Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Sega and whomever else worked on it.
Chapter 40
Later in the morning...
"This is so cool!" Compa's eyes sparkled as she interlocked her fingers and started moving her arms up and down in a wavy motion. "I didn't realize metal parts could move so well!" She giggled as she, Linda, IF, Gust, Warechu and Chrome sat out in the lounge area of their hotel suite eating some breakfast.
"Must be some extra stuff." Linda mused, "servos and rotary motors. Not sure how it works, but that would be my guess."
"Hey, Chrome?" IF spoke up, "where's Nep and the kids?"
"Sleeping." Chrome answered her, "they had a busy night last night." She took a sip of the coffee in front of her and sighed softly. "Some bad dreams and other stuff, I think it's okay to let them rest for the day."
"I was wondering why I heard screaming last night." Warechu muttered, looking tired. He blinked as he felt a hand on his head and he turned to see Compa giving him a headpat. "C-c-c-Compa?"
She smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'm sure that things are okay, they're probably just a bit tired is all." She really hoped that was the truth and that it wasn't related to Neptune potentially being infected by the Fearicite. The thought of such a nice CPU becoming an evil monster was terrifying.
"They'll be okay, I think." Chrome told them. "We have some spare time, so why not just take a day to ourselves and relax?"
IF grimaced slightly. "Um, Linda..?" Linda looked at her in worry, "for some reason, I... My skin's hurting really bad."
"Shit, did it dry up?" Linda asked and the others looked at IF in worry. "Come on, I'll rub you down."
"Maybe we should see about getting you to some doctors with good technology to take a look at you?" Compa suggested, getting a nod from IF as she was led into the bedroom. "Um, what's the number to call?"
It was nearly twenty minutes later when an ambulance arrived at the hotel and IF was carted out with Linda following behind. Compa and Chrome got into a cab to follow after the ambulance while leaving Gust in charge of things until they knew more.
(-)
An hour later at the hospital...
IF, who was completely naked, though under a bed sheet and had a clear mask over her mouth and nose, was in the emergency room panting hard while her face was showing nothing but pain. Around her were several nurses and a doctor who were doing their best to scan her body while keeping her as comfortable as possible.
"I see," the doctor frowned as he looked over the data. "Get the samples to the labs, okay?" The nurses nodded and rushed out while the doctor looked at IF. "Miss," he spoke to her and she cracked an eye open to look at him, "I want you to try to relax as much as you can. We'll keep an eye on you, okay?"
IF nodded and closed her eyes, trying to relax and not let the pain bother her too much.
(-)
Linda had a severely worried look on her face as she fidgeted in the waiting area while Chrome and Compa kept her from freaking out and running into the emergency room. "What's taking so long?"
"Calm down," Compa told her, "Iffy's been in there for only an hour, it usually takes a lot longer than that for them to find out what's wrong."
Chrome was more concerned about finding out what was wrong with IF rather than anything else at that moment. Part of her wondered just what was wrong with IF, but another part was wondering if Neptune was okay. 'Dammit, I hate having to worry about everyone.'
"Hey, Chromey..." Compa spoke up and Chrome looked at her. "I have your number, why don't you go back to the hotel?" Chrome gave Compa a confused look and the girl smiled at her. "I know you're worried about Nep Nep and the others. It'll take a few hours to get all the information, okay? And I'm sure that the doctors will do all they can for Iffy."
Chrome nodded and got up. "Alright, I'm trusting you to keep me informed." Both Linda and Compa nodded as she left the hospital. Or at least, she wanted to but was stopped by the receptionist. "Yes?"
"We need to know where to send the bill to." The receptionist said to Chrome, who blinked several times. "After all, service isn't free."
Chrome sighed heavily as she took the paperwork. "Got an address book?" When Chrome was handed a tablet, she walked over to a nearby chair and sat down. "Sunnvabitch..." She sighed, wondering what to do. "I'm betting this is rather expensive too." Touching the tablet's screen, she went through several screens before stopping on an address that had her staring in surprise, before she chuckled in dark amusement. "Well, why not?"
After filling out the paperwork, Chrome handed it and the tablet back to the receptionist and left.
