/nep/ - Hyperdimension Neptunia

[✓] Find out where that "CEO" lives, and sneak in his house. You have no chance of getting caught.

Damn, it would be really convenient if you could find anything in his house, but nobody does that. Not in Gameindustri anyway. Still, there's no harm in checking yourself. Let's see, that idiot's address should be here. Nice, he used his house as a guarantee before buying the place. For basically nothing. There's definitely something weird.

You turn around to thank the woman.

"No problem, sir! Don't hesitate to come again if you need help!"

If possible, you'd rather never set foot in Lowee ever again.

You don't know what you expected. But certainly something a little more impressive than this. You're currently in Lowee's suburbs. And not the luxurious suburbs where white middle-aged women from the old world were smiling while holding steel pans and cosmic knives. If Lowee's laws weren't that strict, you're sure you would've been mugged twice already.

You pass in front of the house, being careful to not stop or hesitate, or even look at it for too long. You never know, if the whole thing goes wrong, people will remember you walking around, as you're clearly new in the turf.

And frankly, calling it a house is extremely flattering. It looks more like a caban than a house to you. Even Novac was better than that.

The reconnaissance done, you return in town for a coffee and a dinner, and you wait for the night. It comes rather quickly, which surprises you. Are days shorter just because you're in Lowee? How strange.

You notice (with some veiled annoyance) that with the night came the snow. You're used to the desert, these cold wet ashes-like thingies are a pain in the ass. And more importantly, you'll leave footprints behind you. Better do it quickly.

It's a child's play to return to the "house", even without a light. You have to admit it, the snow made your job easier : everyone returned home instead of staying outside. Rummaging in your bagpack, you pick up some duct tape, that you apply generously to a window. Once it's done, you sneak to the front door, and quickly lockpick it. Entering the house, you quickly close the door behind you, take a flashlight from your backpack and look around.

This is depressing. There are two rooms, the entrance/dining room where you are right now, and a closet with an air bed. There's not even a blanket. You clearly misjudged that guy, he wasn't stupid, he was just poor. Poor and inexperienced. No wonder he was so worried about everything he lost to the dogoo, he probably isn't even insured, like most caravans are.

By the door, you find a key hanging from a nail stuck in the wall. You don't think he has a safe hidden somewhere, but you try the key on the door nonetheless. It works, and you've just locked the door. Too bad you don't have enough scrap metal to make a copy of this key, it would come in handy.

You quickly search the place, finding nothing but canned food and cockroaches, until you get your hands on a thick envelope. You empty it on the floor, and stare for a few seconds as credits are scattered all over the place. You begin picking them, and in a few minutes, you have roughly 25,000 credits.in a neat pile in front of you.

This only raises more questions.

What do you do with the money?

[] Take it, as proof.

[] Take it for yourself.

[] Put it back.

What will you do next?

[] Keep looking. You will end up finding something, you just can't have this much money without having any paper.

[] Your job is over, leave no traces behind.

[] Your job is over, but leave some traces suggesting a burglary.

[✓] Take it, as proof.

[✓] Keep looking. You will end up finding something, you just can't have this much money without having any paper.

As you put the money in your pocket, you really hope they aren't marked or anything. If you're caught in Lowee with stolen money, you'll be thirty before you can see the sun again. Still, there has to be someone else. If he had that much money, he wouldn't be living in such a shack.

You rummage the cupboard, finding more canned meat. The expiration date on these is older than you. Under the cans, you find a metal box. A really small one, like the one they used back in the days to store biscuits. Seeing it reminds you of your sister. You wonder how she's doing. Probably helping orphans and fighting monsters.

You do feel a bit dumb when you open the box and find papers instead of the expected cookies. Very old papers, on top of that. So old they've gone yellow.

Hang on a bit, there are papers, and pictures. Glancing over the papers, you can't read them. They're written in German, but they're clearly handwritten, personal correspondence. The fact that they end with "Liebe" is enough to make sure of that.

The pictures are more interesting. From the few you can say, these are group pictures, taken at Lowee's former Basilicom, before it was destroyed and rebuilt. However, you don't see Lady White Heart anywhere. If it's a picture of the former goddess, it must be really old indeed. Way older than the young lad owning this cabin. It probably belonged to his mother or something. Ha, here's another picture, of a woman holding a baby.

This isn't good. You need to return to Lastation. Quickly.

