Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract
Epilogue: A Book Full of Bombs
Dozens of meetings and hundreds of hours of paperwork have led to this moment. Neptune and Nepgear gave her free reign, trusting her judgment as always. Noire and Vert were skeptical, and Blanc didn't like that plan one bit, but ultimately Histoire has managed to convince them.
The people needed to know the truth, and Histoire will give them just that. She clicked the send button, and Dengekiko received her invitation. Now she just needed to wait. She worked on something else - Noire wanted to talk to her about how they will distribute Medi-Guns to hospitals and adventure parties. Blanc was working on getting the Sentry Guns to create new safe zones for the adventuring parties, and increase the security of remote villages. Vert wanted to hash out the details of teleport networks and how, why and where they will be used, and by who.
Instant teleportation was very handy, but the scars left by Miss Pauling still remained. A group of criminals could operate in one nation and affect another, simply by having one teleporter that would allow them to cross the borders. And dealing with that worst case scenario would require international cooperation… or an organization - an effort that Vert was currently making.
And Histoire wasn't completely sure if they would want to open the can of worms that Re;Spawn System turned out to be.
If conflict would never exist again, having this for the greater masses would be great. No death meant no misery, the issue being that overpopulation would quickly become a massive problem. A second issue would be the psychological impact of being dead, yet alive. Therapists would suddenly find themselves with an influx of customers.
The third issue was that conflict would, unfortunately, rise up again. Histoire wasn't exactly sure how or why, but deep down she knew that someone would eventually start causing trouble again. And being able to simply stay alive after death might encourage them to take more risks.
Like storming the Basilicom simply because you did not like the CPU in charge. The person would die, but that wasn't any worry because they would eventually Re;Spawn. Somewhere in the Nation. Able to try again until they get bored as they wouldn't be able to apprehend the attacker if they could just force themselves to Re;Spawn with a mere thought.
It was a very pessimistic thought, but the more Histoire thought about it, the worse of an idea it was to integrate the Re;Spawn System to the general public. At least in its current state. They would need to work on better surveillance first.
Progress was being made, but they still had some steps to finish before all of this could be shipped to the general public. Initially they might have to do limited integration - give one piece of equipment to a specific sector, like giving the Sentry Guns and Medi-Guns to the Guild, and then see what happens.
She began working on a draft of her plans - Ideas on who should get what, how many and for how long. Then she got interrupted by a phone call from the mercenaries. Something about them finding another one of those weird crates.
Histoire considered if that crate would be so important that she would need to stop working for a moment. The mercenaries have never found the right keys, and they were unable to open them without those, leaving it up to her magic to pick it open.
However Demoman said something about this crate being different from the others. More armored.
…Hopefully this will be the last crate.
"Really? One more?"
Histoire took a teleporter that led her to the Hotel, from which Demoman took her to the crate.
Unlike the two other crates, which were made out of weirdly strong wood. This one was solid metal. A strongbox to keep the others out… or rather keep the content in. As Histoire noticed that there was something magical inside… And whatever was inside could sense her as well.
"H-Hey! Hello? Can you let me out? This thing is immune to explosions, I can't blow myself out!."
Their voice was muffled by the box, but both Histoire and Demoman heard it well.
"What should we do?" Demoman whispered.
Histoire eyed the chain and the lock. Despite the stronger box, the chains and locks looked the same. As susceptible to freezing as the other two. She also noted that the tag was different.
Reinforced Mann Co. Special Strongbox
Crate Series: #?
You need a Mann Co. Surprise Crate Key to open this.
You can pick one up at the Mann Co. Store.
This crate contains only one possible item.
?
"I will give you a reward for this!" It promised her. "You like bombs? I bet'cha you do, everyone likes explosions!"
And now Histoire hesitated. Because she didn't, in fact, like having explosions in Planeptune.
"Aye! And what kinda bombs you offer?" Demoman asked.
"I have some very fine bombs to give out. The very blowy kind."
"Is this a trap?" Histoire wondered. "If I open this box, will those bombs explode?"
"Wat? No!" It shouted. "At least if you don't want them to. C'mon, I'm just a magic book full of bombs. I don't explode… I make stuff explode though."
Histoire was not amused by the answer, while Demoman slowly realized what was inside.
"Oi!" He snapped. "Is it that book that stole me eye!?"
"Do you know about it?" Histoire asked, wondering how a book could steal an eye. Where would it even keep it?