The receptionist smiled and looked at the paperwork before her blood turned cold and her face paled as she saw the billing address. "Well, this sucks." She sighed and wondered just why some serious-looking older woman just HAD to be one of THOSE types of people and put the mailing address as the Basilicom. She knew there were a few people that did this from time to time as a joke, though none of them were laughing when Black Void would show up at their doorstep with a displeased look demanding money for medical expenses.
It didn't happen very often, but when it did, well...
At least everyone got a decent laugh out of the poor idiots who decided they wanted to be visited by the CPU personally.
(-)
Meanwhile...
"Lady Uni, are you awake?" Steamax asked as he stuck his head into Uni's room.
There was a screaming noise and Steamax quickly slid back out of Uni's room as he closed the door behind him. "L-l-l-l-lady Uni! I deeply apologize! I did not mean to catch you when you were in the middle of putting on your underwear."
"I-i-i-it's okay, Steamax!" Uni cried out from behind the door as there was some shuffling going on in the room. "Just give me a minute."
"Of course!" The robot ninja nodded as he waited for Uni to give him the all clear to enter her room. 'I do admit that it was a pleasing sight at least.' He thought to himself. The soft curvature of her body, the soft coloration of her skin, the...
"Okay, you can come in now!" Uni called out. Steamax opened the door and found Uni on her bed wearing a dark tank top, leggings with a skirt over her hips and boots on her feet. "Jeez, you didn't need to scream just because you saw me in my panties." She rolled her eyes at him.
"I apologize, it's just not appropriate for me to be in the same room as you are when you're less than fully dressed." Steamax replied and he tilted his head when Uni huffed. "Is something the matter?"
"You're not even human, it's not like you're fully functional in that regard or anything." Uni's face did flush a little bit at the thought of a robot being fully functional like that.
"Ah, well, I can be upgraded if that's what you wish." Steamax said, stammering and Uni stared at him, blushing hard. "I mean, only if you wish, but that's..."
"...Let's worry about that later." Uni looked away, her face red.
"Of course." Steamax nodded and looked away nervously. "How are you feeling otherwise though, Lady Uni?"
Uni let out a slow breath and shook her head. "I... I don't know." Mental images of K-Sha's betrayal and that scary woman Gernia G. flashed through her mind. "...I thought that Noire was wrong. That caring for others wasn't wrong, but I guess..."
"If I may," Steamax interrupted her, "I think that she's lying to you." Uni gave him a confused look. "I was created, Lady Uni, right after you came into the world to watch over you in case something went wrong." Seeing her confused look, he continued on. "I do think that Lady Noire cares for you. Very much so in fact. However, you must realize that Lady Noire has many enemies within Lastation and you must know that they have used her own feelings against her." Uni gave him a confused frown and he nodded to her. "I have extensive information about Lastation since the first Void took over the nation around sixty years ago." Uni nodded as she followed along. "I chose to, of course, only follow Lady Noire's life as I felt it was the only part of Lastation's history that matters for myself and for you."
"So why do you bring this up?" Uni asked him, confused.
"Do you know the Day of Black Destruction?" Steamax asked and Uni shook her head. "That was the day that Lady Noire became Black Void, over thirty years ago." Uni motioned for Steamax to continue. "While there are not a lot of details, what is known..."
"Do you really wish to know?" A new voice stopped them and they both turned to see Noire standing in Uni's door, her eyes gleaming in the dim light, the redheaded CPU gave Uni a flat stare. "Do you really wish to know what happened on the Day of Black Destruction, Uni?"
"That is..." Uni began, unsure what Noire would tell her.
"That was the day that I slaughtered over a thousand people with my own bare hands." Noire told her. "The final death was my elder sister, Sapphire Void." She turned around to walk out of the room. "It's best that you leave it like that, Uni." She looked over her shoulder and the look she gave both Uni and Steamax had them go still. "There's no need for you to know anything more right now."
The two watched Noire storm out of the room and neither of them had anything to say to that.
As she walked away, Noire's mind traveled back in time to that fateful day.
*Flash*
"You want me to what?" Noire gave the girl in front of her a flat stare.
"Please!" The girl with short-brown hair, who was wearing tattered jeans and a dirty t-shirt, begged the black-haired CPU Candidate. "I want to save my friends Poona, Little Rain and Wyn from some bad people."
