I guess this break is useful for me, too. The team still doesn't get along all that well. I know, we have to work together... and it does work, but we still do not have much in common. Do not get me wrong, sis: we are all professional enough to work past that, but... I am glad I get some time away from them. Nepgear and IF are much easier to get along with.

-Uni

The sight from atop an airport was great.

Six platforms were arrayed above the highest buildings of Nordral, forming a hexagon around the central elevator shaft leading up to them; even the Basilicom did not reach this high.

IF once again shivered under the cold wind running through her clothes and hair. They actually flapped a little in the gale as she looked down at the city.

Nepgear had not lied; the feeling was like few others. IF also felt the tiniest bit uncomfortable being so far up high, though the feeling did not make it far before being crushed by wonder.

Passengers already entered most of the nine airships currently anchored over all of the platforms while she was taking in the view. Nobody paid them any mind or bothered them, so IF could look to her heart's content while Nepgear and Uni whispered with each other about something that the wind carried away.

The airships themselves, she found after turning her eyes at last, were huge. At least a hundred metres in length and twenty metres wide, their silver frames held enormous, pitch black balloons. There were also several machine guns and two mortars mounted on the frames, currently checked by maintenance staff; from what IF could see, the weapons were mounted on movable platforms to cover all angles.

"Impressive sights, are they not?" Nepgear curiously asked after a moment; the purplette's eyes were roaming the airships as well. IF merely offered an agreeing noise while her eyes wandered into the distance; this was the central airport, but there were four more in this city alone. She had not seen them during the night, but they were hard to miss by daylight. Nothing else even reached so far into the sky.

When they agreed to sightsee the first day, Uni had mentioned that tourists loved these tours by air; now that IF stood here, she could understand why.

At half past eight in the morning, she was still in a mostly clear state of mind; from the three available tours, ranging from one over three to six hours, she knew the last one might leave her tired. Yet somehow, Uni and Nepgear had managed to convince her of taking that one; while more sitting around did not appeal to IF, the potential view made up for it. Arguments about how pricy those tours were went ignored, seeing that Uni insisted on footing the bill as their host.

At this point, IF was looking forward to it anyway, even on the potential risk of falling asleep mid-flight.

The three young women soon turned to enter one of the 'Large Lastation Tour'-airships, stepping up to a clerk in front of it; the line there was small, so they soon reached the counter and Uni ordered their tickets.

Just like that, they were in; an attendant quickly took to leading them to their seats, passing fleeting glances to the three as they walked. IF could empathise with the slightly older woman; Nepgear and Uni were stunning even while dressed casually.

"Oh, right," their attendant noted as they reached a booth marked with the numbers on their tickets, "do you mind sharing compartments, in case no other is free?"

From passing glances into other booths, IF already knew there were four seats in each, the many segments anchored securely to each other and the airship's main frame. There was also a larger hall to sit in, which included lunch, but she categorically refused that one after Uni already insisted on paying; it was even more expensive.

She quickly exchanged glances with her friends, who both shrugged. So she did the same. "We don't mind."

"Wonderful," the attendant noted, a smile finding its way on her face. "Please enjoy yourselves; we will be starting in about... twenty minutes," she noted professionally; after a glance at her wristwatch, that was. "Six hours can be a long time; if you brought no food and drink of your own, there is a small shop down the corridor."

With that, she left the three to settle into their compartment; it was about as spacious as those on the train, with wide windows that offered a full view of the landscape. IF quickly secured herself a seat by the window, with Nepgear taking the other and Uni sitting next to the purplette without much thought. "There is a switch to retract the floorboard, the window reaches that far down; you are not afraid of heights, are you?"

IF shook her head and Uni quickly worked on a panel near the entrance; a moment and some rumbling later, she could see straight down with a whistle. "This is not the default state to accomodate passengers who do not do well with heights," the lastationite Candidate provided helpfully.

They took a minute to look around the place, settling down and sinking into their seats; they were comfortable, perhaps a little too much to IF's liking. She could already see the battle with sleep approaching. It was also warm inside, with the wind harmlessly whistling outside of the window; warm enough for IF to undo some of her coat's clasps.

Silence reigned as the three waited, both Candidates without a topic to discuss for once; IF did not particularly mind the quiet, spending it by looking out at the city below and noting how different it was. Dull in comparison to the shine of Planeptune's cities, but just as lively and with a completely different flair.

