Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Sega and whomever else worked on it.

Chapter 33

"Hey..." A voice caught her attention and she looked up to see Uni sit down on the bench next to her. "How are you, K-Sha?"

The dark-haired girl gave Uni a cautious look and sighed softly. "Why did you stop me from trying to..."

"It wouldn't have worked." Uni told her. "Noire's many things, but she's not that easy to take out." K-Sha looked like she was about to say something when Uni spoke up again. "It was right after I was born..."

*Flash*

Uni rubbed her eyes of sleep. "Lousy big..." She stopped as the door to the Basilicom's living areas suddenly exploded in. Thankfully it was far enough away that she didn't get hit by any debris, but she yelled in pain as something tore through her leg and caused her to fall to the ground as blood came out of her leg.

"Go, go, go!" Uni heard yelling and looked as several people, all wearing identical dark clothes with masks that covered their faces, came rushing in, all with guns in their hands.

"Sir! Just this CPU Candidate here." One of them said and Uni stared at that one in shock.

"How do you, GAH!" Uni screamed in pain as the man who was over her slammed her stomach with the butt of his rifle.

"Shut up, monster! We're going to end you and your big sister right now."

"Oh really?" Noire's voice was heard and everyone turned to see Noire in red pajamas. Before they could do anything, she was bathed in a black glow and moving.

Uni could only stare in shock as the men in the room suddenly fell to bloody pieces. When the carnage was over, her sister was standing over her. "...N...Noire?"

Black Void looked at Uni with a cold expression. "I told you, I have many enemies. If you wish to survive, you need to be ready for an attack at any time." She turned her head towards the destroyed doors. "If you'll excuse me..."

"Thank you." Uni called out to Black Void, who stopped and scoffed at her. "Noire?"

"I'm not doing this for you, little sister," her deeper, more arrogant voice usually grated on Uni's nerves, but right now it felt almost comforting, "these..." she sneered, "maggots decided to attack my home. They can suffer and die."

Uni watched as Black Void flew off to deal with the invaders and grimaced as her legs started to hurt again. "Dammit, and I can't get to the phone to call for medical help." She knew she'd heal, but she wished that she could get the bleeding to stop.

Much to her surprise, less than four minutes later, several medics came into the room and found Uni laying where she was as she tried to stem the bleeding. "Lady Uni." One of them said as they helped wrap up her injury. "Just hold on."

Before Uni could ask what was going on, her redheaded sister came walking in. "Oh good, you got here before I got back." Noire yawned and turned to walk back to her room. "I'm going back to bed, the cleaning crew should be here soon, so get out of the room before they show up so you aren't in their way."

"Um..." Uni spoke up as Noire got close to her. "You called the medics?"

"Don't take it the wrong way, little sister," Noire gave her a cold stare, "I just don't want you bleeding all over the carpet. It's a pain to get blood out and I don't want the place to stink. That's all."

*End Flash*

K-Sha looked at Uni weirdly. "...It almost sounds like she cares about you." Uni nodded at her. "But... She's a Void! Aren't they completely heartless and cruel?"

"...I don't know with Noire." Uni said softly and looked down, worry on her face. "And I'm not sure what to do anymore, K-Sha. I know that she's a Void, I know that she's cruel and heartless... But... I just..."

K-Sha was silent as she looked at Uni. "...What's she like in private?"

Uni blinked at that question. "...She's kind of reclusive and quiet." She gave K-Sha a confused look as the girl stood up. "What?"

"I want you to come with me." K-Sha held out a hand. "I want you to meet someone." Uni looked at her in confusion as she took the hand. "I belong to an organzation called AZL."

"AZL?" Uni asked as she was pulled to her feet. "I never heard of that."

"Not many have." K-Sha said mysteriously.

(-)

In another part of the city...

