Chapter 12 To Lastation!

The following morning, the trio made their way to the Basilicom. They intended to say goodbye to Histoire in person since they wouldn't be seeing her for a while. Also because she wanted to confirm something with Vent. While they were walking, Nepgear turned to IF and made a query, "Hey IF, Histoire is your boss over at the Guild right?" she asked her, getting a raised eyebrow from the brunette.

'Oh yeah, I do recall that being mentioned before in passing, but I don't remember where…' Vent thought in recognition as he listened in to their chat. He could tell that Compa was doing the same thing, so he didn't feel too bad. 'Now that I think about it, Histoire DEFINITELY needs a vacation, she has a lot of weight on her shoulders.'

"Yeah," IF answered while pocketing her hands in her Trench Coat while looking up at the ceiling. "She's the Oracle and the Guild's manager. It's amazing that she can handle both roles." She said with pride, and a small undertone of concern, so that meant that he wasn't the only one who thought that Histoire needed a break.

This topic piqued both Nepgear and Vent's interest even more than it did before, and the CPU Candidate decided to voice her opinion first before the male could. "How does Histoire act at the Guild? I only know her as an Oracle, so…" she trailed off at the end, but they didn't need to listen to all her sentence to figure out what she was trying to say. Vent had to admit, he was curious himself, it wasn't very often that he and Histoire got a chance to talk, as previously stated in the past, so hearing what she was like when he wasn't around was something he would like to know.

"Well…" IF began, pausing to come up with an adequate answer for the two of them. She soon responded with a shrug of her shoulders, her hands still in her pockets, "She seems to know everything… and can do almost anything… but…" her brow furrowed and twitched in mild irritation. It was the kind of twitch one would get when they see someone they've known for a long time display their quirky behaviour that was such a usual sight that it barely bothered them anymore.

In her head, IF began remembering what she had seen of her boss one time when she was tasked with being her bodyguard for the day. IF was a well trusted Agent in the Guild, and one of their senior Agents, so a task such as guarding the Oracle usually fell to her. What followed was what could be described as annoying chaos:

One Operative, a middle-aged man who wore the white and purple Planeptune robes that indicated he was a staff member, approached Histoire who had finished some business with another operative. Lady Histoire! What are the estimated Co-Ordinance for ASIC's base of operations this time?!" he asked her politely et with a tone of urgency as he hurriedly prepared a notebook and pen.

Turning to him on her book, Histoire replied calmly, "I am currently Calculating. The result will be ready in about 3 days." She replied. The Operative groaned in dismay, not liking that answer as he wailed dramatically, throwing his notebook into the air. "That's way too slow!"

While that operative was weeping into his Notebook with stress and frustration released from those tears, another Operative jogged up to her to take her attention, carrying a poster of a person they suspected to be a secret follower of Arfoire with a criminal record.: Lady Histoire! Do you have any information on this suspect?

IF at the time recognised him, he was an information broker who had betrayed his oath of neutrality, the oath to not choose sides only to give information at the right price, to supply ASIC with knowledge about their battle plans before they could be implemented. He had been able to evade capture many times, and this would be another attempt to locate him.

The Tome hummed in thought as she scanned the poster. It looked like she couldn't quite place who this person was yet. "That is a familiar face, but I will need three hours to remember." She replied, confirming her bodyguard's earlier thoughts and making her sweat drop.

Unlike his first colleague, this Operative only sighed in frustration. "Can't you do it in three minutes?" he mumbled under his breath before leaving the room, leaving the poster so Histoire could figure it out at her best convenience. The reason why he didn't freak out and do a whole 'drama queen' act was because as one of the senior staff members he was privy to Histoire's… habits.

After he left, a third Operative, this one a woman this time, wearing a more feminine styled robe, walked up to her calmly with a clipboard in hand. "Pardon me, Lady Histoire." She spoke regally and professionally, getting the blonde woman's attention. "I require a map of all known distribution points of Arfoire Products." She requested while showing her work on the clipboard.

Taking the clipboard in her tiny hands, Histoire looked the details over before her gaze flickered back to the female operative. "I can prepare that for you," she began with a small smile, which raised the woman's hopes slightly, before it tilted into a frown and sent her hopes crashing to the ground to burn in hell forever. "However compiling the data and mapping it out will take about three months." She told her.

The female Operative groaned, scratching her scalp with her recently polished nails in frustration. "In three months, the entire map will be outdated!"

Opening her eyes after that trip down memory lane, IF grinned sheepishly, "she takes way too damn long to do anything." She then pointedly stared at Vent who was chuckling in amusement at the story, "I guess this amuses you Vent?" she asked, slowly smirking at the male. She knew that he had likely already noticed her quirks; he was an observant man after all.

The male Hybrid nodded with a grin of his own, snickering while trying to stop his laughter. "Yeah, I noticed it pretty much the first few days after we met her. And the only reason I took so long was because I never really was around her all that much. I was too busy with other matters like questing and prepping." He said between snickers. Vent knew it was rude to comment on one's personality quirks, but this time he couldn't help it. Best to get this out now while Histoire wasn't around to scold him. "She usually takes from 3 minutes to years to do anything, kind of a con when considering the info, she has at her disposal."

Nepgear laughed nervously, compared to Vent's snickers. "Hahahaha… that's our Histoire."


Finally, they reached the Basilicom and found Histoire talking to a pair of staff members. Oddly enough, they were the same staff members that were in IF's flashback the previous scene, and both of them wore matching expressions as that time. The Guild Agent smiled to herself at this display, before becoming stern when she saw that Histoire had noticed them. "Ah, welcome you four. I assume your nearing the time to go to Lastation next?"

"Yep." The brunette replied while taking a hand out her pocket and putting it on her hip. "We came as you requested Histoire, so what's this thing you wanted to discuss with Vent?" she questioned, getting straight to the point instead of beating round the bush. Her desire to get on with their quest was showing in her eyes.