Demoman slammed his fist on the crate, ignoring Histoire's question."Ya devil! Give me back me eye!"
"Your…? Oh. Oh! Well, ain't I lucky! Lemme out, quick!"
And these two knew each other, Histoire nodded to herself - now wondering if she should not let that thing out. Anything alive and related to the mercenaries probably wouldn't be safe for the environment. Especially if said environment was her own nation.
…But if she doesn't let him free, the mercenaries will eventually find a way to open it themselves. And goodness knows how and when they will achieve that. Histoire took a deep breath, and with the desire to rip that bandaid out she froze the lock.
Demoman didn't do anything when Histoire shattered the chains. But then the crate blew up, the explosion sent the crate's lid crashing into the ceiling.
"Fina-OUGH!"
And then have it fall back down, right onto the crate.
This time the lid was moved with much less force, gently moved to the side and had it fall down onto the floor. It was at this moment Histoire could see what was kept inside.
It was, in a literal sense, a tome. Just like Histoire, but without a pixie bound to it. The center of the cover had a mouth clutching a bomb with a fuse.
"Fin~ally!" The book said, opening up and turning pages so quickly that the content of the pages was just a blur. "I was stuck in there for god knows how long! You know, there was that one girl with short hair, and she was crazy fast! She summoned a bag and put me inside! Where am I even?"
A girl with short hair who summoned a bag? Huh…
"Ya blabbering devil!" Demoman shouted. "Me eye! Where is it?!"
"It's gone pal. Pow! Zoop! You guys fought it on Halloween, like, last year… And your head is a bomb now!"
Histoire didn't see how he did it, but yes. Demoman's head was now a bomb, with the fuse already lit up. Surprisingly that did not kill him. Even more surprising was that Demo wasn't even aware of this until the tome pointed it out.
Histoire did not want to see what would happen if that fuse finished burning. With a flick of her hand she dispelled the spell, turning Demoman's head back to how it was supposed to be. "I ask you to not do that again." Histoire warned.
The tome lacked expression, so Histoire didn't know if it was surprised or not. It did, however, finally face her. "Hey hey!" The tome said, circling around Histoire. "Watch'a know, so it's your magic I sensed…" It inspected her with its gaze. "Four elements of the planet, huh? An avatar of water, fire, air, and earth… but have you ever conquered the element of EXPLOSIONS?"
Demoman casually pulled out the Eyelander, and tried to whack the tome with it. It just flew above his reach.
When the merc pulled out the Stickybomb Launcher, Histoire put her arm out to stop him. "I haven't, and I don't plan to." She told the tome. "Now would you finally tell me who you are?"
"Ya don't? Psst, boring." It said. "Welp, whatever. I'm Bombinomicon! You know, a tome full of ancient and forbidden stuff about bombs!"
Histoire nodded with understanding. "I'm sorry, but this is the first time I'm hearing about something like that." And she knew why, but she felt like teasing that thing a little.
"First time, huh? Well, feel free to take a look if ya want!"
The Bombinomicon opened itself, and at that moment Histoire averted her gaze and casted protective spell on herself. She could feel the curse that was just triggered by the book opening - daring anyone to come look at it.
"...Even that didn't work." She heard the tome mumble. "Alright, yer pretty good. So are you guys doing something? Anything? Is it fun? …Can I finally blow up something?"
Yes, Histoire was already doing something very important. But this thing won't help. "Is creating explosions all you can do?"
"Girl, you make it sound like you can't just solve all of your problems with a good 'ol bomb. Trust me, I can solve anything."
"Solve anything by blowing it up?"
"Yuppers."
Histoire wouldn't point out that if he could solve 'anything', then he should have been able to escape from that crate by itself.
"So… anything I can do? I was stuck there for quite some time, and you released me so now I feel like I have a debt to pay off."
She could ask. Histoire could ask this book for help. She already burnt through a good chunk of leads she had to return the mercs home. "Do you know a way to make a pathway between here and the planet Earth?"
The Bombinomicon didn't say anything, his lack of expression making it hard to judge what it was thinking. "Planet Earth? That's a funny way to say it. Are we somewhere else, then?"
"Yes, you're now in Planeptune, inside Gamindustri… a completely different dimension from Earth." Histoire explained.
"...What are you talking about? Earth didn't have any different dimensions. Team Fortress 2 is a one dimensional universe!"
A what was a one dimensional universe?
