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

My schedule for work is looking pretty hectic. I dunno when I'll get a chance to sit down and write much. So updates will slow down next week. I'm sorry.

But then again, reviews have slowed down too. Have people not liked the chapters? Or is life just bothering all of you?

Chapter 36

"Dissector?" Uni asked, a bit of fear in her voice as she looked at the woman more closely. The woman had short, blonde hair, golden eyes behind a pair of thin-frame glasses and was wearing a white lab coat over darker-colored clothing underneath. "Wait, Gernia G.? Weren't you the one who disappeared a year ago when my sister raided your factory for making illegal cybernetic enhancements?"

"BAH!" The blonde grumbled in annoyance. "Illegal in what way? Just because your sister doesn't like it when people go crazy?"

"Not everyone's compatible with cybernetic implants!" Uni protested. "It's bad enough when their bodies reject something like cybernetic limbs. But you were turning their whole body cybernetic without checking to see if they were compatible!"

"BAH!" Gernia G. waved off her concerns. "It doesn't matter now does it? I've been working with some pretty influential people ever since your sister shut my operations down. I've actually gotten around that pesky," she changed her tone of voice to a more mocking tone, "hurr durr, you aren't compatible," her tone shifted back to normal as she sneered, "bullshit rule. But don't worry," the blonde woman grinned and put her hand on Uni's stomach and gave it a squeeze. "I'm going to find out what makes you CPUs tick. See just how you're connected to the Fearicite."

Uni grimaced at the squeeze and her eyes widened as several long, pointy objects came out of the ceiling. "No..." Her eyes started to water up as the first one was lowered down to her stomach and slowly pushed in, causing her to gasp in pain.

"Now, now..." Gernia G. patted Uni's stomach. "You're not human, there's no point in pretending it hurts."

"Just because I'm a CPU Candidate doesn't mean I don't feel pain!" Uni hissed as tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Aww, don't worry," Gernia G. smiled at her and pulled down another pointy object and injected it into Uni's stomach, just below her rib cage, getting a hiss from Uni. "I haven't even begun to torment you!"

"...Huh?" Uni started to squirm and cry out in pain as needles were slid into her hips, legs, arms, chest, neck and her tongue was grabbed by a tong and pulled so that it was extended out of her mouth before a needle was stabbed into it. "AAAAAHHHLLLL!"

"Oh, stop being such a baby." Gerina G. shook her head. "This is simple stuff, not even body modification medicine is being pushed into you." She grinned and leaned in. "Perhaps I should? I could turn you into a cyborg that has no free will." Uni whimpered and tried to squirm away. "Or maybe I'll do some sort of perverted body modification and sell you to some lonely old man that'll pay to have a cute little thing like you warm his bed." Uni glared at her and she chuckled. "But don't worry, it's just a nanite solution that'll go through your body and allow me to see exactly what makes you tick."

The needles were pulled out of Uni's body, much to her relief, though Gernia G. kept a hold on her tongue. "'ill u 'et 'o?!" Uni started to sweat as her captor frowned at her. "Uhh..."

"I hate you CPUs," she snarled at Uni, "your sister especially. She just HAS to be such a busy body, doesn't she? Harping on and ON about how things need to be orderly. BAH! It's because we can experiment that we can progress!" She let go of Uni's tongue and Uni put it back in her mouth, panting. "She demands order and ignores the people that live in the lower levels of Lastation, forcing them to either work or starve."

Uni couldn't say anything, she felt really weird at that moment.

"Oh, I should mention that I put a numbing agent in that concoction." Gernia G. chuckled, "not enough to make you stop feeling pain, but enough that all your voluntary muscles won't respond." Uni gave her a dirty look as best she could. "And you know what I really hate about your sister? She's in her forties and doesn't look a day over eighteen!"

'...THAT'S the reason you hate her?!' Uni mentally yelled in exasperation.

"Oh, wait, no, that's just an annoyance," Gernia G. laughed to herself. "No, I truly hate her because she's a complete moron." Seeing the confused look on Uni's face, the blonde sneered, "and so are you. The fact that you can't see what's going on around you. That you go around playing hero while your sister just deals with criminals causing some minor problems and yet neither of you bother to deal with any of the real problems in Lastation!"

'Like you?' Uni mentally asked and she really wished that she could say something out loud, because it was annoying to listen to someone rant when they knew nothing.

"Don't worry," Gernia G. chuckled as she pointed what looked like a gun at Uni, "this won't hurt a bit."

'I'm sorry, Noire, you were right, power is the only thing that, huh?' Uni was confused as the gun didn't shoot her, but instead bathed parts of her body with a light.

"You thought I was going to shoot you?" Gernia G. scoffed at her. "Pathetic. If I shot you dead that would mean I wouldn't have a test subject to do what I want with." She grinned and snapped her fingers. Uni couldn't move her head, the concoction was keeping her from moving most of her muscles, but it didn't take long for her to see a Progbot pushing a wheeled tray with things that looked really painful. "Let's see... Drill, scalpel, electric prod..." Gernia G. giggled at Uni. "I'm going to have so much fun!"

'Noire! Someone! Anyone! Help!' Uni screamed mentally as Gernia G. lifted up the electric prod and pushed a button, causing it to crackle with power. When it was jabbed into her stomach, she let out a slurred scream as her body spasmed and thrashed uncontrollably. But she couldn't move thanks to the manacles holding her down.

Gernia G. looked to the side and nodded. "Interesting, so that's how you draw upon the Fearicite, huh?" She pulled the electric prod away from Uni, who slumped down, panting hard as she tried to catch her breath. "Excellent. I'll send this to Lord Enzo and Sernge and we'll be able to finally put that bitch in her place."