Histoire nodded her head, the staff members she was talking to before taking their cue to leave as she focused on the new arrivals. "Yes, it has something to do with Vent, or rather, the ring he carried on his index finger. May I see it?" she asked the male, who raised a brow and wondered why Histoire would want to have a look at his Ring. It didn't seem like something important besides the fact that it was a family heirloom, but he didn't question what Histoire wanted.

Lifting his hand that had the ring on its Index finger, Vent held it before the Tome who placed her hands on both sides of his hand, gazing at the ring intently. "Hmmm…. Hmmm…. Yes, looks like I was correct. Young man, what have you been told about this weapon?" she asked him, looking up from his hand and into Vent's surprised eyes.

"Huh? This?" he questioned while gesturing to his ring. He didn't know what to feel when Histoire's hands touched his. It wasn't anything dangerous or something like that, but it didn't feel comfortable either. Perhaps it was something new about this world, since it had given him many new experiences like making friends and fighting alongside others. "all I know is that it's a family heirloom given to me by my parents. Why, you know of it or something?"

At his probing, the Oracle nodded her head, her eyes firmly gazing at the ring for a few more seconds before holding it like she was holding a scroll way bigger than her. "this here is called a 'Quad Weapon', at first I wasn't sure since it looked different than the usual weapons, however now that I look at it closely its indeed one of those."

Compa raised a brow for the first time in this chapter, "um, Histy what is a Quad weapon thingy? It sounds dangerous." She asked her with curiosity. This weapon sounded dangerous to her, but also incredibly cool at the same time.

"Quad Weapons are an old variant of weapons, Compa. I'm not surprised you do not know of them, as they are not so well known nowadays. They were originally made during the first few centuries of the Console Wars: a weapon with 4 forms: 3 for combat and the fourth for transport purposes. They were made so that soldiers could have several different styles to work with in battle, catching their enemy off guard. However, they have since fallen out of use when peace reined over Gamindustri. Only a handful of them exist right now." Histoire explained, looking down at the Quad Weapon that Vent seemed to possess. "I had long since thought they were all lost to history, but to see one again… it gives me great nostalgia..."

The way she said that last part indicated that Histoire liked these weapons, not for their use but because of what they represented: the higher extent of humanity's ingenuity. And for a weapon of war, peace was its worst nightmare. It wouldn't be needed anymore and thus be tossed away like any weapon that outlived its purpose would be. But with what was happening with ASIC, the return of a Quad Weapon was a blessing in disguise. And in a way, it was, since a weapon like this had significantly higher power than conventional weapons. One on their side would make their chances of fighting ASIC much easier.

'A Quad Weapon, huh…?' Looking down at his Ring, Vent eyed it with wonder and awe, as well as a bit of curiosity. This weapon had such a history to it, and he wasn't aware of anything. It made him realise just how little he knew about both his family heirloom and… his family, now that he thought about it, his mother to be more precise. After all, his father was disgraced by his family for marrying an outsider, but was there more to it than that? Was there something he was missing?

Oddly enough, it seemed that the Mascot of Planeptune seemed to know who he was for some reason, like it had recognised him from somewhere. Vent had gotten the same feeling from Histoire sometimes, but thanks to them not being around each other much he never got the chance to query about it with her. Not that he cared or anything, since his primary goal right now was the CPUs liberation. But it would be nice to know the answers to these questions.

"Wait, in my memory Vent has only used 3 forms: The Ring, Scythe and Cannon forms. Are you saying there's one more?" IF suddenly asked after thinking about it for a moment. Everyone else realised what she was saying, and how true it was. Throughout his time in Gamindustri, Vent's weapon had only taken the previously mentioned 3 forms, so what was the fourth one?

Histoire nodded in affirmative to her question. "Yes. Since you haven't used it yet, perhaps I can help you. Vent, please activate your weapon." She requested him. The male nodded, transforming his Ring into his Scythe form. Histoire slowly hovered around it, eyeing the weapon with absolute scrutiny for a few moments before her eyes zeroed in on a piece of the shaft that Vent never touched. "Ah, I see. The button for the fourth form is alongside that of the Cannon button, Vent. Please try it out." She requested again.

Like before, Vent nodded, curiosity overtaking him at what this new form might be. The Scythe's shaft filled with red lines once again, and a second later began its transformation. The Scythe blades shifted places, the plates moving down to the bottom of the Shaft which flattened and stretched its witch down to the grip, while metallic technological structures seemed to slide out of hidden compartments into their proper places. Mechanical whirring sounds could be heard as the group stared in awe, with Nepgear literally having starry eyes at the sight.

In seconds, everyone gaped at what he was holding: a two handed Chainsword that Vent was obviously able to hold in 2 hands. The blade itself was several inches wider than the 4 hand long hilt that had a long rectangular guard, with a lever at a place where it could be easily accessible to the wielder's hand. The blade was as long as a human arm, coloured black with a red backedge. The plates that once made up the Scythe blades now lined themselves along the blade's edge along a chain, ready to be revved to max capacity should the lever be pulled.

Several collective whistles echoed throughout the room, and Vent gave the Chainsword a few test swings. He swung sideways, downwards and then did a twirling sideways slash, a grin slowly creeping onto his face. "Aw yeah, I'm so gonna love this thing." He muttered under his breath before using his sole hand to pull the level of his new toy. The revving sound that came from the shaking blade was like music to his ears. A low vibration was constantly churning through his arm, and it gave him an immense feeling of pleasure as he looked down at the revved Chainsword blade. The blade and its sound were almost orgasmic.

"Okaaaay, as much as I think we'd all like to stay and listen to that sound..." IF began with sarcasm, ignoring the downright childish pout that Vent sent her way. Seriously, that pout did NOT fit someone like him, even when he was acting like a toddler on a Christmas day. "We need to get moving, ASIC probably have already started looking for Lastation's Mascot."

