Chapter 8 - Business with Avenir
Day 10
Lastation - Factory Outskirts
"So, why're we working for Avenir of we know they're totally evil?" Neptune asked with a frustrated look.
"Idealism won't feed us." IF replied, "You'll never be an adult if you're always picky about food or work."
"That's true," Soren nodded in agreement, before dropping his voice to a whisper, "And think of it this way. If we work for Avenir, we'd be using their money against them in the future."
Neptune blinked before realization crossed her face, but before she could say something, IF pointed out, "Look, there's our client. Hush up, okay?"
The party watched as their client from Avenir, Singe, approached them. He gave the party a critical look that unnerved Soren as Compa stepped up to introduce the party, though everyone noticed she had this odd look on her face as she spoke.
"Hello, Mr. Singe of Avenir. We're Compa, Nep-Nep, Iffy, and Soren. We've come to fight monsters!"
Singe didn't say a word in response, which made everyone wonder what was wrong. Eventually, a resigned look crossed his face as he said, "…I don't have a choice. I need you to eliminate all the surrounding monsters while I inspect a plant by the city outskirts. Don't let any run loose and cause damage to facility. Get moving."
Before anyone could say anything, Singe turned his back to them and walked away. Compa looked a bit miffed at the sudden departure and stared at the spot where Singe was just standing. "What's his problem? He must be underestimating us because of our looks. How rude!"
"It's inevitable when you or Nep are around." IF snipped.
"…Iffy, you're not one to talk when you're that short…and without boobies."
Soren couldn't help but start laughing, but quickly covered it up with coughs when IF gave him a dark stare. "Um…how about we split up so we cover more ground? I'll take Neptune, and, uh, leave you two to sort things out?"
"Wha-? Hey, where are we going?" Neptune cried out as Soren dragged her along. "What about the No-Leaving-Party rule?"
"We aren't leaving-leaving them Neptune, just a temporary split to cover more ground. We'll be meeting up halfway anyway!"
"Oh, then that's alright then."
Compa and IF watched as Soren dragged Neptune with him down one path, leaving to the two to stare at each other in silence before heading off in another direction. It didn't help that the atmosphere between them wasn't light in the slightest.
One monster cleanup later…
"There, all done! I don't see anymore monsters around. Are there anymore Ren?" Neptune asked.
"From what I can tell on the radar, there's no monsters around." Soren replied, clad in his IS, looking at a holoscreen. Apparently, Soren found out about Yukihira's radar function during a fight where a few monsters tried to sneak up on him and Neptune, shortly before meeting up with Compa and IF. However, the radar only had a range of five hundred meters, so it was only useful in a tactical sense.
"Then that must mean the rest ran away. I guess that's all for today!" Compa looked satisfied as she said that, along with Neptune, when they heard footsteps approaching, making Soren disengage Yukihira rather quickly.
A moment later, Singe reappeared, having the same air around him as last time. "The inspection is complete. Are you kids done too? You sure you didn't miss any?"
"It's all good when I'm on the prowl!" Neptune replied with confidence. "We even took out the boss-like one, so I betcha they'll stay away for a while."
"…I swear, I won't be able to look at hot dogs the same way for awhile after fighting that boss…" Soren muttered.
"You said it." IF agreed, before the two of them shivered.
Singe went on, not hearing IF or Soren. "Good. However, if even one remains and it damages the facility, we will never conduct business with you again."
Everyone got confused at Singe's statement as the looked at each other with puzzled looks. Compa started to get a bit flustered as she said, "Th-That's a bit harsh. Why can't you just repair the damage if that happens?"
"…You have no idea, do you? Mere humans should never degrade machinery!"
"What do machines have to do with repairs?" Neptune whispered.
Soren looked at IF, who just shrugged as Singe went on saying, "Have ever seen a human as detailed-oriented or precise as a machine?"
Compa looked like she was starting to get upset, if the tears in the corner of her eyes were any indication, as Singe sounded like he was berating her for no reason. She sniffed, "I-I don't know… I'm not a machine."