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
The Bombinomicon sighed. Actually sighed at her. "Listen closely: Earth doesn't have any different dimensions. It never had! Yes heaven and hell exist, but those are different. They're still in the same dimension, just… very far away."
"But I was talking about Gamindustri-"
"And that'' the tome cut her off. "Is a completely different universe!"
Histoire gulped, recoiling when the Bombinomicon started to suddenly shout. "...Is there a difference?"
"Yes. A big one." The Bombinomicon said. "Dimensions are places within a universe. Typically there's at least one dimension within a universe, like Earth. But it's also possible for a universe to have multiple dimensions - and those different dimensions aren't that different from one another. Just some minor changes."
Minor changes? Those differences were anything but minor.
"Different universes on the other hand are very different from one another, to the point of having different rules ruling it. Blue is red. Up is down. That much different."
"I see. Then do you know a way to cross between those universes?"
"Yup! Just gotta gather some stuff in here… and- oh! Call Merasmus for this one, he will know what to do!" It opened itself again, but this time Histoire sensed no curse emitted from it. It was safe to look.
…She couldn't read any of this shit.
And neither could Demoman.
"You know Merasmus, right?"
"Yes, I do." She said as she grabbed the tome. It was as big as her, but Demoman could help her carry it. "I will go ask him."
It was nice that Blanc tamed him enough to do whatever they wanted.
…
Oh my goodness they actually had a new lead!
Finding and contacting Merasmus was easy, as Blanc had him on speed dial. Bringing the Bombinomicon to him was just as trivial. The book could fly and it was rather cooperative. Once these two met up however… The results were interesting.
"You…"
Merasmus said this with not a growl of anger. Histoire did not reignite some sort of ancient conflict between two magical entities from Earth, which was a relief. Instead Merasmus was confused to see Bombinomicon here and seemed to have actually started to forget about him prior to their reunion.
"He-he-hey, old man! Long time no see!"
"Where were you?"
"Some chick kidnapped me and put me in a box. Couldn't get out until, like, just now. Anyway, take a look at this."
With the shuffle of pages, the Bombinomicon opened up and showed Merasmus something. Histoire took this time to move closer to Merasmus. "I would like you to make this." She told him.
The wizard hummed as he skimmed through the instructions that Histoire couldn't read at all. She could see his frown grow deeper and deeper in confusion.
"You want me to make a" Merasmus glanced at the page again, his eyes squinting at one part of it. "A Cyclonic Omnicide 9001 Exterminatus Bomb?"
A WHAT bomb!?
"NO." Histoire glared at the Bombinomicon.
"Hehehe" It laughed awkwardly, the pages turning and settling on something else. "Sorry, wrong page. Whoops!"
"Somehow I think that was intentional." Histoire said.
"What? No!" The tome argued, "I just accidentally opened on a wrong thing! Honest, really."
Histoire kept her gaze on the tome for a bit longer, staring unblinkingly at it to look for any signs of deceit. Unfortunately for her; books don't have facial features. And she needed him. "What has he shown you now?" She asked Merasmus.
"A bomb that would allow you to destroy lines between universes. Blow up a hole between two worlds."
Oh. That did sound like something she could use. "That's the right one. Could you make it?"
"This is doable," Merasmus finally said. "but Merasmus must ask… Do you know what you're doing? You're trying to carve out a path to a different universe, you realize that some deities will not like it?"
Magnavox will be pissed off if she uses this. But she won't kill her, or anyone else here. Histoire knew she loved them too much to do that.. "I am aware. But will there be some other consequences that I should know about first?"
Samantha will also certainly know about this… but what could she do if Histoire literally blew up the barrier separating both worlds together?
"This sort of passageway is… not subtle, someone will take notice."
"Someone like who?"
"People who don't want you crossing different universes."
"I see." They already have a Re;Spawn System hooked in a different place, Samantha wouldn't be able to find it so easily. "Would it be easy to close?"
"If you want it, then yes. If you don't, no. There are recipes for both variants.
"Then I would ask for a permanent passage back to Earth."
This could be their way in, and the mercenaries' ticket back home. If it was truly difficult for Samantha to close it, then in the worst-case scenario it should buy them enough time to call the mercenaries back to Gamindustri.
And if Samantha wanted to fight, then Nepgear was ready.
"Alright, then Merasmus shall gather the ingredients, and prepare. Oh by the way, where could I buy some sulfur?"
Sulfur huh?
"I'm sure Nepgear still has some."
Provided she didn't use up everything trying to create a new kind of ammunition for Sentry Guns.
