Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract
Epilogue: A Journalist on the Case!
Once it was clear that nothing else would really happen, life in Gamindustri slowly returned to normal.
Miss Pauling left an enormous mess to be fixed, one that caused Noire many headaches as she worked to deal with it.
Histoire also had her hands busy. Not just Miss Pauling, but also the machine invasion have left a lot of damage. Lives were taken. The Oracle found it unacceptable.
Vert sought high and low for Samantha Neikan, still desiring to make her pay for what she did to her nation in her recklessness.
And Blanc, who was the least affected by Samantha and Miss Pauling, supported the others where she could. It was thanks to her and Lowee's knowledge of telekinesis and atomics that the reconstruction of Gamindustri was progressing at a blitzingly rapid pace.
It took just a week for all damage in Planeptune and Lastation to be rebuilt, while Leanbox required a month to fix everything.
And now, after mere months, Gamindustri was back to the peaceful way it once was.
Maxie, the former enforcer of the ASIC and the first victim of the mercenaries, was in prison. Her day started off like the usual: She woke up in a high-security cell, lying on a hard and uncomfortable mattress as a bed, kept warm by a thin blanket that barely kept any heat. The only comfort was that her room was kept warm, making the thin blanket not much of a problem.
Her room was bland, with very little in it. The numerous punishments she earned meant that she was allowed only the base minimum and nothing more. Not even the comforts of personal belongings.
…Those fucking guards should've known their place.
She could feel her heartbeat in her left side - a place where a heart shouldn't be, but now it was. The annoying pain that came with each beat. She couldn't even lay down on her side, lest she squish the blasted thing again.
Then it was time for breakfast. At least the food was decent.
There were two things she could look forward to today: One was Linda - Her sole friend in this fucking shithole, the only person who still had some fucking respect towards her and knew her place.
But the other thing was bigger, and it was about to happen today. Today is where she was finally going to the surgeon to get all of her organs back in the place they were supposed to be. After today she will no longer feel that fucking pain from her heart beating.
She let herself be cuffed and dragged into the police van, then transported to a hospital. The ride was actually pleasant. They let Linda ride with her for some reason, so Maxie had something to do through the journey. She couldn't, however, look outside the window, for there were no windows. All she could do was to wait and hope that she would finally be normal again.
Normally this would've been a perfect opportunity to escape, but she got guards watching her and she really wanted that surgery.
But once they actually arrived, Maxie saw who her doctor was.
"Oh, fuck no."
It was him. The same guy that did this to her. Her surgeon was the very same guy that mixed up her organs in the first place!
She tried to run, but the security prevented her from leaving. She was booked for the surgery, and by the Goddess ruling this nation she will have the surgery. She thrashed, screamed, got everyone's attention onto herself, but the guard holding her was firm and her friend was already aiming a tranquilizer at her.
"Let me go! Fuckin- LET ME GO!"
"Calm down."
She punched the girl but she had armor. She barely flinched while she felt a prick on her side, with a small dart poking out of her skin.
"Let… me…"
The effect was instantaneous. She was feeling tired, her limbs felt heavy and her mind was clouded. She was quickly losing consciousness while Linda just stared at her in confusion. Maxie was too tired to be angry.
That bitch didn't know. That bitch forgot! The last thing she heard was her Underling asking "What's wrong?"
This whole day was wrong! It wasn't supposed to be him again!
Then she couldn't fight it anymore. Maxie fell unconscious. Slumping over the guard that still had a grip on her. "Finally." She muttered and hoisted Maxie up, lifting her and carrying her all the way to the surgical table.
Medic and Compa watched the guard carry their patient. "Vell…" Medic began, but he didn't know what to say. His eyes fell on the green-haired girl, another prisoner, another former ASIC member. "Und her?"
Linda quickly raised her hands and took a step back. "Nope. I'm just visiting."
Medic looked at the prison guard, and she shrugged. "She wanted to be with that one." The woman spoke, pointing at the unconscious Maxie. "And since she was behaving nicely the warden allowed it."
Medic didn't have any complaints about that, he was already having an audience. One more person wouldn't change much as long as she was quiet.
An audience. The mere thought made him nauseous. Histoire wanted him to entertain that group of fools. With Miss Pauling and ASIC gone, Histoire could finally have them do what she really wanted them to do.
Share their technology.
At first Dengekiko didn't know why Histoire wanted her here, this wasn't really her area-of-expertise. Medical advancements were cool and all, but her articles were more about other stuff… Like video games!
…Unfortunately the ASIC and their piracy had left the video game market very dry. Not many companies want to create video games when no one would buy them. This led to Dengekiko struggling to find ideas for articles. Talking about the ASIC and their influence on the market was an option, but there were already a large amount of videos on that. It wouldn't give her a lot of views.
Then Histoire sent her an email, and she just went with it. Dengekiko didn't even know what she was signing up for. Histoire said something about medical technology that will revolutionize the world, and wanted her to see it.
Why Dengekiko? No one knows. Maybe it was just an error, but she had a lot of time on her hands, might as well see what this was about.
For something that would apparently "revolutionize the world" this was a small event. Besides Dengekiko there were just a handful of other people. Mainly other doctors. No other journalists besides her.
Dengekiko found it a bit weird, but there was nothing she could do about it. If no other journalist came, then Dengekiko would be the only one to write an article about this spectacle.
And what a spectacle it was.
And how gruesome it would be.
The man shoved his bare hands into that girl's chest. Into. And what he pulled out was a still beating heart. Dengekiko watched him put the organ into a box that his assistant prepared. She watched with her mind struggling, or outright refusing, to recognize that he was quite literally ripping out organs out of a person.
It was amazing that she… didn't actually react much. It was… all absolutely gross but Dengekiko hasn't barfed yet. She counted that as a win!
Thank goodness she couldn't smell a thing.
Now… Dengekiko didn't know a thing about surgery. But she had enough common sense to realize that simply throwing everything back in perhaps wasn't the correct way to put someone back together.
What even was the surgery? Histoire's invitation didn't really specify anything. The doctors that she talked with were also confused, but told her that the patient needed her organs rearranged.
…Mission accomplished?
But when he was done, Dengekiko saw something in the assistant's hands. Some sort of device. She already saw it being used on the organs, but what was it actually for?
The assistant pulled a lever and some sort of beam was fired at the patient.
And even Dengekiko realized what this thing was doing.
A handheld source of powerful healing, able to heal grievous injuries in just a few seconds.
Here was Dengekiko; in Planeptune's hospital, witnessing truth to Histoire's words. A revolution. A scoop of scoops! Fame and glory! Dengekiko could see all of it! And she was invited to write an article about it.
She was so excited~!
