Chapter 7 – Informatics

Day 8

Lastation – Factory Entrance

"Um, is that her? The person who hired us to fight monsters?"

The party, minus Soren, was walking towards their next job, and Compa spotted their client first. However, Neptune wasn't really convinced that the person Compa pointed out really was their client from the way she looked.

"Huh? She's a bit short, isn't she? To be honest…I was kinda expecting a…big, burly man as president." Neptune mused.

"Ah, she's looking this way. She's waving at us to come over… She must be our client."

"Looks like she's come to the same conclusion as us," IF noted, "But it looks like she's a bit puzzled about something. It must be due to only the three of us showing up."

When they approached their client, she gave them an analyzing look while having an eyebrow raised and her arms on her hips. "…So it's you girls? You're gonna fight the monsters for me? …Are you sure you'll be okay? And aren't there supposed to be four of you?"

"Sorry, Soren said that he had to pick something up and would meet us shortly…ah, there he is right now!" Compa pointed over the client's shoulder.

Everyone looked around to see Soren running up to them shouting, "Sorry I'm late, had to take a detour."

"Actually, we just go here ourselves Ren." IF told him.

The client looked at the girls and Soren for a moment before a frown crossed her face. "You're still all teenagers…are you sure you four are up to it?"

"Don't worry miss, we all know not to judge books by their covers, right? It's nice to meet you. I'm IF, this is Compa, that's Neptune, and he's Soren."

The client nodded before introducing herself. "My name's Chian. I run this small factory called Passe here in the central city. We need someone to get rid of the Cockatrice monsters attacking our carriages and train. Just to make sure, can you four take care of it?"

In an instant, Neptune jumped forward and smiled at Chian with confidence. "You betcha! We've fought a lot of monsters already, so we'll totally be victorious!"

A smile crossed Chian's face as she looked at Neptune. "I like you. That confidence makes it much easier to trust your words." Then Chian took out a small map from her pocket and handed it to Neptune. "That has the train track path the train uses, so you won't go off track. There are other monsters besides those Cockatrices, but it's the Cockatrices causing the problem. I think there are five in all that my employees spotted, so good luck hunting. Meet me back here when you're done."

"Sure thing Chian. Let's get going everyone!"

"Ah, wait up Nep-Nep!"

IF and Soren looked at each other with a sigh before running off after Neptune and Compa. Chian just watched the whole thing in amusement before walking back into her factory.

Lastation – Windy Wasteland

"Hey, what do these Cockatrice monsters look like anyway? Sounds like some kind of funky bird…" Soren asked as the party walked along the train tracks.

"Does it really matter?" IF pointed out, "If it moves and is not human, then kill it, simple as that."

"Hey, we can just go around killing every monster that shows up in front of us!" Compa shouted.

Everyone stopped to look at her as Neptune put a finger to her chin. "But isn't that the whole reason we're fighting monsters? You know, to kill as many as we can while searching for Key and Jewel Core Fragments? Killing as many as we can will help the people too, right?"

"…Y-you have a point there…"

"Ah, don't worry too much Compa," Soren assured her as he drew Yukihira, seeing a monster stumble onto the path. "You'll get used to it soon enough."

"Talking from experience?" IF asked.

"Pretty much, though I've seen a few monster hunters veterans develop a few quirks the longer they stay in the business…"

In a flash of light, Neptune was in her HDD form, looking at the monster with determined eyes. "Enough talk, let's go hunt some monsters!"

Since Neptune floats in her full HDD state, she flew over to the monster and started beating the crap out of it with her blade. The others just watched the one-sided-looking fight until Soren commented, "You know, just for the record, Neptune looks like a futuristic digital fairy with boobs when she transforms, doesn't she?"

"Pretty much." Compa and IF said at the same time before they and Soren ran over to join Neptune when they saw more monsters appear.

Eventually, the four managed to get rid of all five Cockatrices, though they had to fight through other monsters that came their way. Right now, the four were resting, though Neptune had an oddly satisfied look on her face as she commented, "The monsters here are so numerous. Makes things that much more entertaining…!"

