Lastation bi-annual technology expo; it was held during spring and fall of every year. Various inventors; both young and old would showcase their creations to the public eyes. The event was much akin to a Comiket in real life, but instead of doujin products, they submitted inventions. The expo had been around since Nepgear and co. were just born from the mass influx of shares.
In short, considering the candidates' actual age, it had already been there for quite some time. Since both CPUs and Candidates kinda stopped aging at certain point, whilst normal humans kept coming and going, there were some of those inventors which Nepgear missed. Like A-san with his critically-acclaimed coffee machines and K-san with his enthusiasm for making the best remote-controlled vehicle. They were here for years, but lately these people weren't around anymore.
Not all of those inventors were from Lastation; there were some who came from outside the nation. Nepgear herself had personally came as an entrant this year, she's just felt resigned to tell the truth to Neptune—since she'll came straight here and mutter some embarrassing comments. Although the lilac sister entered on her own, the ones watching the stall would be the Basilicom staff so she'd be free to loiter around places of her interest.
Knowing the baby sister would be attending something akin to a doujin event for inventors—she would brag about the mad scientist creativity this girl-next-door has all day. Thinking 'bout how she didn't really want to stand out—Nepgear opted for Histoire to accompany her instead. Before her visit, she gave Noire an apology in advance; someone's gotta look after the slob older sister to make sure she didn't screw up somewhere.
Riding the train with the book fairy, the candidate and oracle amassed a bit of curious onlookers. They rode from Planeptune during the evening and would arrive in Lastation in few hours. A lot of these people who rode with them were Planeptune citizens wanting to go on a holiday to the other nation, or simply that nation's people going home. They could also be travelers who just liked to go around Gamindustri.
Nepgear felt rather uncomfortable with the overwhelming amount of stares directed at her. In Planeptune, she's just like a popular idol along with Neppy. Rumors came in rave when the lilac sister was told to have a special relationship with Uni, and that the CPU of Leanbox confessed to her but got flat out rejected.
"I wonder when all of these complicated rumors started to spread?"
About the confession with Vert, Nepgear was really surprised that the green goddess actually had feelings for her, but the lilac sister didn't seem to have any intent of getting on a romantic relationship. She wanted to go along with her research—it's not if she disliked Vert—she just thought—since Vert was so beautiful, it would make people's eyes turn on her and all of those mean rumors would spread until both of them parted out.
She already had enough of handling Neptune's workload, she just wanted to stay
away from as much troubles as possible.
When Vert asked her about Uni—something along 'if you didn't want me, did you actually love the black sister', the same could be said if she asked about Rom and Ram. They were her precious friends—though for some reason, it was mistaken for a hint of blooming love. It was unknown how such details were indulged to public—suspicion was roused to Gamindustri duo of journalists—Dengekiko and Famitsu. Although there's no actual proof of their conduct, when they were caught, severe punishments would occur.
"Uhhh...I really don't want to run to Uni today. She would bombard me with ridiculous questions regarding that rumor. Histy...what should I do?"
The book oracle who sat beside her calmly replied. "Calm down Nepgear. I'm sure she wouldn't be trifled with such rumors. She was your close friend for the longest time after all."
Nepgear had that aura which made her feel like a normal girl, just when she didn't pay any mind to it, the overwhelming gaze disippated out of blue, as if the lilac sister was just an ordinary passanger. Calmness returned to her complexion.
"I guess you're right."
Even the book fairy somehow got hit by the Doppler effect of this 'ordinary girl' aura, making her less conspicuous. Their train ride were pretty much cozy and silent. She saw hilly terrains at night illuminated by various road lights along the railway. The train passed through a lake, reflecting the reddish sunset rivaling those of Leanbox beaches. Though during the night, the best ones for Nepgear was the view of Planeptune's city from their living quarters' balcony.
Although this scenic sunset view was fine too, she thought, as the heat from the evening sun permeated through the train's window. Speeding at a steady pace, at times bouncy but mostly still to her comfort—she wondered if it's faster to just fly through there. Though, this kind of homely travel at relaxed pace were quite alright—she muttered in low voice.
