Linda let loose a low whistle.
"Not gonna lie, looking pretty killer."
"Whatever." Kurome didn't care, so long as she looked the part.
"Come on, don't be like that. I clocked in a day of my vacation time for this, so at least show a little appreciation." That hadn't been a lie; Kurome did note how Warechu looked a little less than pleased knowing he'd be doing most of that day's work on his own. However the rat was anything but a... rat, at the moment, as with her apparent 'score' he was willing to take the proverbial 'L' as it's said and keep quiet on why Linda took the day off.
"Look, just drive me up and scoot off." Kurome focused more on the street view, noting how the nice weather drew many into the open. If things went south and someone called her out, disappearing into the crowd should be easy enough; although she doubted it would come to that. "I can't risk being seen with you, especially not like this."
The Basilicom, being the home of the goddesses, was naturally fit to be heavily monitored, and the chances of slipping in normally would require a hacker of considerable skill, or someone already known by the place. While normally she would have forced her way in with monsters, she didn't feel the power of delusion within anymore, and so she chose to take advantage of her other features to complete the mission. This needed to go by smoothly if she wanted any chance to score with the boss man; if she failed her only option then would be to... 'retire' the shorty and his crew, and take over the operation herself.
Without shares or delusion, that was easier said than done.
And so, here she was, decked out in a rather ironic getup, almost identical to her own. This alone would get her inside, and so long as she played up the personality right, everything should go by effortlessly. Kurome didn't spend two or so years in the back of a mind without picking up at least a few tricks. Linda smirked and opened her mouth again.
"I get the idea alright. I'm no amateur, so have a little faith." She focused back on the road. "Still though, I think you rock the crimson lochs pretty well. I guess you could call it a palette shift."
Kurome was in no mood for jokes, but considering they were about to score big, she silently pardoned the girl for her excitement. She saw the street coming up, and the sight of the tower from all the way down below was rather pleasing; at least that hadn't changed. The truck came to a halt, and Kurome made her way out.
"Good luck, and bring us back a souvenir if you can; I hear they've got some kick-ass laptops in the employee lounge."
The now brighter woman wasn't quite sure how Linda knew that, but nodded nonetheless, and silently opted to do no such thing; laptops were traceable, and now Kurome was seeing why these bozos had no luck in any of their endeavors. Returning the gesture Linda started up again and pulled off, while at the same time Kurome caught a glance at the dark motorbike pulling up to the tower. It was parked, and she saw the man stand and leave, making his way down the street and into a coffee shop; that must have been the exit bike.
With all bases supposedly covered she faced the tower, and with silent determination made for the two massive glass doors, which opened up to allow entry. Automated entrance meant it could be disabled should criminals be suspected inside, however in case of a fire there was most likely a manual switch as to not lock up and trap everyone within; with the goddess living in the tower there would be little chance for the ordinary crook to escape.
Kurome however would be a different story, if push came to shove anyway; she wasn't cocky, just realistic.
"Hey there." She morphed her voice, airing it out with a much bubblier demeanor. The robed man at the counter raised his head.
"How may I be of service." He sounded friendly enough, which was a little bad. The usual head of front was often curt and toneless, but it was that same man who knew the regulars to the tower.
Apparently the easy route of asking for Neptune would be a lot less simple than expected. This wasn't a real issue, just a bit of an annoyance really.
"Well, I was wondering if Nepsy is here today?"
"Nepsy?" Yep, this wasn't going to be easy. His face changed quickly though, as a realization apparently dawned on the newbie. "Ah, do you mean Lady Neptune?"
"Yeah." Kurome rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry, thought everybody recognised us around here. Say, are you new?"
"Oh, um... yes actually." He seemed to shuffle a bit nervously before regaining the majority of his composure. Clearing his throat he faced her again with a more natural smile. "Now then, you request to meet with the lady, correct."
"Yep."
"Right, right." He ticked away at his keyboard, all the while his smile went from happy, to not so happy. Once more he faced her, more in confusion than any real concern. "Do you have an appointment of some sort? The goddess doesn't have anything scheduled in terms of meetings today it seems, although it might just be an error in the system. Would you mind waiting a little bit while I check something."
Long way it was. Kurome nodded with an internal sigh.
"No need for that." The voice came from behind, so close that she nearly jumped; metaphorically of course. Turning back as naturally as she could the undiscovered trespasser noted the brown haired woman walk over. "She's a personal friend of the goddess."
"Miss IF." The man bowed respectfully. "I apologise, I had no idea."
"Don't worry about it." IF rolled her eyes at his bow, before offering a calm - and slightly proud - look. "You were doing your job properly, and personally I'd give you props for that. Believe it or not many of our guys here get a bit lazy when it come to procedure, so it's nice to finally see someone doing things right for a change."