Noire narrowed her eyes at the girl. "And why should I help you, Estelle?"
"We're friends, aren't we, Noire?" Estelle smiled at her and grabbed her hands. "All you need to do is let me lead you to the gang leader's hideout."
"So you'll trade me for three of your other friends?" Noire gave Estelle an annoyed look. "And why should I do that?"
"Because it's just a ruse." Estelle said excitedly. "You'll pretend to be tied up and..." She trembled in excitement. "I'll tie you up so that it looks like you're captured. As soon as we're off the grounds, you bust out of your ropes and show everyone your legendary skills!"
Noire smirked and flicked her hair back. "Well, that sounds amusing. Why not?"
"Yay! I swear! You won't regret this!" Estelle said with a gleam in her eyes that Noire found a little disturbing.
(-)
Not much later...
"Are you sure that I need to be... Tied up like this?" Noire asked as she walked, rather uncomfortably, towards the gang hide out. "And are you sure that this is just for show? It feels kind of tight." Her arms were tied behind her back and she was thankful that this wasn't something like heavy bondage ropes.
"I'm sure. I'm sure." Estelle waved her off as she led Noire by a rope that was connected to a collar around Noire's neck.
"Okay, but... Why did you tie me up like this?" Noire whimpered and Estelle gave her a confused look.
"The ropes that are tied around your body don't make it hard for you to walk!" The green-eyed girl protested. "Even if they're making your breasts jut out a little more." She blushed softly. "Besides, the shibari ropes are just for show so I can enjoy looking at you." Noire gave her an annoyed look. "They'll snap easily, I promise!"
"Fine." Noire rolled her eyes, though privately she was worried that she was tied up too tightly and couldn't escape. As they walked to the door, Estelle talked to the guard and Noire struggled a bit to try and get free. 'What is with this rope? It's really strong.' Her sister had warned her not to trust the people and after the problems with Moru and Resta, Noire was inclined to believe her. But she couldn't deny that she wanted friends and that she wanted people to be close to her.
"Come on in." Estelle said as she pulled Noire into the hideout. As she was led into a large room with lots of people in it, Noire was starting to get a little worried. "Vio! Ein Ai! I kept my end of the deal!"
"Ah, excellent," Ein Ai, a woman with short blonde hair, save for one long ponytail and was wearing black shorts and a gray shirt, said softly while Vio, a fair skinned woman with green hair and red eyes, who was wearing thigh-high boots with short shorts and a tight shirt over her large breasts, walked up beside her. "Good job, Estelle."
"So..." Noire began slowly, getting a bad feeling, "what will happen to her friends? Poona, Little Rain and Wyn." When everyone started to laugh, a feeling of dread filled her body. "...You tricked me, didn't you?"
"Sorry," Estelle grinned a little nervously. "It was the only way I could get into the gang."
"Well, to be fair," Vio said from right behind Estelle, "you were never going to join our gang. We just wanted to use you."
Before Estelle could react, Vio pulled out a gun and blasted her in the back of the head, twice and the brown-haired girl staggered forward before falling flat on her face.
Noire stared at Vio. "You..."
"The only thing that matters in this world is power." Vio said to Noire and pointed the gun at her, putting it right between the CPU Candidate's eyes. "Everything else is superfluous."
Noire's pupils shrank as she trembled. "You betrayed her. She betrayed me... Nothing... Nothing matters in this world." Tears fell out of her eyes as the air crackled and the ropes around her disintegrated as she was bathed in a black light while red lightning crackled around her.
When the light ended, Noire no longer existed. In her place was CPU Black Void.
"You taught me a very valuable lesson..." A large sword appeared in her hands as she cut down Vio with one strike. "In the end, nothing really matters."
*End Flash*
"Nothing matters but power. Bonds are easily broken. Trust only gets you betrayed and killed." Noire whispered softly, those lessons long since drilled into her head by the events that happened so long ago.
To be continued...
And that was the day Noire became Black Void.
...By the time I'm done with Lastation, I don't know if there will be anything to put into an Interlude: Black chapter.
In case you haven't figured it out, Gamworld Noire is Nihilistic and probably listens to too much Linkin Park.