Even if as the CPU Candidate, she didn't have to pay the fares, it still made her felt guilty about munching the complimentary dried chocopi, pudding and pork chops. Histoire also got the same portion, although due to her stature, she couldn't eat that much and Nepgear had to cut off the pieces small enough. In the end, the candidate ate one-half of the total portion, making her started to worry about her weight.
Although Nepgear wasn't really the type that would go fat from overeating, unlike Neptune. That fact alone made the older sister furious on some silly occasions.
Somewhere along the way, Nepgear felt asleep, and as soon as she woke up, the view of her beloved cyber-city Planeptune were replaced by the industrial steampunk metropolis—Lastation. There were various lights emanating from assorted factories. Even during the holiday season, there were people out working so hard. It was totally different from Planeptune, when the citizens were mostly closing up business and went on vacation to another nation.
Even though there were a lot of factories, the air around didn't seem polluted. When Nepgear opened the window to see how it smelled like, she only wafted the scent of trees, leaves and sometimes metal. Was it the prowess of Lastation technology that Uni and Noire were really proud of? The lilac sister kinda admitted that in some ways, Lastation had their own edge on technological prowess.
Even though Planeptune were the most advanced in tech development, it couldn't be said the same for them being a tourist attraction. Nepgear wanted to build a space station in there somewhere, or any futuristic-related attractions to bolster her nation's shares. In midst of her being lost in thought—Histoire tugged her shoulders.
"Nepgear, we're already here."
"Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to waste national funds on a space station or something, I swear!"
"What space station?" after mulling a bit, Histoire caught on rather quickly "I guess if it's you, it's most likely for the good of the nation. We can train astronauts there and maybe go on a space mission. The costs wouldn't be that high with our current technology."
"Yay!"
"Speaking of which, Nepgear. Wouldn't it be wise if we get off sooner? All of the other passengers alreardy got off—oh my, would there be any hotels present for booking at this hour?"
"H-hopefully so...ehehe..."
"Even so, this was a part of my carelessness. Knowing beforehand, I should have booked the tickets earlier. I'm really sorry for this."
"Please don't blame yourself, Histy! Well...if we're out of luck we can just stay at Uni's place."
Speak of the devil.
When they exited the train, there was Uni waiting up front. Judging from the weariness on her face, she's probably had been there for a while. Even more so with curious onlookers around—who might be important enough for their own CPU Candidate to wait so long?
"Why won't you reply to my calls and messages, you idiot!"
Disregarding the crowd that's curious about the meeting between those rumored two, Uni shouted on top of her lungs when Nepgear came into view. The lilac sister, who at first walked nonchalantly, froze up as she noticed so many people gathered forth.
"Ehehe..."
Conveniently emanating the ordinary girl aura, the purple candidate made the people who gathered for disappear. Uni seemed to notice that strange power and somehow forgot about things which made her upset.
The black sister thought, when she was with Nepgear, she could feel as if she's a normal middle school girl with her best friend. Although they're basically goddesses, there's a lot of occassion she wanted to forget it and pretend as if she's just someone ordinary. Rom and Ram also felt that too, the power which Nepgear had somehow rubbed on them when they didn't try to attract attention.
Though there were still various whispers.
"Two of them seem to really be at it. They're totally couples, I told you."
"Lady Uni and Lady Nepgear...ohh...they look so good together."
"Have they kissed? Have they done it? I bet they already did, lots of times over."
What on earth were those people saying? Nepgear just couldn't really fathom what those yuri enthusiasts were thinking. Just because they were both girls and a bit close together wouldn't always mean they've gone to such lengths.
Besides, the lilac sister thought of Uni of a pure, innocent girl that shouldn't be tainted with these words. Nepgear hurriedly pulled Uni's hand and skipped out of the station in haste, to which Uni let out a cute yelp.
"..."
Still in the train station, it seems both of the candidates forgot about Histoire.
"Those two. Oh well, I'll just contact Kei right away. Hopefully she'd still be in 'business hour'."
Two of the girls went on the back alley of the train station, attracting sights of people around. When certain they were out of sight, they caught their breath before finally speaking in a huffed voice.
"Seriously, what's wrong with you Nepgear? I know these guys are annoying but I don''t think just running in a flashy way would be the best option. We could walk away as if nothing happened, you know."
"...I really don't know, I just don't really want you to hear these things."
