Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Sega and whomever else worked on it.
Lord of Chaos: Ah, the old MST3K fics. I remember those. If anyone wants to do one for this fic, feel free to go right ahead and do it.
Chapter 64
"Just breathe deeply, Miss IF." The doctor said as he fastened a mask over IF's face. "When you wake up things will be better."
IF nodded and closed her eyes while she breathed in the sleeping gas that the doctors had for her.
Outside of the exam room, Linda sat, a troubled look on her face. "I hope this works..." She knew how much it would mean for IF if her skin cells could be fixed and she didn't need to be rubbed down every day.
"Don't worry, Linda." Compa smiled at her as she sat next to the green-haired girl. "I'm sure that Iffy will get through this just fine." Linda gave her a worried look and Compa gently took the other woman's hand and patted it. "I had a talk to the doctors about what's going to happen. It's quite complicated, but this should fix Iffy's problems."
Linda nodded and bit her lip lightly as she thought back to her conversation with Uni.
*Flash*
"You want me to do what?" Uni asked Linda while Chrome, Neptune and Compa all looked on, behind them the other CPU Candidates all watched as well, to see what Uni would do.
"Please?" Linda asked and bowed her head as she sank to her knees. "IF really needs this. She was badly burned because of White Void and she can barely function in life without getting special ointment just to keep her skin from drying out completely."
"...You want me to use the Basilicom's funds to fix some random girl I've never met... Why?" Uni asked her and Linda found herself slumping in defeat. "Seriously, I can't help everyone at once."
"You can't help everyone, this is true." Chrome spoke up, "but Uni... Part of being a CPU is helping as many people as you can." Uni looked at her in confusion and looked at Neptune, who nodded. She then saw that Rom, Ram, Filyn and Peashy were all nodding as well. "In the end, it's your call, but you have more people support you if you help them."
"It almost sounds like we're their slaves or something." Uni muttered, a disgruntled look on her face at the thought of it.
The next thing Uni knew, Neptune was in front of her, giving her a sad look. "I knew CPUs that thought like that." She sighed sadly. "We're not the slaves of the people, Uni. We're Goddesses, we're supposed to help people."
Chrome thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess you don't need to help IF or anyone for that matter." Uni and Neptune both looked at her, with Neptune frowning in confusion. "Though doing so will result in you becoming a Void for sure." Chrome told Uni, who stiffened. "I understand why you would have a hard time understanding why you need to help others, especially those you don't know. I was the same way when I was a CPU Candidate after all."
"You were?" Filyn asked, getting a nod from Chrome.
"Yes, I didn't understand why I had to fulfill people's desires or whims." Chrome told her and then addressed Uni. "Even if you're not a fully realized CPU, doing good deeds for the people, if you let them know that it's you who did it, will cause people to put faith in you."
Uni let out a soft breath and looked at Linda, before nodding. "F...Fine." Linda's eyes widened and she felt them tearing up. "I want to be a good CPU, since Noire asked me to. So I'll authorize the funds for your friend's procedure."
The next thing Uni knew, Linda was hugging her and thanking her over and over again.
Uni had a decidedly uncomfortable look on her face as she nodded. "S...Sure, you're welcome..."
*End Flash*
Linda sighed and looked down. Even with Uni authorizing the payment for IF's treatment, it still took the doctors two months of tests upon tests to determine how the procedure would go down fully. While everything was done now and it was just a matter of them doing the procedure, she still worried that things wouldn't go well.
Compa smiled at Linda and then looked at the operating room. "Iffy will be fine." She patted Linda's hand and got up. "I got to go to the bathroom, okay?" Linda nodded and Compa walked off.
"...I hope you're right." Linda muttered softly.
(-)
Meanwhile...
Chrome looked up as Filyn, Neptune and Peashy walked into the Basilicom office with Neptune looking worn out and Filyn and Peashy both smiling. "So, how did the interview go?"
Neptune walked over to the couch and flopped onto it, face first while groaning loudly.
"That good, huh?" Chrome smirked as Neptune groaned again. "Well, you were the one who thought going on television to have an interview as Purple Heart would be a good idea." There was a grumble from the couch and Chrome looked at Filyn, who smiled and ran out of the room. She then looked back at Neptune. "Come on, I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
Neptune made some sort of grunting sound and Chrome sighed while walking over to the couch and sitting down next to Neptune's head. She was amused as Neptune reached forward and grabbed her legs before pulling herself up to rest her head on Chrome's lap. "You're setting a bad example for Peashy."
"Don't care, tired." Neptune muttered and Chrome sighed while rubbing Neptune's back. When Neptune practically started purring in contentment, Chrome chuckled.
"Since when did I get a cat?"
"Meow." Neptune replied, getting a laugh from Chrome.
"You know that cats get spayed, right?" Chrome hid a laugh as Neptune shot straight up, her hair standing on end while looking at Chrome in fear. "Feeling better?"
