Hyperdimension Neptunia VI: Viral Insurrection

by Kurogami Ryujin

Viral monsters are on the rise as hordes wreak havoc across Gamindustri. The CPUs and Candidates once again work together to control this menace with the help of the Characters - powerful beings from various other worlds created by people's dreams and ideals. But is it really just another problem in an everyday Gamindustri or is it a crisis two dimensions must come together for...

3. To Find a Cure

[Dead Island, Lastation, Hyperdimension, 20XX – Day after Ultradimension CPU Summit]

It is the peak of the noon sun. Nothing but a few feathers of cirrus clouds streak the open, blue skies as sunshine basks the landscape in a bright palette. Calm waves and gentle sea breeze brush gently about the white sand beaches of a remote island just between the border of Lastation and Leanbox, the rhythmic sounds giving the serene locale its tropical ambience. Coconut trees rock as their large leaves rustle amid the hot, humid atmosphere. Crabs walk sideways, back and forth, before the coming and receding waters. Seagulls caw high above the glistening sea.

Over the horizon, however, are the careening thrusters of a squadron not necessarily out on vacation and beach fanservice.

Meters above the waters is the black squadron of heavily armed, flying robots marked by the 'LS' insignia of the mighty Lastation Armored Core Battalion. Numbering at eleven, these robots steadily fly in a V-formation as they approach the island. All arms mounted onto their arms, shoulders, and other subtle parts giving off a menacing glint under the hot sunlight, each one ready to engage in case of a surprise attack. The occasional mechanical whirring from mounted turrets scanning their respective owner's vicinity is the only indication that these flying bipeds are wary of their surroundings.

Just beneath the flying weapons of mass destruction are the typical amphibious transport vessels numbering at around twenty. They, despite their black coloring, are aligned to the militaristic Leanbox as shown by the traces of green around their armor and the 'X' insignia shaped by crossed spears at their fore. Each one would be big enough to fit one of the Armored Cores flying just above them which also happens to be muting the rapid whirling sounds of their twin turbines pushing them forward.

Inside these transport vessels are some of the finest soldiers of Leanbox. Heavily armed (and mostly physically built) soldiers known for their extremely bulky weapons armed with chainsaws as bayonets, they were currently briefing in on the mission given to them, albeit as a refresher on what they are to do.

"Our mission for today is a simple cleanup of viral monster supposedly gathered in this island," a man with a bonnet says, his hand gesturing to the monitor that is docked onto the wall separating the vessel's cockpit from the loading compartment before them as he sat on one side, "these monsters have been wreaking havoc on civilian and commercial vessels traveling nearby."

The man speaking, as what his dog tag says, goes by the name of Marcus Fenix. Delta Team Sergeant and legendary hero known for his exploits against invaders and their civil war. Now with the viral hordes wreaking havoc, he and his fellow comrades unwittingly find themselves enlisted to serve directly under the banner of Leanbox. Though not what he initially intended, albeit shunning the idea at first, at the very least, he knows that they would truly be fighting for something worth their principles: peace for Gamindustri.

It all feels familiar wearing the bulky COG armor and his other side arms, though it sure is a completely new (and convenient) feeling of having to be able to stow away all his arms into a virtual inventory like those video games he and his friends managed to play on their offs. And yet, it all feels alien at the same time. Just doing this briefing in front of his (once again) comrades-in-arms is giving him the tug of irony that seems unbelievable. But knowing he would be going to the front lines once more, he sets it aside. Right now, he has a mission to do; duty to call.

"You hear those flying robots above us?" Marcus thumbs up, referring to the Armored Cores, "we'll be teaming up with Lastation personnel as a coalition. They'll be lending a hand with their ACs while we conduct the mission."

"You mean those Lastation pipsqueaks are out to brag their shiny toys," a blonde man says, "wait till we show 'em OUR Armored Cores," the man boastfully references Leanbox's recent acquisition of the rights at manufacturing ACs from one of two corporations in control of Armored Core production.

"Baird, we're here to cooperate; not to humiliate," Marcus responds with a stern look telling the blonde man to keep his opinions to himself. The latter responds with a smug tongue click as he crosses his arms.

"He's right," a blonde woman then follows, "we're fighting against INTELLIGENT monsters that are practically on STEROIDS. Don't do or SAY anything stupid that might get us in bad air. The last thing we want to happen is to let our enemies have better chemistry," and she eyes her fellow blonde with rather piercing eyes to add emphasis.

"Whoo. Yey. Friendship. So, are we gonna run towards the sunset with 'em? Sure, whatever," Baird replies with an indifferent expression, patting his laps with his hands. The black man next to him then whistles at the scolding the blonde went through.

The blonde woman then smiles to Marcus to which the latter is grateful for the help and takes it as the go ahead to resume the briefing.

After a few minutes give or take, the first amphibious vessels touch down on the white beaches, the floats of the transports shoving some sand in the process. At the same time, the Armored Cores touch down around the landing site, immediately moving into perimeter defense the moment their robot soles land on the earth. Switching from their thrusters to their mechanical legs so as to save energy, the Armored Cores systematically scan the area for any hostiles while the Gears unload from their transports, their hulking presence easily towering the coconut trees littered around them. From their height alone, the pilots could easily see high above the forest's tree tops that they eventually will have to tread.

With the first detachment of Gears deployed, Marcus looks around, taking in the salty air to loosen up on his first sortie in a long, long while, and readies to give the command for his detachment to move out until a soldier calls out to him.

"Sergeant Fenix!" The man clad in black and yellow gear shouts, running towards the large man with an equally large Lancer Rifle – the aforementioned weapon with a chainsaw for a bayonet.

Marcus looks to the soldier and notices the 'LS' insignia on his chest plate. He shoulders his bulky weapon and salutes the smaller soldier before him, "you must be from the advance team sent to scout the area," he then lowers his saluting arm.

"Yessir!" The soldier replies loudly, "we've already setup a forward base for the cleanup," he gestures with a thumb over to his back which points to a narrow path that would fit an APC, "if you would follow me, sir!"

What caught Marcus's attention, though, was this soldier's rather loud and impatient mannerisms. He could certainly feel how stiff and rough he was when he pointed the direction. Probably something about his larger size that tensed him up? Shoving it aside, he looks to the rest of the coalition behind him and motions for the ones ready to move out and the rest to follow. Soon after, four of the eleven Armored Cores advance into the forest with loud metal crashing through the shrubs and trunks.

---

[Lastation Dead Island Outpost, Lastation, Hyperdimension, 20XX]

Some good minutes of tumbling trees and broken rocks of trekking later and Marcus gets a good look at the modestly erected camp. There in the camp is a deployed mobile outpost with its revolving satellite dish, likely where central command is located. Around it are the barracks that are already populated by resting soldiers judging from the people either smoking or chatting about. Why their cigars puffed out yellow smoke is something he decides to shrug off. Adjacent to the residential side is presumably the armory with all the crates carried in and out by power-suit wearing personnel. APCs and mobile artilleries are also parked in one area of the camp just beside the armory. Even then, there was still a large space behind the parking lot, most likely for the Armored Cores that came with them. Finally, unmanned watchtowers stand tall around the camp. Without even having to squint, the sergeant recognizes them to be equipped with laser-guided railguns. All-purpose variant from what the base of the turret being a ball joint.

"From CPU to its people, Lastation is really a nation for OCDs," he nods at the thought, briefly commenting on the rather orderly deployed camp. Marcus proceeds into the camp, passing by the fences surrounding its perimeter.

"Hell, if it were Leanbox, we'd have made a fucking fortress," a black man following Marcus says, "MCVs for the win! YIEEH!"

"Pipe. Down. Cole," Marcus replies with a stern tone matching his deadpan stare at his companion.

Cole just simply shrugs his shoulders feigning innocence before proceeding further into the camp.

Moments later, the rest of the coalition arrives. With the troops assembled, Marcus calls out to all of the assigned leaders of each detachment of Gears as well as the Armored Core Battalion captain. Inside the outpost, they are saluted by two commanding Lastation officers before gesturing them to a table with the 3D virtual map of the whole island. Particularly Baird, the Gears had to keep themselves from groaning with how the officers' countenance, notably the well decorated and well combed male lieutenant, badly reminds them of some 'people in power' they knew that is now collapsed. Even the AC Captain cringes subtly at the sight. Somehow, everyone that went in was in the same wavelength in regards to people in the 'higher-ups'.

"The jet-black chick beside him ain't half bad, though," the Armored Core Captain thought as he subtly eyes the corporal from top to crotch… Since that's the point the table lets him see. It's a good excuse, though, "nice hips and rack, too," he thought as he nonchalantly wipes his face with his hand down to his goatee as he darts his gaze around to avoid suspicion of sexual observance.

Regardless, they keep it to themselves and allow the people before them to start.

"As of now, the viral monsters are holed up inside a subterranean tunnel network that is connected to the sea around us," the Lastationese lieutenant says pointing to the island's center that is now temporarily revealing a vast underground tunnel network, "according to our geological scanners, this part here is a cave big enough to house a large group of fully grown Megadragons while the cave systems are wide enough to handle the likes of Blue Whales."

"And they're all viral," Marcus comments while he studies the map. He gets a quick 'affirmative' from the lieutenant to which he sighs deeply, "this is gonna be a load of shit."

