And now for something completely different.

Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Seeing Ghosts

Loud music assaulted her ears, only protected by a pair of plugs and earpieces.

Crowds roared from excitement, their sheer number could overwhelm her if they wanted.

Yet another concert, Falcom was starting to get sick of those.

Ever since Samantha had forced her and herself into 5pb's life there have been concerts nonstop. Glorified security guards when on the stage, bodyguards anywhere else. The Adventurer felt out of her element here, but Samantha had been giving her advice on what to do.

"Just be intimidating, don't let anyone break the line, and call for backup if shit hits the fan."

So she has been doing just that, walking back and forth with a borrowed baton ready to pummel somebody. Falcom hoped that she wouldn't have to use it, but there were thousands of fans here and the only thing between her and them was a chest-high fence. A determined fan could easily climb over it.

At the very least she wasn't alone. With her were a dozen or so Guild members and local security guards, no 'Cave' or Samantha though. Those two were working within the crowd itself.

Falcom's eyes scanned the swarm of fans, trying to find either the Overseer or the fake Maid, but she couldn't find either of them. Though she knew they were there, paired up and searching for any unruly spectators like a seeking missile.

Being a bodyguard came with few new toys that 'Cave' lent them, although it came with their own set of problems. The vest that she got felt stiff on her chest, but Samantha told her to suck it up as it will save her in case someone tried to stab her. The earpiece she wore almost fell from her ear a couple of times, and she was afraid that she won't be able to pull out that earplug anymore… Blasted thing went pretty deep into her ear.

Having earplugs on was a weird experience, the sounds of the outside world was suppressed and her body was more focused on what was happening inside her. But even with her ears plugged, she could still hear the guards talking to themselves, or the cheer of the fans. Falcom would be amazed by this experience… if she didn't feel that already for the umpteenth time.

Suddenly, Cave's voice came to Falcom from her earpiece.

"Zero-Two, Actual here. What's your status? Over."

"Hi… uh... Actual? Nothing here. My ears are starting to hurt from this music though… Over?"

She still wasn't used to this… radio talk. Why couldn't they just talk normally and use their own names? For some reason they had to use some sort of jargon and Falcom couldn't fathom why.

"Zero-Three here, Zero-Two you can rotate with me if you want, but-" Samantha offered her, but 'Cave' cut her off.

"Negative Zero-Three. The crowds can be dangerous for rookies. Zero-Three stay there until the song ends, this is the last song for today."

"Got it, Actual. Over and out."

Falcom sighed in relief, just a few more minutes before her ears could take a break. She's thirsty and her sword needs some polishing.

"...Hey, Zero-Two." Samantha called out to her.

"Yes, Zero-Three? Over."

"You're an idiot."

Falcom flinched at Samantha's bluntness, while the Overseer continued.

"You use either out or over, not both. Over when you finished talking and are expecting a reply, out when you leave the conversation. Out."

"...Zero-Three has the point, keep learning Zero-Two. Out."

C-Cave backed her up!? Now Falcom really felt embarrassed. The adventurer could've sworn she felt herself blushing, but she wouldn't really want to know. At least the fans were too occupied with 5pb to notice Falcom acting awkwardly.

And, as if the Goddess was smiling upon her, 5pb just finished her last song. She could finally rest her feet.

...Nope, they want encore.

As a new cheerful song assaulted her ears, Falcom felt herself slowly dying.

Once the concert ended and people left the stadium, Falcom could see how badly the whole area was left. Trash was everywhere, half-eaten food and drinks lay on the ground, a few seats were broken and the concrete in the standing area was starting to crack. Thank goodness they won't have to clean that up.

5pb walked up to her and meekly greeted her. "H-Hey."

"Hey." Falcom said back and shifted a little, giving 5pb some space to sit down. The idol opted to stay though. "This whole place is trashed." The adventurer noted while using her foot to move some trash away.

The fellow blue-haired girl smiled sheepishly. "Umm… ehehehe?" 5pb laughed awkwardly and looked around. Her shoulders fell at the sight of the carnage. "I-I see those… more dedicated fans were here. I just hope the janitors will get some compensation."

Falcom rested her head on one hand. "Probably not. But thank goodness we're not the ones who're gonna have to clean up this mess." The adventurer said.

Both of them watched the cleaners as they went to work. The janitors sent a few quick glares at 5pb and her bodyguard but Falcom simply shrugged them off. "Hmm… Could- could you wait here for a moment?" 5pb said, thinking about something.

"Huh?" Falcom turned towards her. "Sure, but… where are you going?"

"J-Just need to do a small something!"

Falcom watched with curiosity as 5pb jogged towards one of the janitors. The man in question seemed to be slightly annoyed by her presence, but he still appeared to be listening. Falcom couldn't hear what 5pb was saying, but she didn't miss the surprised expression on the janitor's face.

It was after 5pb pulled out her wallet that Falcom realized what the idol was trying to do. The adventurer laughed as 5pb tried to give the worker some Credits, while he feverishly resisted her offer. That didn't stop her from trying though.

"Hello Falcom."

The blue-haired adventurer turned her head and saw both 'Cave' and Samantha standing next to her. The Overseer nodded to her in a silent greeting and continued to watch 5pb. "Hi." Falcom greeted and motioned towards the idol. "Look at what she's doing."

As she said this, a sudden realization just hit Falcom like a sack of bricks. She stared into the distance with a distant look on her face. Samantha noticed it, and snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"Uh… Falcom? Earth to Falcom?"

"My mind was just blown."

Both Samuel (now Samantha) and Machias were basically men parading as women. Both of them have connections to the Administrator, and they are protecting the same person (although for different reasons). They also have a female companion who is from Gamindustri.

...Now that was an interesting coincidence.

Samantha didn't understand what Falcom meant by this, but that still appeased the brunette. "...Okay. Just checking though."

Cave rolled her eyes just as 5pb came back to them. The janitor was now looking happier than before, most likely due to a fat stack of bills currently hidden in his pocket. 5pb was met with a confused "What did you do?" coming from 'Cave'.

"Well… it's kinda my fault that they have to do overtime, so I left them a small tip."

"How much?" Falcom asked.

5pb was a little hesitant to speak numbers, but she felt a pressure coming from every member of the party (they simply looked at her). These silent stares from her bodyguards were enough for the idol to relent and share the information. "Umm… their yearly wage?" She said, her voice quiet like a whisper.

Samantha felt her knees giving out from shock. "W-What?!"

5pb flinched from the outburst, radio waves appearing within her eyes. "I-I'm sorry!" She apologized.

"Forget being a bodyguard, I'll take out your trash if you're paying like that." Samantha rubbed her forehead. To which Cave, without missing a beat, said. "I can arrange that."

"No." The brunette countered, jabbing her finger at the maid-wannabe. "No you can't. Don't think I didn't notice what you were doing earlier?"

'Cave's forehead creased. "I don't know what you're talking about. What was I 'doing'?"

"You directed me towards that bastard on purpose!"

"While 5pb is on stage, you're to help with security. That's your job."

