thank you much for waiting too long for this next chapter; i just couldnt think up of something for this immediate next part for a long time : p
i mean, it was still a bit tough to think up something while writing this, but i had to post something here eventually to move on, so bear with meh
Dreams can be rather fickle. They can just implant a feeling of anxiety and dread, and you're going to have to work extra to find out how exactly they do that. Otherwise, you're left with those negative feelings and nothing else. In Blanc's case, she almost grasped something about saving her younger sisters, but memories of that are already fleeting as they're already replaced by…the unmistakable sound of a bed creaking followed by the smell of chocolate.
"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead! Hey, wanna try this pudding?" greets Neptune with her energetic grin, sitting on the bedside in her pastel purple pajamas with a cup of pudding and a spoon in her hands.
"H-huh…" Blanc barely registers that her friend is next to her, let alone her offer.
"It's super tasty, I promise!" Slowly, she brings a spoonful towards Blanc. "Err, first, you gotta sit up. Wouldn't want ya to choke on your first bite of pudding!"
"Wha…" Nope, still hard to figure out what's going on. "I want to sleep more…"
"But it's almost noon! If you don't eat it soon, Histy's gonna scold ya for eating too close for lunch!"
"Almost...noon?" That's just enough to convince her to sit up from her slumber, which prompts Neptune to quickly but gently push her spoon into Blanc's mouth. "Mmph?!" What is this taste? So sweet, smooth, and sugary...she could spend all day analyzing and appreciating its flavor. Of course, that would need her full attention, so she instantly breaks her drowsiness and resumes blissfully savoring the taste, making it very clear to Neptune that she made the right offer.
"See? I told ya it was gonna be good. But, if you want more, you're gonna have to get it yourself, 'cause the rest is for me!" she presumes before stuffing her own mouth.
"Um…"
"Hm?" Neptune looks back at Blanc's concern, before quickly taking the spoon out. "Oh, it's no biggie if we used the same spoon. It's not like we're gonna spread nasty germs 'cause we're sick, or something," she explains before going for another bite.
Germs? "Erm, I meant...where can I get more?" she asks with hope.
"...Oh yeah!" She hops off and energetically jogs to the door. "Follow me!"
"Okay!" As her friend exits the room, Blanc follows her through the corridor.
As they pass the resident goddesses' room with its door left open, they can see a Nepgear deep in thought sitting at her desk, staring at her computer. "Heya, Nep Jr. It's lunchtime, so wanna get to scarfin' down some delicious grub with cute 'ol Blanny here?"
It takes a while for Nepgear to realize her sister's talking to her. "...Huh? Oh..." She looks at her screen one more time, then back at the two with a sigh and a slight smile. "Sure, I can cook something up."
"Eh, you could...but, how about we order somethin' instead?" chirps Neptune.
"But why? We already have food at home, you know."
"Yeah, but we gotta accommodate our guest!" She flashily signals to a confused Blanc.
"Then, shouldn't we be cooking her our own food?" Nepgear asks, understandably stumped by her sister's logic.
"Nah, Nep Jr. It's about the theming! Y'know, with all the stuff I've planned for today, and how I'm still in my 'jammies?" She says while gesturing to her clothes. "Methinks you should join in on the getup, too, my dear sis."
Nepgear smiles apologetically. "Well, I wanted to do something with Uni today."
"Whaaat? But don't you wanna chillax with Blanny?"
"Sorry, but we had planned this sometime before we left for Ultra Dimension yesterday. I can stay for lunch, though, and I might be able to come home early. What are you getting, by the way?"
"Eh…" Neptune looks up in thought for a few seconds. "...pizza's a classic staycation food, right? Can't go wrong with pepperoni and cheese pizza!" She's already pulling out her N-Gear to place the order. She also tells Blanc, "Can ya go brush your teeth and stuff while I get some stuff ready for our awesome day?"
"Oh, sure." It's a bit weird that Neptune made her eat that pudding before brushing her teeth, though. "...Where's the bathroom?"
"The ones for guests are opposite to where you slept, Blanc," points out Nepgear. "They should come with spare toothbrushes and towels, too!"
"Oh, thank you."
