people who gathered to greet her are cheering with one guy in the crowd cheering so fanatically that he foams at the mouth and falls over. A little unorthodox, Blanc tells her people.
"Okay, stop with that cheering, it's getting creepy."
The towns folk calm down as an adult woman with red hair wearing a white dress approaches and has a much more formal attitude as she apologizes to her goddess.
"I am very sorry, Lady White Heart. My fellow citizens wanted to give you a welcome worthy of a goddess."
Blanc looks at the guy who was foaming at the mouth and replies with a calmer tone.
"I should have known. I get lots of fan mail and friend requests all over the network from the people here."
The woman she is talking with is the town's leader as well as the one who requested her goddesses help. Blanc simply wants to get this issue finished, but has to ask in a more irritated tone.
"I thought there was law enforcement in this town, so why haven't these guys been caught yet?"
The local law enforcement hasn't been able to catch the two behind this yet and they've checked everywhere. This gets her wondering what to do since she can't just around destroying buildings to find these two. But, she may as well help while here.
Virtual World
The AI that Blanc has created is acting up a little as she wanders around the virtual world while checking the game's programming to see any changes or patches during the beta, but that's when she notices something in her manual, a button that says WI-FI on it. She clicks it and a password screen pops up. She tries to solve the password with a few guesses like GODDESS, OR LOWEE, BEWAREOBILIVIONISATHAND, and even a strange ←A↓←A↓, but nothing works. But then she thinks of something she remembers and types in a different password, SUPERBLANCWORLD, a prototype name for the game that was abandoned years ago. The connects the AI to the WI-FI and she is immediately awed by this because of the surplus of information as she takes a cord that is connected to her body and plugs into the screen which causes a surge in her being that is being engulfed in information.
Basilicom
A knock comes at the door of the Basilicom as a cheery voice says.
"Blanny, come out to play-ay!"
Outside the basilicom is a person that always brings the best or worst out people, depending on who you ask. Neptune, goddess of Planeptune also known as Purple Heart, and her younger sister, the CPU candidate of Planeptune Nepgear, are here because Neptune wants to be lazy and came to Lowee to see Blanc and avoid dealing with Histoire for a while after she made her mad.
Neptune knocks on the door and says.
"Blanc, we've come to be your maids if that'll get you to open the door."
Nepgear puts her hand on Neptune's shoulder and reminds her.
"Neptune, we can't stay here for very long. Remember what Histoire said to us?"
Neptune puts her finger to her chin and jokingly says.
"Um, she totally said to go to Blanc's place, wreck it up, and have a good time. Yup, that's what she said alright."
Neptune bangs on the door some more and Nepgear shouts.
"That's not what she said and you know it, Neptune! She yells at me now because I can't keep you in line! And she said to not come back until you earn at least 5% of shares!"
Neptune is shocked by her sister's outburst and replies with a blank look.
"Whoa, Nepgear, no need to go Super Sayian on me. I'm just trying to brighten up your day, one knock at a time."
Nepgear calms down a bit and then the door finally opens with Rom and Ram answering. Neptune immediately barges in and casually says.
"See, even the kiddies want their auntie Neppy to share her brand of fun and humor with them."
Ram instantly rebukes this with irritation and states.
"No, we opened the door because your knocking was too loud!"
Rom then adds with her usual meekness.
"Actually, I don't think Blanc would like it if you were here while she's away."
Nepgears takes this as sign that they need to leave and tells her sister.
"There, you see, Neptune, Blanc isn't here, so we should just go."
Neptune waves it off and rebukes with a chipper smile.
"Then we can watch Rom and Ram for her and take care of her video games for her."
Neptune starts walking around and ignores everything else. Nepgear apologizes on Neptune's behalf to Rom and Ram.
"I'm sorry, but Neptune is a little desperate to go somewhere else today. Histoire got really mad and kicked us both out for a little while."
Rom and Ram both sigh and decide to let Neptune and Nepgear stay but are going to have think of an excuse for Blanc later. But they first, Neptune has run off somewhere unsupervised, a recipe for disaster if there ever was one. Normally, she has a buffer in the form of any of the other CPUs or her sister, but she is loose somewhere in the basilicom without anyone to stop her from doing something stupid. Neptune isn't a child, but she can get a little carried away or snoop into things she shouldn't.