"I was on the other side of the fucking stadium, everyone else were closer. You could send literally anyone else and they would've gotten there faster, but you had to send me."

"I fail to see the problem. If your job is too much for you to handle, I could arrange some other work for you. Like taking out the trash like you wished for."

5pb leaned towards Falcom nervously. "S-Should we do something? Separate them or make them stop?"

Falcom sighed. "Nah. They'll be fine."

The adventurer stood up and walked away, going behind the scenes. 5pb looked back and forth between the arguing duo and the disappearing adventurer, unsure what she was supposed to do. Samantha and Cave were getting deeper into their argument, 5pb didn't know how, or even if she should, intervene and break them up. This happened everyday, over everything. They would just start again later, or worse, shout at 5pb for butting in.

The idol slowly backed away from the arguing duo, before turning away and going where Falcom was. Cave and Samantha stopped arguing for a moment to look at 5pb, before going back to their dispute.

Behind the scenes 5pb saw Falcom sitting on the couch, sharpening her sword. The blade was so long that the idol was in awe of its size.

"That's a big sword."

The corner of Falcom's face turned upwards. "I know, right? Wanna hold it?"

"C-Can I?"

With just one hand Falcom held out her sword for 5pb to take. The idol flinched a little at the gesture, but she slowly reached out to grasp the handle. Once Falcom let go of the sword 5pb's eyes widened as she felt the entire weight of the weapon, she didn't drop it though.

It was a beautiful sword. Its blade was purple and long, almost as long as 5pb herself. It had a bluish-green handle, with the crossguard in the shape of bat wings. The pommel and crossguard were also decorated with red gems.

"It's beautiful..."

"It's name is 'Dragonslayer'. I didn't name it, but I used it to kill a few dragons." Falcom bragged, and as she was hoping for, 5pb looked at her in awe.

"Dragons? Really?"

"Yeah… Oh, oooh!" The adventurer's mouth turned fully into a wide and open grin. "I have this story... about aliens."

The details of that day were coming back to Falcom, and she couldn't stop grinning. "My ship was getting abducted by an UFO. We were in the beam, slowly hovering towards the saucer, people were screaming, I didn't know what to do because you know - aliens. Then all of a sudden there was this girl, a-and she-"

She couldn't hold it anymore. Falcom laughed and clutched her stomach, leaving 5pb hanging on.

"W-Well, what did she do?"

"There was this girl who just rushed onto the deck, carrying two beer crates, and she threw all of them into the UFO. She threw the beer into the saucer!"

Falcom laughed, while 5pb was confused.

"What, really? Beer?"

"Yes! I think I even saw it in the news… might have to look that up later. Anyway, so she threw the beer and it worked, the UFO started swaying and burning! It turned off the beam so our ship fell back into the water, there was a storm going on so it was also bad. And the UFO crashed into the water shortly after."

5pb realized something. She actually knew this story.

"I-I think I remember it now, it was on the news about 2 years ago. So you were on that ship?"

"Yeah, we crashed at the end. Leanbox's Navy had to fish us out of the water."

"Oh my goodness, that's terrible!"

"It was fun though!" Falcom said. "I have even more stories, wanna listen?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, so this was when I met the Sea Serpent for the first time. The ship I was in-"

The doors opened, interrupting Falcom's story. Samantha was standing in the doorframe. "Oh, there you are!" The overseer stepped into the room and closed the doors behind her. "Cave said she needs to talk with the manager, we have some free time."

Falcom waved him off. "Okay, sit down and listen, I've a good story. Anyway, this is how I met the Sea Serpent. So I was traveling by ship again, and our ship crashed against its head…"

Samantha and 5pb listened as Falcom told stories of her adventurers, then Samantha shared a few stories of her own. It quickly evolved into all 3 of them sharing events from their life. It was fun, and it created bonds between them as they learned new things about each other.

Falcom has horrible luck at sea. Every single boat she was in was hit with some disaster, to the point where she was banned from most ports.

"...And after an insufferable 3 days of swimming on the raft, we finally reached land. Our captain told me to never cross the sea again, and that I'm not welcome on his boat anymore."

"What a dick." Samantha said.

"But none of that was your fault." 5pb commented.

"Well… it was already the 3rd time that happened, at some point it stops being superstition. It's cool though, we even went for a few drinks together after that."

Falcom and 5pb got chills when it was Samantha's turn. Her story made their skin crawl.

"This one time, I turned on the shower and ants came out. Ants, coming out of the shower. There was even one stuck in one of the… pores, I think that's what they're called, of the shower head. I saw them and was like 'Oh, that's an ant in my shower.' And there were other ants coming out and gathering around the stuck ant, going like 'We will help you, brother!'."

"...That is disgusting. I don't think I can take another shower again for a while." Falcom deadpanned.

"I know, but I still needed to finish the shower!"

"Did- did this happen in my bathroom?" 5pb asked.

"No. That's way, way in the past."

5pb sighed in relief.

Besides having great vocal skills, 5pb was also incredibly skilled with guitars and synthesizers. In fact she's holding several records that haven't been broken to this day.

"I-I set up a record for the longest song played using only my teeth."

"Oh, which song?" Samantha asked.

"Umm… a few. I was playing for 4 hours straight."

"..."

"Umm... Samantha?"

"...What. The. Fuck?"

Samantha and Falcom had a newfound respect for 5pb, as shown by their shocked faces.

The idol then took her guitar and raised it to her face.

...5pb wasn't kidding, this girl could play with her teeth. Samantha's jaw hit the floor.

Suddenly the doors opened and the manager peeked her head in. "You're still here?" She asked.

"Yes, we're waiting for Cave. She said she needed to talk with you." Falcom answered.

To the party's confusion, the manager was perplexed by Falcom's words. Her forehead creased and a bad feeling arose within Falcom's gut, she had a premonition that something very wrong has occurred. That wasn't just Falcom, as also Samantha and 5pb were worried.

"Really? I didn't see her though."

The girls were perplexed to say the least. The most confused one was Samantha, who was the one that heard Cave's message.

"Really? But Samantha said she was going to you." Falcom argued.

Samantha covered her mouth with a fist, trying to think what might have happened… She didn't want to say this and possibly break 5pb's heart, but Machias could've done only one thing. "He ditched us." The overseer breathed out. "He ran away goddamnit."

The manager shrugged, her ample breast bouncing a little from the movement. "Well, I dunno. But you might as well leave already, it doesn't seem like she's here."

5pb stood up, catching the attention of the others. Her hands remained at her side but they were shaking, just like her voice. "B-But why? S-She was supposed to protect me! She was- is my bodyguard!"

She lost Cave… again. But this time she actually felt her disappearance. She… she didn't know what to do. A hand fell onto her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The idol turned away to look into Samantha's face.

"Let's go home. We might be able to catch her there."

Machias wasn't home.

Neither was his stuff.

