Chapter 9: Robot Ambush
About a year and a half ago...
"What do you mean, no?"
"I mean, no! I'm not joining this secret organization you're a part of. Why would they care about a criminal like me anyways?"
"Don't you hate the CPUs, though?"
"Yes."
"Then this is finally our chance to get back at them!"
"I don't care. Look, yes, I hate the CPUs, and I ain't giving up my life of crime. But do you really think I want to tangle with those dumb broads again! They beat CFW Magic, and that Deity of Sin! And you know what, they keep beating up even more ridiculous stuff! Didn't you hear about that crazy Tari goddess that took over Planeptune? Or that they fought f***ing GIANTESSES in another dimension!"
"And how can you prove that last one? It's just a rumor."
"Point is, they are clearly out of our league now! I'm not going to deal with that! Look, Nepgeo, you can go join this group and do whatever you're going to do. I don't know, and I don't care! I'm not coming!"
"Fine! But the offer still stands. Also, don't blame me when you get caught in the crossfire."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Present day...
"Miss Histoire?"
The fairy turned around, and found IF standing there. "Ah, yes, IF, thank you for coming. Please sit down."
The brunette set down, as Histoire began to explain to the Guild agent why she was called here. "So, have you heard about the robot attack on Neptune and Venus that happened a while ago."
"Yeah, I heard about it," IF responded. "Wasn't there an issue about the potential of them causing misinformation in Planeptune?"
"Yes, they illegally bear the mark of Planeptune on them, and there is the concern of them attacking the nation's CPUs and being mistaken as rogue Planeptunian defense-machines could cause a loss of trust in them," Histoire explained. "But the bigger issue is... Neptune is convinced that they were targeting Venus specifically."
"...That is definitely concerning," IF replied.
"Well, we are conducting an investigation into this incident, but we have not gotten a lead on since. However, Venus has continued to go on quests with Neptune, along with a few other Guildmates. And Neptune says that she is still seeing something in distance. I have wondered if Neptune has just been paranoid, but after asking those who helped her on her quests, they claim to have this feeling of being watched, but only when they are with our CPUs."
"So... you think that the robots, and by extension, whoever is in control of them, are still watching Nep and Ve," IF summed up. "What does Venus think about this?"
"She doesn't know," Histoire admitted. "Neptune refuses to tell her sister about this, so she doesn't scare her. And as far as we are aware, Venus hasn't noticed this herself, or put two and two together about it."
"...That sounds like her. So what do you want me to do about it?"
"Well, Venus is still requesting to go on quests. She loves fighting monsters, it seems. And she loves bringing Neptune along with her," Histoire explained. "She wants to go on a quest today, but Neptune is too busy to go with her. Venus can't go alone, because she's still too inexperienced, and as we have just discussed, she may be under threat. So, I want you to go with her."
"But more importantly," Histoire continued. "I want you to keep an eye out. You are one of the Guild's top agents, and one of Neptune's closest friends. So, I am formally asking you to officially be put onto the investigation into the origin of these illegal robots, with your first task to watch and guard Venus in case they come for her. I dislike the idea of using her as bait, especially since she is unaware of what's going on, but considering how much she loves fighting, she probably wouldn't mind. But do make sure she's safe."
"Understood," IF exclaimed. "I accept. I'll make sure Venus is safe in my hands. I'll bring Compa along to help keep her in line, but I'll keep this confidential."
"Thank you." As IF got up to take her leave and get Venus for questing, Histoire spoke up to say, "And IF, don't let Venus know I asked you to go questing with her. She doesn't... particularly trust me at the moment. ...For unrelated reasons."
IF turned around and raised an eyebrow for a moment, but decided not to ask any questions. She wasn't going to tell Venus anything anyway, because of the confidential discussion they just had, but she certainly didn't want to know about whatever problems the two were having at the moment. To her, it just sounded like the same old, same old that happened whenever Histoire was involved in something, usually with Neptune.
IF had just arrived at the Guild with Venus and Compa.
"Wow, it's so great that we get to do quests with you today, Ve-Ve!" Compa said.