In some hallways, Neptune is looking for a room where she can play games which she knows she'll find as long as it has a TV. She'll also settle for pudding in the kitchen. However, she finds nothing but a library, a bathroom, and another bathroom for some reason. Then, she spots a door without a knob somewhere along a series of room, but it is slightly cracked open. Neptune walks up to it and there is a fingerprint scanner and she is immediately intrigued as she says.
"Ooh, my Neppy sense is tingling. I better investigate this most intriguing door of wonders."
Neptune opens the cracked door all the way open and finds the room where the new game is. Neptune looks around with wonder at this interesting new room. She touches the keyboard at the consul and begins messing with it and that's when she finds the title screen without a name just a login and create account setting on the screen. Neptune then says with a gleam in her eyes.
"Wow, this must be Blanc's gaming room of total privacy. I bet this is where she plays her H-games and super dirty MMOs."
Neptune tries to create an account, but it apparently this game requires complex codes just to create an account. She tries to do it, but can't even crack the first code to set up an account name. She thinks for a moment and instantly gets an idea.
"I know, I'll get Nepgear to set me up. She has a fetish for robots after all, so maybe this room will get the engine moving."
Normally, the AI that Blanc programmed would stop Neptune from progressing, but she is busy looking up stuff on the internet to expand her knowledge. Neptune manages to find Nepgear, who tries to reason with her, and Neptune brings into the room which awestruck her instantly. The clean and smooth feel, the next generation PC, and the white texture which gives an endless feeling causes Nepgear to hug the machine and imagine what kind of technology can be produced from the same creators. She'd love to take them apart and examine the workings, but can't because Blanc will kill her. Neptune gets her to sit down and Nepgear instantly starts typing to find anything she can. Honestly, it takes her some time, but she actually manages to find to correct code to get to the creation screen. It surprises her as she says.
"Neptune, this is a game."
Neptune gives a "duh" look and says.
"Okay, so set me an account so I can play."
Nepgear isn't happy that she was tricked but goes along anyway as a scanner opens up. Neptune steps inside to check it out and utters.
"Whoa, this snazzy looking tube."
Nepgear gets to a customization screen and asks.
"Uh, Neptune, it says "choose class", so what do you want to be? There's enchanter, Paladin, Dark Knight, Priest…."
Nepgear is about to read off the other classes and Neptune interrupts her to say.
"Oh, Paladin, totally Paladin for this protag. Besides, Dark knight would only last the first few hours anyway."
Nepgear clicks some more keys and the scanner closes and Neptune is shocked as she begins pounding on the inside of it as she has no idea of what is going to happen. Nepgear is equally shocked as she says in a panick.
"I don't know what happened, but I can definitely get you out, Neptune. Just uh…give me a sec…"
Nepgear begins pressing keys in a panic but she accidently gives the code for the scanning process as Neptune is being scanned by a blue ring that starts at her feet and begins ascending to her head as an avatar begins appearing on the computer and Neptune clicks one last key and Neptune is virtualized. The scanner opens and is empty. Nepgear runs up to it in fear and begins panicking further as she calls for her sister.
"Neptune! Neptune! Where are you!?"
Virtual World
Neptune begins to gain her vision after the process and the first thing that happens is that she falls and bounces off the soft landing area and bumps her head and something hard bounces off her head and she rubs her head while saying.
"Ow, I've fallen a few times, but this sucked the most."
Neptune stands up and looks around to see the town area and thinks that this is like an old RPG. She then looks at her hands and notices that she isn't wearing her hoodie as she now her hair-clips are now in the shape of a shield. She wears a white and blue vest mixed with a dress and a breastplate. On her arms, wears white gauntlets and contrasting black finger-less gloves. Her footwear consists of white greaves decorated with a wing accessory on her knees that extend to her thighs. Her hairpins, and armor in general is decorated with crosses with a diamond gem that is blue or yellow in the middle. She looks to the ground and sees what bumped her head, a huge broadsword that has a basic silver single-edged blade. She picks it up and says to herself with awe.
"Wow, now that's some snazzy gear."