"No." Neptune sighed and slumped back down, this time she was laying on her back while resting her head on Chrome's lap. "So many questions."
"Neptuna, what does your relationship with Chrome mean?" Peashy asked and Chrome jerked while Neptune nodded.
"Stuff like that?"
"Some of it." Neptune sighed heavily and blinked as Filyn came back into the room with a plate full of pudding cups. "Custard pudding?" Filyn nodded and Neptune lifted her hands up. "Gimme!"
There was some laughter in the room as Filyn did just that, while giving one to Peashy, who sat on the floor and rested her head near Neptune, and one to Chrome, who merely smiled and then she sat next to Chrome, enjoying her own pudding cup.
After eating in silence, Neptune closed her eyes and sighed in contentment before reaching up and touching the air around her neck. The air briefly shimmered before revealing a collar around her neck. "So... When will perv-bot be done with his other version?"
"He said in a couple of days." Chrome answered her. "Rom and Ram are doing the paperwork right now." Neptune sighed but knew it was needed for them. "Don't worry, I screened it ahead of time. If there's anything they aren't sure about they can ask me."
A moment later Rom stuck her head into the room. "Oh! Big sis Neptune! You're back!" Neptune waved at her. "Um, I got a weird request." Both Neptune and Chrome looked at her and motioned for her to continue. "Someone wanted a picture of all the CPU Candidates and CPUs."
"...That's not so bad." Chrome said, wondering what the catch was.
"And pictures of us in swimsuits." Rom said and both Neptune and Chrome twitched. "And they want us to do a bunch of poses that... Well..." Her face turned red. "Ram and I tried those poses out, they're really kind of um... Weird."
"Weird how?" Chrome asked, though she was tempted to just deny the shot all together.
Rom nodded and came over with a sheet of paper. "See? They look weird."
Chrome took the paper and was prepared for something lewd or disgusting.
What she saw was a bunch of images of girls taking poses in nice swimsuits and taking poses that weren't out of line with a normal swimsuit shoot. "...What do you think?" She handed it to Neptune. "We have a few days."
Neptune giggled softly and sat up. "Sure, why not? As long as they aren't nudie shots, it'll help us get shares and have people put faith in us." She giggled at the looks of disbelief she was getting. "With how serious everything's been, what's the harm in a little bit of cheesecake?"
"Fine," Chrome said, deciding it wasn't worth arguing over. "But we get final say on the swimsuits and poses." Rom nodded and took the paper back to Ram to tell her what was decided. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Well," Neptune giggled at her, "we could do this... Or we could get a bunch of dogoos to get us into a lewd CG for the fanboys."
"...Photo shoot is fine." Chrome nodded.
Neptune giggled and wondered how Uni was doing with her project.
(-)
In an underground lab...
"Are you sure about this, Lady Uni?" Steamax asked as the two watched the procedure by the lab techs.
"...No." Uni said with her arms crossed over her chest as she watched the people do the finishing touches on the project she had assigned them to. "But it wouldn't feel right without at least trying."
"Lady Uni." One of the technicians spoke up. "We're done." Uni nodded and stepped up to the project. "We're activating him now." Uni nodded again as the the technicians did just that.
There was a crackle and a whirring sound as Uni and Steamax looked on dispassionately.
When Uni heard a groan and saw the eyes of the being in front of her light up, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Hello, Brave."
"W...Where?" Brave asked and looked around. Or tried to as he found his body was in some sort of stasis field. "You are... The CPU Candidate of Lastation, correct?" Uni nodded at him. "What happened? The last thing I remember... I believe I was facing Black Void and another CPU in battle. My memory is a little scrambled."
"You faced off against all of us, my sister and her friend, Purple Heart, managed to defeat you by..." Uni trailed off and shook her head. "By using an unusual attack to turn Noire into a sword and they struck you down."
"Yes..." Brave's eyes lit up as his memory became more clear. "I remember now. What happened to..."
Uni took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes to try and fight the urge to cry again. "Noire... Perished due to a trap that your creators laid for her." Opening her eyes, she glared at Brave as her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "My sister's dead, she's not coming back, and all because Kei and Singe decided that they were better rulers than Noire was."
"...I see." Brave answered her as he waited for her to try and regain her composure. "Did you spend time and resources to revive me only so you could use me to avenge your sister?"
"What good would it do?" Uni asked him, "my sister's dead and can't..." She shuddered. "She can't come back." Glaring at Brave, it was taking everything she had to not start screaming, crying or trying to hurt someone.
She had done enough of that in the past couple of months in private.
"I wish that I could undo my part in your sister's death." Brave told her.
Steamax put a hand on Uni's shoulder to help her regain her composure and gave Brave a stern look. "Lady Uni also thought it would be a good idea to set your programming to be more neutral. As of right now any choices you make are yours."