With her out of earshot, Neptune asks while scrolling through the menus and maintaining her jovialness, "So, what's the scoop on those two tykes?"
Nepgear sighs. "Mina said Rom and Ram left their Basilicom before she woke up and only left a message that they were doing some quests. They won't respond to any calls or texts, either…"
"Ooh, that is pretty broody…" Neptune frowns lightly before wiping it off with another grin. "But, hey, they probably just want some time alone, right? Maybe they're gonna use that time to think it over and then accept the new Blanny!"
"You're…" Leaving to think something over by themselves does seem like something the two would do. "I suppose you can be right. I guess I'll stop trying to bother them…" She still makes sure to pocket her N-Gear, just in case they call her back.
"Yep, maybe that's what everyone needs; just a little time away from each other to cool down and then make up later," Neptune explains. "Alrighty, order placed. C'mon, let's wait in the living room!"
(-)
After freshening up, Blanc hears Neptune run somewhere with Nepgear and follows in the direction of their footsteps. As she follows them, she can hear more chatter and noise until she reaches the main living room of the Basilicom: the long couch, the large flat-screen TV, the messy pile of wires and consoles under it, the semi-cluttered purple coffee table, and the open view of Planeptune below taking up half of the walls. Planeptune's two goddesses are on the couch, watching a couple of girls in school uniforms on the screen talking to each other.
Neptune turns around at the sound of Blanc approaching. "Hey, Blanny! Come over here and take a seat!" She pats the seat to her left.
"Okay," she complies while somewhat distracted by the moving images in front of them. "What's this?"
"It's a pretty cute and funny anime I found!" answers Nepgear. "I don't think it's new, though."
"...So, this is anime…" Blanc gazes at the TV, trying to understand what's going on.
One of them seems worried about something. "Hey, it's just like you to-"
The other girl bursts into an agonizing scream with blue flames engulfing her.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, that's not what I meant!" She frantically waves her hands, trying to get her friend to calm down to no avail as she continues yelling, seemingly in pain.
"U-uh…" Blanc's confusion instantly spikes. "Why is she on fire?"
"Ehm, it's a bit complicated." It takes a bit for Nepgear to map out her explanation. "Well, it's an exaggeration of how betrayed she feels, right? And she feels betrayed because of, um, how the one with blue hair looked at her grades…"
She notices that Blanc isn't listening, who shifted her attention back to the screen earlier when she saw that the blue-haired girl started fishing with a serious and determined frown.
"The rest of the anime is like this, y'know…" reminds Neptune. "Wanna watch somethin' else?"
"It's fine." Although baffled, she's intrigued enough to learn more about this anime, and she needs to stay focused on this to fully observe its apparently fascinating plot with break-neck development speeds.
The other two let her try to break down the overly dramatic skit's meaning. "Heh, this is the most serious I've seen someone while watching Nichi-"
Neptune is interrupted by the elevator's bell ringing behind them. She and her sister turn around to find a certain blonde CPU walking in with a couple of disc boxes in hand."Hello, everyone!"
Nepgear is slightly taken back by her surprise visit. "What the- Vert? How did you-"
"Your sister mentioned a little play date last night, didn't she? I couldn't resist stopping by after waking up." She appears much more refreshed than the last time they saw her. "And besides, you two have always accepted us CPUs walking in whenever we want, right?"
"Of course!" Neptune happily answers. "We're just watching a little anime before our pizza arrives."
"Hm?" Vert notices Blanc's unflinching stare at the TV. "Oh, I see. Showing her the classics; a fine decision."
When she sits down next to Blanc, she doesn't seem to notice her. "I don't think she's blinked since she started watching," whispers Neptune.
"I guess if she's too busy to notice, then this would be a good time to ask something: you already know what's going on with Rom and Ram, right?" asks Nepgear.
"Yes. I supposed that they needed some time alone," answers Vert softly. "Though, C-sha and Mina seemed like they didn't accept that; they mentioned their plans to search for them when I called them."
"Hmm…"
The segment of that anime finally ends, with Blanc finally noticing Vert to her immediate left, who returns a small smile and wave. "...Huh? When did you get here?"