"Right. You're just an incompetent human." Singe spat out, "Who knows when you'll make a mistake? Being human is no excuse for errors! If humans are expected to make mistakes, I'd rather have machines do the job from the very start. Keep that in mind the next time you take a job from this company."
IF and Soren narrowed their eyes at Singe's speech, and to the latter's surprise, found himself gripping Yukihira rather tightly. They watched as Singe walked away from them after giving the reward to Neptune. The moment they were alone, Compa cried out, "Wh-Wh-What did I do to get yelled at? Did I do something really bad?"
"Don't cry. You didn't do anything wrong. That was pretty immature of him, yelling at three pretty girls and Soren like that." IF assured her.
Soren just nodded and put his free hand on Compa's shoulder, which caused her to slightly flinch for some reason. It made him withdraw his hand before he added, "It sure sounded like he was just waiting to pop out that little speech, and used you as an excuse."
"B-But m-maybe he thought…I was making fun of machines…" Compa managed to say.
"But he's mocking humanity!" IF shouted with an annoyed look on her face.
"Not to mention he sounded like a total fanatic when he talked about machines." Neptune commented.
"Even though there's a few holes in his logic when it comes to machines." Soren casually added.
"Holes?" Neptune looked puzzled as Compa and IF looked at Soren with curious looks.
"Simply put, he goes on about how machines are perfect and whatnot, that he forgets that a lot of machines need human input to actually work. Sure, they can be automated, but they can't think up the instructions themselves. There are few other things I can mention, but I'd rather not go into a narrative dialogue right now. Anyway, he sounds contradictory to me anyway."
The girls were silent as they digested Soren's words, until Neptune jumped and gave a wiry grin. "Ooh, can we say that to him when we see him again? That would make for an awesome burn in his face."
"Considering what happened just now, I doubt we'll see him anytime soon." IF told them.
"I agree. Why don't we head over to Chian's for something to eat?" Soren suggested, "Right now, I'm not in the mood for any more monster hunting."
The girls nodded and the party took off for Chian's for a bite to eat. However, they didn't noticed that they were being watched from the trees as they left.
Lastation - Restaurant
As the party walked into the restaurant, Chian greeted them when Neptune looked around with a smile on her face. "Hiya! Aw…I feel so at home… This dirty counter, the small, confined rooms… The smell of food baked into the walls!"
"Ugh… I don't know if I should be shocked or sick after hearing that…" Soren muttered with a grimace, with Compa and IF looking similar.
"…Shut up!" Chian snapped, "Did you meet Singe? What did you think? Isn't he horrible?"
The mention of Singe gave the party sour looks as Neptune looked indignant. "Yeah! He made Compa cry with his machinery lecture. He's a total creepazoid!"
"Oh yeah, I expected as much. He's entirely against manual labor."
"You know, the more I hear about this guy, the more I wonder if he's right in the head." Soren mused.
"Well, some of my friends from school wonder the same thing, but they always treat it as if he's chronically ill or something."
That's when Neptune looked at Chian with curiosity and asked, "You've met him before?"
Chian gave a shrug as she sighed, "Naturally. He represents that whole company. He's also one of my old school's alumnus. I saw him when he came to lecture a class. I bet he just prattled on about how precise machines are and whatnot."
Soren gave a snort as he shook his head. "No kidding. He made it sound like machines are the goddesses' gift to man or something."
"Uh huh, and he did it in that ominous, gruff voice too!" Neptune added.
A nod of approval came from Chian, before a frown crossed her face. "He doesn't approve of any technician's skills or pride. I despise him, but that's not the only reason."
The party leaned forward, eager to hear the story when Chian waved a hand and changed the topic. "But enough about that. Let's talk about getting you four another job."
The party just nodded slightly before they went over to a table to sit, though Soren started fiddling with the radio after asking Chian if he could put on some background music. While that was going on, Chian took a folded paper out of her pocket and handed it to the girls. "I need you to go to the next town and get some materials from a man named Chevre. The map I gave you shows the way to his shop."
