Hm? Oh, the hat is mandatory for Planeptower's IT-security. I know it looks weird on top of my exo-suit, but my Lady insists. And yes, it is a joke of sorts. Benevolent hackers are often called whitehats.
- ? 'Anonydeath' ?
Snow crunched under her boots, yet she was not particularly heavily clothed; IF put some of her and Neptune's time to practicing the trick MAGES. taught her, which meant that she could keep herself somewhat warm.
In hindsight, she really should have known it would end up like this. With their respective fame, just wandering the streets would have created both a commotion and so many rumours neither of them was willing to do it.
Virtua Forest expanded in front of her, the guard post currently only manned by two people; they always reduced the Guild presence over the holidays. Those two thankfully preferred their warmth to paying attention to her beyond curious looks. IF continued to walk back and forth as she waited, having been a little early as usual.
Going for a stroll here was not so bad once in a while, the young woman found. She also wondered when she started to be bothered by what other people thought, and decided it was less that and more her being considerate for 5pb.. The idol had admitted to being troubled by people in their late-night chat, which made it clear they should not go somewhere public.
Soon enough, she had created a path of solid snow that no longer crunched under her steps; IF did not particularly care, she just paced to pass the time. She still felt a little restless even after her morning workout.
A glance at her phone told her that 5pb. was late, and that she had no new messages. So she returned to her pacing, coat fluttering in the light breeze.
IF had to wait another five minutes until the sound of crunching snow alerted her to someone approaching; turning around however, she did not see anyone and paused. Then she looked down to find footprints in the white blanket, another one forming with a flicker as the person moved. She snorted about the practice and turned to wander off. "Isn't that a little much?"
"Sorry..." The voice had no apparent source, though IF could tell it spoke from next to her. "I'm just... it helps when I know nobody can see me." She could hear a certain sheepishness without having to see anything, though IF was mainly glad the blunette did not stutter.
She kept quiet for a while until they were well out of sight of the entrance to the city, then reached over and tapped 5pb.'s shoulder; the disturbance it produced in her invisibility was short, a sudden ripple in a rainbow of colours. It was followed by a surprised sound and the whole thing dropping away, revealing her fellow Maker in a white sundress. In winter.
The sight of it gave IF pause for a moment, but it also provided her something to play over the moment. "Are you sure you're dressed for the right season?"
"Um... w-well, I, uh..." And thus the stutter returned, though not as powerful as two weeks earlier. 5pb. self-conciously rubbed her arms and averted her gaze. "I d-didn't bring a-anything for w-winter, just c-clothes I l-like..."
IF sighed at that, well aware that her colleague knew the trick for warming up as well. It made sense that she would not bring any winter clothes. And, in fairness to her colleague, IF was not dressed for the time of year, either. "Yeah, I get that. We already know how to keep the cold away, so there's no need to take clothes for that along."
5pb. nodded shily and glanced her way, meeting IF's eyes for a moment but averting her gaze right afterward. The brunette paid it no mind and shrugged. "I'm mostly just thinking you're going to give someone a scare if they see you out here and dressed in white like that. You look a bit like a ghost with how pale you are."
Much to her surprise, her companion actually snickered about that. "Hehe, I see; I have to k-keep that in mind." She fell silent afterward and IF realised that for now, it was probably up to her to keep the conversation going.
At least she had enough things to talk about, starting with that particular trick she saw before. "Actually, how are you making yourself invisible like that?"
The idol lowered her head a little, hands playing with her dress as they walked. "I, um, m-my sister made the t-theory and taught me how to do it a few years ago." Her voice became more steady as she spoke, motioning with both hands. "It's basically just light magic, but much more low-key than normal. The actual thing is difficult to pull off, but it works by blocking and copying incoming light and then producing the exact same frequency on the other side. I spent a lot of time learning it."
IF huffed at that, amused by the fact there was another interesting trick she would never be capable of. Though she did see a few holes in it. "What if someone bumps into you on the street?"
The blunette's lips curled into a weak smile as she shook her head. "I usually fly in the city. Flight is far less difficult, and I can keep that up almost indefinitely without expending much power. You are a mage yourself, right?"
IF nodded, but spoke up before the other woman could continue: "Stopping you there, I still suck at magic. Not a chance I can pull it off, or Nep would have taught me already." Because really, flight was one of the most useful tricks she could imagine.
5pb.'s smile fell and she averted her gaze. "Sorry, it's just... flight is basically wrapping your body in a shroud of pure magic and then moving it around. Not for beginners, but a lot of mages can use it. Most people just aren't able to do it without replacing the shroud from time to time, which is where most of the power is lost."
IF nodded understandingly; it made sense to her and she did like to listen to someone better than herself about such things. "I see. So you fly through town while invisible and keeping yourself warm?"