"Yeah! I just wish big sis would've come," Venus replied. "Do you think I've been a bad doggy to her...?"
"Uh..." Compa wasn't sure how to respond to that last statement.
"Ve, how many times do we have to tell you," IF interjected. "'Ve-Ve' is just Compa's nickname for you. Yes, Ve-Ve does sound like a dog's name, but that doesn't mean you are a dog. Because you are not, as disappointing as it might be."
"Are you sure?" Venus asked, sounding almost disappointed.
"Yes."
"Oh, okay. I get it."
IF was positive that Venus did not get it.
The group of girls went inside, and Venus immediately went over to the request board.
"Ooh! Ooh! I want that one! And that one!" the Candidate said as she began picking out quests. ...A lot of quests.
"Okay! Calm down," IF chimed in. "We don't need to do ALL of these!"
"Ah... but I want to..."
"Well, how do plan to do all of those in one day?"
"By trying really, really hard!"
IF sighed. "Let me handle the quest picking, okay?"
The Guild clerk, overhearing this conversation, chuckled. "Oh, whenever Lady Venus comes, it is such a joy. She is so energetic, and is always excited to take on some quests."
"Yeah, sure. She still has a lot to learn, though," IF replied to the clerk, trying not to sound insulting to the young Candidate.
"Of course. By the way, miss IF, we happen to have a mission on the line for the agents that has yet to be accepted, if you and your friends wish to take it on."
"Doesn't sound like the standard reconnaissance mission. Must be a pretty big deal if the Guild has to ask the agents to help, and not open it up to the public," IF noted.
"So, there have been reports of monsters in the slums. The Guild simply wants to send in professional fighters instead of just anyone, as to try to not disturb the peace. Though, we know that we can trust anyone you travel with. Not to mention the presence of a CPU would help keep everyone calm."
"Right..." IF sounded. Sure, Venus being a goddess could help keep everyone calm, though strip that away, and the girl probably just wanted to beat some monsters up for her own enjoyment. But it was worth a shot, so IF turned to her friends to ask, "so, think we should take it?"
"Yes!" Venus happily exclaimed, without a second thought.
"W-well... whatever Ve-Ve wants to do, I'd love to do too!" Compa added.
"Then I guess we're heading to the slums to hunt some monsters. I'd wager that they're probably getting in from the sewers," IF replied.
"Alright, the Guild master has the details, so talk to him, and you can be on your way!"
As the group came into the slums, Venus looked around, confused and disappointed. "Why does this place not look as nice as everywhere else?"
"Well, I think that it takes a lot to maintain a large city," IF explained, "So, usually, there are some areas in a city that you are unable to keep up to snuff. That's why we call it the 'slums'."
Venus didn't like that. "Well, I'm... I'm going to make this place better! With lots of fun stuff to do!"
"I mean, that's great!" IF wasn't sure HOW she was going to do it, but it was good that she wanted to do it. It would be good for the city, and get lots of Shares for Planeptune. "But at the very least, people here do what they can to live a nice life. Which is why we need to clean out any monsters."
"Yeah! Monster beat-up time!" And Venus ran ahead.
"Wait, Venus!" IF chased after her, along with Compa.
"Pl-please! Slow down!" Compa complained.
But Venus was excitedly running ahead.
So IF had to ask the important question. "Do you even know where the monsters are!?"
"Nope!" Venus shouted back. But she kept running for about ten more seconds, before stopping, and saying, "Wait, I don't know where they are."
"See?" IF told her as she caught up to her.
Compa followed, stopping to catch her breath. "Why... do... you... have to... run so fast...!?" she panted.
"Sorry..." Venus replied.
"Okay, let me show you guys where it's rumored that monsters are," IF told the two, mostly to Venus.
With Venus calmed down, and Compa catching her breath, the group delved further into the slums as IF guided them to the site of the monster sightings.
"So... Iffy, what kind of monsters are there going to be?" Compa asked.
"I don't know. They just heard odd sounds, and saw some shadows," IF explained. "Some people were attacked. Luckily, no serious injuries, but they couldn't make anything out."