Soren looked over after switching a channel to take a look before turning his attention back to the radio, but before he could change the channel again, a voice announced, "…Broadcasting public information from the Basilicom."
Hearing that, everyone gave the radio their full as the voice went on to say, "After discussions among the Basilicom representatives, the Tech Expo has been cancelled this year."
After hearing that, everyone entered one of those silent moments where you can hear a pin drop. When the information sunk in, Chian looked shocked as she protested, "What?-! Wait a sec!"
"The Sanctuary announced this is due to a decreased number of exhibitors. However, the civil committee speculates that the Parliament may have pressured the Sanctuary into the cancellation of this traditional event…"
"Are you kidding me? We can't afford to wait four more years! By then, all the factories will be long gone! Heck, most of Lastation's population would've moved to the other landmasses by then!"
Chian got so worked up that everyone started to get worried about her health. Neptune called out to her, "Whoa, Chian! Calm down!"
When Chian snapped out of it, she saw the concerned looks everyone was giving her before she slumped in her chair, bowing her head. "Look, you all better get going. I'll see you in a few days or something…"
With the mood the way it was, an all-time low, Soren was the first to nod as he turned off the radio. He walked out of the restaurant mumbling, "Later…"
The girls said their own farewells before leaving Chian by herself. They found Soren waiting for them outside, who asked, "Should we head back to the inn?"
"Might as well…" IF shrugged, with Neptune and Compa just nodding in agreement.
Lastation - Inn
"So what do we do about Chian's order?" Compa asked.
"We'll leave for the town in a few days, though we'll check in for more details and to see if she's alright." IF replied, "Maybe we can squeeze in a few more jobs before we go."
"Sounds good to me!" Neptune said as she ate a bag of cookies on one of the beds.
IF frowned at the cookie munching Neptune and turned to Soren, who was using the computer. "You know, you didn't have to get her those cookies Ren."
"You weren't the one she was asking." Soren kept his eyes on the computer screen, as he was busy playing a game. "I couldn't say no after what she did."
"Oh? What did Nep-Nep do, S-Soren?" Compa asked.
"Sorry, can't talk. Gotta concentrate."
IF and Compa turned to Neptune for answers, who just finished another cookie and grinned. "I did this!"
Neptune gave the two a puppy-eyed look mixed with a hint of tears as she begged cutely, "Please Ren, can you get that for me, please?"
Both Compa and IF saw Soren twitch as IF couldn't help but look amused. "So Ren, you can fight the meanest, strongest monsters, but you fall to pieces when Nep gives you the puppy-eyed look?"
Soren flinched, causing him to slip up on the game he was playing and a game over screen popped up. "Ugh, you weren't the one she was looking at! Those eyes…!"
Seeing Soren give a shiver, IF laughed as Neptune commented, "Mmm…these cookies taste great, but I like Planeptune's better, especially Alvis'…"
"I agree…" Compa nodded, her own thoughts on the tasty treats.
Surfing the net, Soren came across a certain blog and said, "Hmm…Lady Black Heart's blog huh? Didn't know she even kept one…"
Clicking on a blog entry named 'Planet PR [Culture]', Soren didn't notice the girls sneak up behind him to listen as the audio started playing.
"Hey, been awhile. This is Black Heart, Lastation's CPU."
"Emmm…that's a nicer introduction then the last one." Neptune commented as she bit a cookie.
Soren couldn't help but slightly jump as he turned around and looked at the others. "Jeez, give a little warning before you girls get behind me, will ya?"
IF just smirked while Compa had a nervous look. Neptune just kept on eating, so Soren gave a sigh and turned back to the computer so the entry can continue.
"Today I'm gonna focus on the education system of Lastation."
"I wonder how different Lastation's education is from Planeptune's?" Compa wondered.
"Remember I said Lastation is sometimes called 'mechanic land?' To surpass Planeptune, our main focus with education is to raise engineers and technicians."
"No surprise there," Soren commented, "You can tell by looks alone that Planeptune is more advanced then Lastation, tech wise."
"True, but it's not like Lastation is that far behind." IF argued, "The Terraportation Joint-Project shows that much."
