The second my eyes escaped from the darkness, the yellow blur from the windows blinded me and I had fallen from the heavenly refuge known as my bed. The pain wasn’t unbearable, but I still had that soreness in my chest from the battle. Those Dogoo really mean business. We were surrounded by hundreds of them, and there were only 2 of us. I thought, after defeating Arfoire, the world regained total peace, but I guess not.
Regardless, I managed to get up, take a breath and look at the time. Judging by the sun’s position, it looked like it was around 7 in the morning. Though it was bright, there were a few blots of darkness. We were at the edge of the cliff on the outskirts of Planeptune City, a spot that we hang out all the time.
As I went outside quietly (to avoid distraction) and stare the yellow sky slowing shifting to bright blue at the edge, I thought about a dream I had last night. What was it about? Was it a fragment of my childhood? If so, why would I dream about that, out of all things?
I sighed.
I got over the past a long time ago, and now I only look to the future. I am a CPU, after all. Protecting the nation is what I do. I want t-
“Neptune!”
A ken voice caught my ear. I swiveled my head to the right with a shocked expression I giving; and as I know it…
It was Ms. Midget herself, Histy (my cute little nickname for Histoire!). She was a natural at bugging the living hell out of me with small tasks. She had that sense of justice to kick out of our comfortable life. She was super tiny, sitting on a book that hovers in thin ai-
“What are you doing, I been looking for yo-”
“What’re ya gonna do, force me to do work? Haven’t you seen my battle wound?” I whined and whined like the child I was, which made Histoire lose her train of thought.
I swear if this is about what I think it is about...
“No, it’s actually something else...” She interrupted my thought process. It’s almost like she read my mind!
“It’s from Noire. She has sent all of the CPUs across Gamindustri a message. It’s urgent, so I suggest you get back inside.” I could tell that wasn’t a suggestion.
I did as I was told. I, as well as my sister, Nepgear, went to the living room to see what Noire had in store for us. The subject of the message said, “You all invited!” Or something like that, anyway. Was this an attempt at making friends after a very, very long denial of being lonely? Good for you, Noire!
The Message read:
“Hello! I’m sending this to give all of you a friendly reminder of what’s going on today!!
At 12:00 we will hold a meeting for a special announcement! I’m not spoiling it so you all will have to come over here to find out for yourselves.
~ Noire, Lastation CPU”
“Well, should we head up there, Neptune? I think it would be grea-”
“Nah...” I interrupted Nepgear. “It ain’t worth it. I mean, it’s always a treat seeing Noire, but...” I paused for a second. “Isn’t this the same stuff we’ve been doing? Console war and whatnot? It’s getting old. Plus I kinda feel lazy today, and I feel like shi-”
We decided to go to Lastation anyway to meet Noire about this “contest” she’s been freaking out about and see what’s up. I seriously couldn’t believe we were going somewhere as far as Lastation THIS early in the morning. I transformed into my HDD form (for the uninitiated, it stands for “Hard Drive Divinity,” the term for the sexier versions of ourselves. Snazzy, huh?) since it would save time to fly there instead of walking. I’m not exactly a “work out” type of gal, in case you haven’t noticed. Though being high above the mountain, it was fascinating to see so many people this happy and lively after Arfoire had been dealt with.
After what seemed like billions and billions of miles, we finally arrived at Lastation and...
Why was it so damn packed?
Lastation was known for having a city that looked a bit... dirty, as well as a lot of business and stuff no one really cared about. I had to get on top of Nepgear to see what was going on, and it appears that Nao was performing a song. She was way more popular in Leanbox and usually only performed there. What the hell?
As we tried to go through the heavy crowd as well as those moshpit guys (yeah, it was THAT packed), we finally got inside. What we saw was a very urban looking Basilicom, which was fitting for Lastation.
“Ah, friends from Planeptune! What you here for today?” said a kind Basilicom guard.
We told him that we were there for Noire and her “contest” while I was huffing, puffing, breathing like I about to lose a lung. I couldn’t even breathe for pudding sake.
Luckily, he let us pass. Now to get to the bottom of this.
“Oh! You here. That was quick!” As we walked in, Noire was shocked yet so happy to see us. I had questions… lots of questions.
“Well let get starte-”
“Hold on!” I yelled, halting Noire. “Ya mind telling me what’s going on? Why are so many people here, and why is Nao here?”
“I… was about to get to that.” Noire seemed a little confused and a bit frustrated after I said that.
“Well, you have, err… interesting people here, Noire.” At first, I didn’t know who that voice belonged to, but then I noticed a man with golden hair wearing a golden suit.
“Oh right! We have a guest for our meeting! His name is...Uhm, what was it?”
“...Genesis Van Kiachi. I will be part of this year’s contest.” His deep young voice was strangely familiar like I had heard it before. Where did I know him from?
“This contest is going to be far more different than ever before, and I think you’re going to like it!” He continued.
“Though some aspects will stay the same, like betting and such, this time there is a gift for you, as well as the people attending. If one of your CPUs wins this battle, you and your nation will win this console.”
He showcases one of the newest consoles I have never seen before. Never seen an ad for it on TV, and totally didn’t see it displayed on New Weekly Video Game Magazine.
It looked like it was called the Genesis X with the slogan, “Gaming with passion” underneath the logo. The display was a shiny silver box looking roughly 4.15cm wide and 2.10cm long. Small, but can be carried around with you, sort of like the Lowee Switch.
“Alright, that’s enough. We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise for you, would we?” He seemed a bit agitated when I was about to touch the box. It was so shiny, you can’t expect me NOT to touch it!
“The contest will start in 2 days, so you better figure out a plan, think about your strategy and most importantly, impress your fans. After all, they are the source of your power. I will be seeing you soon.”
That was all he had to say as he packed up and left the place. We decided to do the same.
