"W-What is the meaning of this!?"
Low shares were the bane of every CPU's existence. It meant a multitude of things: they weren't doing a good enough job, they're new consoles had been lackluster, they failed to meet the needs of their people, and so on. It meant they needed to improve, or it would have dire consequences.
But, when Vert had woken up and had seen that her shares were in the single digits (and it was the last thing she ever wanted to wake up to), she couldn't understand what had happened.
"The last time my Shares were this low was because of the incident with Underling, but... I-I had made up for that..." Vert stared at the chart in disbelief. Leanbox was feebly at the bottom, while the other Nations were resting comfortably with significant Share values. Even Planeptune, who was (formerly) the lowest, sat at a 25% Share value.
Leanbox? They had 5%.
Why!?
"W-What have I done wrong...?" Vert moaned, placing her head in her hands. Already, she was feeling weak. "The Leanbox One is doing fairly well, my people have looked past the Underling incident, I have done the best I can... What has caused this drastic decrease!?" Vert felt like crying.
"Dearest?" A concerned Chika walked in, noticing Vert's distress. "What's wrong?"
"Take a look, Chika..." Vert sighed miserably, and handed her the Share chart.
Chika looked it over, and her eyes went wide. "W-What...!?"
Vert grimaced. "Leanbox is at an all time low..."
Chika paled. "W-Why...?"
"I have no idea..." Vert leaned onto her desk for support. "B-But I am feeling very weak..."
"Darling!" Chika supported the weary CPU immediately. "Y-You need to rest...!"
"B-But our Shares...!"
"I will find out the issue in time, right now, you are in no condition to work, not until you adjust!"
Vert frowned. She wanted to get Leanbox's Shares back up as soon as possible, but there was no way to sway Chika once her health became an issue. She had to give in for now. "A-Alright..."
Chika relaxed. "Thank you."
On the way to her room, Vert had noticed that the Basilicom was oddly... quiet. "Chika..., where is Verna?" She started looking around.
"Cave picked her up this morning. She and 5pb decided to celebrate her new-found relationship with Rom via pizza party. They're so young and innocent together, don't you think~?"
Vert smiled. "Why yes, I am elated as ever to see Verna's bond with Rom develop like this~! Also, it is very gracious of Cave and 5pb to take her out!" Vert herself was grateful, for the last thing she wanted was to have Verna worry over her as well. Right now, she needed to rest.
"Would you like me to give you a massage, darling~?"
Vert just sighed. "As I've said before, do not go into actions too mature for the story, Chika..."
"No promises~."
Vert sighed again.
"Hm, this is... troublesome."
Cave had spent the better part of her day with Verna, which always served to swell her heart. The warrior normally never did things like this, if ever, but when she heard Verna had risen over her heartbreak... Cave felt it was a must. Right now, they were at a Cheese-O-Chucks, where Verna was having fun playing with Rom and a few other kids. Rom also had her own chaperone in her older sister, Blanc, though she mostly kept to herself with a book, since this place was noisy and smelled of artificial cheese. All in all, it had been a good time.
Had been a good time, because Cave had just received a message from IF on her phone, which displayed the current Share chart. Following that was a text.
"Things went from zero to a hundred real freaking quick. You know what's going on? 'Cause I sure as hell don't."
Wide-eyed, Cave responded with "I do not." and continued to stare at the chart. Planeptune had never even gotten this low before. "Things are looking dire..." Cave was more than a little worried, of course. Leanbox's Shares had decreased so fast in such little time. "What has caused this sudden decrease!?"
"Miss Cave...?" Verna walked up, wearing a balloon hat and eating pizza, looking a little concerned. "Are you okay? You look upset..."
Cave sighed, briefly putting the phone away offering the little girl a smile. There was no need to spoil the good mood for her, after all. "I am fine, little one. I was just... surprised by something, that's all."
"O-Okay..." Verna felt something was off. Cave ruffled her hair.
"Go, play with the other kids..." Cave glanced over to the mascot, who was currently getting beaten by said children. "O-Or you could take a break and eat. You're choice..." She sweatdropped.