Dengekiko scrambled for ideas on what she could put in the article. Obviously she couldn't do it like she usually did, she wasn't reviewing a video game, but rather a new medicine advancement. Should she try a more informal approach then, one better suited for her fellow laymen in the field? How far into details could she go? What kind of questions should she ask the people behind it?
As Dengekiko's mind was working overtime, another man entered the room. This one didn't look like any member of the medical staff. Rather, his helmet and overalls made him look like a construction worker or an engineer.
He whispered something into the doctor's ear, before doing the same to the nurse. Her eyes widened in shock, while the doctor hurried out of the room.
Having the surgeon just… leave wasn't normal, right? Did something important happen? Was the event canceled?! But Dengekiko wanted to know mooore~!
Would they be allowed to examine the patient? …Did she even want to do that? There was so much blood over there!
The nurse left the operating room and entered the room they were watching from. "Umm… I'm sorry but we must cut the event short." Nooo~! "Something important just came up and the doctor needed to leave."
Dengekiko's mind came to panic. It was a disaster. An unfortunate stroke of bad luck that spelled doom to her inspiration. Her scoop. Her precious scoop. Gone with the doctor. Just when she figured out how she should write her article, this happened. Dengekiko wouldn't emotionally recover from this.
"Don't worry, the patient is healthy and the surgery successful, she will wake up in an hour."
"Can't we at least ask some questions?" One of the doctors asked. "How does that machine work? What does it actually do?"
Yes! Dengekiko inwardly cheered. Please answer questions! She had to have something to write an article about it!
But unfortunately, the nurse shook her head and stepped back towards the doors. Her body language was all but screaming that she was about to leave. "I'm sorry, but I'm not qualified to answer any questions. I have to go too." She gave a quick bow of apology before scurrying away as quick as she came. Just like that, any chance of writing a proper article was gone.
That was a terrible turn of fate. An absolutely awful situation for Dengekiko.
Histoire teased her with a promise of fame and popularity, only for 'something important' to take it all away. Well no. Dengekiko refused to have it end like this. She will write this article one way or another!
Dengekiko was on the case!
Dengekiko gathered her things, saved a draft that she wrote on her phone, and hurried out of the room. Just by sheer luck she managed to catch a glimpse of the doctor, the nurse and the man that was wearing a hard-hat.
A plan formed in her mind. She had to follow them. She might be able to catch them in a parking lot. That construction worker might've been an engineer that designed it as well!
Dengekiko followed the trio outside of the hospital, but they did not go to where the cars were parked. They rather moved away from it.
At first she thought that they'd have parked somewhere else, but they ignored every car they passed. Were they going to a bus stop? Take a train?
They finally stepped into some shady alley. Alarm bells started to ring in Dengekiko's head. Her gut told her to not go there, and rather she should cut her losses and leave now.
She ignored all common sense and pressed further, fueled only by desperation and intrigue.
Her ears picked up a weird whirring sound coming from the corner. The alley was short, and it led to a tiny yard surrounded by walls. A dead end. She caught a glimpse of the construction worker, he was facing her… Before he quite literally disappeared before her eyes.
Dengekiko blinked, but she trusted her sight enough. She did just see that man. And that man has just disappeared. It wasn't a trick of light, but an actual event that just happened.
The only evidence that this happened was a device on the ground, right where that man once stood. The device was red and it was spinning - emitting a faint buzzing sound. There was a glowing red disc on top of it.
A rational and cautious part of Dengekiko's mind told her that she has witnessed something she shouldn't see, and that the most reasonable course of action would be to just walk away and forget this ever happened. Write off this day as a loss, and live to fight another day.
But Dengekiko wasn't rational or cautious. She saw a scoop and her desperation had her chase after it. She charged head first into the unknown!
One-hundred percent maximum no chill.
She bravely walked closer to the device, feeling her heart beat harder. There was a feeling of giddiness in her chest, as if she was doing something she wasn't supposed to. She wasn't, but she was on the case! And there was nothing that would stop her!
…Except the fact she had no idea what to do next.
All of her bravado came to a screeching halt. She was here, right where that construction worker disappeared. She looked down on the mysterious device spinning on the ground. She has never seen anything like that, so she did what any sensible and curious human would do: Give it a little tap with her foot.
She was not prepared for a flash of light, and the next thing she experienced was confusion, dizziness and blindness. She couldn't see, she didn't know what was going on, and she was falling. With a yelp her limbs shot out to catch herself, just barely stopping her face from hitting a wall. Then her vision came back.
Before her stood the construction worker that interrupted the surgeon. He was holding a gun. It was aimed right at her. "Aren't ya a little lost, missy? This ain't your turf." The man said to her.
Dengekiko froze. Her breath quickened, her legs felt weak and her hands were shaking. Panic started to settle in as the man continued to hold the gun at her face. Dengekiko could feel her pounding heartbeat, loud and erratic, frantically pumping blood as flight or fight instinct took over. Dengekiko wasn't the sort of journalist whose stories regularly led to dark places. She could never have expected that in pursuit of this one, she would run head-first into mortal danger.
The man was starting to lose his patience. "Well? Speak up! What are ya doin' here?" The construction worker demanded.
Dengekiko was now panicking because oh my goodness that's a gun andshewasn'tpreparedforthemtoactuallythreatenherlikethis! "I'm sorry I was- I-I just wanted to write an article so I followedyoutoasksomequestionsbutyouguysdissapearedand" She took a deep breath "andIsawyousteppingontothatthingsoIjustdecidedtojusttouchitpleasedon'tshootme!" She cried out.
The man's expression was unreadable, hidden behind a pair of dark goggles. He was silent for one very painful moment. One of the most painful waiting periods Dengekiko experienced. "An article?" The man finally said. "Yer a journalist, or something?"
"Mhm!" Dengekiko nodded. "Histoire invited me to write an article about that…" She tried to remember the name of the device that the doctor was using, only to realize that she never heard its name, "thing the doctor was using."
The man's expression didn't change, and Dengekiko impatiently waited for him to react. He looked up and down at her, checking her out. She didn't bring a lot with her, especially nothing that could be a threat.
She did hope that even if he didn't let her through, he would at least let her go home. She would go back to her apartment, take a shower, and try to forget all of this happened.
"Hmm." The turned his head away, looking at a wall next to them. Dengekiko didn't dare to move.
She then heard a chuckle.
The man was laughing at her. Why? Was it because he thought her story was ridiculous? Being held at gunpoint, Dengekiko couldn't help but think towards the negative, cold sweat forming on the back of her neck.
He stepped towards the shutter doors, causing them to move up. "Hey Doc!" he called out to someone inside, Dengekiko couldn't see who but she could see the man grinning widely. "One of ya fangirls has come to visit you!"
A what?