"Weird..."
"It's weird?" Venus asked the nurse. "How's it weird?"
"Monsters usually aren't this covert," IF explained.
Venus tilted her head. "Huh?"
"It means to sneak and hide. But monsters don't usually do that. They're usually are pretty obvious."
"Ooh! Maybe these are sneaky monsters!"
"Yeah, sneaky meany monsters!" Compa agreed.
"Yes, Ve, that's probably what they are," IF replied with a sweatdrop.
They made it to the area where the monsters were rumored to be, an alleyway next to an abandoned sewage plant.
"Ugh," IF plugged her nose. She didn't know how long this plant was left abandoned, but apparently not long enough for the smells to dissipate. And now they were leaking through the decaying walls. "Okay, when we're done here, I'm telling Neptune to deal with this!"
"Yeah, it's so smelly!" Compa added.
"It does smell weird," Venus said. And that was apparently her only reaction, as she didn't seem bothered by the smell like her friends and teammates were.
"How are you- Whatever," IF exclaimed. "If there are monsters here, they're probably in there."
"Really! We have to go in there!?" Compa complained.
"Yes! It sounds fun!" Venus cried out excitedly.
"How do you even exist?" IF responded in regards to the situation. Then she sighed, "there probably is an opening in the alleyway, if the monsters have been seen here. We should look for it."
IF marched into the alleyway, and began searching for any kind of break in the wall. And Venus followed her, excited to get inside to fight some beasties.
So much so, she just ended breaking open the wall herself.
IF could hear the crashing of debris, looked over, and find the wall open, with Venus by it. "Ve, what did you do?"
The Candidate looked over, then back to IF to say, "I don't know..."
"What!? Of all the- Okay, okay... Doesn't matter. We can get in now."
As expected, it didn't smell any better inside. Though Venus wasn't bothered by it, as she walked straight to the center of the room they were in and shouted, "okay, beasties, come out, come out, wherever you are! So I can beat you all up!"
"U-uh, Ve-Ve, I don't think they'll come out if say that," Compa responded.
"Well, I don't know, maybe they'll think they can get the better of us," IF replied.
"What kind of monsters do you think are in here?" Compa asked.
"Probably some gross slime monsters, unfortunately."
Venus continued to go deeper into the room, when a strange whirring sound was heard.
"Huh!?" all three girls exclaimed at once, turning towards the source of the sound.
There seemed to be a bunch of crates stacked up in the corner. "Okay, let's take this nice and slow-" IF started.
"Hyah!" Venus shouted as she summoned her sword and shield, and jumped at the crates.
"Wait!" IF shouted, but she could only watch as the next events unfolded.
The crates blew up, as a robot spider broke through, and leapt towards Venus...
And slammed down on her!
Venus was able to block any real damage with her shield, but the robot ended breaking the floor below her open, and the Candidate fell through.
"NO!" IF cried as she leapt towards the machine, summoned her katars, and jabbed into its back.
Compa summoned her giant syringe and struck the needle into its red eye. The chemical concoction in her syringe wouldn't really affect a robot, but it was a liquid, which wasn't good for machines.
Sparks flew out of the head, and the machine fell to the ground.
IF immediately looked down the hole, hoping to find her fallen friend.
...But it went deep. She couldn't see anything in the darkness.
"Venus!" IF shouted down, but there was no response. "d*** it."
Venus had fallen quite away down. She found herself stuck in some fallen debris, which she had to push herself out of.
Shaking dust and dirt off her head, she looked up, and could only see a faint light above.
"You meanie! Come down here and fight me for real!" Venus shouted.
...But she got no response.
"IF!? Compa!? Are you up there!? Is the spider meanie still there!?" she continued to shout.
...Still no response.
"Guys...? Are you there...?" Venus, for the first in her short life, felt truly afraid. It was not like the time she had to go through that storm and its thunderous sounds. That was terrifying, but this time she started to feel true genuine fear. She was alone, with no one around to help or calm her.
"P-please..." she whimpered. If only she could transform and fly out, but-
"Hey! What's going on over there!?" A voice called out.
