Day 50

"Come on Linda pick up…" I muttered, looking to my right to see some Guards at the door.

I stood there uncomfortably as the phone in my hand rung. Finally, after what seemed like forever, someone picked up.

"Who are you and how did you get this number?" Asked the familiar voice of my roommate.

"Linda, it's Bryce." I said quickly. "Listen, you can't go back to the apartment for a bit."

"And why the hell not!?" Came her reply.

"Because… I'm currently in Planeptune custody." I said, looking over at the Guards. "The… the authorities should be searching the apartment right now, so if you could just… not go there and lay low till this all blows over, that'd be nice."

I sighed. "Then again, I don't really care. It's just a warning."

... the line just ended from her end.

I sighed, hanging up the phone up. One of the guards grabbed my arm and forcefully pulled me along.

I looked to my left and right, seeing both guards moving me along. I closed my eyes and sighed, before being forcefully stopped.

"We're here." Said the Guard on my left. I opened my eyes to see a small jail cell of sorts.

I was quickly led inside and dumped there. When I turned around the cell door was already locked.

"...That just figures…" I muttered, sighing as I rubbed the back of my neck. "And no music either… this is going to be GREAT!"

I looked at what this cell's version of a bed was, to find that it was a cheap pillow and a metal board of sorts.

"Ooh… luxurious…" I said sarcastically. "...I already miss my apartment. Hell, I miss ASIC's barracks, and those were crap..."

I quickly made myself comfortable, which wasn't an easy thing to do, as I stared at the ceiling.

"How the hell are you supposed to get out of this one…" I asked myself, closing my eyes. "I really screwed the pooch on this one huh?"

I sighed as I squirmed in place. There wasn't much I could do but wait until I fell asleep.

Day 51

I was awoken by the aching that was being felt through my entire body. I sighed, standing up to see I was still in my cell.

"This is just perfect…" I muttered, sighing.

I grabbed my pillow of the metal slab they called my bed and layed down on the ground.

"I don't know how they did it, but the GROUND is more comfortable than my 'bed'. What a joke…" I said aloud, closing my eyes.

Only to be woken up by someone hitting something against the metal bars of my cell.

"What?" I asked, rolling over to see IF standing on the other side of the cell, with two guards beside her.

"You're being taken for questioning." Said IF.

"Oh, of course I am…" I sighed, standing up as I brushed my shoulder clear of some dandruff. The purple prison uniform I was given was alright at best. I still missed my black overcoat, but that's beside the point.

"If you don't mind my asking, why were you asleep on the floor." Asked IF.

"If was more comfortable sleeping on the floor than my bed. And that, gives cause for concern." I said, holding my hands out for the guards to handcuff me. "Let's get this over with."

Let it be said, I wasn't calm right now. No, I was just tired.

Which made it all the more nerve-wracking when I was sat down in the interrogation room.

The guards quickly made themselves scarce, as I looked at the table to find… a plate of pudding.

"...I should question this, but I won't." I said, sighing as I took a cup. "Never tried this before… I don't really want some… but I'd prefer having a better… impression."

...eh, I've had better. It's not terrible at least.

As I placed the now half full pudding cup down, IF escorted a woman in black clothing into the room.

Upon closer inspection, I found that it was Noire. I looked off to the side as she sat down.

"Please state your name for the record." Said Noire.

"...First name Mario, last name Mario. Mario Mario." I deadpanned.

"I don't think I need to tell you that It'd be best for the both of us, if you'd be serious. Your name isn't Mario Mario."

I had to suppress the urge to laugh. "You're right, it's not. Last name Sh*t Sherlock. First name No."

Noire just glared at me.

"Alright fine." I sighed. "My name is Bryce Arden Bridged."

"Okay. Bryce, I'm going to ask you questions about your infiltration of Lastation's R&D Division. And you, are going to answer them."

"I understand the concept of being on the receiving end of an interrogation, Noire." I said, glaring a bit. "...Before we start, indulge me this, why is it that the CPU of Lastation is interrogating a NPC that's under arrest in Planeptune."

"First, don't try and pull the NPC card." Said Noire. "You don't show the basic NPC tells that identify you as such. At best I'd consider you a maker, but… we have reason to believe you're not even that."

"You didn't answer my question." I said.

"And I don't have to." Said Noire."But… the reason is because you're considered a threat to the entire world. So you'll have the other goddesses joining in on the interrogation."

"Fun." I said, leaning back in my chair. "Because why not? Neptune probably didn't put up much of a fight there." I muttered, shaking my arms, the handcuffs still on.

"Alright then… First Question." Said Noire. "How exactly did you infiltrate one of the most guarded places in Lastation, and still get away."

"I sneaked around in a cardboard box with a big red exclamation point on it's side." I said, a straight face on. Hey, it was the truth!

