Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

The Guardian Angel

Peace.

Falcom felt at peace.

No pain, no misery, no anxiety, no suffering. All of her problems just disappeared.

All that remained was peace.

Falcom sighed and scratched her head. She finally died, huh? By the hands of Gehaburn no less. She worked so hard to escape, only to find out that this was all part of her trap. She has to applaud Highlander's ingenuity, Falcom really felt like she was out of the woods.

But nope, it turned out that Gehaburn was already there, waiting for Falcom. And so the ghost killed her when Falcom's guard was dropped.

She was taking her whole death much better than she expected.

But that didn't matter anymore, this was the afterlife… which looked way emptier than she expected it to be. Where was everybody? Where was the golden gate or the final judgement? No matter where Falcom looked, there was just an empty whiteness all around her. It makes it look boring.

Maybe she was already judged by her sins, and she isn't in Heaven, but rather in Purgatory or even Hell?!

She did kill other people… if monsters were really the reincarnation of deceased humans.

Falcom began to panic. Was this empty space her punishment? Was she doomed to live forever in this empty space, bored for eternity?

Falcom hyperventilated, but a sudden thought brought her panic to a complete halt. "W-Wait a moment, that would mean I should be a monster as well..."

There was no evidence supporting this hypothesis, but Angela said that there were clinically dead people who testified that they saw life through the eyes of monsters. Falcom was afraid that something similar happened to her, but she felt relief when all she saw was her human body. No signs of monster transformation nor wounds… which was interesting. Her injury had completely disappeared.

The adventurer shuddered at the memories of her own death. They were hazy, but she could clearly remember the sensation of being impaled, and that burning feeling of Gehaburn forcing something into her.

A true nightmare fuel.

But that was over, and she was on the other side. One question lingered in her mind.

What now?

And someone answered her call.

"Now you wrap up your internal monologue, and turn around so we can begin."

A man stood behind her, standing amidst the white. The man was surprisingly short, just as tall as Falcom. He wore a black suit with a vest and without a tie. Falcom would've thought him nothing more than a pretty ordinary businessman.

If it weren't for those eyes of his.

They were scary, weird, menacing. Falcom couldn't move her gaze away from them. They were brown, just like his hair, and their gaze pierced through her as if she was nothing, less than nothing even. It unnerved the adventurer and she couldn't help but to plea. "Can you… not glare at me this way? It's creepy." She tried her hardest to look anywhere else, but her eyes kept coming back to them.

"What? Oh, I'm not actually glaring at you in any particular way, my eyes just look like that." He bluntly answered. His voice held a strange, almost funny accent to it.

"Oh." The adventurer didn't know what to say. Should she feel sorry for assuming, or maybe ask him to turn around so he can stop unnerving her? She didn't really know what to say to him, so it took some time before she finally asked. "C-Can you-? Um. W-Who are you? Where is this place? Why am I here?"

A corner of his mouth turned upwards, raising Falcom's guard even further. "Don't worry, I'll explain everything. But first, let me change the scenery a bit." He clapped his hands and Falcom blinked. When she opened her eyes, the whole world had changed.

Now Falcom and the man were standing on top of a small hill, underneath a giant tree. Short, green grass and blue sky span out as far as Falcom could see. The sky held no sun and yet there were lights and shadows in this world, just like in the real world. There was even a small, pleasant wind caressing the redhead.

"Woah." Falcom breathed out, awe overtaking her. Literally in the blink of an eye the nothingness was replaced with something. She wouldn't have believed it if she didn't just see it with her own eyes, it was breathtaking.

The adventurer turned her gaze towards the person responsible for this. He was lying on the grass, with his back against the tree, he watched her reacting towards this phenomenon with a smile on his face, which was just slightly more bearable to watch than his ugly gaze.

"This is my domain, I control everything here." He explained Falcom's unsaid question. "Look! You're Nepgear now!"

"Huh? EEEEEEH!?" Now-not-Falcom recoiled as she found herself turned into a lilac-haired Candidate, complete with her voice and mannerism. "W-What the goodness? Why am I Nepgear now?!"

"To lighten up the mood a little?" The brunette man shrugged and watched her panic.

"It's not funny though!" Nepgear (Falcom) cried out. "Change me back, please!"

The stranger made no motions but Falcom was turned back to normal nonetheless. The adventurer checked every inch of her body in order to be sure that she was herself, while the man smiled and shook his head.

"Thanks." Falcom sighed, finding nothing weird with her body.

"No problem. Please, take a seat."

The man tapped the ground next to him. Falcom took the hint and sat down on the spot. The wind felt great and the temperature was just right, but Falcom wanted answers. "So… who are you?"

No verbal answer came from him, instead he stood up and watched the sky above them with his back turned towards Falcom. 4 seconds passed and Falcom wanted to ask again, but he abruptly turned towards her. His eyes were much friendlier and easier to look at than before.

He dramatically flourished his arms and spread them wide. "You can call me your Guardian Angel, because that's basically what my job is!"

…

"What?" Falcom deadpanned, unsure if this is yet another of his jokes. But this 'Guardian Angel' just chuckled at her again, as if she said something funny. "Okay, maybe I went too far with this. Sorry." He coughed off his amusement and tried again, this time with his right hand placed at his chest.

"My name is Samuel Neikan. I'm an overseer of the NEO Hyper Dimension... or just your dimension to put it in a simpler way."

Falcom blinked at his even weirder introduction. Overseer of what? "NEO Hyper Dimension?" Falcom asked, her forehead creased. Was this another of his jokes?

"Yes." Samuel nodded and put his hands behind his head. "I wasn't joking there but that's irrelevant. What is relevant though is… well." He scratched his head, thinking how he should reveal the next information.

And then Falcom suddenly gasped, realizing something big.

"So YOU are the Author?"

"..."

The adventurer pointed at him accusingly, while Samuel was too dumbfounded to react. She caught him off guard and all he could do was stare in shock. Him? The fruit who wrote this very sentence you guys are reading, this Harmless Orange person who created this story? Where did she get this idea?