"But this makes things easier," the corporal beside the lieutenant says as she swipes the map to switch into a 3D view of some kind of cylindrical device which the rest of the Gears, the Armored Core pilot included, identifies as a bomb, "this here is a bomb developed specifically made to cause caves to implode. Its huge but our Armored Cores should be able to saddle this onto their backs, carry it through the tunnels which happen to be large enough for the ACs to fly in, and set it up for detonation."

"Alright, so we'll be mopping the floor while escorting the payload," a blonde woman says.

"Lieutenant Stroud, I presume," the blonde nods to the Lastationese lieutenant, "don't worry, we'll have our ACs accompany you in there."

"Sweet," Baird perks up, "at least there won't be shit this time and we get to see some bots in action. Hey," he calls out to the AC Captain, "if ever one of your ACs gets totaled, mind if I keep the parts? Oh, but you can keep the idiot inside."

His comment then pulls awkward looks towards him, though his blonde lieutenant is quite disturbed and irritated instead.

Marcus gives a loud cough which directs all attention to him, thankfully, "anyway, when'll we move out?" He asks the lieutenant.

"Whenever your forces are ready," the lieutenant replies.

Marcus then cracks his knuckles as he starts moving outside, "then that means now."

"But before you head out," the lieutenant calls out which prompts the Gears and the AC Captain to halt. The lieutenant then waves his hand over the 3D visual to display a helmet that Marcus recognizes as the same one the soldier he met earlier had, "we'd like for you to wear this helmet designed to filter out the virus. As for the ACs, our engineers will be adding virus filters onto the cockpits though we'd still advise for your squadron to wear one. Just in case."

"And why the fu-," Baird tries to mouth off but, thankfully, Anya manages to shove his mouth aside with a glare to his face.

"We appreciate it, lieutenant, but I think our own headgear should be able to do the job," Marcus speaks up.

"Unfortunately, the virus is shown to have the capability to bypass standard filtering devices," the corporal chimes in, "surely, you've been informed about the Ultradimension Planeptune CPU getting afflicted by the virus."

Just then, Marcus recalls about the report that was given to them when they were asked to return to their duties as Gears. That and a very worried and serious Vert asking them if they could lend, not only Leanbox, but all of Gamindustri a hand.

"Thankfully, the research team in Planeptune have been given a viral specimen from the Ultradimension that let us develop a filtering system that should provide protection under heavy concentrations of the virus," the corporal adds.

"I see," Anya gives it a thought and nods to the Lastationese corporal before they depart to which the two sides give their salutes. As Anya pulls the door behind her to the point that only a small centimeters of gap was left, however, she momentarily spots the lieutenant and corporal letting off a heavy breath they seem to have been holding, even slouching onto the table and wiping their foreheads, "Baird's comment did a number on them, I assume," she pinches her nose's bridge at the thought as she closes the door, quietly.

After they've walked some distance from the outpost and the AC Captain has run off to his squadron, Baird lets out the pent up displeasure he's been holding.

"Why the fuck are we even agreeing to wearing their smelly excuse for dildos?" Baird fumes, "I could make a better variation with a better paint job. Give me a fresh sample of the virus and I'll even serve the damn thing on a silver platter!"

"Shut it, Baird," Marcus sternly replies, "Lastation and Planeptune are the ones conducting R n' D on the virus's vaccine or whatever. They have a job they need to do and so do we."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Baird waves dismissively, "downing some infected crap. Shit. I guess it's a good thing the virus only gets you in high, pure concentrations or else we'd all be fucking Slade rip-offs."

Just behind them, Cole, who just met back up with them, tugs at Anya while keeping a curious stare at Baird, "what's his problem?" The latter only moves along leaving behind Cole hanging.

---

[Subterranean Tunnel Entrance, Lastation, Hyperdimension, 20XX]

"Oh, this is the problem," Cole knocks the black and yellow helmet that was plopped onto his head a moment ago, albeit begrudgingly from his side, "yo, I'm not even likin' this here's color scheme. Fuckin' thing's just askin' a nigga to give this shit a rap."

Marcus simply continues towards the entrance before them. Though uncomfortable, the helmet is still functional. The yellow HUD scheme manages to contrast well with the tunnel's presumably dark interior. Looking back to his crew through the lenses of the helmet, the Gears are all ready to go in with their Lancers, Gnasher Shotguns, and a few armed with Longshots.

But the Armored Cores with them aren't and Baird looks like he's about to tinker the nearest AC with how he's revving the chainsaw on his Lancer while keeping a steady gaze on one of them.

From the HUD's time, it's been a good ten minutes and the AC carrying the bomb is still not here. Marcus himself is getting impatient as well. Surely, Lastationese people are better than this.

"Anya, can you contact the outpost and ask them what's taking so long?" Marcus moves over to Anya, "any longer and we'll be rusting underneath these helmets," he then gestures to Baird, "and I don't like how Baird's just mentally molesting those ACs."

"I've been trying," Anya replies with an N-Gear on her hands, "there's been no reply."

"This is bullshit," Marcus thought, "Anya, take over while I'm gone."

Deciding that nothing's going to happen if they wait any longer, Marcus briskly walks towards the outpost after leaving Anya to handle the Gears. Just then, one of the ACs lean over to him.

"Sergeant, any luck on your end?" The AC Captain asks from within his mech.

"I'm about to by the time I give them a piece of my mind!" Marcus shouts as he continues forward…

… until his helmet tightens around his neck.

Suddenly and simultaneously, the helmets the Gears are wearing and the ACs' cockpits burst out a yellow gas inside. All at once, the Gears and the AC pilots flail around in an attempt to either remove their helmets or eject from their cockpits but to no avail. The more they are exposed to the mysterious yellow gas, the more their consciousness slips away.

"The fuck is this?!" Marcus staggers around blind as the gas quickly fills his helmet.

"MARCUS!" Came in Anya's panicked voice amid the others in the background.

"Anya!" Marcus frantically searches for her. After a few swings of his arm and paces from his fumbling steps, he grabs something that is likely the trunk of a tree and, out of instinct, begins to violently slam his head onto it in hopes of bashing the helmet loose. All the while, his fingers are struggling to get a good grip on the helmet's jaw area, his nails are practically scratching his neck by this time. Unfortunately, the helmet's lock is designed to cause the fingers to slip past the base.

Just as he struggles, loud crashes rocked the area, indicating that the Armored Core pilots have succumbed. One of the crashes happens to be close by, thereby forcing him to lose his footing after stepping on a boulder until he, too, tumbles down hard.

"Those… dicks… This thing's not a… special…" Somewhere close to him, Marcus could hear Baird's faltering voice. As much as he wants to reach for his comrades, the yellow gas dominating his helmet is not only blocking his vision but also numbing his mind.

"What? Wha waz I? Guys?" Marcus tries speaking as his thinking becomes rocky and unstable, "crap, what's going on? My head's spinning like crazy…"

Just then, he hears pebbles getting crushed and grass rustling. Those were footsteps.

Marcus, with all his remaining strength, pushes himself to face the direction of the sounds. The gas in his helmet has somewhat settled though his mind is almost as good as vegetable now. Even then, he still has it in him to actually realize what these bastards looking down on him did to him.

Standing just above him is the lieutenant from earlier. His corporal is just behind him, ordering a squad of Lastation soldiers into extracting the fallen Gears and AC pilots. They were yelling things like, "first haul of the bunch and it's a fucking jackpot," and, "those SPARTANS and CPUs are gonna LOVE getting raped by these babies," and those don't sound so reassuring. The lieutenant stares down at the pathetic, helpless grunt beneath him with a shit-eating, smug grin that is mere inches of reaching his ears.

"You," Marcus speaks, albeit with all his remaining mental vitality, "you fucking… turncoat… What are you…?"

Upon hearing the word 'turncoat', the lieutenant, clearly disgusted by the soldier's statement, stomps his foot onto the soldier's chest, causing Marcus to let out a struggling groan. With the taste of bitterness that has gathered in his mouth, the lieutenant shouts…

"Tell that to those ANIMALS ordering YOU around!"

---

[Lastation Basilicom, Lastation, Hyperdimension, 20XX – Following Day]

Exhausted. Ragged. Miserable.

If she ever felt like dying of exhaustion and letting her superior façade fall, it would be in the past four days where she's been on crisis management with the viral hordes appearing all over Lastation. Finally reaching her room, Noire slams the door shut like nobody's care, grunting even as she swung it like so. She drags her tired self along towards the bathroom, throwing the documents regarding the missing Armored Cores, the reports on the virus research, leads on how the virus reached the Hyperdimension, and some other reports that Kei shoved onto her onto her bed that she passed by.

"I need those done," her throbbing head thought as she begins stripping her fancy, navy-blue buttoned bustier-dress and navy-blue, thigh-high boots, "but I need a really, really cold shower right now."

After wiping her forehead which is laced with strands of hair sticking from the sweat, she opts to wash herself whilst thinking about what she just read from those papers. Taking off her strapless, red camisole, she almost felt disgusted by the damp cloth that is saturated with her own sweat from all the flying and working in her HDD. Even her human form's getting the strain normally taken by her HDD form. Moving on, she undoes her twintails, letting her black hair fall behind her struggling-to-be-upright back. Finally, she bares her sweaty, slender body after loosening her white skirt and removing her black socks before stepping into the bathroom, leaving her sweaty clothes behind lying scattered on the floor in her room.

