Hello everyone, here's a new upload; this one is a bit shorter than the others.
I've read your reviews, thank you all.
I'll try to improve my writing as I am not an expert in this domain.
I will certainly correct some of the mistakes I saw in the other stories I wrote a while back.
Anyways, good reading!
-nephistory03
Synopsis: After not hearing from her for a month, Uni comes to visit Nepgear out of concern. Upon seeing a tired but determined Nepgear, she ends up testing out her latest creations. Will the results lead to disaster or will it lead to something else?
Uni had been acting strangely throughout the month. She was so stressed about something that it was affecting her productivity at work. She couldn't focus normally because of this issue, but due to her pride, she wouldn't admit what was going on with herself.
However, such a behavior wouldn't go unnoticed, even for the last of the idiots. Noire, who had been working for a long time, finally had some rest and decided to confront her sister about it.
"So, Uni, can you tell me what's going on in your mind?" Noire asked, she was a bit curious about Uni's thoughts; she knew how serious and hardworking her sister was, so such a change in her behavior was quickly noticeable.
"Gah! You scared me!" Uni responded as she looked at Noire with a startled expression. She had been looking at some files while sitting in her chair and hadn't expected to see Noire coming up from behind; perhaps she was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't notice anything.
"R-Really? This is how you act after seeing me?" Noire replied, surprised by her sister's response. As she looked closely at her sister, she realized how much she acted like her, even though by her pride she would not admit it. "N-nevermind...can you answer my question now?" Noire tried to get back to the original topic in order to not make things any more embarrassing.
"W-what? What makes you think I have some problems?" Uni responded, uneasily looking back to her work, attempting to avoid her sister's question, which she knew it would be too embarrassing to answer.
"I-I don't know... I noticed you weren't as effective as before," Noire said, feeling awkward. She really wanted to know what had happened to her sister. "Besides, your aptitude from before was a bit off, so anyone else could tell that something is bothering you..." Noire added a bit enbarrassed, hoping of a response honest from her sister but...
"E-Even if something bothers me, it's something I need to handle on my own," Uni replied as she wrote something indecipherable on the file, pretending to work. It was something embarrassing; her tsundere's behavior couldn't help, and it was worse since Noire, her older sister, had become suspiciously curious about her problems. "Besides, you probably have better things to do than waste time with me?" Uni added as she emptied all the ink inside her pencil onto her paper at such a speed, she was even on the point of breaking the pencil out of stress.
"Gah!" Noire let out, a stupid expression crossing her face as her last statement seemed to hurt her. "What a nonsense!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together and shaking them, attempting to hide her reaction from Uni. "I-I mean, of course you aren't wasting my time," Noire added, drawing Uni's attention. "I-I mean, this is for the future of Lastation, I-I said it!" corrected the tsundere, but Uni who was hoping for a real concern from her sister other than work was a bit disappointed.
"So, our people might be worried if you, the CPU candidate, are distracted like that," Noire said as she regained her serious face and managed to calm down a bit. "We could even lose some shares...so tell me everything." Noire concluded. Uni broke the pencil, making her hand soiled by the remaining ink. The silence dropped between them, and Uni looked at her sister again.
Uni finally sighed, understanding that she couldn't escape her sister's insistence. "Fine...I'll tell you..." by this point, there was no use in trying to hide anything from her sister. Noire was now all ears, waiting for her sister's response.
"So, basically, I haven't heard from Nepgear in a month," Uni sadly said, she went on to give a direct response to her sister. "And I'm wondering how she's doing over there." Uni concluded, looking down out of sadness rather than embarrassment, as the girl truly missed Nepgear and longed for her to return or contact her.
"Ah...Is that so?" Noire sighed, she had thought it would be something else more important than that. "You know Uni, you should start getting used to not having constant contact with her for a long time, since you will one day succeed me as the CPU of Lastastion." Noire advised, she knew all too well how tough the job of a CPU was and how demanding it could be; "Furthermore, feelings shouldn't be a stumbling block to a CPU's duty..." Noire continued, Uni looked up at Noire with a dumb face like she was saying something stupid.
"Ha! Then in that case, you are the first one to disrespect your own speech." Uni retorted back in full force, mocking Noire's nonsensical statement. The older one among them could just look at the younger one in surprise, embarrassment clear on Noire's face as she somehow knew where her sister was pointing out the flaws of their conversation.
"W-what do you mean by that?" Noire asked, her fingers twitching in stress as it was likely she had been discovered by Uni.