Dengekiko heard footsteps coming from the room, then she was met face-to-face with the doctor that she was chasing after. He was not happy to see her.
"Uh... Hi?"
Does that mean she will not get shot?
She wasn't sure what was going on, but Dengekiko felt a bit giddy nonetheless. She was now inside their home, and she didn't even get shot! Dengekiko was still on the case!
When she found out the men were going to be busy with a meeting, she asked if she could join in. A bold move to be sure, even she had to admit, making such requests right after being held at gunpoint for trespassing, but the worst thing he could do was say no, right?
…He could actually do a lot worse, but he didn't.
They gave her a minute to calm down. Despite everything that happened it wasn't often Dengekiko had her life threatened.
"Sorry for that whole threatening you with a gun thing" The man said to her. "Usually those who try to sneak in here are… not a good sort."
Breath in. Breath out. Slow deep breaths. "T-That was scary." Dengekiko told him. The man looked apologetic. At least as much as he could with those goggles covering his eyes. "Does this happen often?"
"Well… no. But the last person that snuck inside trashed our place."
So when she appeared, they thought she was here to trash it too. Talk about unlucky. "How did I get here anyway? I was near a hospital just a moment ago."
"Well, you stepped on the teleporter."
"Teleporter?"
That thing was a teleporter?
Those exist?!
Since when?!
"Yup." The man told her. "You step on it, and it sends you to the other side." He pointed at the ground behind her, and Dengekiko saw another spinning device on the ground. Exactly the same as the previous one.
Dengekiko almost flipped. That thing she barely touched was something straight out of fiction. And then she almost got killed because of it.
"That… That seems unsafe." Dengekiko said. "I mean, I got in here by accident."
There was a big security issue here! A person shouldn't be able to just step on it and be inside someone's home!
"Yeah, er…" The man drawned out, but didn't say anything. However Dengekiko has made numerous interviews to learn a few things - namely how to read a face. And that man was nervous.
She didn't press further though. She didn't want to be rude, and also because he aimed a gun at her face and Dengekiko still wasn't over it.
The doctor and his assistant approached them. "Are you feeling better, Fraulein?"
Fraulein? "...My name is Dengekiko." She reached out to him "Nice to meet you."
That amused him for some reason. "...Ah yes, my apologies. I am zhe Medic." That… That wasn't a name. "You vanted to ask me some questions, ja?" He grabbed her hand and shook it. Dengekiko felt like she was making progress. Finally! The reason why she almost (almost? Not almost!) risked her life! "Ah, yes! Can you-"
But the doctor raised his finger, interrupting her. "Unfortunately ve have an important meeting right now, so could you vait vith zhem for a bit?"
Dengekiko's mind came to a halt. Her train of thought crashing down. "Erm, sure?!" She said with a bit more enthusiasm than she should have at this moment.
"You can come vith us, though." He smiled at her, then looked at the construction worker. "She can, right?"
The man shrugged. "Well, Histoire might want to talk to her."
Wait wait wait, hold the presses.
Histoire?
The Oracle of Planeptune Histoire?
"Yooo! Alright!"
And that was how Dengekiko found herself sitting in on a meeting. With Histoire. And the CPUs. And some other people that Dengekiko didn't initially recognize, but were probably important in their own way.
Dengekiko thought she would be a fly on the wall. Just an invisible press girl that everyone would ignore while she recorded the whole thing. Nuh uh. That didn't happen. Histoire was staring at Dengekiko the instant their eyes met. "...I know I invited you to the exhibition, but I didn't know you would follow them all the way here… And then try to sneak inside."
Okay, now even the Oracle herself was berating her. "It was an accident. An accident!" Dengekiko cried. "Why did you build a teleporter over there? Actually no, how did you even build it?"
"I am unaware of the details. This man over there has invented it." She pointed at the construction worker. "Ask him."
Dengekiko spun around and pointed a finger at the man and said only one word. "How?"
The man paused, absolutely unprepared to be put on the spot like that. Then he did something Dengekiko didn't expect. He put down his toolbox, and it slowly turned into another teleporter. Because he didn't just invent it, he also made it concealable and portable.
Dengekiko's mind was blown.
"I'm…" Her mind struggled to find a word. "Wow."
She heard a few chuckles in the background. Yes, it was embarrassing.
"In any case," Histoire came to her rescue, clearing her throat to gather everyone's attention. "I'm sorry but we will need you to leave." And now Dengekiko was shocked and annoyed. First she was dragged here, then she was immediately told to leave. "This meeting was supposed to be confidential, and we don't want any information to leak just yet."
Oooh. State secrets~
Mhm. She will leave. Dengekiko was on the case, not in jail!
"Engineer, could you escort her back to the hotel? You already know everything I will be going on about, and your team can fill you in if there's anything new."
The construction worker perked up at the mention of his name. "Should I show her more of our tech as well?"
"Yes." Histoire nodded. "We were planning on showing them off anyway."
Yooo! She can ask questions about the teleporter!
It was only after she left the room that Dengekiko realized that the man in front of her was simply called "Engineer". The doctor also wanted to be called simply "Medic"
Why?
Who does that?
"So… A person steps onto Teleporter A and gets sent to Teleporter B. Then they step onto Teleporter B and can return to Teleporter A."
Engineer nodded. "Yes."
"And how do they actually teleport people?"
"That's a bit of a secret, ma'am."
"Uh-huh, I see."
The concept of a Teleporter has always just been science fiction to Dengekiko, maybe doable for real with some theoretical advanced magic, but Dengekiko has never seen or heard anything about it.
He told her that this device apparently wasn't magic at all, yet he refused to actually explain how this worked. So was this supposed to be going out into the public or what? Dengekiko began making a rough sketch of the article, wondering what she should say about this: Instantaneous long-distance travel… Something like this would revolutionize the modern world.
Dengekiko noted down the information. Each 'network' has only two teleporters. Free movement between the two of them. Considering all Dengekiko needed to do was step on it, that was simple enough.
"Mr…" Dengekiko paused, "What-is-your-name-actually?" She can't really credit this to an "Engineer". Maybe an anonymous engineer… Maybe she should brush off the author and just say Planeptune as a whole.
"Ah, just call me Engineer."
"Alright… but I can't really say 'Hey, an Engineer just showed me this new cool thing he invented.' I need a name here," Dengekiko stressed "or would you like to be anonymous?"
Engineer considered it, but then he just shook his head. "Ya can just say that Histoire developed it."
Dengekiko clicked her tongue and wrote it down. Not that Histoire herself did it, but that Planeptune's government as a whole did it. "Alright, your loss."
Wait, wasn't he working for the Basilicom? This would be more truthful than Dengekiko expected.