Every step she makes on the cold, navy-blue tiles of her well-organized bathroom eases up the throbbing of her feet's veins. All that's left is for her body to take a well-deserved cooldown before plunging herself back to whatever business she needs to deal with. Passing by the navy-blue marble sink, the tired workaholic perfectionist enters the confines of her spacious shower area.

Noire faces the shower. She sets the temperature to the blue area. After holding her breath, she turns the shiny, metal knob and…

"Ahhhh~~~~~" With one, refreshing sigh, all the stress her body has been putting up goes to steam, literally.

"Wow. My body's this hot, huh?" Noire comments as she looks around the now steam covered shower room, her voice echoing into the usual bathroom voice. Though, she would probably hear Neptune teasing her with that comment.

Dismissing the surprising steam cloud around her (and her unintentional, narcissistic pun), she relaxes her hot, tense body, letting the cold droplets trickle down her smooth, silky, white skin. She strokes her hands over her scalp, closes her eyes, and faces the shower, hoping for more of that cool, sweet, water of youth to flow over her head, down her long hair, around her perfect body, her everything. This is the kind of pounding she would die for – the kind that just washes away all your problems and stress. It even clears her mind, thankfully, as what she's experiencing now and what she's actually heard some time before.

Which brings her back to business now that she's relaxed and cleared.

"Rescue missions have all but failed," Noire's thought flicks back on like a switch on a restarting computer and begins processing all that she's known.

After a full day of no response, rescue teams were sent to ascertain the situation of the advance team and coalition forces that were sent to deal with the viral monsters in the sea between Leanbox and Lastation. Unfortunately, they, too, were lost. It's either a very large horde of monsters is just lying beneath the water surface or signal in that area is very bad. Satellites have shown the coalition force to have entered a cave in the island they've set camp. From there, none of them ever left the cave. The camp showed no signs of activity, either. If they were to find clues on what happened to them, they would need even at least a recording of their intercom.

"But we can't even get any those," Noire sighs before setting that matter aside. Hopefully, Vert would find luck on her end. As she squirts shampoo onto her hand, the CPU then moves onto her next issue as she applies that minty, viscous fluid onto her raven hair, turning the knob so as to pause the shower of youth she so gratefully came to love just now.

Two days ago, the Ultradimension sent a specimen of a viral monster never seen before. Scientists both Planeptunian and Lastationese working over in Planeptune have all confirmed that the virus in that creature is the 'base virus.' From how giddy Histoire was when she contacted her for updates, it would seem like they were finally on the verge of a breakthrough. It's been two days and she's been given the results.

"And I got my hopes up, too," once again, she sighs her expectations away.

After seeing the words 'unfortunately' in the document she read a while ago, all her hopes of finally seeing all this mess come to an end quickly drained like how her smile turned to a frown in a heartbeat. With the information she's read, the virus would be best described as, "rapidly evolving, single-celled virus that freely assimilates any foreign agent into itself and still function as if nothing happened that can also rapidly multiply base on what mutation it has gone." Setting aside the technicalities because she is trying to relax underneath a cold shower, the virus in that monster is too complex and simple, at the same time, for them to create even an effective vaccine for it, let alone a reverse engineered version that Plutia apparently thought up.

"I guess Plutia isn't half bad when she needs to," and Noire rinses her hair under the shower before going for the soap and turning the knob again. Supposedly, the soap is a newly created 'anti-virus' soap that can shield you off from the virus.

"At least the capitalists are getting a kick out of it," she scoffs at the idea a little before cleansing herself with the so-called 'anti-virus.'

As she rubs and massages herself with the soap, however, her thoughts stumble upon the situation all over Gamindustri now that she recalls the ads about the soap she's using.

Null All Ailments is now in effect across Gamindustri – a special protective program that nullifies ailments through the National Sharicites in each nation emitting a protective wave around a massive radius covering each nation. Each nation has to suffer a constant drop in Shares because of that, however, but the protection makes it worth it. Anti-Virus Patches are also on demand, not to mention Tuffmil and the other ailment recovery items. Despite being expensive, almost everyone's out to grab as many of those as they can.

And yet, viral monsters are still a problem along with some actually getting afflicted by Virus status DESPITE the Null All Ailments and anti-virus ornaments and consumables.

"Then again, if Plutia was afflicted with Virus, what does that make of the protective barrier that was developed around her immunity?" As refreshing as her bath is, Noire can't help but sink with how depressingly difficult their situation is. Not even the aroma of her soap all over her soft body can sooth her out of all the problems.

Once again, Noire sighs dejected.

"No use mulling it over," looking around, the steam finally let up while she was soaping herself. Her body temperature is even down to normal thanks to the cold shower, "but, really, why can't life be easy?"

Pitiful as it is, she hasn't the luxury to be picky with all the viral monsters ruining her nation and Gamindustri. Hopefully, someone would just conveniently say 'eureka' and successfully create a magic cleanser or something that nullifies the virus. If that's too much, at least a way to make a mountain-sized Sharicite that could emit the Null All Ailments to cover all of Gamindustri.

"Yeah, as if," Noire then turns the knob to welcome the cold shower that would rinse her body clean.

And on the moment the cold water showers her face, Noire's face lights up as her mind just spark with a realization, so simple, she couldn't believe she did not consider it in those four days. No. Not only her, but everyone else! With water trickling down her face, eyes wide, Noire, in stunned disbelief, utters the one word she thought someone else would conveniently say…

---

[Noire's Office, Lastation Basilicom, Lastation, Hyperdimension, 20XX – 30 minutes later…]

To say that Archimedes's most famous moment happening before her eyes be the most preposterous thing in the entirety of her whole being that would absolutely never happen is putting it lightly if it ever happens. Especially when the one person, nay, the one CPU to do it is the ruler of Lastation would be the understatement that would end the world. Quite definitely, with an incredulous and slightly flustered face from what transpired, Kei Jinguji silently sits with arms crossed before her most well REFINED and most RESPECTED CPU who is still dripping from her face's frame and long raven hair. Never has this Oracle ever sat with the most uncomfortable, awkward sensation in her entire life and she did not expect to feel it while being in her natural sitting position.

"So," quite flustered herself and still breathing heavily after running back to her room to dress herself cursorily, Noire breaks the ever tense ice that she just made, all the while keeping her stern, neutral expression even with her ears and face bloodshot from embarrassment that (hopefully) did not destroy her image. Clearing her throat, Noire continues, "Kei, have there been any records, anywhere or any time in Gamindustri, of something relating to successfully creating an artifact or skill that purifies?"

"No," came the flat, indifferent reply from the Oracle, "her stress levels have gone so bad its actually getting to her head."

Another few seconds of silence filled with nothing but the clock ticking over an ornately decorated shelf and subtle thuds of the droplets coming from Noire's hair dominates the escalating awkwardness between the two.

Noire blinks a few times, her mouth stuck between a rock and Blanc's imaginary chest, unable to speak nor react to Kei's crushing rejection. Here she is, with what she thought as the brightest idea in those four horrible days, shut down by a person she just made uncomfortable for life and after that. She needs to speak again. All her pride to be in tact after this fiasco depended on it. "A simple 'why' should suffice. A simple 'why' should suffice, you raven-haired buffoon," Noire internally berates herself as her flinched entirety refuses to even react to what Kei said.

Noire looks like she was about to commit seppuku with how her demeanor looking broken with each passing minute and Kei thought it unwise to leave her like this. "It's a good thing I was the only one to see all that," Kei then spawns her tablet from her virtual inventory and places it on the table before Noire, whom snaps out from, what Kei assumes to be, her suicidal thoughts. Hopefully, this piece of news would distract her into her workaholic, perfectionist self.

"Are these the ones Blanc mentioned?" Noire asks as she sees the cursive 'L' Lowee insignia from the report's front page, her aura somewhat shifting back into a more professional one.

"Yes," Kei replies, "they managed to collect information of possible items that could prove useful in suppressing the virus. I was reading it," suddenly, Kei pauses and decides to stop there, "it's better if I don't bring it up. Ever."

"Hm. Some of these seem unlikely," Noire skims the pages carefully with her sharp eyes which are used to looking up detailed reports and picking the most important parts. As she scrolls the report with her fingertips, she comes across a rather vague information that piques her interest, "land of the undead. Lordran, huh?"

"Treacherous undead lands that is known for its powerful inhabitants. Though, some have ventured into that place, little have come back alive or successful. It may hold some artifacts that could benefit us but, other than that, there's nothing else that is certain," Kei adds then realizes the implications, "I'd advise venturing in that place, Noire. You would likely waste your time given how long people go in and out of there on average."

"But it's the only place that has not been completely explored yet," Noire, a thumb and index finger to her chin, replies while keeping a steady, skimming gaze onto the tablet, "the Guild has scoured the lands for all the items and materials they could find and there still isn't one that could suppress the virus," reaching the end of the report, she hands the tablet back to Kei and looks to her with an unfaltering stare, red eyes still and resolved into what she plans to do, "the research team has already confirmed it to be impossible to make a vaccine out of the base virus. Our best and only option right now is to look for one."

Kei couldn't argue with that, as much as it stinks desperation which sadly reminded her of that time they relied on some old sword to vanquish the Deity of Sin.