They combed through the whole apartment, but they couldn't find anything that belonged to Machias. His trench coat and fedora, and also the rest of his clothes, had disappeared from the wardrobe and drawers. They checked the couch, but they couldn't find any of his sidearms, the ammunition was missing too. His personal stuff - the pictures, toothbrush, deodorant, watches - all of that was gone.

One moment he was with them, the next it was like he never was here.

The disturbing fact was how clean the whole apartment was. At first glance there didn't seem to be anything wrong - in fact it looked practically the same as before, if not a bit cleaner. It was only when they tried to search for Machias's stuff that they realized something was wrong.

Samantha inspected the lock on the doors, and found evidence that someone picked it. Whoever did it did a good job hiding the fact, but there were slight signs of the lock being forcefully opened.

"Machias wasn't here. Someone picked the lock to get in, and Machias could just use his keys." The overseer informed.

"...I see 4 people. They're packing his stuff up and disposing the evidence of them being here." Falcom reported.

"Trench coats and fedoras?" Samantha asked.

"Uhh… yes, I think."

Samantha nodded and started pacing back and forth in the guest room. Her boots clacked against the wooden floor, creating a rhythmic sound that broke the silence.

The Administrator's men were sent to this house just to take Machias's stuff… It made sense, considering he was one of them. But why? If Cave - a bodyguard of 5pb, and a member of Leanbox's SMD - disappeared without a trace, then someone high in the command will ask questions. And Miss Pauling wouldn't like that. What was going on within the Administrator's faction?

She didn't know, she honestly didn't know.

"Can you stop?"

Samantha stopped. Her foot coming down a bit harder than normally.

"Thanks." Falcom breathed out.

The adventurer felt… actually she didn't know how she felt. Spending time with mercenaries has eroded a bit of her sympathy. It was hard to feel bad about someone dying if they come back a few seconds later, not even bothered that they died.

Right now she felt like she just saw Soldier or Spy die for the umpteenth time. It just didn't bother her anymore.

But 5pb?

5pb was devastated.

She lost Cave… twice. She lost not just a person who protected her from rowdy fans, but also the only person who she could count on to be on her side. Even though the second one wasn't really her, it still felt like she was there.

And now she's gone… again.

"Why? Why did he leave?"

Samantha pinched her nose. "I think they're hiding, laying low for a few days, or they could be moving to a different nation. Machias's… colleagues even came here to pack his stuff, I dunno why though."

"You don't know?" Falcom asked.

"I haven't been… up there for a good few days. So yes, I don't know what's going on."

The only time she traveled through Celestia was when she wanted to teleport somewhere - the last time it happened was when she and Falcom were planning to kill Machias and force themselves into 5pb's life, and even then Samantha wasn't there for a long time.

So now Samantha was utterly blind to what was happening within the other factions.

"...I don't have a phone. Hey 5pb, can you check the news? Maybe something is happening in Leanbox that got Miss Pauling spooked."

The idol sniffed and silently pulled out her phone - a blue flip phone that made Samantha silently curious. IF also had flip phones, so were all phones here that outdated? The overseer noted this thought for later.

5pb searched through her usual news outlets and the results were… surprising.

"Huh?" The idol blinked and read out the headline.

"Lady Vert returns to Leanbox, the CPU of Leanbox has finally returned."

"What?! She's back?!" Falcom exclaimed.

"I call bullshit, check somewhere else." Samantha ordered.

"I-I am, but every news outlet is writing about this. T-The entire internep is in an uproar!"

5pb showed the overseer the screen, letting her read the article herself. Samantha's eyes scanned the writing, her eyebrows frowning at the wall of text before her.

"ASIC wouldn't just let Vert go, Brave isn't Trick." The brunette muttered to herself. Samantha paced back and forth around the room, mumbling information to herself. This article… this article was the information she needed. The final piece to the puzzle.

"Someone must have freed Vert by force, Uni is the most likely candidate. Lastation also has enough shares to create a sharicite, so Kei could wake Vert up. But Uni isn't strong enough to defeat Brave… unless she was backed up by Nisa and Gray Mann's robots. Gray Mann is in Lastation, allied with Uni, that means Vert met Gray Mann… wait."

Samantha stopped, her eyes narrowing.

"Uhh… Samantha?" Falcom asked.

"How would Miss Pauling know about this? Most of her forces are in Leanbox… unless she has spies in Lastation. Of course she has! She started there! So Miss Pauling has eyes on Uni, Vert is back and-"

"Hey! Samuel!"

"Uwaaaaaaaaah!"

Her train of thoughts crashed when Falcom took the overseer by her shoulders, and started shaking her. Samantha screamed as her vision blurred from movement.

"S-S-Stop! I'm listening! Stop!"

Falcom stopped and let Samantha go.

"D-Did anyone tell you that you've a strong arm? Cuz you have a strong arm." The brunette said before crashing onto the couch, too dizzy to do anything else.

Falcom rolled her eyes at the remark. "You were mumbling to yourself some interesting stuff, we want to know too. What's going on?"

Samantha held out her finger, showing that she heard her but she needed some time for the world to stop spinning. Falcom sat next to her and patiently waited for her to recover.

"Okay, so it went like this." Samantha said. "Vert was kept in Lastation, and was guarded by CFW Brave. Brave wouldn't just hand over the CPU - he isn't Trick, so Vert had to be saved by someone, and I'm betting it was the Lastation's Candidate."

"Umm… is that relevant to what's happening here?" 5pb asked.

"Yes, just let me finish. So Uni saves Vert and wake her up - Lastation has enough shares to do that without any problems. Now... Gray Mann is with Uni so he must've met Vert. In case you don't know Gray Mann is a big enemy to Miss Pauling, so seeing both of them meet would be bad news for her faction. So Vert is coming back here, and what happens now is the whole faction is going underground. Everyone who could meet Vert is to disappear, no evidence that they even existed until they know it's safe."

Samantha finished and gave them some time to process the information.

Falcom spoke up first. "No evidence, does that mean cutting off loose ends?"

"Uhh… yes, why do you ask-oh."

"...This includes us too, right? I mean… we knew 'Cave' and that she's actually Machias."

"..."

Samantha stood up.

"Hey! If you're here, now would be a great time to kill us!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Surpri-"

Samantha aimed her gun and shot the source of the sound, several times. Each shot brought more and more holes into the intruder's body, killing him right there. With the pulse gone the cloak watch stopped working too, but Samantha didn't see a dead man's body. Instead she saw...

"A-A robot?!"

A destroyed Robo-Spy unit.

This wasn't something she expected.

Suddenly the doors were kicked open and Robo-Soldier and Robo-Scout entered the apartment. Their guns were pointed at Samantha, who leaped out and took cover behind the wall.

"You are under arrest! Surrender now, and you'll not be harmed!" Robo-Soldier ordered.

5pb and Falcom stood up, their hands raised in surrender. The machines ignored them and focused on the spot where Samantha was hiding.

Another person entered the apartment, and Samantha peeked out to see who that was. At first he thought that was Fay finally coming back to him, but that thought died as quickly as it was born. She wasn't Fay.