He motioned for her to go, and so Dengekiko stepped onto the teleporter. Once again she was blinded by light and left dizzy, but she knew what to expect this time, and it was only a few seconds before Engineer followed her.
He showed her two more things. The first one was the previously mentioned 'Sentry', an absolutely terrifying turret capable of automatically searching and acquiring targets, fitted with dual rotary miniguns and even a quad-barreled rocket launcher. The only thing that saved Dengekiko from being blown to smithereens was a red band that Engineer forced her to wear. Dengekiko could see this being deployed in high-risk areas to control the monster population, and prevent them from migrating towards human settlements. The Guild would probably want this technology.
The other thing was a… 'Dispenser'. Dengekiko had no words for it. It was like that device the doctor had used, but stationary and healed everyone around.
Engineer actually shot himself to demonstrate it! She almost pissed her pants when he did it.
This could be placed… literally anywhere. On the streets, in the hospitals, out in the wilderness. The more of these things the better!
Dengekiko came here from Lastation for this. This miraculous, new, amazing technology. "You built all of this, right?" She asked to confirm.
"Yup." Engineer nodded. "Designed and built by me… But that's not all. Come here, let me show you something that'll really blow your mind."
He didn't say much more than that, simply motioning for her to follow. Dengekiko readjusted her armband, warily watching the Sentry Gun behind the counter. Engineer led her down the stairs, to where they first met. There were shutters leading to another room, and that was where he was taking her.
At first glance it was nothing more than a break room. Shelves and lockers of personal belongings, supplies, and other equipment lined the walls, leaving plenty of open space in the middle. "This room contains what we call the Re;Spawn System."
"Alright." Dengekiko nodded, looking around the room. "Um… Where is it?" Nothing in here seemed to be weird enough to classify as that 'Respawn System' thingy.
"It's the room itself." Engineer stated. "If we die, we will be revived here."
…Huh…
Oh my goodness, they turned this video game thing into a real life thing.
"What?" Dengekiko said bluntly.
"We don't die, ma'am." Engineer said.
He pulled out a gun. The same gun he threatened her just half-an-hour bells in Dengekiko's head were ringing, she felt her heart beat faster and she couldn't look away from the gun. She didn't know what he was planning to do, but he was blocking the entrance. Dengekiko was locked in. "If we die, we'll just come back to life right here."
"I-I see, w-what are you going to do with that?"
He pointed it, not at her, but at himself. Somehow that felt even scarier than if he just pointed it at her again. This man did not hesitate to aim that thing at himself, and if that respawn thingy actually worked, he might not even hesitate to pull the trigger.
"C-Could you not point that thing at yourself, Mister Engineer?"
He paused for a moment. "...You don't want a demonstration?"
Really? That's what you were concerned about? "N-No thanks, I'll take your word for it."
After a moment Engineer shrugged and holstered his gun, and the journalist felt like she just averted some sort of crisis.
I will not be writing anything on this one. Nu-uh. Someone else can have it.
"...I've been meaning to ask, but Who are you people anyway?"
She might've worded it a bit weird, but that was a genuine question.
An insane construction worker, a genius doctor, that guy with a cowboy hat and a bunch of other people. All armed, if the guns and melee weapons she was seeing in this room were anything to go by. All wearing red colors like they're some part of a gang. Was Histoire actually hiring gangsters?!
"We're just mercenaries, ma'am." The Engineer smiled.
"Mercenaries?" She said blankly. "Mister Engineer… Normal mercenaries don't have half of the stuff you showed me."
A Sentry Gun was surprising, but that technology was in progress for ages. This could've been one of the few working prototypes. The Dispenser and Teleporters however were completely revolutionary, massive leaps in tech advancement that could change the world if made public.
But this room… When Engineer pointed that gun at himself Dengekiko didn't see a shred of fear on his face. He was certain he was going to be fine.
"Yup." The man agreed and sat down on a bench. "Not… here at least. But we work for Histoire now, and she wants to use our stuff to make the world better, and we can't really say no to that. Not with the paycheck and support we're gettin'."
A light bulb lit up above Dengekiko's head. She realized something. "Wait a minute. Histoire's mercenaries… You were those guys in the news! Those people she hired to… uh, get rid of ASIC."
More like… kill them, really.
Engineer simply chuckled. "You will hafta narrow it down a bit, but it was probably us." Oh god, he actually confessed! "We haven't been here for long, but we apparently caused a bit of chaos back then." A beat. "May have been a bit overzealous, but those were different times, I'm sure you can understand."
No, she couldn't. Why didn't Dengekiko recognize them sooner? She saw the pictures on the internet, she's read various forum threads theorizing their involvement and occupation. They've disappeared from the limelight for a while now, especially in the wake of the disaster that was the robot invasion, but she should've already known about these people before she even met them!
…She just casually stalked a group of hired killers into their lair.
This wasn't just a scoop anymore, this was an opportunity. These guys were infamous! There were sightings of them warring against the robot army when Planeptune was invaded, they were involved in purging Lowee of the Killachines, and they… killed a lot of ASIC back when the syndicate was still in power. There was still a memorial for the dead in front of the Basilicom. They could've killed her too if they wanted to.
They almost killed her just because she literally stumbled here by accident.
Dengekiko could not only write about the technology they had here. She could also write an article about them! Give people some actual information about these mysterious mercenaries that Histoire found!
Oh my goodness those rumors that Histoire was silently murdering her enemies were actually true!
They sat in the lobby, where the ever-terrifying 'Level Three Sentry Gun' was watching over them. She couldn't believe that the only thing protecting her from it was a simple red band on her arm.
Engineer drank beer while Dengekiko tried to organize her notes, and as well squeeze a bit more information onto them. She was running out of paper.
Engineer tried to give her a beer, but Dengekiko rejected it. She didn't want to drink here, not on a job and with a stranger.
She couldn't write anymore. She simply didn't have space for it.
These people were terrifying, yes. Dengekiko probably shouldn't interact with them, also yes. And yet… she sensed an opportunity here. She could just simply smell the fame that would arrive.
Not many people knew about these… mercenaries. And everyone that knows are keeping quiet, citing security concerns.
She would be the first person to release information about this.
This was a big opportunity for her, and she had to record everything. Every piece of information could be used later, either to ask questions or to put in the article directly. Everything could become critical.
…All while hoping that they wouldn't suddenly just kill her because she saw something she wasn't meant to see. Histoire did say that they wanted to show off though.
Basically, Dengekiko will ask but not press. For her own good.
She could hear numerous footsteps coming this way, followed by a shout of "Yo, we're back!" The rest of the mercenaries returned and Dengekiko greeted them with a "Hello!"
They greeted her back and then went to do their own thing.
Engineer put down his drink. "Well fellas, how was the meeting?"