That kid you see on the pictures look nothing like anyone you met while carrying that crippled caravanner back to Lastation.

In fact, you're pretty sure that entire house is a set-up. Nobody has lived here for a while. You don't know why they left the money, but there's definitely something phony here, and you'd rather figure it out once you're out of here. Just in case there's a mine somewhere that you avoided by pure luck.

You quickly leave the house, lock the door behind you, break the window, and take the duct tape and the glass shards with you. That way, the local police will surely investigate and find out about the whole thing. You'd rather not be around if it blowns up.

A few minutes later, you're back in the main town. You quickly throw the remains of the window you broke in a garbage bin, and ponder what you should do.

You have to return to Lastation quickly to warn Lady Kei, but you'll attract attention if you leave too soon.

[] It is a matter of urgency. You have to take the first train tomorrow at 6AM.

[] Warning Lady Kei is important, but so is maintaining your cover. You'll take the train at 6PM after some comedy work.

[] Try to contact her. It's a terrible idea.

>>3265

>[✓] It is a matter of urgency. You have to take the first train tomorrow at 6AM.

Book it. Now. Staying to maintain cover might just get us caught.

If they check the house and see it's been "ransacked", they'd tighten security, if it hasn't been already since we left trails from our visits to the Basilicom, if we leave early enough we might be able to just slip by.

If the house was a set-up, the bills will be most likely marked, and we kept it with us, if we spend even one credit by accident, we're good as caught.

Besides, we're foreign looking, it would be as easy as making security check for any foreign looking person, about yay high, male, has this accent, etc.

>>3266

Dubs don't lie, let's blow this icicle stand

>>3265

>[✓] It is a matter of urgency. You have to take the first train tomorrow at 6AM.

Run run run

>>3265

[X] Warning Lady Kei is important, but so is maintaining your cover. You'll take the train at 6PM after some comedy work.

I don't think a B&E will cause a national incident, although it might cause security to go up round the capitol.

Also booking it right quick would looks suspicious and you might need to go back to Lowee. If you take it nice a slow like a smooth operator, things shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Still, there is a risk of getting caught due to the paper trail we left behind (more cautious action would have been helpful up until this point) if we do stay though. It would be handy to come up with a solid alibi though, and also stash the stolen chits somewhere secure.

Overall we haven't been real subtle up until this point, which I think will affect our final performance for this part.

>>3282

All good, just wish there's more people to answer the quest though

[✓] It is a matter of urgency. You have to take the first train tomorrow at 6AM.

You believed you did the right thing. You believed that rushing to Lastation directly was the best course of action, especially when the chatterbox girl from the Basilicom barged in the trainstation, followed by several Lowee soldiers, looking everywhere, probably for you.

Luckily, you were already departing. You're sure she never saw you.

And yet, as you stand in Lady Kei's office (she hasn't told you to take a seat) and report your findings, you feel like you panicked like some greenhorn. It doesn't help that Lady Kei is still reading the newspaper while you're talking, not paying you her undivided attention.

"I see." She says. "So despite me telling you to not leave any trace behind you, you allowed someone to help you in your search, stole money from a person who went missing, meaning the blame will probably be put on you, and you're researched by Lowee authority."

You don't find anything to answer.

"I cannot send you in Lowee anymore. Meaning your value just dropped significantly."

You can't look at her.

"And to add to this, take a look at this." She shows you the newspaper she was reading, pointing at an article in particular. "Read it out loud."

A man is suspected of abduction and possibly murder. Has a background in weapons and survival, considered armed and dangerous. Last seen leaving Lowee to Lastation.

"I believe the correct expression is burned. At least Lowee didn't got you alive, so they don't know who you work for."

She closes the newpaper, folding it properly, before finally looking at you.

"Pack your things. You're going to Planeptune. A corporation named ASIC recently bought a lot of abandoned factories located . Find some dirt on them, figure out who they are."

What about the impostor?

"She's already in prison. Caught trying to infiltrate Lady Noire's private research laboratory."

So you really panicked for nothing, Lady Kei already had the situation under control. Wait a minute, "she"?

"During the interrogation, she was discovered to be a woman pretending to be a man."

She must be a master at disguise, because you think you would have noticed when you met the caravanners a few days earlier.

"Enough. Go now."

You nod, turn around, and walk away.

"Oh, by the way, your sister is after you."

Which one?

"The one with the beaky power armour."