"Easy, easy now." The woman said, stepping into everyone's view. 5pb and Samantha gasped when she saw her.

She was a well endowed and beautiful woman, with lushful golden hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a green dress that also emphasized her… assets. They knew who she was at a glance.

"L-Lady Vert?!"

The CPU of Leanbox stood before them, her spear in hand.

This was bad.

This was really, really bad.

The CPU of Leanbox herself stood before Samantha, her spear pointed at the ground but ready to strike if necessary. The Overseer knew he couldn't really harm her and so did she, however in the same room was someone who could harm her and was willing to do it.

Samantha glanced at Falcom. The adventurer was already staring at the blonde woman, the malicious spirit already fighting to gain control over her.

Out of all people it had to be Vert, the only person who could throw a big wrench in the overseer's plan.

"Lay down your weapons, you're surrounded." Vert ordered, her voice calm but also firm. She won't be repeating herself.

Samantha just noticed that she had her left Pistol Sword aimed right at Vert's forehead. The only thing that stopped the brunette from firing a bullet was her disciplined trigger-finger. The overseer slowly holstered her weapons and walked in front of Falcom, Vert and the robots watched her like hawks. One sudden movement was all it would need to spark a fight.

"Thank you." Vert nodded and relaxed, then her eyes fell onto the cowering 5pb. "I'm sorry 5pb for barging in like that, but I've heard reports... of some strange people hanging around you. And with the current events, I was just worried about your safety."

The idol, who was hiding behind Falcom, was caught off guard when the CPU suddenly addressed her. "Umm… Lady Vert, it's umm… a bit sudden and ohmygoodnesspleasedon'tshootme!"

The idol shrunk, terrified by the Robo-Scout and his gun. The CPU saw both robots aiming their guns at the group and sighed in annoyance. "Both of you, out. I'll handle it myself."

"Yeah!"

"Affirmative."

Both robots obeyed her orders without any hesitation. Vert briefly disappeared from sight to close the doors behind them. "Now then-"

"Ouch! Hey!"

"Huh?"

While Vert and 5pb were talking Samantha was pinching Falcom's arm. The adventurer didn't react to the pain at all until Vert went to close the doors, and only when the CPU was out of Falcom's sight did she suddenly feel the overseer's hands grinding against her skin.

"Is everything alright?" Vert asked.

"Just give us a second." Samantha answered. She grabbed Falcom and dragged her into the corner of the room. The CPU looked at 5pb and the idol shrugged.

"Get a hold of yourself." Samantha hissed to the adventurer.

"I-I can't." Falcom answered. She turned her head to glance at the CPU once more, but Samantha roughly grabbed her chin and forced her to look into her eyes.

"Think about anything else, anything! Pinch yourself in the arm if you have to, and focus on the pain. Just don't look at her, don't think about her, she doesn't exist to you. Got it?"

"O-Okay, I'll try."

"Good."

Samantha released Falcom and both of them went back to their previous position. Falcom now found a sudden interest in the wallpaper and tried to burn its image into her memory. Vert, who was understandably confused, looked at Samantha for more information.

"That was… a rather interesting conversation." Vert said, making the overseer sigh dejectedly.

"You heard all of that, didn't you?"

Vert nodded.

"So would you mind if Falcom stepped out?" Samantha asked.

"...Yes, I would mind. Unless there's a good reason." Vert said.

Samantha scraped her brain for an answer. She obviously could answer with something like 'My answer is that she's possessed as shit, and will lash out if she stays here for too long.' But that would be confusing and she would have to spend some time explaining things. Time Samantha didn't have.

She also didn't have much room to maneuver. There was no logical reason for Falcom to actually leave Vert's sight, besides being possessed by a goddess-killing sword but neither Vert nor 5pb knew that.

"Look… you apparently have an army of robots at your disposal." Samantha reasoned, while elbowing Falcom in the stomach. Falcom didn't react at all while 5pb and Vert were giving Samantha strange looks. "And I'm kinda not comfortable sharing info with her around, so if either she could leave, or we could go somewhere else that would be great."

Vert stared long and hard at the brunette, obviously not impressed with her argument. 'Goddamnit Vert, I'm trying to save your life! Throw me a bone here.' Samantha inwardly screamed but that left no effect on the CPU.

"Can you tell me why your friend is looking at me like that?" Vert asked. Samantha's eye twitched as her request was brushed aside and discarded.

"Falcom, are you feeling okay?" 5pb asked.

She said nothing. Samantha saw the tips of her fingers twitching, they didn't have much time and the brunette didn't know what to do. She stomped onto Falcom's foot, repeatedly, hoping that more pain will snap her out but the adventurer gave no response.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" Samantha snapped her fingers in front of Falcom's face. Just like before she received no response.

"Is she alright?" Vert asked.

"Short answer: No." Samantha stated and reeled her fist.

Then she uppercutted her, which left Falcom lying sprawled on the floor. Then Samantha wrapped her arms around her neck and started squeezing, cutting off blood supply from her brain until she lost consciousness.

At least that was Samantha's plan, and said plan went out of the window when Vert grabbed her arm.

"I don't know why you're doing this, but you'll stop, or I'll make you stop."

Samantha was now mentally swearing at Vert with her entire brain power. Shouting every obscenity at Samantha's mental projection of Vert until the brunette calmed down. Vert one-handedly destroyed Samantha's plans and doomed herself to the Gehaburn. Falcom was now reaching for her blade and 5pb gasped when she saw it.

"L-Lady Vert! Look out!"

"...!"

It all happened in an instant.

5pb screamed milliseconds before Falcom swung at Vert, aiming for her neck. The purple blade of Gehaburn glinting with light. It would've been a swift execution, a single stroke and the CPU's head would fly, but Samantha stepped in with her shield - blocking the Gehaburn.

Samantha grunted as Falcom's blade struck her shield and prepared for another strike. Falcom swung again, and Vert caught her blade with her spear. Seeing an opportunity Samantha delivered a solid punch into Falcom's face, sending her onto the floor.

"5pb, run!" The brunette shouted, pulling out her left Pistol Sword.

The idol looked at Falcom and then at Samuel. She rapidly nodded and ran out of the apartment.

Falcom stood up. Samantha wanted to kick her and make her fall again, but a quick swing from the adventurer made her reconsider. Falcom charged and the overseer braced herself.

Falcom went from the top but it was feint, she came from the left. Another strike came from the right, Samantha blocked it and found herself exposed. Falcom stabbed her in the stomach, Samantha barely caught the incoming blade before it cut into her. The brunette hissed from pain - she didn't have any protection on her hands.

Falcom punched the overseer in the face, making her fall to the side. Without losing any time the possessed adventurer rushed at Vert. She came at her with a flurry of strikes, each of them strong, fast and precise. Vert parried 3 and evaded even more, but she found herself overwhelmed. Vert took a step back and then another, falling under a seemingly endless onslaught from Falcom. The adventurer found a small opening and…

...Something struck her head. Falcom tumbled which allowed Vert to jab the blunt end of her spear into her gut, knocking the air out of her lungs. Samantha held her left arm, growling and gasping from the severe pain she felt. The brunette just threw her weapon and it hurt - her palm and thumb were cut and bleeding, and she could even see the bone of her thumb.