The man that approached them was… young. A young man with a red t-shirt and a headset.
"Well Engie… We apparently found a way to do…" Dengekiko saw his pause and look her way, apparently this was something she wasn't supposed to know "...that… thing. Yeah!"
Definitely something classified.
Engineer hummed in some sort of understanding tone. "Yup. So we go to Leanbox now?"
"Yup. Histy said she will talk with Vert."
Oooh, they go to have some business with the CPU of Leanbox? Another information to throw onto the pile.
Now, why would they go there~?
"Can I go?"
They both looked at her, processing her request.
The younger man perked up. "Sure!" Then he immediately deflated and looked at his colleague. "I mean, can we?"
Engineer shrugged.
"I want to know more about you for my article."
"Mhm. Hey, uh, who's this chick anyway?" Scout nodded towards the woman.
A grin spread on the youth's face. "Oh, you're writing a story about us? That's cool. Wanna go out sometime? I could tell you all about the team!"
Dengekiko blinked again, not expecting to be asked out so suddenly and bluntly. She almost rejected him immediately,but paused at the last moment. This was exactly what she wanted: a one-on-one interview.
"Sure." Dengekiko agreed. "And you know what, if you give me lots of information then I will even pay for it."
This was something she threw in just to motivate him to speak. After all, who wouldn't want a free dinner? This guy, apparently. Because he suddenly raised his hands in a sort of 'calm down' fashion. "Oh no no no no. I will pay, trust me. I got lots of cash with me!"
Well, if he wanted to be charitable then fine. She could use a free meal. "Alright. Say, tomorrow then?"
"That's great!" He said. An enthusiastic smile spread out over his face. "I know a cool place, you will definitely enjoy it! 8 pm, is that okay?"
A bit late for a business lunch, but sure. She had time. 'Okay, sure. Here's my number." She reached for a pen and… uh, here was a small problem. She didn't have anything to write her number on. She used everything for notes. "...Do you have some paper?"
She looked up at him as she asked this… and he was just stumped. She waited a moment and the guy didn't move at all. "Uh, you there?"
"Oh, yeah yeah yeah. Paper, I will go get it!"
He ran off, and oh boy he could run. He reached the stairs and practically started flying upstairs. She heard Engineer chuckle beside her, and Dengekiko could guess why. "He doesn't get a lot of attention from women, does he?"
"You're pretty much the first girl that offered to give him her number. I reckon he just wasn't used to it."
That's… actually adorable, and now Dengekiko started to feel bad because now she realized that he was trying to impress her… while she wasn't really interested in dating him. She just wanted an interview.
They heard some crashes and shouting coming from upstairs, something shattered and she could outright hear the doctor's voice shouting angrily at someone. Then Scout descended downstairs, with a battered, bruised face. In his grasp was a scrap of paper. "H-Here!" He exclaimed, placing the scrap onto the table. "Some paper." He panted heavily.
Dengekiko just looked at the paper, then at him, then at the Doctor who was on the staircase glaring at Scout's back. "Uh… Are you okay?" She asked.
"What? Oh ye, I'm fine! Perfectly fine! Don't mind me." He smiled and she could see that he was missing a tooth.
Dengekiko gulped. What sort of thing did this poor boy go through just so he could give her some paper to write her number on? Goodness, he really wanted to impress her. "Alright." She wrote the number to her business phone. Now how to not crush his heart that she wasn't romantically interested in him when the time comes?
While she was writing, she saw Medic shaking his head before heading upstairs. She also saw that the paper Scout gave her was some sort of document. Something, something 'Astral Bridge' and universes. Weird.
"Pssst, Engie. Can I borrow some money?" What?
She looked to her side, and saw the guy whispering something to Engineer.
"...What did you spend it all on, son?" Why did Engineer sound so hesitant to ask this?
"...5pb merch."
…
This poor boy is a mess.
Well, let's go meet the team!
Dengekiko felt something like, a terrified enthusiasm about this. She took a trip to dizzy town thanks to a new magical technology, almost got shot and then asked out by an awkward teenager.
What could come at her next?
Well… scrutiny. Because Dengekiko now felt a cold gaze on her. She tried to approach the man with the sunglasses, but he wasn't really… friendly towards her. She was interrupting his nap though, which was understandable.
"I'm not really into interviews, Sheila. Go bother someone else."
And he just closed his eyes and pulled down his hat. Well, how should she proceed with that? He just shut down all conversation!
Why was he sleeping on the couch in a hallway though? Wouldn't a proper bed be more comfortable?
She looked around, and there was no one else. It was just her, that man, and numerous doors that were probably leading to their personal rooms.
She walked away and knocked onto some doors, wondering one thing: Why were there circles in the doors?
Then one of the circles fell down and a face peered through. A person who was wearing a helmet too big for him looked through at her. "Who are you?" He asked, his voice gruff.
Dengekiko gulped and pulled out her best smile. "Hello, I was wondering if you we could hold an interview-"
Welp. He just shut his peering hole right in her face. "Permission denied." She heard him yell. "I will not let any of those numbskulls learn any secrets from me! if it were not for the laws of this land i would have slain you where you stand, now begone wench!"
Did… did he just say that he would've killed her if it wasn't illegal? He just did, didn't he?
Jerk.
Dengekiko knocked onto other doors. At least this confirmed that each of these doors were, in fact, private rooms for these people. Actually, wasn't this building some small hotel? Did they rent it out or something? Where was the staff?
There were many possible answers to this question. Some answers Dengekiko didn't want to think about. It was better to think about something else… like the amount of clicks she could get from this. And the sweet revenue.
Mmm… money~
Oh, hello masked person.
She couldn't see… literally any part of his body. He was wearing a gas mask, gloves, shoes and a full-body suit that covered him from head to toe.
"Hello, my name is Dengekiko and I was hoping that we could hold an interview."
He nodded and said something. What it was Dengekiko couldn't really understand, but it did sound very closely to "okay"
"So… You're working for Histoire, right? Could you tell me about your occupation?"
He was saying something, but once again all Dengekiko heard were muffles. She could not understand a single word that he was saying.
"Could… Could you take off your mask? I can't understand you through it."
He paused, then his hands reached up. And just like that he took off his mask.
…And just like that Dengekiko stopped that person. "Actually, let's keep it on." She will just… go interview someone else.
They murmured something and put the mask back on, before raising a finger to make her wait. That person went back to his room, quickly grabbed something, and gave it to her.
"For me?"
She… uh. Got a balloon. Cool.
It was cute though.
Alright, the next person.
She knocked onto the next door, wondering what might happen next.
And the person that answered her… simply reeked of alcohol. "Ayo? Oh, 'ssat you. What's up?"