"A few minutes ago," she replies to Blanc, whose face is reddening. "Don't be embarrassed that you didn't notice; it merely shows dedication, and I'm glad that you've quickly shown devotion to a hobby that I also have," praises Vert.
"...Thanks?" Blanc feels off receiving that compliment, especially when she still has little idea on what she just watched, but looking at Vert's genuineness, she can feel assured that this isn't some sort of teasing.
That teasing comes afterwards. "In fact, if you would like, you are always invited to my Basilicom, where we can watch all the anime you'd like...but only if you sit on my lap and call me 'older sister,' of course."
"W-what?!" Vert's giggles only perplex her more.
"C'mon, Vert, you know what we promised…" reminds Neptune somewhat firmly.
The taller CPU sighs in satisfaction. "Ah, it's merely a jest. I promise this is the last tease...for today." Moving on from that, she picks up and looks at the plastic boxes she brought with her before setting them aside again. "You should have Minebuild installed on one of your consoles, right?"
"Yep, just played it a couple days ago." It takes Neptune a moment to realize what Vert means. "Oh yeah! That's a perfect match for Blanny! Though, I think we oughtta wait until-"
"Neptune, your food has arrived," Histoire's voice comes from one corner of the room through a speaker. "Remember to get to work-"
"Aw, she couldn't bring it up here for us?" Neptune speaks up over her voice. "Oh well." She's about to get up, but stops herself and eyes her sister. "Say, Nep Jr., wanna do me a solid and…?"
"Um, sure," she replies, unbothered, then gets up and heads for the elevator. "Be right back!"
Blanc takes this moment to ask, "What do you mean by it's a perfect match for me? What is it about?"
It doesn't seem like they have to explain to her about the concept of video games, which is nice. "Oh, it is only the most charming and soothing sandbox game I've seen! With its infinite world generation, you have so much to explore, then use anything you find to build anything your heart desires!" explains Vert.
Blanc doesn't look so convinced. "I...don't get it. How do you win?"
Neptune jumps ahead a bit to assess her line of thought. "Mmm, it's mostly old games that are about winning or getting a high score or whatever. Games nowadays don't have to be about winning; as long as it's fun, then you should play it!"
"'As long as it's fun?'" When she says it like that, then of course it seems obvious! It only makes her wonder why she thought that in the first place. "Then, I suppose I can try it out…"
The elevator opens, releasing a strong smell of melted cheese and tomato sauce while revealing Nepgear with a couple of cardboard boxes and two-liters. She speedwalks towards the kitchen counter, almost dropping them all. "Goodness, if I knew you ordered this much, I would've asked for help..."
"Ooh, this store is rather underrated," Vert wonders as she and the other two gather around. "Excuse me while I gather a fork and knife for myself."
"A fork and knife? For pizza?" Neptune asks while gathering cups for everyone.
"Yes," she flatly answers back. "I can get plates for everyone, too."
"Nah, ya don't need plates when we have napkins. Right, Nep Jr.?" offers Neptune. "Well, unless you're eating with utensils like that."
"Napkins?" Blanc seems to have already gathered them.
"Ooh, you're a quick one! Usually, old Blanny would be like 'fine…' and then move as fast as my pet rock." Whether or not that's true in any way is irrelevant to Neptune. "Just set 'em in front of the TV," she asks while moving everything Nepgear brought in to the coffee table.
"Neptune, isn't that a bit messy…" Her sister decides to let go of it and join them on the couch. "Vert, can you get a plate for me, too?"
"Of course."
Once she's poured everyone a cup, the small CPU puts her feet on the table with a slice in hand, she exclaims before taking a bite, "Pizza time! Nom!"
She seems like she's enjoying it, so Blanc supposes she takes a slice for herself. "Hmm…" It is rather greasy, and holding it this close can be a bit overwhelming, but she finds its simple taste strangely comforting and almost addicting. "Mmm…"
For a minute or so, everyone silently enjoys the simple lunch while watching more of the same anime from before. Just like Neptune had promised, this is the definition of "chilling out." Compared to before, where it felt like everyone was pressuring her to do or learn something, Blanc can just enjoy eating with her friends. Except...well, it is true that she didn't plan to do this, so, in a way, one might consider her "pressured" to stay here. "Say, Neptune…"
"Hm? Something you had in mind? 'Cause if ya do, I'm all ears!" She holds her hands behind her ears, slightly careful to not directly touch them.
