"I found Chika."
There was a complete defecating silence for a while. The sounds of the surroundings were blocked off from Nepgear's ear as she tried to process the information that was laid out to her. She tried speaking but found no words coming out of her mouth; she kept opening and closing her mouth like a dumb fish out of the water. In the end, she finally managed to utter something. The maid-like didn't say anything and had the same stoic expression she wore when she came in. She patiently waited for the flabbergasted girl's response, who finally managed to utter some words at last.
"Chika? But how..." It was the first thing that came to Nepgear's mind and it also wasn't the best thing to ask, but can you really blame her? She was still in shock and for a good reason. Hearing the news that someone you thought was dead for many years was still alive would mostly cause someone to react the same way that she did. Nepgear felt all kinds of emotions running through her; confusion and relief were what she felt the most.
"I received an anonymous tip from an unknown person. They claim Chika is held up in one of ASIC's hideouts in Leanbox. I even have the location written down here." She handed her the piece of paper. Nepgear studied the paper for a bit until some realizations hit her. "Wait... ASIC, this doesn't sound right." She began rubbing her chin as she began noticing the many red flags that were present.
"I mean... this all could be a hoax just to lure us into a trap." She turned her gaze back to the red hair. "Please tell me you weren't actually planning on going alone."
"Of course not. Why do you think I came here?" Cave's expression remained unchanged, as did her tone.
"You can't seriously believe this. I hate to break it to you but it's mostly likely a trap set out by ASIC themselves. Let's review the facts, shall we?" Nepgear began counting on her fingers. "We don't have confirmation that Chika is even alive, then some mysterious caller says she's in Leanbox, a place where ASIC could easily attack us from all sides if we step one foot there. And if it's not them, then the Libertarians will. I just don't buy it."
"I'm well aware of it. I had the same thought as well but... if there's still a small chance that she is alive, then we at least have to try. Please, Nepgear. I'm asking you as a friend. Please, help me save Chika."
"Cave... I'm telling you it's—" Nepgear tried making the girl see reason but it seems like the stubborn girl won't budge.
"I won't be able to live with myself if I don't!" Cave's voice was shaped as she stood her ground while staring at her, her eyes filled with determination and hope. Nepgear, not pleased, pointed her finger at her and matched her sharp tone. "You won't be alive if you go there! Just... think about this, please." She softened her tone as she gave her friend one last pleading look.
"I'm sorry... but I can't." Nepgear's head dropped to the side. "I'm going no matter what. I have failed Chika once as a friend, and I won't let it happen twice, even if it costs me my life." Cave was about to make her leave. Nepgear shook her head and let out a sigh. "There's no stopping you, isn't there?"
"No. As I stated just now, I will go regardless if you decide to accompany me or not." Cave stopped before giving her a side eye. "So, what is it going to be?"
Nepgear put a hand on her forehead and stood there for a while as her eyes began looking in all directions, until finally she let out a sigh. "Fine... I'll come with you. You're right, we're gotta try at least and I did make a promise to Vert and even if it turns out to be a trap, I won't say no to taking down ASIC remnants. Besides, I won't let another friend of mine die on my watch, no matter how stubborn they might be." The last remark was obviously directed at the maid-like girl, which made her crack a small smile.
"I know; it's one of my specials. Thank you, Nepgear." She gave a nod of appreciation.
"Still, if we're doing this, then we should proceed with caution."
"Fret not. I know Leanbox like the back of my gun so sneaking undetected won't be an issue. We'll meet at night, just outside the gates, when night rolls in. It's best if we do this with the two of us since it's harder to sneak by with more people. "
"Sounds like a plan. Now if you excuse me, I have some work here I need to attend to at the moment, so I'll meet you there just like we planned."
"Okay, I will see you there. Don't be late." The silence returned once again after the sound of the door closing. Nepgear was left alone with her thoughts.
I didn't think I'd be returning to Leanbox so soon.
ASIC remnants, the librarians, both Rei and 5pb sudden disappearance, and now this? It was one thing after another, wasn't it? Oh yeah, and there's also Uzume. She almost forgot about her. She doesn't know what to think of her and she's hard to read. All the more reason she should keep her guard up until she learns her true intentions. And not to mention, she could prove to be trouble and a threat, but she's still not 100 percent sure yet. She knows a lot more than she lets on and unless she proves it, she can't do anything for now. For now, her focus should be on helping Cave with her mission; she should notify Histoire about this, and maybe Kei as well.
"Nepgear?" Speaking of which... here she is, with great timing as well. "Was that Cave I just saw leaving now?"
