I'm still working on rewriting the early chapters, so there'll be delays in updates. As I'm going to spend 1-1.5 week every month for rewrite and then start working on the current one.

Plus Trails of Cold Steel 3 was finally released on PC, which takes more of my free time.

I also got a new drawing to show, this time it's Fay.

Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Girls Talk

Histoire and Mina have received a very surprising message. They read it once, checked it twice and even asked the other Oracle if they got the same thing. They did. Both of them have received an email from ASIC.

From a CFW Magic no less.

And the content was even more surprising.

"The ASIC is disbanding?!"

Histoire read it for the third and fourth time, wondering if she somehow misinterpreted the message or that this was all a prank and the letters would change suddenly. But no matter how many times she read it nothing about this message changed. The ASIC was about to dissolve, and the people in charge were warning the governments to prepare.

And funnily enough… this was bad news for Gamindustri.

The ASIC had a gigantic presence in the world. It was an organization that was simply too big to disappear without consequence. For the ASIC to simply disband would bring a whole set of problems for all of Gamindustri to handle. It would bring major economic chaos as all of their suppliers would lose their biggest customer, the Shares the ASIC collected will be lost, their products will no longer be made, and a lot of people are going to be out of a job.

At least CFW Magic was considerate enough to warn Histoire and Mina in advance, and possibly Kei and Chika too. This wasn't yet announced to the public, it was merely a warning for the governments to start figuring out a solution for this problem.

Histoire rested her face on her hands, not believing this day would finally come. It was too sudden, it came too quickly, Histoire wasn't ready for the ASIC to just… get up and leave. And now she, Mina and everyone else will have to think up a solution or suffer severe consequences.

This wasn't just Planeptune's or Lowee's problem, Lastation and Leanbox will also be affected by this. Was that ASIC's ploy? They realized that their grip on the world was weakening, so they decided to bring everyone down with them? Was this warning some sort of ultimatum? The CFW didn't send any demands, but she might do so later.

"Good grief…" Histoire sighed loudly. This was one way to start a day, by getting warned of a imminent catastrophe if drastic measures aren't taken quickly.

Mina's voice reached her through speakers, the Oracle of Lowee having similar thoughts in her own nation. "To think that the fall of ASIC, the organization which kept the CPUs hostage and dominated over the world's Shares, would dissolve so suddenly. I was not prepared for this."

"Me as well. This is just too out of nowhere."

She almost hoped that this was some sort of prank, that someone hacked CFW Magic's email account and sent the emails to shake things up, but then someone invited both Histoire and Mina into a group voice chat. Kei and Vert wanted to discuss some matters with them. No points for figuring out which ones.

And both Histoire and Mina already heard about Vert's sudden reappearance, but they never actually had a chance to speak with her. This could be their opportunity to greet her.

Histoire accepted the call and the faces of the two other leaders appeared on the screen, a moment later Mina joined the group conversation as well.

"Hello Histoire, Mina." Kei started with a greeting, before immediately getting to the point. "I take it you two have also received the ASIC's email."

Histoire noticed that the CPU of Leanbox wasn't in a good mood, but she thought it was understandable given the circumstances. Mina sighed and nodded solemnly. "Yes, we were already discussing it. So that message is true then?"

"Yes it is, I've already confirmed it." Kei also wasn't very happy about the news, in fact Histoire would be surprised if anyone with their experience would be happy about it.

Maybe they could rebrand ASIC into something different; install a different administration, one that would cooperate with the government, and turn the whole organization into something different. Bring it back to its roots. This would fix the problem of ASIC's piracy and the problems that would arrive from destroying the organization completely.

Would CFW Magic and CFW Brave be willing to simply step down and let someone else take charge, instead of outright dismantling the organization?

Something to shelve for later, and maybe bring it up during this discussion. For now Histoire smiled and addressed Vert. "I'm glad to see you, Vert. The news of you returning to Leanbox were a welcome surprise. How's Miss Hakozaki doing?" She must be running herself ragged trying to keep everything afloat. Last time Histoire checked there was a gigantic battle taking place in Leanbox, destroying a good chunk of the nation. On top of that there were repeated break ins into the Basilicom, resulting in a few criminals escaping.

CFW Magic was seen helping said escapees.

"Chika's recovery is progressing smoothly, she should be fine in a couple of days." Vert said.

Histoire blinked. Was Chika hurt in the commotion? She didn't know about that. "Recovery? Did something happen to her?"

"ASIC managed to kidnap Chika and put an imposter in her place." Vert said, and both Histoire's and Mina's eyes widened from surprise. "I took care of the imposter and found Chika stuck inside a volcano…"

Oh.