He laughed at her with his funny, almost embarrassing voice of his. "N-No." He shook his head in denial. "I am not the Author, their self-insert, God, or something similar. I'm a human just like you, I do work for a goddess, but I'm a human myself."

His laugh died into a chuckle before stopping completely, the only evidence of his amusement a small smile decorating his face. "I make mistakes, just like everyone else. Which brings us to why you're here."

Why she was here? The way Samuel said that line was like it wasn't anything obvious, but no matter how long Falcom thought of a reason for her to be here, it all ended on the same reason. Which could be why he emphasised it like that.

"I'm here… because I died? Right?" Falcom wasn't sure whether it was right or wrong, but this was the only answer she had at her disposal.

"No no no." Samuel quickly denied, his hands shaking rapidly. "You actually aren't dead. You were pretty close, yeah. Very close. But you're still living."

…

"Wait... what?!" She is alive?! Falcom recoiled at this unexpected reveal, her eyes wide. She was impaled with a pretty wide and thick sword. Impaled. No way in hell she would survive that! "What? How am I still alive when I'm here in the afterlife? I was stabbed, and then I bled out. How could I survive that?" Falcom stood up, piling more questions one on top of the other.

She was genuinely confused because nothing short of a miracle could've saved her. Unless there was Compa or Medic near her body, with their Medi-Guns ready, Falcom should have no chance of surviving her injury. She was feeling skeptical, but something told her she shouldn't be...

Samuel just shrugged and exclaimed. "I'm confused as well! This is one of the things I wanted to check while you're here. How the fuck are you still alive?"

"And how do you want to check that?" She asked.

And Samuel stopped dead in his tracks. He had visible trouble saying something, looking from left to right, trying to avoid Falcom's gaze altogether. He was scratching his face, and Falcom could all but see him thinking hard on something.

Hell, she could even call him nervous right now.

After a moment of silence, Samuel's mind just said 'Fuck it.' "Just to clarify, I am not trying to be perverted, hit on you or anything of the sort. I already have a girlfriend and I love her dearly, so I'm not interested in you. But I need you to trust me on this."

This clarification set off so many red flags that Falcom didn't even know what to expect. There were just so many things wrong in what he just said. Why did he even say this to her? "Okay?" Why did Falcom even dignify that with an answer?

"I need to-" Samuel paused and reconsidered, "Actually, I think I should just explain it a bit more. In order to check your current state and determine how you survived, I need to place my hand over your heart." Samuel explained, to which Falcom stared at him blankly. That doesn't sound so- Wait, over her heart would be…

"I also require skin contact." Samuel continued. Falcom stared harder.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"...You're not touching my boobs." Falcom shielded her bosom with her hand. In the few minutes since she's met him, he's creeped her out, made fun of her, turned her into Nepgear for a joke, and now he wants to grope her? Seriously?

Samuel facepalmed, dismayed that his explanation was disregarded and his actions simplified to such perversity, but he supposed it was understandable. "Yes, I understand that you're not happy about this-"

"You're not touching my boobs."

"-but as I said, it's the only way for me, and you, to know what happened, please don't mistake this for something it's not. Blame Magnavox for this, not me, she's the one who designed it like this."

Falcom gave him a dirty look, shying away and covering herself with her arms even more. "How do I know you're not just making up an excuse to grope me? You haven't exactly been giving me a good impression you know."

"The only evidence I can provide will be after my inspection. Please, I understand this conversation didn't progress as well as I hoped, but can you at least give me a chance to prove myself here?"

"Nope, not if it means letting you sexually harass me." Falcom firmly shook her head.

Samuel placed his hands on his hips and sighed. "Well then. I'm afraid you're not giving me much of a choice."

Falcom had no idea what he meant by that, but she knew those words couldn't mean anything good for her. She looked at her hip to check if she had Eyelander, but the sword hadn't traveled with her...

Her own fists against the self-proclaimed 'Overseer of NEO Hyper Dimension' then, whatever that is. Considering the kind of reality bending power the man has shown thus far, she's not liking her odds, but she'll damn well try.

As Falcom braced to defend herself, Samuel looked right into her eyes. His brown, ugly eyes were hard to look at but this time Falcom didn't falter. Not until he said his next sentence.

"Allow me to check on you."

Falcom felt no changes, but when Samuel took a few steps towards her, she realized that something was very, very wrong with her. She tried to move away from him, but this… wasn't what she wanted? What? "W-What did you do?" She asked in confusion. Her emotions and body were betraying her, she didn't know what to feel about him. She wanted to be disgusted about this creep but she couldn't muster up anything but indifference, as if she didn't care anymore despite knowing she should.

What did he do? These aren't her emotions, but at the same time, they feel like they are. It wasn't anything like when she used Eyelander. She could recognize what thoughts were hers and what was not, but now she's just confused.

"I may be a human, but one tends to learn a few tricks when working for the True Goddess." He explained. "I changed the way you feel about me so I can proceed. I'm sorry, but this IS for your own good."

Falcom managed to bring herself to glare at him while he slipped his hand underneath her tank top. She couldn't even bring herself to resist because of whatever the pervert did. She wanted him away from her, but she didn't care enough to move. Is this what he meant by changing her feelings, this lethargy that made it so hard to care?

At least Samuel wasn't doing anything funny. He didn't try to cop a feel, his hand wasn't squeezing, it didn't move at all. His hand was just placed there, like a doctor feeling for a heartbeat. Maybe he wasn't lying after all? Though that didn't make it any more comfortable to have a stranger touch her chest.

"Alright, fine. So if I'm not dead, and this isn't the afterlife, then where are we?" Falcom asked, just so she could think about something other than being pseudo-mind controlled into letting herself get groped. Plus, she was genuinely curious about that question from the start.

"We are in…" Samuel trailed off, turning his gaze upwards as he tried to think of an answer. "I guess you could call it the True Celestia."

"Celestia? Like the world above Gamindustri where only Goddesses can go?"

