To Stelle's disappointment, she did not wake up in March's lap. She instead woke up in a perfectly normal medical room.

"Hey you, you're finally awake." A feminine voice called to her.

Stelle craned her neck slowly.

"Oh my god you're a doll." She couldn't help but say.

The girl was positively adorable. With long brown hair that seemed nice and silky and gem-like purple eyes. Her dress was frilled with a purple, black and white colour scheme. Her features were clean and unblemished, which compounded nicely with her youthful look.

"Yes. I'm glad you're quick on the uptake. I'm Herta, I've been told quite a bit about your situation."

The girl, Herta, cocked her hip and placed one of her hands on it. The other hand extended in front of her as she spoke.

It was then that Stelle noticed the little joints on each of her joints. From each little finger to her shoulder. When she looked for them they were even on her knees as well. They looked… like doll joints.

"Oh my god. You're a doll." Stelle repeated, realizing that Herta was quite literally a doll.

"Yes…" Herta shot her a look. "I thought this was established already. Do you have some sort of cranial injury? That would not be ideal. That would negatively impact possible research opportunities."

It took Stelle a few moments to restart her brain. The fact that the girl in front of her was not a real human. Or, perhaps she was and it was more like a cyborg sort of thing? All things considered it wasn't the most impossible thing that had happened to her in the past…

How long was she asleep again?

Well… to the extent of her memories at least. That went to the gigantic dragon beast that she had slain.

"Uh- No. I'm fine. I was just surprised."

Herta hummed. "Good. You are a valuable research specimen."

"I'm… what?"

There was a sigh. "You host a Stellaron inside of you. While this isn't exactly unheard of, the fact that it's so stable and cohesive with your biosystem is something that should be studied." Herta explained.

That was news to her. "And what happens in the cases that it isn't stable?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Perhaps the most merciful case is that the hosts simply explode."

"Oh."

"Would you like to know about the other cases? Some of them are quite fascinating."

Stelle felt a little sick at the thought. "I… think I'll pass."

Herta shrugged. It highlighted the doll joints of her shoulders.

"Nonetheless. Now I will inform Himeko of your awakening." She stood still for a moment before speaking again. "Himeko will be on her way shortly. I have informed her due to her status as your benefactor."

"Thank you." Stelle said, slightly relieved.

Not even a minute later Himeko arrived in the medical wing with March in tow.

"Hello Miss Heroine!" March greeted her as soon as they made eye contact.

"Good to see that you're well, Stelle." Himeko said, giving her a warm smile.

"Hello Himeko. Now that you're here I can now ask that you relieve the Stellaron host from your crew on the Astral Express so I can keep her here on the Space Station to study." Herta spoke up.

The smile on Himeko became visibly strained. "Well… first of all that's not a decision I can make. You should ask her yourself if that's what she wants to do. Secondly, Stelle isn't a part of our crew just yet. I haven't asked her."

Herta raised an eyebrow. Stelle was a bit perturbed by how human it looked. "Really? Her file is wrong. That must be corrected."

She had a file? "What's on my file?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Many things. Most of them are speculation but there is a fair bit of anecdotal writing. Most notably is your stability with the Stellaron but it also details your unconventional but surprisingly effective fighting ability, your obvious lie about working at my space station and your extreme tendency to be led around by your libido." Herta listed out in a matter of fact manner.

Stelle stared at the woman as she processed her words. Her cheeks started to burn at the utter mortification of hearing the last sentence be said out loud, in front of both Himeko and March.

"T-That last one isn't true, right?" Stelle stuttered out, looking towards March and Himeko for support.

"Ahaha…" March laughed and averted her eyes. "Uhm… you have good taste in women?"

Himeko coughed. There was a slight blush on her cheeks. "There is nothing wrong with having a healthy libido Stelle. One cannot be faulted for things out of your control."

Oh god. She felt like she was going to spontaneously combust. Is that what people thought of her? That wasn't… true. She- She just couldn't help the words that came out of her mouth sometimes.

How was it her fault that all the women she met were insanely beautiful?

"I must add that as an incentive for you to participate in my research I have a numerous amount of dolls that can help you achieve sexual satisfaction in any sort of inclination that you-"

Stelle screamed. She was going to die. She was going to die here in the medical wing. Not because of some gigantic dragon Doomsday Beast that shot gigantic energy lasers. Not because of getting run through by a giant claw from said beast.