...That couldn't be good for a person's health.

Histoire never noticed that Chika was an imposter. Was that recent? Not? Has the ASIC been keeping Chika in a volcano this entire time?

"Do you need assistance? I have a great doctor on standby who could certainly help her recover."

Kei, at the mere reference of that certain mercenary, started to remember his procedure on Uni, and how he left her with her skeleton duct taped. On the outside however her poker face never moved an inch. "...We're getting off-topic, guys." The Oracle of Lastation said.

"Thank you, but Chika will be fine with just some rest. I also have Noire helping me-"

"Noire!?"

And Kei's entire calm and collected demeanor shattered with just a single shout. Silence fell among the women as Vert's casual mention of the missing CPU shocked the Oracle. "Noire is with you?!" She repeated, not realizing that she raised her voice.

Vert meanwhile was confused why Kei reacted like that, but then she remembered one crucial detail. "...I never told you?" The CPU asked.

"You did not." Kei said.

Histoire was surprised as well. There were no news regarding Noire's rescue, even Kei was in the dark about this. Histoire remembered that Samantha Neikan was trying to find Noire in Leanbox, did that mean she succeeded?

Vert's shoulders dropped and she apologized."I'm sorry for that. It must've slipped out of our minds after the most recent break in."

"There was another one?" Histoire asked.

"Please don't remind me." Vert curtly shut down any attempt of getting more information. The CPU of Leanbox pressed some button on her keyboard and said "Noire, could you come here to my room. It's important."

The finger released the button and Vert sighed. "I'm really sorry Kei. We had a lot of work to do after an extremist committed an act of terrorism just to kill one person."

Kei's brows burrowed into a frown. "Was that the district I kept hearing about in the news?"

"Yes, and the news were actually downplaying this whole thing. It wasn't a good day and it's been getting worse ever since."

Histoire grew concerned, thinking if she should send her mercenaries to Leanbox to assist. Then she realized what could they do, kill more people? Medic and perhaps Engineer would be the only useful people there.

"I'll ask again, do you need assistance?"

But Histoire felt like she should at least try helping. If Vert agreed then she would send someone, if she refused then Histoire won't bring it up again. The CPU of Leanbox looked thoughtful, as if this time she was genuinely considering it, however her next sentence turned Histoire's blood into cold ice.

"...Do you know a person known as Samantha Neikan?"

Because Histoire knew that person.

They didn't meet in person and Histoire never saw her face, but the Fairy memorized that name. After all the True Goddess ordered her to listen to her. Samantha had helped them whenever they needed, Neptune wouldn't be awake if it wasn't for her, the actual True Goddess supported her.

"...I can't say I do." Said Kei. "What did they do?"

"She was the mastermind behind the whole disaster. She admitted to it and also said that she allied herself with the CFWs." Vert explained, reinforcing Histoire's horror. "I think that she may have also played a hand in the ASIC's dissolving."

Was that true? Vert had no reason to lie, but maybe that was someone else. Another person sharing the same first and last name, otherwise it seemed like the True Goddess supported a terrorist who didn't care about the collateral damage.

Samantha Neikan… just what in the world are you doing? Histoire found herself wondering. She saw the news of the state Leanbox was left in after the CFWs attack, but to think it was all organized by their Mysterious Benefactor? Was she also working towards springing chaos and destruction in Planeptune as well?

Now Histoire was at dilemma, should she notify Vert and Kei about their contact with Samantha as well? They've only gained from her work so far, unlike Vert whose nation seemed to be crumbling because of her.

...She should. Keeping a secret of this magnitude bit her back before.

"H-Hold on, excuse me." But before Histoire could say anything, Mina got a visitor. Either by coincidence or on purpose her microphone was still on, which meant Histoire, Vert and Kei could hear everything.

And Mina's visitor was Soldier.

"Look what I found!" The merc said cheerfully.

"I'm sorry Soldier but I'm- throw it away!"

Mina threw herself under her desk, her voice frantic and loud. Completely frightened by an object which Soldier shown her. Vert and Kei were surprised, and even slightly concerned about the Oracle of Lowee's safety, but Histoire… Histoire watched the disaster unfold with a completely resigned expression.

Their daily dose of shenanigans.

"Spinning, spinning!"

Judging by the sound Soldier was winding up something, maniacally laughing as he was doing so. For a brief moment Histoire wondered what was he doing, but then the footage just… abruptly cutoff. Mina left the call and went offline, leaving the other three worried and confused.

Histoire began calling Blanc while Kei and Vert were processing what just happened. "...Did we just witness an assassination attempt?" Kei asked.

