Vert invites them to test a VR game

"We're here!" Nepgear called out to the dark room. She shuffled inside, followed by Uni, Rom, and Ram. Vert had invited them to "test something". She hadn't given them any other details besides that. She had also given them directions to a strange warehouse near the basilicom. They continued inside and suddenly, the lights in the room turned on. The candidates covered their eyes as they adjusted to the sudden light.

When they could finally see, it looked more Sci fi on the inside than expected. Wires and cables hung everywhere, leading to what looked like pods big enough to hold people. There were about 12 of them that connected to an extremely large computer with many many buttons and levers. The computer was on standby, and Vert stood next to it, smiling happily.

"Hello!" she said.

"Hello!" Nepgear said as she walked over. "What is all this? It looks so cool!"

"This is something Leanbox has been working on for the past few months." Vert said as she gestured around the room. Rom and Ram split off to examine the different pods while Uni stuck beside Nepgear. "It's a very large VR game that up to 12 people can join. I wanted you four to come and be the first to test it."

"Why?" Uni asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do I need a reason?" Vert asked, but when Uni kept looking at her suspiciously, she sighed. "I wanted to show you guys before the other CPUs, since you guys are just Candidates, no offense."

"It's fine. I understand!" Nepgear said as she looked at the large computer. "I'm all for this! When can we start?"

"Hold on Nepgear." Uni warned. "Is it safe?" she asked.

"I would never send my dear Nepgear into something if it wasn't safe!" Vert exclaimed, and Nepgear laughed nervously. "Please, if you are ready to go, it's all ready."

"Well, what is the game?" Uni asked. At this point, Rom and Ram had come back over.

"It's based on a different game that I modified, with permission of course." Vert explained. "I call it DokiDoki*Gun!" Nepgear frowned.

"Is there an asterisk in there?" she asked.

"Basically, your goal is to get in and work together to defeat a wave of NPCs as they come to try to tag you. If they tag you, you fall under their control. You have to defeat every single NPC to win. It's fairly simple." Vert told them. Nepgear nodded.

"Sounds easy enough! I'm excited!" she said, and walked over to a pod. "Can we start?"

"Yes, any time." Vert said as she turned around and started fiddling with the computer, activating the program.

"Nepgear?" Uni said low enough that Vert couldn't hear. "I feel...uneasy about this."

"It's fine." Nepgear said as she gave her a reassuring smile. "I trust Vert. Plus, we'll all be there together if something goes wrong, right?" Uni sighed, and turned to Vert.

"What happens if something goes wrong?" she asked.

"If anything goes wrong, I can pull you out immediately. Even if the game crashes, you'll still be pulled out with no damage." she assured them.

"See?" Nepgear said, and opened a pod, stepping inside." Uni sighed again and went over to a nearby pod. Rom and Ram did the same, and soon all four of them were laying inside pods, which slowly closed.

"Put on the helmets inside." Vert instructed. They each grabbed a very alien-looking helmet inside the pods and strapped them onto their head. "Now, this'll hurt a little bit." Nepgear winced as she felt small needles poke into her head, but it was only a quick pain. "Are you ready?" Vert said.

"Ready!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"Ready..." Uni said nervously.

"I'm ready!" Ram said.

"If everyone else is ready, then I am too." Rom said.

"Alright, in 3...2...1..."

Suddenly, everything went white.

**********************************

Nepgear opened her eyes. She quickly tried to get a sense of her surroundings. She could see the other candidates around her, and she could tell there were in what seemed to be an abandoned city. It wasn't quite run down, but moss and vines covered some building, and cars laid abandoned on the streets.

"This is kind of scary..." Rom said.

"Nah, it's fine." Ram said. "We'll kick their butts!"

"Can you hear me?"

Nepgear jumped a voice in her head. It was Vert's.

"Yes!" Nepgear answered.

"Good. There should be a gun in your hand." Vert said. Nepgear looked down to see a pink gun in her hand with a white handle and stripes. A heart was printed on its side. "That is your weapon. It has unlimited ammo, so go wild. Just don't shoot each other."

"Alright!" Nepgear said.

"Now, game...start!"