As Neptune looked like she was sparkling, Compa stared at her in awe. "Nep-Nep, you act so tough and cool in that form. Why do you think there are so many monsters here?"

"Don't ask me, but how could all this be caused by the diminishing power of the CPUs?" Neptune frowned as she tilted her head slightly. "Do their powers even weaken?"

"Well, their power does come from the faith of humans on their respective landmasses." IF replied, "If monsters keep attacking people more frequently, their faith will be shaken, and possibly come into question."

"…And it only gets worse from there," Soren added, "Less protection leads to more monster attacks, leading to less people and less faith… If it keeps up, a goddess' power would be reduced to nothing due to no one being around. Though it'd be funny to see them try to gather faith from monsters…"

"That makes sense." Neptune nodded in understanding. "So, as more time passes, more monsters will eventually appear, right?"

"Uh huh. Monsters have been around for a very long time, but it's been only recently that this monster outbreak occurred. I think it's been a few months by now, according to Planeptune…"

"That sounds horrible!" Compa cried out, "What do we do?"

"Don't worry. I'm here." Neptune said with confidence, "Someone told me…I'm the only one who can save the world."

IF and Soren raised an eyebrow at Neptune's words as they heard her add, "I can save it. I'll prove it with my actions!"

"Wow, that's quite a speech from an amnesiac, but why do I have this feeling that I can trust her words just from hearing them?" Soren felt a bit bemused as he scratched his head.

"Don't worry Soren," Compa told him, "She still has that strong sense of justice, but this Nep-Nep is more dependable. I too feel comfortable trusting her words!"

"…I agree she's an improvement over her casual, laid-back attitude…but am I the only one who can't stand her either way?" IF sighed.

"…Maybe it's because you're jealous over her bigger chest?" Soren casually suggested.

"…What'd you say?" IF asked in a quiet, yet dark voice.

"Oh nothing…" There was a flash of light and Neptune was back to her regular self. "We'd better get moving now that we've taken care of the monsters. Let's go Neptune!"

Neptune looked slightly puzzled, but she followed Soren who took off rather quickly, leaving Compa to diffuse the mood around IF. "Um, Soren's probably just kidding IF…"

"Kidding my ass…" IF grumbled as the two ran to catch up with Neptune and Soren.

Lastation – Streets

After meeting with Chian and receiving their reward, the party was busy walking down the street, heading back to Terrance's shop for an update. Neptune had the reward in her hand, 1000 credits, and looked at the small bag before stuffing it into her pocket. "I know we just started helping, but this is sorta dinky for a reward…"

Everyone frowned slightly with Neptune hearing that as Compa remembered a few rumors they overheard from some of the citizens. "I heard that businesses all around Lastation aren't doing so well because of that major company called Avenir, who's monopolizing most of the industry."

"I heard smaller factories have been closing down for a few years now due to Avenir, but I don't think that's the only reason." IF added.

Hearing that brought a sudden thought to Soren's mind. "You know, that might explain the small influx of immigrants from Lastation to Planeptune over the past year…"

"What? People have been moving to Planeptune from Lastation? This is the first I've heard of this." Compa looked genuinely surprised at that piece of information.

"It's not surprising really," IF commented, "People need to work to support themselves and live, so when the opportunity presents itself…"

"Ooh, not only are they monopolizing, but they're driving people from their homes too?-!" Neptune shook her fists in anger. "I had my suspicions, but that company is definitely an evil conglomerate!"

"Are you going to assault them if I agree with you? We can't just assume a company's bad just because they're successful, though the part about people being driven off Lastation due to them sounds kinda convincing…"

"But I can't just ignore the fact that people are suffering 'cuz of them! If I take down that company, a lotta people will be happy!"

"Oh man, the story's just started and Neptune's already thinking of becoming a Lastation criminal." Soren shook his head in disbelief.

"Soren's right you know, you'll be treated as a wanted criminal all over Lastation if you did that." IF told Neptune, "We usually consult the Basilicom for these issues, not violence."

"But we were told to just leave there a few days ago. How will we get the Key and Jewel Core Fragments or stop Avenir in our current state?" Compa asked them.