Verna only nodded, and sat herself a few seats away from Cave, munching on her pizza and downing it with her soda. Cave was happy the little Candidate had some common sense.
"Cave..." 5pb walked up then, who had some pepperoni in her hair. "I don't like this place very much..."
Cave chuckled, and pulled the offending food out of the idol's hair. "It makes Verna happy, and that is enough for me. Who cares if the pizza is below average and the prices are unreasonably high?"
5pb giggled, sitting herself on Cave's lap. "You should see their slogan. Where a kid can be a kid... for the right price."
Cave chuckled dryly. "Figures..." She looked back towards Verna, smiling fondly as she appeared to be having a balloon sword fight with Rom. "It is worth it though, for Verna's happiness..."
"Yeah..." Lyrica suddenly looked solemn. "I-I got a message from IF..."
Cave grimaced. "Is it about the Share situation?"
"Y-Yes..." 5pb showed her the message. "I-I don't know what's going on, L-Leanbox was just fine a few days ago!"
"Hm..." Ring. At that moment, Cave got a text back from IF.
"I figured... I'm looking into the situation right now, planning on visiting Lady Vert later. Something's up, I just know it."
Cave found herself agreeing with IF. Parting with a simple "I wish you luck.", Cave put her phone away, silently worrying over this new sudden predicament.
"This happened so suddenly..." 5pb was in disbelief. "H-How did this happen? Lady Vert didn't do anything wrong...!"
"I don't know..." Cave wrapped her arm around the idol's waist. "I do know that this simply did not happen on its own. Something is out of place, as IF suspects."
"Y-You think someone is behind this?"
"Most likely, but this can't possibly be the work of a single person..." Cave was still in the dark about this whole situation, as was everyone else. "We won't throw that possibility out the window, however. IF is looking into it as we speak."
"I-I hope she finds something..." 5pb rested her head on Cave's shoulder. "T-This whole thing is scary..."
"I know..." Cave offered her comfort, but the truth was, she was scared as well. Leanbox was suffering, and there was no doubt Vert had already been affected by this. She wondered what the CPU was doing to fix this, but Cave could only hope it would be fixed quickly.
The fact that she and 5pb, IF included, were Leanbox natives was even more terrifying. This was their home. If Leanbox fell... Cave didn't even want to think about that.
Ring. Cave received another text from IF.
"I found something. You might wanna join me on that visit. This looks serious..."
"I will be right there." Cave responded back.
"W-What is it...?" asked 5pb.
"It seems we have to cut our celebration short, Lyrica. IF has found something, and we shall meet her at Leanbox's Basilicom."
The idol shot up immediately. "L-Let's go then!"
Cave nodded. "Verna!"
The little girl, who had been playing with Rom, ran up to Cave. "Y-Yeah?"
"We have to go back home now, little one."
Verna's face fell. "Aw, but we just got here!"
"So we have..." They had only been here for half an hour. Cave felt bad. "But something serious has happened. We need to get home at once, your sister is in trouble."
When Cave pulled the Vert card, Verna forgot all about the party. "W-What's wrong with sis!?" She was instantly worried.
"I will tell you on the way back. Let us go for now." Verna nodded.
"V-Verna, what's going on...?" Rom came up to her.
"I gotta go, Rom. Something bad is going on..." Verna was still worried.
"S-Something bad...!?" Rom shared her worry. "W-What's wrong...?"
"I dunno..." Verna answered truthfully. "I just know that sis is in trouble, s-so I gotta go..."
"Oh no..." Rom gave her a hug. "I-I hope things work out, whatever happened..."
"M-Me too, I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, Blanc was getting ready to leave anyway..." Rom looked towards her older sister, who was half covered in cheese and pepperoni and ready to blow. Ram was doodling on the table. "W-We gotta leave before there's casualties..."
Verna giggled. "I-I'll see you later..."
"Bye, Verna..." Rom gave her a kiss on the cheek, making Verna blush.
"B-Bye, Rom..."
Meanwhile...
"M-MAGES.?"
5pb was certainly surprised to see her younger sister... wearing a mouse mascot costume.