Somehow, in just a couple of sentences and a comical gesture, Neptune has quelled a good chunk of Blanc's worries. She smiles back at her contentedly. "Um, thank you very much for the food."
Neptune flashes a gleeful grin. "Aw, it's no biggie! You always did the same in the past, so I wanted to return the favor!"
Considering a pizza lunch and a large banquet to be of equal value may or may not be the most considerable comparison, but Vert and Nepgear can admire the sentiment with warm smiles.
After a while, the quietude is broken when someone else speedily floats in. "Neptune, I need you to sign this paper immediately. I already looked over the details; it just needs your signature."
The CPU in question looks back at her Oracle holding a pen and a few sheets of paper. "Aw, but my hands are all dirty. I don't wanna wash 'em, then go back to eating, then wash 'em again!"
Histoire is already irritated by the overall messiness, but this document is too urgent. "Then don't wash your hands and sign it right now. I'll...wash the pen later," she commands with a wince.
"What's this? Histoire disregarding cleanliness?! This really must be serious!" It's a bit difficult to tell how sarcastic she is, but she nevertheless wipes her hands on her napkins, gets up to take the papers and pen from her, and starts signing away.
Blanc peers over to see what's so important. On the top, she can see some details in fine print about Neptune sponsoring a meetup between this "Nep Fan Club" and the "Lowee Multineppit Community," whatever that means. "Should I be concerned…?" she asks quietly. After all, it does say "Lowee" in it.
"Not quite yet: it is somewhat unwieldy to explain right at this moment, given your extra circumstances." Just as Neptune finishes the last part, Histoire tugs on the paper and starts floating away. "And remember what you said last night, Neptune."
"Yeah, yeah. Could ya at least help by bringing the paperwork and stuffs here, too? And when are ya gonna get searching for deets on Blanc?" she asks while grabbing another slice.
Histoire is already in the elevator, who apparently did not hear Neptune. "That chairman is so eager to get to Lowee, yet so forgetful of even the most important things…" she mutters as the door closes.
"Bleh, I'll start after lunch." She suddenly starts eating at a much slower pace.
Blanc is the most curious about that intermission. "...What was that about?"
"Oh, that's the boring part of being a goddess. You're gonna get asked a lot for your blessings or approval or whatever it is in the form of boring white sheets of paper."
"That sounds somewhat stressful." Not as stressful as fighting a sadist or anything like that, but it still seems to require a lot of knowledge that she is very much lacking. "How do you know which ones to approve?"
"The Basilicom staff like the Oracle are always more than willing to help advise stuff," remains Nepgear.
The Oracle, huh? Like Mina? Thinking about her and her sisters again makes Blanc feel a bit uneasy again. "...Could I get your help when I need it, then?"
"Ughhh…" Neptune's groans, instinctively created at the thought of helping others with paperwork, cause her body to vibrate at such a strong amplitude that everyone else can feel her through the couch.
Vert clears her throat to stop her. "I think what Neptune is trying to communicate is that we are far less knowledgeable about Lowee's affairs than your staff, as we are already tasked with managing our own lands." She puts down her plate. "But, that is for another day. Today, we get to relax and play video games, right, Neptune? Nepgear?"
Neptune sits up. "Yep!"
"Err, I forgot to tell you, Vert, but I have something planned with Uni today," Nepgear says, seemingly with neither regret or relief, before getting up.
"Aw, but this game would be perfect to play together!" Ultimately, though, she decides not to push it any further. "Well, have fun with your girlfriend."
That's an easy way to make the Candidate blush. "G-girlfriend?! She's not my girlfriend! W-What makes you think that?!"
"Is it not obvious enough? Now, go on and have fun," she sing-songs with a grin. She did say she was only going to stop teasing Blanc, not anyone else.
"U-um…" Nepgear awkwardly sidles towards the balcony to embark for Lastation.