"Thank you, miss IF." He faced Kurome once more. "You are free to continue, and I apologise again for any inconvenience."
"Not a problem, keep up the good work and you'll go places." She offered, and with one more smile she began to walk with IF. The woman kept her stride steady as she spoke.
"Feeling better from yesterday, Uzume, or are you just putting on a brave face again?" Kurome had no idea what was being asked, but she'd been improvising bullshit as of late anyway, so this was nothing new.
"I'm cool."
"Still stubborn." IF sighed as they stepped into an elevator. "But you seem alright, so I'll choose to believe you for now. Try not to eat so much junk next time; seeing you like that was kind of pathetic, especially knowing it was your own fault and all."
"Come on, I learned my lesson; cut me a break here." Kurome still had no damn clue what they were talking about, but continued on anyway. "I won't go getting into more trouble okay, so leave me be."
"Easy there, I wasn't saying you wanted to get sick, just that you need to watch what you eat, unless you actually liked shitting the day away."
Shitting? Kurome immediately wanted to cut the topic there; apparently Uzume had a less than stellar experience. Still though, knowing that Uzume was around certainly helped, however it was likely that if her other half was sick then she wouldn't be visiting Nep and the others anytime soon. Unfortunate, but it at least allowed her not to worry so much on two 'Uzume' meeting in the hallway; even though she wanted to meet, Kurome heavily doubted the others would be so accommodating. She still didn't even know where to begin on merging together with her other half anyway.
"Don't even joke about that Iffy; not cool."
"Fine, I suppose the embarrassment was enough punishment anyway." The clear elevator opened up, and the two stepped out and carried on down the hall again. Kurome decided to try fishing for information while she had the chance.
"So, why are you here today anyway? On business, or just cleaning up after Nepsy again?"
"A little of both actually. Nepgear has been sharpening her gaming skills for the competition yesterday, and while she proved it by winning the tourney, she wanted to try challenging Uni to a new game; personally I think she's getting a little full of herself. Weird as it is they asked me to try going a few rounds too; and seeing as this week has been rather slow I decided, why not?"
"Cool, so Gearsy's showing her skills." The pretender slipped on a competitive smirk. "Guess I'll need to get more practice in some time; can't let her get ahead of me."
"Yeah, sure. So, why did you come over today; planning on challenging Nepgear?"
"Right now?" Kurome chuckled competitively. "I'd love to, but no. Besides, she's with Unisy. I'll let them have their fun for today."
"Your loss." IF stopped, and with it went to open the door they now stood before. "Although, if Nep is around I'm not sure you'd get a choice anyway. What's the real reason then?"
Stepping inside the two noted Compa and Noire were seated at the table off in the kitchen, all the while Nepgear and Uni were side by side on the couch, with nothing but the sounds of constant noise blaring from the TV.
"Iffy, you're here!" The nurse greeted from afar, and waving back IF followed along, all the while Kurome kept up the laid-back smile. Noire wore a pleasant look, setting down a small cup of tea.
"IF, how wonderful to see you." Her eyes shifted to the side. "And Uzume as well. Are you feeling alright? Compa told me you weren't doing too well yesterday." The nurse nodded from her side and faced the currently indistinguishable doppelganger.
"That's right. Uzume, you should be home resting."
"I know I know, geese." Kurome crossed her arms and faked a guilty look. "But I'm feeling mostly better now, so I thought 'hey, no time like the present' you feel me?"
Compa let out a low concerned grumble and relented, although her face was still sprinkled with concern. IF meanwhile had watched the whole thing, and was shaking her head. With a roll of her eyes the guild's top member decided to continue on the conversation from before.
"Now then, I believe you were about to tell us why you decided to visit?"
Kurome simply looked between the three for a second, before slipping her fingers into the internal pocket of her shirt. She fiddled around in the white fabric, putting on a small face of focus as she pulled out the blue bit of plastic she'd discovered last night.
"I was hoping Nepgear might be able to tell me what this is. She's tech savvy, so I figured since I can't really tell what it is, then maybe she could."
"Huh?" Noire stood, reaching her hand out. "Would you please let me see that."
"Go ahead." Kurome paid more mind as Noire twisted and turned the little thing, looking over it from seemingly every angle. Her odd reaction apparently drew more eyes than expected, as Uni's voice called out.
"Hey sis, what are you looking at?" The smaller girl questioned, joined by Nepgear who also wore a look of curiosity. Kurome took a small peak back at the TV behind, and noted how 'victory' was prominently displayed across the screen, followed by 'perfect'. One of them had thoroughly embarrassed the other, and based on how Uni had been the one to change the subject followed by Nepgear's laid back appearance, it wasn't hard to guess who.