They hashed out the details with Merasmus, and got an estimate on how long it would take him to create this bomb. Once the Oracle was confident that Merasmus had everything he needed, she finally left.
She had to tell the rest immediately.
"Engineer? Could you come here to my office for a moment? It's important."
It took the mercenary a few minutes to arrive, and then a few minutes longer to explain the situation and spread the news out.
But then everyone else showed up… Including Dengekiko.
That wasn't part of the plan, she was supposed to come in later today. But it wasn't really an issue. In fact it just sped things up.
Still, she had to send her away with Engineer for now. Let her see other stuff first.
"I may have found a way to bring you back to Earth. Without taking Samantha's offer."
She told them about the third Special Surprise crate, the Bombinomicon and the special bomb that could make a gap for them to cross.
And of course, there was a catch.
"Unfortunately, we will still need to talk to her."
And when dealing with bombs that might be able to create inter-universal gates, it was better to know as much as possible.
And, unfortunately, there was only one possible expert on this topic.
"I don't know if this will work, or if it's even safe… So we will need her knowledge."
As cool as blowing up a way to Earth was, Histoire still needed more information. For all Histoire knew, none of this could actually work and the Bombinomicon could be bullshitting her.
And unfortunately, the only person who could know anything about this was… Samantha Neikan. The current Overseer of Neo Hyper Dimension, according to Falcom, possesses an extensive knowledge about traveling between different Dimensions… or rather different Universes.
"That's risky." Spy said.
"You have a disguise kit. It works even on her." Histoire said. "But if she tries to kill you, then you also have Re;Spawn, and we will know we're on the right track."
She then turned to Medic. "The Re;Spawn System is fixed, right?"
"Ja, it works just like new."
Histoire smiled.
Even if Samantha turns hostile, it will take her a while to get their Re,Spawn offline. Enough time for Nepgear to fight her.
And Magnavox won't allow Samantha to harm Nepgear.
"What do we want to know?" Spy asked.
"Ask her: Is a Universe different from a Dimension?" Histoire noticed some confused looks from the mercenaries. "According to the Bombinomicon, who will make the path for us, there's a very big difference between those two terms, and for me to feel safe I need to know more about this."
"The Bombinomicon?" Spy raised his eyebrow. "Strange, but alright. Anything else?"
"Yes. Ask her what would happen if the barrier between Universes was shattered by force."
Spy pulled out a notebook and started writing down questions to ask Samantha. Anything that came to Histoire's mind was written down. If there was something that concerned anyone, they would ask Samantha about it.
This plan relied heavily on her knowledge and cooperation, but no one else would know stuff like this. Even Samantha knowing was a gamble.
"Why not just ask the Bombinomicon?" Sniper asked.
"The first thing that book did was try to kill Demo, and curse me. Then it tried to trick me into creating something different than I asked for" A beat. "I would prefer to have someone else to confirm what we know."
"Even if Sam might try to stop us?"
"The worst thing she can do is to kill you. I already have a copy of the recipe written down, and I'm prepared to do it myself if necessary… And Magnavox won't allow her to harm me, and if I'm wrong, I'm spreading the copies to other nations. She won't be able to destroy everything."
At first Histoire thought of posting them on the internet, but goodness knows who would get their hands on them. Physical copies. Physical copies were a safer alternative.
"Alright. I guess we can ask her a few questions." Spy said. "But first… where is Samantha?"
Usually Histoire wouldn't know the answer to that question. Somewhere in Planeptune would be her best guess, but there are countless places to hide.
But, surprisingly enough, Vert managed to capture her just a few days ago.
"She's in Leanbox. Vert arrested her."
No one knew what the goodness she was thinking, but Samantha quite literally walked into Leanbox's Basilicom and turned herself in. She surrendered herself to Vert - who was more than happy to throw her behind bars and prepare for a trial.
The mercenaries shared Histoire's feelings regarding this whole thing. "Yes, I'm surprised too, but it works out for us. I will explain everything to Vert, so that she will let you visit her. You can also put a teleporter there, as we still don't have one. Take Dengekiko too so she could spend some time with you guys.
That was a mouthful, her throat was getting dry. "Any questions?" Histoire said while taking some water.
The mercenaries didn't really have any. Despite the risk it was a simple job that will put them one step closer to coming back home.
They left but Historie was not done, she had one more meeting today. One just as important.