Falcom slashed at Vert. The CPU stepped back and watched as Samantha tackled his friend to the ground, pressing onto her throat with her right hand. "Run! Get out of here!"

Vert stubbornly stood her ground. "I can't leave you here, you're injured!" The CPU said.

"Jesus fuck, lady! She wants YOU!" Samantha snapped at her. Falcom was already overpowering her, two hands versus one. "She'll be like this as long as-!"

Falcom threw Samantha off herself. Then she delivered a brutal kick to the brunette's stomach which she barely felt - kevlar was good against this sort of thing.

Vert stabbed Falcom with her spear. The adventurer leaned away from the weapon and swung her own weapon. Vert caught the Gehaburn with the shaft of her spear and kicked Falcom away. Samantha tripped her leg but Falcom rolled to recover, and Vert moved onto the offensive. She sent blow after blow, mimicking Falcom's own flurry of strikes. While each of her strikes was deflected or avoided Vert kept Falcom on the defensive, giving Samantha time to recover.

The overseer stood up and looked at herself. Her shoulder hurt from the tackle and there was a heavy cut on her hand, rendering her left hand temporarily useless… Nothing major so far, and less than 10% blood loss.

Vert still kept Falcom busy, sending stab after stab at her, but Falcom's defense was impenetrable. Vert's weapon wasn't great in confined spaces, but that didn't deter her at all - the CPU was trashing the whole room with her strikes: shelves were broken and anime figures lay on the floor, broken and in pieces as the 3 fighters mercilessly stepped over them. The walls had cracks and holes and there was a big bloodstain on the floor. 5pb couldn't live here anymore, not without paying for renovations.

Robo-Scout and Robo-Soldier barged into the apartment, guns pointed at Falcom. The brunette hastily pulled out her right firearm and shot the machines, saving Falcom from a certain death.

"Hey! What are you-?!" Vert shouted in surprise, but this momentary lack of focus was all Falcom needed. Then she stepped back as Samantha shot her too, the bullet flew by centimeters away from her face.

"No matter what you do, don't kill her! It'll only make it worse!"

It was a bluff, Samantha honestly didn't know what would happen to them if Falcom died. Although she did have a few ideas… None of them too pleasant. At least Falcom still had a physical body, so she could be injured and (hopefully) incapacitated or knocked out.

"This is a bit hard, you know." Vert complained.

Then Falcom suddenly stopped her assault to do something entirely unexpected.

She used a skill.

The Gehaburn was enveloped in light and Falcom slammed the blade into the floor, releasing a wave of energy that struck Vert and knocked her right through the windows. Samantha watched the CPU disappear with a mixture of shock, amazement and anxiety as she was now alone with the possessed Falcom.

At least Vert finally went away… just not in the way Samantha hoped for.

The overseer turned back towards Falcom. The adventurer was glaring right at her, silently ordering Samantha to move away.

Samantha was injured and bleeding, with only one useable arm. While Falcom only had ruffled and dirited clothes. This wasn't the best situation to be in, but Samantha had armor while Falcom had clothes.

Samantha took a deep breath and moved into a stance, her legs apart, shield in front of her and her weapon ready to slash and stab. Falcom saw it as a challenge and shifted into her own stance. It just occurred her that this would be her first one-on-one with Falcom, it was her first fight in this world overall.

Falcom looked up.

"Sylhet Spear!"

A giant spear flew towards Falcom and the adventurer weaved out of the way. Samantha charged in and kicked Falcom. The technique used to breach doors was proven very effective at knocking down the adventurer. Samantha followed up with another kick when suddenly Falcom swung her sword from the ground, the brunette stepped out of its range but the tip of Gehaburn still grazed her metal sleeve.

"Damnit, Vert." The overseer hissed. "You could just stay away."

Vert, now in her HDD, floated back into the house. "And leave you alone with her? I don't know who you are, but I just can't leave you to die here."

This sentiment was nice, Samantha admitted to herself, but it was broken by the fact that the overseer wasn't in any danger here. She had a perfect get-out-of-dangerous-situations free card. Vert was the one in danger here, not Samantha.

"You're still bleeding, by the way." Vert pointed out.

Falcom stood up, hissing from pain and clutching her side. This was the first time Gehaburn has ever shown any reaction to what was happening so far - previously all she did was glare at Samantha or Vert.

Samantha bit back a sarcastic reply. "Look, all I need to do is knock her out. Then-"

Falcom charged. The adventurer swiped her sword at Samantha and the brunette parried the blade. She tried again but it missed her target. Then finally Samantha went down after Falcom hit her with a pommel.

Falcom ignored Samantha and ran to fight Vert… only for Samantha to trip her foot. The adventurer fell to the ground and Vert pounced onto the chance. Green Heart dropped her spear and caught Falcom, immediately wrapping her hand around the adventurer's neck in a choke hold. She used her other hand to grab Falcom's sword arm and kept it in place, and the Gehaburn with it.

Falcom started to growl like an angry animal and struggled against Vert's grab: she thrashed, kicked and clawed against anything that was connected to the CPU. Vert had to move her face away as Falcom was very eager to go for her eyes, and she had enough reach to do it.

Samantha took that hand and kept it away from Vert. She also sat on Falcom's leg and stomped the Gehaburn for good measure. "Yes, keep it like that. Make her unconscious and then disappear." Samantha instructed. "If she wakes up and sees you, we'll have to do all of that again."

"I see… What happened to her though? She's fighting like a woman possessed."

Despite the air and blood supply being cut off, Falcom had a lot of energy to spare and she was using all of it. Samantha and Vert (in her HDD!) still had problems containing her. The adventurer resorted to kicking the overseer with her sole free leg. This wouldn't be a problem if Falcom wasn't hitting Samantha's wounds.

"That's because she is possessed. Possessed by a spirit who hates CPUs in fact." Samantha chuckled in pain.

"Oh… and I'm here." Vert was now starting to realize the problem.

Despite being a ghost Hilda Gehaburn was still bound to a human body, so Falcom's resistance started to dwindle. Gehaburn noticed it and started to panic and struggle with renewed vigor. Her hand broke away from Samantha's grasp and her fingers instantly jammed themselves in Vert's eye. The CPU grunted from pain and flinched, but she held on. Samantha grabbed Falcom's hand and held it tighter.

"Oh dear… how much energy does she have?" Vert asked.

"More than any human should, but look, it's working." Samantha said.

With a final growl Falcom finally went to sleep. Samantha sighed in relief and let go of Falcom's hand - the limb fell to Falcom's abdomen.

Samantha just realized how quickly her heart was beating, and how rapid her breaths were. The overseer put her hand on her chest and looked at the injuries she had. Her shoulder hurt but it was a bruise at worst, her head also hurt but Samantha didn't feel like she had a concussion… that was probably fine. Her cut palm still bled, and that was starting to worry her.