"Avenir aside, it'd be bad if our traveling budget ran out because of this horrible economy." IF frowned at the thought before trying to put on a brighter face. "If that happens, we'll just have to move on to the other landmasses and think what we can accomplish there while building up our cash reserves."

Everyone nodded at that as they kept walking down the street, keeping an eye and ear out for anything they might find.

Lastation – Park

The party passed by a park when Soren stopped mid-step and backtracked to the entrance. "Hey, isn't this the park where people've been saying they hear weird noises?"

"Ah, then we better investigate!" Compa replied with determination. "There could be monsters hiding, waiting to attack civilians!"

"Might as well check it out, but I'm not too sure about this…" IF commented, but followed the party into the park. "I wonder...is this about the mysterious monsters that suddenly appear in Lastation's towns?"

"Ooh, are they tough? Super tough? What kind of monsters are they?" Neptune asked.

"All I heard was that they attack in groups while making weird noises! People don't know what they really look like, though they say that this park is where they've been mainly spotted."

That's when Soren perked his head up and looked around, hand going to Yukihira. "Hey, did anyone hear that?"

"…I think so…" IF started looking around too as she started to get tense.

"Huh? Oh, pshaw! Don't try to scare us like that you two!" Neptune waved them off, thinking it was just a joke.

Sounds started to emanate from all around the park, and Compa started to get nervous. "I-I hear it too…! It's coming from every direction!"

Hearing from Compa, Neptune started to get nervous as the party reached for their weapons as they braced themselves. IF had one of her daggers out as she bit her lip. "Are we surrounded already? E-Everyone, get ready…!"

The party's weapons were drawn as Compa shouted out of the blue, "We're not ready for this!"

"Arf! Arf, arf!"

Everyone froze hearing that odd, electronic sounding noise as Neptune tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? Arf…?"

"Arf! *whimper*…" A robot dog walked up to them, it's tail waging. Soon, other robot dogs started to appear, revealing that the noises were coming from them.

"Oh, they're just canine model robots. Phew…" IF sighed a breath of relief, along with everyone else as they put away their weapons.

"Jeez, getting worked up over something like this…well, at least they aren't monsters…" Soren shook his head, trying to calm down from the tenseness.

"You said it Ren…" Neptune looked at the robot dogs, and most of them just stared back at her, though a few were sniffing around curiously at the others.

"…Aren't these the robot pets that were popular a few years back?" Compa asked, kneeling down for a closer look.

"Huh? I never heard anything about it."

"That makes sense. These pet robots were abandoned by people after the trend died down a few years ago, if I remember correctly." IF explained.

"Abandoned? Couldn't the people just turn them off or something?" Soren frowned hearing IF's explanation. To him, it sounded like a waste of credits.

"Apparently, there was a small manufacturing error that the makers missed until the trend started to die down. Simply put, they had an on switch, but not an off switch. Coupled with the fact that they have a battery lifespan of a regular dog that's tied into some kind of solar powered system…you get this."

"Aw, they're not threatening at all." Neptune cooed, kneeling down for a closer look. "Look at how they're wagging their tails and being all nice and stuff!"

One of the robot dogs gave a whimper and Neptune held a hand out to it. "Hehehe. There, there. I know you're just lonely, Arf Arf. It's okay, come over her to Mama Neptune…"

As the others watched the robot dogs start to crowd around Neptune, IF commented, "Well, seems like the robot dogs have found their newest pack member…"

Soren let out a snort which he covered with his hand. "Really If?"

"I think it's cute…" Compa said, watching Neptune play with the robot dogs.

When Neptune stood up, a robot dog in her arms with the others surrounding her, she looked at her party members with puppy dog eyes, something that made Soren look away from all the moe. That's when they heard her ask, "Aw, can we keep them?"

"Are you serious?" IF looked at Neptune in disbelief as a number of robot dogs sat on the ground like they were waiting patiently for her. "We're busy on this quest of yours looking for the Key Fragments! We can't take them along with us!"