"Ah, Histoire, great timing." She turned around and saw the small girl, sitting on a flying book, coming in her direction. "Yeah, she came to ask me to help her with a mission so I'll be heading out later."
"Again? What's the mission about?" Histoire wrinkled her brow.
"Apparently Cave got wind of information from an unknown source that Chika is allegedly alive and being held in an ASIC hideout in Leanbox." This made her eyes widen but she quickly regained her composure. "Chika, you say? Hm, that's really good news if the information is to be trusted."
"Sure, but it could go worse for us if it turns out otherwise. Well, Cave is hell-bent on going, even if it's most likely a trap. So, I'm going with her to make sure she makes it out in one piece."
"I see... Will you two be okay?"
"Of course, Cave is a capable girl and can manage herself just fine. With us two, we can pull it off with ease, so there's no need to worry your tiny self out." Nepgear tried reassuring her fairy mother figure, who didn't look convinced.
Histoire let out a sigh. "Very well. I may trust your capabilities, but I can't ignore my nature to worry."
"You'll always find things to worry about." Nepgear let out a chuckle. "Come on, let's get started on today's work, shall we?" The tomb nodded as the two made their way to the office to get started on those paperworks that were bigger than herself. After another hard day's work, the sun was beginning to set so Nepgear was getting ready to depart but noticed the blue-haired girl in the hallway while she was on her way out. She went there to see what the girl was up to.
The hall was filled with plaques that were engraved with the names of those CPUs of this land who had fallen while they fought the Deity of Sin. Her sister was now among them. Uzume stared at one of the plaques that happened to belong to her sister. She had a thoughtful face as she studied it and she put a hand on it as she leaned in.
"What are you doing here, Ms. Uzume?"
"Ah, good evening, Ms. Nepgear. I hope everything is well." Uzume turned to face her with the same smile already equipped. Nepgear didn't say anything. She crossed her arms and gave an unimpressed look. "Why the silent treatment all of a sudden? Don't you trust me, hm?" The girl wasn't unfazed; if anything, she was more amused. "Well, to answer your previous question, I wasn't doing much. I just happened to stumble on this place while I was wandering around aimlessly and it caught my attention."
"Uh, huh." Neither of them said anything after that, as they stood there as Uzume turned her head back to the plaque and began reading the writing out loud. "Neptune... I assume that's your sister's name, correct?" The blue hair gave her a side eye.
"Yeah."
"Well, my deepest condolences to you. I do hope she is in a better place now."
"Yours are appreciated and I do hope so as well."
"Hmm, Uranus was the name of the previous CPU that ruled Planeptune. Is that correct?"
"Um, yeah?"
"Did you ever wonder about the noticeable time gap between Uranus ruling up until your sister?"
"No and can you for the love of me, stop talking in a cryptic manner? It's getting annoying." Nepgear has had it with the girl's games. She had a feeling that she's doing this on purpose to get her all worked up for her personal amusement.
And it was working.
"Hm, okay. Let's put it this way: The land has had a long time without a CPU leading it. The question is, How could a nation survive this long without a CPU looking after it for a long time?"
"I... never gave it a thought." Nepgear stared at the ground as she thought before turning back to the girl next to her. "Do you know something I don't?"
"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. Who knows?" Nepgear narrowed her eyes at the girl, not appreciating the girl's teasing. "I will tell you in due time. Besides, don't you have more important matters to attend to at the moment?"
"Well, yes, how did you...?"
"Patient, my dear Nepgear. Now, I hate to keep you so I'll be on my way now, if you'll excuse me."
"Wah, hey! We are not done here." She went and blocked the girl's path and pointed her finger at her. "I don't think you can avoid this. We'll pick up this conversation as soon as I get back and you will tell me everything you know."
"I don't intend to and I give you my word. It's also rude to point, you know?" Nepgear stared daggers at the girls. "You'll hurt your pretty face if you keep galring like that." Uzume went past the girl and this time Nepgear didn't stop her but her eyes followed her every movement.
"Try not to die out there, okay?" The girl called out from behind as she was walking away. Nepgear shook her head before she went the other way. Once she was outside, she transformed and soared to the sky, with Leanbox as her next stop.
(N)
Once again, she was back in Leanbox. She could see the gates of the city ahead of her, so she landed a bit further from them. Today was a bit windy and chilly. The night sky was lightened by stars and moonlight, accompanied by the sound of an owl hooting. Nepgear looked around the meetup spot and saw that the maid-like girl was nowhere to be found. She leaned on a tree and began double-checking her equipment to make sure everything was in order.