"I don't really like those people looking this way, Chu." Warechu grumbled as he spied a bunch of people looking at them with various degrees of interest. He could smell lust coming off some of them. After being in Leanbox, it was easy to smell it from people, even if it was just a light fragrance compared to what he had smelled in Leanbox.

"Oh dear..." An effeminite voice suddenly spoke up, catching Warechu and Gust's attention as they saw an extremely handsome man in khaki pants and a white shirt with pale skin and short blonde hair looking at them. Or more specifically, looking at Compa. "I can't believe it. Look at you, such a waste..."

"Hey!" Both Gust and Warechu yelled as they got in front of Compa, much to the shock of the man.

The man jerked in shock. "Oh, dear me." He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "I sometimes forget that not everyone sees the things I'm looking at." He pointed at Compa's arms. "My goodness, to use such primitive prosthetic arms! Whoever put those on you should be ashamed!" He huffed in anger. "I can't stand looking at them! Come with me." He motioned for them to follow after him. "Please, I don't bite, I run a small shop around the corner."

"Gust doesn't like him." The bunny girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Something about him feels wrong."

"Well," Compa giggled nervously, "I do admit Mister Weirdo is kind of unusual, but I don't think he's a bad guy, maybe? At least we can see what he wants." Both Gust and Warechu sighed but nodded. When Compa was like this it was hard to convince her to change her mind otherwise.

The best they could do was hope that this wasn't a trap of some sort.

(-)

As they walked into the building, Compa was surprised at what she saw. "This is... An arm and leg shop?" The posters on the walls and the machines made it seem like this was a place people could go to get prosthetic limbs quick and easy. The inside was nice and clean and it looked almost like a barber shop, just with some long tube-like machines next to chairs instead of barber tools and hair-dryers.

"Gust wonders if someone were to steal from this place, would that make it an armed robbery?" The bunny girl asked, an amused expression on her face.

The man laughed at what Gust said. "Oh man! That's hilarious! I need to remember that one in the future." He calmed down and looked Compa over. "Oh dear, oh my, I must simply ask to see your arms so I know what I'm working with."

"Um..." Compa blushed softly. "There's a big window here..."

"Oh, don't worry about that, it's one-way." The man waved her off. "Now, now, chop chop, I need to..."

"No." Gust and Warechu said at the same time.

"Huh?" The man looked at them in confusion. "But I need to see..."

"I'm wearing a long-sleeved shirt..." Compa pointed out. "The only way to see is if..." She blushed more. "I take my shirt off for you. And you're a strange man."

The man gave her a confused look. "Oh!" His eyes widened. "My goodness, you think I'm some pervert who would take advantage of you?" He put his hands over his chest as a pained expression came to his face. "I'm hurt! I'm seriously hurt!" He staggered around in an overly dramatic way. "No! No I say!" He waggled his finger at Compa, Gust and Warechu. "I am not such a pervert! My soul is that of a pure maiden and there is only one woman that I would ever lust after." He crossed his arms and huffed while looking away while the two girls and rat were looking at him in confusion. "But that is besides the point! While I do enjoy beautiful things, I am more interested in interesting things."

"Um..." Compa had a confused look on her face. "Interesting things?"

"Well, consider me curious." The man smiled at her. "Just HOW did you lose your arms?" He sighed at the looks he was given. "If the story's interesting and you tell me, I'll even give you new ones for free."

Compa looked at him with a look of distrust on her face. "I dunno... What if you try playing with my boobies when my shirt's off?"

The man gave her an almost offended look. "I would NEVER! While I do think that your glorious bosom is something that most men and some women would dream of being able to fondle, I, on the other hand, prefer breasts that more easily fit into my hands." He winked at them. "Besides, did I not tell you? In my soul, I am a pure maiden who has the hots for only one woman and you are not her. So, please, do not worry. I swear that I will not stare overly much at your breasts nor will I fondle them."

"...Gust thinks that it's nice he's honest, but..." Gust twitched as she ran over what he said in her mind. "That one bit..."