"...I'm going to ask you that again." Said Noire.

"And I'm going to give you the same answer. The cardboard box should STILL be in your R&D Division. Don't believe me, go have some guards look for it and get back to you on it." I said, leaning back in my chair.

"...Second Question… You stole two prototype wrist mounted devices that were being used to mocap animations for an untitled game by Hypersomniac Games." Said Noire.

"Is this question going anywhere?" I asked, leaning forward. "What is this question anyways, my motive? I was stuck there, and I saw something that reminded me of a video game I had saw before and I was like, why the f*ck not?"

"Besides, what's with the secrecy on the naming scale. From any outlook they'd look like web shooters once used, so I don't understand the secrecy." I leaned back into my chair. "With that said, it DID help my escape, so I guess it worked pretty well."

Noire seemed to be looking pretty pissed off. And due to the fact that I don't know why the hell I'm on the offensive so much, when she sent me a VERY direct Glare, I quickly tried to sink into the chair I was sitting in.

"...We found what remained of some cloth you used to bandage your wound, if I could even call it that." Said Noire. "You understand this connects you with ASIC, correct?"

"By the time we were halfway through planning, ASIC had already disbanded." I said. "It was really all I had on hand for that kind of thing."

"Alright… but if ASIC was disbanded, why did you infiltrate anyways?" Asked Noire.

"Honest truth, I felt like it." I said. "Because to me, once ASIC was gone, I'd be out of a job, and since we were already halfway through planning… well, maybe I thought I'd sell some sh*t I stole."

"But all you stole were the web shooters." Said Noire.

"Ya-huh;" I said, nodding. "However, at that point… well, I was trapped between a rock and a hard place. And Neptune."

"Neptune?" Noire asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure she looked at me as I was fleeing through the air vent." I said.

Noire's eye seemed to twitch for a second before she regained her composure.

"...That is all the questions I have at this moment. Someone else will be interrogating you next." Said Noire, standing up as she walked out of the room.

I sighed, looking down at the handcuffs around my wrists.

"Hey, could you do me a favour and AT LEAST, get these things off me?" I shouted at Noire's retreating form. "I can't gesture right with these things restricting movements!"

The door closed and I wasn't given a response.

"...Alright, ignore me then…" I muttered dejectedly, tapping my finger on the table to the beat of a song that I was remembering. "And here comes the fidgeting…"

I sighed, squirming in my chair as I waited.

After what seemed like forever, but was probably only like… 30 seconds, the door opened. I quickly looked to see IF enter the room.

She grabbed my wrists, before tapping a card of sorts on the handcuffs, before they released their grasp and fell to the ground.

"...That was easy…" I muttered, rubbing my wrists as IF left the room, before Vert entered after her.

Upon this sight, I instantly felt myself tense. I felt myself give Vert a passive glare, as she sat down in front of me.

She looked at me with a neutral expression, before she pulled out my causality gauntlet and put it on the table.

"...The internals are elsewhere." Said Vert, as I looked down at the Gauntlet. Something tells me that isn't the case. "Now, I will be asking you questions on your infiltration of Leanbox's R&D Division."

"...I snuck in with an identical box as the one I used to sneak into Lastation's R&D Division. I was there to extract files for that weird camera hologram thingy that I BELIEVE is still in it's prototype stages. I stole, this-" I pointed to the Gauntlet on the table. "because of souvenirs sake."

"You stole tech.. As a souvenir?" Vert asked.

"Yes, and no other reason." I said seriously, my arms resting on the table. "...Allow me to ask you something, Vert… What does this do exactly?"

Vert didn't answer me.

"...It splits apart Cause and Effect, leaving reality in a state of nonexistence." I said, my glare hardening. "Have you ever felt what that feels like? To not be able to breath, to be suffocating on the very air that sustains you? To feel yourself be unable to move a muscle due that state? It's a living depiction of hell."

"...Where are you going with this?" Asked Vert.

I picked up the Gauntlet, to which Vert glared at me and pointed her spear at me.

"I'm sorry, but weren't you the one who said it was empty?" I asked, putting it on. "But… as I was saying. To both you and to your friends… Have you?"

The door opened up to have IF, and 3 guards rush into the room. I quickly activated the Gauntlet, Cause and Effect splitting as I quickly ran out of the room, and ran into the viewing room, the room that was on the OTHER side of the one sided mirror.

As I entered, I quickly grabbed a tea cup that Noire seemed to have just prepared and hadn't drank from yet.

I quickly picked it up and walked back into the interrogation room, sitting down on my chair as I moved the cup to my mouth as Effect snapped back into place.

As I took a sip from the teacup, I slowly set it down as I looked at Vert, who looked like she was trying to catch her breath.