She can hear Nepgear screaming for her and she shouts.
"Hey, Junior, I'm here!"
After some seconds, Nepgear can be heard saying.
"Neptune!? Where are you?"
Neptune calls out to Nepgear again and then Nepgear finally comes back to the computer on the outside and sees Neptune's icon on the screen wearing her new outfit. It also has very low stats on it being level 1 but Neptune isn't dejected by this because she instantly realizes that she's inside of a game now. She knows video games like the back of her hand, or probably more so, as she runs with her sword slung over her back to find a warp gate to start exploring while gaining control of the games mechanics.
Basilicom
Nepgear, on the other hand, is stricken with impress, envy, and wonder while she examines what is happening here. She understands that Blanc, without knowing Vert's involvement, has created a new revolution in gaming technology and Neptune has failed to realize what is going on. So she decides to explore some more into this world from the consol. While this happens, Rom and Ram enter the room as well and are both shocked and surprised by Nepgear sitting in the chair. They aren't noticed yet so they back out immediately with Rom saying in a nervous tone.
"Ram, if Blanc comes back and sees Nepgear in here, she'll yell at us again because we let her go in."
Ram looks inside the room and agrees, but adds.
"I know, but it looks like Nepgear has got it working for her. We should take a chance and play the game with her."
Rom is at odds with her twin sister and states.
"No, I'm telling Blanc the truth and won't do it."
Ram tries reminding her that this is a good chance to test the game, but Rom is adamant about it since she remembers what happened last time they even brought it up. For once, Ram doesn't go with her sister and walks into the room. Rom would try to stop her but she is unable to because entering the room again would further betray Blanc's trust. Ram steps up to Nepgear and tells her.
"Hey, Nepgear, I want you to send me into the game."
Nepgear didn't notice Ram and is a little guilty because she and Neptune entered this room without real permission but she doesn't know about Blanc's privacy of this room and thinks that Ram has been in there before. So she agrees to do and Ram types in some login information. This is possible because Rom and Ram both created accounts and classes for themselves without Blanc knowing, but they couldn't put in the code for virtualization. Because of this, Nepgear fully buys her permission to go into the game so Ram is virtualized. Rom watches from afar and thinks.
"Oh, Ram, what have you done?"
Virtual World
Ram is brought the world herself and has better luck than Neptune as she lands firmly on the landing pad on her knees. Her class is ninja as she inspects her new attire quickly as her muffin hat has been replaced with a ribbon. Her ribbon is red and ties her hair in a ponytail. Ram wears a silky purple neck scarf that transitions to red at the edges held with a five petal yellow flower pin. She wears a sleeveless red kimono held with a brown obi and string. Underneath which are bandages. She wears shorts that have diamond holes in them. On her arms are red and dark brown finger-less gloves. Near her right glove is a frog accessory. Her kimino and ribbon is decorated with yellow shurikens patterns and has dark brown outlines at the edges. Her footwear is a mix of flips and boots in matching the rest of her outfit. On her right leg are bandages which seems to serve as a sock. Her weapon, which is strapped to her forearm, is a giant shuriken. She wastes no time and tries to catch up with Neptune, who has gone to the meadow region because of it being a level 1 are and a basic area for new players.
Virtual World- Meadow
Neptune has gotten the hang of combat, items, and skills as she tears through every enemy she encounters with ease and has already risen to level 4 as she slashes through a goblin enemy only to be satisfied to see a small group of worm-like enemies as she dashes at them and performs a skill where she spins and slashes the enemies in a circular formation and kills them all in one hit each while proudly stating.
"Wow, I can't believe it. I am the Goddess!"
Neptune takes a breath and sits down. She's been having so much fun that she hasn't realized that she has been running and swinging so much that she is out of breath. While sitting down, Neptune lays on her back and looks at the virtual sky to admire the design thinking that this is the coolest game she's ever played. While she is admiring this game, another goblin leaps from the field to attack Neptune and she smiles upon seeing it with the intent to destroy him like the others, but a flying object with a red aura soars in the air and slices through the virtual monster causing it to explode into data. Neptune sits up as the soaring object is revealed to be Ram's shuriken as it flies back into her hand and a light surrounds her with "Level Up" sign above her head fades.