Her words snapped Vent back to his senses as he returned his weapon to Ring form. 'Wait, shouldn't I give this weapon a name? Good weapons have names usually to distinguish them from ordinary ones. Now then, what should I call you…' he wondered, looking down at his Ring. An idea came to him in a flash: "Looks like your new name is… Vier." He mused, getting their attention.

"Vier?" Compa asked with a slight tinge of fear in her tone. The way he had smile just then made her feel a slight sense of pity for those stupid enough to get in Vent's way again.

The male nodded, "yep, it means 'four' in German, one of the languages in my world. Anyways, let's go already, I really wanna test this baby out against these monsters."

Just before they could though, Histoire remembered something, something important she wanted to discuss. "Oh, before you go, Vent, could you follow me please?" The Oracle called out, getting Vent's attention. "There's something I must speak to you about."

"Can't it wait, we have to catch up to ASIC?"

IF was the one to ask her that, and her words were laced with impatience along with some irritation. Histoire gave her an apologetic smile,, nonetheless as she gestured to the male. "I apologise, IF, however this is a matter of importance. It pertains to a question Vent had asked me about one time." she explained, causing Vent to go wide eyed.

'Wait, does she mean what I think she does?' he wondered, before he decided to follow her when she floated away, leaving the trio of girls alone to wonder what it was that Histoire was talking about.


"Alright, please sit, Vent."

The two were now inside what looked like a Nurse's office. It was a simple square shaped room, with a simple white floor, walls, and ceiling. The bed was finely made, with white bedsheets and pillows. Practically everything was white, with a smell pertaining to the chemicals hospital cleaners used to clean these types of rooms. Judging from the smell, Vent guess that the room was recently cleaned as he sat on the bed. He heard it creak slightly when he placed his backside on it, putting one foot on his thigh as he regarded the small Oracle. "Is this about what I asked you on...?"

Histoire nodded her head in response. "Yes. You asked me to look into what makes you able to eat human foods, when this 'Kaneki Ken' you mentioned cannot even though like you, he is a Hybrid of human and Ghoul." she confirmed for him. The Oracle then pulled out from her Inventory, a large pad. Her small body shook constantly as she tried to accommodate its size, but she managed in a few moments. "Well, I took a look into those tests we did on your body, and I believe I have found a possible solution to your problem."

Now this got Vent interested. Despite not looking at it, he had been concerned on why he was able to eat human foods while other Hybrids didn't have this kind of ability. The only ones who did have this were the Quinxes, and even then the Quinx squad couldn't use a Kagune's full power like a Ghoul could. In the manga, not being able to eat normally was a major part of the tragedy that was Kaneki Ken's life, so the fact that he could do so unlike his idol was not something that sat well with him. It had left a bad taste in his mouth, so he had asked Histoire to look into it shortly before they had went to go get the Mascot Disk.

He had gone through a series of tests, such as X rays, Blood tests, had pieces of his bone marrow removed for research, and even had a few scientists look into his Kagune as it was released to jot down the results. Finally, it seemed that a possible lead had come up, something he absolutely loved.

Looking at the pad, Histoire placed it on the ground before them, tapping on some of the buttons on its screen. The pad began to glow from its screen, until a projection suddenly appeared above it. The projection was the basic outline of Vent's body, created by a series of polygons arranged to look like his form. "Alright, as you know, your body has the ability to eat human foods, like a normal human, when other Ghouls cannot. Originally, I had assumed that this was caused for plot." Histoire began, though she confused the male when she said 'plot'. "However, I have since noticed something interesting."

The projection then shimmered, and when it regained focus, organs could be seen within it. These organs, they were an exact replica of his body, and soon Vent noticed the same thing Histoire had. "Hey, Histoire, look at my abdomen!" he exclaimed, pointing to the projections said body area. The projection zoomed in thereupon Histoire's imputed order, and when it was enlarged enough, they stood before a projection of Vent's abdomen structure.

Everything was there, the liver, kidney, stomach, the works. Thing was, there were other things there as well... like his Kakuhou, for example. The Kakuhou, originally a sack like organ as said by the TG Wiki, was... shaped much more weirdly than the Wiki said. "That Kakuhou... It seems to be attached, somehow, to the pathways between my stomach and Liver. What the hell?" the male wondered.

"Yes, this is the case, and it is also why I think you can eat human foods. I believe that by fundamentals, your Kakuhous are unlike that of a normal Ghouls. They may function the same, but their behaviour is altered in some way. That's the closest I can get to a proper solution." Histoire replied, frowning in thought as she looked at the projection. Like Vent, she too didn't understand this situation. While she didn't think it was bad that he could still live a normal life, it still presented a mystery that not even she could solve without help. "Can you think of anything that could be useful to us, young Vent? Anything at all that may be different compared to the rest of your kind?"

The male hummed in thought, pondering for a moment as he stared at the projection. To be more specific, the Kakuhou attached to the pathways between his Liver and stomach. He watched them intently, and for a while, Histoire feared he hadn't heard her. She made to ask him again, but then Vent's eyes widened as a figurative lightbulb turned on in his mind. "Hey, I do have something!"

"OH?! Whew, that almost made my heart jump... anyways, please explain."

Vent gave her an apologetic smile at first, before it dropped into a thoughtful frown as he gazed to the ground. His eyes shone with pondering thought as he spoke. "Kaneki got his hybrid powers when his body had Ghoul Organs transplanted into them. According to official reports, he was stabbed through the abdomen when a Ghoul attacked him, clean through. That must mean that he had lost the entirety of his stomach and other surrounding organs upon receiving that injury. Ghouls must not have stomachs that digest human foods, just their Kakuhou, which explains why they can't eat it without throwing it back up. They literally don't have anywhere for it to go. Thus, when he had the organs transplanted into him, he had a Ghoul stomach and Kakuhou instead of a normal human stomach."

