Jake had been watching the overwrought goddess with a morbid mix of caution and curiosity. He knew the gentlemanly thing to do would be to comfort her somehow, but he had the feeling that she might try to snap his arm off or something if he laid a finger on her. So, he waited for the storm to pass, observing her expression change from one of pure sorrow to that of pure hatred and then, suddenly, back to neutral.

Something's wrong. Even I know that she wasn't like this.

Noire forced herself to her feet, ignoring the weariness that was threatening to pull her back down. Her cheeks were stained with tears, but, other than that, there was no sign that anything had happened at all. "I'm sorry. I guess…I just needed someone to scream at." She managed a wry smile. "Th…thanks."

"I-It's alright. Really." Jake nodded to accentuate his words.

"Eheh. I'm just that much of a loner, right? That's why you like me, right? Because you know it would be so easy to get close to this cold and lonely heart. All she needs is a shoulder to cry on, and she's ready and willing to tell you she loves you. And then…" Noire raised her fingers to her lips, turning her head to shoot a coy look from the corner of her eye. She giggled, even as the fake grin that had formed on her face fell.

All Jake could do was turn his gaze away, shame once again burning at his cheeks. Something about her words rung starkly true, and yet…"I don't understand. Isn't that what friends do for each other? Be there when they're needed? Why does it have to jump immediately to love?" He raised his head to meet Noire's eyes. "And why would that be so bad, any—"

"Shh." Noire raised a finger to Jake's mouth to silence him, but this time, it was a gesture born out of necessity.

A set of footsteps…no, two sets of footsteps were approaching. They grew louder, and then eventually faded away, evidently heading somewhere further down the hall.

Oh. So that's where "Jeb" got off to.

Noire lowered her finger, leaning in and whispering, "I need to get out of here."

Jake couldn't help but glare as he replied just as quietly, "You really have a chip on your shoulder, don't you?"

Noire placed her hands on her hips. "Hmph. Maybe I do. What's it to you, Mister Nice Guy?"

"Hey! I didn't guilt trip my girlfriend into going out with me, if that's the idea you're getting!"

"Pffft." Noire moved a hand to cover her mouth as she struggled to stifle her laughter. "You have a girlfriend? Now there's a fine joke. Will she still be with you when the doujins come tumbling out of the closet, I wonder?"

Jake narrowed his eyes. "Now you're just being mean."

"And?"

"That's not what goddesses are supposed to be like."

"And?"

"You can't just answer everything like that!"

Noire crossed her arms over her chest. "Why not?"

Now it was Jake's turn to let out an annoyed sigh. He was having trouble keeping his voice down. "This is getting nowhere."

"Yep."

The man threw his arms to either side. "What do you want from me?!"

"I want you to give back the console I signed."

He froze as he processed what she just said. "Eh?"

"The console. I'd like to have it, if you don't mind."

Jake's eyes grew wide with surprise. "Ehh?! But…why?"

"Th-That's none of your business, human."

He continued to stare at her for a moment before he finally nodded, closing his gaping mouth. "Fine. But I already said I'd sell it. You'll have to deal with…them."

"Then I'll deal with them. I owe them a little payback, anyway."

Jake hesitated once more, noting the strange look in Noire's eyes, before heading toward a corner of the room that was just as stuffed full of merchandise as anywhere else inside. Several moments of rummaging through comics later, he raised his hand, precious object in tow. "Here you go."

A corner of Noire's mouth turned upward as she accepted the console. "Thank you." She gave it only a brief look to confirm that her signature was indeed present before forcing the device to dematerialize, storing it in her internal disk. Apparently this was common tech in this world, too, as Jake didn't react by freaking out.

Say…since the console has a disk in it…what happens if I store a disk in a disk? Or a disk in a disk in a disk? Could I just exploit that for infinite storage?

She wasn't sure why such a silly thought suddenly crossed her mind. She knew that the storage in the console wasn't even relatable to the magitech powering the device that could store physical objects in hammerspace. Maybe she was more tired than she thought.

But now wasn't the time for rest. It was never the time for rest – not until her far-too-human body gave up trying and made her pass out on the keyboard. She wondered how long it would be until she fell asleep in a more embarrassing manner…but it was entirely possible that such a thing had already happened, and she simply couldn't remember it.