The person that stepped in was tall. Tall, muscular and with funnily-shaped chest hair. "Thank you for coming, Mr. Hale." Histoire gave him a smile. "And thank you for using the doors. The lack of collateral damage is appreciated."
The CEO of Mann Co. laughed as he approached the table, taking a chair on his own and sitting down. By a miracle, that also didn't damage anything. Histoire liked to think that it was because they would be business partners soon, and that he wanted to get onto her good side to get a good deal.
Also there was Hatty on his shoulder.
…Why was Hatty on his shoulder?
"And why are you still with him, Hatty? Nepgear's been looking for you."
The Spycrab jumped down onto the table and approached Histoire while clicking his claws - almost like showing off. Then he jumped off and made a beeline towards the doors. For a second Histoire thought that she would need to help him open the doors, but then he managed to do it himself just fine.
Hatty left, and now Histoire had a choice between chasing after him or staying here and talking with Hale.
…
…Hopefully someone else will get him. Nepgear wanted to know if Hatty was fine, but Histoire had work to do.
"That one is a ferocious fella." Hale said. "I'm amazed you folks can handle him."
"Your rivalry is starting to get a little bit… excessive, Mr. Hale. Hatty is still just a Spycrab." Histoire had the whole negotiation planned out, but now she has to throw it out of the window because of him.
"Girl, you haven't seen that guy in action. He's a monster!"
"He's a tiny animal with an affection for classy headwear."
And the table broke under pressure, with Saxton Hale gripping it with such strength that it broke wood, taking off two small chunks of the edge. Histoire won't point it out, she won't get intimidated, but she will send him a bill to pay it off later.
Saxton Hale breathed in and out. "Whatever, you wanted me to build a Mann co. company branch, right?" He put his hands together and leaned in. "Well, what do you want for it? Money? Weapons? We can do both."
She could feel his gaze inspecting her, watching for weaknesses to exploit. The man truly looked terrifying up close, but Histoire was unfazed. "Some spare parts for the Re;Spawn System would be appreciated, but I also want your own help, Mr. Hale."
His eyebrow rose in intrigue. "My own?"
"Yes. Yours." Histoire nodded. "I am working on a way to permanently connect Earth and Gamindustri together."
She did see the flash of interest in his eyes. Bringing both worlds together would be a prerequisite for this whole operation. Without a portal between here and the other world, he wouldn't be able to bring Mann Co. here.
"Unfortunately, we have two problems. Two individuals that may threaten this idea."
And here came a rather devilish idea of hers; Saxton Hale's interests align with her own, they both would benefit from having a permanent gateway with Earth.
Saxton Hale grinned at her implication. "I see~ Ya want me to personally take care of them." He pointed his finger at Histoire, still from ear to ear. "You're a shrewd little girl, I will tell you that."
Histoire grinned at him, reaching for a folder she had lying on the desk. "The first person is Samantha Neikan." Histoire gave Saxton Hale a dossier. The folder contained all the information she gathered. Not on just her, but also on Fay and Magic - everything that Hale could use in battle. "But there's also a chance she won't do anything to hinder our operations, so consider this target a backup."
Hale read the dossier as Histoire spoke. "Funny, I always gave those to my butler so he could take care of assassinations." He hid the folder in his chest hair. "But this girl, yeah. I wanted to fight that girl. Count me in."
That was easy, but this wasn't the thing that concerned Histoire. If she needed someone to handle Samantha, she already had Nepgear to do it. Hilda's sword has proven to be a rather big boost in her combat ability, and it countered that annoying shield protecting her.
No. The real issue would be the second person.
"The second one is Helen. The Administrator."
"Nope. No deal."
And Saxton Hale rejected it immediately.
The Oracle didn't imagine that it would be easy, but an outright and immediate rejection bore ill. "Hmm? No?"
"Look, Helen is my customer." Hale explained "And no matter how much you sweeten this deal, she's already buying tons of hats and equipment from me. Cannot do. Find someone else."
Histoire wasn't surprised, but she needed him to agree: The moment they venture into Earth, the Administrator would become a massive threat to the Mercenaries and their families. They needed help, and she could only ask Saxton Hale to do this.
But if he won't lend them his might against Helen, there could be other ways he could help.
"I see. Then how about simply opening a dialogue between me and her? Give her a message that I would like to talk."
"Like, diplomacy? That I can do."
If she could negotiate some sort of truce or ceasefire, maybe they might not even need to go in guns blazing. All the mercenaries wanted was to see their families again, that was a simple request. Right?