The male remembered what he knew of Ghouls, of how they possessed enzymes that made food 'taste bad'. That didn't mean these enzymes forced them to regurgitate. That was more of a reflex action, so that meant they must not have had proper stomachs, only large Kakuhou sacs. It says that Ghouls looked identical to humans save for mentality, diet and, the most important one here 'inner biology'. That was never really elaborated much there, so it stood to question that Ghouls didn't have the same 'stomachs' that humans did.

"I see... in that case, then that might shed some light on your situation." Histoire mused thoughtfully. "You didn't lose your stomach or any important digestive organs, yet you have a Kakuhou in your system, maybe more since you have more than one Kagune type. This Kakuhou must have been altered somehow so that it could convert what you eat into RC Cells to power the Kagune."

'True, that makes it sound like the Quinx's Kakuhous and how it was coated in Quinque steel. But, I can use its full power and live normally, so how...' he thought, before looking up at the Oracle. "I have a hunch, but could you make it so only the Kakuhou and surrounding organs are shown?" he requested of her.

Histoire nodded as she made a few inputs on the pad. The outer layer of Polygons all but vanished from existence, leaving the organs behind. Vent's eyes narrowed as he leaned forwards, looking at the Kakuhou intently. He noticed that it sprouted its own pathways that ran through the rest of the body, spiralling like thin weeds around his blood pathways, as well as connected to his organs. His eyes widened when he saw this. "Huh... Now that I think about it, when I eat things like bread and fruit, I don't get as much of a taste from them as I would when eating cooked meat foods." he mused. "Maybe the Kakuhou takes the meatier foods and drains them to make RC cells from them. Everything else remains untouched."

Also, Vent noticed something else, something about the Kakuhou. "Huh, Histoire can you focus the projection only on the Kakuhou?" he questioned, and she complied. Soon, he was only looking at the Kakuhou itself along with its weed-like pathways. When he looked at it, Vent noticed this thin red layer over it, a layer that looked more like a spongy membrane or something. "That's...!"

"Oh? Scientists noticed this as well." Histoire noted as she too observed the layer. "They say that layer acts as a limiter for specific Enzymes, keeping some within the Kakuhou while others were allowed to run freely. Its almost like a security system, letting some cells in and out, but not others. The ones that would normally make eating human food impossible remain inside the Kakuhou to deal with the cells inside the cooked meaty foods, while the rest are allowed outside into the rest of the body." she mused, remembering the report the Scientists gave her.

Taking a moment, Vent pondered this information. He read on how some Ghouls can be considered 'irregulars' based on their Kagune types and specifications. So, could it also be possible that their very biology could be changed? Could be different from the norm? He remembered how Ayato Kirishima was an Ukaku, yet he suffered none of the drawbacks thanks to his training.

In the end, Vent guessed that his powers were like a mix, a mix between Ghoul and Quinx. The sheer power that the Ghouls possess, along with the control Quinx's had in place to keep them living normal lives.

Standing up from the bed, the teenage Hybrid gave a thankful smile to the Oracle, who shut the projection down. "Thank you once again for helping me with this, Histoire. I may not know how I became a Hybrid, but this has shed some light on the situation." he told her, bowing his head to her.

"Please, think nothing of it, young man." Histoire replied, smiling like an affectionate mother as she floated over to him, dispersing the pad back into her Inventory. Once again, she found herself deeply appreciating the fact that she had an Inventory to store large items, otherwise her arms would be aching constantly from the strain she put them under. "Now, I do believe that you need to return to the others. I hope IF will not be too mad at me for keeping you."

Vent could only chuckle at the thought, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, better not keep her waiting. Well, see you later, Histoire."


After bidding farewell to Histoire who went off to get some work done, the party began to head towards the exit of the Basilicom to the outside. That is, until a text arrived on Compa's phone. "Huh? What's this?" she wondered, taking her Phone out and looking up the message. Almost instantly after her eyes read the message they widened with unrestrained glee as she turned to the others, "Everyone, please listen up." She called to them making the group pause their strides to turn to her, curiosity on what she had gotten so excited about. "I'm now a fully licenced Nurse Practitioner!"

Everyone gasped at the news, even Vent was surprised. He knew that the Nurse-In-Train-no, Nurse now, had taken the medical graduation exam earlier on, but he didn't expect her to pass so soon. Not to discredit her skills or anything but he figured with ASIC breathing down people's necks the Schools would have had a harder and longer time deciding who to pass and who to fail. Looked like he was wrong on that one, surprisingly enough.

Nevertheless, he was overjoyed just like everyone else as they all walked up to the newly recognised Nurse and began congratulating her in their own ways. Nepgear gave a wave of her arms before hugging the nurse, who eagerly recuperated with a girly squeal, the two jumping up and down like a pair of crazed high schoolers being accepted to a ball. IF punched Compa on the arm in a non-lethal manner while smirking and giving her some congratulations, and Vent put a hand on her shoulder and smiled happily for her, telling her of how great an accomplishment it was.

"Golly, congratulations!" Nepgear chirped with joy. It was always nice to hear your friends were doing well, especially in times like these. "You were just an intern when we first met, right?" she questioned, trying to think back to the time when she first met Compa when she had been introduced by her over-excitable older sister.

Compa giggled at Nepgear's response, nodding her head so fast that she looked like she would lose her head in a few seconds, "tee-hee! While you were away, I was studying my bum off." She explained.

The male of the group nodded his head in agreement, crossing his arms under his chest with an amused smirk on his face, "yeah, I can support her on that one. One time when we came back from a Quest Compa took me to her room to look over an injury that took the rest of the day to heal over. I saw stacks upon stacks of revision notes on her Desk, so many that I thought her entire Desk was being swarmed by paper monsters." The male then shivered slightly, remembering how many pieces of paper Compa had on that desk. It was enough to give people who did paperwork living nightmares for eternity.