"Uni is Nepgear's girlfriend…?" Is this Uni person anything like Nepgear?
"Yep...Wait, actually no; that's not right! At least, I don't think so…" Neptune considers bluntly asking her about it when she comes home. "But, anywho, I'm fueled up and ready to play some games with my friends!"
"Don't you have paperwork to do?" Vert blankly reminds.
"...Ugh…"
(-)
With Neptune sitting on the couch, "ready" to engage in sublime paperwork, a clipboard, and a pen, Vert turns on the console, eagerly starts the game up, and quickly clicks through the menus. "Let's see here...survival is fine...peaceful mode should be good… there." With the screen splitting into two views of a world consisting entirely of cubes, she hands a controller to Blanc.
Just as Vert had expected, the amnesiac naturally knows how to hold and use it. Moving in a first-person view doesn't seem like something she remembers, though, as she takes extra time to move each joystick and press each button individually. "Huh…" While the top half of the screen doesn't move, Blanc slowly starts to learn the controls as the bottom half reflects her inputs.
As she moves her camera around, she spots a blocky humanoid figure jumping, repeatedly swinging one of its arms towards her. Plus, she can see the top half now bobbing up and down. Looking to her right, Blanc can see Vert tapping two buttons on her own controller. "Hm…" Leisurely putting two and two together, she copies her inputs, and now she can see what she thinks is her character doing the same thing in the top view! "Oh!"
The other two crack an adoring grin at her discovery. "I tend to forget this exact feeling that only newcomers can experience exactly one time," observes Vert. "Now, come; I have so much more to show you of this game!" She starts running away from Blanc's character.
"Oh, um…" After a delay, she starts following her, then stops when they arrive at a tree.
"Now, on to one of the key features of this game: I can collect the wood from this tree here…" Vert makes sure to slow down her gameplay to a suitable demonstration pace. "...then, I can place the wood down anywhere else, or turn it into a multitude of other objects!"
True to what she said, Blanc observes as she takes wood blocks from the floating tree, then creates and places a different kind of wood blocks to her side. "Alright." She quickly learns and copies Vert's actions. "...What should I do with this wood, then?"
"Well, what do you want to do with it?"
"...I don't know." She is still somewhat hung up on what is the point, or the goal, of this game.
"...Well, that is okay; it is just wood, after all," Vert assures, ignoring how seemingly obvious that sounds. "This game has a near-infinite world for us, so let's start exploring." Picking a random direction, she starts sprinting with her friend quick to follow.
As they run around, Blanc appreciates the pixelated scenery, unpopulated outside of the blocky animals minding their own business. Nevertheless, while a calming and enjoyable view, the relative emptiness around them causes her mind to wander off, bringing herself back to the problem that's been looming over her: how is she going to address her CPU duties? In a way, their apparent aimlessness reminds her of that. As much as she would like to decide to do something by herself, her lack of knowledge makes her much more apprehensive in doing so.
In the midst of their silence, Neptune looks up from her paper. "Hey, is that a village I see?" She points towards a brown speck in Vert's screen. "It's free real est-"
"Ooh, good eye, Neptune. Here, follow me."
Blanc snaps out of her thoughts. "...Huh? A village?"
"Yes. It's mostly just a few houses and NPCs, but they should have resources that we can take to speed up the early-game process," Vert explains as they near the settlement.
Getting a closer look at the subject at hand, Blanc observes the wooden and cobblestone buildings. Though seemingly mundane, it's these that make her realize what Vert was talking about. "...Oh! That's what you make with wood! I mean, it was so obvious..."
"It's okay if you didn't notice it the first time. But yes, people use this game to build many elaborate and massive feats of architecture. It should be simple to find pictures of them online, which I can show you later."
"...Ooh, oh yeah! Vert!" Neptune drops her pen to pull out her N-Gear. "Look at this post I found yesterday!"
Both of them shift their focus to her phone to look at a thumbnail with a play button on it.
Right when Neptune is about to play the video, Blanc notices half of a picture of something bright and colorful with the words "My rendition of Lowee's capital in survival over the last year" above it. She interrupts Neptune to ask while pointing to it, "What's this about?"