Nobody else entered their compartment, so it was but the three of them when the clock struck eight and a hum ran through the structure around them. "Good morning and welcome to the Lastation Tour," a pleasantly deep voice rang out from speakers above them. "I will be your captain today, and we will see the wonders of this great nation together." There was definitely warmth in his voice, making IF listen curiously while they started to leave the docking platform behind. "I hope that all on board will enjoy themselves."

He did not say anything noteworthy, but that did not really matter. Once he stopped, IF's attention returned to the sensation of movement; looking down once more drove home that she was flying. She was in the only realm that allowed civilian air travel.

Even with what little she recalled from flying with Purple Heart months earlier, she knew this was different in many little ways, the biggest of which was that IF could actually sit comfortably... but even then, she felt far less secure than she had in the CPU's arm.

She had considered applying for the air force a few times over the years, reasoning that flying would also be an incredible thing to do; however, her dream would not stop for such things and it ultimately became little more than idle speculation.

Her attention was soon taken by the landscape as their ride left the city borders; they could see far and wide, taking in the lush forests covering most of Lastation's surface. Golden traces ran through them, foretelling of autumn. Another vast city soon appeared on the horizon, far distant while the captain kept telling them about the nation.

Uni and Nepgear had obviously heard this before, but IF listened with interest; at some point, Nepgear mentioned that lastationite cities were usually vaster than planeptunian ones, mainly because they did not grow as much in three dimensions.

A while later, they hovered over a wide clearing in the forested area, revealing a much different city from the others they saw before; most of its space was taken up by farmland and animals wandered around in their pens, with there being comparably less people around. This quickly got IF's attention as she compared the sight with what pictures she had seen from planeptunian farming-cities; even though their nation could synthesize a lot of foods, most of the base materials were produced there.

Around the three-hour mark, they had headed toward the mountains and began to rise further upward; IF was reasonably certain that this was not the central mountain range separating large parts of Lowee, Lastation, and Planeptune, but it was impressive nonetheless.

"And here," the captain provided enthusiastically, "we see the outside of Lastation's largest military base. The entire upper half of this mountain was holed out and turned into a fortress, though you could not say from the outside. Due to how it is covered in fog for most of the year, it is called the silent hill." Meanwhile, they began to notice a few funnels reaching out of the rocky surface; he was right in that one could not tell there was a military presence within.

However, things had begun to repeat themselves even before this point; the tour hit the more impressive sights in intervals, with mostly the same scenery in-between; many of those sights were not even reachable from the capital, considering that these airships did not fly particularly fast and had to get back there at the end.

IF found herself talking with her companions during those times, seeing that there was not much to be seen and tiredness slowly began to creep into her mind. She even considered lying down to nap, but chased the thought away in the knowledge of what it would do to her sleeping cycle.

Her attention was soon taken by Uni, who steepled her fingers and leaned forward in a business-like manner. "You are here for business, correct?" On IF's nod, a confident smile grew on the CPU's face. "Then we should get to it. What kind of weapon do you prefer to work with?"

She spent a moment wondering whether Nepgear had not told her best friend about that, but complied without a fuss, curious what Uni was going to make of the matter. "I have been using katars for a few years now. It's easiest for me to channel magic through my hands, so I rather have them free just in case, and I think I work better with two weapons than one."

Nepgear hid a smile for some reason, though Uni's expression did not change in the slightest; all she did was lowering her head in thought. IF ignored the purplette and waited.

A moment later, she got her response in form of a slightly reluctant question: "I see. Would it be acceptable if I made a pair for you?" When she got bewildered looks from both older girls, the youngest quickly defended herself. "You'll need the quality with how much abuse you push your weapons through, and I was looking for something to practice on anyway! I can't be anything less than the best as Noire's sister."

The misunderstanding clear, IF sighed and shook her head. "That's- ugh. My problem with this is that I'm already uncomfortable with how much you guys help me. I won't ask a friend to do that much work for me."

Her response brought Uni up short, the CPU's eyes growing wide in surprise. IF observed in interest how her face went through a wide range of expressions in an instant before settling down once more. Nepgear's confusion had morphed into mirth, though the brunette was not exactly sure why.

"CPU-crafted weapons are incredibly well made," Nepgear noted when no answer was forthcoming, eyes wandering back and forth between Uni and IF. "They are about as pricy. Considering that Uni mainly wants to practice," she offered, "you could pay her for the raw materials and work hours, so both of you get out of it even. Would that be better?"