"In a sense, though that'd be a normal Celestia. The True Celestia is a place where only the True Goddess and her servants can go. And obviously people they summon. It's also a place between dimensions, so that makes it even harder to get here."

A place between dimensions huh? She got it, but she didn't got it. Falcom at least understood that this was the home of the True Goddess, the first CPU to be created. Falcom doesn't know how much truth there was in his words, but so far he's shown some pretty bizarre powers, and has been fittingly confusing for some kind of holy emissary between dimensions. Though she wouldn't have expected an agent of the True Goddess to be so… ugly, or awkward, or perverted. Speaking of which...

"Hey, how much longer do you have to-"

"Done. Good news, I found the reason why you're still alive. Bad news, it's a very bad reason."

Well, that was timely. Samuel took his hand away, and the adventurer jumped at the chance to finally separate herself from him, her motivation to resist returned, even if it was far too late. She fixed her tank top and turned away from him, face flushed as she was allowed embarrassment once more. "So what's the reason then?"

Yet another pause, as Samuel took his time to consider how best to explain, snapping his fingers. He liked taking his time to answer things, especially for dramatic effect, and it was pissing off an already irritated Falcom. Still, answer he did.

"Let me put it this way. I don't think Hilda wanted to kill you to begin with, or at least she didn't want to damage your body too much. This would explain why she didn't decapitate you that time."

She didn't want to kill her? But Gehaburn was out for Falcom's blood back there, she even impaled Falcom right at the end. What could Gehaburn want except killing her?

"I can see you're confused, let me continue." Samuel commented. "And by the way, as long as you're here, I can read your thoughts. You're in my part of the house." The overseer shrugged, shocking Falcom even more.

Well that's just peachy. It's not like she wanted some privacy…

Samuel laughed, but he quickly disguised that as a cough.

"What Gehaburn probably wanted... was to weaken you into a state of near-death so she could… er... integrate herself into your soul and body, which mended you in the process. On the bright side, if you've ever been bothered by not having a last name, you can call yourself Falcom Gehaburn now."

Falcom Gehaburn.

Falcom Gehaburn.

Falcom Gehaburn.

Falcom Gehaburn.

Falcom could feel her brain shut down right there and then. What the fuck did he mean Falcom Gehaburn?!

"What?" The redheaded adventurer asked calmly, almost too calmly. It's like she freaked out so hard she flipped back into calmness. Except there was this impending sense of doom in her stomach, Falcom didn't know when it appeared but it wasn't there when she arrived here.

And it's just occurred to her. That's why she felt like the spirit forced something into her throat when she was dying. That burning thing deep in her throat, Gehaburn was forcing herself down her throat as Falcom was dying.

"There's no need to tax your brain, let me explain further." Samuel sighed and shook his head. "Think of her as the spirit of Duke Eyelander, and you as the sword. It's a good deal more complicated than that of course, but that is the nature of it. She cut you down and then used her own essence to revive you, possessing you in the process, so you could take her for a ride. Or maybe even take you as her ride."

She didn't like how he phrased the last part, and she still wasn't over the previous revelation. After all, a malevolent spirit who hates CPUs is inside her. Who would not freak out? "C-Can you fix this? Like take her out of my body or something?" Fuck him being a pervert, she doesn't like when ghosts try to possess her without her consent.

Silence was her answer, yet another agonizing pause as Samuel pondered how he should answer her. "Yes… in theory." He slowly began. "But I don't trust myself to keep you alive during the procedure. I'm just not skilled enough."

"You. Are. A. God! How are you not skilled enough?!" Falcom cried out.

"I. Am. A. Human." Samuel retorted, mocking her with a similar tone. "I can and will fuck up, and there are things I don't know. Hell, even my knowledge about Gamindustri is entirely second-hand!" Feeling frustrated, he threw his hands in the air. He's just an empowered man with a connection to the creator of all of those dimensions, is it so hard for other people to stop calling him a god?

So she can't get Gehaburn out without dying, and Falcom had no interest in dying for real. "So, what do I do now?" The adventurer asked. There was a lot she still didn't understand, but common sense told her that being paired up with a ghost who hates goddesses is a bad thing when she's on the goddesses' side, a very powerful ghost at that. She doesn't know exactly how bad it is, but it should be pretty high on the list, and bad things need to be dealt with. She just had no idea how.

"Huh?"

"I have a malevolent ghost stuck inside me. We have to do something about it, right?"

"Yes, absolutely." Samuel nodded. "With her inside you, the dimension is just a few steps away from going Conquest route. Which is a very bad thing."

"Conquest? What Conquest?" Falcom blinked, she didn't like this word.

"A word you'll hear often if things DO get bad, but right now we can still save it… and I have just the trick!" And then he got an idea, an idea so crazy and stupid that it just might work. Samuel looked towards Falcom as if he just found the answer to everything, which actually filled her with some hope. "Yes. Why the hell did I not think of that!" Samuel clawed his face, the answer was so simple and yet he didn't realize it until now.

"What is it? You got a plan?"

"You bet I do!" Samuel pointed at the adventurer. "We could simply seal her within you, put her to sleep or stasis or something like that. She'll still be there, but it would buy us some time to think of a better solution at least. Or maybe just call Magnavox for help, if she isn't busy creating yet another dimension."

"Who's Magnavox?" Falcom frowned. She recalled that someone (Angela probably) said something about her, but Falcom couldn't remember any details. "I think I heard Angela say something about her, but I'm not sure..."

"I'll explain, but first I need your chest again."

Falcom's hand twitched, she wasn't eager to have her chest groped again, but Samuel had indeed proven himself trustworthy, and if she had to choose between dealing with a malevolent spirit herself or getting touched one more time, then the answer was obvious. Plus, he might end up doing the emotional control thing again if she resisted which would be even worse. (Very) reluctantly, Falcom let him reach out, and as his rough hand yet again slipped under her clothes, Falcom just realized something.