"Agreed," Warechu nodded and glared at the man, "I thought you said you have the hots for one woman? What's with that part of you staring at Compa's boobies?"

"Oh dear, I mean you no harm. I'll tell you what!" He clapped his hands three times and pulled open a drawer with some scalpels. "If I do anything untoward your lovely lady friend, you can use those sharp knives on my body and do horrible things to me."

"Well..." Compa slowly nodded and reached down to pull her shirt up and over her head, revealing her cream-colored bra and the full extent of her artificial limbs. "When you put it that way."

"Compa?!" Both Gust and Warechu yelled, though Warechu had to pinch his nose to keep a gusher of blood from erupting from it.

Compa blushed softly. "Well, it's not like it's the first time that I've had to expose myself to a random stranger since I got these arms."

"Wait, what?" The man stared at her in shock. "What do you mean, expose yourself to a random stranger?"

"Um..." Compa's face was turning more and more scarlet. "I can't remove these arms without... Removing my bra."

"Oh dear!" The man gasped, a horrified look on his face. "Just wait right there!" He turned and ran into the back of his shop, leaving Gust, Warechu and Compa looking at his retreating form in confusion. It was only a few moments later when he returned with a sheet. "Now, come over here," he motioned to the seat he was next to, "and we'll put this over top of you so you don't have to expose yourself to me anymore than you already are."

Compa, Warechu and Gust all sighed in relief and Compa got into the chair as the sheet was put over her. Gust and Warechu went over to Compa and helped remove her bra before moving her arms over the top of the sheet while keeping her now bare breasts covered.

"Oh my!" The man gasped as he looked at her arms, seeing the scars where her arms met the prosthetics made him narrow his eyes, "so, want to tell me what happened?" He asked as he instructed them to remove the fake arms, revealing the stumps that were Compa's arms.

"Well, Mr., ah!" Compa's eyes went white and blank as she looked at him in shock. "I don't know your name!"

"Oh dear!" The man gasped, his eyes also going white and blank in shock. "I never told you?!" The three shook their heads. "Well, you can call me Anny," he winked at them, "so, Miss Compa, now that you have my name, may I hear your story?"

Compa smiled pleasantly at him. "Well, Mr. Anny, it started when I was working at the Lowee Basilicom as a nurse."

"You're a nurse, huh?" Anny asked as he grabbed Compa's right arm and felt around the elbow, noting how the joint was still there and seemingly working fine.

"Well, I became a doctor." Compa smiled softly and Anny's face showed surprise.

"Ah, so that's why you were okay with the idea of exposure, even if it made you embarrassed." He nodded and walked around to feel the short stump of her left arm.

"I've had countless people see my boobies because of this." Compa moved her arms around as best she could while explaining things to him.

"So how did it happen?" Anny asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, I was working in the Lowee Basilicom for the CPU." Compa told him and Anny jerked slightly. "I treated injuries that happened when she got mad at someone. But she was really cruel to her younger sisters and I treated them. Eventually she found out and had me pinned to the table..." Compa trailed off, remembering how she had been bent over the table, her arms spread far to the sides and clamps holding them down. "White Void then took out her weapon and cut my arms off, leaving me bleeding and saying that I had to leave Lowee City."

"Oh dear, such a brute." Anny shook his head. "So you were helping her sisters and this happened to you, huh?" Compa nodded at him. "How horrible. I'll tell you what," Compa gave him a confused look, "since you were brutalized by a CPU, I'm not going to give you fake arms."

"WHAT?!" Gust and Warechu yelled at him and he held up a finger to his lips.

"Shhh... No no, you see, I was so MOVED by your story, of a CPU being so mean that she would hurt someone who looks so cute and innocent," Anny patted Compa's shoulders, much to the girl's embarrassment, "that I just CAN'T give you fake arms. No no! I'm going to give you cybernetic arms!"

"...Huh?" Compa, Warechu and Gust all asked at the same time, confusion in their faces and voices.