"You're here. Good." Nepgear snapped her head and found the girl in strange attire. She wore a jacket, ragged jeans, and a beanie on her head. "Here, catch." She threw her a bag, which had the same cloth. "Change into this. This disguise should hopefully make us blend in and not stand out."
"I see. Good call." Nepgear took the bag and went to a subtle place to change. When she came back, the red-haired girl was inspecting her rifle. "All done?"
"Yes." Nepgear nodded. "So, you said you knew the city layout. So which way we're taking?"
Cave took out the paper that had the location written down. "It says that the place is on the other side of the city. It should go without saying that we need to do everything we can to avoid being caught or else harm might befall Chika before we can get to her."
"Of course, but we have to consider the possibility that they might use her as bait so we need to prepare for the worst. It's not going to be a walk in a park, I imagine. And if things get out of hand, we have to make a run for it. I don't think the two of us can take on a whole city by ourselves."
"Hopefully with Chika with us. Now, there are two routes we can take. The first is more direct. We'll sneak past the gate into the city. Since we have these disguises on, it should make it easier for us to sneak by most of our enemies, but they're not foolproof as the streets are swarmed with these surveillance bots that can easily detect us from a mile away, so it's essential that we stick to rooftops and keep dark allies so as not to blow our cover." Nepgear nodded. "And the second one?"
"There's a manhole near the shore that can take us straight to the sewer lines that are connected to the city. This should mean we can avoid most of the surveillance, but we'll have to find our way there, as I don't know the exact layout of the underground, unlike the surface, so we have to mostly rely on our luck to see where we're going to end up." Cave turned to look at Nepgear. "We have to decide quickly. We can't afford to waste time anymore, as Chika's life is on the line."
"Alright, just give me a moment." Nepgear closed her eyes while crossing her arms and deliberately weighing down the two options in front of her. Hm, the surveillance bots could prove to be a trouble for them so the tunnels were the safer option here. But then again, they have no guarantee on where they will end up and no way of knowing which way to take, so they could end up very far from the place or end up in a place filled with enemies or even the tunnel themselves. This was basically a gamble they had to take; it could either end well or blow up their whole operation. There wasn't a middle.
Should she choose or let her friend decide? Neither of the options seems like the best but then again, when were any of the missions ever easy? Nepgear opened her eyes and turned to her friend to let her know about the decision she had made, which was...
Author's Notes
Happy New Year, everyone! New year, same me, but at least there is a new chapter, haha. Also, big news: my view count is finally fixed. What a way to start the year! Now I don't have to guess how many people read my story and I can use it as motivation to write once again. I should mention that the story reached 1,000 views! Thanks to everyone who gave the story a read.
With that out of the way, a shorter chapter than usual, but to be fair, the chapter is called 'A Quick Favor' for a reason. Don't worry; as you might have guessed, the next chapter will have two paths yet again. This will be the last in the prouglue. I'll do my best to upload the chapters quickly but no promises. As college starts this Sunday, we'll see what happens, but I'll try not to take one month this time.
Anyway, I still haven't played MK2 in a while but now I have reached Lowee's arc. Honestly, I want to take my time to play this game but I have other Neptunia games I want to play and finish this year, hopefully. Also, I bought the original first Neptunia game disc from eBay, which I recently received from the mailbox and it cost me about 40 dollars, including shipping. I'm very excited to play it once I'm done with MK2, of course.
Oh, and I got all of the Neptunia games, including all DLCs, on the PS Vita for free after I hacked my console. Now, I can play the Re;birth and spin-off games, including PP. Since the Re;birth trilogy is just a remastered version of the three original games, minus the first, I'll play them quickly and once. And I have a tool that lets me unlock all achievements for the games so I don't have to spend more time and grind for them since they are the same. One of the advantages of hacking a PS Vita is that it can emulate PSP, so I basically have two devices in one, so I can play PSP, PS1, and PS Vita games on the go for free. I've been playing old games to experience my childhood games and games I never got to experience as well.
Here's a funny thing that happened to me. When I booted up one of the Neptunia games on my device to test if they work when I download them for free, I got a message saying that pirating a copy of the game is illegal, which gave me quite a scare. I thought they recognized it as an illegal copy but I realized it was just a simple, harmless message they put before the game started. Either that or Idea Factory is on to me, haha.
Until next time, stay blessed, and I hope that you achieve all your goals this year.
Next Chapter: The Tie that Binds
Cave and Nepgear are deciding on which route they should take to get to the hideout undetected.