Wow, an actually good and friendly start. "Uh, hi! I was wondering if you could answer some of my questions, are you free?"
"Questions, ya? Alright, ask what ya want."
This one… surprisingly went okay. Dengekiko asked a few random questions and this person, Demoman, answered them as best as he could. Really, the worst possible thing that happened was him falling asleep mid-sentence.
But these people… certainly live interesting lives.
"So, my sword is cursed. There's ta evil, but not really so bad, ghost possessing it. Likes to decapitate stuff."
He took her to a nearby bar, paid for her drink, then started rambling about ghosts and Hilda. Who was Hilda? Apparently a ghost that hates the CPUs.
And now her sword's wielded by a CPU Candidate of Planeptune.
Talk about irony.
"And when we were pushin' that blasted corpse up the tower, the skeletons appeared and started ripping us apart!"
And somewhere in that story skeletons and towers apparently were involved… Actually when did the story even turn towards pushing a corpse up the tower?
The alcohol was starting to get to her, and even then she drank way less than this guy.
"There was that biiig skelly boi and Scout, that wee lad who runs everywhere, went to lead him away. Not sure what happened next though, as I blacked out… then I woke up in hell."
Alright, it was fun and all but this man is getting increasingly drunk. She couldn't trust him with his answers.
"And the BLUs were there too, so we fought in hell!"
"And what happened next?"
"We both died."
…She shouldn't let him drag her into a bar.
At some point during the night she must've drank too much, because Dengekiko woke up… in an unfamiliar bed. It was uncomfortable and she had an IV hooked up to her arm.
Wait what.
Yeah, that was a package of saline just hooked up and connected to her arm. And that uncomfortable bed was actually a hospital bed.
She felt like shit, didn't remember much and oh god this doesn't look like a hospital room. She wasn't in trouble, was she? At least the girl with her was cute.
"How do you feel? Do you remember much?"
She tried to say something but only groans left her mouth. Something about it made her giggle. "I'm sorry, I could use the Medi-Gun but Mr. Medic told me not to. Apparently you tried one of Demoman's drinks and poisoned yourself. He wanted this to be your punishment."
Oh god, what did she drink?
"So please, next time be more careful when hanging out with Mr. Demoman. He's nice, but his tolerance is much higher than anyone else's. You will be fine though, in just a few hours we will get rid of the hangover."
No more.
No more alcohol on the job.
It took misery-filled hours but the doctor finally relented… and they used that healing beam on her.
And oh goodness it was amazing! One moment she felt weak, sick and like she was dying… the next all of that was just gone, and she was feeling amazing~! No wonder that Histoire wanted to show off this technology. It was incredible!
The next she ate something and drank tons of water to hydrate herself, as she still needed to despite the miracles of science… And then she just continued to learn more about the mercenaries. Scout was cutely awkward, as he seemed to not know how to deal with the fact that a woman was actually asking him stuff. The date was even more awkward, as she had to carry most of the conversation.
Soldier and Pyro were… unresponsive. One was rude and shouted a lot, the other Dengekiko literally couldn't understand, and she wouldn't ask them to take off the mask again. Sniper, that guy that napped on the couch upstairs, still refused to talk to her. Probably out of shyness.
The next day they were on a plane en route to Leanbox.
And they agreed to have her!
This was the best day of her life~!
She was also strapped in a chair with a man menacingly touching her hair.
This was the worst day of her life~!
Usually she would scream sexual harassment, but she had tape over her mouth, reducing her screams to mere muffles. The bindings on her wrists and legs were tight, giving Dengekiko no chance to break free.
And even if she managed to escape, they were on a plane. Because apparently they have no teleporters leading to Leanbox.
"I have cut a lot of hair, but I have never seen a disaster like this before."
Oh god, she recognized Soldier's voice. He was the one to tie her up, and now he was scratching her head in a not so unpleasant way. It hurt and it probably made her 'disaster' of a hair even worse, but Soldier didn't care.
"Look at this, this bird nest you call hair has enough oil to supply the entire military industrial complex! And are those split ends?! Not on my watch!"
Yes, it's been a while since Dengekiko has washed her hair. But it wasn't that bad, right? She had too much stuff going on in her life these days to think about things like hair care.
Why did she agree to have a haircut from these weirdos?!
She could then hear the sound of an electric razor.
Her only answer was the very recognizable sound of an electric razor.
"This is for your own good. Now stand still."
…And after that Dengekiko didn't know what really happened afterwards. One moment she felt the razor going up her neck, the next she was lying down on a bed.
…Why was she on the bed again?
A face appeared in her view. The nurse's still blurry face looked down on her. "Are you feeling okay?"
Did she? Maybe. She was too confused to think. "What happened?" Dengekiko asked.
"Soldier tried to give you a haircut, and it traumatized you." The girl said. "Nep-Nep had to put on a scene break so we could quickly operate on you off-screen and remove those memories. Your hair is fine though, Soldier did a good job."
Oh right, Soldier insisted on giving her a haircut and Dengekiko was just too dumbfounded and intimidated to say no. Compa held a mirror in front of her so that Dengekiko could check herself out. She looked… actually fine. Her hair was shorter, but there wasn't anything wrong with it. It was actually in better condition than Dengekiko remembered, as Soldier seemed to even wash and dry her hair after cutting it.
Terror and surgery aside, it was actually a well made hair-cut.
Dengekiko tried to sit up and, while she could do the motion just fine, she heard some weird sounds coming from… the inside of her head? She moved her head around and yeah, she was hearing some noises from the inside.
"Uh…" How would she explain that to the nurse?
"Ah! You might hear a faint slushy sound coming from inside your head, don't worry. We just put some parts of your brain into the blender. Give it an hour for it to readjust itself while we heal you."
They… what?!
What is a blender?
Someone tried to burn down the plane.
Twice.
While they were still on it!
They landed safely, but Dengekiko wasn't prepared to use a fire extinguisher. Until now she didn't even know how to use one! Thank goodness that they were actually pretty easy to get a hang off - just point and shoot.
And after they landed, they immediately went to Leanbox's Basilicom. There was no time for sightseeing.
Actually no, there was plenty of time but no desire to do so. The mercenaries had a job to do, so that's the first thing they will do… And Dengekiko was forced to follow them.
Also Demoman was showing off.
He filled his mouth with some black powder and alcohol, ignited a match, then spat the whole mixture into it.
The open flame, while small, created an explosion so loud that Dengekiko's heart almost leapt out of her chest. The man laughed at her as she tried to calm down…and she had to admit it. It was pretty cool.
But shortly afterwards, they could see the entrance to the Basilicom. Just like in Planeptune or Lastation, Leanbox's Basilicom was the tallest building in the nation by far, and could be seen from pretty much anywhere.