But because someone was offering to take care of her libido as an incentive to get her to be a research subject.

She wanted to spontaneously combust. She was pretty sure she was going to spontaneously combust. Could faces get as hot as hers currently felt? Maybe it was because the Stellaron inside her was destabilizing and she was just going to explode in a few moments. She probably would have welcomed it too.

"Herta." Himeko spoke up. "Let's give Stelle some space. She's probably feeling a little overwhelmed at everything."

Herta nodded. "I will be back to hear your answer regarding my research. Regardless of whatever you choose, I must insist on getting a hands on look at least once." After having said her piece, Herta disappeared out of the medical wing.

Stelle stared at the place the doll woman was just at. She at the very least didn't feel like bursting into flames anymore. Her mortification was slowly ebbing away.

"Lady Herta is a handful isn't she?" March commented.

"W-Who is she again?" Stelle asked.

"That's Madam Herta. She's a member of the genius society and also the owner of the space station we're currently on. She's… interested in your unique circumstances." Himeko explained.

"Right…"

"Interested." March snorted. "You need to be careful with women like her, Stelle! All she wants is your body!"

"...While not how I would choose to word it, March does have a point. Herta is interested in you purely from a research perspective. I'm not saying you should accept her offer or anything, but she's generally quite reasonable. If you give her some opportunities to get what she wants then she'll pull some strings for you in return." Himeko coughed with a blush. "Of course you can always choose a more physical exchange…"

"No!" Stelle squeaked, blush returning in full force. "No. I- I'm not interested in that sort of thing."

"That's right! Stelle only has 'foot in mouth' syndrome! The cure to that is that she just needs to get used to being around attractive people!" March interjected.

"So I just need to stick close to you?"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Stelle cringed. She just couldn't keep her mouth shut for a single conversation could she?

March blinked, her mouth opened once before closing. There was a faint rosy blush that appeared on her face. "Wow." She said. "Do you- Do you do that on purpose or does it just slip out?"

"It sort of just slips out." Stelled admitted in a mumble.

The pink girl nodded, seemingly rebounding easily. "Okay! We can fix that! We'll go back to my room on the Express and help you practice your confidence!"

"March…" Himeko interjected. "Stelle hasn't joined yet."

"But she will! That's how these types of things go!"

The red haired woman chuckled. "Alright, well why don't you let me actually ask her first."

"Okay! I'm gonna get my room ready! I'll see you there Stelle!" March said before leaving.

The two waited a bit until they continued their conversation. Stelle used that time to actually get out of the bed she was in. She was sore, but not overly. Which was rather surprising since she could distinctly remember a dragon more than ten times her size crashing into her. She stretched a bit, some of her joints popping pleasantly in reaction.

"Well. I'm sure you have some sort of idea about what this next conversation will be." The captain of the Astral Express started. "But we'd be happy to have you aboard the Express if you'd like."

"I'm not opposed, but what does being a member of the Astral Express actually mean?" Stelle asked.

"Well, in essence we travel the stars. Going to different planets and worlds every week. We traverse the path of the star rail and the nameless who had used the Express before it came into my hands. We call ourselves the trailblazers, after the Aeon Akivili who had created the Express."

If Stelle was being honest, that sounded pretty cool. She just had one reservation. "So, do you guys fight things like the Doomsday Beast on the regular or…?"

Himeko chuckled. "No. That's not the norm. At most we just deal with sealing rampant Stellarons."

Stelle breathed a sigh of relief. "That seems more manageable."

Himeko nodded, her red hair fluttering in a way that caught Stelle's eye as she did so. "Quite. Don't decide just yet, talk to Herta and see what she wants from you. We can always visit the space station between trips so don't feel as if we're never going to see the other side no matter what you choose."

"Alright."

"I'll be sorting some things out on the Express. It's located at the same place we fought the Doomsday Beast at. Come see me no matter what decision you make."

Stelle nodded and Himeko left the medical wing. It gave Stelle some time to sort out her own thoughts. The Astral Express sounded fun. To travel the stars and visit different worlds seemed like something out of a dream, but she knew it was abundantly possible.

She thought back to her first memory. Kafka had told her that she would meet people who would become like family to her, who she would join for journeys and suffer through hardships with. She was told not to doubt herself, for everything would be resolved at the end of her journey.

Then once again, in her hazy dream-like meeting with the elf-like girl during the battle with the Doomsday Beast. She had told her that Stelle would blaze a trail of her own one day. Like… a trailblazer.