"Aw, but…" Neptune started to get teary eyed and her puppy dog look started to intensify, while the robot dogs seem to pine in response. That made Compa's heart ache and IF frown, while Soren looked like he was busy thinking of something as he stared at the robot dogs.

"Don't give us that look. Even if we do take them, where the heck do we keep them? It's not like we have subspace pockets."

"…Remind me to get a suitcase for some of our things…" Soren looked up and he had a reluctant look on his face, something that puzzled Neptune. "…I might have an idea…"

Compa and IF looked at Soren, who reverted back to looking like he was thinking of something. "There's ten of them right? How about we gather them up and bring them to Terrance's? He can deliver them to Torres back in Planeptune and take care of them until we find the Key Fragments at the very least."

Neptune's eyes widened as she squealed with glee, her grip on the robot dog tightening a bit. "Really? Oh, that would be just perfect Ren!"

"Well, first find a box to put them in, and then we'll take them down to Terrance."

"Alrighty then! C'mon Compa, let's see if we can find a box lying around."

"Uh, sure thing Nep-Nep."

Watching Neptune and Compa wander deeper into the park with the robot dogs right behind them, IF turned to Soren with a curious look in her eye. "Why do I feel that you have an ulterior motive in all this?"

"Well, I do need a few guard dogs around the house to keep the monsters away, so a few modifications would be needed. It's not like Neptune will notice a difference…much."

IF just raised an eyebrow at that as Neptune and Compa came back with a box and started putting the robot dogs in one by one, the dogs behaving surprisingly well. After that, they headed off to Terrance's for delivery, the dogs being very quiet and well behaved the entire trip.

Lastation – Inn

"Hey Nep-Nep, what do you think of Lastation now that you seen parts of it?"

Compa and Neptune were in their room at the inn, waiting for IF and Soren to get back from their errands. The two were off doing separate things; IF shopping for essentials, and Soren talking about various Monster Hunter subjects with Terrance. Neptune started to get bored fifteen minutes after they left, so Compa decided to strike up a conversation to keep her occupied.

"Hmm, let's see now…" Neptune stood up and started walking around the room in thought before she gave an answer. "I still think Lastation's pretty cool, but the more I look around, the more Ren's comment about the place feeling depressing makes sense. But I'm sure that all with change once I beat the stuffing out of Avenir!"

Hearing that, a sigh escaped Compa's lips. "You're still on that? If you keep talking like that, Iffy or Soren's gonna stop you!"

Neptune deflated a bit, but still kept the fire going. "Maybe, but once we find more evidence of Avenir's actions, I'm sure they'll come around and help too!"

Compa just shook her head as she went over to the computer that was already on, ignoring Neptune's rant on how many ways she was going to dish out justice to Avenir, sounding like a certain blue-haired heroine they haven't met yet. 'Ha… I hope Iffy comes back soon so she can talk some sense into her, since Soren said he was going to be gone for awhile, looking for signs of his sister…'

Surfing through Lastation's network, Compa came across Black Heart's blog and it quirked her interest. "Lady Black Heart's blog? Wonder what this is all about…"

Noticing that Compa wasn't even paying attention to her, Neptune gave a huff of annoyance, but that was quick replaced by curiosity once she saw what was on the monitor. "What'cha doing?"

"It looks like Lady Black Heart has a blog Nep-Nep, and it also comes with audio clips for each entry too." Compa clicked on the blog entry labeled 'Planet PR [Brief]' and a page of text appeared, along with an audio clip that started playing.

"Let's switch it up today. Anyone thinking of moving to Lastation? Of course you are."

"Wow, for a first line, she sure sounds kinda snobbish." Neptune commented.

"I, Lastation's CPU Black Heart, will tell you all about this land."

"Aw, an informational vid? How boring…"

"Nep-Nep! You shouldn't say that! Lady Black Heart might say something that IF might have missed! …And it's not a vid either!"

"People call Lastation, the 'Land of Black Regality.' You can also use words like 'mechanic land' or 'steam punk' if you want. Not like I really care."

"*Gasp* She doesn't care what people call her land? What if other people start calling it names like the 'Land of the Black Depression'?"