Why DID she consider him trustworthy anyway? Not even about the magical groping but about everything. Here was this weirdo who showed up out of nowhere, who looks like a bad guy and makes controversial demands, claiming to be some kind of Overseer and her guardian angel, talking about other dimensions and a True Celestia. And yet, she was taking every word coming out of him as fact.

This must be another one of his tricks… Or not? Maybe?

...Hey, asshole. Get out of my head.

"You know, I'm not reading your mind voluntarily. As a master of this place, I get information on every person I look at. You included." The 'overseer' explained, proving again that he can literally read minds. "I understand that you don't trust me, and that I sound suspicious. But frankly I'm actually glad, that means you can think on your own. And if you think that me being good to you out of my free will is off-putting, I'll tell you that this will help me as well."

Falcom went poker-faced and stared at him, wondering about how freeing her of Gehaburn's hold would help him. "Oh? And how would it help you?" She raised her eyebrow.

Samuel gave her a half-smile and avoided the question with "This topic we'll discuss a bit later." before falling silent. Focusing on whatever he was doing with her boob. This time Falcom felt something happening within her. A weird tingling feeling deep in her body, as if something was poking around her innards but there wasn't any pain. Just a strange itch that Falcom didn't know whether to call a good or bad feeling.

But she knew that this was Samuel's doing, if the magic glyph on his hand didn't already give it away.

"Magnavox is basically the True Goddess, that's her real name." Samuel suddenly explained, catching Falcom's attention. "From what I read, she was the first CPU to be created and then people just… forgot about her for whatever reason."

"You don't know why?"

"Nope, sorry. It wasn't in any of the books I studied, and she doesn't remember neither." He shrugged and continued working, but Falcom wasn't satisfied with what he gave her.

"How did you even get to work for her?" She asked. A self-proclaimed mortal working under an immortal creator of worlds. That should be a great story to tell.

If Samuel Neikan could actually tell this story.

"I can't tell you, really. I'm physically unable to tell you."

"Huh? Why?" How can someone be 'physically unable' to tell something? His speech, even though a little funny on the accent, doesn't seem to be impaired. And he looks healthy too, so Falcom was completely clueless about his reason.

"% $#!##." He said some completely foreign word, it sounded like a bunch of gibberish to the adventurer, but Samuel quickly explained what that was. "This is what happens when I try to talk about something I just can't, it becomes censored into gibberish. And with this seal in place, should you try to talk about this place to anyone later, the same will happen for you."

Falcom's jaw tightened from shock. Samuel didn't warn her about that. "And why didn't you tell me about that?"

"I just forgot that was a thing until you asked." The redhead stared at him blankly. This guy just said he forgot a very crucial detail about something that could potentially change Falcom's life. She was preparing herself to snap at him, but Samuel was quicker to the punch. "And before you ask, the only other option is killing you. But I dunno what Gehaburn will do if you die so... I'm done."

His hand left her bosom and Falcom began readjusting her clothes once more, still feeling mad about him keeping the knowledge of this side-effect away from her. She glared at him and asked something she should've asked first. "So, what else will this seal do?"

"Well…" He began counting on his fingers. "It should stop Gehaburn from taking control over your brain. It will make you unable to talk about our meeting here, and it also has the neat effect of encrypting your mind, so now no one, including me, can read your thoughts or look into your memories."

So now he won't be able to read her thoughts? That's some good news at least, she can finally have her privacy back.

Unless he was lying and this is a trap to read her more personal thoughts...

"And I also allowed myself to give you a small reward for freeing Blanc." He smiled and observed Falcom's reaction, who was intrigued by this 'small reward'.

"Oh, yeah? What did you do?"

"Until now I had no idea what to give you, but you seemed interested in those Wraith Manifestations, so now you can conjure them yourself. It maybe doesn't seem like much, but having an ability to look into past events opens up a lot of intelligence-gathering possibilities. Actually, your adventure inside the LAN Castle gave me new things to look into."

"So now I can see Wraiths anywhere in the world, right?"

"Yes. If you want to see them, they should appear."

Being able to Manifest Wraiths anywhere could be a powerful thing, it just depended how Falcom would use it. This wasn't a type of power that'd normally suit someone who relies on strength, it required ingenuity and wisdom to use it effectively. But as some say, information is power, so Samuel gave her the ability to collect all kinds of information. He hoped she'd figure out how to use it.

"And with that out of the way, we can finally proceed to why I really called you here."

Ah, that's right. Falcom recalled that her mysterious survival was only one of his reasons to summon her here, so that meant there were a few other reasons. "Ah yes, you said that you had more reasons to call me here. So what are they?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your good work, and to apologize for my MAJOR screw up."

Falcom's already confusing day took another unexpected turn.

Samuel was on his knees, with his forehead touching the ground, and awkwardly standing over him was the redhead adventurer.

"I am deeply sorry for everything that transpired. Gehaburn wouldn't have inhabited your body if it wasn't for my lack of foresight; thousands of people wouldn't die if I hadn't opened the connection between two worlds and let the mercenaries into Gamindustri. There wouldn't be a shitstorm brewing in Planeptune if it wasn't for my actions. Please, forgive me." He said in an apologetic voice… almost as if he rehearsed it a couple of times before.

"...Okay?" Having a god bowing to her wasn't on Falcom's bucket list. The adventurer wasn't sure how she should respond towards that. Part of the reason was her being confused over some things he said. What shitstorm brewing in Planeptune? What connection between two worlds? And what did he mean by letting the mercenaries into Gamindustri? Wasn't that Engineer's fault?

"I have no idea what you're talking about. What's happening in Planeptune? What worlds? I am so confused right now…"

Samuel raised his head from the dirt and dusted off his pants. "Hmm. Perhaps I should start explaining things." He said as a small, white table with 2 similarly colored chairs arose from the ground. Falcom took one of said chairs and sat down.

"Yeah, please do."

Samuel also sat down, and ran his hand through his hair. "Let me start with this: I am the reason why the mercs, and by extension the other people from their world, has appeared in Gamindustri."