"I'll call for someone to party with you then," Kei resigns to her CPU's decision and spawns her phone, picking up a certain contact she has from the Far East Branch. She'd usually opt to call Devil May Cry if not for the pile of skirmishes involving high level Boss Monsters she assigned to the half-demon handyman three days ago, "her experience in coordinated combat against creatures armed with a mini-gun crossed great sword would suffice."

While Kei talks to someone briefly over the phone, Noire stands up, motioning to the office's balcony. Her eyes intently gaze upon her proud nation. Looking at the far reaches, she could see the smoke rising from what she assumes to be another viral horde squaring off with the Lastation armed forces. Even the bright afternoon sun can't distract her from her worries. As she seemingly takes in the air, Noire feels up the atmosphere of her land.

It reeks of anxiety, fear.

Right down to the very citizens that usually would be proud and about their business, the uneasiness amongst them is palpable to the Goddess taking in their Shares. Who would not be scared of a virus that cannot be stopped even by trinkets and accessories that used to work on them? Already, the intuitive members of the Lastation populace have begun to doubt the longevity of the supplies of items meant to protect them from the virus. Though the monsters are currently in check thanks to the efforts of their CPUs, Characters, and Guild agents, the question still remains: how long before the virus overwhelms them? The signs are there: people falling ill to the virus who were previously treated, hordes rising in numbers as well as attacks, refugees are beginning to crowd the assigned settlements within the safer confines of the nation. They may have to restrict entry sooner or later in the event the worst happens, something Noire would wish Celestia forbid. But most important of the signs…

"It really is decreasing," came the dejected sigh of the CPU, "why does getting infected by virus have to suppress Shares?"

"It's one of the by-products of getting the host corrupted," Kei pockets her phone and looks to her Goddess who has the look of being unimpressed, "otherwise, getting afflicted by Virus Ailment wouldn't hinder you from HDD."

"I know that. I was just," Noire clicks her tongue out of vexation, "anyway, how's Uni doing? She's sortieing the borders around the Dragon Realms, is she not?"

"She is," Kei then thoughts of the circumstances before picking up her phone once more, "I'll get her back, right away."

"No," Noire immediately replies as she moves towards her desk rather briskly, "it'd be bad for Lastation to be without a CPU at a time like this and," she then opens her desk and takes out her own tablet before moving to where Kei is, "I am plenty confident about my abilities. It's unlike you to worry too much to cloud your better judgment."

Kei feels a little bit of embarrassment from Noire's statement, her eyes twitching in the slightest. Regardless, she thinks about it and pockets her phone before Noire hands her the tablet she picked up from the office desk, "pardon me. It seems my being away for a while and some time with Uni has gotten me all too soft," Kei then opens up the tablet to see a schedule of what to do in the following days in case Noire does not return soon, "I take it that this is for Uni?"

Noire nods and then smiles at the unsuspecting Oracle, "also, I would actually appreciate it if you get along with us a little more casually sometimes. It would help all of us," Noire then gives Kei a gentle pat to the shoulder as she passes by the Oracle towards the balcony, "tell the one you called to meet me at the southern city outskirts."

Kei then pauses, processing the rather warm, friendly remark her Goddess gave her, before nodding with a satisfied grin then picking up her phone once again and contacting the person from earlier to update her rendezvous, "by the way, the person you'll be partying with is…"

---

[Southern Lastation City Outskirts, Lastation, Hyperdimension, 20XX – 30 minutes after Noire departed…]

"Alisa Illinichina Amiella," a silver-haired, rather busty, and scantily clad girl sharply salutes the CPU of Lastation.

Noire had just landed at the outskirts of Lastation City. The area where she rendezvoused with still had the industrial infrastructure the metro had, though to a lesser extent. Fields of grass cover most of the area with many being used as farming lands. Noises of tractors could be heard in the background. Occasional vehicles passing through the paved roads, kicking up rubble as they careen past the countryside.

And yet, Noire has something else she's more interested in.

As the girl wielding an enormous sword by her right arm with a large, red bracer stood at attention, Noire took the time to scan this so-called Sniper Private from the Far East Fenrir Branch. Looking from her checkered beret to her black, fingerless glove that extend to her left elbow to the tip of her thigh-high boots, the CPU carefully assessed her rather revealing outfit.

In fact, Noire was already keeping mental notes on her wear.

Provocative top, consisting of a small, half-zipped, black jacket that is accentuating her ample breasts. Even the gentle breeze is subtly lifting it up, exposing what boob connoisseurs would call her 'under-boob.' This provocative top is paired with an equally provocative checkered skirt which, Noire could swear, was short enough to let almost anyone with Rom or Ram's height to sneak a peek and, again, the breeze was keen on helping others peek. Said skirt's suspenders weren't even neatly worn as one lay hanging by the girl's hip.

"I should use her outfit as a reference some time," Noire thought with a subtle nod.

The girl who announced herself as Alisa took notice of Noire's rather intensive inspection. And, as if realization struck her, the girl elicits a slight 'ah' and lowers her salute to inform her Lady.

"I apologize for my unprofessional attire," she says, "I forgot that the populace here does not take likely of my way of dressing…"

"A-Ah, no, it's not a problem, really!" Noire snaps out of her cosplay-seeking meditation and clears up the misunderstanding, "in fact, I am liking what you are wearing."

"Oh? Is that so?" Alisa then perks up, her ashamed expression turning one of a hopeful glee, "then, after our sortie, would you care to sample some of my references?" Alisa suggests as she begins muttering a few of the aforementioned references, albeit in some language which Noire presumes to be 'Russian'.

"That would certainly be helpful!"

"Helpful?"

"Uh… F-For when I visit your Branch! Yes, that's it."

"Ah, very well. I hope I can suggest you something you'd like, Lady Noire."

"Thanks," Noire sighs in relief, "also, just Noire is fine."

With the introductions through (and a bullet dodged, Noire thought), the pair immediately heads out for the land of the undead. Prior to their departure, Alisa reminds Noire of their supplies. Just as one would expect from the CPU of Lastation, Noire already had all the necessary recovery items in her inventory. Confirming her Lady's readiness, Alisa then shares her inventory so as to inform Noire of what supplies they could use later on. These include pills, an assortment of personally-crafted bullets and bombs for her so-called God Arc, stun grenades, and traps to anticipate for intense fights and dire situations.

"Alright," Noire then takes a deep breath, "access!"

In an instant, time stops to a halt. As she raises her arms past her head, Noire's surroundings then change to that of an elaborate space filled with rising digital characters. Her ornate attire turns into bits of data as they slowly dissipate, leaving its wearer bare and twin-tails undone. A pair of binary circles form above and below her which then scan through her slender body, covering them with light as it continues all the way until they meet at her midsection, leaving Noire a humanoid lump of light. Upon clashing, the circles explode into a sphere of binaries revealing a bleached-haired (that reverts into twin-tails again) individual with blue eyes. The binaries surrounding her begin colliding onto her, forming her seductive, black two-piece bikini, black gloves to cover arms and thigh-high boots to cover her legs. Majority of the binaries then shape into the rest of the Orbital-S Processor pieces, all themed in black, grey, and blue. Finally, as she opens her blue eyes, the Symbol of Power lights up within them, announcing the arrival of Black Heart.

Black Heart approaches the Russian girl who was taken agape by the individual that appeared before her. The CPU chuckles at what she presumes to be an awestruck expression, "swung that way, yet?"

"Huh?" Alisa snaps back to reality, though she now wears a confused look instead.

"Didn't catch that, huh?" Black Heart shrugs, "anyway, let's get going. You got a problem with heights?"

"No, not at all."

Alisa then switches back to her normal demeanor. She then fixes her God Arc to a comfortable position and wrapping her arms around the CPU, prompting Black Heart to lift her up. Black Heart didn't waste any time in blasting off into the skies.

---

[Lastation, Hyperdimension, 20XX – One Hour after Noire's departure…]

"Whew, at least we don't have to deal with Boss Level Monsters…"

Wiping her sweaty forehead, the CPU Candidate of Lastation, Black Sister, flies smoothly above the city skylines of Lastation, donning her rather revealing Generation Processor Set which comprised of nothing but a black two-piece with a provocative bra secured by a large silver ring on her chest. Despite the raunchy attire, as she describes it herself, she's gotten used to it and, in fact, is quite pleased by its offensive specs and heat circulation. She'd be lying if she said she didn't like the other Processor Pieces of the set. Their cyan lining complements its dominant black color.

"But it really wouldn't hurt for that Black Disc to have given me a less revealing Processor Set," Black Sister sighs, recalling the events when they fought and vanquished CFW Brave during the ASIC crisis.

After a few more minutes of smooth sailing, Black Sister finally lands on the Basilicom balcony situated like an elevated platform made for speeches overlooking the open court below. As she touches down, her body illuminates with a bright matrix of numbers pixelating her back into her human form, Uni. Finally, in a more presentable attire – which is a black dress that only reaches down the middle of her thigh like a short skirt would paired with a pair of black shoes, knee high socks, and a pair of black arm warmers – Uni relaxes as she walks in, readying her report recorded onto her handheld LSP VITA (Lastation Portable VITA) as she expects her sister or Kei.

The room is vacant. Nothing but the ticking of the ornate clock on the faraway shelf could be heard.