Nepgear chuckled weakly at that, she could imagine just what Vent was saying quite clearly, having known Compa's drive much longer than he did. "I see… 3 years is a long time." She remarked sadly. How much of her friends' lives had she missed out on? She was almost scared of the answer. Then, she realised something that the others did too, save for Compa. "But then, won't that mean that you'll need to work in a hospital?"

"Oh don't sweat the small stuff." Compa said dismissively with a wave. "Let's just say they let me put in all my vacation hours, okay?" she ended cheerily while Vent raised an eyebrow in concern at that, 'that doesn't sound like a good thing…'

It seemed that Nepgear was on the same wavelength as him as well, considering her response. "If you take too long of a vacation, won't they fire you…?"

Seemed that Compa wasn't afraid of being fired at all judging by her nonchalance about the issue. "If that happens I'll work in a free clinic or something!" she replied, before continuing, "More importantly, if I'm gone who else will take care of you and iffy when you get covered in bruises? Or when Ven-Ven needs longer times to heal from his owwies?"

That made them think, to be honest. Compa was their medic, where else would they find one if she was gone? Nepgear was touched though, not really thinking about that ominous stuff. "Compa… you're so nice to us! Thank you for everything!" she thanked her with a bow. Vent had to agree with her, minus the bowing bit since he didn't bow to anyone. It was rare that they get someone like Compa on their team, someone who as willing to help them with nothing in return.

"No problem!" Compa replied happily as she clasped her hands together, "you can get knocked silly all you want, because I'm here to bandage you up!"

At that statement, a wave of awkward tension swept over the group, its speaker hopelessly oblivious to it. Nepgear laughed weakly at her friend, "Hahaha… now it sounds like you enjoy it when we're injured…" she muttered with Vent and IF agreeing. They decided to just ignore it for now and focus on their mission, leaving soon after.


The party travelled over to Lastation via train, one that went underground as to avoid the territory of the dangerous monsters above on the surface. The train ride took about 3 hours, and had to stop at several checkpoints to run scans for any signs of unwanted passengers. Vent and the others didn't mind though, they could understand that the security measures were needed since ASIC fanatics tended to raid trains for supplies and sometimes recruit followers.

They finally arrived at the Land of Black Regality, Lastation, and the first thing Vent compared it to was the industrial revolution. It was completely unlike Planeptune in that its skies were cloudy, and there were lots of factories about. The Buildings were tall and looked well maintained, as if the cleaners found even the slightest mark on the buildings to be an affront to their job. They were coloured black with various Golden outlines as well as specs of silvery white here and there, giving them posh looks. Vent could see why it would be called the land of Black Regality now, especially when he saw how different the people here were.

Unlike Planeptune's citizens who often wore informal clothing when walking the streets, Vent saw here that the people wore more formal getups like business suits, dress shirts, pants, shoes etc. The only signs of informality would be the parents who were taking their kids somewhere to play, but even then they were on their phones while their children had handheld Consoles. The entire atmosphere was a complete contrast to that of Planeptune.

The male hadn't been to the other Nations before, remaining in Planeptune had been his routine since he had to help IF and Compa with their efforts to hinder ASIC's influence. This would count as his first visit to another Nation, and already he could see the resemblance it had to his world's industrial era. Although his Ghoul eyesight could pick out various mechanisms on the factories that seemed to be filtering out the harmful gases to reduce pollution in the Nation's skies, which separated it from his world's industrial era.

Meanwhile, a certain pinkette had a very different reaction to the sight of this Nation.

"Wow…! Lastation is chock full of nifty gadgets and Machines…!" an elated Nepgear exclaimed as she jogged over to the viewing window of what looked to be a hardware store. She placed her face on the window and eyed everything inside.

'Huh… looks like someone's a machine nut…' Vent thought to himself, it was always interesting learning about the quirks of the girls he travelled with; it made things… interesting to watch. However, sometimes he couldn't help but get caught up in their antics himself, much to his chagrin.

Compa walked over to her while tapping her on the shoulder, getting the awestruck pinkette's attention once more, "is this your first time here, Ge-Ge?" she asked her. Now that she thought about it, Compa didn't know if her sister ever let Nepgear out into the other nations, she usually stayed within Planeptune's boundaries being focused more on tinkering than anything else.

Looking over to her friend, Nepgear nodded in confirmation, "Yes, but I've heard stories from Neptune about it. She would bring me baggies of Gears sometimes…" she explained. And then the three became witness to the girls' eyes literally filling up with tiny stars of admiration, several floating about her head. "Oooh, this place looks like so much fun for tinkering…! It'd be great if we could look around a bit…"

'Whoa, what the heck?!' Vent shouted in his mind while doing a double take. He was taken aback by how much Nepgear seemed to like machines… as well as the display made before him. He hadn't seen this before from her, it looked like she had shown a new side to her she hadn't shown before. He wasn't so sure she should be indulging in this right now however, they DIDN'T come here to sightsee, even though it was the first time he had come here too.

Thankfully, IF intervened before things got out of hand. "Cool your jets." She chided the girl, whose expression returned to normal. By normal, her yes returned to what they were before and the stars vanished. "We have more important things to deal with right now." IF said while glancing towards a direction that led deeper into the city.

"Y-Yeah, your right." Nepgear stuttered as she finished snapping out of her excitement, although a small presence was still in her eyes, "we have to do our best otherwise Lastation would be in danger… Must. Not. Window Shop." She muttered that to herself over and over, as if it were the only thing stopping her from shoplifting the entirety of the hardware market.

'wow, I don't know if Nepgear will be able to hold herself back at this rate… we better get moving soon…' Vent thought to himself, 'although, this desire to tinker might prove useful in the future… hmmm, Ideas, Ideas…' plans and thoughts circled his mind, revolving around this new bit of information.

Before he could think further on that topic, Compa turned to her brunette friend and decided to change the subject. Good thing too, otherwise those two would be lost in thought for hours. "Iffy, do you know of any leads?" she asked, breaking the two from their musings.