"What things? Believe me, Lastation had gotten all of the nasty rumors since the break of day. We've been the top nation for a good while and it seems some people just weren't happy 'bout it. If you're not content either despite our efforts, there's still other nations to live in."
"Umm...I don't think anyone could hate you and Noire that much."
"I really hope so. I tried my best to act like a good girl, I can't afford to make mistakes in which big sis would look bad."
"You don't have to push yourself so hard Uni, personally I'm fine with how you are."
In response, the black sister just let out a lengthy sigh, as if fed up with all the things going on in her life. Nepgear wasn't sure how serious it was, compared to the matters of Planeptune's declining shares even with their technological advancement.
"Well, I really should be happy with that, but you couldn't really use the lax standards of Planeptune. In here, everyone would be expecting you day by day to perform to certain extent, and if you couldn't do that, you'll never be the top anymore."
Hearing some mean comments about her own nation, the lilac sister felt a bit upset, but her being the good girl, just nodded and tried to listen more of Uni's problems.
"...so, what's that kind of rumor that's been troubling you lately, Uni?"
"I'm hungry."
The black sister abruptly changed the topic. She was really upset with the things going on Neppit, which made its way to the global news: Uni and Nepgear now officially a couple? Heartbroken Leanbox Goddess now seen lovey-dovey in Lowee!
"Say what?"
Uni felt like she was caught red-handed now that her secret feelings were out in the open. Nepgear on the other hand—were a bit too dense.
"I really hadn't got a chance for dinner since I waited for you-who haven't answered my calls nor messages at all."
It was an excuse made in a hurry; the black sister's face flushed red and she couldn't really think straight when Nepgear looked straight at her.
"...ah...I do put my N-Gear on silent during the train ride. I forgot to check messages since the view is so nice."
"I don't care, just treat me to a ramen, you dummy."
Uni averted her face again, afraid her blush would become so obvious that even the dense lilac girl would start to notice.
She started to become addicted to ramen when Nepgear cooked one for her back at Planeptune. Even though Lastation's spicy special was delicious, the lilac sisters' homemade cooking was something else—due to it being made by someone special.
"...umm...I don't bring money with me...Histy's the one with the wallet."
Nepgear just realized she left Histoire in the train station, which led her mouth agape.
"Man, you're seriously helpless. I was in a bad mood and I still have to treat someone? At times I wonder why am I keep getting attached to you-"
As if not shocked enough with leaving out Histy, now Uni nonchalantly confessed her affection to the lilac sister.
"U...Uni...do you mean...you like me?"
That line seem to broke a nerve on Uni. She lost all composure; involuntariy raised her voice, stuttering a bit on the way.
"D-don't misunderstand, you dummy! I just kept looking over you since you're so helpless sometimes."
"Ehehe...thank you very much, Uni. I know you're such a good friend."
"No embarrassing lines allowed!"
"Ehhh?"
Without realizing it, they've been re-enacting the characters from one of anime series they watched from while back. It was about someone from Gamindustri who moved to another planet filled with waters, living a carefree life as a ferry maiden. The main character was an air-headed good girl, just like Nepgear—she had a friend who acted just like Uni, her catchphrase was 'no embarrassing lines allowed'.
"It's getting dark out, let's just get some ramen."
"Alright."
Just few blocks from the station, was a popular ramen shop opening from evening 'til break of dawn. The owner was a grampa who immigrated from Planeptune, the one who lived through Uzume's ruling and still recalled the moment of good ol' days once in a while.
Sure thought, in this occasion, the said person happily gulped her ramen, whilst separating all the mushrooms and putting them in a different bowl.
"Gramps! The meal was delicious but wouldn't you please just spare the shrooms?"
It was the old CPU of Planeptune, Uzume Tennouboshi. After the events of Zero Dimension, she left Neptune and Nepgear to handle the matters of the nation, while she herself wanted to travel and see how much had changed. She were usually seen together with Adult Neptune which came from different dimension, but for now, she's not present.
It took few sips of ramen before Uzume noticed both of the candidates staring at awe on her. She was one of the ancient CPUs known to Gamindustri; kinda shocking how even after all these years, she retained an appearance of a young girl, even more so on her HDD form.