"I'm calling Blanc. Please hold on." Histoire said before muting her microphone. The CPU of Lowee answered on the third ring, and Histoire didn't need long to know she was annoyed.

"This is not the time, Histoire. My Basilicom just blew up."

"Oh, so that's what happened."

Blanc was surprised by this answer. "Wait what? You know something?"

"I know that Soldier did it."

Blanc hung up, probably so that Histoire won't need to listen to her incoherently screeching from anger. After that short but productive conversation Histoire unmuted her mic and reported to the two eagerly awaiting leaders.

"Blanc will check it out."

"I hope Mina was alright." Vert said.

"Don't worry, she's okay. This is an everyday thing for us." Histoire said.

…

They heard her correctly, they knew that. And at the same time they felt it would be good for Histoire to say it again, because Vert had trouble imagining this. "Uhh… what did you say?"

"Moving to the matter at hand, I know about Samantha Neikan. While I didn't see her in person she sent us letters before."

"No go back, what was that about?"

Kei wanted Histoire to go back to that part where stuff like that was apparently everyday for Mina, but Histoire brushed it over. Vert hopped on board too and asked about the letters. "Letters? Can I know what they said?"

"Histoire?"

"She said she was going to Leanbox to look for Noire, and also gave us a package of shares to help us wake up Neptune."

"..." Kei finally gave up and followed the flow. "A package of shares?" The Oracle frowned. "She gave you a Sharicite?"

"Actually no, she didn't. She left a remarkably strong Share Imprint on the paper, in fact it was so strong that the paper could act as Sharicite."

Her listeners blinked owlishly. "...I hope you won't be insulted if I have trouble believing this. Share Imprints left on objects are barely noticeable, not really usable for anything." Kei said.

"Yes, I know. I was surprised as well when I saw it." Histoire retorted.

"...I actually believe her, Kei." Vert said, much to the Oracle of Lastation's surprise. "When I fought Samantha, I felt an abundant amount of Shares leaking from her. Way too much for it to be a Share Imprint left by a CPU."

"So is she a new CPU? Made by the ASIC's belief perhaps?" Kei asked.

"Me and Mina already had that conversation with someone who actually met Samantha. We finally settled on her actually not being a CPU." Histoire said.

Kei fell silent, before bluntly voicing out what she thought about all of this. "...This makes no sense. Who was that witness, can you call them here?"

"Unfortunately she ran away, however Samantha said she was with her in Leanbox." Histoire said.

"I see." Kei scoffed.

"Is her name Falcom? Blue hair and eyes? And also blue jacket and wielding a longsword?" Vert said.

"...Yes?" Histoire said.

"Yes, I saw her with Samantha." Vert nodded. "She tried to kill me and both I and Samantha had to restrain her."

Histoire's first thought was a surprised Huh? Before she remembered that she put Falcom on surveillance for a reason. Histoire was glad she didn't to kill Nepgear as well.

"Well that's an interesting conversation you can finish later." Kei interrupted. Usually she would let them continue as they fed Kei free information, but the longer they talked the less sense everything made. There was also one small detail Kei would not allow them to forget. "But I need to know, where's Noire?"

Vert smiled and chuckled lightly at the question. "She has been standing there for some time, waiting for a good moment to cut in. Come say hello!"

They waited a moment, and then a black-haired woman appeared behind Vert. She looked less happy and more perplexed and confused. "Who were you talking about?"

"I have absolutely no idea, Noire. The facts don't make any sense." Kei answered. "...It's good to see you back, though."

"Thanks, you too. Sorry for not calling… we've been very busy. Somebody broke into the Basilicom, again, kidnapped 5pb and now we're in uproar."

There were looks for surprise and terror made by others, alongside Vert's look of thinly covered rage at the mere mention of that.

"As you can see… we are very busy people."

"Alright this is a problem, we'll need to be smart about this." Noire said. "Thanks to the ASIC's warning, we have time to save and gather funds to invest them into business. Create as many new jobs as we can for the incoming workers from the ASIC. However we need to be careful; if we overdo it, or if we do this too quickly or rapidly we'll have a wholly different problem on our hands."

Noire just needed a short debrief on what was going on before she went about with her suggestions. Each of them sound as you would expect from the CPU of Lastation.

"We could also use the Guild's Adventurer Start-Up program to take some people." Histoire supplied. Noire nodded at her suggestion.

"Yes, this is a major boon in our situation. If we can get the Guild to increase recruitment then they could be our buffer, something to slow down the effects while we work on the solution. I'm pretty sure the ASIC have plenty of thugs who can handle a few monsters. The rest can wait for the new jobs to arrive. By the way… did anyone check if those letters are actually legit?"