Back in her Basilicom, Black Heart looked up from the monitor she was looking at and muttered, "Why do I feel angry all of a sudden? Must be Neptune's fault somehow… N-not like I really care or anything…"

"Nep-Nep…"

That's when the door opened, revealing IF carrying a few bags that she put on the bed as she walked in. "I'm back…what are you two doing?"

"Oh, just listening to an entry on Lady Black Heart's blog." Compa replied.

"Really? Wonder what she's saying this time…"

"We're still under intense development compared to Planeptune, but that's why we keep producing new inventions every day, an example being the Gidgetron Battle Wrench, guaranteed to solve both screw and monster problems!"

"Still under development? But Planeptune looks a lot more advanced than Lastation architecture-wise…cleaner too…" Neptune muttered.

"That's true, but I heard a rumor on the Planeptune networks that one of Lady Black Heart's goals is to outdo Lady Purple Heart and Planeptune. They have some kind or rivalry, but I'm not sure if that's right or not." Compa said.

"Makes sense, Planeptune and Lastation have similar technological capabilities. Kinda like Lowee and Leanbox, except their goddesses don't have much of a problem with each other." IF added.

"That's our Iffy, always so knowledgeable!"

"…"

"That's the gist of Lastation, which is sometimes called the 'Dignified Black Land'

"I don't know when I'll update this again, but I'll write more about Lastation. Doesn't matter to me if you read it or not!"

"But, isn't the point of an online blog is for people to read it? It's kinda depressing if you write a blog yet no one reads it." Neptune said with a sigh.

"That's true…" That's when Compa noticed the stuff that IF had brought in as she stretched her arms. "Oh, is that everything Iffy?"

IF gave a twitch but replied, "Yeah, let's sort through them before Ren gets back."

The three girls went over to the bags and started going through them to pass the time, at least until Soren gets back so they can discuss their next move.

Day 9

Lastation – Factory

"So, this is Chian's company?" Neptune asked as she looked around.

The party was currently inside the Passe Factory after Chian had invited them over to talk. Suffice to say, all of them looked around in interest, though Neptune was the only one to be enthusiastic about it, when Chian approached them.

"There you four are. It's nothing lavish, I know. It's just a small factory." Chian waved her hand as if it wasn't a big deal. "Oh, we make everything from kitchenware to missiles. Come on. Let's get cozy before we talk"

Chian led the party through the factory, though Soren raised an eyebrow when Chian mentioned missiles, and saw a crate of them nearby, sitting beside a crate of silverware. "Missiles, huh…?"

Lastation – Restaurant

The party ended up in a neat looking restaurant, where Chian introduced the place. "Sit anywhere you like. This is my home."

"Cool! Dibs on the barstool!" Neptune rushed over to the mentioned barstool and sat on it, while the others sat at a table that was in front of Neptune. "It's so neat having a restaurant next to your office. You can drink whatever you want!"

"More like it makes lunch breaks easier, eh?" Soren added.

"Yeah, since it's my place. Having one business isn't enough for living expenses these days, so I help my mother around here." Chian gave a sigh as she crossed her arms. "I really have to get two jobs on Lastation. Ever since Avenir was established, work around the landmass tends to get sucked up by them. For most businesses like mine, it's like a freaking drought."

"So, Avenir IS bad! Everyone in town, including you, is suffering because of them, right?"

Though Neptune had a serious look on her face as she spoke, IF and Soren noticed a glint in her eye that was directed at them, as if saying, 'I told you so!' Both were about to say something when Chian's next words surprised them.

"They're not just 'bad!' They took all of our clients… They're monsters!" She lowered her head as a sour look crossed her face. "Even the goddess and her Basilicom just turn a blind eye and let them do whatever they want. They'll eventually take over this entire landmass if we don't do anything about it."

"As I suspected! Lastation won't find peace with Avenir around. We gotta defeat them!" Neptune declared, pumping a fist.

"What should we do?" Compa asked, "It's not gonna be easy as it sounds. How do we 'defeat' an entire company, anyway?"