Their discussion continued as they began to hash out the finer details, like the location of said Mann Co. branch, or how much money and equipment Hale would give Histoire for a permission to build it. If they wanted to introduce Earth gear to Gamindustri, they would need a supplier or a domestic production. And unfortunately Hale did not agree to sell the license to Histoire no matter how much cash she paid for it.
Mann Co. gear will ultimately stay to be Mann Co. gear. Gamindustri would be reliant on them.
Once they've reached a good stopping point, Histoire and Saxton Hale left on good terms. Once they open a portal back to Earth, Saxton Hale would contact the Administrator with an offer. It was at this point that Hale realized one tiny detail. Something that he hasn't thought of until now.
"Wait, I'm stranded here?"
What?
"Now, you noticed?"
Histoire looked up from her notes, staring at the Australian with surprise. All these months, and he never considered that there was no longer a way back for him?
"Well, if you're a guy like me, you just leave things to others." He argued. "I'm just punching things, and here there's a lot of things to punch."
"You're a CEO, Mr. Hale." Histoire said. "Isn't it busy to be on top of the very top?"
Saxton Hale blinked. "CEO? Busy? Are you hearing yourself?"
"Yes, my hearing is fine. But I'm unsure how that relates to your position in your company."
"CEOs don't work, Histy. We just sit by our desk and reap the benefits of others' labor." Saxton Hale stood up, putting the chair back in the order. "Call me when you're done with that portal." He reached into his chest hair, and pulled out a slip of paper. It already had his phone number stamped on it. Yes, stamped. "I'm going to deal with some stress."
Uh oh. He was not walking towards the doors. "Please, not through the window!" Histoire shouted.
"SAXTON HALE!"
He went through the window.
And Histoire just replaced these.
She watched him fall down onto the road, cracking asphalt underneath his feet and adding more things that the nation needed to repair. The small silver lining was the fact he seemed to leave Planeptune rather quickly.
Well… At least she has his number, and she can hazard a guess on what he will be doing now - fighting more monsters.
She dialed the mercenaries. "Engineer? Do you have spare windows? Yes, Hale broke them just now."
Dengekiko was curious.
Well, Dengekiko was always a curious person, but this here was a good reason to be curious. Histoire just called her, and Dengekiko went from Leanbox to Planeptune… in the span of a few seconds. Those teleporters were amazing!
But she will be meeting Histoire, and Histoire meant… answers. Her talk with Vert gave Dengekiko things to think about. And thinking led to questions.
…The teleporters actually took her too quickly back to Planeptune. Dengekiko basically got no time to actually prepare before Engineer led her to where Histoire was.
And Histoire was sitting by her own desk. Humorously, her seat had not one but two booster seats on it.
"Hello, please take a seat."
Dengekiko did as told, feeling slightly skittish as this meeting started like your boss calling you into their office. It was most likely nothing as serious, but the lack of time to prepare made Dengekiko feel a bit nervous.
The journalist took a quick breath and smiled. "Thank you for letting me be here, Lady Histoire." Politeness would be a good way to start, right?
…Why was there a broken window?
"It's no problem. You had a rather interesting day, right? I hope the mercenaries didn't scare you too much."
No, they just pointed a gun at her and almost killed her. "N-No, they were rather nice." At least most of them were. "Why is that window… broken?"
Dengekiko saw how Histoire recoiled at the question, not from surprise or fear… rather annoyance. "I had another meeting before you, and well… they've broken the window."
Dengekiko could only give Histoire a sheepish smile, unsure what to do with this information. "Okay?" Well, she had a rough day.
"Yes, I'm sorry. If the wind is bothering you, we can go to the other room."
"No, no. I'm fine."
"...Alright." Histoire nodded. "Then the Mercenaries. Did… Did Vert say anything about them to you?"
"She said that they were, um… aliens. Is that-"
Histoire cut her off. "That is correct. They are not from this world."
If Vert didn't already tell her that, Dengekiko would be stunned. Now instead she was just slightly surprised that Histoire said it so soon and outright.
Histoire nodded, but didn't say anything. Was she giving Dengekiko an opportunity to ask something?
"I must ask… Why me? Why send me an invite, Histoire? I'm a game critic. I don't do actual news."
She had more than enough material to write an article, multiple articles even, and she knew this would be a groundbreaking scoop to report. But one thing constantly nagging Dengekiko was, why did they even consider her for the job? That was way outside of her scope, and if she hadn't been hit with one hell of a drought season she wouldn't even consider going.
