"How is she, Histy?"

An exhausted Neptune trudged her way into Planeptune's Basilicom, wiping the sweat from her brow. She had just delivered a speech to the people of Planeptune, transformed of course, but even the simple act of speaking for an extended period of time when in her transformed state was taking its toll on her.

"She still hasn't woken up... But our shares did increase after your speech, if only marginally, so she's at least not in any risk of getting worse. For now, at least..."

Neptune might have made a wisecrack under normal circumstances, but... No, this was getting to be how normal circumstances were, weren't they? Letting out a groan, she let her tired body collapse into the nice, poofy armchair that had been moved to her sister's bedside.

It had been two weeks since Nepgear had suddenly crashed, though none of the other nations - or even anyone in Planeptune outside of Neptune and Histoire - had been made aware of this fact. The reason why was obvious - Planeptune shares had been dropping for a long time now, and no amount of work seemed to be raising them to the point that Neptune and Nepgear could consider themselves "healthy" again.

"What're we gonna do, Histy...?" Neptune stood up, tired as she was, to move to her sister's side. Nepgear could be a little too overprotective sometimes, and a lot of the time she was a bit of a doormat, but... Neptune never wanted this!

Nepgear's skin was pale, and she was covered in sweat. She had been running a fever for days, and frankly, Neptune had never been more worried about anything in her life. She had actually been working - and not just a little, either, but she'd been working her little butt off in the hopes that shares would rise and she and her sister could get healthy again.

But nothing was working. Nepgear's condition gradually continued to worsen, and Neptune was following right behind her. The fact that Neptune was using most of her free time working, when given the circumstances she should have been resting to make sure she didn't end up like her sister, was only making matters worse.

The cold, hard truth was that it seemed as though Planeptune was done for, and no amount of hard work seemed to be helping. Every day, even with Neptune out doing quests nonstop and making speeches to the people, immigration to other nations continued.

It wasn't like Neptune or Nepgear had done anything wrong... It had been a gradual thing, over a long period of time, at first. The other nations continued pumping out more and more impressive hardware, constantly in competition, while Planeptune continued to reign supreme with what it had, seemingly trapped - unable to create.

It wasn't for a lack of trying, though. Once it had become clear that things were going downhill, not even Neptune was able to sit on her tush and play games all day. She tried, really she did, but it just wasn't good enough. The damage had been done.

Neptune's proudest achievement, the Nepcast, was supposed to change everything. It was going to turn things around, and bring all of the people that had left running back. Neptune was so sure about it - she had never worked so hard in her entire life! But now her and Nepgear's lives had been on the line, she couldn't afford to play around anymore!

She stayed in her HDD form constantly, making sure no mistakes were made in the development of the Nepcast. She made sure there was software for it, and she even got a few top developers on board so that people could see there would be a lot to come if they invested in her - if they put their faith back in Planeptune.

... But it was a flop. The other CPUs couldn't even mock her for it, it had done so badly. The last time the four of them had met, Neptune just laughed it off, saying she'd do better next time, and changed the subject, but even they knew something was up.

Histoire floated over to Neptune, who had been leaning over Nepgear's bed, and sighed. Neptune had, once again, collapsed. At least now she could finally wear that ditzy expression that Histoire was so used to seeing on the girl's face...

But no. Even asleep, Neptune couldn't bring herself to be at peace. Too much weighed on her shoulders now. Who knew how long it would be before Neptune would fall, like Nepgear before her? Then it would just be a matter of time before the last of Planeptune's shares dried up, and the two of them would...

Histoire shuddered at the thought. Though she was often hard on them, she would never wish anything on these girls, and certainly not death.

Something had to be done before it was too late.

She hadn't wanted to do this, but... Looking at the poor state of the girls who had once spent their days goofing off yet still managing fine, Histoire made her decision. It was time to call the other three nations.

It was time to ask for help.

The CPUs of Lastation, Leanbox, and Lowee all exchanged glances as they awaited to be greeted. They had all been called to Planeptune, and, on quite short notice at that, been told to rush over as soon as possible.