"You know what I mean! Every time anything happens with Miss Neptune, you are the first one to abandon everything and go see her." Uni stated, Noire's face immediately turning red from her sister's audacity. "I'm pretty sure if it weren't for us, you would jump into Miss Neptune's arms every time you saw her." Uni finished her statement, leaving a red-faced Noire struggling to defend herself.
"W-what? I only came to see her because that idiot ticked me off by inviting me! That's all!" Noire defended herself. Her embarrassment was at its peak. "Besides, you're not one to talk; you act just like me with Nepgear!" This comeback just plunged Uni's face into the depths of blushing. "Each time she visits you...no, each time she gives you attention, you smile like an idiot in love." Noire concluded, making Uni lose her manners.
"Gah! T-this isn't like I love that dummy or anything!" Uni exclaimed, but her gesture and face totally contradicted her words.
"T-the same thing goes for me… this i-idiot is just a friend. N-nothing more!" Noire concluded, but like her sister, her gesture and face contradicted her words.
The two sisters looked at each other and then giggled together; they knew in their hearts that they were both completely smitten with the two pink-haired girls.
"So...if it is so important to you, then go and visit her," Noire said as she looked away. "I-I will finish your work." Feeling uneasy about saying such an embarrassing thing to her sister, she continued, "T-this isn't like I was worried or anything, I just mean you are old enough to make your own decisions. N-Nothing more!" As she closed her eyes, the tsundere couldn't be honest with her emotions even with her sister, but she tried her best to make her understand.
Uni just smiled. "Thank you," she mumbled, barely audibly. Noire got the thanks anyway and then she headed off to find Nepgear.
"Huh? She already left me alone. How fast...?" Noire's expression was one of astonishment; she hadn't even had the time to blink an eye before her sister suddenly vanished. She just sighed and looked down, hearing Neptune making fun of her for being a loner in her head.
The CPU candidate had already washed her hands and checked her hair and everything else to be presentable; she was already leaving the Basilicom of Lastation, having probably broken all the records for preparation.
A transformed Uni flew through the air, targeting Planeptune. Her speed greatly surpassed the sound barrier, indicating her eagerness to arrive.
After a quick flight, Black Sister managed to land in front of the Basilicom of Planeptune and transformed back into her human form. She walked in and greeted everyone politely, but couldn't find Nepgear anywhere. At first, she thought she might be doing a quest, but wanted to make sure of it.
So she headed herself to the Nep-Sister's room, just to find a Neptune napping, having the best dream of her life. Judging by the saliva coming out of her mouth, it seemed like she was dreaming about food. Uni sighed since Neptune wouldn't be helpful for the day and left for another part of the basilicom.
She wondered how Planeptune could go that far with such a CPU in his head; was it because Neptune was a main character, like she claimed every time there was an adventure to save the world? No, she quickly rationalized that Nepgear was the one who didn't let Planeptune sink, underestimating Neptune.
The tsundere walked around inside the Basilicom as she passed by the room that served as Nepgear's workshop, or laboratory, in other words. Stopping in front of the door, she hoped that Nepgear was indeed present inside since she was a tinker.
'BOOOOOOOM!!!' As she was about to open the door, Uni heard a loud explosive sound from within the room. Immediately afterward, she rushed in, worried for Nepgear's safety; at least, she was now sure of the location of her friend.
As she entered the room, Uni couldn't see anything through the thick dust and smoke that filled the laboratory. When the smoke cleared away, it revealed a battered Nepgear lying on the floor. There were also destroyed pieces of equipment scattered on the ground around her. Uni quickly approached Nepgear to see if everything was okay with her.
"Oh goodness... What a great idea to combine two opposing ingredients; knowing it would likely explode." Nepgear ironically said to herself. The girl slowly got up on her feet and tried to remove as much of the dirt from her clothes as she could.
"Nepgear!" exclaimed Uni as she rushed over to her friend, clearly very concerned for her. As she reached her side, she asked, "Are you okay?" Nepgear turned her gaze towards the tsundere after hearing her. She was still a bit stunned from the explosion that she hadn't realized it was Uni who had been speaking to her.
"I'm safe, thanks for your concern!" Nepgear gently replied, smiling softly. Her smile caused Uni to blush a bit. The tsundere was relieved that Nepgear was safe after the explosion. "Oh! It's just Uni!" Nepgear exclaimed, recognizing her friend after recovering from her shock.
"Gah!" Uni let out, "This is how you greet me?" The tsundere asked, her pride clearly hurt. Surely a form of karma for leaving Noire alone.
"Oh, sorry! I thought it was somebody else," said Nepgear while quickly gesturing her hands in the air as she saw the strange face that Uni made. "Anyways, have you come to see me? How cute of you, Uni!" Nepgear changed the subject as she saw Uni returning back to a normal face, but as soon as she spoke, Uni turned red as always as Nepgear spoke to her so gently.