There was a moment of silence before Soren suggested, "How about we assassinate the head of Avenir?"

Everyone looked at Soren with a mix of confusion and shock, and he gave a sigh. "Look, a company is like a monster. Cut off the head, and the rest of it won't function, most of the time anyway. If we knock off the head honcho, then the company will fall into chaos and hopefully would collapse upon itself."

Neptune and Compa looked at Soren appallingly, while IF kept a neutral expression on her face. Compa tried to argue against it, saying, "T-That's just plain wrong Soren! We can't go around killing people!"

"Yeah, else this fic would get an M rating!" Neptune added.

"Not my fault this fic has a more realistic outlook on things." Soren muttered before speaking up. "Look, it's just a suggestion. Not like it's any different from Neptune's talks about taking down Avenir. From what I can tell, the only difference is that Neptune's idea takes Avenir from the ground up, while mine goes from the top downwards."

"I-I wasn't gonna kill anyone!" Neptune protested, "I was just gonna beat everyone up until the company is dissolved!"

"ANYWAY," Chian interrupted, before things go out of hand. "No killing. As good as it sounds, it's too much trouble, and there are better and legal ways, like the Technology Expo this year."

Compa looked puzzled and asked, "What's that? Is it like a festival?"

"I've heard of it, but only in passing from Sis. I'm not sure what it's about either." Sore added, though he had a look on his face that said he was remembering something funny he heard about.

"Oh, that's right. You, Neptune, and Ren have never been to Lastation. I'm sorry, but can you explain it to them?" IF asked.

"Explaining a worldview or culture can't really be avoided in RPGs, or stories in general for that matter." Chian sighed, "It might be a boring narrative, but bear with me.

"The Expo takes place in Lastation every four years. Various companies showcase new technologies under a common theme. It's for people to network, or exchange information and skills. The best item gets a trophy from Lastation's CPU herself! …Though no one won last time due to that incident…"

IF and Soren raised an eyebrow at that last line, while Compa looked like she had a revelation, or something. "A trophy? What an achievement! So, we can take down Avenir with a trophy?"

"Pfft, yeah, if we chuck it at the head of Avenir and hope it gives him a coma or something…" Soren joked.

"Ha, we'll actually be aiming for the goddess. We'll showcase at the Expo, win, and meet with her for a negotiation." Chian explained, "Normally we'd go to the Basilicom for this, but the people there haven't been letting civilians in for quite a while now…"

"I see. Then, you've got your work cut out for you. It'll be really tough." Compa commented, with the others nodding in agreement.

"Sure. I need to start making arrangements. I already asked you here today to discuss that."

"Nope, we won't cosign any of your loans." Neptune said out of the blue.

"…? What do loans have to do with this?" Soren looked puzzled as he looked at Compa and IF for answers.

IF just shrugged and replied, "Who knows what Neptune's thinking?"

"Hah! It's not about money. The company needs raw materials and supplies transferred here, but the monsters…" Chian trailed off, as the last part didn't need any explanation. "We'd risk our lives for a single screw! I'm just warning you, but we'll probably be asking for your help more often."

"Ah, I getcha." Neptune nodded in understanding. "You want us to make sure the company doesn't get distracted by monsters while prepping for the Expo."

"That's right! I'm glad you're such a quick little thinking. I'm counting on you all, but for now, I have to get the paperwork done first, so I'll call you in a few days."

"That's alright with us. We need some more time to look around anyway." IF told her.

That's when Neptune's stomach growled and the girl in question blushed. The others laughed as Compa said, "Looks like it's lunch time, eh Nep-Nep?"

"Hahaha, why don't I whip up something for all of us?" Chian offered as she grabbed a couple of menus and gave them to the party. "You four order something and I'll whip it up. In commemoration for our new partnership, this one's on the house."

After ordering their meals and Chian heading off to the kitchen, Neptune spun on her seat before saying, "She runs a company and cooks! I wonder what else she can do?"

"Who knows? Maybe we'll find out later." Soren casually replied as he leaned back on his chair. "Still, this kind of feels like the start of a big conspiracy these days…"