The oppressive blackness of sleep faded, and Nepgear woke up on the park bench with the lukewarm grasp of the morning sun touching her face. She looked at her watch: 6:15am. Vert was likely still in bed. Were the events of the night prior a hallucination? She thought. She was completely dry, her clothes having not the faintest hint of dampness. Regardless, Vert would be awake soon and she didn't wish to keep Leanbox's CPU waiting.

Nepgear stood up, yawned, stretched, and set off back towards the Basilicom. The glow of the sun illuminated the building, giving it an ethereal orange aura. The cool Leanbox air nipped at Nepgear's skin, but it was not unpleasant. In a way, the cold morning walk was almost therapeutic. It was a far cry from Planeptune's mornings: They were almost never cold, except in the deeper winters, and Nepgear occasionally returned home from a walk covered in sweat. But Leanbox was different; gentle, and peaceful even.

Nepgear's mind began to drift, thinking of one very notable walk with Neptune. Why was the walk notable? Neptune never went morning walks with Nepgear. She was never awake, though it didn't take a genius to know that was the reason. One day, however, Neptune was up bright and early. She was eating pudding in the living room, flicking through the (admittedly dire) morning cartoons. Neptune caught sight of her sister, and cheerily offered a walk. Nepgear got dressed, brushed her hair, and the two sisters departed.

The two purple sisters ventured quite far from the Basilicom to a small hill overlooking one of Planeptune's many villages. Neptune was practically giving Nepgear a tour; every single thing they passed, Neptune had something to offer. A story, a bit of insight, a joke, or sometimes just a memory. She seemed uncharacteristically during their walk, as if it'd be their last. Nepgear shrugged it off at the time, but a year later on that same hill, Neptune would meet her end at Nepgear's sword.

The two sat down by a large, old tree. It was the tallest tree in Planeptune. Neptune had lovingly called it "Vert", as it was incredibly tall and wide but was in fact quite hollow. Vert did not take kindly to that.

"Hey, Nepgear?" asked Neptune quietly.

"Yeah, Neptune?"

"Do you think you'll be like this forever?"

"Like what forever?" replied Nepgear, puzzled.

"Mulling over your past failures, like watching the life drain from my eyes when you killed me." Neptune growled, her voice now echoing.

Nepgear snapped back to reality, in a daze. She steadied herself, only barely stopping herself from falling face first into the stairs to the Basilicom. What was that? She thought, both deeply confused and deeply worried. She shook her head, ignored the thought, and entered the Basilicom. The soothing warmth of the lobby contrasted heavily with the cold outside, and for a moment Nepgear felt at home. Despite being an "official" building, the lobby for Leanbox's Basilicom was quite humble, it was delightful.

At the front desk stood IF, who was in the process of stamping numerous documents, wearing the same facial expression one would wear after having their soul sucked out and sold at a children's art fair for $5. She heard Nepgear enter, and her head jolted upwards, her expression immediately changing to a warm one.

"Nepgear! I take it you were out a walk?" IF asked, evidently excited to speak to another person.

"Yeah, I usually go out for early morning walks. What about you? What's Vert got you doing?" Though she wouldn't show it, Nepgear was still nervous talking to IF, considering she'd previously murdered her.

"Every quarter we do citizen requests. Essentially, citizens can put in a request to Vert. Grants for projects, materials for refurbishing or reconstruction, you get the idea. I'm just stamping the approved ones…" IF looked down and signed "…all 400 of them. Please kill me."

Nepgear began visibly sweating.

"Anyway." IF looked back up "I think I hear Vert getting ready. She should be down soon. You can take a seat over by the fire. Don't worry, it's not a real fire." IF smiled, before grimacing down at the pile of forms she had to stamp.

Nepgear nodded nervously and sat down on one of the comfy fabric chairs that were dotted around the lobby. She opened her phone with a ding, and began searching through recent news. This dimension was rather uneventful, and the most interesting bit of local news was that some fiend in Lowee keeps digging up corpses for profit purposes. Huh… Nepgear thought …So that's the new Metroid game.

CLUNK.

The sound of a door closing woke Nepgear from her phone-induced trance.

"Goooooooooood morning, Nepgear! Shall we get going?" Vert asked in a sing-song voice.

"Absolutely!" Nepgear responded promptly, if a bit nervously.

Vert beamed a smile, pecked IF on the cheek, and then the three departed the Basilicom. 7:45am, and the world was beginning to wake. People were rushing to work, kids were dejectedly trudging towards school, and the pleasant aroma of food carts preparing for the day littered the air. In the days leading up the Deity of Sin's appearance (and death), all atmosphere had drained from the 4 nations. Stuff like… this was practically alien by the time it ended. It was refreshing, in a sense.

Vert took Nepgear to all manner of places; Leanbox's trillion merch stores, all of the strange food places the local library, the Leanbox stadium (which was mostly used for E3), the lake, and the most important of all: The Leanbox Catacombs. Despite the ominous name, the Catacombs were in fact an archive for lost, niche, rare, or games no longer being sold. Or, in some instances, Rare™. It was a majestic glass structure situated in a field, and powered with nothing but solar energy! There were many things lurking within: Ancient Lowee games, a few games and a console from a potentially made up nation called "Tari", a lot of Lastation shovelware that Noire is constantly begging Vert to destroy, some VERY offensive Lowee games that Blanc insists aren't real, Beth-san's integrity, and the crucified, still living body of Rare™. One thing Nepgear had noticed was that the citizens acted so… normally towards Vert. In Planeptune, both her Planeptune and this Planeptune, people got on their knees and prayed if a Goddess strolled around. But in Leanbox? People smiled and waved, as if Vert was an old friend.

Their fun adventure, however, took a turn for the bizarre on the way back to the Basilicom. The trio had been out for quite some time, and had decided to return to the Basilicom to catch some Z's and eat. As they reached the Basilicom gates, a crash echoed through the air. Behind them, a Behemoth had spawned. But not the average Behemoth, no. This one was sick, dying, and almost diseased. It huffed, heaved, and prepared to charge, but the minute it prepared to run, it collapsed over. Dead.

Nepgear prepared to investigate, but she was surprised by a guest: Arfoire.

The tall, silver-haired woman descended from the sky, collapsed her wings, and took Nepgear aside.

"Nepgear… dear, it appears we have a problem." She said grimly.

"A… a problem?" Gear asked cautiously.

"Indeed… Let's just call it a…" Arfoire turned, and looked away for a second. "Let's call it a call from home: From the Zetadimension."