Leaving the imposing office, Uni heads out to where Kei usually is. Upon exiting the Basilicom's CPU Residence, Basilicom staff greet her as usual, albeit in a stiff rush to get to where they need to be minutes ago. Picking up her pace out of the hectic atmosphere the Basilicom is now having, Uni moves through the bullet-hell like staff moving about, casually avoiding the other staff so as not to trip their documents all over the place. When she finally sees the silver-head tomboy talking to another Basilicom staff member, Uni hastens as she readies her VITA, halts when she was close, and waits for Kei to finish.

"I see," Kei reacts on the report given by the girl before her, "reassign some workforce to the 'project.' We need progress on that more than ever."

"But wouldn't that thin out the other sectors?" She comments.

"It's a priority. As bad as it is, we have to put others over else. Our laborers can't handle everything with all the viral hordes wreaking havoc," Kei then begins typing the adjustments she was referring to onto the file, quickly tapping onto the tablet accurately despite the use of only one hand.

"I see," the girl sighs dejected, "maybe we should advise them to inject themselves with honey…" She murmurs.

The tapping then stops.

The girl checks on her Oracle to find her with an incredulous stare that speaks of no-nonsense. She immediately straightens up from the stare.

"I only heard that joke from the others!" she immediately assured, "for some reason, the others seem to be taking on that joke quite often with how everyone's on edge lately and-!"

Kei gestures for her to stop with a raised hand. When the panicked girl calmed down, Kei hands over the report, "inform HR about the workforce adjustments. Dismissed."

After the girl receives the report back, she salutes her Oracle and briskly walks off to relay the orders.

"Unified Shares Project?" Uni asks gaining the attention of the Oracle, "how's it going?"

"It has slowed down," Kei replies followed by a slight, problematic sigh, "anyway, what news of the borders?"

Uni straightens up, "Dragon Realms are still clear. No viral infections as of yet and we managed to clear out a rather large horde approaching one of the towns but…" Uni trails off; her face shifting to a more defeated look.

Kei already suspected the next words and speaks ahead, "more viral victims, I presume?"

"Body count is approaching two hundred. In just four days, no less," Uni replies.

Kei looks at her clock and starts walking to her office after receiving Uni's report stored in her VITA. As they proceed, Kei reads the details while Uni continues the conversation.

"This isn't like the old Virus we know. People haven't died of infection back then…"

"Until now," Kei sternly puts and walks over to her desk, connecting the VITA to her PC, and downloading the report onto her machine. She would relay those to Noire for her to review upon her return.

"By the way," noticing Noire's absence, Uni decides to ask. As her lips begin stating the word 'where', she halts as Kei immediately chimes in.

"Noire is away to find a cure for the virus. She's currently headed for Lordran."

With the mention of Lordran, Uni perks up out of worry. A slight gasp even escaped from her slightly gaping mouth.

Kei would, again, cut her off, "she has instructed me to have you take over in her absence," Kei then spawns a tablet, the same one Noire handed to her earlier. Like a true professional working in a hectic office, Kei moves in quick paces towards Uni and hands her the tablet, patting it onto Uni's arms which were elevated to her chest when she was about to declare her leave as well.

The Candidate calms her nerves, realizing what this implied, "Lastation can't be without a CPU, is that it?"

Kei nods and exits the office, "I'll be handling the management side of Noire's duties. I'll leave the suppression and PR to you, since those are what your bikini Processor Set is most effective at," and Kei shuts the door before Uni could retaliate with…

"I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE THIS SEXUALIZED!"

With all the blood onto her face, Uni stomps the carpet, eliciting a puff of dust around her foot. She wonders begrudgingly about one absolutely annoying fact...

"Why do I always end up with skimpy outfits…"

In any case, she would definitely have a word with that Black Disc some time…

---

[Lordran Skies, Lastation, Hyperdimension, 20XX – One hour, fifteen minutes after Noire's departure…]

Soaring above the landscape of Lastation, Black Heart is steadily looking for a place to land. From what she recalls, there should be a safe zone in these undead lands, marked by a bonfire found on a cliff nearby some ruins. It has been fifteen minutes since they left Lastation proper and, to her dismay, the mountains are not doing her any good in spotting that safe zone. Also, it is unusually dark what with the shadows dominating much of the mountainous landscape. Looking up, she notices that the weather is overcast, covering the sun but allowing rays of sunlight to pierce through and shine the place. Hopefully, she doesn't get herself and her passenger lost.

Speaking of passenger, Alisa is taking the flight rather well with how she is constantly shifting her view every now and then. With one hand over her beret and another wrapped around the CPU's neck, her movements were restricted but it is nonetheless enough for her to span the panorama.

Now that Noire considers it, the view isn't so bad. Perhaps her experience with flying all the time has her gotten used to such a magnificent view. After all, it's a different feel when you fly onboard an aircraft than when you fly freely like what she is letting the Russian passenger experience. Seeing as they probably would take a while, Noire opens up a conversation to pleasure herself while she finds that large tree that's supposed to mark their safe zone.

"So, enjoying the view?"

"Yes," Alisa replies cheerfully, "I can't believe I would experience being airborne like this. The view is just… How should I say it?..."

Black Heart giggles. At least, her mission to help the world is doing wonders to someone else while she's at it, "well, take it all in cuz' we'll likely be having a swell time dealing with whatever is waiting for us in these lands."

At that, Alisa quickly steels her demeanor, something Black Heart quickly takes note, "yes, Lady Black Heart! I'll do my best!"

"Hey, hey, don't get too worked up," Black Heart smirks, "don't wanna tire yourself out before the big fights. I'm just telling you to relax. Besides, I'm the one flying here."

"Ah, right," Alisa makes a bashful smile which Black Heart took as her 'sorry about that' look.

"By the way," Alisa spoke up, earning Black Heart's partial attention, "if you mind me asking, what are your clothes made of?"

"Huh?" Now Black Heart is completely giving her full attention, "you mean my Processor Set? Or the attire I was wearing in human form?"

"If by Processor Set, you meant your current ones, then yes."

"Ah, well, its top-secret," Black Heart notices Alisa's slightly disappointed mood and immediately changes her mind, "but I could probably tell you," and Alisa's mood, once again, brightens up, "ONLY if you keep it between us."

"Yes, Lady Black Heart!"

"Also, please call me Noire."

"Yes, Lady Noire!"

Black Heart just sighs. Is it really that difficult to make people she is close with to be not too formal all the time?

"Anyway, Processor Sets are unlike ordinary armor," this elicits a perplexed reaction from Alisa, "I say armor because they're not just simple cloth; Processor Sets are actually composed of metals, legendary monster drops, and Erde Crystals."

"Erde Crystals?"

"Never heard of those? They're a kind of Data Crystal that contains large amounts of data that can be processed into anything with the use of Share energy. It's a necessary, extra rare component in making highly powerful and useful products and equipment like my Processor Set. The basic ones of its kind are called Datanium, followed by File Crystals, and then Erde Crystals," Black Heart carefully explains, "I hope that wasn't too much but I think you got it."

"I see," Alisa puts on her thinking cap, figuratively, as she deeply ponders, "but how does it maintain its flexibility, then?" Alisa then begins tugging Black Heart's bikini strap lightly, causing her C-cup bosom to slightly lift up.

Of course, this elicits a cute yelp from the unsuspecting CPU.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Alisa immediately stops what she was doing and retracts her tugging hand away from what it was tugging.

"It's fine," Black Heart sighs, "as I was saying, Processor Sets are made of special metals that are effective at both protecting its wearer AND the circuitry built into them," she says as she gives emphasis on the 'and.'

"Circuitry?" Alisa then takes a close look on Black Heart's bra, "I don't see any intricate patterns aside from the obvious aesthetic linings…"

However, oblivious to the Russian girl, Black Heart suddenly takes notice of something rather voluptuously soft her bosom is pressing against. Upon looking down to her chest, she realizes that her breast has been squeezing itself underneath Alisa's half-zipped jacket. With the way Alisa's jacket is fitting more boobs than what it can and the winds fluttering said jacket, Black Heart could already see Alisa's bare breast! Blood was already rushing to the CPU's face and she is certainly going blank now.

"Oh!"

And Black Heart almost gasped her heart out.

"Are you alright?! You're flustered all of a sudden!"

"No, I'm fine…" Black Heart reassures, "okay, sniff it back in. Nope. Not a single drop, Noire. Nope."

After quickly and subtly stifling an embarrassment, Black Heart clears her throat, "anyway, you were saying?"

Alisa merely sets the matter aside, "the circuits are microscopic, I presume."

"Yes, and those circuits are what the Share energy we possess use to circulate throughout our bodies, though normally Shares circulate through our bodies directly. The Processor Sets improve that circulation to enhance our performance because HDD is Share energy demanding. Think of it as an overclock manager."

"I see," as Alisa takes it into account, she realizes something, "but then does that mean you're currently straining yourself?"

"Well, there's a limit to how long I can stay in this form without tiring myself out," Black Heart then recalls the 24-hour HDD run she started yesterday, "so long as I don't do anything that's severely extraneous like fighting a horde of viral monsters, I'll be fine for a week, at most."

"But there was a large horde attack yesterday."

Black Heart then sighs, "caught red-handed," and she makes a subtle 'teehee' clumsy pose afterwards.

Both girls then giggle. But as Black Heart recovers, she spots an enormous tree that's almost as tall as the mountains around the area. And, just as what she recalls, there beneath its branches is a ruined tower with a lit bonfire emitting smoke. It seems the tree was covering what smoke could have been spotted, Black Heart presumes.