'Enzo? Sernge?' Uni was a little out of it, but those names sounded similar to two people she knew.

"Awww..." Gernia G. pouted at Uni. "If you behave, maybe we'll let you live while we use your sister how we want." She smirked at Uni. "If you were wondering why we didn't need that much from you, it's simple, we already have a ton of data from scanning your sister whenever she becomes Black Void."

'Dammit, what are they going to do to Noire?'

"Then again," Gernia G. looked at Uni and chuckled, "your sister is old hash at this point. Perhaps we'll force you to become a Void so you can kill her and we'll have you as a loyal attack dog?"

'No! Don't!' Uni mentally protested and cried.

"Alas, I don't make the final decisions." Gernia G. shook her head. "Well, have fun." She patted Uni's stomach and walked off with the Progbot, leaving the CPU Candidate in the room all alone.

When she turned the lights off and closed the door behind her, Uni mentally whimpered. 'All alone and no one to help me.'

"Go ahead, make friends, but it won't do you any good in the end. When you're at your weakest, when everything goes against you, when you need help the most, that's when you'll find out how shallow and selfish humans are."

'Noire...' Tears fell from Uni's eyes. 'You were right.'

(-)

Elsewhere in Lastation...

"Nnngh..."

"Hey, she's waking up." A familiar female voice caught her attention as she slowly sat up and put her right hand on her head. "Compa, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I..." Compa stopped speaking as she lowered her arm and stared at her right hand. "I... I have a hand?" Sure, it was metal and chrome-colored, but it was sleek and Compa could move it around without too much trouble. She sat up and her sheet came off, revealing that her bra had been put back on sometime before she had woken up.

"Oh honey!" Anny smiled happily as he looked at his work. "I'm so happy right now!" His smile faded a bit. "That being said, I really suggest you take time to get used to your new hands before you do something delicate, like shaking someone's hand or getting intimate with your lover."

Compa blushed heavily. "I don't have a lover, Mr. Anny." Anny jerked in surprise as he stared at her. "I, um... Never found time?"

Warechu mentally sighed, but he knew better than to argue the point. Even if he wanted to, he could never be Compa's lover. 'This sucks, I wish that we could but we're not even the same species.'

"Oh, well, color me surprised!" Anny had an astounded look on his face. "Trust me, if you EVER want some guys or gals to hook up with," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, "give me a call, I know PLENTY of people who would LOVE to have a cutie..." He trailed off as he heard a ringing coming from the back. "Oh dear, I have to go take that. Why don't all of you just go and have a nice rest of your day?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Anny!" Compa said as she put her shirt back on for the first time in hours and her eyes watered up with how easy it was. "This is so cool! I have roboarms now!"

"Gust thanks you," the bunny girl said as she bowed to Anny while she, Compa and Warechu left.

After seeing them off, Anny walked into the back and pushed a button, which dimmed the lights. "This had better be important." He said as he answered the phone.

"About fucking time you answered, Anonydeath." Kei snarled at him over the phone.

"What's so important that you would call me when you know I'm at work?"

"You never have customers, you're always using that time to peep on me, the CPU and whomever else you want." Kei shot back.

"Well, today I actually had a customer. Cute girl, lost her arms awhile ago, so I gave her cybernetic replacements."

"...She told you a sob story while having big boobs, didn't she?"

Anonydeath gasped, his eyes wide. "Why I NEVER! Okay, it's true, but..."

"Can it! Listen! Turns out there's a couple CPUs in Lastation." Kei said and Anonydeath stilled, his pupils shrinking. "Planeptune and Eden's CPUs... Turns out that Azna=Leb just got a bunch of data from the bitch's little bratty sister."

"So..." Anonydeath began. "What's..."

Kei chuckled heavily. "I think we need to... Ensure that Black Void meets these CPUs, don't you? I'll send the data to your suit, you find them and I'll handle the rest."

"Of course." Anonydeath said as he reached down and touched his belt. A moment later he was covered in his pink and green power armor. "Aaaah! I feel naked without this suit on."

"You aren't Azna=Leb, so don't bother with pickup lines."

Anonydeath shook his head. "Kei, honey, you're cute, but totally not my type."

"...I thought you were... You know... Queer?" Kei asked, confusion in her voice.

"I may be queer, but let me lay it straight for you... White hair doesn't really do it for me. Plus, your attitude? Totally not what I'd want in a partner. You're too serious and..."

"Alright, now that we've established that we're not compatible with each other, I want you to go over this data and find these two CPUs. They should be in their human forms."

"Fine, fine," Anonydeath sighed as the images were forwarded to him. "I'll see about finding them."

"See that you succeed." Kei said as she cut the line.

(-)

In another part of Lastation, lower levels...

Neptune bit her lip softly as she thought about the conversation that she had with Ganache and Chian. She was walking through Lastation with Peashy, Rom and Ram, her mind anywhere but where she was. 'CPUs aren't what Ganache and Chian thinks. I want to help the people, I know I do.'

"You should really stop lying to yourself, you know." A familiar voice echoed in her mind and Neptune's eyes widened and her pupils shrank as the everything around her turned black, save for her. But what made her pupils shrink was the person in front of her.

"...It... It can't be..." Neptune trembled as she saw the person in front of her. That cool demeanor, that outfit... "How?"

"Is that really what you should say to me?" The person asked while smirking at Neptune. "It's been so long, surely you've missed me, Nepsy."

"Kurome... Why are you here?" Neptune asked the blue-haired CPU.

Kurome just gave her a cool smile.

To be continued...

Things just went from bad to worse, didn't they?