But Histoire caught her right when she was desperate for something to write about.
"Oh. You want to start with that." Histoire said. "Yes, that is unusual and you're right to feel confused about this. As I'm sure you agree by now this is… an unusual topic to write about."
Dengekiko nodded. "Mhm. Yeah I can agree with it… So those guys are aliens… Alien mercenaries from another planet."
"Yes."
"And you're trying to make a connection with that planet."
"Yes."
"And you want me to make an article about this? Specifically me?"
"That's right!"
"So why me?" Dengekiko asked. "I make game reviews, Lady Histoire. Why send me an invite?"
She looked at the Oracle of Planeptune for answers, silently pleading her to actually give her an answer to this burning question: Why did they take her, and not someone more competent?
"...Before I tell you that, I want to tell you that I have prepared a… big compensation for this article."
She… did not like the sound of that. This day was already weird, but Histoire was dodging the question. One thing that rang the alarm bells in her head.
But Dengekiko listened. Because she still had bills to pay for, and currently there was very little for her to do elsewhere.
"While it's true that you aren't technically the most qualified for the job, that inexperience is exactly what I need right now." Histoire said. "Many will likely doubt the veracity of your article at first— pass it off as a weird joke, had your account stolen. Basically take it with a grain of salt. That is the exact reaction I want.
That surprised Dengekiko. In fact she actually gasped at the reveal.
Histoire wanted her to write this article… just because people wouldn't take it seriously.
The gall.
Histoire was saying this right to her face, that people will pass off her article as a mere joke!
"If I were to go to a 'more competent' journalist and have them write this article… people would panic. A few months ago our harbor was invaded by an army of robots from Lastation! If we reveal that the source of those machines was an alien planet… people will have some very dangerous thoughts, and react in a very dangerous way."
Histoire paused and Dengekiko thought she was done. But the moment Dengekiko wanted to speak, Histoire raised her finger to shut her up.
"I don't want panic, Dengekiko." The Oracle told her. "But this is a very precarious situation we're in. We need to tell the public that aliens exist before people find out on their own and create countless conspiracy theories, but we need to do it in a way that won't affect their lives. And here comes you. You will give them the truth, and people will doubt you. That period of distrust and confusion is how we will minimize the panic. Time dilutes emotion. And the longer people are confused, the more will simply move on with their lives and not destroy our shares. By the time I reveal that what you posted was truth, most people will already not care about it.
Histoire took a deep breath and prepared for the finale. "And that is why we choose you, Dengekiko. You possess enough integrity and skill to write a good article, you have the reader base to have the word to spread… but the fact that this will be so surprising. So out of your area of expertise… This will allow us to give people the truth without making them fear for their lives."
Now that this was all over… Dengekiko felt herself calm down. Yes, she was being taken advantage of. But apparently it was for a good cause? Yeah, people should know about the stuff that is going on here, but…
This idea was kind of a mess.
"So you want to… trick the public at the expense of my own reputation."
"I'm going to pay you a lot for this job."
Well… and she would be getting paid.
"Are you sure this will work?"
Here she was where this opportunity led her. She knew that accepting this job would make her lose some readers, maybe not a lot but some might take it as Dengekiko finally losing it, or moving away from the video game reviews.
On the other hand: Money. Probably lots of money. She will be eating well if she took this job.
"...There's always going to be the risk involved when dealing with the public, but ultimately we're not doing anything malicious. We're giving them the truth… Just in a way that would make it seem like we're tricking them."
Yes, Dengekiko knew that. She also knew that no matter how perfect the plan was, there was always going to be some nutjob who didn't like something. The trick here was to prevent those people from gathering and causing chaos.
"We're also preparing to add some… temporary changes to the algorithm to make your article more visible, and anything dangerous disappear. Here, read it and sign here"
Histoire gave her a stack of papers - her contract and details regarding the article. According to some of the guidelines, she was to start with the 'mercenaries are aliens', and leave their technology and how it could be used to make better lives here for later.
Alongside the contract was, of course, a non-disclosure agreement. They basically wanted her to stay silent on the whole matter until Histoire allowed her to post the article.
Also holy crap, those were some big numbers attached.
She's going to be eating well tonight~
She quickly wrote her own signature on the contract, signing off her reputation and dignity for a hefty transfer straight into her bank account.