Venus perked up. She didn't know this voice, but it was a voice! And she knew that a voice meant a friend!
The young Candidate immediately got and dashed towards the source of the voice, until she saw a strange figure...
...And Venus jumped on her and pulled her into a big hug!
"W-woah! Wha- Gah!" The unknown woman tried to cry out before being crushed by Venus. "The- h***-! Let- me- go-"
"Huh...? Oh, o-okay!" Venus responded as she let go of her "new friend".
The woman began to gasp for breath as she tried to recover from being pulled into a crushing hug. "Who the... who the h*** are you?"
Venus tilted her head, before realizing what she was asked. "Oh, I'm Venus! Want to be friends?"
The woman looked at the girl. "What...? Why!? Do you even know who I am!?"
"Um, no, but..." Venus took this moment to get a look at this girl. She had grey skin, pointed ears, along with green hair and red eyes, which even Venus found a little strange. She wore a grey, mouse-themed hooded jacket that was opened, revealing a tube-top with a red and yellow broken heart with crossing strings between the halves, over her small, petite body. And she also had grey, baggy pants, and darker grey boots.
"You look super nice!" Venus concluded.
The "mouse girl's" eyebrow twitched. In what world did this girl think she looked nice!?
"I have no idea what you are talking about. I am a born criminal for life!" the mouse girl explained.
"Oh... okay. What's a... crim... cry... Cryer-animal?"
"Okay, are you just dense?"
"Yeah! Whatever that means!"
Oh boy...
The mouse girl then took a closer look at the moronic, overly-friendly girl. "Wait a second... Aren't you that new Candidate?"
"Yeah! How did you know?" Venus replied, truly amazed.
The mouse girl didn't even bother answering. Instead, she just droned on about some frustrations. "Argh, of course, I'd run into one of you broads again."
Venus looked down at herself in confusion. She looked rather thin, not broad. So what did she mean by that?
"I bet you're just going to call me 'Underling' like the rest of those drama queens," the mouse girl continued.
"Uh, why would I call you 'under-link'?" Venus finally asked. "Also, what's a 'drama queen'?"
At this point, the mouse girl just facepalmed. Was this supposed to be some sort of joke!?
"Okay, kid, listen, I'm going be nice just this one time. I-" mouse girl tried to explain.
But then suddenly, there were several mechanical roaring sounds. And then the ceiling broke apart above them, as several spider-like robots, along with a couple flying humanoid robots with railgun arms and energy blades.
Mouse girl didn't what these were, but Venus recognized them. The spider bots were the same as the one up above, and the others were the weird robots that she fought with Fred, Marvy, and her sister.
"Wh- what the f***!" mouse girl exclaimed. "The f*** are these!?"
"They're the weird robots from before!" Venues replied.
"Well, that explains so much!" mouse girl said with sarcasm.
"Really, awesome!" Venus replied, failing to notice said sarcasm.
Before mouse girl could comment, even a snide one, the U-nits (not that either girl knew what they were called) took aim, and the spider bots started to approach.
"Okay, run," mouse girl said, and she turned around to dash off, Venus following behind. Mouse girl didn't even have time to even think about ditching the CPU Candidate, as the U-nits began to fire and spiders started lunging at the pair.
Venus summoned her shield to block the shots behind her, as she began to follow the mouse girl, who was hopping over debris.
The pair of girls managed to outpace the robots and hide behind some old crates, before the robots could see them.
The spider bots skittered over, as the U-nits floated behind them, searching for their quarry.
The mouse girl began to think. Okay, why are they after us? Could they be after me? No, then why would they also attack the stupid CPU Candidate? Is it some kind of trick? Or...
It's then she realized. She knows these things. She encountered them before... They're after HER!
Like h*** she was going to get caught up in this broad's troubles. She needed to find a way to ditch her, before-
And before she could continue that train of thought, she heard a sound...
The sound of someone breaking wind.
...Mouse girl looked over...
...And found Venus's skirt slowing falling back into place.
Both of them could hear the whirring of machines turn towards them, as the robots began to approach their hiding spot.