"W-W-What? No, I-I-I am only here because I wandered in by accident!" Uni replied, "T-This isn't because I wanted to see you or anything else!". It was always so embarrassing to admit something like that to Nepgear.
"Oh...if you say so." Nepgear said while yawning and stretching her arms; the girl was really tired, Uni noticed that Nepgear had bags under her eyes and dark circles from fatigue. She could also see the girl shaking as she was about to fall down on the ground, but somehow the girl managed to resist it. Uni was now really worried about her friend.
"So, anyways," Uni said as she spoke in a fuller voice, "What were you working on?" Her tone was filled with worry and curiosity, wanting to know what kind of creation Nepgear had made in such a state of exhaustion.
"Oh, you're curious?" Nepgear enthusiastically replied, and soon began showing Uni the items - or rather, the equipment - she had created on the table.
Curious about the familiar items she saw, Uni asked, "Are these processor units?" It looked like it, at least she thought; but they were a bit small to be a full-size CPU. "Yes!" Nepgear joyfully responded, proudly showing off her work. "These are my new brand creations," a benevolent aura emanated from the passionate girl, it almost made Uni forget why she asked such a question in the first place.
"Great, but why though?" Uni demanded, after all, in HDD form the CPUs and CPU Candidates were already strong enough, and why waste time on a world at peace? "And besides, aren't they too small to fit you or another CPU?" Uni continued while crossing her arms, waiting for Nepgear's answer.
"First, it's to be original for once, since we always get a power-up during a deadly situation and we don't know when a strong bad guy will show up," Nepgear explained. The girl had come up with this idea due to the experiences she had gone through throughout her life. "And don't worry about the size; I've made them out of special materials, so the equipment will adapt to the CPUs to fit them." Nepgear continued, placing her hand near her chest. "I've worked so hard to achieve such a result besides there is an incredible equipment I created," the girl concluded her explanation, with a spark of determination in her tired eyes. Uni was a bit curious about that "incredible" equipment.
"But..." Nepgear added as she closed her eyes, attracting Uni's attention, who had been lost in admiration of Nepgear's prevention and ingenuity.
"But?" Uni responded, expecting the goddess to demand something of her, as she had known her for so long.
"I need help testing them out… in a fight… since you're here…" Nepgear shyly said, looking down a bit to avoid crossing Uni's gaze and playing with her two fingers. "I was wondering if you would help me out with this?" Nepgear finished, looking back at Uni, hopeful for a positive answer.
"W-Why, do you demand this from me when you didn't even invite me once during the whole month!" Uni exclaimed, and as soon as she said it, she saw Nepgear on the verge of tears. "I-Is that so? I was so busy that I neglected you... how bad I am." Nepgear replied, apologizing as she felt guilty for neglecting her friend.
"I-I-I mean, I am also in fault since I didn't even move to see you...," Uni tried to correct herself as she didn't want to make Nepgear cry. Sharing fault seemed to have calmed the pink-haired head down. It appeared that Nepgear was easier to demoralize when she was tired.
"By the way… I do want to help you, but you don't seem to be in any condition to take any tests; you look tired and smell awful." Uni added, attempting to change the topic and warn her friend of her condition. Nepgear had worked hard on these creations, but without someone there to check on her, she hadn't paid attention to her own well-being.
"Don't worry, I can handle this; I already have seen worse," Nepgear replied with determination in her eyes, indicating that she was ready to finish the tests for the day. "Gah! At least take a shower and change your clothes." Uni couldn't refuse anything to Nepgear, she couldn't help it.
"I will do it after the tests because I will be dirty and smelly anyway," Nepgear said, making a valid point as she insisted on keeping up with the tests.
"Fine..." Uni sighed, she surrendered since Nepgear wanted to finish her business today, "Just...don't make me regret this..." Uni concluded, really worried about her friend.
"Thank you, Uni! You're the best!" The goddess responded as she smiled at the positive response from her friend. "Let's move to another place," she suggested. The two girls soon left the Basilicom for a better place.
The two goddesses arrived on a peaceful green field, free from any monsters or other dangers. The sun was strong and shining brightly.
"So, how should we proceed?" Uni asked, seeing Nepgear preparing her equipment for the tests.
"I have selected two sets of equipment for myself, the goal being to test their durability and the strength they can provide to the owner during battle," Nepgear replied, her enthusiasm evident. "I will equip them in order of my preference, starting with the one I like the least." The girl continued, and Uni was less and less sure about it. "You will fight me,so you can go all out if you want." The girl finished, leaving Uni shocked; she had never expected Nepgear to be the one to propose a fight.