"... It is not my most proudest moment..." The costume was covered in cheese, grease and crayon, and may have been stuck to the floor thanks to drying soda.
"U-Uh..." The idol had no words.
"Don't ask, the pay is better than you would expect."
"R-Right..."
"Would you like to accompany us, MAGES.?" asked Cave. "We are going to Leanbox's Basilicom in a moment's notice."
"I would love to, but what is the occasion?"
Cave went over the Share situation with MAGES., whose eyes were as wide as saucers when she learned how dire the situation was.
"I see..." MAGES. slipped out of her costume. Literally, she still had her outfit on underneath. "It is my break anyway, I will come and help however I can."
"Thank you..." Cave motioned for Verna to come, and the little Candidate stayed by the redhead's side. She looked scared.
"Don't be afraid, little one..." Cave tousled her hair. "Your sister will be fine."
"A-Are you sure?" Verna sniffled.
"Yes." Cave wanted to be sure, but in reality she didn't know. And it frustrated her.
"sniffle..." She didn't want to upset Verna though, due to her current state of emotion and love towards Vert.
"Don't cry, Verna..." Cave bent down and wiped her tears away. "Please."
"Mm..." Verna hugged Cave's leg, terribly afraid over what could have happened to her sister. Cave gave her a comforting hug.
"Shall we depart?" MAGES. asked, retrieving her hat.
"Yes." Cave said simply, and the group of Leanboxians left the disastrous pizzeria and headed to the Basilicom. On the way, they ran into IF herself, looking distressed.
"How bad?" asked Cave.
"Severely..." IF had a grim look as she showed the Share chart. Leanbox's Shares were gradually decreasing. Right now, the nation was at 4%, and things weren't looking any better. "This is a new low for Leanbox. Not even Planeptune has gotten this low before." She bit her nails.
"You said you had something?" asked MAGES.
"Yeah, as it turns out..." IF pulled her phone out. "There've been some pretty nasty rumors spreading around."
"What!?" Cave looked at the phone, downright appalled at some of the derogatory rumors against Vert. She was disgusted.
"How can anyone believe this!?" 5pb was aghast. "M-Most of these are disrespectful, a-and outright not true!"
"Large-breasted harlot, idiotic bimbo..." MAGES. read over some of the comments. "Even... u-unflattering pictures..." The Mage blushed. "H-How did this person even acquire these!?"
"I don't know..." IF sighed. "Whoever posted these must really have it out for Lady Vert, and people are believing this guy! Ugh!" She slumped forward. "We gotta fix this, fast."
Verna heard the whole thing in silence, and was trembling in fear. There was some mean person going around saying very bad things about her big sis, and Vert was suffering because of it! Verna's tiny fists clenched, angry tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Don't be upset, Verna." Cave gave her another hug. "It'll be alright."
While the group was heading to the Basilicom, with IF and MAGES. assessing the situation, Cave noticed something... off with Verna.
"Verna, are you feeling well?" In particular, she noticed that Verna looked paler than normal. Too pale.
"I-I do feel funny..." Verna gripped her tummy, groaning a little. "I-I think I ate too much..."
"Yes, perhaps you did..." Cave felt worry build up inside her as she held Verna closer. This wasn't good, this was not good on so many levels. On the way back, Verna kept complaining of 'feeling funny', which served to worry the redhead even more. Even after they got to the Basilicom, she was more worried about Verna than anything else.
"Lady Vert?" IF called out. They didn't see a Vert, but they saw a Chika rushing to her bedroom with tea. Not a good sign. They rushed after the Oracle, and normally Verna would have been in her sister's bedroom by now, but she was...
"I-I don't feel so good..." Verna clutched her stomach, moaning. "I-I think I'm getting sick..."
"Verna..." Cave's worry doubled when she heard that, then proceeded to lift her up like a baby and carry her to Vert's room.
"Oh geez..." IF and the others were met with the sight of Vert, looking just as pale as Verna, laying on her bed feebly. Chika was practically like a maid, if she wasn't before, tending to her every need and in frantic worry while doing so, despite Vert's wishes for her to calm down.