Neptune stands up and walks over to Ram and greets her.
"Heya, Ram, decided to join in the fun I see. Did Rom come in too?"
Ram scratches her nose and answers in a slightly smug way.
"Nah, she was too chicken to play the game. She's really missing out."
Neptune agrees with that because this game is extremely fun and very detailed. So they decided to play together and complete the area since this one is actually complete for the beta. They don't officially form a party so their EXP won't be shared. Regardless, they progress further on and charge into the region further.
Basilicom
Blanc has returned after some time since she dealt with the issue that town was facing but isn't happy about it.
"Stupid plumbers couldn't be satisfied with an honest job, oh no. Too safe, reach for the stars, well that isn't stardust on your hands buds, it's crap and a lot of it."
Blanc calls for her sisters and announcing her return. Rom immediately runs towards her older sister and hugs her home. She asks about the issue, but Blanc shrugs it off and saying.
"I took care of it, so it's no worry."
She looks around and wonders where Ram is and Rom takes a deep breath and thinks.
"Ram….please don't hate me."
Virtual World- Meadow Region
Neptune and Ram are clearing the region and have entered a dungeon-like area at the end as it serves as the last part of section. They are pumped full of energy while fighting the last boss of the area, a giant green dragon with fire breath. Ram throws her shuriken and cuts the dragon's mouth before it can breathe fire at her. Neptune dashes up and slashes it a few times. They are both smacked by its tail while it turns and they are both slammed into a wall which sends Ram into critical health because of her lower level. Neptune encourages her by saying.
"Come on, Ram, this thing is about to eat it."
Ram nods, stands up, and prepares for another assault with Neptune, who jumps into the air with a skill and ready to impale the dragon while her sword glows, but Ram throws her Shuriken again and it is wrapped in an icy blue aura as it cuts through the dragon killing it and Neptune is bummed out because her dramatic finish is cut away from her, but her skill goes through as her sword is plunged into the ground below, embedded in the stone. Neptune sighs and says.
"Thanks for spoiling my moment, Ram."
Ram sticks out her tongue to mock Neptune who gets a little mad, but in a non petty way. Neptune attempts to pull her sword out of the ground, but it is stuck in there good. She pulls harder but the ground begins to crack under her feet. Ram walks up to help her get the sword out and two make it easier, but the ground still cracks under their feet.
Basilicom
Blanc is muttering to herself as walks into the room to see Nepgear fiddling on the keyboard. Blanc is about to blow a gasket as she shouts.
"Nepgear, get your ass out of my chair!"
Nepgear practically leaps out of the chair with a loud.
"EEEEEPPPPPPPPP!"
Nepgear nervously turns around and she swears that she staring into the face of the devil. Blanc sits in the chair and begins typing immediately. She finds Neptune and Ram in the game and tries to devirtualize the two of them and yell but the command isn't working. She tries it a couple of more times, but it doesn't work still. Frustrated, Blanc looks at Nepgear and demands to know.
"What did you do, Nepgear!?"
Nepgear can't answer because she doesn't know why, but apparently the admin controls aren't working at the moment. Blanc then sees something that scares her, she sees the ground weakening in the area where Neptune and Ram are. In a panic, she sets up a virtualization for herself as she is in a rush. Nepgear is recovering from the shock because Blanc was in a panic and she wants to know why.
Virtual World- Meadow Region
Neptune and Ram are still trying to pull out the sword and are ignorant to the further cracking of the ground. Neptune stops herself and Ram and suggests.
"Okay, okay, we'll up pull on three pudding cups."
Ram nods and Neptune counts to three pudding cups and they both pull with all their might and finally pull out the sword. Unfortunately, this causes the floor to begin falling apart from the cracks as Neptune falls backwards and Ram backs away to avoid falling but her feet aren't quick enough as she begins falling but catches onto a ledge and hangs on. Neptune is lucky enough to be on solid ground but there is now a chasm between Ram and herself. Neptune looks below to see a massive blue ocean-like mass below that is flickering with numbers and letters. The stone tile pieces fall into it and are disappearing below. Even she knows that this is bad news and she tries to help Ram by going HDD, but can't. She is surprised by this and calls out to her sister.