Falcom took that quite well and calmly responded with "Okay, but wasn't it just Engineer making a mistake with his teleporter?"

"Yes. That's what all of you know." Samuel countered, raising his finger. "But think about it; who gave Engineer the blueprints for this teleporter? Who broke the rules of physics and connected both universes together? Who manipulated you all from the shadows, making you act as I please?"

"...You?"

"Yes. Me." He nodded and propped his chin on his fist. "Scout spilling his drink wasn't an accident."

"Alright then, if that's the case, why did you do that? Why send someone as dangerous as those mercs here?" Falcom asked, not entirely convinced yet. If it wasn't an accident, then there must have been a motive, right?

Samuel scratched his lower jaw, debating whether or not he should really tell her, but decided this was the time for truth. "Actually, those guys were a plan B. My plan A was to go myself… but without my partner and support I would just die on Day 1." He shrugged. "So I pulled some strings, made a few deals, went into a few other places and sent the mercenaries here instead."

"But why exactly?" Falcom inquired. "What were you trying to accomplish by sending someone?"

"I needed to enter some new elements into the world to change its course." Samuel admitted, raising his shoulder in half shrug. "And change it I did, but look where it's gotten us. Yes, the ASIC is losing control in Planeptune, but the civilians are getting afraid. You girls saved 1 goddess, but you also left yourself open for a checkmate."

Falcom gulped. Was it that bad out there? Falcom didn't exactly bother to check public opinion, she always assumed Histoire had that covered. She wouldn't let the mercs do their thing without thinking of the consequences, right?

Right?

"Can't you just, like… make them all happy and forgive Histoire for doing it?" The adventurer suggested. He did something like that to her, doesn't that mean he could do it to everyone else?

But the way his expression changed made her rethink that statement. Just by looking at him Falcom could feel like he's trying to figure out how to get out of this one. "Wow." He laughed pathetically. "You got me there."

"So can you?"

"No." He responded bluntly.

"Why not? You seemed to have the powers to do that."

"Because I could only do that here, in my domain." He tapped his finger on the table. "I'm not that strong outside of this place. If I tried that with you back in Gamindustri it wouldn't have worked, simply because you were dead-set on not letting me… help."

"You wanted to grope my chest." Falcom corrected, deadpanning. "I'm still mad about that." She huffed, crossed her arms and looked away.

"You're still not going to change your mind I see." The overseer shrugged, "I'm sorry about having to do that, but it was either I take a hit to my reputation or you going Conquest route. The former is nothing by comparison."

"I still don't understand what this Conquest is…" Falcom rubbed her forehead, still confused about this term.

"And you don't need to know."

"Right."

And the conversation died down, only silence remained between them, silence to make Falcom think. A lot's happened, from her supposed death to waking up in this strange place and meeting this bizarre man. How much time has it been since she's been stabbed by Gehaburn, much less left Planeptune?

"For how long are you going to keep me here? If I'm alive, then I want to go back to the others, if you don't mind." This was her strangest adventure yet, she ought to record it in her journal. It should make quite a selling...

And now Falcom tried to predict how many people would dismiss this place as bullshit or fantasy, probably quite a lot of people. Herself included. The redhead gave a short and quiet chuckle. She can already see the bad reviews coming from angry folks. That is, assuming she can even write about this place, considering the enchantment Samuel had placed on her. And there goes her brief moment of cheer.

"Ah, of course. Not for long, but I still need you here. Don't worry though, time doesn't flow the same here, so no time has passed at all for you back in Gamindustri."

"...Oh." Well that was convenient. That meant they can take their time and Falcom didn't need to worry too much.

"Continuing our previous topic. I can't do it, I can't make them wake up one day and think 'I'm gonna become a hero now!'" Samuel said that while posing, then he sat back and continued. "Still, I can make some small influences. If they're choosing between buying pizza or vegetables, I can make them pick vegetables for example, but that's only because they aren't sure themselves. If they were set on getting pizza, they will get their pizza and I can't do shit about it... You see where I'm going?"

"Yes." Falcom nodded. In other words, if people hated Nepgear and were sure of it, then Samuel can't do anything to make them like Nepgear. He could turn the few people that aren't sure yet, but he would be completely useless against the convinced masses.

"Indirectly changing events has proven to only make things worse. What I need is a more direct approach." He frowned and looked right into Falcom's eyes, said orange eyes quickly avoided his gaze.

"Why do you even change to events? Does something horrible happen for us in the future?" From the way things look right now, Falcom could see a lot of things that could end in a world changing disaster. The people of Planeptune for one, Gehaburn inside her for another. The ASIC, the mercenaries, their Re:Spawn System, they've shaken the very foundation of their world. They're on a tightrope line here.

"No no. Things were actually looking peaceful at the end… originally." He stretched his neck, silently saying that this was not the case anymore. "My reason for this is my deal with Magnavox. I won't say any details, but it's related to why and how I'm working with her."

"What's the deal?"

"Not gonna tell you, I just said."

Short and straightforward. Ouch.

"You did good stopping Angela from getting the Gehaburn. That's where I realized just how much I screwed up." Samuel changed the topic. Falcom just remembered about the practitioner of Dark magic. Where did she disappear to anyway?

"I have a question. What happened to Angela? She literally disappeared right before my eyes. ...Was that you?" Falcom was talking with Angela, and then the magician was taken away by a bolt of lighting. It was instant and without warning. Did Samuel also have a hand in this? Was he the third party that healed her broken neck?

"...I didn't want her dead, so I moved her. We talked a little and then I sent her back to Planeptune." Samuel leaned back on his chair, and Falcom looked at him. "What?"

"You sure are powerless back in the real world." Falcom deadpanned, sarcasm dripping from her mouth. But she was glad too. She didn't hate Angela, even if the Magician tried to kill her, Falcom just couldn't bring herself to hate her. Pity was all she felt towards her, life had given her a bad hand.