Under normal circumstances, the three might have ignored Histoire's plea, or at the very least not rushed as quickly as they had, but given how out of character Neptune had been acting these past few months, not to mention the Nepcast disaster, something told all of them that this was important enough that their own work could be put on hold.

"So neither of you have seen or heard from Nepgear either?" Vert had gotten right down to business as soon as they had finished seating themselves and exchanging pleasantries (along with the usual teasing, though today, even that was toned down).

The two other CPUs shook their heads, and for a moment, there was silence. Clearly, the same, horrible thought was running through all of their minds - it would certainly explain the drastic change in Neptune, but wouldn't she have said something if that were the case...?

"... You don't think..." Blanc was the first to speak up, but her gaze refused to leave the ground. Sure, Planeptune had been in a bad way lately, but... It wasn't THAT bad, was it...?

"O-Of course not! She's probably just..." Noire trailed off, her voice fading. Though she had no idea what Nepgear "probably just" was, the mere idea that sweet little Nepgear had left them was too much for her to consider any more - especially knowing what that news would do to her own sister.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for everything that's been happening," Vert tried to reason, but from the tone of her voice, it was clear that she didn't quite believe it herself.

And yet... Seeing Neptune constantly working and making speeches... The lack of Nepgear anywhere...

There could only be one logical answer.

The silence was deafening. Sure, in the past they had all always fought over shares and territory, but they had gotten over that, hadn't they? They'd gotten on good terms with each other, thanks to Neptune no less, and...

"Thank you for coming so quickly, ladies. I truly appreciate that you were able to leave your own nations so readily to come."

The one who finally broke the seemingly endless silence was none other than Planeptune's Oracle. The small Oracle's voice seemed to jolt all three CPUs out of their stupors, and they quickly - shamefully - worriedly - looked in the direction of Histoire, all secretly praying that Neptune and her sister would trot out behind her, with huge smiles on their faces, declaring that this was the most awesomest prank ever.

But the sisters didn't come.

"Where's Neptune?" Noire was the first to ask, and from Histoire's reaction, it was clear that this was a topic she had been hoping to avoid for the time being.

"Resting... And that's why I called you all here today, actually," Histoire waved her hand, calling forth various graphs and other images displaying the current state of Planeptune for the CPUs to view. It took only a few seconds for the three to process just how bad things were

"I-Is this a joke!?" Noire was the first to speak, even standing out of her seat and slamming her hands onto the table they were all seated around.

"It has to be. No country has ever been in a state like this before," Blanc quickly followed up with her own brand of denial.

Vert, on the other hand, could only look grim.

"... This would explain why no one has seen Nepgear recently, though. It would explain everything, in fact," Getting straight to the point, Vert crossed her arms, her tone deadly serious. She didn't like being left in the dark, and she liked even less that this had been going on for weeks and no one had come to them. "How is she, Histoire? And Neptune?"

Histoire sighed, waving away all of the images displaying Planeptune's status. Noire lowered herself, also wanting to know the answer

"Nepgear has been unconscious since after her last speech to the people. Transforming for that length of a time was probably too much for her, or maybe she just simply didn't have enough left..." Histoire shook her head, unable to look at the three CPUs - she didn't want to see their expressions right now, though she was sure she could guess what they were. "Neptune is better off, but only just so. She's resting right now. Actually, she doesn't even know you're here... That's how bad things are."

Silence reigned supreme once again. The idea that they could lose Neptune and Nepgear? Preposterous. As much as they hated to admit it, those two were like the center of their... everything. A world without them just didn't seem like a world at all.

"T... That bitch! How the hell can she just go and do this without saying a damn thing...!?"

It was Blanc that had made the exclamation. It made sense, after all. She and Neptune had been rivals for a long time before Leanbox and Lastation had ever been in the picture - and long before the peace they had now had even seemed like an idea.

"Why did you call us here? Is there something we can do?" Vert, being the most mature of the group, was trying to keep calm, but inside, she was reeling. This felt unreal. With everything they'd all been through, with all the evils they'd faced, to lose a friend to something like this...? It was like some kind of sick joke!