They all looked to IF expectantly, who pointed to a tall building that looked similar to the Guild Building back in Planeptune. "Well, we should head to the Guild first. We can gather intel and take Quests to recover the Shares here, too." She explained to them her idea. It was a good one, gathering information was basically the bread and butter of any operation on foreign soil. One had to get the lay of the land, sort to speak, if they wanted to avoid any hiccups.

'Still though… why do I get the feeling that IF is avoiding the subject of the Basilicom…?' Vent wondered. It didn't make sense really. When she spoke, Vent had noticed that her eyebrow was twitching oddly and she seemed rather… hesitant to him. It wasn't enough for the girls to notice, but Vent had been in the vigilante business for enough time to tell when someone was deliberately avoiding a certain topic.

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts from his mind, Vent looked to the others and spoke his opinion, "well that does sound solid. We can check with the locals to see what ASIC has been up to here. This is a different nation after all, they could have a stronger grip here than in Planeptune."

The others nodded in agreement with the male's reasoning, before they headed off to the Lastation Guild. Just after they left though, a feminine figure walked to the entrance to the station, a figure who had come here for a specific reason. "Hmmm… shoot looks like I missed her. I heard from HER that one of THEM was coming today from Planeptune… and I really wanted to meet her, too… not that I care or anything, I just wanted to check the competition, that's all!" the figure ranted to herself, huffing while crossing her arms. She then turned on her feet before taking off somewhere else.


Things seemed to be worse here than in Planeptune, Vent noticed, as did the others.

While walking to the Guild (and stopping Nepgear a few times from trying to raid a hardware store… or two…), they had seen more stands that advertised ASIC products as well as members themselves preaching their beliefs to gather followers. This wasn't the case back in Nepgear's Nation, since Histoire always made sure to crack down on such practices to the point where they had to resort to black market dealings to try and get through Planeptune's defences.

When they finally arrived at the Lastation Guild, they saw a lot less Adventurers and Agents in the Guild Hall. Several counters didn't have a Clerk on them, with signs that said 'closed for indefinite hiatus'. This didn't look good, not at all especially with the scents Vent was getting, scents that belonged to ASIC. He'd smelled them enough to get the ability to tell them apart from normal folk.

"Not much foot traffic, today…" Compa remarked with a frown, looking around the area and eyeing the lack of activity. The Party walked further in towards the few counters that were available, intent on getting started with their task.

IF nodded in agreement, "This must mean that this place is pretty firmly under ASIC's control…. Hmmm, hope we can get legit Intel." She mused in a worried manner, although the male's instincts told him that there was more to her worry than she was letting on. He didn't call her out on it though, since he would only do so if it threatened the safety of their party.

Then again, their lack of ability to get information would be a big cause for concern…

While they were in their own thoughts, Nepgear got an idea as she looked at the Counter. "Oh, while you guys go ahead and gather information, allow me to go and accept a few quests." She suggested, pointing to the Counter.

The three others glanced at each other, as if sharing a conversation with their eyes, before nodding in union. "Alright," IF said, before gesturing to Vent suddenly, "Vent you go with her, make sure she doesn't do anything too reckless." She told him, "we don't want her getting herself killed like that one time when we tried taking on an Exiled Force." She shivered, remembering that particular Quest, as did the others. Nodding at that, the two separated from Compa and IF who went to see if they could find any info on the whereabouts of the Mascot.

The two made their way to the counter, the clerk being a woman wearing a formal black uniform with golden highlights. It was Nepgear who spoke first since this was her idea in the first place. "Excuse me? I'd like to see what quests are available." She requested. The Clerk nodded without much thought and made to bring up the quests that were available, when…

"Excuse me, I'd like to see what Quests are available." Another girl walked up to the Counter, having not noticed them until now. Both the girl and Nepgear looked at each other strangely, their eyes filled with confusion and surprise at the surprise meeting while Vent analysed the girl with scrutiny.

"Huh/Hmm?"

She seemed to be a light skinned girl with long jet black hair, some areas looking like they were almost dark blue, with most of it worn down reaching her chest, with some of it worn in pigtails held with light blue and black ribbons. Her eyes were a crimson red, reminding both of them of Vent's Kakugan without the black sclera and the red veins, but were darker in comparison.

The girl seemed to have black, milky blue, and white/silver as her colours of choice when they noticed her outfit. She was wearing a black dress with milky blue lining, an odd belt like piece with a bow behind it and a big circle with white lining connecting the dress to her collar. She wore long fingerless black gloves with milky blue colouring at the top and similar short boots. On the left side there was a small device that they both assumed to most likely be a cell phone of some kind.

'… Why does she have such an important item for daily use exposed like that? Does she have a glass container around it? Doesn't seem so…' Vent wondered with a frown, this girl either had high confidence that she wouldn't be robbed of her phone or she was just plain stupid. He would reserve his judgement till later though, it would be rude to just judge a book by its cover, as cliché as it sounded. It was still an important life lesson though, just like how if one was too arrogant then they would fall on the battlefield one day.

Meanwhile, Nepgear was thinking something about the girl as well, 'She looks to be about my age… should such a young human girl really take on such dangerous work?' she wondered while assessing the girl before her. She didn't look like she had any weapon, either, but perhaps she just stored it in her Inventory like the usual Gamindustri citizen would.

While the two were observing her, the girl seemed to be hiding the fact that she was doing the same to them. 'Huh…? Why's a kid my age going about doing Guild work? Is she stupid or something? This kind of work's too much for a normal human…' she thought to herself when looking Nepgear up and down. 'she would be mincemeat for the lowest monsters out there.'