"Hold on!" Uni exclaimed, "When did you become the one who proposes a fight, when you're reluctant to train with me when I propose it?" She was still surprised by Nepgear's proposition.
"I know, but this time it's different," the goddess said seriously. "I need to test these new processor units." The girl continued as she nodded her head while closing her eyes. "Furthermore, I want to finish the first test and move on to the next set I have chosen!" she finished enthusiastically as she opened her eyes to look at Uni; it seemed that she had created something incredible, for the light in her eyes turned into a flame of passion.
"Aaah... You are unredeemable..." Uni sighed as she started to turn the HDD on, sometimes wondering if Nepgear was truly passionate or just plain stupid. "Then you better not pass out in the fight," Black Sister continued, her tone now a bit more confident.
"Of course I won't faint," Nepgear responded as she turned her HDD on, revealing the processor units she had equipped. She was a bit more undressed than before, with her chest, legs, and arms less covered.
Despite her appearance being more revealing than before, Purple Sister looked really strong in this equipment.
Besides just looking at the design and the strange composition of her equipment, Uni suspected Nepgear had most likely used the rarest materials to create it. She had probably cleared many dungeons and completed numerous quests to achieve it.
Encouraged by her friend's enthusiasm, Black Sister believed that the next set of equipment would most likely be her ultimate and most prized creation she had ever made in her life. She was now looking forward to it, forgetting the point she had made to her friend.
"Then here we go!", Black Sister exclaimed, as she already shot the first attack with her weapon.
The other CPU candidate saw a series of shots coming at her very quickly, but she inhumanely dodged them and took off into the air. She wanted to drive the fight into the air, as her opponent followed her at such a speed.
In the air, the two CPU candidates had the entire sky around them to unleash their strongest combos. Black Sister tried to keep a distance battle with her partner, as she is really strong in hand-to-hand combat. But she was also wary of Purple Sister's ability to hit her from afar with some moves.
Despite all of her shots, each of her attacks was sliced through by her opponent's blades; it seemed as if her new equipment provided her with a better physical defense and a better brute attack, not to mention that Black Sister could no longer keep Purple Sister at bay due to her increased speed.
After several minutes of fighting, Purple Sister reached her opponent and landed a strong blow on her friend with her fist, causing her to immediately fall to the ground. Upon seeing her friend fall, the girl landed beside her and turned her HDD off, realizing she may have gone too far in her aggression.
"I'm sorry, Uni! Are you okay?!" Nepgear said, really worried as she approached her friend who had already gotten up from her fall.
"Of course! I am!" Black Sister said as she turned back to her human form. In reality, though, Nepgear had just punched her in the stomach; she would just have a mark on her belly for a while, but nothing bad.
"Oof...I'm relieved you are well." Nepgear let out a sigh of relief, but even so, she still felt guilty; she had been so focused on her own fight that she hadn't noticed her injuries.
"That aside, you really were optimized during the fight; I couldn't damage you once," Uni stated. Her declaration made a tired girl really happy. The tsundere was now impatient to move on to the next test and return to training so she could be at Nepgear's level.
"I can't let you go ahead of me, so we should continue on with this test." The tsundere was determined to finish it off, completely forgetting about anything else. "And this time...hit me harder! Understood!" Her last declaration caused Nepgear's face to turn to one of surprise.
"Oh goodness! Are you being masochistic again?" Nepgear asked as she saw her friend smiling from the pleasure of being hit. Nepgear didn't like hurting Uni, but it was worse when she displayed masochistic tendencies - it was one of the main reasons behind her reluctance to train with her.
"Uni, I think you were right back then; so we should rest and continue this tomorrow." Nepgear tried to reason with her friend, but it was too late to make her change her mind. The girl was more worried about her than herself already exhausted.
"Oh! Come on! I really want you to change that equipment already!" she exclaimed before turning back to her HDD form and readying herself for battle once more.
"Fine...I will do it," Nepgear said, knowing she couldn't change Uni's mind anymore; changing once again her processor units and turning into Purple Sister, revealing her ultimate creation.
"Look at this! This is my incredible creation!" Purple Sister exclaimed, letting Black Sister's jaw drop as she showed her "incredible" creation.
In contrast to a normal set of processor units, Purple Sister looked completely robotic; she was entirely covered from head to toe in robotic equipment.
"Really? A robot? Is that even a HDD form?" Black Sister asked, forgetting about the pain in her stomach; she now understood why Nepgear had worked so hard just to accomplish an old dream of hers.