Both girls stared at their friend for a moment, not having expected a solution this good to be found so fast, but that was Nepgear for you, finding ways for everyone to be happy with something. IF snorted. "I never even thought of that, good call. If that's fine with you, Uni?" To which the younger Candidate nodded with a smile.

Nepgear immediately brightened. "So IF gets new weapons and Uni has a little boost for her allowance. Everyone wins."

This, however, caught IF by surprise; she almost raised an eyebrow at her friend, confused. Then her gaze wandered to Uni as a familiar feeling began to pull at the back of her head. "You're working for the Guild by now, right? What do you need an allowance for?"

The younger girl just gave her a flat look; yet, after meeting Noire, it no longer had the effect it had the first time they met. She sounded positively scandalised nonetheless: "I do not have a salary at the Guild; that would be taking money from my people for doing what I'm supposed to do."

This was news to IF, but a glance to Nepgear only brought her a nod and the understanding that her partner was the same. "Huh, I didn't know that. Makes sense though, now that you mention it." She never thought about the matter before and once again realised that normal assumptions about people were a thing to be questioned when with CPUs.

Their conversation was interrupted when the speakers cracked to life, though. "Everyone, quick," the captain blubbered excitedly, "take a look to our right; it's the Lady!" He sounded more like a boy waiting for presents, but IF could understand the sentiment; she turned her head toward the window, ignoring the shuffling in the hallway. The feeling from earlier strengthened into something she could recall; the smallness of being in the presence of gods, and the warmth of being protected.

Far out in the sky was Lady Black Heart, right in front of a hulking, purple figure that lazily rolled through the winds. A Whale.

The high-class monster closed the distance, attacking without hesitation; IF could barely even see that Black Heart moved, a single streak of silver piercing right through the enormous bulk and severing it. The Whale burst into particles immediately, completely silent to them.

Then however, someone knocked on their compartment's door and opened it a moment later, revealing themselves to be a middle-aged man with dark blond hair. His eyes quickly darted back and forth between the girls, noting who was inside. "Excuse me, is it be okay if we come in here for a moment to see the Lady?"

The three girls exchanged glances, but there was no need to even discuss. Nepgear offered him a warm smile. "We don't mind at all. Please come on in."

He smiled thankfully and entered while IF scurried over to squeeze in with her friends who made room for her. A woman followed after him, with two little girls at her hands; all of them offered them thankful smiles and the children whispered excitedly with each other when they all began to feel the CPU's presence in earnest.

IF's eyes were on both of them for a long moment and she tried her best to ignore how her shoulder was rubbing against Nepgear's; she noted how neither her nor Uni seemed to mind being pushed together before turning her head to the window. The little family had sat down opposite to them, with the children on their parents' laps.

Black Heart was currently closing in on the airship, soon reaching close enough to look around. Her hands were empty, the weapon she carried long since vanished; her black armour carefully covered her entire body, leaving only a bit of creamy skin free around her neck; silver hair ran down her form, ethereal in its beauty and barely visible in the bright sunlight.

IF had been around CPUs often enough not to suffer from soundless awe anymore. She knew that neither of her friends was affected at all and carefully kept her eyes on the lone figure swaying in the wind. Black Heart's head turned gently as she looked into each compartment, a hand raised in greeting.

Then the CPU hovered closer, soon leaving their sight before reappearing from the front; this time she looked directly into their compartment, smiling at everyone inside. The children squealed in delight, making wide eyes at the goddess while the parents gently bowed their heads. Black Heart did not react to the gesture, and her eyes soon met IF's; a hint of amusement played over the beauty's face, then her gaze wandered further. Uni smiled at her big sister, who returned the smile before falling back over and out of sight, blurring away in the distance.

The family of four left them alone soon after, thanking the three girls again for allowing them; IF simply smiled while they left, and then returned to her own seat.

"Noire is really impressive," Nepgear noted with a smile while pushing away from Uni, the younger Candidate preening over the compliment. "She is; as her sister, I have to work my hardest."

Her response sounded a little weird to IF, but she considered it to be CPU-weirdness when Nepgear did not react to it; the purplette was nodding along happily. "I know what you mean. I want to help sis as much as I can, too." But even then, it did not sound weird how Nepgear said it. Only from Uni.