"I sent an email to the ASIC asking about these letters, and yes they said it's true." Kei answered. "The CFWs are dissolving the organization."

"Do we know why?" Histoire asked.

Kei shook her head.

"We can learn why they did it later, right now we need to figure out a way to prevent an economic collapse." Noire huffed. "We need to quickly send a warning to their suppliers and clients, tell 'em that the ASIC is dissolving. The demand could be picked up by different companies but the suppliers will be in trouble if they get blindsided by the ASIC's disappearance. Kei, do we still have those funds I saved for emergencies?"

"We do. Should I start using them?"

"Yes. But do it slowly and don't spend too much at first." Noire ordered. "I don't actually believe they'll just disappear. At worst they would lay off some people and maybe scale down the production, maybe retire and leave the organization to others. Not something as catastrophic as this."

"But even so, we have to prepare for the worst." Kei said.

"Yes." The CPU of Lastation nodded. "Histoire. Did you and Mina save something for emergencies?"

Noire knew it was a dumb question, but one she should ask nonetheless. Only a dumbass leader wouldn't save some of their funds for an emergency situation, and this counted as an emergency. Histoire actually did have savings for occasions like these, and Lowee was such an unique nation that there was hardly anything that could truly threaten it. Even the Killachines would have trouble destroying it completely.

The problem was the fact that both nations were currently recovering after their own tragedies. This made the situation worse as neither nation could operate at their full capacity. Planeptune lost a lot of civilians due to Histoire letting the mercs assault ASIC outposts, and because of that a lot of people lost faith in the government. Lowee meanwhile was at a constant threat of invasion from the Killachines - a threat that the mercenaries were currently taking care of, taking a lot of money from Lowee as a result.

Noire saw how way Histoire winced at her question and the her shoulders dropped in bewilderment. "...You don't have any?" Did she overestimate Histoire's capabilities? Or was there something she missed during her captivity? A dark, small corner of Noire's mind thought that the Oracle of Planeptune was growing incompetent, or corrupt. She knew that Histoire prioritised the prosperity of the nation first. She would have something to keep it afloat.

"We did, it's just that recent events have exhausted most of them."

"...Oh."

That explained everything, and also casted away Noire's worries while creating more. "Kei, could you divert some of our funds to provide financial support?"

Histoire's eyes widened at the proposal, and Kei was also surprised. The Oracle of Lastation checked her notes with an unreadable expression on her face, but Noire knew she was thinking, calculating the most effective way to do this talk. "...That would be hard." She said. "Our emergency funds wouldn't cover it, we would have to cut into our budget, lower the funding for several sections just to gather enough for one nation. Supporting two would be impossible."

Kei was also asking herself why Noire even wanted to support Miss Pauling's faction, but she didn't voice it out.

"Really? I trust my nation to be able to handle this." Noire said.

After all, she created Lastation and turned it into an economic powerhouse. Even her 3 years of absence wouldn't be able to shake that, she trusted Kei and Uni to keep things running smoothly and not lose too much.

Kei silently rechecked the reports, shifting through a dozen or so pages and scribbling something on a different sheet of paper. Histoire was too stupefied to interrupt, shocked that someone would even consider giving financial aid after the ASIC had their way with them for 3 years.

Noire was either confident or foolish to expect her nation to not degrade during her absence. Kei and Uni were working to keep Lastation afloat, yes, but they did so with duct tape, gum and blind luck. The CPU of Lastation, who was stuck working in Leanbox for a week, had little idea how her own nation fared.

"...I don't think it would be wise, we don't actually have much to cut into." Kei's passive and firm voice rang with common sense, while inside she hoped that Noire would see that her nation would actually not be able to give any aid, especially to two nations.

Noire clicked her tongue, something that went unnoticed by everyone besides Kei. "I see. Sorry Histoire, looks like you'll be on your own."

The other Oracle wasn't angry or even shocked to hear those words, she knew from the start that there wasn't any chance of her and Lowee getting anything. She knew the reality.

"I understand, don't worry."

They would have to just think of something. Noire's pointers were helpful and it helped that Planeptune had the lowest number of ASIC workers. While still catastrophic, it shouldn't affect Planeptune as hard as the other countries. It wouldn't fix the other problems like the lack of supply to meet the demand, but with some skillful negotiations and smartly investing whatever credits she could scrape Histoire was confident she could mitigate the damages.

Lowee… she would help Mina as much as she could.

"We'll be very busy during these next few days, it's going to be hard but I think we'll manage." Histoire said.

Noire nodded. "I wish you luck... do we have anything else to talk about?"

"...I don't think so." Vert said.