"Hey, uh, Junior…can you give us a little hand, star or cloud maybe?"
Neptune nervously giggles and Ram can't hold on for much longer. She is genuinely afraid and begins crying a little and calls for her sister.
"Blanc, I'm so sorry I played your game! Help me!"
Ram's grip loosens as she is about to fall into ocean below, but at last second, she is caught by a familiar hand. Blanc has reached her in time and is holding on as best as she can. Ram would be happy to see her, but Blanc's gaze says that she is far from happy.
A few minutes later, Ram is whining a little and rubbing her bottom and squeals.
"You didn't have to spank me you big meanie!"
Blanc retorts with a frustrated look.
"Clearly I did or else you probably wouldn't have disobeyed the ONE thing I told you not to do."
Neptune stays out of it because she can tell that Blanc has some choice words for her. Ram, still upset, complains some more by asking.
"Why can't I play your game!? I just wanted to play a little!"
Blanc takes a deep breath and yells.
"Because of stuff like this! If you fell in that ocean below, I would have lost you forever!"
Blanc calms down, scared even, and continues saying.
"And if that happened…I could never live with myself."
Ram calms down and asks with a much more calm tone.
"What do you mean?"
Blanc looks at Neptune which is a signal that she should listen as well. Blanc sits Ram down and explains to her.
"One thing me and Vert have been testing is the durability of the game's platforms. We couldn't just build it on a singular consol memory; we had to build as a platform over the internet. That ocean below, is the internet. We tested out what would happen if something fell in by throwing real fruit in it. We threw an apple into it and we couldn't get it back no matter how hard we tried. Whatever falls in there is…I don't know what, but we can't get it back. I didn't want you and Rom playing yet because of how dangerous it can be. What you and Neptune did caused part of the game to fall apart, so now I have to rebuild and reinforce it."
After this talk, Blanc instantly depletes Ram's remaining HP with a simple staff tap and devirtualizes her. Blanc takes a breath and sets her gaze on Neptune. She creates a makeshift bridge with an ice spell and walks up to her with a red aura around her and simply tells her with clear rage.
"When we get out of the game, I want you out of my Basilicom, and out of Lowee! You hear me, Neptune! I want you gone!"
Neptune can sense hostilities but tries to defend herself by saying.
"Come on, the door was open, and I didn't think anything bad could happen."
Blanc then makes a clear statement.
"Let me tell this right now. If I lost Ram because of your idiocy, I would have declared an all-out war with Planeptune, you understand that, Neptune!?"
Blanc then runs Neptune through with her staff and devirtualizes her as well. Neptune makes good on Blanc's threats and leaves by running the hell out of the Basilicom with Nepgear. Blanc takes a deep breath and then it occurs to her that the AI should have done something about this since she monitors the game, so she opens up her screen and calls for her. The AI responds quickly and asks.
"You called, Lady White Heart?"
Blanc asks about why she didn't do anything about Ram and Neptune, but the AI explains.
"Oh, I was expanding my information network. I connected to the internet and have spent all day learning the history and achievements of our planet."
Blanc is curious about why, and simply says.
"Look, you just need to monitor the game. You don't need to know the history of the world to do that."
The AI has a disappointed feel as she asks.
"But why? Am I not meant to have learning capacity?"
Blanc shakes her head and explains what happened to Ram and the AI swiftly apologizes and says.
"Let me correct this issue."
She opens up a red menu screen and swiftly types code at a quick speed and the area is regenerated like nothing happened and the AI even says.
"I've even reinforced the structure to make it durable."
Blanc is surprised and asks.
"How did you do that so fast?"
The AI explains.
"In my research, I learn how to write code and program."
Blanc is impressed by this and wonders about letting her creation learn more so she says.
"Okay, if it benefits me, I'll allow you to learn more. Don't get crazy though."
Ai the nods her head and is happy about this as Blanc returns home because she plans to spend the rest of the day scolding Ram. She is a little upset at Rom, but forgives her quickly for telling her the truth. However, the AI seems to be growing in intelligence too fast and Blanc doesn't notice. In the game, while nobody else is around, the AI looks at the ocean of the internet and starts thinking some more.