"I'm glad to have you on board." Histoire smiled. "Now I think you will want some time to work on your article. Do you want to go somewhere? We have teleporters leading to all four nations."
Oooh! Dengekiko could even go back home and take an evening off!
"Yup. Where can I go to reach Lastation?"
"I will have Engineer escort you, oh and I'll notify Noire to let you in tomorrow. You will be able to get back here the same way you leave."
So today Dengekiko did not only meet aliens, the CPUs of Planeptune and the CPU of Leanbox… but she will also be able to just go into the inner rooms of the Basilicom of Lastation.
…OH MY GOODNESS, They're all in it! All of the CPUs know about the aliens!
"...How did you even find out about the mercenaries? How long have they been working for you?"
"Oh, for a couple of months. They weren't exactly secretive about where they came from, or what they do. Though it took us a few days for that information to actually sink in.
"So like, when CFW Judge-"
"Yes, that was them. They've been here for just a few days before that incident."
…Wow.
They're strong.
The Bombinomicon was done, and Histoire held the key to opening an entrance to Earth.
"This… I did not expect this."
"And whatcha expected? You wanted a bomb, you get a bomb. Simple as that."
In her hands was exactly what she wanted Merasmus and the Bombinomicon to make. A bomb that would create a pathway to Earth for her. What Histoire didn't expect was this thing to be an old-looking explosive - round, heavy and with rope acting like a fuse. Nothing told it apart from other bombs besides its ancient design.
"I'm just surprised by how it looks."
"How it looks doesn't really matter. Just light the fuse and wait! Once it blows up the real fun will start!"
"And what do you mean by real fun?"
"That thing is special, Histoire. And don't think just because we're in the forest no one will find out about this."
They were in Virtua Forest, approximately where the mercenaries first appeared in this world. Whatever would happen, Histoire did not want to make any tests inside Planeptune proper.
The Oracle lit the fuse, and threw it away - only now realizing that she should ask how big the explosion would be.
So Histoire hid behind the tree and waited. It didn't take long for her to hear an explosion.
…And goodness gracious should it feel that way?!
The moment the bomb went off, Histoire felt like all of the mana in her own body suddenly decided to kill her. A wave of pain, nausea and panic including dread hit her like a truck. It was hard to breathe. She felt like something would kill her within the next moment. Helplessness in the face of doom she just unleashed upon the Gamindustri.
"Oh. So that's your choice. Fine, I forgive you."
And then everything was fine.
This feeling, like something heavy weighing down on her, has disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
"What was that?"
"That's a Sin." The Bombinomicon said. "Basically, by lighting that fuse and connecting two worlds together, you have committed a Sin."
"...What?"
"God did not want you to blow up a hole in reality, and you disobeyed that order. So now you feel the weight of this Sin."
The weight of Sin. Histoire did feel something for a moment, but not anymore. She focused on herself, trying to find anything that has changed… She found nothing.
Whatever that Sin was, only a memory of it remained. "And you didn't warn me that it will happen?"
It chuckled. Chuckled at her! "But what's life without a surprise? Plus you wanted that bomb so badly, I just couldn't discourage ya. So how do you feel? Feeling like you're going to die anytime soon?"
She will strangle that book. Or at the very least put it in another box where it won't be able to break out again.
He just implied that she was about to die, didn't he? But all of that pain was gone because… reasons. "I don't feel any different, not anymore at least."
"Huh, really?" The Bombinomicon was surprised. "Usually people feel those sins until they die. Maybe you're lucky, or maybe God did want you to do that. In any case; tada! One big hole leading to the middle of nowhere!"
The bomb left the ground untouched… but there was now a hole in the air. A circular gap leading to some desert. Histoire could already see and feel the orangey sand being blown into her face.
This felt surreal. "Is this really Earth?" Histoire did not expect Earth to be so… hot. The sand felt blisteringly hot.
"Yup. You didn't really specify where you wanted to be, so here you are! And if you did want this bomb to lead elsewhere, then too bad! You cannot put a destination on this Bridge Bomb, it's not a precise munition!"
Histoire needed a minute. "I see." Nepgear has got her Hatty back, they've made steps towards integrating the mercenaries' tech with their own… and now there was a portal leading to Earth in Planeptune's forest.
It was a big day. But now Histoire needs to prepare. She had to do last minute checks, prepare the scouts to investigate the immediate area…
Aw hell, she will just send the mercs in. They've already fixed their Re:Spawn System.
Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract
Epilogue: A Book Full of Bombs