Unlike those two nations, Leanbox's Basilicom was actually mostly empty despite the sheer size of it. Because Lady Vert wanted to save on weight, or something.
It still was still just as impressive as Planeptune's Basilicom though.
Histoire has apparently already informed Lady Vert's staff that they were coming, as the receptionist had them to wait as the CPU herself descended to personally guide them to whatever they came here for.
Something about "Samantha Neikan" was all Dengekiko could get.
So now Dengekiko was sitting on a chair, taking this time to write down on the note paper that the mercenaries had supplied her with.
Read that as: She found some empty stacks of paper sheets and took a few of them when no one was looking. So far no one has raised a fuss.
A man in a mask tried to peek at them. No, that wasn't Pyro. It was… uh… Spy? "You're writing a lot." He pointed out. "Are we that interesting?"
She has never seen a weirder group. "Yeah. There's a lot to write about." They're weirder than some of the video game characters she has come across. Including the parody games.
"Do you always wear that mask?" She asked.
"I have several." He answered.
Nope. That will not dissuade her. "So do you always wear a mask?"
Some of the mercenaries came visibly armed, though that wasn't weird as a good chunk of the population is visibly armed. Especially the adventurers and Guild members. However, a few of these mercenaries interestingly… aren't. Like this guy in front of her.
"It makes this easier."
Then he was gone, like… poof and now there was just air.
"I'm still here, you know."
Oh my goodness, they can turn invisible.
What can't they do?!
He reappeared, but at this point Dengekiko had stopped focusing on him, instead she continued to write - this time about him.
"This is all nuts." She couldn't help but say. "You're, like, aliens or something."
How did they keep all of this hidden from the public? Was all this technology being declassified?
This is all straight out of a video game. Autonomous turrets, instant healing, resurrection, teleportation?
Next thing they show off is going to be a literal alien.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting."
Dengekiko hurried to make as many notes as possible, writing down every detail and thought for later before they all get dragged to this Samantha person.
She… didn't write much, and that fact hurt her.
"I think you should stay here." Spy told her. "This meeting is… classified."
"Booo." She couldn't do anything about that. Now even if she actually went and learned what this meeting was about, she would go to jail if she posted it. "Alright, I will stay here." She could at least work on a draft of the article.
Though, as soon as Spy left, she couldn't help but to search the name 'Samantha Neikan' on the internep and… Oh, they were meeting someone that blew up half of the nation.
No wonder they didn't want the press on that meeting.
…
"Before we go… she didn't call you here, did she?"
Even if Vert knew that those mercenaries answered to Histoire, Vert still had to be sure. There was just too much at stake. And because of that, instead of leading them to the prison area, Vert led the mercenaries elsewhere. Away from the prison.
Spy frowned at her question. "By her, you mean Samantha? No she didn't."
That was good, but she still wasn't satisfied. "Then why do you want to visit her? Why do you want to visit her now of all times?"
This felt all too predetermined. All too suspicious. To Vert at least.
"Did… something happen?" Spy asked.
"I don't know what's going on." Vert admitted. "After all of this, after everything she has done… and the power she wields! And she has done nothing to escape. She could, but she didn't. And I don't know why."
"So why are you here?"
There was a moment of silence as the mercenaries processed this.
"Well… 'cause now we know where she is." Sniper said. "And Histoire… well, she might've found something big. Something that would allow us to go home without taking on her offer."
"Then what do you need her for?"
"'Cause Histoire needs to know a few things first… and only she knows this stuff."
"So in the end, you still need her help…"
Sniper shrugged. "We don't have a lotta choice. At least we don't need her full cooperation, just need to get some info outta her." A beat "How did you even jail her? Without help too."
"I, truth be told, didn't do anything." Vert sighed. "One day she just appeared in the reception, and said she was here to turn herself in. To, I quote, 'get this over with'."
And this was what Vert wanted ever since she found her terrorizing the streets while chasing a terrorist. To make her pay for what she has done. But after getting Samantha behind bars, with her sword-lady-friend as well, Vert could only think one thing: That was too easy.
And now they were here. Specifically for her.
"And… what? She's just sittin' there like a good girl?"
"Yes," Vert admitted, "and that's what scares me."
"Well. We can't really help with that." A small paused "So can we see her?"
"I will allow only one of you. I hope you understand the security concerns."
"Alright." Sniper turned to Spy, "Well, that's your thing."
"Yes, thank you."
All things considered, Samantha was expecting worse.
It could be her past lives in much harsher universes, or her imagination expecting the worst possible treatment… But Samantha didn't expect Vert to just place a shock collar on her and Fay, and then throw them both into a cell.
A shock collar. On an electric fairy.
Someone banged on the doors to her cell, shaking her out of her boredom. "You have guests." A guard said. "Where's your friend?"
Samantha rubbed her face and lifted a finger, pointing at her Fury chained to the ceiling. "She's asleep." Samantha told them.
"Well, wake her up. Lady Vert and other guests are coming to see you."
Joy. "Fay, nap's over. Vert is coming."
A flash of light, and Fay was back in the cell. Samantha might've lied a bit - Fay wasn't really asleep. She was tinkering with their clothes.
The Guard didn't say anything, so Samantha just helped Fay patch up some holes in their clothes.
Then, when they heard footsteps, they saw Vert approaching… alongside someone else.
"You're not Magic!" Samantha calmly shouted at the imposter. "I sent her into Uzume's console. Whoever you are, you can drop the act!"
Vert watched her with a dull glare, no doubt annoyed by the noise Samantha was making. The other person however still clung to their disguise. "Is that so?" Not Magic said in very convincing Magic tone and mannerism.
Samantha shrugged. "How else would she just fade off the face of the planet? We had a deal, she did her part, I did mine." A beat. "You won't see her again."
The Overseer saw Vert rack her brain for a moment, now no doubt realizing that lately they really haven't seen Magic anywhere.
"And where's that console that you stole?"
"Still with us." Samantha summoned Uzume's Console from her inventory, before putting it back there. "I will give it back to Histoire when I see her again."
The Not Magic gave her a sultry smile, rubbing her lips. "You can just give it to me, you know. I will make sure that Histoire receives it."
"You, I would cut down." Samantha pointed at the sword chained to a ceiling. "But I don't want to alarm the entire Basilicom."
Magic chuckled mirthlessly, something that Samantha shut down immediately.
"Test me and I might try, Vert knows I could."
At the mention of her name, Vert sighed and conceived a point in her favor. "Just ask what you wanted to know. Despite my best efforts… I couldn't disarm her."
The Not Magic blinked owlishly - finally breaking the character. "Alright, how?"
"The Fury will teleport to me or Sam whenever we want." Fay spoke up. "It's magic, Magic."