"By the way, what brought on your interest in my Processor Set? If you intend on possessing something similar, then, unfortunately, you'll have to know that these things only work for CPUs," Black Heart informs Alisa as she begins descending to their destination.

"Ah, no, it's more of curiosity to what kinds of materials you use to craft items," Alisa clarifies, "back at Fenrir, we mostly use Aragami parts and salvaged materials to craft weapons, attire, medicine, even upgrades to our abilities."

"Oh, interesting. So your clothes are also made of Aragami parts?" Black Heart then perks up, "from what I saw in the pictures, Sariels could make for some gorgeous cosplays!"

"Oh, no. We make them out of salvaged materials," Alisa clarifies, "it'd be a waste to use Aragami parts on something mundane."

Black Heart suddenly jerks awkwardly, causing her to almost drop Alisa.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to… Uh…"

"No, its fine," Alisa reassures and looks below them, seemingly assessing their height, then nods upon confirming something, "you must be fatigued from flying around for a while. You can drop me off from here."

"Are you sure? It's some ways down," Black Heart observes and estimates their height to be at about 500 feet away from the bonfire and decreasing, "I can handle the way down."

Alisa just shakes her head gently, "no, it's fine. I can drop off from high places thanks to the Oracle cells," she then gestures her bracer on her right wrist. She follows by motioning her same arm, asking for her God Arc, "I'd hate to bother you."

Black Heart thinks of a way to insist but eventually gives in, though the delay it did mostly served to lessen the height while Alisa wasn't aware. Handing Alisa her God Arc, Black Heart descends towards the ruined tower. Once she loosens her arm around Alisa's waist, she slows down for a bit, letting Alisa to jump off the CPU.

Falling off at about 150 feet from the tower's top, passable platform, Alisa braces for a heavy impact, controlling her descent.

However, as Black Heart attempts to make her own landing…

"CAAAAW!"

Out of nowhere, a giant crow bursts out of the tree and pounces onto Alisa as she descended!

Its talons grate Alisa's quickly put up shield causing a cringe-worthy screech, protecting her from the giant crow's razor talons. However, due to the attack, her descend turns into an uncontrolled fall towards a deep ravine below!

Carefully observing the crow, Black Heart careens towards Alisa while making sure she doesn't get pounced on as well. She could still hear the cawing but it seems far enough that she can reach Alisa in time.

And she did reach her in time.

Not slowing down, Black Heart drops Alisa down onto the bonfire area before proceeding towards the incoming crow. She summons her weapon, Ascalon, and integrates it into a monochrome great sword. Facing the crow, Black Heart shouts her battle cry and swings her weapon with all her might!

A loud caw; a loud cry; a loud clash!

To the surprise of Black Heart, the crow parried her strike! Its talon now grips her great sword, holding it at bay while the other now capitalizes on the opening.

Black Heart would have none of it as she catches the talon with her other hand. This however, lessens the pressure on her other arm.

Feeling this, the crow, which is emanating in its purple viral stench, presses both talons and flaps its wings violently, adding force to its push. It violently closes its talon, pushing against Black Heart's arm, piercing the CPU's arm, gashing through her torso's side, and digging into her shoulder thoroughly to the bone.

Black Heart groans from the excruciating pain, her face like that of someone suppressing her loss of virginity. She could feel the talons piercing through her bones and, yet, it would be bad for her to lose stance now.

With all her strength, Black Heart grabs the crow by its talons and pulls it towards her back, "ALISA!"

And with the call, fresh hot bullets from the cold tundra of Russia blasts the exposed back of the Viral Giant Crow.

"Now, it's your turn to not run away!" Black Heart declares as she grips the crow's talons tighter than what the crow ever gave her.

It flails. It caws. But it cannot escape. Likely out of desperation, the crow lunges its giant beak onto the CPU.

Fortunately for Black Heart, the damage Alisa brought has weakened the crow's grip, letting her free her great sword from the crow's talons. With one powerful swing, Black Heart parries the giant peck and, with one graceful, deathly spin, ripostes the avian in its gut!

There was a loud caw, but the bird refuses to fall. It even grips the CPU's great sword stuck in its gut!

Alisa's minigun goes silent. Black Heart takes this as the cue that their counter-attack has momentarily ended. The bird once more attempts an attack with its other talon but the CPU parts with the avian.

"That really hurt," Black Heart winces at the wounds she's gotten. Quickly, the CPU ingests a tuffmil as she flies away from the bird. She then takes a look at her Anti-Virus Patch.

Its luster is gone. Its filled with filthy taint. Its job is done. She discards the ornament and equips a new one.

This is going to be a long fight.

"Muscle Memory! Tech Training!" Black Heart casts her buffs onto herself. She then carefully flies towards Alisa who is now taking cover among the narrow ruins by some large, clay pots. Just as with herself, Black Heart casts the same buffs onto Alisa.

"That should help with your aim and attack power," Black Heart says as she takes in a Nep Bull III, "it's gonna get real annoying this time around."

"Wait," Alisa calls, prompting Black Heart to stop what she was doing, "drink this instead," and Alisa throws a Recovery Pill towards the CPU.

Black Heart gives her regards and ingests the pill. Surprisingly, it was strong enough to seal her wounds, though there were still residual damage.

"Keep your recoveries for now," Alisa says, "I'll keep healing you with Healing Bullets so you can focus on the fight."

"Got it."

"Also," Alisa calls, making Black Heart pause, "could you find a way to bring it to the tower?" Alisa then points to the structure she was supposed to make her landing, "I'll just give you the signal."

"I'll see what I can do."

Once again, the crow caws and dives for the CPU.

Black Heart wastes no time and intercepts the avian. Unlike last time, she dodges the crow's attacks. An opening is what Black Heart needed so as not to risk getting clawed like earlier.

Both CPU and crow were zipping above the ruins, looping, diving, and rising in a chaotic air ballet as Black Heart attempts to get the crow onto a bad position and the crow trying to impale the flying humanoid with any of its sharp talons or beak.

The crow then makes a dive. It misses!

Black Heart immediately makes a break for it and slashes one of the bird's wings.

It cuts through but the wing is still intact!

Surprised by the bird's durability, Black Heart backs off as the bird violently spins around, almost slapping the CPU with the same wing she was attempting to cut.

However, just as Black Heart gains some distance, the crow stances its wings wide and talons stretched. It didn't register as any behavior to adjust flying; it resembled someone when one is about to hurl something on both hands…

And its miasma around its body was thickening!

"Noire, look out!" Alisa shouts from below as the avian beats its wings, delivering a wave of purple miasma towards the CPU!

Black Heart immediately soars high, avoiding the wave she presumes to be some kind of Viral Wind. In any case, Alisa is nearing the tower as she passes by a hole at its base. She guesses it to be about time. Black Heart proceeds to fly towards a nearby aqueduct, prompting the avian to follow.

While Alisa ascends the ruined tower, she took notice of some hoarse gurgling and hissing behind her. Running towards her from somewhere were viral undead ready to greet her with incendiary bombs, sword slashes, axe swings, and incoherent undead swearing. Fortunately for the Russian girl, her Long Sword proved to be enough for their squishy, rotting flesh, though the stench of their undead guts would stain her crimson blade much to her apparent dismay.

But she has other things to worry.

Looking around her, she finds some platforms above her that cannot be reached unless jumping really high. Something she is capable. Before one of the undead could cull her with its rusting axe, Alisa jumps away from danger and hops a few more onto the collapsed steps of the ruined tower. Checking the area for a moment, she ascertains that none of them would be able to get to her for now. She continues her ascent and finally reaches a suitable spot by a giant nest. Probably the crow's. The place was covered in leaves, perfect for hiding a surprise attack, and there were several protruding branches around to snare an unsuspecting bird. She charges up her God Arc, readying one of her so-called Predator Styles.

"Noire!"

With Alisa in position, Black Heart beelines for the structure and passes in between the support columns of the gargantuan infrastructure.

The crow, however, passes above the aqueduct. Black Heart guesses that it is smart enough to not attempt to fit its wingspan where she passed.

"Guess I won't be catching it in a bad position."

In any case, Black Heart leads the avian towards the tower.

The Avian again follows the bikini-clad CPU who just flew straight through the tree cover. Slowing down for a moment, the crow seemingly scans the place its target went in, its head making stiff, quick glances all over. Flying closer to the tree, particularly near where its nest was, it spots something moving from behind the wall. Strafing to get a better look, it spots a girl, waiting for it with a large, carnivorous-looking, three-pronged, purple maw sprouting from her sword's hilt. Probably out of instinct, the avian flies away from her but…

"Devour!"

At her command, Alisa triggers her God Arc's Devour Mode, causing the maw to grow larger and reach farther. Not giving the crow time to react, the maw's three prongs extend far and wide around the avian before biting viciously onto its prey, the sound of meat and bone getting ripped and crushed momentarily accompanies the crow's pained caw. Not done yet, Alisa begins pulling the avian down with the use of the large maw of her God Arc.

The bird flails but to no avail.

With one great cry, Alisa hurls the Viral Giant Crow into the trees, pricking the bird with the tree's equally oversized twigs and branches. Keeping her momentum, Alisa then pulls the bird down towards the base of the tower where a couple of unsuspecting viral undead were scaling the tower.