Stelle sighed to herself. Did she really even have a choice?

Of course she did. But all these people seemed to have expectations for her to join. Even Himeko seemed to think she would to some degree. It wasn't as if they were necessarily wrong but…

Stelle smiled. At the very least she would do things her way. Which meant visiting Herta and getting a certain something from her in return for research.

It took Stelle a bit to find her way to Herta's office. Not necessarily because she was lost but because her body ached. It was fine for the most part but for some reason the space station just had so many stairs. Most of them weren't even that much of an elevation difference! Just a few steps up or down. Her thighs felt so sore. Ugh.

When she knocked on the door she didn't get a response, but the door was unlocked so she let herself in anyways. Herta was there, off to the side but completely unresponsive about her arrival.

"Herta?" Stelle called to the unmoving doll.

It took a few seconds but Herta seemingly came to life in front of her. It was unnerving to see.

"Hello there, Stellaron host." Herta responded.

Stelle frowned. "I have a name."

"Yes, most people do. What is your point?"

"I- Never mind." Stelle sighed. Dealing with this woman was difficult. "I'm alright with doing some of your research, granted they're reasonable, in return for a few favors."

That caught Herta's attention. "Oh? Good to hear. Driven too. That's admirable. Speak, what do you want? Money? Knowledge? …Women?"

Stelle blushed. "No, not that last one. Right now what I want is a phone number."

Herta stared at her in silence. "You'll find that I have a considerable amount of strings I can pull, but depending on the person I might not be able to fulfill such a thing."

The host to the stellaron nodded. "I know. But I figured I'd ask anyway."

"Right. Then out with it. Let's get one favor out of the way so we can get started quicker."

Stelle told Herta who's phone number she wanted. It got an audible sigh from the doll.

"That's doable. I don't really care for your reasons behind it, but just know that getting yourself killed would be extremely inconvenient for me." Herta told her.

"I'll try not to get myself killed then." Stelle couldn't help but snip.

"Good. My research consists of you going through a simulated universe. I want to see the effects of the Stellaron in various scenarios. Do this first one for me and I'll have your phone number by the time you're done."

Stelle could feel her heart accelerate just the tiny bit at the prospect of things going her way.

"Wait. If I die in the simulated universe do I die in real life?" She asked.

Herta stared at her as if she was stupid. "How in any way would that be productive?"

"Just making sure."

What Herta didn't tell her was that she would run into simulations of Aeons in her pocket universe. They were just as oppressive and overwhelming as when she had run into one during her battle with the Doomsday Beast. Even if she had only met Nanook for a few moments. She had explained the encounter to Herta after her first run in the simulation and the doll seemed to only be more interested in researching her.

Luckily she let Stelle go. She passed a new phone to Stelle as she did, stating that it had the phone number she wanted inside of it. It was also apparently encrypted with Screwllum's best security. Stelle didn't let Herta know that she had no idea who Screwllum was, but she figured it was in the best interest of the researcher to keep her alive. So the security had to be good.

She returned to the place where she fought the Doomsday Beast and did her best not to recall the fight. It seemed like the soreness in her body returned full force just by being around it.

Himeko greeted her outside the express, and happily welcomed her onto the train. There were talks about a quick tour, but March ambushed her and dragged Stelle to her room.

"Alright now that you're officially a member of the Express we can begin phase one of your training!" The excitable archer exclaimed.

"...I don't remember signing up for this." Stelle commented.

"You didn't!"

"Ah."

"Now then!" March forcibly sat Stelle down in her chair by her desk, then pushed it to the center of her room. She turned to one of her walls that were covered in photos and screens, and pushed something on her phone.

How I learned to stop worrying and accept that I'm a harem protagonist!

One of the screens changed from a rotation of pictures to a slideshow with bold letters in the center. It detailed the first step of a plan on… how to talk to women.

What? And what was that title?

"March is this really necessary?"

"Yes." March deadpanned.

Stelle inhaled deeply. She had a feeling she was going to regret her next question. "Why?"

The pink haired girl spun around, grabbing a pair of glasses from one of her shelves and putting it on. "I'm glad you asked my new BFF! This is because when we're going out trailblazing and visiting planets, if you accidentally open your mouth and flirt with someone really important, we could be arrested!"

The golden eyed woman felt the cogs in her brain struggle to keep up with what was being said. "Because… I accidentally flirted with them?"