Before that, Uzume kinda joked to the old man, that she already ruled Planeptune for long enough before the grampa was even born. It made Uni and Nepgear thought deeply—it would be weird when they saw the citizens growing old, those who were once young children, now elderly people, and the candidates were still bunch of young girls.
Realizing that both the lilac and black sister didn't seem to react, Uzume called out to them. She vigorously slurped the remainder of the ramen and downed the entire soup in one go—the display of manliness made both of the candidates' heart race.
"Oi, Unichi, Gearchi! Having ramen at this hour?" her energetic greetings were same as usual.
"E-evening, Uzume. I was about to have Nepgear treat me, but she forgot her wallet."
"Good to see you again, Uzume. You haven't visited the Basilicom in a while, I really miss you."
"Umm...about that, how should I put it-I could treat you to some. Lately I've also been doing quest and so, got some credits raked in.
Sorry about that Gearchi, I've been traveling with Big Nepuchi for a bit, we came to Ultradimension through Crostie's power. I met this Plutia girl; she's really nice but she sometimes act a bit weird. When she went HDD she got really scary and she often groped me...it gave me shivers just remembering it."
"...I guess it's the same reason why Neptune would be away for so long."
"Yeah, we ended up messing around a lot and chillin' in various nations. The Peashy kid was pretty cool too. She could be violent sometimes but when you gave her pudding she's pretty tame. Before I noticed it, I was away for so long, kinda forgetting I had my old home in this dimension."
"Ah yes, I remember getting emails from Plutia about you. I kinda forgot since I was kinda busy with some stuff. It's really been a long journey indeed."
Nepgear didn't mean her work as CPU Candidate, more like her own robotic project that's going to be showcased on the Lastation Expo.
"...that Plutia girl...she's really scary...I don't want to experience being groped by her again. You must had nerves of steel, Uzume." Uni shivered upon hearing things concerning the sleepy girl.
"Yeah. She could be a handful sometimes, but it seems I wasn't really her type, so she didn't chase me out so fervently. Oh yeah, I just heard about your formation of the council system while I was away."
Uzume's tone went sharp from her easy-going speech.
"I noticed that too, Uzume. I believe things at Lastation would be outta control if we allow normal humans to mingle in the CPU's tasks. My sister was the only one who opposed it, but since the other three nation CPUs strongly endorsed it, we lost due to majority vote."
"Can't blame them indeed. This world had been in state of peace for so long, they wanted to feel like slacking off. I remember Blanc and Vert having their own hobbies to attend, and I know Neptune just loves being lazy."
Uni let out her paranoia to the Planeptune's ex-CPU:
"I'm afraid if we let them keep handling all the tasks, even if it's the menial ones, we might not be able to catch the details about what's going on. Sure we appointed those of good faith, but once there's a rat in the hole, there'd be lots of opportunities to throw an uprising."
"Times of peace were just calm before the storm eh, Unichi? I felt like your fears would be unfounded. Even if they rose against the CPUs, what matters is that we've done our best for the nation."
"...that's the problem though, due to the newly appointed system which reduced their workload, all of the CPUs started acting like slobs and forgetting about work. Even my hard-working older sister started to slack off like Neptune did too. If the CPUs started to lose things that made people respect them, it's plausible that-"
The ramen shop didn't have lot of people coming, but their nonchalant conversation caught the attention of those currently inside. First one to spoke up was the grampa.
"Fear not, Lady Uni! To us, the councils were just a token of our thanks for thing our CPUs had done for us. Even though we know you are goddesses, deep down you lot had human sides like us. Having high workload for an eternity wouldn't be nice ol chap like me, even if any case, I'd be forever young and vigorous. My grandson is a council worker at Lastation, he enjoyed devoting himself to make the nation a better place."
A factory worker who just went out from his overnight shift also smiled.
"The councils consisted of people educated in variety of subjects. I particularly like the new implementation to the work hours. No more companies bugging me during my day off, and the shift hours were regulated so it wouldn't go over certain hours. I had more time to spent with my family and the payroll system got a lot better too. I was really thankful to Lady Uni and Noire for appointing the top elites for the council."