"You idiot..." mouse girl growled.
"...Did I do something wrong?" Venus responded.
The mouse girl just facepalmed, but she didn't have the time to think about it.
Suddenly, the crates were blasted apart, knocking the girls on their butts. The U-nits approached them, the spider bots skittering below them, aiming their guns at both of them.
Mouse girl saw faint targeting lasers wash over her and Venus, and began to freak out. "W-wait! Why are you targeting me!?"
The robots were silent, as they began to charge up.
The mouse girl tried to think of a way out of this. Maybe she could ditch the other girl. She would've done so anyway. ...But she was surrounded. At this point, she doubted that they'd let her by.
...Maybe she could throw her-
She waited too long, and the robots fired...
Mouse girl braced for the pain! The last moments of her life...
...
Then...
"Aurora Reflect!" was shouted...
...By Venus, as she reflected all of the laster back at the U-nits, knocking them back.
"You don't get to hurt my friend!" Venus shouted at the robots. "You don't get to hurt ANY of my friends!"
What...? the mouse girl thought. Why is she...?
"Stardust Saw!" Venus shouted, as energy formed into blades on her shield, creating a saw that she used to tear apart the spider robots around her.
She's... helping me... A goddess... helping a miserable lowlife like me!?
"Comet Drive!" Venus went as she used her magic-enhanced dash stab to strike down a U-nit.
This has to be a mistake... She's an idiot, so maybe she doesn't...
"Blaze Impact!" and Venus slammed her shield on the ground, causing a massive explosion of flame, tearing apart many of the remaining robots.
But... she's not doing this because she knows, is she...? Is she really just-
Before mouse girl could make another thought, Venus released immense magic energy from her sword.
"Go... AWAY!" Venus cried out. And she swung her sword...
...Releasing a large energy wave, slicing through the robots in a line... with ease.
"No... way..." the mouse girl replied in shock.
She took out all of them.
No HDD form. No EXE Skill. Just... her standard power.
For a new CPU, she was ridiculous, even for a Candidate. She...
Venus looked up. She was exhausted. She couldn't do this anymore. She just wanted to rest for a while.
But at least she got all-
Suddenly, a spider robot leapt at the young Candidate. She didn't have time to react. She couldn't dodge it, raise her shield. She was going to...
Just as it was about to strike, the spider bot was knocked aside. Standing next to Venus, was her new friend, the mouse girl, holding a crowbar.
The ex-criminal sneered, saying "what she said, b****!" and dashed at the robot, smacking it with her weapon.
The machine finally succumbed to its damages, and fell limb, deactivated, permanently.
Mouse girl looked over at Venus. "You really shouldn't push yourself like that. These were the grunts. Low level. Surprisingly strong, but still easy pickings. You shouldn't waste your energy like that, especially if the real threat comes soon after."
"I... understand," Venus said, genuinely. "I just... wanted to protect my... friend..."
"Why... am I a friend to you...?" the girl's voice was shaky. "We haven't even known each other for an hour. Besides, I'm an awful person. I used to fight your sister you know... and I did many horrible things!"
Venus smiled softly. "Is it wrong to believe in the best in people? Like... maybe an awful person could become a good person?"
The other girl looked away. "...I don't know." And she began to walk away.
"Hey, wait!" Venus called out. "I never got your name."
"Oh..." mouse girl. "Yeah, I guess you deserve to know it... it's Linda."
"Lindy?"
Linda sighed. "Sure." It was "Linda", not "Lindy", but it was close enough to say it was a nickname. And at this point, she really didn't care.
...Besides, she was just lowkey elated, that a goddess actually bothered to ask for her real name.
At that point, Linda heard voices coming through the tunnels. They were faint... but familiar.
And she didn't want to deal with that.
"Sorry, gotta go. Good luck, Venus!"
"Oh... alright. See you later, Lindy!"
"Yeah... maybe..."
"Venus! Venus!" IF called out, hoping that the young goddess would respond.
It took a while to find their way down, and the whole time, they were worried.