Shaking her head to clear it – which she was realizing was something she did rather often – she stepped over to the door, pressing an ear against it. There was indeed a conversation taking place outside, but the muffled words were difficult to make out. She cracked open the door as quietly as she could, peeking one eye out to peer down the hallway.

I've seen these guys before, haven't I?

A pair of men were standing some distance away. One of the men was fairly squat, possessing a bulky build that lay hidden beneath a tacky outfit complete with a waistcoat and loosened tie. The other was massive, his three-piece suit barely able to contain his rippling muscles, his square jaw accented by the sunglasses that hid his eyes.

So, one's a bouncer, I get that. But what's with the shorter guy? He looks like he walked straight out of a fighting game.

Noire's gaze was drawn to a swish of black ink present on the shorter man's forearm, which must've continued upward beneath his sleeve.

A tattoo?

"…tellin' ya, Jeb, I can't find anything on her at all." the bouncer was saying, his voice hushed. "She's gots ta be from somewhere else. Like, a secret lab or somethin'."

"Hm." The other man placed a hand under his chin in an inquisitive pose. "I can't say I've ever seen her before, myself. Although I do gotta say that her resemblance to a certain someone is almost uncanny. Good cosplayer, at least."

"You met the girl before she made all that fuss, yeah?"

"For all of one minute. She didn't seem much like a CPU to me, but I did see the potential for candidacy in her."

"I dunno if she's still just a candidate. I mean, she was all trussed up like some kinda…you know. Don't see a lot of people just walkin' around in that type of getup 'round here. Especially not during a Festival. Coppers get antsy 'round this time, y'know."

Jeb crossed his arms, his head tilted in thought. "Well, if what you're sayin' is right, then she's not one of ours. So…are we led to believe that a lost CPU has coincidentally stumbled into our little inn? What are the odds?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds like a heck of a coinkidink, but what else could it be? I mean, she got knocked out by the…uh…stun thingy. That means she's a CPU for sure." The bouncer – Morty – retrieved the "stun thingy" from his belt, rubbing the prongs against the back of his hand. "See? Look – don't work on normal people."

"Pheh. You're just too ugly for it."

"Hey, up yours, pretty boy."

A sudden pain shot through Noire, her hands clutching at her stomach as that horrible feeling overwhelmed her. She fell to a knee, just barely managing to prevent herself from collapsing into a heap. Then, just as suddenly, she was yanked back by the elbows.

Jake's grip on Noire had been impressively swift, although the goddess likely would've complained about his assistance if she hadn't been preoccupied with what could be described as suffering a freezer burn from the inside-out.

"Uh…did you hear somethin', Jeb?"

"Yeah. It sounded much like a 'thump,' did it not?"

"Let's investigate. 'Cuz that's what we're supposed ta do, right?"

"Right you are, Morty."

Footsteps thundered through the hall, the giant frame of the bouncer soon appearing in the doorway. "Hello? Anyone home? Yoo-hoo."

Whump.

Crash.

Morty never saw it comin'. A single tiny, silky smooth hand proved to be a fearsome weapon when clenched into a fist. He collapsed backward into a limp pile, totally out cold.

"Morty?!"

Jebediah rushed down the hall, only to halt when he saw a familiar face step out over his fallen coworker.

"Oh. Hi. Sorry about your kidnapping friend."

"What did you do to him?!"

Noire took a moment to shake her fist, wincing slightly. That punch had probably almost hurt as much as when she'd clocked Blanc right in the jaw just a while ago. Frankly, she was astonished by her own strength, and she'd been far too afraid of what Blanc might do after their scrap to stick around and apologize.

So you ran.

She was willing to admit that she'd been acting stupid, but she had little desire to be scolded like a child – or have her head pounded in by someone she knew was stronger in a fight. If she was lucky, Blanc would have reined in her sense of vengeance if – or when – they ever crossed paths again. And maybe, just maybe, both of them would manage to keep their heads on straight when speaking to each other for once.

How very strange. Since when has reason begun to speak louder than pride for the regal CPU of Lastation, I wonder?