An organization that was basically made to reduce the workload of the CPUs, formed by a strict selection of top intellectuals amongst the nation. Even though the CPUs lived for a long time and had known a lot of things about their nation, things to be worked on in detail were too much for just one or two people.
Each members versed in a particular field would personally look up to these matters, which in turn would consult with the CPUs and Oracles-or when they're unavailable, would leave it to the collective judgment on what's best. That way was similar to modern monarchy in real life when the CPUs would soon be reduced to just the nation's symbol.
The oracles would act as a stand in for Prime Ministers in that regard, or they might appoint normal humans with exceptional leadership as one, through the CPUs choice or through majority vote. Where the CPUs just have to do RPG like things that only them could do—clearing quests and be the saviors of Gamindustri in case calamity happened.
This might be a new era when humans would wield a bigger political power untik the CPUs were able to reside in Celestia up above, leaving the whole world in the hands of the mortals. That was how the gods and goddesses in real world originated.
Leaving all the political talk aside, Uni surmised that the citizens of Lastation weren't that opposed to the council idea. For the CPUs to act more like deities compared to rulers. Doing things that would incite feelings of awe to the beholders.
"Times sure had changed, eh. I never thought of myself as a deity, I felt more like a president of some kind. Whoops, ex-president might be more appropriate."
Uzume just shrugged her shoulders, and when she faced her table, three bottles of Lastation Herb Coffee was placed on the table. It was a warm coffee but placed on a big glasses akin to root beer in fast-food chain. The coffee itself were a bit bitter with crunchy black chocolate mixed in. A chocolate waffle roll was there in place of the straw. The taste were similar to a mint-flavored chocolate drink—it was a strange dish but office workers in Lastation loved it.
Gently nibbling on the coffee, the black sister let her thoughts meander.
"...deep down I wanted to feel like a normal girl too. It's kinda hard with people treating us like goddesses, even though we're technically one." Uni muttered in a low voice that only Nepgear could hear.
"What did you just say, Uni?"
"Ah, you dummy! Forget about it, let's just order some ramen."
"Since it's my treat, I'll get you guys this Uzume special. With all those fish chips and meat, and no mushrooms."
"W-we're okay with eating mushrooms actually. I by myself am not picky about food, we'll just eat whatever was offered, as long it's clean and healthy..."
"I have no complaints bout mushroom either, Uzume."
"Well, whatever. Since it's my treat, let us eat shall we? Ey, manager! Another three bowls, I felt like eating again after a long travel today."
Three of them ate in the ramen shop with mineral water and the herb coffee as treats. As another complimentary dish, they were also served slices of chocolate pudding. Uzume kinda ate too much so her pace was rather wobbly as she exited—she left two candidates and proceeded to the hotel she's staying at.
"Umm...Uni, can I stay at the Basilicom? I think most of the hotels were booked today."
A large part of it was due to the expo.
"...well, just once in a while okay? I don't want people having second thoughts by letting you stay around every single time."
"Yay!"
"S-stop it! It's nothing special really, I...just...kinda lent my place to stay to a...friend. Yeah, a friend."
...and so, both of them sauntered towards the Basilicom, still attracting some curious gossip folks who were observing their relationship. They paid no heed to it though.
As soon as they arrived in the Basilicom living quarters, they were greeted by Histoire and Kei drinking coffee together.
Since Kei had some duties to attend in the Basilicom the following day, she couldn't come to the Tech Expo with Uni, Nepgear and Histoire. It had something to do with the expo actually. Kei were managing the paperwork submitted at the last minute, and she wanted to make sure all eligible entrants applications were handled properly.
After the overnight shift, Kei just wanted to sleep the entire day. She told Uni to inform her about all the details, being the desk-job person, she was pretty peculiar about not spending the time outside.
Alas, Nepgear and Uni slept in the same room. The black sister laid out a futon below her bed, which Nepgear found really comfy she flopped and slept soundly not long after.
Seeing the lilac sister's sleeping face, she didn't look like a goddess at all, no matter what angle Uni took while observing her—she's no different than a normal girl, and not because of the ordinary chick aura she let out.
With Nepgear out in dreamland, the black sister was out by herself, contemplating whether their rise to deity status were necessary at all. If possible, she wanted to be more recognized like a human.
