It's with a tired and foggy mind that I wake up the next day, roused early from my slumber by the sound of movement nearby. Where am I now? I can hear shuffling nearby. Is someone in my room?
I pause, wondering if I need to defend myself - fortunately, my memories of the day before come back to me soon enough.
Right. We're at the embassy.
Slowly opening my eyes and blinking the sleep from them, I awkwardly move to a seated position. Looking around, it seems IF's already awake, although the others are definitely still out for the count. The one awake member of our party - and no, I am definitely not counting myself here - is currently reading a sheet of paper of some kind -
Ugh, it's still too early for this.
And yes, Nepgear is still snoring.
I debate getting out of bed to figure out what she's doing, before I immediately shut that down.
I just woke up. I'm a male. There's no way I'm going anywhere for the next little while.
Fighting down thoughts of panic and embarrassment, I curl back up to 'sleep'. I suppose I can lay down for a few more minutes.
That should be long enough.
With an over-the-top fake yawn, I gently stretch, before rolling out the side of the bed.
Even with my extra thirty minutes of 'waking up, it seems none of the other girls have woken yet. Strange, but I guess they deserve it. IF's still reading her papers, and I can't help be curious about what it is that is taking so much of her attention.
Slowly, I shamble over, and take a seat beside her.
"Hey. Good morning." I state, as I poke her on the arm. "Whatcha' got there?"
The words aren't even out of my mouth before the agent jumps half of the meter in the air, gasping in surprise. Whoah. She must've been *really* focused, since I doubt I'm being quiet like this.
Breathing hard, IF stares at me, clutching a handful of now-crumpled papers, before she awkwardly laughs. "D-damn. You uh, scared me a bit. Sorry, Gear and Compa are rarely up before nine."
I blink. Nine?
"You wouldn't happen to have the time, would you? My watch is still in my jacket." I ask, not really expecting to get an affirmative answer. That's really weird - usually I'm up at noon myself.
"Yeah, gimme a sec." answers the agent, as she digs into a pocket to retrieve a phone. "Yeah, it's seven thirty. I didn't know you were an early riser."
Seven…
Wait, never mind. I went to sleep at ten PM yesterday. Unlike my usual habits, I'm not staying up all night.
My usual sleep schedule is to finally pass out at three, so waking up at noon is nine hours…
Nine hours from ten is seven. Yeah, that's about right. Plus I can function on only four hours of sleep, if I really need to.
"Usually I'm not." I admit, finally coming back to the present as I rub the back of my neck. "Thing is, I usually have a much harder time falling asleep too."
Obviously I'm still a bit asleep though, if my mind's still wandering like this. Focus.
I glance over to the papers in her hands. It's legalese, I think, although there are also attached graphs detailing what appears to be sub-ten percentage change in some values. The graphs are way too flat to be anything but. "What'cha got there?"
IF scratches her hair, but winces as her finger grabs at a knot in it. "Just a report on the change in Shares of the Nations. Lastation's shares have gone up, but Lowee's shares have gone down. Leanbox is apparently in a pretty solid downturn, though."
Of course. "Do you have the percentages they're at, right now?"
"Worldwide?" Right, there's global shares, and then city shares… would make sense.
"Yeah." I answer.
"Well, this might not be entirely accurate, but according to my sources, Planeptune's holding firm at about eleven percent, Lastation at nine, Lowee at six… and Leanbox at four." answers the agent with a grimace.
Damn, those are bad numbers. ASIC is at eighty percent? "Do quests change those numbers much?"
IF shrugs. "They do, but ASIC's also got their goons out doing quests in their own name as well. All in all, until we get the CPUs back…"
There's a pause, as IF struggles to find the words to say.
"Well… Until we get them back, we're only bailing out a sinking ship."
That's… not ideal, to put it lightly.
"We got a timeline before everything comes crashing down?" I venture. The games didn't have that, but then again, this… isn't anything like the games.
"Assuming ASIC doesn't pull anything? About two months. Maybe three. Planeptune can hold out for at least four, but Leanbox isn't going to be sitting pretty for that long." IF's particularly glum at the last statement. I don't blame her: if I remember correctly, she has personal ties to Leanbox.