"Well, uh, yes." The blunette did not look at her, bashfully ducking her head. "Caroline just includes the warmth into the flight to cut down on complexity, but I'm not good enough for that." Her response made IF raise an eyebrow, but she swallowed the first comment she had before it got out.
"Caroline being MAGES., then?" 5pb. nodded shily, startled a moment later when IF clapped her shoulder. "No need to feel bad, I know I suck and don't mind. Just assume I won't understand if you start to go into arcane theory."
"O-Okay..." The conversation trailed off from there, much to the brunette's disappointment. She just got her colleague to talk about something she cared about, but then things went back to how they were before.
They wandered through Virtua for a while, meeting basically no one on the way; a few Guild agents passed them, but the cold made few of them care for the celebrities out for a stroll.
A little later, a pair of Wolves crossed their path and IF produced her pistol without a second thought. Then she looked down at the weapon and to 5pb. "Say, do you have your ear protectors in?" The blunette blinked, turning her gaze from the monsters to her and shook her head; she was clearly mortified, so IF simply waved it off. "Don't worry, just being careful here. Oh well."
They stepped away from each other and the wolves simply flew past them; then a hail of icycles from IF and a single shard from 5pb. speared through the creatures, killing them immediately.
The Makers returned to where they stood before and kept going. 5pb. appeared more thoughtful and kept stealing glances at IF, who grinned at her. "I told you I suck. That was the best I could do... though ice isn't really my specialty, anyway."
"Is that so?" The idol eyed her curiously now. "W-What's your Af-f-finity?" She frowned at her own stutter this time, but IF took her attention away with her response.
"Fire, light, and healing. I didn't even try ice before Nep gave me supplementary lessons, and lightning is still a big no for me. Wind is so-so, but I can't get it down to do less than make a mess." The brunette focussed for a moment and pointed her hand at an errant Dogoo; the resulting gust of air, tamed as it was, still carried most of the snow along and buried the slime in it. "That's basically the weakest I can do." Not to mention that IF still had trouble to channel magic through anything but her hands, where proper mages could do it with basically any part of their body.
She shook her head and turned her attention back to 5pb.. "What's yours?"
The blunette averted her gaze again and pointed a finger toward another Dogoo; lightning lanced out from it and killed the creature mid-jump. "Lightning and wind. I use both in my performances, so I get a lot of practice with them either way." The lightning jumped from one Dogoo to another that hid nearby, then to another, and a fourth before using itself up. "I can't even imagine not having the control I have. Isn't it hard?"
"Not really." IF shrugged at her companion as she explained. "I spent a lot of time honing my body and skill; those are what I use for work. The magic is just a nice help to clean out small stuff."
5pb. made an understanding noise and fell quiet for a while; they continued destroying the few Dogoos they came by, but most monsters either avoided them or were already killed by the agents.
Fresh snow crunched under their boots as they walked, a white blanket covering the ground and bushes and trees alike; almost all were devoid of leaves, though a few pine trees stood out. Some loweean flowers had become native to Virtua as well, blooming yellow and red even in the bitter cold.
They both marveled at the sight as they went, mostly aimless on their way through the forest. IF had a vague idea of their direction and Planeptower still rose in the distance; they would find their way home when they felt it was time.
As she considered what else they could talk about, IF began to turn her attention to the area around them. Then she noticed familiar groups of trees, though she could not tell whether those were the same she once walked by.
She spent two years patrolling this forest, yet did not know even half of it as well as she would have liked.
"I-It's a nice thing to see." 5pb. broke the silence with these words, calling IF back from her ruminations. When the younger woman looked at her companion, she fidgeted a little, but pressed on after a moment: "I-I m-m-mean, it's... it's pretty. A-and d-different." She kept on fidgeting, unable to continue for the moment.
IF began to sweep her gaze over the frozen landscape, at least as far as she could see, and saw what the blunette meant. Everything sparkled in this piece of nature, visually untouched by human hands.
"We g-get out a l-lot more than most people, being M-Makers," 5pb. went on a little later. "A-And everything looks so... so wild. It's nothing like the p-parks in the cities, I think. Everything there is, uh, tamed, yes. Nature is f-free out here." She mulled over her own words for a moment before giving IF a shy look. "Does that make sense?"
The younger woman nodded thoughtfully. She had a similar feeling, though what produced it was hardly possible to be put into words. Nature lacked system in a way humans could understand easily, unless it was trimmed by human hands.
"Yeah, I get it. And with Virtua being the only spot outside people can actually go to without risking their lives..." She did not finish the sentence, unsure what to say there.