"To answer both your questions, one, Planeptune wasn't going to be giving you something that I stole from you, just because it was once yours. Reason, well, evidence, and I grabbed the tea cup from Noire, I believe she just made it, if the not removed tea bag was any indication." I said, leaning back in the chair as I pulled the gauntlet off my hand and handed it to IF.

IF and the guards left the room after I said that. Vert took one more breath before looking at me.

"...I took that device because I HAD to." I said, my glare staying strong. "...My motive isn't something I will be tell you about."

Vert just stood up and walked out of the room.

As she left and the door closed, I let out a breath I wasn't sure I was holding.

"Hoy sh*t…" I said, sprawling out on the chair as I took a deep breath. "Okay then… that just happened… I am just digging myself a hole, huh?"

A few minutes later, IF re-entered the room, holding a case of what seemed to be evidence.

"This is your laptop, your headphones and your phone. Your laptop was taken from your apartment." Said IF, taking out the Laptop. "You, are going to log into your laptop."

"...And why the hell should I do that. Can't you guys just do some kind of… hard drive scan?" I asked.

"We tried that." Said IF. "Turns out, your laptop is… not exactly open to having data extracted. It has an entirely different style of data storage we aren't used to.

"...That's my school laptop. It has a kink where it returns to the factory issue once it shuts down." I said. "There really isn't anything worth it on there."

IF just pushed the laptop towards me.

"Log. In." She said.

I sighed, before typing administrator into the account name and pressing enter.

"No password?" Asked IF.

"It's a school computer, they don't change Admin settings… Only way to freaking log into it without being on school grounds..." I said, as the computer opened up to there being the normal clear space. "See, nothing."

IF sighed, before reaching for the computer lid.

However, a guard seemed to take concern with this.

"Miss!" Said a guard as they entered the room, holding… my guitar?

'Oh no…' I gulped. 'So not good for me.'

"Why… did you bring a guitar?" Asked IF.

"We found a data storage device inside the guitar." Said the guard, pulling out a white USB drive.

'Also, not good for me!'

IF grabbed the USB, before looking to the side of my Laptop finding the USB 3.0 slot.

As IF plugged the USB into the device, she looked on the text onscreen.

"...What language is this?" Asked IF, as she looked at me.

"...Um… what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

IF just gestured to the language of my laptop, which to me, was still English.

"English?" I said, shrugging.

IF looked at me, before pulling out a sheet of paper and writing down something, before handing it to me.

"What does that say?" Asked IF.

...What the hell is this? It looks like Japanese kanji, but… well, I don't know HOW to describe this!

"...I… have NO idea." I said, sliding the paper back to her.

"It says Planeptune." said IF.

...Strike one. They're probably even more suspicious of me now… That isn't good.

If clicked on the folder for the USB, opening it up to find a single folder.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3

...ah crap baskets…

IF opened the folder and looked at the icon for the application, a picture of Neptune.

"...What is this?" Asked IF.

I just remained silent, a single bead of sweat pouring down my face.

IF looked at me before standing up, taking the computer with her as she walked out.

As the door closed behind her, I just looked down at the table in front of me.

Here were some ideas of the thoughts going through my mind at the time.

'Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god…! F*ck F*ck F*ck F*ck F*CK! KHAAAAAAAAAN!'

You know, rational things.

At least, rational things to be running through MY mind right now.

I ran my hands through my hair as I entered the pose of Shinji from Evangelion, you know what pose I'm referring to. Except less hands together on forehead and more back of head in fear.

I snapped back into place as the door opened, only to find…

"...Neptune?" I asked, as the girl in question skipped over to the seat on the opposite side of the table.

"Heyo! So I just thought I'd put my skills to the test here." Said Neptune.

I just sorta looked at her funny.

"...Why the hell are you interrogating me?" I asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asked Neptune, a sarcastically hurt look on her face.

"I mean more why you and not more… CPU… you." I said, calming down a bit.

"Oh you know, you seemed a bit stressed so I thought I'd lighten the mood a bit." Said Neptune.

"The others weren't going to let you interrogate me were they?" I asked, deadpanning.

"Nope! But… I think they've caught on about now." Said Neptune as she turned to the one way mirror and waved. You could see me looking at her with a confused face in the mirror.

"So, what's with the application with my face on it huh?" Asked Neptune, putting her nepu face on, which, might I say, is the weirdest thing to see happen IRL. "Some weird 18+ stuff about me?"

"What!? NO! God no!" I said, my face heating up.

Neptune just laughed at my embarrassment. "Wow, you are so easy to mess with." She said

"I've been told." I muttered.

"The application DOES look familiar thought…" Said Neptune, before she shrugged. "It won't matter, nothing the main character can't solve!"

"In that game yeah…" I muttered, before slamming my hand over my mouth.