So a time limit... If I were to throw a rough estimate, the game finishes in about a month tops, though, so we should be fine. Less, if you just rush through, rather than getting sidetracked like I did.
At least, I hope it does. The words 'Assuming ASIC doesn't pull anything' aren't the most reassuring things in the world.
"We should really meet up with Kei as soon as possible." continues the agent, folding the report and placing it upon the ground beside her.
Now, Kei. That's actually a pretty serious decision that I need to make.
On one hand, I could tell IF about where the Mascot actually is (Septent Resort, actually pretty close to where I talked to Uni), and have a relatively good reason for knowing. It'd speed everything up by about a day and a half, and we'd be able to get this done sooner.
On the other, I actually want to be welcomed back into Lastation when I eventually return here. I'm pretty sure forcing the Oracle into a mental breakdown because we left without ever telling her anything would probably be in bad taste.
I mean, it'd be absolutely hilarious if we just flat out grabbed the mascot disc and left without ever telling her about Noire still being alive in the Graveyard, but there's a line between being petty and just flat out being cruel. And that line would be crossed, hands down.
So, that means…
"Hey, are you alright? You keep spacing out." prods the brunette, drawing me from my reverie.
Yeah, it's better to take the detour in this case.
"Nothing… I'm just still sleepy, I guess." I answer, rubbing my eyes.
There's silence from both of us.
"I'll see you in a bit?" I venture, as I get up to my feet. Might as well get things done while I still can.
"Yeah, we should all be ready in an hour or so."
"I think I'll go have a shower, then."
By the time I'm all done my shower, dressed myself and ran my bed clothes through the washing machine, it's almost half past nine.
I blame my sudden efficiency on the fact that these washing machines are some kind of miracle device able to wash-and-dry in one single go. Truly the most inspiring piece of futuristic technology I've seen so far.
All that I need now is my shoes and coat, then I'll be all ready to go.
Practically skipping, I step through the door to the sleeping area to meet up -
Only to pause as I hear the sound of rustling. Turning towards the sound on instinct, well… I get to see a less-than-clothed Nepgear getting changed. Fortunately, she's facing away from me, but still!
I mean, it's not like she's unattractive, but I'm still trying to keep good -
Shaking my head, I avert my eyes. No. Bad. Stop staring. Spinning away, I find myself staring at IF instead, who is currently staring back at me, and likely was looking at me since the time I walked in.
Oh crap oh crap… Uh… This looks really, really bad…
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.
"So, IF, did you decide on a plan?" I ask, rather loudly, hoping that I seem oblivious, rather than perverted.
There's a loud 'Eep!' from Nepgear behind me, followed by a thump as she probably hurls herself into a nearby bed. I wince, but I really don't want to deal with this right now.
"Umm…" answers IF. She's also not responding quickly, but that's good enough, right?
"Great!" I reply, as I reach out, grab her right hand, and shake vigorously. I don't even know why, I just want to get out of here as soon as I can. "I'm going to head outside and go for a walk. Thanks!"
And then I practically sprint to my shoes, pick them up, and then sprint out of the room, making sure to keep my eyes facing away from Nepgear's last known position at all costs.
I sit in the hallway just outside of the quarters, knees practically up to my chest as I sit in a pseudo cross-legged position.
Greaaat. I know I'm a pervert, but I at least prefer to be a pervert on purpose.
I shouldn't have made such a big deal about it. I should've just walked in, got my stuff, and walked out.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! What the hell was I thinking?
If this is what causes me to be kicked out, well, what do I do from here? I guess I can keep questing, and help them out with stopping some of the bleeding… I guess.
I should just take a walk… but I need to know whether they still want me around… The stress is killing me, but the uncertainty is almost as bad. My mind's in overdrive, as I run scenario after scenario of what could possibly happen.
Shaking my head, I get up to my feet. I'm not going to sit here. Sitting here will achieve nothing, besides make me look pathetic. I'm…
I'm getting out of here. Maybe I'll do something productive. Maybe I won't.
But I'll go crazy if I just sit here, moping.
It's a short walk to the front desk, and an easy ten words to ask for some paper to leave a note for the girls.