IF had never really thought about the matter before; now the constant influx of tourists made a lot more sense. She understood why the Guild went to such trouble to keep the forest safe, too. It was so everyone could see what nature actually was, lest they become truly lost in city life.
They continued wandering and soon reached a frozen lake, one which IF recalled fairly well. Her team had lazed around the place during the particularly hot days of summer; even with the errant mosquitoes bothering them, everyone had preferred being near the water.
They still had to do their patrol, but Gabriel made sure to lay their route so they came by the lake every hour or so. One day, they even dared to bring swimsuits and went inside during their lunch break. Other squads had done similarly.
The memory brought a smile to IF's face, one she did not even notice for a while as she stared out onto the ice.
5pb., unwilling to interrupt her reminiscence, stepped closer and tested her foot on the surface; it held easily. They had subzero temperatures for weeks, which made that not too much of a surprise. Being a leanboxian however, the blunette still refrained from going any further than that.
Until IF gave her a soft push, that was. The idol followed the nudge with a barely audible squeak and stepped onto the ice, her colleague following a moment later. IF grinned at her. "We don't really get the chance to do this in the city at all. Come on, let's give it a try!"
"W-What if we break in?" Even though she voiced her concerns, 5pb. did not leave IF's side as they made their way over the glistening surface. A light dusting of snow covered most of it, but the afternoon sun made it all shine nonetheless.
The younger woman shrugged and looked around. "I'm pretty sure we won't. I did that the last few years with my team and it never happened, though they said to wait until it had enough time to freeze over properly." IF mulled that over for a moment and threw a glance toward 5pb., who kept eyeing their surroundings cautiously. "I guess you can't really do that in Leanbox?"
She received a shake of the head in response. "Not really. I-It's too warm, any ice that forms in winter can't hold a person's weight." Though she was still careful, the blunette appeared to grow a little less scared of breaking in when the ice kept holding. She still flinched every time the ground creaked under their feet, but IF would not complain about that.
Being paranoid was no good, but being careful never hurt. She also made sure to try keeping them close enough to the shore in case something did happen. "And if it breaks, you can fly yourself out just fine. I'll manage, too."
"That's true." 5pb. nodded thoughtfully and began to look around again. "It's things like these that I like Lowee for. It is too dark and cold to stay for longer than a few weeks, but it's so pretty."
IF made an agreeing noise; thinking of Lowee however, she was reminded of MAGES.. Who was apparently 5pb.'s sister and worked almost on the other side of the planet. There was a story there, but she did not know whether it would be okay to ask. So IF put the notion aside for the moment; she could ask that some other time.
They followed the lake's shore for a while and finally left its icy surface several minutes later, much to 5pb.'s relief. IF abstained from commenting on it and pointed her companion to a rarely used path through a thicker part of the forest.
They found another Wolf charging at them, but IF simply stabbed its throat as it soared past her. They went back to walking immediately after, barely interrupted by the monster. "I'm a little curious, how long does it take you to write your songs and practice them?"
The blunette thought about it for a moment, thinking back and counting on her fingers. "That... depends, really." She ultimately shrugged, a sheepish smile on her face. "Between a week and two months for setting up the track and the lyrics, depending on how inspired I am. About... another month to practice the song? I usually practice several at once, so it overlaps a little."
Her stutter was gone entirely by now, which IF took as a success. The insight in an idol's life made for a nice addition.
Then however, right as they passed around a few leaveless bushes, they came upon two other people. Not just anyone even, but Compa and Nepgear.
Both of them stood with their backs to IF and 5pb., but she could see her companion freezing up; once they were done eyeing the handful of flowers in that direction, they would likely see them.
IF's eyes narrowed slightly and she nudged the blunette with her elbow. "Quick, turn invisible and stay nearby." Her voice was barely a whisper, though she suspected that Nepgear heard her anyway; if she did, the CPU did not react to it.
Moments passed and then 5pb. was gone from sight. IF nodded slowly and whistled.
Much as expected, Nepgear turned around and Compa jumped up from where she had been crouching; both brightened upon seeing her and waved while she wandered over. Greetings were exchanged and IF eyed the other two curiously. "What brought you out here?"
Nepgear shrugged, though Compa beamed at her with cheer. "Nep-Nep said the forest looks great today, so we went to look around."
IF nodded understandingly, though she knew this was not the whole truth. Compa probably had no idea, though Nepgear obviously knew as well. The purplette just quietly smiled and IF tried not to roll her eyes. "Yeah, it is pretty today. I was taking a walk myself; it's nice."
"Oh, how about we go together? The more, the merrier!" Compa immediately brightened up at her own idea, though her expression turned back to normal when IF shook her head.
"Sorry, I'd rather be by myself today. And I'm probably not going to get back anytime soon." Only half of that was a lie; her and 5pb. would likely stay out for the better part of the day. Compa nodded understandingly.