"...I might be thinking too much though. Uzume said, the deity-like treatment was even more-so in her era, though since she became close to the citizens, they started to treat her like a friend—a human friend. I guess, I needed to be closer to the citizens of Lastation somehow."
She wanted to make the expo a success by visiting all the stands and appreciating the inventors' hard work, while at the same time, trying her best to be genuine.
Nepgear's intention was different—she genuinely had interest in the expo and she visited just to satisfy her curiosity, much like most of attendants present.
"Should I just act like Nepgear and visit those that were of my interest? Though, that way, there might be those who were unhappy that I didn't pay attention of...I don't wanna make those fake smiles too...I wanna left a good impression, what should I do, Noire? If it's my big sis, what would she do?"
Uni couldn't sleep much during that night. Part of it was due to Nepgear snoring loudly and she also pondered about how complicated it was to make appearances.
She knew it's best to be herself, but when she thought about it, her honest personality might not be likeable to some people.
When Nepgear woke her up, Uni groggily stood up and her feet felt wobbly. She felt overwhelming amount of pressure as the current acting CPU of Lastation, now that Noire was off to visit Planeptune.
"What's wrong Uni? You didn't look so good."
If it's the usual self of black sister, she would just laugh it off, saying it's all the lilac sister's fault for snoring too loud.
This time, she decided to be honest.
"...to tell you the truth, I was nervous about having to make an appearance as the acting CPU. You know, like complimenting their hard work or so, but I just couldn't seem to think how to make myself seem genuine..."
"Huh? Did we actually have the acting CPU for last semester's expo? I think not. For me, everyone here was just there to have fun! Didn't we just look up the stalls and try out things got interested in? I still had the video of you taking perfect aim at the shooting range—it was viral all over Neptube."
Six months ago. It was just shortly after the Council's formation. Back then, Uni didn't let it get to her mind, just adapting the wait-and-see attitude. Nowadays, the council had become more of a rival to her—she didn't look in perspective that, the people of Council were just citizens using their expertise to personally help the nation.
She was afraid the Council would gain power and rebel, so she wanted to make appearances as the CPU Candidate. So, they would bow down to her and not try anything rebellious.
Now she realized-whether or not there's the Council, if people were disatisfied, they would rebel. The Council would even help relaying the complaints of the citizens and surmising the best ways the CPUs could deal with it.
Rather than trying to change how others look at her and Noire, how could she forgot—to have fun, to shine the best she could?
As Uni, the tsundere hard-working, gun-loving loli a lot of people wanted to be their little sister of.
"...I guess you're right, Nepgear."
The black sister finally broke to a smile, as if the fatigue from before just vanished. Although her steps were kind of unsteady, the lilac sister supported her slender body.
They prepared to go to the Expo together with Histoire.
That day was a lot of fun.
Nepgear would go back to Planeptune with Histoire as the night fell, this time by flying. Uni felt a little lonely since her closest friend, who subtly gave her a push forward from the dark—finally went home. She still felt the warmth of their journey through the expo, acting like two ordinary girls having fun-they could drop all the pretense of being CPUs and just let loose.
Gazing at the lilac sister's flying figure from her balcony, Uni wished for the best to happen to her friend.
Kei watched the melancholic back of the black sister, just like a parent witnessing their child growing.
She thought, it's nice that CPUs don't age. Their friendships would last for a really long time. After just a short contemplation, she returned back to her desk—and slept.
Uni noticed Kei's watching her and followed forth to her office. She found the oracle sleeping in awkward position.
"She must be working overtime again." thought the black sister.
Noticing a comfy-looking blanket, she took it and gently draped it across Kei's body. The oracle was now enveloped in a warm silky texture of it, amidst the mildly air-conditioned room she was in.
"May tomorrow's business be great, Kei." whispered Uni, not sure if the oracle would hear or not.
The black sister went back to her room, a bit lonely since Nepgear weren't here. Kinda felt disappointed that Kei somehow put back the futon used by the lilac sister last night.
She wanted to sleep in her warmth.
Although she felt, it's already nice enough to remember the innocent smile of the girl she held dear.
"...I hope you'd be sleeping well over there too, Nepgear."
As the expo ends and she already did a lot of fun things, the black sister slept well during the night.
Sweet dreams, Uni.