"Why not?" her friend passionately said. "I am about to accomplish my dream of becoming a robot." The tsundere somehow sensed a smile behind that robotic helmet of hers.
"Gaah! You were serious back then?" Black Sister couldn't believe it; she was going to attempt an absurd dream. "You've watched too many mecha shows, I guess that's why you worked so hard..." She sighed at the "incredible" invention of her friend.
"Besides," she said curiously, "is it safe? It seems so heavy and suffocating to wear, even as a CPU." The goddess honestly thought it wouldn't be useful in a fight, but it would make for a great cosplay outfit.
"Don't worry, I'm sure it will work as I expected," her friend reassured. "Let's just finish this!" the passionate one completely fell into her own dream.
"Fine! I won't hold back then!" Black Sister exclaimed as she began flying through the air. Trusting Purple Sister's statement.
The second fight was a bit different from the first one, as Uni had pointed out, the robotic equipment of Purple Sister was indeed very heavy and suffocating. She was slower than before as she struggled to keep up with Black Sister in the sky, and being exhausted didn't help matters either.
Passionate about becoming a real robot, Nepgear had naturally used the components of a real robot to get even closer to being one. The components used must have weighed more than her own body; however, Nepgear certainly didn't realize that being a robot was much more difficult than simply being born as one.
At this point, Purple Sister was no longer focused on the fight due to exhaustion and sweat from her own equipment. Then...
"Brave Cannon!" The voice of her opponent was heard; she was completely focused on the fight, and shot her move. The goddess who had been distracted was hit by the attack and fell to the ground.
Black Sister saw her friend being hit by the shot; without time to react, she was now the one who regretted attacking so recklessly. Worried she had landed on the ground, and fearing for her friend's safety, she quickly turned her HDD off and headed towards the small crater caused by the impact of her heavy friend.
At first, she couldn't see Nepgear due to the dust blocking her sight, but soon it dissipated, allowing her to see her friend once again. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt, but her entire outfit was destroyed, leaving only her chest and the bottom of her body covered in torn fabric.
"Are you okay?" Uni asked, panicking and really worried about her friend, the pink-haired girl looked at the destroyed equipment scattered around her before turning back to her human form again.
"Not really," she said through teary eyes, clearly upset. "How much of a bully are you, Uni?" she asked, her voice shaking as she struggled to hold back tears at the sight of her destroyed creation surrounding them.
"Gah! What do you mean? You look safe and well!" The tsundere clearly didn't understand why she was crying like that; it just made her feel even more guilty for shooting her.
"But you just destroyed a robot..." Nepgear sadly said, as the girl's body began to shake once more and she was on the verge of fainting from exhaustion.
"You dummy! Really? It wasn't even a real robot; it was just an outfit!" Uni responded, not understanding her friend's behavior. She soon noticed her friend shaking, making her worry since she recalled why she didn't want to take the test in the first place.
"No, it was like a robot," Nepgear said, "I was a step ahead of my dream." She then fell face-first onto the ground as she no longer had the strength to stand up. Before she could hit the floor, Uni grabbed her in her arms.
"You dummy! Look at yourself before criticizing others. You were so focused on your dream that you didn't even take care of yourself for a month! You're so tired that you can't even stand up!" Uni yelled, her voice filled with anger, sadness, and guilt. She couldn't understand why she had chosen passion over her own health. Nepgear could only look at Uni scolding her.
"No, it wasn't only your fault; it was mine too," the girl continued. "Instead of listening to you, I should have prevented you from doing anything today. I even warned you, but...I let myself get carried away by my own pride and I could have hurt you." Uni understood now why Nepgear was usually reluctant to spar with her - the feeling of hurting someone you loved really hurt, but Uni considered Nepgear as a rival, she couldn't help it.
"So…since I will not be able to stop you playing the tinker then…from now on I will be your assistant!!" Uni yelled with a confident voice, shocking Nepgear with her declaration. "I will make sure that you don't let yourself deteriorate…so you better call me each time you are working on something new." Nepgear who had listened to her friend managed to lift a bit herself and smiled at Uni.
"Oh...you are so kind, Uni...I apologize...I guess it was really stupid of me...I am counting on your assistance." Nepgear apologized. "Maybe should I create for you a new processor unit that makes "them" look bigger?" She giggled, making Uni blush, extremely embarrassed by what she meant, before falling asleep on her chest.
"You dummy..." The tsundere said as she looked at the sleeping girl and then patted her head before smiling.
Nepgear didn't manage to accomplish her dream, but at least she got an assistant who would look after her.