"I use my powers when it's needed and… well. I completely ruined her life." The brunette rubbed his forehead. He was feeling tired. "Her story helped me realize just how many my actions have affected, in all the wrong ways. I need help, Falcom." He declared, looking at the redhead in front of her.

His work screwed over countless families, he brought extremely bloodthirsty mercenaries into Gamindustri and even brought Gray Mann's little war there. He created Angela by indirectly killing her parents, her sister and even her boyfriend, and like a cherry on top, Histoire was breaking down because of him and Nepgear was in danger.

He fucked his dimension sideways.

And by his employer, the True Goddess, he's going to unfuck that sorry excuse of a dimension.

"Every time I try to change things from here, I make things worse. I need help from someone who is in a position to change things directly."

"..."

Falcom could say no. She could just tell him to find someone else and send her away. Then she would be free to forget all of this happened. He was shady even before he tried to grab her chest, and there were so many mysteries surrounding him and his unbelievable claims. Both of them just met, and he was already begging so much from her. Logic told her that she shouldn't trust a word he was saying, nor did she owe him a thing. But if this was all an act, then it has to be the most elaborate act she's ever seen.

"...Fine. What do you want me to do?"

As sketchy as the self-proclaimed Overseer was, she couldn't deny the world was in danger. Assuming that this man really was a god, or at least the emissary of one, then this was her chance to save not just her friends, but possibly all of Gamindustri. Falcom just couldn't walk away from that.

After she voiced her answer Falcom saw something in him. He had this look on his face, underneath his ugly gaze there was something telling her that he had it all figured out.

"We can ignore changing the way the mercenaries work. It was the cause of all of those problems, but Blanc already has it covered." Samuel stated, walking from side to side. There was a pointer stick in his hand, and an empty blackboard behind him.

"She does? Wow." Falcom breathed out. The Lowee's CPU was unconscious when Falcom disappeared with Hale, when had she even woken up? What happened when she woke up? Was the CPU so pissed off about being captured that she took the reins herself?

"Yes." He nodded. "While you were unconscious, Rom and Ram woke up Blanc, and now Planeptune and Lowee are in alliance under Blanc's leadership. We can leave reforming the mercs to her while we focus on other matters. Like gathering mascots."

"..."

Falcom listened from the comfortabless of her chair, while Samuel stopped and turned towards her. The redhead gulped at his gaze, she just couldn't bring herself to look at it but he still glared at her.

Then he sighed.

"I have no idea how the hell you did this, but you guys did it." His voice, despite sounding funny, was thick with disappointed. "You were so close to getting Planeptune's mascot, so close. Some of you were even there, and not just once! You were a few freaking meters away from the mascot and you still passed right by her!" Samuel felt irritated by just thinking about this, but he blew out his cheeks. "Goddamn Sniper even FOUND it, and he could've taken it home but nooo, he had to ignore it because his precious stupid Fenrirs were more important." The overseer was wheezing from anger. All of them were so close to getting the mascot, and every time they miraculously passed by and walked away. Just watching them was infuriating as fuck, and he finally had to let it out.

"So when you leave, just take this map and go get it. Although it's too late by now and the Mascot is destroyed." He took out a parchment that he got from… somewhere and laid it on the table in front of Falcom, who was currently surprised by his casual reveal.

"The Planeptune's Mascot is destroyed?!" She cried out.

"Damaged, I should've said." Samuel corrected. "A green haired girl with gray skin shattered the disc with her pipe. We can fix this pretty easily though, so that's not a big deal. But what matters is that Nepgear gets the power of the Mascots, not Blanc, not Rom or Ram, no other CPU. Just Nepgear."

"Okay, any reason why?" Falcom's eyebrows fell down into a frown. Why Nepgear specifically?

"Because originally, Nepgear took those powers so we're going to follow that. I dunno what will happen if someone else takes them and at this point I don't want to experiment." Samuel answered as he started writing on the chalkboard… with his own finger, but somehow (probably thanks to his godly bullshit magic) a white trail followed his lead. The text read: '1. Get all of the Mascots and use them on Nepgear.'

"The next part may sound obvious, but I still think I should put it here." He pointed his stick at the second part of their plan. '2. Don't let Planeptune, or any other nation fall.' "We need all CPUs to win. If one nation gets 0 Shares, it's game over for all of us. We can all just give up and chill until Arfoire arrives, there's no victory after that."

"Yikes." Falcom's commented. She checked the Shares before Nepgear and mercs went to fight the ASIC, and no nation had more than 7%. One catastrophe and something will fall, something like Planeptune.

"Yes. Funnily enough the ASIC is too weak to stand against the mercs, but there are other ways for them to win, and depriving any nation of Shares is one of them. And frankly I think this is the route that the ASIC is going to take." Samuel stopped to think for a moment, and one thought occured to him. Histoire just gave herself and her nation on a silver tray thanks to the mercs, so why haven't the ASIC acted on it yet? It's so weird...

"You think so?" Falcom asked. She was also worried what the ASIC was going to do, they returned Blanc but why did they do it? She didn't think they're surrendering, the ASIC must be planning something… "Do you know why the ASIC challenged us and gave us Blanc?"

"...No. And it creeps me out. Maybe it was a bad idea to take their challenge, but so far it seemed beneficial to us. They did have a reason to release her, but I can't figure out what." Samuel didn't have a clue what it might be, it was too irrational to just give up a MacGuffin to the enemy side without wanting anything.

The ASIC must have done something, but Samuel couldn't think of anything. Was there a traitor in higher ranks? A sabotage? They would've contacted Histoire or someone else a long time ago.

"Ignoring that one for now..." They would go nowhere if he spent all his time debating on this small detail. Maybe the ASIC did that just to confuse them? "The ASIC is planning to hold a public memorial for all of their people that died. Not sure if they want to go somewhere with it or it's just a ploy to take people's sympathy, but there is one detail that took my attention."

"And that is?" A memorial sounded just like what the old ASIC would do, they were all sympathetic towards everyone and brought aid for the poor and needy. But that turned out to be a facade of course… so why go back to their roots now? Certainly not to pay their respects.