"Alright then, how about we end it here. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Histoire disconnected, but Vert and Kei didn't. The two kept up their connection and continued to talk.

"Well… with that out of the way. It's good to see you again, Noire." Kei greeted. "You want me to call Uni? She's on a mission right now, but she would return quickly if she heard that you returned." In fact Kei didn't doubt Uni would drop whatever she was doing and go to see her. The Oracle knew how much Uni missed her sister, even if she didn't show it that much.

"If she's busy then call her later." Noire shook her head. "I don't want to disturb her work."

She said that, but Kei already typed out the message and discreetly sent it to Noire's sister.

"I just wanted to know something." Noire said.

"What is it?" Kei asked but she already imagined possible answers. The way her CPU narrowed her eyes told Kei she was suspicious, she wanted answers.

"Who is Gray Mann and why are you working with him?"

Exactly as Kei predicted. She already prepared all sorts of evidence and photos to show her and support her own case. "To not repeat information, how much do you know?"

"Pretend I'm stupid." Noire deadpanned.

So either Vert didn't say anything at all, or Noire just wanted to hear it from Kei's lips. "During your absence, strange machines started appearing in our forests. At first we thought those were some new mechanical monsters created by your absence, but these machines were actually soldiers from another world, sent by Gray Mann to chase his enemies."

"Another world?" Noire asked.

"Yes. I can actually confirm this information is completely true. Me and Uni were given a tour around…" Kei checked her notes. "The United States of America."

"And they invaded Lastation?" Noire narrowed her eyes.

"Gray Mann did, by accident. He sent his robots through a portal to chase his enemies and they ended up in the forests in Lastation. They lost contact with their command, and went berserk as a result."

"Were people hurt?"

This was one of the questions where the result will be bad no matter how Kei answered it. If she said yes Noire will get mad, if she said no then Kei would be lying, and Noire would be mad too.

"Yes."

"Then why is he still here?!" Noire raised her voice. Vert winced but Kei didn't show any reaction, she expected this after all. "If people got hurt because of him then you should throw him into prison!"

"Because he's compensating us for that." Kei answered. "He supports our research, security and workforce. We got tons of revolutionary tech that is being researched by our R&D, all donated to us by Gray Mann. His army is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping the nation free of monsters. Our people are even starting to warm up to the sight of automated defenders."

Noire closed her eyes, processing the information and calming down. She saw some robots roaming the Basilicom and the nation itself, healing patients in hospitals and clearing entire fields of monsters. "Are those machines in Leanbox his as well?"

"Yes."

"What if they turn on us?"

"These machines are hard-coded into listening to Gray Mann, and he ordered them to listen to us." Kei answered.

"What if he turns on us?"

A bit surprising question, but not totally unexpected. "I have an elite battalion placed in his HQ, ordered to take control of it if something goes wrong. And if they failed we have its location, Uni will be able to storm the place with her new friend."

Now Noire was surprised. Anything Kei said so far just made her suspicious but the moment she mentioned that Uni made a friend Noire's face lit up with shock. "Uni made a friend?!"

"Yes, her name is Nisa."

Kei had to resist smiling at the face Noire was making. A mixture of surprise, intrigue and concern that whoever this friend was was taking advantage of her little sister.

"A-Anyway. Who is Miss Pauling?"

"She's the right hand of a woman known as the Administrator. To summarise, this woman controls Gray Mann's entire world with blackmail and manipulation, and she now has her eyes on Gamindustri for reasons unknown to us. All we know is that the Administrator wants to spread her influence here via Miss Pauling, and she may or may not control the rest of the world."

"May or may not?"

"Uni and Nisa reported that Blanc said Lowee and Planeptune not with Miss Pauling. That they kicked her out at the first notice. However we have evidence that contradicts this."

Kei pressed a few buttons and video files were sent onto Vert's computer. The CPU downloaded them, put them on her desktop and clicked on them.

The first video showed a black haired woman waiting for Histoire by the table, wooden floor, table and chairs were all that Noire could see. Vert pointed at the black haired woman and helpfully supplied who that person was. "That's Miss Pauling."

Noire nodded, her eyes glued to the screen.

So she was their apparent enemy? A purple dress and black hair, the camera's angle made it hard to see anything else of her features.

Then she saw unmistakably Histoire appearing on the screen, floating on her book just like Noire remembered. She looked… slightly older, but then again Noire was held captive for 3 years.

They talked, Noire could tell that much from their lips moving and the small movements of their bodies, however there was no sound.

"No sound?" The CPU of Lastation questioned.

Kei shook her head. "The camera didn't have a microphone to record audio, but the timestamp shows this video was taken just 3 days ago. And if we go by Blanc's testimony they should've cut all contact with Miss Pauling by now."