The Not Magic took a moment to process it, but with a sigh she ultimately decided it wasn't worth arguing about this. "Are Universes different from Dimensions?" She asked "Would Earth and Gamindustri be considered a different Universe?"
Samantha froze, then closed her eyes. She thought really hard on who could possibly need that information, and came up with a very limited list of people.
What are you doing, Histoire? "Yes. Dimensions can differ in small, subtle ways but ultimately work on the same set of rules, closely connected to each other as variations of one world. Universes on the other hand are two entirely different worlds with nothing to do with each other." A beat. "I don't know what you're doing, but think carefully on what you're doing. First: A wrong move and we will all die. Second: We and Magnavox WILL know that you did something, and I have no idea what Mag would do."
With a sigh, Dengekiko saved the draft and yawned. Good progress, but she needed a break.
"Hello, Dengekiko. How are you?"
That break was short-lived, as Lady Vert herself approached her.
"Ah! Uh, Lady Vert?! I'm fine!"
It wasn't often you had the CPU herself showing you around. It was even rarer to have one talking to you and asking about your day.
What she said, however, was not what Vert wanted.
"Oh, please drop the formalities. Just call me Vert."
"A-Alright, La- Vert."
It wasn't often one of them asked you to just speak plainly to them.
…
Alright, that one wasn't so rare.
"I just wanted to know if you know something about the upcoming Terra expansion for the 4 Goddesses Online."
What?
That was… sudden.
Dengekiko chuckled.
Dengekiko actually knew Vert before this, not personally of course, but when Dengekiko was making an article about a few new expansions to 4 Goddesses Online, she actually contacted her a couple of times to learn more about the upcoming raid bosses.
And one devilish idea popped into her mind.
Because Dengekiko had some insider info about that new expansion. And Vert probably knew some juicy secrets that the mercenaries won't share.
It won't be anything classified if she heard it from the CPU herself, right?
"Oh yeah, I do!" Dengekiko grinned. "But I want something in return."
There was a dangerous glint in Vert's eye. "You're not bluffing, right?"
"Nope!" Dengekiko said confidently. "For example, I know that you need to split your party for the final boss into groups."
Vert narrowed her eyes. "What will the groups need to do?"
"I could tell you, but the devs will have my head on a platter if that info gets leaked." Which was kinda true. That information wasn't officially released yet, she had to bribe one of the devs for it. "I'd be willing to make an exemption for you of course, but not for free. Nothing major, just a small favor."
"And what would that be?"
"An interview." Dengekiko said. "I'm writing an article about Histoire's mercenaries, and I feel like you'd know some juicy secrets about them."
"You, writing an article about them?" Vert blinked. "Huh, I guess the short straw fell into your hands."
Huh? What was that?
"But yes, I do know some things that could be interesting. But I warn you, a lot of things I know are second-hand, or not applying to just them."
Ugh. 'second-hand' and here Dengekiko was getting her hopes up. "Alright then." Still, there might be something in there, if at least something that she could ask someone else later. "They are… a very interesting and unique group. Do you know where they're from? Lowee? Lastation."
"They're not from Gamindustri, they came here from a different world."
Huh?
Like, what?
"Okay, that's funny Vert-"
"Oh, you think I'm joking," Vert cut her off "But I'm not. These mercenaries, and several other people, came to us from a different world."
Vert reached out to her, and Dengekiko froze. The CPU of Leanbox gently grabbed her face and made her look at her. Dengekiko couldn't look away from Vert's unnaturally tired gaze.
"Aliens exist and they walk among us."
"What?"
Aliens.
The mercenaries are aliens?!
That…
That explained a lot.
Their… sudden appearance, their technology, even their willingness to harm others could be explained as them being literally out of this world.
Oh my goodness, those conspiracy theories were right! The government is led by mole people!
"That's… one hell of a bomb you dropped on me Vert."
Jokes aside, what the hell is she supposed to do with that? She's a journalist, yes, but no one is going to believe her! The only articles she wrote before were video game reviews, she still didn't know why the fuck Histoire gave her an invitation to that tech demo!
I guess the short straw fell into your hands.
Those words suddenly took a different light. "It's all a giant conspiracy, isn't it?"
They didn't want an actual journalist to announce that aliens exist. No, they wanted someone like her for some reason.
Histoire sent her an invitation. She was the only journalist on site.
"Lady Vert," Dengekiko grit her teeth. "Can you tell me what the heck is going on?"
"A few months ago, a group of people teleported here by accident…"
Lady Green Heart gave her brief summary. Basically, the other world was ruled by a criminal organization that apparently had teleportation technology.
And they, by sheer accident, managed to send people here to Gamindustri.
And there was a shadow war in Gamindustri that had been going on for months.
But now it's over, and the situation has stabilized enough for the CPUs to start taking the 'otherworldly' technology and making it their own.
And the mercenaries came from that other world. That actually explains a lot she has seen.
"Alright." Dengekiko said. "Okay." She nodded. "That's… That's cool."
She also wrote it all down.
"You're taking it well."
"Well, it's a lot to take in, but everything's been resolved, right?" A beat. "So we won't suddenly get invaded and have our butts probed?"
"They don't do that." Vert said with amusement. "And no, the worst is behind us. Histoire is now working on getting the mercenaries back home, and they've apparently reached a breakthrough. They just needed to ask one of our prisoners a few questions."
"That Samantha person? Are they also an alien?"
"...Yes. Yes she is."
Wow, she could feel the scorn.
"Okay… I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of this… But okay."
Wouldn't all of this fall under several layers of classification? Will Dengekiko now have to take this secret to her grave? Histoire hired her to make an article showcasing that new alien technology, not reveal that they're literally ALIENS!
Just what the hell did Histoire pull her into?
Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract
Epilogue: A Journalist on the Case!
It took me how long to upload? Over a year?!
Finishing a story is harder than I expected it to be.
But it's finally here, the last batch of this story. It might not have ended how I wanted it to be, but this is the best I could do within the limit I placed on myself: Finish the story in 5 chapters. Yes, besides this one, I have 4 other chapters ready to upload.
I debated uploading them all at the same time, slapping a complete tag at the end of it, and calling it a day because to be honest… This batch is literally just tying up some loose ends. But then literally everyone told me to not do it as this might break the site and not notify my followers (you) that I've uploaded.
So I begrudgingly decided to spread out my uploads.
So the next chapter is going to be posted tomorrow, and the other 3 next week. If I don't forget about it.
In any case, this story is basically done… and I'm feeling like I've just been through a war.
Considering that there's an actual war right on my doorsteps, that might someday change from a "feeling" to literally being in a war.
- Harmless Orange
P.S: Support Ukraine! The faster they can beat Russia the sooner peace will return to the land.