Oh shit.

You're going to Planeptune, the best town in the world (according to Planeptune's medias).

[] Take the sea. On a nice boat.

[] Go through the mountains, Hannibal-style. On foot.

[] Take the north road, but stay away from Lowee. Public transportation.

>>3299

[✓] Go through the mountains, Hannibal-style. On foot.

Fucking trek it. No one will find us like this.

Going on a boat, we might get caught, north road, might get caught even if we stay away from Lowee, especially in public transportation.

>>3317

Yeah, despite trekking mountains to get to Lastation would be badass, the boat sounds like the safer option

[X] Go through the mountains, Hannibal-style. On foot.

You're not a very good agent. In fact, thinking back about the whole thing, you're sure there are many other makers that would fare better than you did. Glass or Ion would've did better than, that's for sure. But there is one thing you're extremely proud of, and still unmatched in : your survival skills. Even through more and more survival Makers are popping up recently, your scavenging approach gives you a huge advantage over the others who need to settle down.

And you're very happy to notice that despite being used to deserts and arid places, you still managed to prepare your supplies for the mountain. The wind may be constantly blowing in your ears, being to loud that it deafens you to the sound of your own feet sinking in the deep snow, you're still protected enough to keep going on for hours. At least, if you screw this up again and get fired by Miss Kei, you'll be able to retire and live there. You're sure nobody will come bother you here.

A stronger gust of wind forces you to crouch for a few minutes, until the snow starts piling up on you. This is the mountain's reminder that you shouldn't get confident. Just one error is enough, and if you get hurt here, cleaning the wound and bandaging it will be impossible without dying to the cold. At least not until you find a shelter.

As you keep walking in the snow, facing the wind, you remember the resort station you briefly stopped by on the way out of Lastation. It was the first time you saw the sea, and it was majestic. The water was so blue and so tasteful compared to the bland water you're used to. A guide spotted you drinking the sea water and, after laughing for a while, explained that you weren't supposed to drink it. And while everyone was busy, you slipped away, returned to the shore, and went to the mountains. It's been several hours, and you're now thirsty.

Why are you so damn thirsty? There's frozen water all around you, and yet you're thirsty. Life would be easier if you could just drink water from skin contact. You turn around, showing your back to the wind, and take a quick sippy fresh from your main flask. Just a few more hours, and the pass will be behind you. At this moment, you will unofficially enter Planeptune's borders, and you'll be able to stand down, make a fire, and maybe sleep for the night.

And of course, standing in the middle of the pass, seemingly immune to the wind, the cold, hunger, dehydration and everything that would bother a lesser being, is the bane of your existence, the nemesis that made your life misery until the Guild finally fired you. Here stands a tall woman, wearing a power armour, with a gatling laser in her right hand and a mega power fist in her left hand. The mere fact that she can hold a gatling in just one hand is proof enough that she's not to be trifled with. And if that's not enough, you know she has enough stimpacks to survive a nuclear explosion.

She spots you, and turns around to face you.

You shiver.

This isn't the cold.

You're terrified.

Two hours remaining before the night falls. Find a way to survive the cold and the woman.

[] Greet her normally. Try to not melt from the terror.

[] Whatever she says or asks, bluff. If she doesn't say anything, try to walk around her.

[] Turn around and try to find another way through the mountains. Maybe there's a way underground.

For the reference, this is how the woman looks like.

I'd photoshop a snowy background and some blizzard on top of the picture but I kind of suck.

[✓] Whatever she says or asks, bluff. If she doesn't say anything, try to walk around her.

You grit your teeth. Usually, upon meeting her, you would just turn around and run away, but given there's a damn blizzard going on, and given you don't have enough supplies to survive more than two nights, you have to go through. Maybe if you found a cave, you could feed off cave mushrooms and find fresh water, maybe melt some snow, but right now, you don't have the luxury. Plus you're fairly certain she would just follow you if you were to go away, so you decide to accept your fate and walk toward her.

The wind is deafening, and only seems to calm down when you're in front of the armoured woman. Your logical mind would say she's protecting from the cold blizzard, but your terror tells you that she can just kills the wind just by being here. You briefly notice her feet being planted deeply in the snow. How long has she been waiting for you here? How did she ever knew where you would be going?

You wait for a bit, but she doesn't say anything, so you prepare to walk around her, but then she finally moves. Not saying anything, she puts her left hand in her pocket, and pulls out a cube. It takes you a while to identify it as an vox emitter.