Noire nodded and watched, catching every small movement she could find. While Miss Pauling was casual, Histoire seemed to be tense but not outright scared. Was that because Miss Pauling did something to her?

The CPU of Lastation wished the camera angle wasn't so poor, if she could at least see their faces it would change everything.

"How did you get your hands on this video?" Noire asked.

"One of the machines hacked into Planeptune and found this footage." Kei answered.

"You hacked into a different nation." That wasn't a question, but Noire stating the fact in order to demand an explanation.

"We had to know if they were really with Miss Pauling or not."

"And these other videos?"

"We got them from ASIC servers… be careful though, they're gruesome. They show the Mercenaries that Histoire hired in action."

Noire did hear that there was some commotion in Planeptune, with Histoire apparently hiring assassins to mass murder the ASIC.

She had Vert move onto the next video, that gruesome one that Kei warned her about.

Within seconds Noire turned away, bile rising to her throat and disgust appearing clearly on her face. Kei wasn't kidding nor exaggerating that this footage was gruesome. Good thing that there was no audio here as well, or their screams might've been forever buried within Noire's mind.

"When was this taken?"

"This one is older, taken a week or two ago. It's there just to show that these men are capable of killing people, and they're efficient."

And brutal Noire wanted to add. Still, if these men were with Histoire then no wonder she felt fearful. She was probably worried that she could get killed at any moment.

What was Neptune doing in all of this? Did she know and didn't care? Or was she kept ignorant of all of this?

...This was Neptune she was talking about, when did she ever work?

...But even Neptune would do something with this. When the threat of ASIC appeared, she was the one to react first. The only time Neptune would get off her ass was when there was trouble ahead.

So maybe they got to Histoire before Neptune even woke up. They had weeks to do that.

But Noire had that itching, compelling feeling that there was something off about all of this. However Noire didn't know what it was. Kei wouldn't give her bad intel, she knew Noire would smell BS from miles away. Her Oracle wasn't lying to her, the CPU knew that.

Perhaps there was more to it than just us versus them. Noire would have to gather more info before she made her decision.

She asked Vert if she could download those videos for later, then with her permission she copied all of her files onto her phone. Reviewing them would make a good first step, drilling Kei, Uni and that Nisa person for more info would come later. She would also need to have a private talk with Gray Mann, find out his goals and learn more about him, as well as the others from his world.

Something wrong was going on here. Noire's alarm bells weren't ringing yet but she was suspicious of this old person.

"I'm sorry Vert, but I have to return to Lastation." Noire said.

The CPU of Leanbox nodded. "You finally should, goodness knows why I've let you stay here for a week."

Noire took this as a challenge, and started counting off her fingers. The CPU's voice sounded even, not accustory nor sheepish, merely stating a fact. "Mountains of paperwork, you being agitated by the past events, and me volunteering to help."

...Vert stared at Noire dryly, "Oh please, I wasn't that agitated." She waved dismissively.

"You almost snapped when Samantha came here and kidnapped 5pb."

Vert's eye twitched.

"Do you want to leave or not?"

"I do, but I also want to make sure you'll be fine once I leave."

With a press of a button the connection ended, and Histoire was alone. Paper sheets littered Histoire's desk, filled with tips and pointers from Noire. Histoire grabbed one and read it again, ideas forming within her mind. Not full ideas, but a good foundation to work on.

She got another call - from Mina this time, Histoire accepted it immediately.

On the other side was the Oracle of Lowee, covered in soot and she didn't even bother hiding her annoyance. "Are you alright?" Histoire asked.

"Despite how I look, I'm actually okay." Mina said, looking like a walking vein of coal. "Soldier blew himself up and knocked out my internet, I'm not too late am I?"

To Histoire he did a little more than just knock out her internet, because she was sure the soot came from that bomb Soldier just brought right into the Basilicom. It was amazing the security didn't try stop him.

Maybe they actually did try.

"You're free to reprimand him in any way you want." Histoire said. "As for the discussion, we've already finished it. But I have made notes that I can share with you."

"Thank you Histoire, these'll be useful."

However Mina would have to wait before she received them, as Histoire's desk was currently cluttered and in a dire need of organization. Fortunately Histoire was well versed in this activity, it wouldn't take long.

And as Histoire began organizing her desk Mina didn't disconnect yet, which gave Histoire an opportunity to discuss the actions of Samantha Neikan. "Hey Mina, do you remember Miss Samantha Neikan? The Mysterious Benefactor?"

The other Oracle paused, her brows furrowed due to her not knowing what brought this conversation. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"It seems that Vert fought her and she was behind those events we saw in Leanbox, Vert said she even allied herself with the CFWs."