Her gaze shifted over to the male beside her, and immediately the girl felt a chill go up her spine. 'This guy though… something feels off about him. Usually guys would be seen as weak or useless since this is a franchise about girls fighting to save the world… big sister always regarded men with a low opinion, but… this one gives the vibe of someone whose seen lots of fighting…' she thought before glancing at his hand, noticing the ring on his index finger. The sight of it gave her the chills even more so, she didn't know what the heck it was, but something about that Ring told her that it was very dangerous and would likely be too much for her to handle. 'Pft, as if. That human boy won't likely be able to do much. Heh, they seem almost like they were made for each other…'

Eventually, the three went and started a conversation with the black haired girl going first, "you're here to do quests, too?" she asked with a warm smile. Always good to make a first impression, her sister always said. It was the best thing one could do when in a first meeting. 'I'll lay the ground work first; see how they react…'

"H-Huh? Me? Y-yes, that's right." Nepgear stuttered, she had been caught off guard by the sudden question as she had been too busy with her own thoughts about the girl before them. 'Okie dokie Nepgear, make sure you don't make a fool of yourself, you're in a new Nation after all. Just think of it as a prequel to talking to those salesmen at the hardware stores.'

The black haired girl regarded the pinkette with a slight arrogant and disbelieving gaze, which made Vent's eyes narrow as he resisted the urge to show his Kakugan. 'she doesn't believe in Nepgear's ability… well her response would likely be considered weak since the language of a Guild Agent is more composed and stern, like a soldier who's seen a lot of battle…' he thought to himself to help curb stomp his sudden burst of rage.

Unaware of the male's musings and his efforts, the black haired girl spoke again, "Huh. Are you sure about this? I mean, your still just a kid." She commented with an evaluating eyebrow raise. 'The way she responded clearly indicates she's either a rookie in way over their head or someone whose socially awkward… now let's see how that guy responds.' She thought while glancing at him, "and you're a guy, and guys aren't usually into this kind of work."

'Finally, time to step in.' Vent thought to himself while answering the girl's silent question of why he was here with Nepgear, "what I chose to do as a profession shouldn't be any of your concern, Mrs." He spoke with calmness and a calculative gleam in his eye as he regarded her just like how she did with Nepgear. "Also you seem to be engaging in a bit of hypocrisy yourself, calling my comrade ere a child when you are but one yourself." He finished his sentence with a sense of satisfaction, 'yep, that'll show her how I mean business…' he thought with a mental smirk.

Nepgear frowned as she caught the hidden meanings both of the other participants in this conversation seemed to be sporting. "H-He's right you know, you're just a kid too…!" she defended herself while trying not to raise her voice. She didn't want to make the person before them hate her or something, that may prove bad in their plans of getting Lastation's shares. If this girl didn't like her she would likely go to ASIC.

Momentarily taken aback by their individual responses, the black haired girl soon regained her composure, 'looks like these two have some bite to them. I better back off on that while I still can…' she thought while giving a cocky smirk and raising her head, "I'm an exceptional exception. You have no idea how tough I am." Her dominating demeanour, which had formed from her first sentence, began to drop into a more sombre one as she looked to the side, her eyes becoming downcast, "but I need to get stronger, so…"

"So you can…?"

"Uh, why are you two looking for a quest here, anyways?"

'Hmmm, I sense that she has some emotional baggage, which is the main cause of her arrogance earlier…' Vent noted in his mind. When he looked at her again, his eyes momentarily widened when her scent whiffed into his nostrils. 'This smell… its coming from the girl, but… it is starkly similar to Nepgear. It reminds me of something divine like a Goddess, so could this girl be… Now don't make too many assumptions Vent. Wait until you see her fight.' The male teen chided himself.

Nepgear answered the girl's question in a passionate manner, which seemed to row as she spoke, "I want to regain Shares from ASIC, and to help the CPUs…" the spoke it in a manner that depicted how strongly she felt about her goal. It was natural, after all one of them was her sister.

Hearing this, the blackette's demeanour also changed… but not for the better. Her eyes narrowed into a sharp stare, as if it could pierce someone's very soul just by being on the girl's face somehow. "Wow, aren't you serious?" she commented with sarcasm in her tone. "That speech makes you seem like a goody-two-shoes honour student…"

… Okay, it was getting WAY harder for Vent to keep his cool. 'And that comment makes you sound like someone who doesn't have any friends.' Vent thought with anger, clenching his fists to hold himself back. Fortunately, Nepgear didn't act like her usual timid self and defended herself by responding hotly, "Wh-what the goodness is wrong about being serious for a serious problem?" she asked her with mild annoyance and disbelief that someone would demean her ideals like that.

Momentarily, the blackette appeared taken aback again, and the trio had a silent Mexican staredown. There was a thick tension blanketing the area around them, so thick one could cut it with a blade. It was like when one walked into a bar, a bar filled with nasty-looking men wearing war paint. their eyes all on you as you go to the Bar's counter, to order a drink. One false move and they would be on you like bloodhounds.

This lasted for a few seconds, and looked like it would result in a brawl… "Hahahaha!" the girl bent over while laughing, holding her stomach with her arms. This caught both Nepgear and Vent off guard, they didn't expect her reaction to be like… that. In their minds, they were picturing her reaction to be a bit more… physical, and violent too, can't forget about the violence. "Sorry, sorry. I haven't talked to anyone my age in a while." The girl apologised as she attempted to regain her composure. Once she had calmed down, the girl removed her hands from her stomach and let them fall to her side once more.

'Huh… interesting, that sounds almost like Nepgear.' Vent thought to himself while remembering how Nepgear was raised solely in Planeptune with little exposure to the other nations. This made his hunch slightly more solid than before, he just needed some more evidence…

While he was thinking this, Planeptune's CPU Candidate calmed down as well, adopting an understanding expression as she placed a hand on her chest, sighing in relief that she hadn't made an enemy. 'Oh good, she doesn't hate me...' she thought to herself. Her eyes then blinked as a revelation came to her, "Come to think of it, this is the first time for… No, I've never met a girl my age before. Everyone's older than me."

The blackette blinked at the response Nepgear said, fining it to be a little strange. Though Vent noticed a spark of kinship flash through her eyes before it vanished. "Uh huh… well, my name is Uni. What's yours?"