Neptune turned to me with a look of intrigue on her face. "...'That game'...?" She asked, gaining a thinking look on her face. "...Wait a minute…!"

She quickly jumped onto the table and leaned towards me, her face getting dangerously close to mine.

As Neptune seemed to find what she was looking for in my... I'd like to say surprised face, she jumped off the table, and onto her chair, with a face of… I want to say accomplishment? It was a happy emote, but not one that I could properly describe.

"...I know who, or better yet what you are!" Said Neptune, as I looked up at the girl standing on the chair. "You're a player!"

...I'm sorry, did I miss strike two? Because I think I'm already struck out.

I just sat there un-moving as Neptune looked me over mover, moving in a bit close for comfort.

"Hmm…" Neptune seemed to look at me like I was under a magnifying glass, as her face got… uncomfortably close to mine.

"Uh…." I leaned back as she leaned in, it got to the point where I realized too late that I was going to end up falling.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, as my back landed on the ground. "Ow…"

"I knew it!" Neptune said, jumping into the air in victory. "Victory!" That's what I just said.

I rolled onto my stomach before pushing myself off the ground. I turned to see Neptune still doing a victory dance of sort.

I then realized I was like… two feet taller than her. Being 6'1" helps… I guess.

Once Neptune finished her victory, she turned back to me.

"Okay, we're done here." She said, smiling as she walked out of the room.

As the door behind her closed, I was left in utter confusion.

"The f*ck just happened?"

Day 52

So, it turns out that the interrogation was done after that. And now… I'm being held in my own little cell waiting for my sentence of… 7 years in solitary confinement.

Well, it wasn't REALLY solitary. It just so happened that I was the ONLY ONE in this goddamn jailing complex. Plus, due to the fact of where I was, I was also stuck in the basilicom.

"...This is just great…" I muttered, looking to the floor. "...This is what I get huh… for… taking the thing that caused my being here… for… No… I'm in the wrong… But… I just… GAH!"

I stood up and just paced around the cell I was in, freaking out a bit.

Eventually, It just devolved to me huddling in the corner tapping the beat of the 60's spider man theme song. Don't ask, It was pretty rough.

I was brought out of my stupor as I looked to see Vert on the other side of the bars looking at me.

"...What do you want?" I asked, the question sounding a bit shaky.

"...You said 'the thing that cause my being here'." She said.

I looked away from her, my hands curling up into fists.

"...Why did you steal the causality device?" Asked Vert.

"...I'm going to rot in here…" I said. "For seven years… It's going to be just as painful as when I first experienced it… only… not as painful physically."

Vert remained quiet at this, as I turned around to looked Vert dead in the eyes as I glared at her.

"I believe you were watching Neptune's 'Interrogation' of me." I said, to which she nodded.

I snorted, giving a pathetic chuckle. "...She's telling the truth. About me being a… 'player'... Hell, would it not make sense with what was said earlier, I was more in common with a maker, yet not really?"

I felt my eyes start to water.

"...It was September, about… a month and a half ago… I was just leaving my high school, only… well, only for everything to turn grey and for me to stop breathing." I said, looking at Vert.

"It felt like an eternity, stuck in that cycle of… hell." I said, my legs giving out under me, as I landed on my knees. "...Then it all… shattered, and there I was, in the goddamn Virtua forest, realizing that I was going to be Dogoo food in a matter of minutes…"

A single tear started to fall down my face.

"I was scared, alone, and with no money of any kind. I was a 16 year old kid, who at the time was lost and confused… So I clung to the first thing I could… Well, I tried for that to be Neptune and Nepgear, but… I suck with socializing… so I ran… and bumped into Underling… and that was my entrance into ASIC."

The tears in my eyes were now falling full force.

"So imagine that, when I'm doing my first DAMN mission, I experience the EXACT feeling as before. I… panicked. I stole the device in attempt to stop whatever research you were doing and run like hell out… You saw my 'Grand Escape'. I'm pretty sure everyone did…"

I stood up, as I looked at Vert with my eyes puffy from my crying.

"You. You are the reason I am in this dimension rotting in this goddess forsaken prison cell, instead of being locked in my room avoiding my 14 year old brother's attempts of making conversation, which I would GLADLY go back so I could open that damn door every GODDAMN time since I won't be able to now… So let me ask you Vert. Do you think I want to see you right now? If that device didn't have a timer on it… well…" I let out a sad laugh. "I'd probably keep it active until you choke to death on your own air… Now… please… leave me… I just… Go."

I turned around and waited as I heard her walk away. As soon as I heard her leave, I broke down. I fell onto my hands and knees and just… cried. I cried in the most childlike manner possible, as I huddled myself into the fetal position, just… hoping I'd wake up from this nightmare.

I don't think I ever will at this rate.