The robot caught them off guard, but it was obvious to IF. This was an ambush.
Add on to the fact that they could hear sounds down below. Faint, but enough to tell that something bad was going on...
IF knew that the robots must've been waiting for them. How they knew that Venus would take this mission, so they could set this up, she didn't know.
"D*** it! Venus, where are you!?" IF called out again.
"Ve-Ve! Please come out!"
And, finally, they heard a faint, "okay!"
Venus came stumbling over to the girls. She looked awful. She seemed incredibly exhausted, and she was covered in machine fluids.
"Finally, there you are!" IF cried out. "What happened to you!?"
"I had to protect Lindy..." Venus replied.
"'Lindy?'" IF asked. She didn't recognize the name.
"You made a new friend?" Compa asked.
"Yeah! But I had to protect her from the meanie robots!" Venus explained.
"Wait... what?" IF exclaimed. "How many robots were there?"
"Uh... a lot... -teen," Venus answered.
"'A lot-teen'... That's... not a number."
"It isn't!?"
"No, no... it's okay. I get it. Too many to count." Though IF felt that it was more like that she didn't really count them at all, even subconsciously enough to make a real guess. "It seems that all that was happening here was these robots running around. And it looks like it's all been dealt with. So we should report this, and go home."
"Okay! And Compa, have I been a good doggy?"
IF sighed as Compa smiled, saying, "yeah, I think you have!"
Wanting to just finish this all off, IF turned to leave, motioning for the other two girls to come with her. Compa approached as they began to walk towards the exit, and asked, "Iffy, are you okay?"
"No, not really, but..." the brunette turned to Venus, who was trailing behind a bit. Something seemed to be on the Candidate's mind, but when she saw IF looking at her, she just smiled it away. "It's confidential, unfortunately."
Compa pouted. "I don't like that confidential stuff. It makes it so you can't talk about what's bothering you."
IF sighed. "I'm sure you know what I'm thinking about anyways."
"An ambush?" Histoire replied.
"Yes. I don't think it could be anything else," IF told the fairy. She had returned to the Basilicom to report on what happened earlier in the day.
"...That confirms it, then..." Histoire said with worry. "Neptune was right... They're after Venus..."
"They must've been watching her so they could plan this all out. Still seems awfully convenient that we'd just so happen to be the ones to pick this specific mission, and fall into the trap they set up FOR her. ...Unless."
"Unless they have robots all over," Histoire responded. "And have them ready to move into position at a moment's notice. Provide the right lure, eventually, they'll get the catch they want. And right when Venus takes her first mission WITHOUT Neptune present!"
"So she just so happened to be vulnerable. Great."
"Didn't Venus mention she was protecting someone?"
"Yeah, ...a 'Lindy'. I don't know who that is, or if Venus had gotten their name wrong again. Maybe it's a variation of 'Linda', I don't know."
Histoire sighed. "As of right now, it is too dangerous to let Venus continue to go on quests. She is clearly being watched. For now, she is only allowed outside within city limits, with a distant escort, or when Neptune takes her to another nation. There is a CPU summit planned in Leanbox that's coming up soon, and I know Neptune is planning on taking Venus there, so she will have visited all of the nations. She can't miss this. Still..."
"That's going to be hard on her," IF replied. "She loves fighting monsters. But I don't want anything to happen to Venus either."
"Yes, but this is far too important. We cannot lose another Candidate, and whoever wants to take her out must not get the chance."
"Of course."
"For now, your new task is to do a deeper investigation into this matter. See if somehow the Guild is involved, if we have a traitor, or if they were hacked. And of course, we need to find out where these robots are hiding, and snuff them out. We cannot have this happening in Planeptune."
"I understand."
From there, IF and Histoire continued to talk about other matters. But unbeknownst to them...
Venus was around the corner, listening. When she came back, she saw IF heading over to the offices, and wondered why she was still in the Basilicom, when Compa had gone home.
And she heard almost everything.
"Are those... robots really after me...?" she said to herself. "And they want to hurt me... my friends...?"
"...What about big sis...?" she finally said, before running off to her room, crying.