You instantly recognize the voice that comes out of it. "Hey, hello, sir!"

You try to salute her. Then you lower your scarf, enough to expose your mouth, and you actually manage to greet her with something that doesn't sound like "Mmhmm mh".

"Well, you put me in a bit of a conumdrum, sir! I was to expect you, sir, to be a gentleman and keep me informed, but you defeated my expectations, and shown me you were no gentleman."

You ask what she might be referring to.

"Well, you see, sir, I was getting suspicious when you checked out that address, because that man was a friend's son! His mother, you know sir, worked at the basilicom, back then when Lowee was still a small nation."

You ask what's her problem with you is.

"The fact, sir, that you broke in my protege's house. My godson, if you prefer. You, sir, broke in his house, murdered him, and stole his money, and this is where you disappoint me."

A murder? Wait a minute, you only broke in because you were suspicious of how a man living in a caban had enough money to buy a warehouse and start a caravan business.

There's some silence, and when the voice comes back in, the tone is different. She no longer sounds like that bubbly chattermouth. "Mercenary. I can't hear him. How does his voice sound like?"

The woman's voice is distorded by her armour, but you can hear the scorn in her voice. "He's saying the truth."

"I see." There's another very brief silence, suddenly cut again by the blabbermouth. "All right then! Sir, I will ask the mercenary here to drag you to Planeptune! From there, you'll be deported to Lowee, and then we'll make sure you tell us everything!" Something in the way she spoke that last word scares you.

You decide to bluff as you originally planned. You explain that someone took her godson's place as leader of the caravan, and that you're following that person to Planeptune, as you were swindled by that person.

"But sir! It doesn't make sense! You had a lot of money back then in Lowee!"

You argue that "lot of money" is relative, and that you had even more before you met that person.

"You keep referring to her as 'that person', doesn't he have a have?"

You answer that all you know is that it's a woman, and that she went to Planeptune.

"Why not asking for official help?"

This is it. This is the make or break part. You answer that it's because you then would have to admit most of your businesses aren't legits, and that would cause a basilicom investigation.

"I understand, sir! I'll keep your secret with me! But why going alone then?"

Because then you would be vulnerable to blackmail, and you learned the hard way that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

There's another silence, so you pull up your scarf. Your lips have already began to freeze because of the cold.

"All right then! I believe you! Don't lie to me, okay? It would really break my heart if you did so!"

The woman shuts down the communicator and put it back in her pocket.

There's another really uncomfortable silence as she looks you down. You feel like a brahmin being stared down by a hungry deathclaw.

"Do not think for one second that this little lie of you deceived me, insect..

Without warning, the woman kicks you in the groin. You cup your groin and fall to the ground in pain.

She follows with a punch to the head from her mega power fist, inflicting an extra helping of damage, and crushing the temple. You see stars.

She then shoots you in the backwith her laser gatling as you're curled up in pain, knocking the air out of you, destroying your clothes, and heavily wounding your back.

She raises her knee to her face, and deliver a stomp on your right leg, breaking it and shattering the bone. The intense pain of having a leg broken, added to the other wounds, causes you to quit.

You hear the Chosen One, your big sister, saying something, but you pass out from the pain. This is why you're scared of her.

You wake up several hours later.

She's gone now. You're barely conscious, but alive. There's a blanket over you, who protected you from the exposure, keeping you alive, but you lost a lot of blood and you're in no shape to move. Also, the blood scent will sooner or later attracts snow dogs. And to make it worse, it's getting dark.

Find a way to stay alive.

[] Use flares and the radio. Hopefully someone will come.

[] You have some grenades. With some imagination, you can try to make an igloo out of snow. It won't be as solid as an ice igloo but it'll be better than nothing while you recover.

[] Use an Ejection Button and return to Planeptune. But you'd rather die here than admit to Lady Kei you couldn't even reach Planeptune.

[] Something else? (suggest another course of action)

>>3441

Did we literally not even pack any medical sort of supplies on us?

>[✓] You have some grenades. With some imagination, you can try to make an igloo out of snow. It won't be as solid as an ice igloo but it'll be better than nothing while you recover.

I'm out of ideas, fuck it, we're almost dying anyway so why not go out with a bang.

The flares might just attract the snow dogs faster.

I'm pretty sure Kei will just kill us if we return like this.