'Uni… that's Uni, huh?' Vent thought as he analysed the girl before them once more. He idly glanced at the clerk whom had resumed her work with mild irritation, knowing that she had been left out of the conversation. His gaze then returned to the one that had almost started a fight with them, a fight that would have been disastrous for a couple reasons. One of them was that she had likely never seen how he fought before, nor his Ghoul side when it was unleashed on her ass. In addition, a fight between them would have ruined the Basilicom for an indefinite amount of time which would have negatively impacted their plans to find Lastation's Mascot, as well as their presence in the eyes of the people.

As usual, Vent neglected to inform anyone of what he was thinking, thus the conversation between the two girls went unhindered. Nepgear smiled while closing her eyes, "I'm Nepgear. I hope we can be friends, Uni." She said, happy to have made a new friend, and in a foreign nation no less. The two shook hands in a gesture of greetings. Images of them doing stuff together floated around her mind, like shopping, games, fighting monsters etc…

Glancing to the male of the trio, Uni repeated her question to him, "and what about you mister? You got a name too or are you just an NPC?" she asked him curiously, tilting her head in a manner that was almost like Compa's. In hr mind, she added, 'if this guy's actually relevant he'll have a name right? He didn't partake much in the conversation, just kept to himself and let Nepgear do the talking. Either he's a weak guy who lets girls do all the work, or unlike the rest he's actually part of the main cast.'

Vent noticed her gaze and quickly deduced that she was belittling him in her mind, much to his anger. However, the male quashed it in favour of responding to her question, "The name's Vent, Mrs Uni." He replied evenly, and then his eyes narrowed as he continued with a slight edge to his tone, "and believe you me, I'm NOT an NPC, I actually have a role to play." While he could understand why she was sceptical of him, since males in Gamindustri were either evil or useless, it still didn't sit well with him that they added someone like him to that list. Seriously, did he really look that weak?!

His tone caught her by surprise, and she grimaced, realising that she had insulted him just now, "r-right, sorry about that. Vent Huh? An… intriguing name." Uni commented, putting a finger on her chin thoughtfully, "well, it's not the weirdest name I've heard out there. Anyways, it's nice to meet you, Vent." She raised and extended a hand for a handshake, to which Vent gave a nod and shook it back, better play it safe tad show some respect since she was trying to do so on her end.

In her mind, Uni regarded these two thoughtfully. It seemed that they did have some experience in combat judging from their posture, more on Vent's side than Nepgear but since she was with him in taking quests then she had to know how to fight. She still didn't think that Vent was anything much but from what she did see he seemed to be the genuine article. There was only one way to be sure of that, and she guessed Nepgear would be helpful too, plus she had to get these quests done for Lastation so it was three for one.

"Anyways, now that we have become acquainted now, do you guys fancy teaming up to complete a quest together?" Uni offered them, a sense of eagerness on her face. Despite her thoughts, Uni hadn't had anyone to quest with before, either because they were too weak or 'certain people' were overprotective of her. So having the chance to do so now sounded… fun.

Her question made Nepgear blink several times like an owl, before she asked with uncertainty, "You mean… You, Vent and me?" she had started poking her index fingers, unsure if she had heard it right. Nobody had asked her to join them on a Quest before, as like she said at the beginning, she had never met anyone her own age before. Thus, she had never been invited into a party, this time was a special exception to that rule thanks to the circumstances of the world right now.

"Yea." Uni responded with a nod, before looking down as she raised her right hand to her face. Memories played through her mind as she continued, "I always do this stuff done alone, so I think it would be a good change of pace to try working with someone else." She explained, while internally she added 'Maybe then I may get even stronger than I do when I fight alone. Maybe then I'll be good enough… to rescue HER…'

It didn't take long for a response to be given as Nepgear's smile was practically beaming with joy, this being her first experience being invited to a quest. "Okay, yeah! That sounds like fun. Let's go together!" she cheered while raising her arms into the air. Afterwards the two girls went to the quest counter together in order to get the quests they would need.

Meanwhile, Vent eyed Uni with caution and suspicion. He didn't think she was a bad person per say, perhaps a tad arrogant and maybe a bit of someone who usually hid her feelings away out of embarrassment, but she also had several similarities to Nepgear. Both carried themselves like socially awkward teenage girls growing up sheltered from the world by someone who had been watching over them. Both were of the same age, and both liked going on quests to fight monsters, although Nepgear did it more because of it being a necessity to help save her sister and the other CPUs.

What made him cautious was the fact that with these similarities to Nepgear, it made his theory about her even more solid in his mind. And if she was who he thought she was, then the outcome of this quest… may not be as favourable as they would have hoped. 'I've seen a few people back in my world who hide their feelings with anger and violence. They had the name Tsundere for some reason, but if Uni is who I think she is and she discovers Nepgear's true identity… things will not turn out well. I'll have to make preparations before that happens so I can repair at least some of the damage. Oh, and I should also give IF and Compa a text so that they know where to meet us for the Quests.'

Just after he thought that the two girls came back to where he was standing, having completed their tasks of getting the quests available. They both held identical smiles showing how excited they were for the jobs ahead of them. "We got the quests!" Nepgear said as Uni nodded.

"Looked like we lucked out, they're in the Rebeat Resort. Luckily for you guys," Vent witnessed the superior attitude displayed commonly by those who were called Tsunderes as she held her hands on her hips while puffing her chest out with a cocky smirk, "I know the way. Am I awesome, or what?"

Vent didn't respond while Nepgear sheepishly adhered to Uni's question, the male mentioned being focused on the task of informing IF and Compa where they would be going. "We should get going as soon as possible then. These quests aren't going to do themselves." He told them while pocketing his phone after receiving a message from the girls. They said that they would meet them there since IF had gotten a map of the Nation and its dungeons. They'd be fine, he assured himself, they knew what they were doing and had been doing it more than he ever had.