"Chika, please... I'm not dying... Oh, hello IF~." Vert greeted the brunette warmly. "Lyrica, Cave, even MAGES.? What brings you all here?" Vert had a feeling though...
"You should already have a feeling that we didn't come over just to say hi..."
"SIS!" Verna, despite her condition, jumped out of Cave's arms and rushed to hug her sister. "A-Are you okay!?"
"I am... well, 'fine' would not be appropriate, but I am functioning."came first to Vert.
That did nothing to calm Verna's worry. She was nearly in tears as she hugged Vert tightly.
"IF found something..." MAGES. went on. "It appears someone has been sabotaging you, Lady Vert."
"What...!?" Vert struggled to sit up. "Who...?"
"We don't know..." IF showed Vert her phone. "We do know that people are believing whoever this is. Honestly, it's like people have no brains these days..."
"It's as if they are stupid for the sake of plot..." MAGES. added.
"D-Don't say such rude things about the citizens!" 5pb chided, but... she was kind of agreeing with her friends.
Vert only sighed, cradling Verna's head as she sniffled. "Citizens are far more gullible than I last remember, and this mystery person is using that to his or her advantage..."
"You think this is the work of one person?" Cave asked.
"I'm not certain, but whoever they are needs to be stopped as soon as possible, before the situation becomes irreparable..."
The Leanboxians nodded.
"Mm..." Verna groaned.
"Verna?" Vert didn't like that noise. "Are you alright...?"
"I-I don't feel so good..." Verna's skin was a deathly pale color, looking clammy and exhausted.
"P-Perhaps you should lay down...!" Vert didn't like the way her sister was acting one bit. She ignored her own condition to tend to Verna. She came first, Verna always came first to Vert.
"Y-Yeah..." Her eyes were getting droopy. "I'm feeling... s-sleepy..."
"Verna, please stay awake...!" Realizing how serious her sister's condition was, Vert shook her sister by the shoulders, but it was in vain.
"It's not... the good kind of sleepy... e-either..."
"VERNA!" Cave rushed to her, but it was too late.
Verna collapsed on the floor, causing everyone in the room to circle around her in a panic.
"NO! I will not settle for a Bad Ending when it comes to m-my Verna...!" Vert's voice broke as she tried to shake her little sister awake. "Verna, please, d-don't do this to me! Verna!"
"Lady Vert, calm down!" IF shouted. "We won't get anything done by panicking!"
"B-But, Verna has-"
"I know..." IF put a hand on her shoulder. "She's fine, Vert. She's... just gone comatose by the looks of it. She's still breathing."
Vert choked. "This... This cannot be happening..."
"We need more help...' Chika cradled the sleeping Candidate. "At this rate, you will soon follow Verna..."
"The other CPUs." MAGES. suggested. "Surely they will be willing?"
"Maybe when they hear what happened to Verna..." 5pb was hopeful.
"It's better safe than sorry, I will place a call..." Vert struggled to remain composed, placing a kiss on Verna's forehead before pulling out her phone. Vert could barely keep her mind straight as she made a call to the other Nations. With Verna becoming the center of her life, she cast aside her pride when it came to certain matters, which is why she had made the call in the first place.
"Please, please pick up...!" Vert was anxious.
Riiiing...
"Hello...? What do you want, Vert, I'm kind of busy getting everything pizza off of me..." Blanc had been the one to answer. Vert had never been so happy to hear her in all her life.
"Verna...! V-Verna, Oh Goddess, s-she has...!" Vert could barely form a sentence.
"Calm down, Vert." instructed Blanc. "What happened to Verna...?"
One explanation later...
"... I'll call the others... Put the little one to a bed, and wait for us to come over."
"Thank you so much, Blanc..., I owe you-"
"No, you don't. Think nothing of it." The call shut off, leaving Vert to carry Verna off to her bed, while the others encircled around the sleeping girl, worry a permanent part of their features at this point.
"There there, Verna~... Let's just set you down on something fluffy in the meantime." Vert kept on a brave face as she set her sister down. If there were anything good to come from this mess, it was that Verna appeared to be sleeping peacefully.
Vert prayed to the True Goddess that this nightmare would be over soon.