"You see, they sent out a special invitation to Nepgear, and Blanc as well. On the very same day Blanc just woke up. How did they know that Blanc was up and working?" Samuel asked. Falcom was just confused, why would something like that matter? "There are two possibilities: First, they didn't know that she would have woken up today, but they predicted it thanks to Rom and Ram arriving to Planeptune." That was the better scenario. Someone as smart as CFW Magic would easily predict that the Lowee Oracle and the Candidates would've arrived with Sharicite for Blanc.

Was this what CFW Magic wanted? A defenseless Lowee while they're busy reviving their Leader?

Focus on other things.

But make a mental note of this.

"And the other one?"

"The second possibility… is that there's a leak in Histoire's ranks. A spy feeding them intel." This one would be a disaster, because not even he knows for how long they've been active, nor what the ASIC learned through him. It could potentially throw a wrench in his plans.

Falcom paled, she never suspected someone of being a traitor. "S-Someone in the Basilicom siding with the ASIC? S-surely not…" She couldn't suspect her friends and the man in front of her sympathized with that, but reality was a cruel mistress.

"It is a possibility. But let's just hope that they were clever enough to read Histoire's moves."

Although a clever person would plant a spy or two to keep tabs on their enemy…

"Anyway, moving on." He tapped his pointer against the chalkboard, catching Falcom's attention once more. "Following Blanc's idea. We can ignore any grunts of the ASIC; if they want to fight then knock them out, but don't bother to fight if you don't need to. However." He wrote the third part of their plan: '3. Kill all CFWs.' "All of their leaders need to die. Not injured, not imprisoned, but completely, permanently destroyed. The Deity of Sin only needs one of them alive to be revived, so killing all the CFWs is the only way to make sure that doesn't happen."

Although the tropes told Samuel that no matter what he'll do, Arfoire is going to be revived and they'll have to kick her ass.

And considering how hard it was to bring down the Judge, it's not going to be easy beating the rest of the CFWs. Good thing they have the Re:Spawn System… and Saxton Hale. He would probably be eager to beat their skulls in, if only for some challenge.

"It's not going to be easy, right?" Falcom asked and then laughed when Samuel just shook his head.

"Nope. Hale might've beaten Judge with ease, but the rest won't be so easy, especially Magic, and it's likely they'll wisen up and hide. And here's the fourth and last part… until I think up some more."

And the last part was… '4. Don't die, Falcom.'

"This one is obvious, but I'm still putting that in." He said as he turned around, his ugly gaze fixed on her. "Seriously, don't die. Don't even Re:Spawn. If Medic offers you to even get those bionic upgrades, you refuse because this stuff will remove your Plot Armor." This was one of the most bullshit reason Falcom has ever heard, but she was genre savvy enough to recognize his point. Just read any story that has some kind of way of preventing permanent death.

While Falcom rolled her eyes, Samuel continued. "I'm not sure how Gehaburn will react to you dying, but I'm sure as hell she won't be happy about it. Let's not find out what happens if you kick the bucket."

Falcom took all of this info with a nod. "Get all Mascots to Nepgear, don't let any nations collapse, kill all CFWs and don't die. Got it. Anything else?"

"..." Samuel thought back on their conversation. He found out the reason for her survival, he stalled the possible world-ending catastrophe, and he got Falcom to work for him and-

Holy shit, Histoire would chew him up for this.

He can live through that… what else? What else? He remembered that there was something else he wanted from her…

Oh right.

"Here, give this book to IF." Samuel gave her the copy that he got from the librarian fairy, creeping out Falcom once more. She didn't see him reaching out for his pockets, this book just appeared out of thin air.

"What is it?" Nonetheless, the redhead took the book and examined it. It was thin and had a red, thick cover, there was also golden flame in the middle of it. She tried to pry it open, but it was sealed shut. "It's my gift for IF. You got the Wraith Manifestation, Nepgear is going to have her Mascots and she'll get this."

He left out someone and Falcom pointed that out. "And Compa? The mercs?"

"...I have absolutely no idea what to give her. But let her know that she'll get something cool if I find something appropriate. And mercs… are already overpowered enough in this world, they don't need any more stuff." He said, chewing on his nail. Meanwhile Falcom idly pondered on possible power ups for her nurse friend.

Compa wasn't a fighter, but she would appreciate something to support others. The first thing that popped into Falcom's mind was healing, but Compa already has it in the form of magic and the Medi-Gun. Maybe something to protect herself and others from harm? But the Medi-Gun comes with the built-in Electro-Shield. Something to bring them back from death on the spot?

Again, Medi-Gun kinda does that already…

Empower everyone around her?

...Didn't Medi-Gun already have Overheal? A de facto 'Buff' as mercs sometimes called it?

Sheesh, no wonders he has no idea what to give Compa...

"Okay." Her pockets were too small for the book, she'll just have to hold it in her hands.

"You want a bag?"

...Or she could take Samuel's offer and get a small plastic bag, something that you would find in every convenience store. It wasn't anything great, but at least she had somewhere to stash IF's gift.

This kinda seemed like… it, unless there was something more he wanted from her. But he didn't.

"So… this is it Falcom. Thank you for helping me." The overseer reached out for a handshake, which Falcom stared at for a moment.

This day has frankly been an emotional rollercoaster for Falcom. She saw the ghosts of a forgotten history, befriended and fought a broken Dark Magician, (nearly) died fighting a malevolent spirit and now she's agreed to help a self-proclaimed agent of the True Goddess save the world from ASIC.

All in 8 chapters.

"...Anything to save the world." Falcom turned her face away and shook his hand. But when she was about to let go, Samuel came closer to her and whispered in her ear.

"Word of advice: Be prepared to feel like shit, and don't be surprised by your change in appearance."

"Huh?" Before Falcom registered his meaning, she doubled over in pain. She already felt like shit and all she could see were Samuel's boots…

Then darkness overtook her vision.