A few Dogoos broke out of the bushes, curiously hopping toward them; IF did not even bother acting while Nepgear killed most with a flaming spear that kept circling back. The two she did not target were those that Compa bludgeoned to death with a group of four magic spheres.
IF took a look at the app on her phone; she still wore her Guild-tracker out of habit, which meant that she received the reward for every Dogoo slain. "Hm." She quickly made for her wallet and flicked a coin at her friend. "Two for you." Compa smiled and pocketed the money, long since used to the practice.
Nepgear, meanwhile, would have refused it no matter how hard she tried to press the issue; she would just donate anything the purplette earned as usual. She felt she should wrap this up, though.
"Well, don't let me hold you up. See you around." Both Nepgear and Compa said their goodbyes and all of them walked off.
IF kept quiet for about a minute, wandering away from where her friends might still see. Then she sighed and stopped. "We should be in the clear now." And just like that, 5pb. appeared basically next to her. The blunette hung half a metre in the air, poised as if sitting, but returned to the ground once she returned to visibility.
The idol appeared curious. "Who was that with Lady Nepgear?" And IF saw no reason not to indulge her
"Compa is our friend; she studies to become a nurse and... really, she's a normal city girl." IF grimaced for a moment, feeling as if she just leveled an insult on her friend. "She knows Nepgear is a CPU and stuff, but we try not to involve her too much." That would be both cruel and reckless; Compa was not made to fight like the Makers or CPUs.
5pb. nodded and mulled that over; when IF continued however, she froze mid-step for a moment: "She's also a fan. Not the screaming groupie kind, but I figured you really wouldn't want to deal with that today." The brunette paused for a moment and considered her words, then eyed her companion. "Actually, are there screaming groupies like that? I never saw anyone like that outside of movies."
"Um..." there was a significant pause and they both stopped walking, looking at each other. 5pb. mulled over what to say while IF stood and waited for her; the blunette became increasingly flustered before finally ducking her head. "Y-Y-Yes. I-I w-was t-thinking w-what to s-say, b-b-but everything s-sounded s-so m-m-mean..."
She trailed off and IF sighed. Her colleague had regressed into stutters.
After a moment, the younger woman looked around for a place to sit. They had been going for an hour already and she figured now was as good a time as any for lunch. A few large rocks sat in a small hole nearby, high enough to be visible even through the snow. She pointed at them. "How about we rest up for a bit and eat something?"
It was an abrupt change of the subject, but her companion did not seem to mind. She nodded gratefully and moved over to examine the rocks, then turned to IF thoughtfully. "Those are too cold to sit on. Do you want me to warm them?"
The brunette just waved her aside with a grin. "I offered, so it's my treat." She then cast out a hand and had a gout of flame run over the rock; snow and ice melted in seconds, the resulting water soon turning into vapor as the fire continued to blaze over her chosen seat.
She did this for ten seconds before stopping and checking it with her hand; the rock steamed, but was still cool to the touch, so IF bathed it in flame a little longer. Then she produced a small picnic blanket, which she spread over the rock before hopping onto it. 5pb. climbed up right after her, eyes still on the steam wafting around them.
IF noticed that and leaned back while getting out the lunchboxes she made. "You can say it, you know? I know I'm no good at it."
The blunette's gaze wandered to her and then back to the rock, back to IF and then to the ground. "Y-You... you d-did it a l-lot f-faster t-than I c-c-could have," she offered diplomatically, though it only made the younger woman snort. 'But for ten times the power', she did not say even though both knew it was implied.
IF simply shrugged and held a box out to 5pb. "Here you go. No idea what kind of food you like, so I made two identical ones." After a year of living alone and with the life she had, IF had become quite good at making her own meals. She needed the nutrition.
Though, granted, about half of it was synthesized.
Her companion did not seem to care, she just blinked down at the food; noodles and several different vegetables, together with a generous helping of meat. The blunette smiled and took the fork held out to her. "T-Thank you." Before she dug in however, she quietly added something else: "And thank you for keeping your friend unaware."
IF heard her and merely shrugged it off; it was the right thing to do. "Don't mention it. Sticking it to Nep is important sometimes, too." When the chewing blunette looked up at her curiously, she motioned behind herself with her fork, toward where they came by the other two. "At this point, I learned that any chance meeting is not by chance if she is even remotely involved. Seeing those two in the forest on the same day we decide to go there? Pretty sure that was her trying to get you out of your shell. Or to give Compa a chance to meet you, or some other reason."
She shrugged. "Either way, I disagree and won't play her game today." And with that finish, IF began to eat as well. 5pb. smiled.
All in all, the both of them thought, it was shaping up to be a nice and quiet day.