Uni's question would not be answered by her older sister, but rather IF who held a plain expression.
"Uzume brought over something she hoped Gear could help identify."
"Oh... wait." Uni looked up to Kurome with a judgemental eye. "I thought you were sick. Why didn't you wait to bring..." She looked over to the bit of plastic in Noire's grasp. "Whatever that is, over later?"
"I'm feeling fine-" Kurome paused, pulling her arms around her gut, and throwing on a sheepish look. "On second thought, I'll be right back."
"I told you to rest!" Compa called, but it was too late as Kurome was already at the door.
"I'll be back in a jiffy!" With that it shut, and sprinting a little away, Kurome slowed to a walk.
Right, now that they're distracted I can get this done. Using the mysterious cartridge had been the perfect excuse to show up unannounced; Uzume having been sick with... that, just so happened to be an extra benefit. Her other half was nothing if not stubborn, and faking recovery when she was actually dying inside was something she'd totally do on a dime; if it meant appearing cool anyway. At least Kurome now had a legitimate reason to excuse herself without drawing eyes, an bit of luck most fortunate for this job. She needed to be fast now.
All that was left to do now was find the server room, and luckily she knew exactly where it was; benefits from Uzume visiting so many times over the years, along with the fact Nepgear was called to fix things when employees spilt coffee on the tech.
Kurome wandered back down the stale hallway, all the way to the elevator again, and it was just as she walked in that the feeling hit.
"Hello Uzume, how are you today?" The tiny fairy sat on her tome peacefully from inside, and Kurome faced her with a smile.
"Hey Histy." Histoire, the oracle of Planeptune, how fitting it was that luck shattered here on the crux of the mission. "Mostly good, but admittedly still a little queasy from yesterday.
"Ah, I do recall IF and Compa speaking of your sickness upon their return from the celebration. I'm to assume this is a casual visit?"
"Mostly. I've got them looking over something for me." Kurome noticed how some of the internal hidden negativity faded from the advisor of the goddess; that fact she noticed it alone alluding to something awful. She abandoned those thoughts for now, hoping the feeling was merely caused by the shock of coming face to face with Histoire so suddenly.
"Oh, is it serious?"
"Not really, it's mostly just a weird cartridge I found."
"I see." The oracle put on a wondering face. "If they are looking over it now, then why are you out here?"
And there it was, that dreaded question; it was time to pull the wool over her eyes.
"I... well..." A little shaking for extra effect. "You see, I'm still not all that great from yesterday, and um... I'm, a little embarrassed from having to leave immediately after I showed them the thing. I was thinking on taking a walk around the tower; breath a little while I prep myself to face them again."
Histoire sighed and crossed her arms.
"Just like Neptune; always stalling in hopes the problem will blow away. Fine, continue on with your walk."
"Please don't mention this to them." Kurome told, not only flabbergasted on how her dumb excuse actually worked, but also not wanting any extra complications from the others; she still needed to get the blue cartridge afterwards, and she didn't want to take too long and risk her other half popping up.
"My lips are sealed." Histoire left the elevator and sent one final look. "Although, if you see Neptune, tell her I wish to speak about the paperwork she promised to do yesterday." Ah, so that was it; Histoire was pissed at Neptune again. Honestly with how much Neptune goofs off, Kurome could understand why the fairy had been off her game.
"Got it." With that the oracle floated away, and Kurome could just catch the tail end of her complaints about Planeptune CPU's and their shared... laziness she thought; Histoire was too far away to hear clearly.
Kurome, before anymore obstacles could arrive, clicked the button in the elevator, taking her all the way down to the correct floor. Stepping out she rushed down the path Gearsy and her took back when she was nothing but a silent ghost in her better side's head. The spot was still the same, and the employees of these upper floors seemed to know her, and as such left her be. Kurome walked in and shut the door behind her.
There were security cameras but she didn't care about being seen; Nepgear often had Uzume help in moving things while fixing the little problems born of complacent workers. It was disturbingly common how much the staff ruined the tower's tech, at points having entire facets down for hours of the day, multiple times that very same day. Eventually after an unnerving and scolding announcement from Histoire - which she had the displeasure of being around for - they seemingly got better. Nepgear brought Uzume down much less, and when they did go down it was usually just to replace parts.
The CPU candidate always felt a little guilty about putting Uzume to work like a 'pack mule' as she called it, but the positive minded woman was always happy to help; Uzume secretly had a kink for being relied on and used, which was weird now that Kurome acknowledged it.
Anyone looking through the cameras would just assume she was there fixing something again.