"No!" March made an X with her hands. "Because you were successful and slept with them!"

Stelle choked on her spit. "I'm sorry what?"

March ignored her. "To counteract this, we're going to train you in confidence!"

"How does that help? In any way?"

"Because even if you say something on accident, as long as you sound confident about it, no one will have any idea that it wasn't on purpose!"

Stelle stared at March. She took the time to think over her words. In some weird, nonsensical way, it actually made sense. Even if she made an utter fool out of herself because she couldn't control herself around pretty women, as long as she said it confidently no one would know it was an accident!

Except. How did that in any way relate to getting them arrested because she flirted with some higher up?

"How does that relate to-"

"Next we're going to move onto our training exercises!" March cut her off, pulling out a…

Stelle rubbed her eyes. Was that a romance novel? It was. It had to be. Nothing else could have such a shameless cover and title.

"Mmm nope. Those are kinda boring… Ah! Okay!" March exclaimed, flipping through the pages before settling on one.

"Are you using a romance novel-"

"I have consulted the ancient texts and decided on our first step! The Kabedon!"

Stelle gave up trying to speak and just let March explain things. It was clear that this was something she just had to roll with.

"The kabedon is an ancient ritual used to trap your romantic escapade between you and the wall, where you would then whisper something to sweep them off their feet!" March continued onwards.

"...Right."

"So therefore, we're going to try it! Be confident and use the kabedon on me!"

Stelle pursed her lips. Alright. That was something she could do. She just needed to be confident. That… was easier said than done. But she could do it.

The newly appointed trailblazer got out of her chair and took a few steps towards March. The pink haired woman blinked, clearly not expecting such immediate action. She backpedaled a few steps until her back hit the wall.

Stelle stepped in close, one hand closing in against the wall as she leaned in against the now cornered woman. Stelle was close enough that she could nearly count each individual strand of her friend's silky pink hair. Close enough to look directly into those iridescent pupils of hers and see the slight widening of her eyes.

"U-Uhm Stelle?" March mumbled. There was a light rosy color to the woman's usually fair skin.

"March." Stelle whispered, mouth moving close to her ear. She could have sent a soft little teasing breath onto her ear if she wanted to.

She could see the stiffening in posture at the name of her friend. Stelle thought for a second. She just needed to say something to sweep her off her feet. She was coming up mostly blank, but it was almost undeniable how cute her friend was, especially with how pink her cheeks were.

"You look cute when you're flustered." Stelle decided on, her mouth tilting upwards in a smirk.

March seemed to freeze at her words, her mouth opened ever so slightly and the previous light blush turned into an inferno in the blink of an eye. There was a noise that came from the woman that sounded suspiciously like a squeak.

"A-Ah U-Uhm. T-T-Time out!" March called, her stuttering rendering her near incomprehensible.

Stelle blinked in surprise and leaned back, letting the smaller woman escape. "March? What's wrong?"

There were several attempts that March made to start a new sentence, but most of them devolved into a stuttering mess. It was only after a large inhale did she manage to form a coherent one.

"Good job!" March said, her voice still wavered and she refused to look Stelle in the eye. "Y-You passed! A plus! Perfect marks! Pleasedon'tputthisintopracticebecauseit'swaytooeffectiveokaybye!"

The last part of the sentence was strung together so quickly that Stelle couldn't decipher it. March fled immediately after.

From her own room.

"D-Did I do something wrong?" Stelle couldn't help but wonder.

Stelle poked her head out of March's room and looked around. Dan Heng was there in the hallway and looked suspiciously exhausted.

"Dan Heng." Stelle called out. "Did you see what happened-"

"I'm not a part of this." Dan Heng interrupted her and escaped into his own room.

That was how Stelle spent the first day as a member of the Astral Express.

When Stelle settled down into her own room on the Express, she fiddled with the phone that she received from Herta. She knew that just because she had the number didn't necessarily mean they would pick up.

There wasn't any use getting nervous over it. She pressed the call button on the number loaded into the phone and listened to the beeps.

When it actually picked up, she was met with silence. Stelle took a deep breath.

"Hey. It's me." She said into the phone.

Start: May 13th. 2023.

End: May 15th.

Words: 3657

Oh March. Your plans have good intentions. But they backfire so easily. Obligatory "but who was phone" you all have two guesses and one of them doesn't count. Glad people liked Ellie showing up in the last chapter, I was a bit worried that it wouldn't be received well. Next chapter is belobog for sure.