Writing the note, on the other hand, isn't easy.
My final choice after several minutes of staring at the blank sheet of paper, is "I'll meet you outside the Basilicom at noon."
It's not even ten right now, so I've bought myself two hours. I set my watch to go off at ten, just to be safe.
Is the letter too mechanical? Probably?
But I can't think of a better way to get my point across.
So I solve my problem, the same way I solve all of my problems.
I run away.
I hand the paper to the receptionist, tell her to give it to Nepgear, and exit into the city.
Wandering down the streets, without a goal in mind. When have I done this before?
When haven't I done this before?
Why am I such an idiot? I had a good thing, and of course I screwed it up…
Well, at least I can use this time to improve myself, I guess.
According to the street signs, there's a dump - er… A 'recycling depot and landfill' up ahead. The fact that I can't smell it, means that game logic is in place here - either that, or they again have better tech than Earth.
I guess I could practice throwing knives at something? Cans… or plywood or something. Would feel good to be able to destroy something, too. Generally, stuff in a landfill is stuff no one cares about.
Nodding to myself, I continue down the road.
The gate to the plant is nice and sturdy, with a big, solid lock and a nice metal mesh preventing me from reaching through. However, a quick look to the side reveals that the walls around the plant are only a meter and a half high, concrete with simple metal bars atop of them. An easy climb, especially since there's no barbed wire or anything.
Easy enough. Sizing it up for a moment, I take a few steps back, before jumping up and grabbing the bars with both hands. From there, it's easy enough to climb up, fling myself over -
Scraping myself on the top of the rather point bars, ow -
And then swing over, dropping down with a satisfying thump. All in all, pretty clean, although I need to really be more careful in the future. Well, I'm over the wall now… Let's go exploring.
I have now discovered why exactly this place doesn't smell as terrible as the dumps back on Earth: there's absolutely no rotting biological waste here. It's all metal, wood, and scraps of both. Not my textbook definition of a 'landfill' for sure.
Not to mention that the place is relatively small, but isn't even halfway full. What sort of resource efficiency are they sitting at? There's no way they're producing only this amount of waste with a city this big.
It doesn't make sense. Shouldn't wood rot, at the very least?
Ugh, more weirdness of being in a game world. Still, it's not important. It's relatively easy to find a chunk of plywood - this one definitely belongs here, looking like it was run over by a vehicle. It's also relatively easy to lean it against a stack of other pieces of junk, and call it a target.
Okay. Target's set up… Let's get started.
Too low… A bit more force…
Thunk.
Oooh, good penetration. Let's keep doing more of that.
Although I was using overhand before, side throws seem to come out just a bit faster. And with the fact that the blades always end point in, they tend to spin like discs, flying further instead of just tumbling through the air.
Plus, it looks way cooler spinning like that, and that has to mean something.
The target's looking a bit shabby: I think I'll go find another piece of wood…
There we go. Let's just lean this one up on this pile… There.
Too high. Aim a bit more left, too… Bingo… Okay, so if I let go right now...
Actually, let's move back a bit… Let's see how far I can throw from…
And then I stumble backwards into a pile of metal. Luckily, nothing is pointy, so I'm fine.
My fingers are wrapped around something solid… maybe a metal pipe or something. Hell knows, there must be a ton of them lying around, if UnderLinda always manages to get her hands on a new one each fight. Let's take a look at this thing...
What the hell.
Who throws out a perfectly good crowbar?
I mean, it's slightly rusty, but it's still serviceable. I mean, this is one of the heavy-duty two-hander crowbars. This thing definitely isn't going to dissolve into rust flakes the minute I use it.
At least, I hope.
It's just sitting here in the dump… I think I'll take it.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, right? No one will mind me grabbing a piece of trash. Let's just shove it into my inventory…
There we go.
Let's get back to throwing at the targets.
Hrm… it's a little bit harder from where I'm standing now… going to need to aim a bit further up…
There we go… That's two in the same place… let's see if I can get clustering going…
One… two… dammit.
One… two…
One… two… three!
There we go, three right on top of each other! Nice.
Awww… the new piece of wood fell apart.