Then she jumps off from where she is standing to give herself more space to turn. Although, from Black Heart's perspective, that is a really bad idea.

"Alisa! Are you sure about what you're doing?!" Black Heart, who is currently circling back, notices what kind of reckless antic her partner is pulling, literally. She just hopes Alisa can really handle a fall.

"Yes. I. AM!" One loud declaration is followed by one louder pulverizing of rocks, then the sound of a power-up chime with her gaining an aura, and some crushed human carcass as well.

With the tower collapsing, parts of it fall off onto the cliff below. Any undead missed by the crow's crashing were instantly brought along the rockslide. As for the crow, the pieces of the tower pummel its infected body and, with an egg smashing itself onto its cranium, follows the rocks onto their impeding drop.

Alisa, on the other hand, is also met with a similar problem. Now she's also falling onto the cliff.

Thankfully, Black Heart catches her before she could, from the looks of it, scream a series of 'whoa'.

"Sorry, my bad. Got a little crazy," came Alisa's sheepish apology.

"Yeah, you did," Black Heart sighs as she lands both of them by a hole on the even-more-ruined tower's base. Still, the CPU is curious as to where that hole leads to with how there's a ladder leading down.

But that can be set aside for now.

Both girls scan their surroundings to make sure nothing else is going to welcome them with blades and talons. After a few moments of vigilant scouting, the girls relax. Battle over.

"Whew! That was some surprise. It looks like the rumors were true," Alisa comments as she settles her God Arc by her side.

"More like facts," Black Heart is shrouded by a light of binaries and, after an instant, is replaced by Noire. To the CPU's surprise and dismay however, her clothes are damp again, though not as much as before.

"Are there any locals we can inquire about? It would be easier if we ask someone whose been through these parts longer than us," Alisa suggests.

"True," Noire then moves towards some of the tower's rubble, "but only if there are any one else remaining," she says as she pokes an undead lying beneath the rocks, making sure if it really is double dead.

"This isn't a good sign," Noire thought as she turns back to Alisa who now has an unhopeful look, "if the virus has affected this much in a place as remote as this, what else could be waiting deeper?" Noire then gazes upon some walls from afar, high up the cliffs. As hopeful as she was when she read about the lands being relatively unconfirmed of viral infection, she isn't as optimistic as she was now that the signs are already spelling it out for her.

And those signs are spelling the words she doesn't want to hear.

"Um, maybe it's just these parts," Alisa speaks up, somehow, her demeanor looking strong this time, "who knows? The inner areas may still be safe from the virus. Judging from the looks of this area, it seems we're still at the outskirts."

True. There's a likely chance that the virus has yet to dominate these lands. And if what she says is right, then there may be hope to find what they seek. After all, a place untainted by that accursed virus should house something that's keeping its surroundings clean. Going by that logic, Noire gestures for the two of them to proceed. She keeps her ornate weapon at the ready, just in case something jumps out of nowhere again…

Kind of like now as an armored man emerges from the hole.

Noire and Alisa bring their weapons to their fore. Somehow, the two girls were unnerved, their feet cold all of a sudden. Something isn't right.

"This one is no ordinary opponent," both of them thought.

As the man turns around, baring his sun-decaled chest plate and bucket-shaped helmet with a feather on its top, the suspicious man then grabs something like a cloth from his side. It's a brightly colored orange cloth to be precise.

Noire and Alisa were even more cautious. Something doesn't bode well with how this new 'being' is wielding an unlikely weapon. Anything unlikely is a bad thing in these situations.

And as they suspected, it really is trouble because this 'being' is now shaping a bolt of lightning from the piece of cloth!

Noire takes a deep breath and Alisa raises her God Arc's shield. This is what they were worried about. They could practically feel the power behind that bolt.

"We'd be like flailing fishes out of water when that thing ever hits us," Noire thought.

The unknown 'being' then raises the bolt of lightning like a javelin about to be hurled.

Noire instantly goes into HDD.

Alisa readies her sidestep.

The Viral Giant Crow from before emerges from behind the girls!

Caught off guard with the caw from nowhere, Black Heart and Alisa turns around to see the talons of the crow about to pounce onto them.

But a lightning bolt to the crow's face would have none of that!

"Finish it off, now," the unknown 'being' declared, in a helmet-muffled, accented male voice no less, as it draws its shield and sword, both strangely themed with the sun.

Not even processing what the unknown 'being' said, Black Heart immediately readies her signature EXE Drive now that she's all warmed up. Alisa, meanwhile, pushes the crow back with a barrage from Mother Russia once more!

The barrage isn't as strong as the one before it but it proved sufficient to keep the crow from making any proper moves, what with the bullets peppering its eyes.

"Now's my chance," Black Heart declares as she finishes charging up her Share energy onto her subsequent weapon, "taste the power of Lastation's CPU's blade dance!"

[Infinite Slash .exe]

Black Heart lunges towards the ill-prepared crow, still recovering from an electrocuted body and pelted face.

The CPU's first slash lands square onto its neck, causing the avian to caw a cough.

Black Heart then turns around and slashes again at the wing she tried to cut earlier. Said wing finally snaps from the bird's body with a sickening crunch!

Once again, Black Heart turns around and cuts the bird's thigh!

Then the bird's torso…

Then it's back…

Then its other wing…

Black Heart relentlessly kept going until only the CPU could know what she was cutting!

The crow could not move nor fly. Heck, Black Heart was the one juggling the avian to keep it airborne!

"Now for the finale!"

Black Heart then cuts through the avian's midsection and, upon turning back to face it, triggers her Torneraid Sword and lunges back at her target!

Another cut through its midsection, opening its guts…

Black Heart turns around and slashes upwards, chopping off its last wing…

From the air, Black Heart hurls her Torneraid Sword, impaling the avian and sending it falling below the cliff.

Black Heart descends nearby Alisa and the unknown helper. With the look of satisfied indifference, she raises her hand that once held her great sword and, with a snap of her fingers, causes the Torneraid Sword stuck on the bird to erupt into countless blades of light, tearing apart the bird from the inside.

The beautiful, bright spectacle could even be seen from where the three stood, much to the glee of the unknown helper and the awe of Alisa.

"Wonderful," the unknown helper applauded, "that finale you gave that wretched crow was certainly bright and beautiful. Almost like the sun!"

Deciding not to power down just in case, Black Heart approaches the lightning thrower, "thank you for the compliment but, if I must trust you, would you care to explain who you are?"

Just then, the individual pauses. Then he goes 'ah', displaying his realization of the clumsiness he made. He then sheaths his sword and shield. With the crow in peace (pieces), the need for weapons raised was gone. He then puffs out his chest and raises both arms into the air, tip-toeing as if to stretch his body high.

"I am Solaire of Astora, proud warrior, passionate admirer of the ever incandescent sun, and devout follower of its covenant, the Warriors of Sunlight," the man proudly declares before the two girls before finally resting his body, "I have just returned from a daily visit of a friend. As well as warming up."

Alisa and Black Heart then looks to the hole he came from. Their rather incredulous stare onto the abyss and then back to the man speaks of suspicion.

"Of course, anyone would visit a friend in an abyss to warm up," what Black Heart thought sarcastically.

The man who calls himself Solaire seems to detect the untrusting stares from the girls and proceeds to clear up any prejudice they have, "I am telling the truth! My friend merely went through some circumstances and… Well, I don't really have any other reason."

In that brief pause, it seems like this 'man' went through something tragic. Black Heart decides that it wouldn't do each side any good to pry what he meant. They have something else better to know. But first…

"I see," Black Heart then reverts to her human form, "I am the CPU of Lastation, the Land of Black Regality, Noire. Also known as Black Heart."

Alisa then salutes, "Alisa Illinichina Amiella. Far East Fenrir Branch Sniper Sergeant."

"It is a pleasure meeting you, fair ladies," Solaire bows.

"We'd love to exchange pleasantries but we are in a hurry," Noire quickly says, "what has the land become? Are there any places not affected by the virus? Are there anything in these lands that could cure that disease?"

"I will answer those," Solaire points out, "but first, would you care to sit by the bonfire?"

Settling themselves by the bonfire with Noire leaning on a tree and the two others squatting by the bonfire, Solaire begins answering Noire's queries.

"First of all, these lands have just recently been afflicted by this virus you mention. All the way up to the Undead Burg up there and the sewers, catacombs, and Demon Ruins beneath, the virus has spread causing all the denizens to become smarter and stronger. Of course, those include undead beings as well."

Alisa then glances towards the cliff the crow fell. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling well after knowing that that bird wasn't the last.

Seeing the two girls sullen, Solaire then drops another important info to cheer them up.

"However," Solaire loudly says otherwise, "the city of Anor Londo may still be safe, though I haven't been there ever since the virus plagued the lands."

Noire instantly perks up, "can you tell us which direction it is?"

"The so-called city of the gods is situated at the top of those walls, past a proving grounds called Sen's Fortress," Solaire says as he points towards some medieval walls and structures above the ruins.

Noire then pushes herself off the tree, gesturing Alisa to stand up as well, "thank you for the tip. We'll be going now."

"Hold on," Solaire stands up quickly, gaining the attention of the CPU, "normally, I would ask for your approval to join you so as to bask in the rays of the sun along the way…"

"What?" Noire and Alisa thought.