However, she had little time to contemplate the matter; once she was agreed with, Uni turned back to IF with a gleam in her eyes. "Alright, seeing that you let me do the job, we should talk details."

Suddenly, IF realised that this would be a long day.

. .

. .

As it turned out, one of the degrees Uni already held was in economics. She quickly and efficiently walked IF through every step necessary for her new weapons, even a few the brunette had never even thought were required. By the end of it, a lot of time had passed and IF sat with the beginning of a headache from trying to cram so many little details into her head. Uni merely appeared happy with herself and jutted down a few more notes. "Okay, that should be everything. I can get the materials within a day and start... around tomorrow morning, I think?"

IF nodded and blinked against the bright sunlight streaming in through the window; it quickly faded as they finished their turn, in time for Uni to continue: "We need to take a few measurements once we get back, so I can make them form-fitting."

Nepgear mercifully interrupted her fellow Candidate, pointing at the window with a thumb. "We should be back soon, I can see the city." And she was right, Nordral had appeared in the distance; the first sign that their ride drew to a close.

Not much later, the three of them slowly walked out of the airship and into the lastationite afternoon. IF grumbled weakly about having to sit around for hours again, stretching herself as subtly as possible on the way out; Nepgear hid her smile and Uni just huffed good-naturedly.

Ultimately, it had been an interesting experience. Yet IF was happy to get back to walking around.

"We should get something to eat," Uni decided after a look back at IF; the human girl had not said anything, but all of them had heard her stomach growl on occasion. "It is time for lunch anyway, and we can get back after that. There is still enough time to show you around the city later."

They quickly filed into a bus, but found no seats this time; instead, the three spread out over the middle section to stand and IF spent her time staring out of the window; it took her a while to notice the goings-on outside, however. The further they rode toward the outskirts of town, the more tourists she could see. The planeptunian swirl of colours, Loweeans in far too short clothes for the temperatures, and the darker-skinned Leanboxians mixed in.

An inquisitive gaze toward Uni was answered with a weak smile and a nod. "Ah, yes. There is one thing I wanted you to see now, and there is a nice restaurant nearby."

With that cleared up, IF did not have to wait much longer for what Uni wanted to show her; the bus finished climbing a slope and stopped in front of a small plaza, which held a sight she knew well. Uni ushered them both out of the vehicle and took a few steps out of the way of passersby, which the other two followed.

IF's eyes were on the statue taking up the plaza's center, though. No different from the one she passed during her morning runs every few days, it portrayed the four CPUs in quiet unity; Purple Heart, Black Heart, White Heart, and Green Heart, crafted from stone otherwise unseen in Gamindustri. The four were arranged in an outward-facing circle, gently grasping each others' hands; a careful guess told her each of those was about twice the size of the actual goddess. Where they stood, the material took the respective deity's colour; where their hands touched, the colours merged.

As they slowly wandered closer in silence, she recalled the specifics of this monument, the Memorial of Unity; a national treasure in every right, four of those statues had been crafted when the Console War ended without a clear conclusion. Everyone had joined hands in its creation; Leanbox had brought forth the finest marble, which was sculpted by Lastation's finest artisans under designs forwarded from Lowee. Purple Heart herself had imbued the stone with Share Energy to take its unnatural colour, setting the piece apart from any that could follow.

As they were made to represent the reestablished unity of Gamindustri, its deities, and its people, one such statue had been placed in each capital city. A quiet reminder to man and god alike.

It felt different here, with a slightly strange quality to the air and surrounded by neatly crafted wooden facades and dark stone instead of gleaming metal; the monument held IF's attention for long minutes. Both Nepgear and Uni remained by her side, all of them quietly tracing the CPUs features with their eyes.

After a while, the human girl nodded to herself and slowly turned to leave, making way for other people moving in; once they left the crowd behind, Nepgear began to wonder: "Now that I think about it... I never heard sis speak about it. Or any of the others, for that matter."

Uni sighed while IF turned her head, the lastationite CPU's gaze turned into the distance. "I asked my sister about it once, but she did not want to talk about it. The others probably don't want to, either." She sounded a tad disappointed, though mostly understanding; IF understood the sentiment as well. The goddesses had fought one another for the better part of three hundred years, certainly they would feel uncomfortable about it in retrospect.

Neither of them continued on the subject; Uni quickly took the lead, food in mind.