Wasn't it reasonably solid a while ago? Let's take a look...
Oh wow, I've practically destroyed this thing. It honestly looks like termites have gone at it: it's got countless stab holes in it, in the parts that haven't just been punched out completely from complete structural failure.
Man, that was fun. I gotta do this more often. Near the end of it, I was able to throw a good three knives in a row, from doing a forehand-backhand-forehand motion. The backhand throw was a bit off from where I was aiming, but at least it was still reasonably close.
I'm bending over to move the demolished wood to the side, when I hear footsteps.
"Don't move!" yells a voice from behind me. It's a very familiar voice. "Raise your hands above your head, and turn around slowly!"
And then I remember, that I am in fact trespassing. Trespassing on government property, at that.
"Crud." I answer, as I carefully banish the knife I'm holding, and slowly turn around. I'm tensed up for potential confrontation.
And it's Uni. Well, that's a relief.
"Oh, hi Uni." I answer, as I flip my hood backwards. All this running around, and it had flipped up. It does that, sometimes. "You scared me, for a minute there."
She's of course pointing her rifle at me, but she lowers it the moment I turn towards her. "What? Huh? Derek? Why are you here?"
"I was getting some practice throwing knives." I answer, as I gesture towards the scrap wood that were once my targets. "I mean, I could've gone to practice on monsters, but I don't know where any dungeons are that are within a ten minute's walk. Plus, y'know, it's harder to practice when the target's actively trying to kill me. So what brings you to this dump?"
Uni gazes towards the scrap wood, before answering me with a flat expression across her face. "I got a report of some suspicious person being in the area. You do know you're trespassing, right? How did you get in here, anyway?"
"Climbed a wall." I answer, pointing towards the fence.
There's a blink. "So why are you here, and not with Nepgear, or something? Where is she, anyway?"
Right. That.
"I… might've gotten into a fight with her. I messed up really bad." I admit, as I scratch the back of my neck.
Uni stares back at me
"What?"
"Didn't you give me a whole speech about that yesterday?"
Crap. Once again, my words come back to bite me.
"Uhh…" I respond.
"What the hell did you even do?" she sighs, taking a seat on a pile of scrap.
"I…" I stutter, figuring out how to explain things, "I might've walked in on her getting dressed. I mean, I didn't look, but… the principle of the thing..."
"Seriously?" she cuts in, scoffing at me.
"Uhh..." I stutter again.
"That's why you're out here alone?" Uni's practically laughing at me. Why is she laughing at me?
"Look, idiot." she continues, rolling her eyes at me. "You said it yourself: she doesn't care. Just say sorry, and it'll be fine."
There's a pause from both of us.
"Oh, and you should probably leave. You're still trespassing."
My watch reads a bit after eleven by the time I leave the dump. Time really does fly when you're focused.
But now, it's time to meet up, I guess.
"So, where are you headed to now?" asks Uni, who has kindly escorted me out of the dump.
"I'm headed over to the Basilicom. I gave Nepgear and the rest a note saying I'd meet them there at ten thirty. Shouldn't you be out doing CPU things?"
"Eh. It's eleven in the morning. Nothing interesting ever happens at eleven in the morning." shrugs Uni. I guess everyone's either asleep or at work.
We continue walking for a minute and a bit, before I break the silence, looking over my shoulder.
"Thanks, by the way." I state, simply. I don't have better words for it, but I mean it.
"Huh?... Yeah, no problem." Uni's sounds surprised. Weird.
"I needed that."
I see the nod out of the corner of my vision, but it's interrupted by a small chime from Uni's phone, followed by an equally small groan.
"Damn." she states, as she glances down at it. "Some ASIC goons are hocking chips over in the east sector. I guess I have to go deal with this. I guess I should wish you good luck?"
"Same to you." I reply, gazing away to block out the flash of light from Uni transforming. I'm able to turn back, just in time to watch the transformed Candidate fly off into the distance.
Damn, I wish I could fly.
Oh well.
I've got another Candidate to apologize to.
"Hey Nepgear… I just wanted to say I'm really sorry. I swear I won't do that again."
Pretty much instantly after seeing them, I sprint up to the four, and get this done quick. Like ripping off a bandage.