There was a voice in the air. It was someone familiar to her… probably.

Where was she?

There was something wet underneath her. It felt sticky, and it smelled like metal.

The light was blinding her. Turn off the sun, someone.

Is she still with Samuel?

Who is Samuel?

...Wasn't he this weird guy with creepy eyes?

Ah, yes.

She heard the voice again, they were speaking to her. Was it Eyelander?

"-com?"

"Falcom?"

"OOoough…" The adventurer groaned. Sounding more like after a heavy hangover than a near-death experience.

"You okay there, Woman?" The sword asked while Falcom just lay on the ground. Her brain was still collecting itself after everything that happened, and a lot of confusing stuff happened. She didn't even register the liquid underneath her.

And now Falcom just noticed it, this sticky and red liquid underneath her. Blood.

That's a lot of blood… and it's all hers.

"EEEH!?" The adventurer jerked upwards, putting her face as far as possible from the crimson liquid.

Bad bad bad bad that's a lot of bad! How much blood has she lost?!

The redhead jumped onto her feet, stepping away from the sizeable pool she slept on. It was big enough to cover her entire body, which would explain why her face, body and even hair were stained red.

Samuel said she was barely hanging there but what the hell?!

In a moment of panic, Falcom's breath quickened and her hands touched the spot where she was stabbed… and found no injury there.

"What happened to you?" Eyelander plainly asked, not knowing or not caring that Falcom was still freaking out over her being drenched in crimson.

That was a good reason to panic, right?

Falcom breathed in and out in a rapid pace, giving him no answer. Eyelander noticed that he won't get an answer when she's in this state, so he opted to just wait it out. But he was still confused what happened to her and the Gehaburn.

The adventurer put her arm to her chest and gradually calmed herself, she was alive and not dying, that's all that mattered.

"Have you calmed down?" The ghost asked once he saw Falcom not freaking out. This woman was a pain in the ass sometimes, but this time it was understandable.

"Y-Yeah." She nodded and collapsed on her butt. Her memories were coming back all at once, but all she focused on was finding IF's book. Eyelander decided not to question Falcom's head turning everywhere, as he disregarded it as her still being confused.

"Well, I'm gonna ask this again. What happened to you?"

Falcom spotted the bag lying by the hedges, next to the bench. Because the adventurer was busy scanning her surroundings, she didn't hear Eyelander talking to her which irritated him.

"Hey! You hear me?"

"Huh?" The adventurer perked up, and the ghost sighed tiredly.

"What happened to you? Whatever Gehaburn did to you, it changed your appearance. Wash yourself first though."

Subconsciously Falcom touched her cheek to see if anything changed. She didn't feel anything different there but that one should be obvious, although not knowing how she looked unnerved her. Why was she so calm about this? Because Samuel warned her beforehand? Because she hasn't seen the changes yet? Her body was covered in her own blood, so Falcom couldn't see anything different.

But oh the goodness, how much blood has she lost?

Turning a little pale, Falcom picked up the Eyelander and the plastic bag. The ghost, understandably, was confused by its content and how it got there. "What is this?" He questioned while the redhead picked up a scroll and read it. It was a map with directions on it, leading from the LAN Castle to some place in Virtua Forest.

"It's… well." Now Falcom realized how crazy it would be to say 'A god gave it to her.' What to do? What to do? Deploy an emergency cardboard box? "I-I just noticed it lying here. It seems to be a map." She put the scroll back into the bag.

"Go wash yourself first. You look like you murdered somebody and mutilated the body afterwards." Eyelander deadpanned.

Falcom gave herself another once-over and groaned. Her favorite adventuring outfit, completely ruined.

At least she could take a bath in the lake nearby…

After Falcom went back to Gamindustri, Samuel sighed heavily and collapsed onto the ground. The world turned back into its white void as the overseer rubbed his face with apathy. He ran out of energy to do anything else.

"God… dess." He murmured, remembering to use the female variant. A lot of crap happened and it has completely drained him. He wanted this to be over already, he wanted Fay to be here with him, but there's still so much to do. And it's not like they progressed that much.

They're like what? 1 CPU rescued and 1 CFW destroyed. Out of 4 each. There was also Arfoire at the end to kill and clean up after the ASIC collapse.

He sighed again, before wondering why he feels like such a tired old man.

At least now he has 2 people to help him, he won't need to pray for things to unfold the way he wanted. Samuel can now just send somebody to fix it before it snowballs into another problem.

The brunette got up and patted down his suit. "Alright, back to the library." Standing here moping won't fix anything, he still needed to act, and Falcom's recent exploits gave him an idea what to do with Arfoire. He just needed more info.

And what better place to start than the Time Library?

Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

The Guardian Angel

This chapter is over 10k words and it's just 2 characters talking, wtf me?

The reason for this chapter is that I have noticed a lot of stories about interdimensional transportation lack a convincing reason for said transport. As my friend put it its "either no explanation at all, a Rob or local deity or just good old truck-senpai for reincarnation novels."

(Which my fic kinda falls into it, huh.)

Sooo… Yeah. Samuel Neikan is my reason for mercs to arrive to Gamindustri, why he did it will be explained later.

And yes, Falcom is alive and kicking. I bet (at least some of you) saw it coming, but none of you should predict Gehaburn bonding with Falcom. Now this story has a Walking Conquest character.

(Disclaimer: No actual Conquest has be done. Not yet at least.)

Responses:

- kerrowe

Yes, there are going to be consequences of their actions. It's not going to be pretty and I'll make sure of that.

Also I don't think Heavy would care, he does his job and he gets paid. He has more important stuff to worry about than stranger's opinion towards him.

- Metastable

Thank you for confidence booster, I guess? I'm straight male though.

And when tf I underestimated Second Banana? In that scene Heavy was mad because Hale reminded him about his loss against Pyro, and Heavy doesn't like losing.

- FourElemental

Nein? NEIN?!

...There's a Nazi Germany joke there somewhere but… you know.

- Harmless Orange