Elevated heart rate… rapid blood loss...

"Fuck… I might need an ambulance." Samantha looked at her palm. Blood was gushing out of her wounds and the cuts themselves looked ragged. It didn't look like a clean cut with a sharp blade but rather like someone tried to saw off her palm. Which was morbidly interesting as Gehaburn looked rather sharp.

"Like… right now."

Through this battle Samantha has lost roughly 20% of her blood, with even more coming out.

"Once I take you to the Basilicom, I'll be sure to give you proper medical attention. Now on three I'll let her go and hide behind that wall, will that be enough?" Vert said.

"Uhh… yeah, I think."

Samantha wasn't sure, but now that Vert was aware of the dangers then she was certain she could cook up something cheeky. Maybe they can avoid triggering the Gehaburn if Samantha covered Falcom's eyes with her hands.

Vert nodded and loudly counted. When she said "Three!" the CPU of Leanbox laid the unconscious adventurer on the ground and skipped behind the wall. Samantha also went to 5pb's bedroom - passing Vert - and took a first aid kit out of her bag of Guild's supplies.

The overseer returned to the guest room, where Falcom still lay unconscious, and set the first aid kit on the ground. She worked to open the zipper with one hand when Vert started to ask questions.

"Do you know a woman named 'Cave'? She has red hair and usually-"

"Cave is dead." Samantha cut her off.

The CPU froze and Samantha didn't dare to look at Vert's face. She took some gauze and alcohol and started cleaning her wounds, hissing as she tapped the wet gauze onto her wound.

"I… how did she die? When?" Vert asked.

Samantha noticed that this was the first time she heard this. It hurt Samantha to be the bearer of bad news, but cleaning her wound with alcohol hurt even more.

"I don't know the details, all I know is Miss Pauling's men got her."

"How do you know about Miss Pauling? Do you work with her?"

Simply bandaging her injury wouldn't stop the bleeding, it required stitching. Samantha took out a needle from her first aid kit...

"...No. I don't work with her." ...and bit the needle with her teeth.

"Then how did you know all of this?" The CPU pressed.

Samantha took time to answer, which infuriated Vert. The overseer carefully tried to thread the needle, failing a couple of times thanks to her shaking hand, but Samantha kept trying and finally got the thread through the needle's loop.

"I know many thing, Vert. What you should be concerned about is Chika."

"What?"

"Did you know that Chika in your basilicom is a fake?"

…

She knew about it, this was why she decided to check on 5pb. But how did she know about this? If (according to her) she wasn't working for Miss Pauling, then how did she know about the ASIC spy in the Basilicom? She didn't look like one of those ASIC goons - those always had their insignia somewhere on them - and Gray Mann would've told her if he has any allies here.

"How did you know?"

"...I can't… actually explain how I know that, but I can tell you that real Chika was kept somewhere in Underverse. I dunno if she's still there, or if she's even alive by now, but that might be a good place to check." Samantha said, a needle still in her hand but the wound was still open. "Also about this ambulance. Could you call it now, or should I just stitch myself?"

She probably could stitch it if she really needed to, but Samantha's self-preservation instincts in her female body were rather strong. She just couldn't bring herself to put the needle through her skin.

"..." Vert didn't say anything, but the brunette heard her tapping over some surface. Then Vert spoke words that were like music to Samantha's ears.

"Yes, it's me. Please send a Medic-bot and three Soldier-bots with stretchers to 5pb's apartment. I have two people, both need to be carried to custody but one of them is injured. Mhm, thank you."

She's going to have a Robo-Medic treating her! A Robo-Medic with a medi-gun! Samantha smiled to herself and hid her needle while Vert put down her phone.

"There, I've called for help." Vert said. "Now tell me, why do you think Chika is being held in Underverse?"

"Because the ASIC took her there?" Samantha shrugged. "Look. We could sit here all day talking, or you could do something productive and check out the place I told you. By the way Falcom is waking up so you might want to scram. We don't want to have a round 2, do we?

Her wounds were punctuated with a light groaning coming from Falcom. The adventurer opened her eyes but she didn't move a muscle to get up.

"It happened again, didn't it?" Falcom said.

"We'll continue this conversation later, just don't run off." Vert said and flew out of the apartment. Samantha ignored her and focused on the blue haired woman.

"Welcome back to the world of the living! Yes, you lost control. No you didn't kill or even harm Vert, she's fine. And you almost stabbed me in the gut."

"Oh, that's- huh?"

Falcom raised her head to look at the brunette, and saw her bleeding from her hand and forehead. The adventurer gasped at her state.

"Hi." Samantha cheerfully greeted.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?! I didn't hurt you that much, right?"

Samantha rolled her eyes at Falcom's concern. "Relax. Vert already called for help. In a few moments I'll forget I was even injured."

"You're bleeding. Your forehead is bleeding." Falcom pointed out.

Samantha blinked in confusion and touched her head, indeed the brunette was bleeding from the side of her head. Samantha watched her bloodied fingers for a few moments. "That's funny, I didn't even notice it." The overseer said.

Falcom stared at her with a mixture of shock and concern. Then she realized something. The adventurer looked around the room, finding everything completely wrecked, but besides Samantha she couldn't find anyone.

"Uhh… where's Vert and 5pb?"

"You just missed Vert flying off into the sunset, and 5pb… uhh… I told her to run away and now I'm not sure where she is."

Before Falcom could start to worry about the idol the two of them heard a group of footsteps climbing up the staircase. A squad of robots entered the open apartment - 3 Robo-Soldiers and 1 Robo-Medic, just like Vert requested. Falcom inched away from them, looking fearfully at their armaments while Samantha moaned in relief and pleasure as the Robo-Medic used his medi-gun on her.

Despite being behind bars, Samantha felt proud.

All things considered it could've gone worse, much worse. Falcom could die, 5pb could die, she herself was 2 steps away from death, Vert could've died too, but none of those deaths happened. They were all alive and there was now a 3rd active CPU. Hooray!

Machias was still missing though, but Samantha wasn't worried about him.

So after trashing 5pb's place with Vert and Falcom, the CPU's robots escorted them all the way to the prison area, and then they locked them up in a cell… It was strangely comfortable here, Samantha judged it was a low-security cell. Three black-green-white walls and a row of metal bars separated them from outside world, and a window with a great view over Leanbox.

They had 2 actual beds here, no wooden planks suspended in the air but beds with actual cushion, pillow and blanket. They also had a metal sink and a toilet hidden behind folding walls for privacy. As for entertainment there was a bookshelf filled with a collection of light novels and manga, a very large collection.

Samantha feared to know how much it must've cost.

"I should write another letter to Histoire." Samantha muttered to herself, flipping a page of her book. Histoire would be glad to hear that Vert was awake and active, now all that was needed was to find Noire. Then they could focus all their resources to get all the Mascots, power-up Nepgear, and kill the remaining CFWs.