Noire, on the other hand, was in shock. The blood had drained from her face, and the whole world had felt suddenly dark, and empty.

Neptune was...? She could lose Neptune...?

That was just... wrong. Neptune was always supposed to be there. The mere idea that she might be facing a life without her was just... It made her want to throw up.

Sure, Neptune was annoying, and she before this crisis, she was a lazy slob that never worked, and she made fun of Noire all the time, but the truth was... The truth was that Noire really...

"W-Well, actually... That's why I've called you all here today," Histoire's expression had changed. It looked noticeably less grim, and instead... Was it... flustered? Was now really the time for that?! "T-There is... one way that you can help the two of them, and in fact, the entirety of this nation, b-but... Um... Only one of you can do it, and... Um..."

"W-What are you waiting for?" Noire was grabbing for Histoire's every word like a starved animal that had just been loosed into a buffet. There was hope? There was hope! Neptune was going to be okay! "Sheesh, if there's something we can do, just tell us!"

"She's right. Instead of getting us worked up, just spit it out already," For once, Blanc was in complete agreement with Noire. Vert simply nodded to show her agreement with the other two, but Histoire still seemed hesitant. Twitching, Blanc slammed her fist onto the table. "Out with it already, damn it! Every second counts, doesn't it!?"

That finally got Histoire's gears turning. The little fairy-like Oracle adjusted her dress and, after taking a deep breath, tossed aside her nervousness to face the CPUs head on.

"V-Very well. Everyone, there is one, and only one, way to save Neptune, Nepgear, and Planeptune."

The three CPUs leaned in, all ready to pledge themselves to whatever cause they would have to in order to save their purple haired friends.

"You... That is to say... One of you must..."

The three learned further, almost touching each other now, their eyes trained exclusively on Histoire.

"One of you must... One of you must merge your nation with Planeptune... A-And marry our CPU!"

And with that, any hope of this meeting remaining completely serious went right out the window.

"M-M-M-M-Maaarryyyyyy!?" Noire's face was on fire. Marry? Neptune? Marry Neptune!? She clutched her cheeks, her mind going to just about every possible place it could at the idea. Sure, she wanted to help, but... Wasn't that a little extreme...!?

Her blush fading, Noire's thoughts went back to the speeches she'd seen Neptune make on TV recently.

"Well, I'll be leaving then," Blanc stood up without a word and turned to go. Before she could, however, Vert stood, a glint in her eyes, and her next words stopped Blanc in her tracks cold.

She looked so tired...

"Does it have to be Neptune, or is Nepgear an option?"

She probably hadn't stopped to play a game in weeks...

"- Hold on a second, you bimbo! Nepgear's not even awake to say no to your fat ass!"

Had she been crying...?

"I can't see why she'd mind. Nepgear and I have a special bond, after all, and it would be for the good of Planeptune..."

Facing your mortality like this... What was Neptune feeling...?

"Special bond my ass, you goddamn pervert! You're no better than your Oracle!"

Was she okay...?

"My my, are you sure you're not just jealous that I suggested it first?"

How could she be...? If Uni had been like that, then...

"Why I oughta...!"

She's been shouldering so much, all by herself...

"L-Ladies, I really don't think this is the time for such quarreling, this is a very serious matter..."

All of her people leaving her, little by little... How can she keep appealing to them like that, knowing every day more of them go despite her best efforts...?

"Histoire, I'll have you know I was being completely serious."

It must hurt... It must hurt so much... Just imagining it made Noire begin to tear up.

"Like hell she's gonna marry off Nepgear to you, you moron!"

She made her decision.

"I'll do it!"

Vert, Blanc, and Histoire all stopped in their tracks - Blanc ready to punch Vert, Vert just about to summon a weapon, and Histoire desperately trying to stop them - and turned to the source of the outburst: Noire. Her eyes were teary and her face was the brightest shade of red, but the determination she wore was genuine.

"If... If it can save them, I'll do it. I'll marry Neptune."