Let's see how this goes. Hunching over a little Kurome got into position in front of one of the servers. If all went to plan it would be assumed she was fixing a small problem with a wire or something, and from this angle her front was entirely hidden. Quickly she pulled the pacifier out, slipped off the rubber, and stuck it in one of the few empty slots. With how often they updated and fixed things, Kurome knew from IF's rant a year back that special ports were built onto the servers that allowed for near instant data transfer. Workers would come down with an update already in a hard drive, and simply connect it to the port, and it was then instantly installed.
Kurome assumed this was how the pacifier flash drive operated. Leaving it in for a second she noticed a small light flick along the ring of the base. Once more she assumed this was important, and likened it to the drive having finished it's duty of collecting the list. She pulled it out, and slipped the rubber back on; ready to leave.
"Uzume, is that you?"
Why now, of all times, did Nepsy's voice need to echo out. More importantly why the hell was she in the server room? Kurome, who's mind twisted these questions rapidly, stilled. From this angle her front may have been invisible to the cameras, but to the door she was only sideways. Her head crooked to the side, her face frozen in a blank stare, and upon a glance to Neptune she noted the girl's eyes were locked firmly to the small baby's toy.
"N-Nepsy?" Partially acted; partially real; partially wondering why Neptune went completely silent. The Planeptune goddess was sporting her jersey jacket and purple dress, usually a sign she was going out somewhere and not just lazing around, this was vital as it meant the older nep was not planning to head upstairs.
"Uh... is there something you want to tell me Uzume?" Neptune's face was locked into a state of indifference, but her eyes were sparkling with realization; well, actually it was assumption, but it was realization to the ignorant nep. The CPU's blank lips twisted into a taunting smirk. "Did that stint yesterday awaken some dirty feelings?"
Kurome shot out the perfect response.
"Tell no one."
"Right..." Neptune offered a kind smile. "Just so you know, if you start looking at little kiddies a certain way, I'm going to arrest you."
Kurome responded by slipping the pacifier in her mouth and nodding, giving a few suckles to unnerve the short goddess ahead. It worked wonders as Neptune promptly and animatedly shivered. Feeling like she solidified the assumed story Nepsy imagined, and subsequently steering away the question of why she was in the server room, Kurome took the pacifier from her lips and slipped it in her pocket again.
"I'm not like that Nepsy, besides..." It was her turn to smirk. "Histoire's looking for you."
"I was never here~." Neptune waved her hands slowly, and with a ghostly 'woooh~' she disappeared out the door. Once gone Kurome allowed herself to vomit internally. Her other half was going to have a field day once she got back, and Kurome didn't particularly know how it would turn out when they were fused together again.
Disregarding the soon to be rumors, Kurome left the room and returned to the elevator. Soon enough she was back to the living quarters on the upper floors of the tower, and seeing as Neptune was not a part of the group who all looked to her, she could safely assume her excursion to the servers was still unknown.
"Sheesh." IF began in irritation. "What took you so long?"
"You don't want to know."
"Fair enough, here." The woman handed back the cartridge, and Kurome took it with a nod. "We couldn't figure out anything right yet, but Noire said it feels somehow familiar."
"Really?" Kurome asked, and Noire nodded from the back as she spoke.
"I know it sounds strange, but I feel like I've seen it somewhere before. I'll need to do a bit of research once I get back home, but I'll let everyone know once I've found something."
"We'll look too." Nepgear shot up. "If it's to help you, then I'll get Neptune to look as well." Everyone sent a blank stare to Nepgear, who stilled a little and croaked out another response. "O-okay, I'll have Histoire help me look."
"Good choice Gear." IF complimented; Kurome wondered if it was mean to pick on the absent goddess this way, but starkly realized she didn't rightly care. "We'll let you know what we find, even if it doesn't seem all that big."
"Alright, thanks." Kurome was about ready to leave. "I've got to be going now; I have what I need, and I'm still a little... you know-"
"Stop." IF held up her hand. "Nobody wants to hear anymore of that. Just go get some rest; we'll see you later."
With a wave Kurome took off, and unlike before it was a simple trip all the way back out again. Nobody questioned her, and Neptune had apparently left the building. All in all it was an easy job, barring the weird kinks she accidently presented Uzume as having. Stepping outside she noted that the bike from before was still in place, and with not even a second thought she took to it, slipping on the helmet sat innocently on the handle bars and starting down the road.
It was time to turn in the list, right after changing out of her disguise; Uzume couldn't be seen in the dirty part of town after all, and the red dye was starting to drip from her sweat in the sunny heat.
Author's note
...
Operation 'try not to come off as a creepy perv to your - in essence - little sister while stealing the nations secrets' is now complete. Kurome has succeeded in the spy mission, even if it meant implying Uzume was into some weird stuff to Neptune. Whatever, it isn't her problem, so what's the worst that could happen.
They must never know... or maybe they will, who's to say with Neptune really?
See you next time.