Jeb's brow clenched, a vein bulging out on his forehead. "I knew you would be trouble, little girl! You're gonna pay for that!"

"Eheh. That silly accent drops when you're mad, I see."

Jebediah rushed at her with a roar, reaching his hands forward to choke that smug grin off her stupid, too-perfect Lastation face. His yell turned into a gasp when, before he could take more than two steps, he felt something yank his foot back, causing him to slam head-first into the floor.

"Eh?"

Another figure had appeared behind where the salesman had just been standing. She pressed a button on the device in her hand, causing the cable attached to it to unwind from Jeb's ankle, before returning it to one of the pouches on her belt.

"Hi," the woman greeted with a little wave. "I'm Falcom."

"Oh. You've grown, I see."

The woman's brow rose in genuine surprise. "So you do remember me." She raised her hand again, holding up a finger as she stepped over to the form of Jeb on the floor, who had started to slowly lift his head. Falcom grabbed him by the back of the hair, slamming his head into the floor once before pulling out another device and planting a dart in the back of his neck. "Sleep tight."

"Pffft. I can't say I ever remember you spouting one-liners."

Falcom moved a hand behind her neck in a nervous gesture as she chuckled. "I guess it's a habit I picked up over the years. Makes the job a little less nerve-wracking, at least."

"So…what brings you here?"

The agent's expression suddenly grew deadly serious as her hands dropped back to her sides. "I'm here to rescue you."

"Eh? 'Rescue' me?"

Falcom stepped over Jebediah's fallen body, placing herself in front of the CPU. "Forgive me, Lady Noire, but what level of stupid are you on right now?"

Noire was so taken aback that she forgot to be offended. "Eh?!"

"You waltzed straight into enemy territory and got yourself captured by ASIC. Here I am, breaking every order imaginable to make sure that you're safe, and you don't even seem to understand just how much of a…dung pile you're in right now!"

The goddess blinked. "'Order?' From who?"

By now, Jake had gathered the courage to step outside, assessing the situation with widened eyes. "U-Um…" He decided that it wasn't worth arguing about the use of force – or thinking about the trouble it was bound to cause him. He should've known that he would be getting swept into something crazy on this trip as soon as he stepped foot outside of his home back in Lastation. "She must be some kind of Guild agent. Right?"

Falcom nodded, glad that at least someone in the room had some sense. "Yep. You could say that. You could also say that they're going to have my hide when they find out what I'm doing here. So, come on. I'm going to at least get you out of here before they haul me off by the ear."

Noire breathed out a quiet sigh. After all the emotions that had spilled forth from her just minutes ago, she was feeling particularly drained. And maybe just a little regretful about some of the things she'd said and done.

Having second thoughts, CPU of Lastation?

My thoughts would be a lot clearer if you would just leave me alone.

Hah. You gave your friend quite the show, did you not?

I suppose I did. Mistakes were made.

Perhaps your mistake being that you did not give him what he truly desired—

Go away. Please.

"Are you ready to go?" Falcom asked, hoping that the answer would be an unequivocal "yes."

A moment passed before Noire gave a tentative nod. She took a step forward…and then promptly collapsed, her legs suddenly having gone rubbery on her.

"Lady Noire?!" the other two conscious occupants of the hall practically exclaimed in unison. They worked together to bring the CPU back to her feet, both of them wearing expressions of concern.

"I'm…sorry…" the goddess managed to mumble. "Everything's…spinning…"

Falcom only looked even more worried as she shifted the CPU over to her, wrapping Noire's arm around her shoulder to bear her weight. "It's the share, isn't it?"

Somewhere, deep within Noire's mind, a chord of fear was struck at those words. She hadn't dared to put more than fleeting thought to the idea, but she had been hoping against hope that, somehow, someway, she had been made free of the shares' yoke in this world. After all, not a single one of the CPUs who had made the journey across dimensions had needed to gather shares so far. Why would they affect her now, of all times?

Is it because of what I said to Jake earlier?

She hoped the agent wouldn't feel the trembling that threatened to overtake her.

"Heh. Glad you don't weigh too much, Lady Noire," said Falcom, forcing a slight grin onto her face.

"Th-Thanks. I guess."

"Come on. Let's go."

Phase 2 of Plan C, initiate.