"You know, Falcom. This actually puts us ahead of schedule. Now we don't have to worry about getting Vert freed." Samantha said. Vert (and Gray Mann's battalion of robots) could handle rescuing Chika, so that was another thing they don't have to worry about.

Miss Pauling was still a problem… but she and her people are going under, they won't do anything for a while.

"I guess?" Falcom scratched her head. "How long do you think we'll be here, though? And where's 5pb?"

"Probably until Vert gets back and she can question us - me - a bit more. As for 5pb, I'm sure she's somewhere in the Basilicom-"

Then they heard voices. Not voices of Vert or any Basilicom Staff, but voices of the fellow prisoners. Samantha lay down her book and walked to the bars, eager to find out what was the commotion.

"-Speak of the devil."

There was their blue-haired idol, nervously walking through the prison area with a Robo-Scout escorting her. 5pb glanced warily at a few prisoners, as if they'll jump at her at a moment's notice. It wouldn't be that far from the truth, a few of the more unruly folks here were giving her creepy looks.

"Hey there, sweetie. Could you come closer? I have money."

"Nice legs!"

"Who sent down an angel here?"

"Damn girl, you look hot!"

5pb got self-aware that she was still wearing her stage outfit, which meant she wasn't hiding much away from them. Fortunately she was too far away for them to grab her somewhere - that didn't stop them from trying, though. Robo-Scout bashed more grabby hands than 5pb was comfortable. She did her best to ignore the whistles and cat calls coming out of the prisoners, a skill honed by years on the stage, and simply focused on finding her imprisoned bodyguards.

Samantha put her face to the bars and shouted. "Hey, 5pb! Over here!"

The idol perked up and looked at the source of the voice, where she saw Samantha waving at her. 5pb jogged towards her, her escort easily keeping up with the pace. The idol saw the brunette looking at her in disapproval, sending 5pb into internal panic as she didn't know what she was doing wrong.

"5pb… why the hell are you still in your stage outfit?" Samantha asked.

A question 5pb asked herself more than once through her search of the prison area, but she still didn't find an answer for it.

"I... umm… I forgot? To change?"

Samantha sighed and smacked her forehead. 5pb nervously played with a lock of her hair. Falcom walked up to the bars, waving at the idol.

"Hi, 5pb! What's up?"

"H-Huh?! O-Oh, hi! So you two are here together."

By now, the prisoners had their fun and returned to what they were previously doing. Either reading, or working out.

Samantha noticed a few items that 5pb was carrying, and those items were Falcom's case and Samantha's bag. The overseer was curious how she managed to carry both of these here, but she felt it was better to ask what they were doing here.

"So what are you doing with our stuff?"

"W-Well… I'll be living in the Basilicom because my apartment got destroyed, and I took your stuff when I was moving out." 5pb's face inched closer to them, her face concerned. "I-I saw blood there. Are you injured?"

Falcom glanced at Samantha, who was the owner of said blood, but the brunette smiled cheerfully and even interlocked her fingers. "Nah, we're fine. Those were a couple of scratches. Nothing big."

"S-Scratches? T-There was a lot of blood."

Samantha stared at 5pb's face, her entire posture unflinching and smiling. This quickly became a staring match between 5pb and Samantha, who knew her opponent had a weak resolve. However Samantha relented first.

"I'm fine…" The brunette groaned. "I had a medic to patch me up and I don't even have scars to show. You can relax, I'm not gonna die anytime soon.

"Just- Just be careful next time, okay? Don't play a hero."

Samantha found it adorable how much 5pb was worried about her. It reminded her of Fay…

...And there went her mood.

"Okay, no more playing the hero." Samantha promised, only to get 5pb off her case. "Anyway, what's with the bags?"

"Well… Vert agreed to return these to you. Even your weapons."

Falcom raised her eyebrow in surprise. "S-Seriously?"

"Y-Yes, I don't know why though."

This… was irresponsible of her. By giving them their equipment back, Vert just made it harder to stop them if she and Samantha decided to break from jail. Did- did she trust them enough to not do that? Or was she confident enough that she could recapture them even if they're armed?

Samantha knew the real reason why they were mysteriously allowed to have their weapons, but she won't say anything. The overseer fought hard to prevent herself from grinning. This didn't go unheard however, their fellow prisoners heard this and they were upset about it.

"This is insulting! My staff and tomes were taken away from me, while they get to keep their weapons?"

"Yeah, I'm calling BS on this! That's unfair! What the heck is this favoritism!?"

Samantha leaned to the side to look at the interrupters, both of them were in the same cell on the opposite side and both of them were women too.

One of them had green hair and an odd white (purple?) skin. She had baggy gray pants and a jacket of similar color. For some reason she kept the jacket opened, revealing her stomach and tubetop. Judging by the insignia on her tubetop, this woman was from ASIC.

The other girl was wearing black robes with red lining. She hed messy chestnut hair, long enough to reach her neck, and freckles were scattered around her nose and cheeks.

Falcom and Samantha recognized that person.

"Bloody hell… Is that you, Angela?!"

The Dark Magician frowned in confusion. "Y-Yes? Who are you? Have we met?"

"It's me, Samuel."

Angela still looked confused for a few moments, before her eyes narrowed. Falcom sensed some hostility coming off her. "I knew those ugly eyes looked familiar..." The Dark Magician looked up and down at (now) Samantha's outfit, getting confused over a few details. "Why do you look more feminine now? Weren't you a man?"

"What?!" 5pb exclaimed in shock, her eyes wide.

"Wait. So he's a dude? ...Yeah he kinda looks ugly." The ASIC goon observed, earning a middle finger from the Samantha.

"Love you too, washing board."

"The hell you called me!?"

"I called you a-"

Falcom covered Samantha's mouth before she could finish. The brunette fell silent as Falcom was free to talk with her former… acquaintance. "Hey, Angela! It's me, Falcom. Long time no see."

Angela's gaze turned to her. "Ah! So the Possessed Warrior is still alive after all. Frankly when I returned to the castle, and saw you and the Gehaburn gone I was a little worried... Did you keep the sword, by the way? Or have you disposed of it somewhere?"

"Well, it's mmph-?!" It was Samantha's turn to cover Falcom's mouth before she could finish. Then the overseer pried Falcom's hand off her face.

"And what exactly will you do with this knowledge?" Samantha questioned. "Actually, why are you here to begin with? I sent you to Planeptune!"

"And what exactly will you do with this knowledge?" Angela fired back. "Actually, why are you here to begin with? Shouldn't you be in True Celestia creating more widows and orphans?"

Oof… she is definitely hostile to Samantha.

"What?!" 5pb exclaimed again, too shocked to respond in any other way.

Samantha said nothing to Angela's accusation, while the Dark Magician enjoyed sticking it where it hurt.

"Uhhh? What are you two talking about?" The ASIC goon asked. Samantha pointed at her.

"You. What's your name?" Samantha asked.

"Linda." The ASIC goon introduced herself.

"Linda, shut up." Said the brunette.

"Uh, no? You're not my mom. Dad. Whatever."