Gears turned in Mina's head, the pen she was writing with ceased to move. "...Oh." She said. "This is a surprise, what should we do with it?" She added.

"I don't think there's anything we can do at this point." Histoire sighed. Miss Neikan didn't give them any means of contacting her, which was a shame because Histoire had tons of questions to ask her about. "However if we get a chance we should ask her about it."

"I'll keep it in mind. Is there anything else?"

"As of now, no, I just wanted to inform you about it."

"I see."

The conversation was finished and silence fell upon them, as both Oracles focused on doing their paperwork and keeping their nations afloat.

Then Histoire received a call from her receptionist, which broke her focus. "Yes, what is it?" The Oracle said.

"You have two guests, lady Histoire." The receptionist answered. And before Histoire could say she was currently busy and didn't want any visitors, the lady at the desk dropped the hammer. "One of them is 5pb and they're brought here by Samantha Neikan."

Histoire stopped.

5pb.

The same 5pb who got kidnapped from Leanbox.

Carried here by Samantha Neikan nonetheless.

This could not be a mere coincidence. Miss Neikan already sent her once what she needed, exactly when she needed. How she knew Histoire had a few ideas but she wasn't sure, why she did it she was completely clueless. At first it seemed that Samantha worked for the benefit of all… only to be behind a tragedy that befell Leanbox.

If it wasn't for the news she recieved from ASIC, learning that she had a hand in the attack on Leanbox would push Histoire to diverge some of her resources into finding her. What sort of move had she made this time? Histoire thought to herself. "Is Samantha Neikan with them?"

"One moment."

Histoire patiently waited as her receptionist relayed her question. Her fingers tapping on the desk were not out of hurriness, but out of anticipation. This could be the chance to get some answers. While she doubted that Miss Neikan was actually with them, or didn't want to come visit her, but at the very least she will have those guests to question. She should learn something out of this.

"Mina, I'll call you later." The fairy said into the mic.

If Mina heard what was happening on Histoire's side, she wasn't showing it. "Yes, okay. Bye."

Histoire disconnected just as the receptionist gave away her findings. "They say no." Unfortunate, but Histoire already expected this. "However they say they have a letter from her." The receptionist added.

"Bring them in."

Even a physical description would be helpful, something to give a sketcher to draw her a sketch of her face. If they know anything more; future plans, her thoughts on the past actions, where she was, that would be even better.

Histoire shelved the economic crisis for later, because she was certain that their Mysterious Benefactor will have a few things to say, or maybe even did something with it. Histoire scanned the area for shares and found Miss Neikan's shares going up the Basilicom via the elevator, solidifying Miss Neikan's involvement in these matters.

From the elevator they were escorted right towards her office, it didn't take long to reach her and Histoire sensed their every step on their way. Her anticipation reached critical levels as they got closer. For the first time she'll have someone to talk about their mysterious benefactor, instead of merely reading a letter.

She wanted to know how Falcom was doing too, this information would probably soothe Nepgear's mind.

The doors opened and her guests entered. Histoire's eyes immediately settled on 5pb, before they shifted onto a person wearing a trench coat and fedora; a man in his forties, with black hair and thick moustache on his face, not really a person you would expect to accompany a popular idol. He was hiding it but Histoire could see that he was anxious. Meanwhile 5pb didn't hide anything, her uncertainty was as clear as day.

"Welcome." Histoire greeted, her voice and smile professionally polite. "What would you want to discuss?"

5pb shifted a little and turned her gaze onto the man next to her, who sighed. "We have a letter from Samantha, apparently you two know each other." He reached into his coat and pulled out two objects, a white envelope sealed with an actual stamp made out of red wax, and a plastic bag with a green disc inside. "And this thing." He placed both of the items on her desk.

It was a mascot. This person just handed her Leanbox's mascot.

"It's like she knows everything about us, while we don't know anything about her." Histoire said, opening the envelope.

The man scoffed at the Oracle's words. "You're not alone."

Already Histoire had a feeling that Miss Neikan really enjoyed her role as an enigma of the cast. She quickly skimmed through the letter, hoping that it will cast more light on the matters.

Dear Histoire

I have fucked up.

I tried to assassinate Miss Pauling and destroy her HQ, and I have destroyed Leanbox in the process. Miss Pauling escaped and a lot of people died and got hurt in vain.

It gets worse.

I may have stirred a proverbial hornet's nest, as I've come to the realization that it wasn't even her HQ. It was a decoy. There was no respawn and just a few of her personnel, she wanted it gone. And I've given her that.

And now she's disappeared, and no one knows what she's doing.