Anny sighed and picked up Compa's fake arms. "See, if I was giving you fake arms, they wouldn't be any better than this, they'd look better, but that would be it. Cybernetic arms..." He smiled at Compa. "Well, I admit, the process of getting them the first time is insanely painful as I have to put a connector plate," he grabbed Compa's right arm and rubbed the end of it, "right here, which means I have to do insertions into your arms to connect to your nerve endings."

"...Can I have some anesthesia?" Compa asked, sweating at the thought of going through such pain. "I've had to do something like this when I was in training and that person was in so much pain because I didn't use enough anesthesia for him."

"Well, I could..." Anny trailed off, grimacing softly, "but you see, honey, if I did do that, I wouldn't be able to make sure that the nerves were connected properly." Compa whimpered heavily. "Plus I don't want you to bite your tongue off and kill yourself." She nodded at him, sighing. "HOWEVER!" Compa looked up, some hope in her eyes. "I will say that the process is very quick, even if very painful."

"Gust has a question," Anny looked at the bunnygirl and nodded, "are you getting anesthesia mixed up with novocain?"

Anny tilted his head. "...Isn't anesthesia stuff you use to numb areas and block pain?" Compa suddenly started laughing and Anny looked at her in confusion.

"Sometimes it is, Mr. Anny," she smiled at him. "Most of the time it's used to make the patient fall asleep so they don't feel the worst of what you're doing, even if the body would react. Typically it's used as sleeping gas."

"Oh!" Anny laughed at that. "I have that! Why didn't you say sleeping gas? Anyway, would you like to start?" Compa and the others looked at him in confusion. "It will take about... Four hours, but when it's done, you'll have brand new arms."

Compa nodded at him. "Sure, but, um, how much..."

"Honey," he smiled at her, "for telling me such an interesting story and because I'm such a sympathetic person, no charge today. I'll just write it off as a business expense on my taxes."

"Gust thinks we were wrong about him." Gust whispered to Warechu as Anny got Compa set up for the procedure. More loudly, she spoke up while looking at Anny, "though Gust is surprised that this is being done like getting your hair cut. Gust would think that this should be done in a hospital."

"Oh, you sweet little cinnamon roll," Anny winked at her, "replacing lost limbs is so common that there are places that specialize in replacing lost hands in under an hour with cybernetics. I think it's called handcrafters or something." Anny waved his hands and got a breathing mask while slipping it over Compa's mouth. "Now, just breathe deeply, you know how this works." Compa nodded and did just that. "When you wake up, you'll have brand new arms."

Both Gust and Warechu were given folding chairs to sit on while they watched. From what they could see, it was mostly routine stuff, though both of them started to get upset as Compa jerked uncontrollably in her sleep, but they understood why.

"Hmm, this might be a bad thing," Anny said softly and took the sheet before tying it around Compa's neck and going back to work. "Okay, now then..."

Both Gust and Warechu were rather surprised that he did that, but when Compa suddenly jerked so hard that she jumped several inches off of the chair, they understood as she would have had her breasts exposed to the air and while Warechu wouldn't have minded seeing it, he wouldn't have wanted Compa to be so exposed and vulnerable if she didn't need to be.

Especially since Compa did it another seven times, the last one loosening the sheet enough that most of her breasts were exposed.

"So what happens now, Chu?" Warechu asked after Anny got done with the attachments before moving the cylinders up to Compa's arms and sliding them into position.

"Well," Anny said as he put the sheet over Compa again, covering her up before the sheet would have fallen off of her completely. "Now we wait. It just takes time for the machines to build the cybernetic arms properly."

Gust and Warechu nodded, hopeful for Compa.

"I do hope no one gets mad that I didn't opt to put any weapons systems in her arms."

"Gust thinks Compa will not be upset." Gust gave him a deadpan look while Warechu nodded and Anny giggled at them.

To be continued...