"Lastation offers affordable technology courses. The most affordable on Gamindustri."
"Don't I know it. I heard that some of Planeptune's engineers actually graduated from Lastation's courses because they're that affordable." Compa told them.
"The students will soon become professionals and support Lastation's future-proof growth."
"Pfft…hearing that makes Compa's comment kinda funny." Soren bit his lip so he wouldn't start giggling.
"I suggest you come to Lastation if your dream is to become an engineer.
"That's it. See you in the next update."
"Well, that's that." Soren spun around when he noticed that Neptune had a strange look on her face. "Uh, is something wrong Neptune?"
A blink from Neptune snapped her back to normal. "Huh? What? Oh…uh, what was I thinking about?"
"Looks like she zoned out again. Then again, I'm not too surprised." IF commented.
"Whatever," Soren got up and walked towards the door, picking up his things along the way. "I'll be going out for a bit, so I'll see you three in a couple of hours."
After Soren left, IF noticed that Compa seemed to relax and grew curious. "Hey Compa, why are you so nervous when Ren is around?"
"W-What? I-I'm not nervous. You must be imagining things Iffy." Compa looked like she was trying to brush it off, but IF wasn't buying it.
"Nope, I noticed that you tend to avoid Ren half the time, and the other half you get a bit fidgety. What's going on?"
"What's this about?" Neptune asked, "Are you still nervous around Ren, Compa? I thought you got over those surface human rumors?"
"Ah…now I get it. Compa grew up around rumors of surface humans, the less than pleasant ones if I'm not mistaken, and as Ren is a surface human, she's scared of him." IF figured. She looked at Compa and asked, "You still believe some of those rumors?"
Compa shook her head and replied a bit shakily, "N-No, not after I met Soren, b-but seeing him reminds me of some of the things my parents told me as a child."
"And those are…?"
"Um…t-they told me to be a good girl, or else they would send me to the surface where the surface humans would do very bad things to me and eat me…?"
Neptune didn't have a clue what Compa was talking about, but IF just sighed and shook her head. "Well, that's not the worst rumors that have been floating around. Don't worry Compa, I seriously doubt Soren and any other surface human is like that. I can't believe the Basilicoms produce such ridiculous rumors."
"Huh, so does that mean you know some facts about the surface Iffy?" Neptune asked.
"Not so much. Some of the Gu-, ahem, I mean, people I know went with some of the Planeptune expeditions so they know a few things. I know the Basilicom doesn't like them because they think that they don't worship any Goddesses, but truth is that they're just secretive about it, and that things on the surface aren't really much different from Gamindustri. The surface even has an even bigger monster problem then Gamindustri, one that's lasted for a very long time."
"Whoa…even the surface is hounded by monsters?" Compa asked with surprise.
"According to the people I know, it's worse on the surface than it is up here. I don't know all the details, but let's just say we're lucky we live in Gamindustri instead of the surface."
There was a moment of silence before Neptune spoke up, "Then it's decided, after we complete our quest, free Histy, and get rid of all the monsters in Gamindustri, we'll move onto the surface and get rid of all their monsters too!"
"Heck no Nep! We have enough on our plate as it is, and I know for sure I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life killing monsters. Besides, you need a very special permit to travel with the expedition to the surface, something that's pretty much impossible for us right now."
"Can we keep it at the back of our thoughts at least?"
"No way, unless some radical, plot-changing event occurs, we probably won't be going to the surface, ever."
Neptune just pouted before she went back to her half empty bag of cookies and started eating again. IF turned to Compa, who asked, "Um, do surface humans really have that much trouble around them Iffy?"
"Pretty much. Now that I think about it, your parents were probably referring to the monsters instead of the surface humans, and got the two mixed up."
"Really?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense. Besides, from what I've seen from Soren and what I've heard, surface and Gamindustri humans aren't really different."
As IF went over to the computer, Compa sat down on one of the beds, contemplating what IF just said. She resolved to apologize to Soren, but that thought got knocked out when Neptune asked her to play a game with her and offered her cookies.