All I can do is to warn you so you can prepare yourself. Even I have no idea what she's planning but nothing good will come out of it.

You're probably also confused about those two people I sent to you. You see, I need a favor from you. This man was crucial in my plan to assassinate Miss Pauling, he gave me necessary information and is now paying the price. Miss Pauling will start to hunt him down for betraying her faction and I ask you to give him asylum, and if I can ask that much, convince the mercenaries to hook him up to their respawn. He's enhanced like them and could be useful to you.

5pb is there because Miss Pauling would target her to get to him, and I judged Vert's defenses to be inadequate. Hence why she's here as well.

I'm sure that by now you've also heard that the ASIC is disbanding, if not now then in the near future you'll receive an email. It will probably reassure you to know that I already fixed this problem, it won't be as disastrous as you think.

...You see, I've managed to strike a deal with the CFWs, they'll help me and I'll help them. One of my terms was them stopping the resurrection of Arfoire.

I had no idea how far they would actually go with it.

These two madmen took my request to the extreme and tried to immediately dissolve the whole organization and fire all of the employees.

Literally everyone, skeleton crew included.

I talked them out of it. You should receive an update in a few days.

It's not all doom and gloom though. I got the Mascot for you and as of now, all the CPUs are free. Arfoire and the ASIC are also not a problem anymore. While you can finally take a breather with the threat of ASIC gone, I ask you to keep Leanbox's Mascot with you.

Gray Mann might try something funny. Miss Pauling absolutely will.

I'll also start looking for Lastation's Mascot.

And yes, I have removed the threat of Arfoire and the CFWs not with the sword but words. I'm as shocked as you are.

- Samantha Neikan.

P.S: I left CFW Brave to oversee things in Planeptune, if something happens he should head in and help you out. Worst case scenario he'll call me and Magic. You should notify the others that he and Magic are now on our side, to avoid any friendly fire incidents.

The letter had everything Histoire expected; what she did, but not how or why she has done so. At least now she got a warning that a CFW is in the area, and while he was apparently an ally now, Histoire still felt like preparing a plan B for the event he actually wasn't.

Not like she didn't believe someone with the True Goddess' support wouldn't pull it off, but Histoire wanted to be prepared. "What are your names?" She asked, placing the letter down and motioning the two to sit down.

"L-Lyrica." 5pb said.

"Machias Vanessa." The man introduced himself and took off his hat, placing it on his lap.

Histoire nodded.

"Could you tell me everything you know about Samantha Neikan?"

Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Girls' Talk

Fun fact: At first I wanted this chapter to be centered around the mercs, then I wrote the ASIC is dissolving scene and it went for so long I decided to screw it and push the mercs into the next chapter.

Which is a shame because I have a joke that gets even me reeling.

Remember that cryptic letter Histoire got in 'Aftermath'? That was Magnavox telling Histoire to do what Samantha said. It may come a bit suddenly but currently I don't have any space left to turn it into some grand reveal.

I have plans, and I need to keep up with them.

Here's a link to the drawing:

htt()ps:/i.()imgur.()com()/RUNnl1U.()png

Tell me who do you want next.

I wonder badly I screwed up with the whole economic things. I don't actually have any economic knowledge, I just created one thread on r/askreddit and used whatever I got from there plus stuff what I think is common sense.

I would appreciate some actual economist telling me how wrong I am.

In the previous chapter Pyro sacrificed some items. Those items were 'Mysterious Treasures' added in Pyromania update, you used them to create a pile of ash to get items from Pyromania update.

Responses:

XoverFan4evaaaa

Well… you should go to sleep as the answer won't arrive in the long time. You'll have to wait until finale.

YORCHspartan117

Different artstyle is caused by different artists. The one who drew Samantha, while making great and fast pieces, simply charged too much for my tastes. So looked for someone else and found one who drew my project for less money and had artstyle more similar to what I imagined.

Interestingly enough my friend said that in normal circumstances Medic wouldn't have a talk with God and the Devil, but it was justified from the fact Medic was sleep-deprived.

I killed Angela for several reasons.

This was actually the best (or at least one of the better) moments for her to die from a writing standpoint. To be killed by the very own thing she sought and desired, have her entire life turn in vain because of her constant want of revenge. It also adds some depth to Gehaburn's character.

I also had no idea what to do with her. Her entire character was just 'I'm a victim, I want revenge', and I outright had no place for her in the finale, she was a loose end I needed to tie up.

While some may not like it, I'm actually very satisfied by how I did her death.

And you have no idea how scared I was when you said you're going to point out some of my plot holes.

Hopefully I plugged it now… maybe.

- Harmless Orange