Samantha rolled her eyes and ignored the underling, Angela did the same. Falcom tried to follow the conversation between those two, but it was hard without context. Something happened between those two and Falcom didn't know what.

5pb was too shocked to listen to anything else. The reveal that Samantha was actually a man blew her mind.

"Uhhh, I'm confused. What happened between you two?" The adventurer asked.

"Remember our last fight, Falcom? When you got yourself possessed and almost killed me in the process?" Angela quired.

"Yes? I do remember it." Falcom nodded. She remembered standing in a pleasant sunlight, her sword pointed at the Dark Magician. She won that battle thanks to the Eyelander.

"After our fight, Samuel-"

"It's Samantha now." The brunette interrupted. Angela waved her off.

"-whatever. After our fight, Samantha took me to True Celestia. There he told me... things. He told me what was really going on, what he was doing to our world, who really was at fault for my parent's death. Did he tell you any of this, or was he keeping secrets away from you?" Angela asked- no, Angela demanded an answer.

"Well, he - she - also told me that." Falcom said. Angela nodded, pleased that at least she isn't kept in the dark.

"Whoa… what the heck are you broads-"

"Shut up!" Angela and Samantha shouted at Linda. The Underling sensed that she wasn't welcome in this conversation, so she walked off in a huff. The ASIC goon crashed against her bed and read her manga.

"What?" 5pb said, still stunned.

Samantha sighed and pinched her nose. "I didn't intend for your parents to die. I already told you I'm sorry… but I guess you don't really care about that." The overseer said, her voice softer than it was before.

Angela crossed her arms and hmph'ed. "You're right. I don't care about what you intended to do, I care about what you've done. And you've destroyed my life." She then looked at the adventurer standing next to her. "You better be wary of him, or he'll destroy yours too."

Having said that the Dark Magician stormed off and left them alone. Samantha said nothing and returned to her bed as well, a heavy sensation brewing in her gut. Falcom let out a whistle after hearing Angela's last words. "She really hates your guts."

Falcom knew Angela hated the CPUs, her attempt to get the Gehaburn showed that very well, although it didn't hold a candle to what she saw now. The adventurer thought that the only reason why she didn't start an actual fight was the fact that she didn't have her staff, while Samantha had her Pistol Swords not far away.

Samantha gave her no comment, which concerned the blue-haired woman. Falcom decided to leave her alone for now and focus on 5pb… as the idol was still in shock. Falcom waved her hand in front of her face.

"What?!" 5pb exclaimed, only for Falcom to lightly slap her on her cheek.

"Hey, snap out of it."

"He's- He's a man?! I didn't know! I really thought he's a woman!" 5pb covered her face in embarrassment.

"Yeah it's… complicated." Falcom chuckled sheepishly.

"Biologically speaking, I am a woman, currently." Samantha said while lifting her finger, "While I was born a man and was one for most of my life, a certain lesbian goddess decided she preferred me with breasts and no dick, so by the power of magical bullshittery vested in her, I am now a woman. Does that explain it for you?"

Falcom waved a hand in front of 5pb's face again, and the idol didn't respond.

"You broke her." Falcom deadpanned.

Samantha shrugged.

"...Are you alright?"

"...Ask me again a bit later." Samantha said. "Angela made me realize something and now I'm having a crisis."

"Alright then." Falcom said. She raised her arms in a 'let's get this over with' manner and sat next to Samantha. The overseer looked away from her novel and their eyes met, bronze and orange eyes looking at one another. "I'm listening."

Samantha sighed and bookmarked her book, before placing it next to her. The overseer shifted to a more comfortable position while Falcom patiently waited for her to begin.

"She's right. Angela. If I didn't send the mercs to this world, then her parents would still be alive. It all comes down to this one mistake I've made, the first failure of my plan. If I sent someone else, or just took the mercs from an earlier timeline, then none of this would've happened. Things would be better."

Samantha snorted. "It's funny… Usually it was Fay who did this sort of thing with me."

Falcom nodded and crossed her arms. "How do you know things would be better?" She asked. "I've been with the mercenaries, and without them we wouldn't have got as far as we have now. CFW Judge and CFW Trick were defeated thanks to them, and we got 3 CPUs rescued now."

"You don't understand." Samantha shook her head. "These things would've happened even without my intervention. CFW Judge would die, CFW Magic would die, the ASIC and Arfoire would be defeated by the CPUs. I know how the events would go… and comparing this to that: things are bad here."

Falcom said nothing. She wanted to cheer her up a little with the 'you didn't know this would happen' argument, but it seemed like it had no effect.

"I had one job." Samantha continued. "One job, one simple task given to me by Magnavox… and I failed. It's over."

"What was this task?" Falcom asked.

The brunette considered telling her. She didn't know if she could or if it would be censored by the seal in her mind. "...Fuck it." Samantha said to herself. "When I got into Magnavox's care, she offered me a deal. If I could top her happy ending, make everyone happier under my watch than under hers, then me and Fay could live here forever. It was my chance to finally break away from that petty bastard and live in peace, but that doesn't seem plausible anymore. I fucked up everything."

Angela's words echoed in Samantha's mind.

"You better be wary of him, or he'll destroy yours too."

She was too late to give this warning.

Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Seeing Ghosts

The Dragonslayer is Falcom's starting sword. I didn't made that up, it's an actual thing in the Re;Birth 2. Its description says that Falcom got it from a 'certain' Planeptune Oracle. I think we can all guess who that was.

You thought this is going to be the mercenaries and CPUs fighting Killachines, but nope. It's actually Samantha and Vert fighting Possessed Falcom.

I actually hated writing this chapter. It's so rushed IMO but I didn't want to repeat the LAN Castle arc and keep you waiting for long for the Killachines Invasion.

I was also planning to take the last chapter into different direction, but then I thought to myself 'What if they meet Angela in prison?' and actually get to writing this scene… I found this direction to be even better than what I was planning for.

Also before you ask. Yes, this was Linda the Underling locked in the same cell as Angela.

Also… what do you think of Samuel/Samantha? Do you like him/her? Hate him/her? Give me your thoughts.

Responses:

YORCHspartan117

I'm glad you like this scene, personally I think I could've make it a bit better but if you like it then everything is good.

This… oversaturation was an effect of me waiting to rant about the state of Neptunia fandom. But I can tone it down in the later chapters if that's a problem.

As for the sequel, I was actually planning to write a sequel AND a prequel to this story. Prequel would focus on Sam and Fay, how did they meet, their adventurers and how Sam found himself in this situation while sequel…

...Actually I have no concrete plans for the sequel.

You see, the majority of this (the RED-Contract) story was written on the fly, I only have few scenes planned ahead. This is why I can say X and then switch to doing Y few chapters later.

The same thing is for sequel/prequel. I won't have any concrete ideas until I would get to writing it.

doom2099

After this chapter I think you'll see the angle Sam will try to go through.

If you do, that's probably not it. But we'll see.

And yes, Miss Pauling gets Noire. Now there's at least 1 CPU on each side.

- Harmless Orange