"But, as you've already experienced, the skies of Lordran haven't been safe as of late. It's even a miracle you arrived here safely," Solaire added.

"You mean there are more of those crows?" Alisa asks grimly.

"No, not that crow," Solaire shakes his head, "that crow was just a ferry to and fro the Undead Asylum and is one of its kind. A pity it succumbed," Solaire then looks down, presumably a gesture of mourning for the bird.

"Then what kinds of dangers are there? Dragons and demons?" Noire almost sounds sarcastic upon suggesting those.

However, all Solaire did was a silent stare to the CPU.

In the background, distant roars could be heard. From where it came from, it seems to be from the direction Solaire mentions the 'city of the gods' to be. Squinting her eyes, Noire then sees a few dots buzzing over the grand walls blocking their view of the city. There were occasional sparks in the air of the said walls, an invisible sphere partially shaping with every spark.

"Some time ago," Solaire walks up to where Noire was, stopping only by a well at the edge of the cliff, "probably around the time the virus spread in these lands, the drakes of the Valley of the Drakes have all become aggressive," Solaire then points to the recurring sparks, "that would be the end result. In fact, these lands are now filled with crazed monsters roaming around wherever as they please."

Noire then looks to Solaire then back to the walls separating Anor Londo from the rest of the world.

"As powerful as you are, my fair Lady, I doubt you can properly fight with a girl in your arms," Solaire states as a matter of fact.

"I agree," Alisa raises her hand, "plus, it would be a good idea to have a local tag along. Just in case we encounter someone who might help."

"I see," Noire then considers with a thought, "they aren't wrong and it would be beneficial to have a guide who knows about the monsters here."

"If I may," Solaire then takes the attention of both girls, "what exactly are your reasons for venturing these treacherous, sun-bathed lands? Surely, you are not here in a pilgrimage."

"We're searching for any artifact or treasure that can cleanse the virus that's been spreading across Gamindustri. The same one that's making this place even more dangerous," Noire explains.

"I see," Solaire then rests his chin onto his hand, shifting his weight as well, "I'm not too familiar with any artifact that can cleanse this virus. In fact, if there was, it'd already been used… But!" Solaire then pounds his hand over the other.

"But?" Noire gestures for the man to continue.

"There is a large archive near Anor Londo that belonged to the deceased Seath the Scaleless, an everlasting dragon that spent all its life researching on immortality."

"Immortality?" Noire then considers the implications this could have. Tracing any possible connections between immortality and cleansing infection, Noire then lights up in a moment of hopeful conjecture.

"That's right. If that dragon obsessed himself with not ever dying, then…" Solaire says.

"He may have records stored in his archives about ways to protect or even combat infections and curses," Alisa continues.

"And have a by-product that is the result of that research!" Noire cheerfully finishes.

Noire and Alisa then look to each other expectantly. Seeing each other's hopeful expressions, their hearts fill with newfound determination.

"Except," Solaire, however, has something else to add.

Immediately, Noire and Alisa end their celebration.

"That by-product has already been destroyed."

And Noire's upbeat heart sinks upon hearing that.

"During the pilgrimage of a friend of mine to retrieve the Lord Souls bequeathed and possessed by certain powerful beings, he destroyed the Primordial Crystal that Seath created to keep himself alive and immune to all kinds of injury," Solaire then notices the girls' gloomy aftermath, "it would take visiting another world where it still exists to even find one but attempting to do so would be treacherously dangerous and outright tedious."

"We'll do it," Noire immediately replies, eyes determined to do what it takes, "time is precious and we really need to get what we can."

"It will be dangerous. The circumstances will be out of our control, most likely."

"Even so," Alisa adds in, "we'll do it. Besides, it'll be less tedious than having to read books and papers in some archive."

Noire waits for a response from the sun fanatic. With how Solaire is looking at the two of them, he seems to be assessing whether they were capable.

Finally, after a brief silence, Solaire sighs and then chuckles gleefully, "you two remind me of that same friend. Brash and adventurous but altogether resolute."

Noire only smirks at that compliment, "there's a purple haired dolt that rubbed that off on me, though," she then looks to Alisa who is also wearing that same smirk, "wonder if it's the same with her?"

"Very well," Solaire gestures as he shifts towards where they would be heading, "follow me. We'll be going through the proving grounds so better get yourselves ready… though, I don't need to remind you of that," and Solaire chuckles once again.

With that, the three unlikely band of warriors travel forth.

"Onwards, to the city of the gods!" Noire declares to which the other two cheers back.

---

[Lastation Basilicom, Lastation, Hyperdimension, 20XX – Meanwhile…]

Kei enters her office, slowly pacing towards the cupboard with a long, tired sigh. With most of the tasks currently handled and in progress, she decides to take a short break so as not to maintain productivity later on. Picking up a mug by the coffee brewer, she pours some hot hard coffee for herself. Taking in the wafting aroma, she stirs her mug a little before taking a sip off of it.

Bitter. Just as what she needed.

With something to keep her going for a while, she decides to check on her mails for now. Something not so tedious yet productive should suffice to keep her working momentum going. Opting not to sit, she shifts her weight a little towards the desk and, with a few clicks of the mouse, opens up her mailbox.

"Emergency? From Mina?" Kei then furrows her brows. This could be serious. She opens it finds that it has been carbon copied to the other Oracles and the CPUs and Candidates.

However, just as Kei is about to read the contents, heavy running steps and an abrupt opening of her office doors took her glance away from the email.

There by the door was a Basilicom staff member, albeit distressed and huffing from what was probably a mad dash.

"Trouble… In flames… Deoxys…" The Basilicom staff member incoherently said in between gasps for air.

"Catch your breath first, then talk," Kei decides to check the email while the staff person recovers. Taking a sip off her coffee once more, she begins reading the email…

And, out of sheer horror, Kei drops her mug and dashes outside of her office, the staff member following suit.

Urgent orders of all the worst kinds reverberate through the halls of the Lastation Basilicom. Sirens sound off to place all of the nation under red alert.

Never has Lastation went into this level of emergency ever since the ASIC Crisis. But now there is a very good reason to do so.

For in Kei's monitor screen read:

"MAYDAY!

VIRAL DEOXYS HORDE ATTACK! REQUESTING BACK UP!

LOWEE CANNOT LAST ANY LONGER!"

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---

[Nepstation A.N.]

Neptune: "Hey, there! This is Nepstation A.N.!"

Blanc: "Its the not-really-part-of-the-plot program or, in this case, section where we talk about anything about the story with complete disregard of the 4th wall as well as messages from the author."

Neptune: "By the way, the 'A.N.' stands for Author's Note. Now that we got that short intro out of the way..."

Neptune's face the turns from cheery to pouty.

Neptune: "WHAT THE NEP IS UP WITH YOU, AUTHOR?! THE DIFFICULTY'S WAY TOO HIGH! EVEN THE GAMES WEREN'T THIS HARD WITH TOUGH ENEMIES TURNED ON!"

Blanc: "Calm down, Neptune. Its part of the story being serious."

Neptune: "YEAH, BUT YOU CAN'T JUST START OFF THE STORY WITH THREE LONG CHAPTERS OF EXTREMELY DIFFICULT ENEMIES!"

Blanc: "We got breaks among them, though."

Neptune: "I don't understand how you're so calm about this, Blanc. Aren't you supposed to be cursing and indiscriminately breaking stuff right now? Lowee's getting burned, y' know?"

Blanc: "I know that but this part isn't really part of the story and, besides, I'm reserving all my anger for the next chapter."

Blanc raises a stress ball. When Neptune got a good look, it suddenly burst.

Blanc: "Ah, it broke again. Oh well."

Blanc grabs another stress ball and starts squeezing it again."

Neptune: "She's definitely pissed off. I better not try anything that will make her replace that stress ball with my neck."

Blanc: "In any case, we better send the author's message now."

Neptune: "Alrighty, now... *ahem* the author would like to thank ya'll still keeping up with his story. It took a while but he's still working on the story, even if its taking a Plummet's pace."

Blanc: "He's also sorry if the chapters are too long. It just sort of happened whenever he's writing... Huh? I could kinda relate to that."

Neptune: "Fun fact! This fanfic is actually a self-imposed challenge to see if the author himself can manage to characterize characters from other games he hasn't played yet with only just descriptions from wikias and peers. It's kinda like an exercise to know if he can execute properly by just reading or listening to other people."

Blanc: "Its an unspoken rule to never write a fanfic of a franchise you haven't experienced yet but, for the sake of improving himself for his career, he's hoping for your understanding. It would help if you, the reader, would point out his mistakes, particularly on how he characterizes the Characters, and inform him so his subsequent fics would be better."

Neptune: "Also, author dude's interested in having his OC make an appearance in other authors' fanfic. Neptunia fanfics only, by the way. He's planning on telling a story subtly through that before writing a crossover fic using the many crossovers his OC appeared in."

Blanc: "Please refer to his profile page for more info on his OC. Inquiries will be entertained by sending him a PM."

Neptune: "And that's all, folks! Blanc, the next chapter's about your nation so... Take it away!"

Blanc:

"Flames rising...

People screaming...

CPUs in distress...

And the aurora of doom looms over the falling nation of Lowee as the very warriors protecting the Motherland turns against her...

Next time on Hyperdimension Neptunia VI: Viral Insurrection,

'A Legendary Crisis'."