"I see." Brave said in understanding. "I certainly do not feel any of the compulsion programming that was there before."
"If you truly wish to help undo what happened to my sister," Uni told him, "help me." She knew the technicians were listening in, but she didn't care. "Brave, my sister wanted to rebuild you and I suspect that she would have had you help her bring order to Lastation." Uni took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "The CPUs of Planeptune and Eden are helping me run the nation right now, but I know that one day I will need to run it fully without their help. For that, I will need help." She gave him a small grin. "And who better to run security for Lastation than a scary, giant robot that not even the previous CPU could defeat by herself?"
"May I request that I not be used to mercilessly kill everyone I go against?" Brave asked and Uni looked at him in confusion. "I was made to kill your sister. If possible, I would like to not have to do that."
"I'll leave that to your judgement." Uni told him, her eyes narrowed at him while she frowned, "but know this, Brave. I won't tolerate betrayal. My sister was brought down by those who betrayed her. She expected it. I don't want that. I want people who will be loyal to me to help me."
"I promise you," Brave said to her, "that I will not betray your trust, betray you or cause harm to Lastation."
Uni nodded and looked at one of the technicians. "Turn off the stasis field." The other person nodded and did just that. She looked back at Brave as he took a few steps forward before kneeling down in front of Uni. "Brave?"
"I am Brave and I shall protect Lastation and you from all threats. This I promise."
"I want you to know," Steamax spoke up, "if you betray Lady Uni, I shall personally see to your destruction."
"Of course." Brave nodded.
Uni nodded, turned and left the room, followed by Steamax. Stopping at the door, Uni turned back to Brave. "You'll get your sword back soon. I need to meet with the others."
"Of course." Brave nodded.
(-)
A few minutes later Uni and Steamax were in the lift heading up when Uni hit the emergency stop button and walked over to Steamax and buried her face into his chest, sobbing while she hugged him.
"It's okay, Lady Uni." Steamax whispered to her while he hugged her back. "Let out your pain, no one will think less of you if you cry."
"I miss her so much." Uni sobbed while Steamax rubbed her back. "I wish I had spent more time with her."
Steamax just quietly held the sobbing girl while trying to soothe her. 'I promise you, Lady Uni, I won't ever let you get hurt like that ever again, no matter what.'
The two stayed like that for nearly twenty minutes before Uni pulled away and nodded her head in thanks while pulling out a packet of tissue paper to clean her eyes and nose. "I thought..." Uni began before wiping her eyes, "that I was done, but when I saw Brave and talked to him, all of my feelings came bursting back up."
"Lady Uni, it has only been a couple of months since your sister's passing and you still have yet to have a proper funeral to say goodbye." Steamax told her, "it is only natural that you grieve." Uni nodded to him before finishing cleaning up and starting the lift up again.
"Thank you, Steamax."
(-)
An hour later...
"We're doing WHAT?!" Uni gawked at Neptune and then she glared at Chrome. "And you're okay with this?!"
Chrome nodded as she and Neptune held up measuring tape while all of the CPU Candidates, Neptune and Chrome were stripped down to their underwear, save for Uni. "It's just some harmless photos."
"But people will look at me!" Uni's face turned red. "And then they'll imagine things and want to do perverted things and..."
"Eh, don't worry about that." Neptune told her and Uni stared at her. "So long as all they do is look and don't touch, then it's fine. Unless you want them to touch, then it's okay."
"But, big sis Neptune," Rom pointed out as Chrome measured her breasts, "you and Chrome said it wasn't okay for Ram or me to say yes back in Leanbox when someone wanted to touch us."
"That's different." Neptune and Chrome said at the same time. Rom looked confused and Chrome gave Neptune a look that told her she had to explain.
"Well..." Neptune thought about it for a bit before sighing. "Well, Rom, it's like this... Uni's a bit older than you are," Rom nodded, "and you weren't that used to getting positive attention, right?" Rom nodded again. "So, what I'm saying is..."
"People would have taken advantage of you." Chrome told Rom, who looked up and back at Chrome in confusion. "We were worried that some of the people there would have taken advantage of several things to seduce you and do lots of things to you while not caring about you."
"...Oh." Rom nodded, understanding a bit better, though Rom started to blush as she thought about some of the people back in Leanbox. "Some of those people were really good looking too." She giggled and both Neptune and Chrome looked at each other before sighing heavily while Uni suddenly burst into giggles.
"Sorry, that was just so... Funny." Uni giggled some more while Rom joined her and the two older CPUs just rolled their eyes while smiling.
If Uni could giggle and smile, despite being in pain, they knew that she would eventually be okay.
To be continued...
Sorry to everyone who wants the cheesecake, that'll happen off-screen.
...
Unless someone wants to draw the characters in bikinis/swimsuits and posing, I won't complain.