"Huh? Oh. No problem. You just scared me, that's all." is her response. That's her entire response. No difference in her usual tone, no pause, no nothing. "We're just about to head inside."
Seriously?
I must've shown my bewilderment on my face, because IF makes a comment, "It's not like you did anything wrong, it's just you caught us all off guard."
My face is in my hands as I breathe in. "Dammit, really?" This was ripping me apart all morning!
I feel a hand touch my shoulder, but I'm not sure whose it is.
"It's fine, Derek." answers Compa. "You promised you'd knock next time, so everything's good, right?"
Of course, as the other two follow Nepgear inside, RED pulls me aside, just long enough to dramatically hiss "My Wifey!~" at me.
My response, of course, is, "You can have her. Not interested."
The inside of the Basilicom is rather similar to the one in Planeptune, save for the difference in color palette, and a different carpet. There's also less objects scattered around, probably a side effect of being staffed by Kei, rather than…
Well, anyone who isn't Kei, honestly. I can't imagine she'd be willing to put up with things out of order.
And speaking of Kei, there she is.
"Greetings. I trust from your… delay, that you've acquired the Hematite and Treasure Gem, correct?" Kei's in what appears to be a freshly dry-cleaned suit. She glances at each one of us in turn, pausing on each one as if scanning them. Her stare is calculating for IF, Compa, and Nepgear, one of slightly veiled annoyance for RED, who has her feet currently kicked up on a table from a nearby chair, and… something else, for me.
I'm not sure whether it bodes well for me. Probably not.
I guess goofing off for an entire day instead of giving her the loot put her into a sore mood.
"Yeah, it's right here." answers Nepgear, as she reaches into her inventory, and retrieves the gem, before handing it to Kei. Kei accepts the gem, holds it up to the light, and nods her head.
"And the Hematite?"
Nepgear pulls out the rock, and Kei begins to accept it, with her one free hand. Yeah, that's not a good idea. Dropping it on your foot could break a few bones.
I cut in. "The Hematite's pretty heavy. You'll want both hands for it."
Kei blinks at my intrusion, mulls the idea over, and then places the Treasure Gem on a nearby surface. She winces slightly as she accepts the heavy ore. "You've fulfilled your end of the bargain. But first, I'd like to hear about what exactly happened in the graveyard."
I already know the gist (read, nearly everything about it) of it, so I sorta just zone out until Nepgear stops talking.
Oh hey, she's done.
Kei takes one small breath. "That is a relief." With nary a pause, Kei directs us in front of a table, and retrieves a map from a nearby shelf.
"The last known location of the Mascot is here. This is a map of Septent Resort, a place I am sure you are now familiar with." the Oracle states, as she points to a spot on the map. "Unfortunately, it is unlikely you will be able to convince the Mascot to join you."
And that's basically it. There's a bit more chit chat, but we don't get any real information out of it. Nothing about how to convince the Mascot, nothing about potentially getting support in further endeavors - We're just kinda shooed out and left to do our own thing.
We leave the Basilicom shortly after, IF with a grimace across her face.
"What does she mean by 'Unlikely…' How can she be this difficult about something like this?"
I shrug. "Mascot's probably got a job to do. We'll just have to figure out how to convince it to offer us aid. Why do we need the whole thing, when just a bit of it will do?"
And thus, we check our supplies, and begin our trip back to Septent Resort.
At least, that was the plan.
Instead, I'm surrounded by guards, who pretty much yank me aside.
"Sir, the Oracle would like to speak to you personally. If you could come with us..."
There's a bit of confusion, and a few of the girls ask if they need to wait for me, but I wave them off. Their job is more important in the grand scheme of things. I, on the other hand, am just a tag-along. IF looks particularly reluctant, what with Kei being difficult, but… They need her more than I do.
"Go on ahead. I'll meet up with you later." I call out, even as I'm led back into the Basilicom. "Outside the Embassy, at three! I'll try to see you there!"
My little entourage of tag-alongs leads me back through the halls, only stopping in front of the office door. They're watching me, but make no move besides gesturing for me to go in.
No way back, no way but forward.
Full speed ahead.