That evening, Linda had managed to get to the edge of the nation, overlooking the ocean on high cliffs.
She could not get the day's events out of her mind. Saved... by a goddess? She thought they wouldn't care about someone like her.
She always believed that she was a born criminal. No one cared about her. No CPU broad ever came to HELP her. That would be ridiculous. They didn't even care to ask for her name!
But now there was this CPU Candidate, and a completely, legitimately moronic one at that, who thought she could become a better person, and also thought she was worth saving. And she thought "underling" was a terrible, unfitting name for her. (Well, "under-link". She still didn't understand what that meant.)
...Still, if Venus hadn't bothered to protect her, who knew if she would still be here.
...
...Venus called her a friend, though. No one ever considered her a friend. Ever. (Accept maybe Warechu... at some point or another.)
Linda sighed. She figured that the new Candidate didn't even know about her old group, ASIC (the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime). That organization was disbanded a LONG time ago, way before this Candidate came into existence. Chances were, she wasn't informed about them, because they were irrelevant now. And that was regardless of how stupid she was.
But the girl still thought she could be a better person...
Ridiculous!
Linda began to laugh at the thought. "Me? A good person? Yeah right!"
She began to calm down, and solemnly said, "I can't be a good person... Not at this point... No one would trust me... I might as well..."
She noticed that tears were falling down her face...
"Wh-what!? Me? Crying? Those aren't... those aren't..."
And Linda went silent.
That Candidate...
Said she could change...
Believed she could change...
But what could she even do...
Then Linda thought of something. That Candidate... wouldn't be here if it weren't for...
Lina then pulled out her phone and made a call. One more game... one last trick...
Once it picked up, Linda said, "hey, Nepgeo, you there? Yeah, it's me. Why am I calling? Well, I just wanted to ask... is there still room for me in that organization of yours?"
Author's Note: Oh my gosh, drama! Yeah, and I bet you all thought that I was setting up an IF chapter. Fooled you!
Yeah, so I had this idea of Venus meeting Underling, or rather, Linda. I thought that the idea of Venus not knowing who she is, and trying to be friends with her would be interesting and funny. And then it quickly expanded into the two of them getting into trouble together and Venus rubbing off on Linda. And of course, no one else knows that this would've happened.
Though, coming off as the writer here, what surprised me is that I still had more to add to Venus's character. At this point, I thought I had put together everything for her character, and there wasn't much more to flesh out (including what I haven't revealed yet). But, of course, actually writing this chapter proved me wrong...
For one, I didn't actually have a real fear for the character, aside from something that hasn't happened yet, and is supposed to be played for laughs. That and her fear of thunder, which is a very general fear.
But when writing about Venus getting separated, however brief it was, it made sense for me to write her as scared. Because thinking about it, at this point, she's always had someone to support her. But now she was alone. And she wouldn't know how to handle that.
But the biggest thing that is new is what Venus said to Linda about being better. I was trying to figure out how to write that, and when it came to me, I realized that it was very much like Papyrus from Undertale (it just so happened that I was watching the final episode of Glitchtale season two on YouTube, which came out days earlier).
Now, I do want to preface this, Venus was written to be dumb, and I don't think Papyrus is dumb himself. But he definitely isn't the brightest bulb in the box. But he always believes the best in everyone (except maybe Sans, but not in a super bad way, just a disappointing way). And I don't mind that. Papyrus is one of my favorite characters from Undertale, and this idea works great for Venus's character.
In terms of what you did see with IF and Compa, a lot of interesting stuff. I have one more chapter planned for later that'll involve them, but it'll be more related to the A-plot, which is the robots, and Venus won't be involved. It'll also be rather short.
I also thought it would be funny to bring back the joke of "Ve-Ve" sounding like a dog's name, and playing off of it more.
I do hope the whole thing about the robots and how they were involved in this chapter made sense. I'm a little concerned it didn't, and I had to go through a couple more hoops to try to lay it out more.
But that's all I got for now. If you didn't catch the hint from the chapter itself, next chapter will take place in Leanbox! Finally covering all of the nations.