"Hm?" She scrolls down to get a better view. "Well, it says right there in black on white text: it's Lowee!"
True to the caption, it looks masterfully identical to the city she flew above yesterday, only that everything was built out of cubes. Even the majestic castle that is the Basilicom is replicated as faithfully as the game allows it.
Blanc is stunned by the screenshot. "How…?"
"A lot of work and dedication. Not even I have enough of those qualities to do something similar with Leanbox…"
"Or, y'know, you can always tell people to build stuff in the real Leanbox," suggests Neptune.
After staring at it, this game finally breaks through to Blanc. Her indifference to it caused by the lack of direction given to her fades away. "Can...we try building something like that?"
"Why, of course! Though, I would rather not take a year to build something, so…" Ignoring whatever Neptune had, Vert fiddles with her controller again, exiting the game and starting a new one. "Now, we have unlimited resources to build whatever we want," she explains while accessing an inventory showcasing all of the building materials.
"...Huh?" Blanc silently browses through her choices for a minute or so. She continues to sit there without saying a word after closing the menu, squinting at the relatively flat fields.
"Uhh...you good, Blanny?" Neptune asks to break the silence.
Without answering, she finds out how to pick blocks out of the menu by herself, picking out a suitable palette, and immediately gets to work. She starts laying down a white floor at a slow pace, but she quickly increases her working pace gradually.
"So, what is it that you have in mind?" Vert politely asks. "I would like to help, too."
"Basilicom…" she murmurs while continuing to build. After a short while, it becomes clear to the others that Blanc is building the foyer to her home.
From the other side, without notification, Vert begins to help out, starting on the opposite side of the room with a much faster speed than her companion.
When she notices her, Blanc stops her work and tries to interrupt her. "U-um…"
Vert stops too. "Hm? Is something wrong?"
"Uh...no. Everything's fine. I'm glad we can work on this together!" In truth, she's already troubled with the idea of having a conflict of interest in what to build. "Maybe...we can make it a bit different?"
Consider Vert interested. "Oh? How so?"
"Mmm…" Describing artistic ideas can be particularly tricky, and Blanc is having more trouble with that than with anyone else, afraid that they'll ridicule her if she says something too dorky. "Maybe, sort of, you know, like...this Basilicom, too…? Err, I don't know…"
"Well…" Vert tries to envision her proposal with a tinge of doubt.
"Uhm, never mind; We can stick to just my Basilicom," she backpedals.
"No, no, it's fine! I can work with anything, really," Vert assures. "Could you try elaborating upon your idea? Perhaps, for example, we could keep the castle structure, but have a more contemporary style for the exterior?"
That's close to what Blanc had in mind, but not quite. "Uh, sure. Well, maybe some of the walls on the inside can have that as well."
"Then, let's resume!" She immediately gets back to work. "You can always tell me if I am doing something wrong or if you have a specific idea in mind."
"Alright." She still can't think of anything specific she wants from Vert, so she simply resumes building on the opposite end from Vert.
In fact, as she keeps building up the front, she starts ignoring whatever she's doing to focus on her own screen, experiencing a zen of her own. All of her thoughts start to revolve around this hypothetical building, what it would look like, how her life would be different if she lived here…
She starts pondering what life would be like if she lived with Planeptune's goddesses in this place. She could hang out with Nepgear, taking a stroll somewhere nice in Gamindustri, then come home to play a few video games with Neptune. Vert could even come over to visit every so often. Would this be better than what she has now? It's here that she realizes that she doesn't really have a proper gauge on what a "normal day" would be like back home with her actual sisters, though it's certainly too late to try finding that out. She doesn't even know where to start to get those two to stop being upset at her.
Blanc finishes up building the front door and the exterior surrounding it. Her subconscious has mostly led her to construct a facade in the shape of a proper castle, but the materials she used resembles the white steel commonly seen in Planeptune. Additionally, the large double doors and the walls immediately surrounding it are made of glass, providing a view of the foyer within. From here, she wonders if she could start building upwards. That's what she particularly liked about this city: the towering heights reached by hundreds of buildings with the tower they're in standing out as the tallest of them all. She innately knows that it can be troublesome not laying down the foundation first, but perhaps with how these blocks don't seem to follow gravity, she could ignore that rule.
Wait, wasn't she about to contemplate how to reconcile with Rom and Ram? She had not realized that the dread from having to think that through has covertly disappeared while she was distracted about the game. Even now, after starting to focus on those two again, she notices that she feels calmer than she had anticipated. It's as if playing this game has therapeutic qualities that are putting her at ease. Although seeming like being made up of small tasks that are light on the mental load, building this imaginary Basilicom still proves to be a relaxing and calming task.
"Say, Blanny, you should put a big 'ol fountain or statue in the front, or maybe like, uh…"
Indeed, she can let her imagination overtake her body and mind, channeling her senses into the game, and not have to stress about her few but troublesome problems. Even if she thinks she'll get stuck on something, a new idea spontaneously comes to the pensive CPU's attention. The only thing slowing her down is her lack of familiarity with the controls, which gradually eases up to match her thought process's speed. If her CPU duties were something like this, helping out with planning and building new buildings for Lowee, perhaps she has nothing to worry about.
"Blanny?"
(-)
So far, she is rather content with her work so far with the front. The tower above the entrance dwarfs everything else that she, er, the two have done so far. Now, she can probably complete the rest of the front wall. It might be a monotonous task due to how large this wall will be, but that's alright for her. After all, it gives her more time to daydream about her hypothetical life living with Neptune and Nepgear. Perhaps after this, she can start building a large recreation room somewhere towards the front corner, where they can play games like this in a comfy and spacious room. In addition to a multi-console setup, maybe there can be something else like a movie theater nearby...eh, she really doesn't have much of an idea of what to put here, given her lack of knowledge on what could be considered worthy additions to a rec room. Maybe...a small water park, with...uh...a lazy river and a few water slides?
(-)
Okay, perhaps the repetitiveness of laying down block by block, only broken up by counting rows to insert glass columns, is getting to her. She takes a lengthy yawn, averts her attention just enough to wipe the tears out of her eyes, then resumes her building without a word. Even though she woke up late, an after-lunch siesta sounds nice. She'll ask Vert and Neptune about that after laying down the row she's on.
"Uh, Blanny? You good?"
Well, she's actually almost done with this wall, so maybe she'll wait until after she finishes this up instead . Yep. Just have to finish this, then she'll ask. She starts trying to think about something to keep herself from being too drowsy, like that rec room. Maybe she can add a library nearby...no, it would be too noisy to focus on reading then. Does the other CPUs like reading as much as she did? Reading something with Nepgear sounds like so much fun. It could be a fun fantasy book, or a slice of life manga, or some sort of comedic adventure…
Blanc loses focus of her screen, but right now, that's not too important, really. She progressively becomes more focused on her daydreams of reading books with her favorite CPU Candidate until…
"Oh dear, that was unexpected, but…"
"Now THAT is worthy of a sneaky photo. Man, she must really like Minebuild for her to just tunnel vision that hard."
"Neptune...actually, you are correct. Let me take a photo of us, first!"
can u guess which game ive been playing lately
if u guessed valorant, osu, and nep v2, u get a great prize of me giving you a thumbs up from behind my screen where u cant see me !
i have a fair idea for the rest of the gang's day, so the next few chapters should (hopefully) not take more than a week each :[
"You seem pretty tired, Nepgear. Is something wrong?"
"Aw, it's nothing."
"...What is it, Nepgear?"
"I guess it was obvious that something was up. Have you heard what happened to Blanc recently?"
"Well, I heard sis grumble something about her a few days ago, but she seemed pretty grumpy, so I didn't ask-"
"Hm? What about me being grumpy?"
"Wha- Noire? What are you doing here?!"
"K-sha wanted me to come with her to get something, and I just so happened to hear something about myself."
"Err...sorry that I said that, sis..."
"Don't apologize; I really was rightfully annoyed after the other CPUs wasted my time with that dumb prank."
"Um, Noire...that wasn't a prank."
"Don't tell me you and the others are still trying to keep this up, Nepgear. That would just be plain pathetic."
"Ehm..."
