Quite Advanced, Yet More - (Honkai Star Rail, SI)
EDIT: This is a Spin-off of 'Quite Primitive, Yet Advanced'. You do not need to read the story as the lore will be laid out within this story itself.
I remember dying. And it wasn't my first time.
It was predictable, but I had to take a risk- a gamble meant to truly end in the closure of my life. I remember being old, weary, and that the last battle I faced was one that laid the seeds for the true victory in the war I waged against a Fake Deity.
I remember my time in Teyvat, the adventures I spent with my group, the need to split away from them as everything started to die when the Calamity truly collapsed all sorts of orders. I tried to subvert it, but I realized early on that...
I came to this world way too early to fix it, and I was not the one that Teyvat needed.
So, I prepared the stage for the one that could do it. And then left without hesitation when I knew my existence meant constant paranoia from the ultimate foe.
I died peacefully, with my 'part' properly assembled and...
Yet I wasn't done. Not yet.
It's odd to explain how it feels to be brought back alive in a coma. I suppose the best way to explain it is by comparing it to be asleep and then slowly, very slowly, wake up. Instead of small 'steps' made by senses tuning in, it was each cell of my body sluggishly 'waking up'.
The process was slow, purposely so. I think I was 'found' and then contained due to how 'anomalous' I was. My mind caught brief muttering that was impossible for me to decipher. All I knew was that 'someone found me' and that I was 'being studied'.
I wouldn't say it was wrong for someone to study oddities, but I may have a reasonable motivation to 'whine' about it if I was the one that was being subjected to studies. But I had no way to 'make my point clear'. I was stuck, I don't know for how long at that, and then... I finally woke up.
It wasn't my finders that did so. Something happened. An attack. I realized this much as the loud alarm noises were getting louder, my body reacting as something- no, someone in the facility had triggered a faster process of awakening.
It was... like a spark. A familiar zap of Electro that triggered my body to fully recover. It was still slow but... I did it. And I opened my eyes as electric pulses burst out of my body, wrecking the glass keeping me stuck within the containment chamber and freeing me.
It took me a moment for my mind to fully recoil at the lengthy slumber, my memory fuzzy in most part, but I remembered the basis of who I was as I walked out of the 'cage' once keeping me sheltered away from the sights of beyond. I paused only at the glassy barrier that was far thicker than the rest since it showed space. This facility-
It was a space station. I was no longer anywhere in Teyvat.
I blinked, squinting my eyes as I got a glimpse of my frame. The clothes were the same as the ones I had when I died. The black jacket hiding a white shirt and a pair of pants ending with a pair of dark-purple boots. But what truly shocked me was my face- no, my body. It was still the same- but younger. I was younger.
I died a foxy old man, now I looked like a... well, like I used to be when I first appeared in Teyvat. It was half-a-reset. And not even a fully-biological one as I could still tap into my Electro powers and... I froze as I reached for a specific chained tool I usually kept on my belt. It was gone-
My Electro Vision was gone, and yet I could still tap into my powers.
They were slightly weaker, yes, but I was still a capable fighter as my attention was suddenly stolen by several armored humanoids coming my way. I frowned at those, not much worried over their level of danger, but surprised by how familiar they felt to Abyssal Troops.
"I guess the faces change, but the substance's the same. Tell me, tutorial sacrifice, how many Primogems will I get out of you~?" I wondered, slowly approaching the aggressive humanoids and producing a single blue-bladed katana.
It was a shabby job considering I had my own arsenal to use back in Teyvat, but projecting an Electro sword just like a certain Shogun had taught me felt best fitting for the occasion. And I bolted with just as much eagerness as the monsters had in trying to kill me.
Clean cuts, I didn't want to get too cocky around those fools as I knew my body was far from its expected 'prime peak'. The battle lasted not even three seconds, leaving me sad as I saw the butchered fiends disappearing in portals that devoured them.
"How quaint," I mumbled, looking around for any place to go when- I felt it again, the spark. "Hm, and who are you?"
I felt the general direction of where it came from, and I was soon moving to try and catch up who was leaving behind such a familiar scent for me to pick up. Friend or foe? Considering the hostile assault on this station, I may assume it is more of the latter than the former... but I was very curious.
Running around also reminded me of how fresh my body was. While physically it hardly weakened with the passing of decades in Teyvat due to the constant training I put myself through, that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy less 'strain' over it as my youthful frame hardly felt much from a little sprint.
Fighting about a dozen of those weak mobs also provided me with some understanding of how different combat was. While Electro, Cryo, Pyro, and Anemo were present, I couldn't help but notice that Dendro, Hydro, and Geo were not.
Instead of these last three, I felt a 'growing' presence of two elements similar enough to Pneuma and Osial. Which was fair considering the 'otherwordly' essence of those sub-elements, leaving me wondering what else was to be discovered about the rules of this wider universe.
The only grievance was that I had to interact with a few puzzling terminals to move around, and those doors were sure slow to open up. It was indeed ironic how I, someone that originally incarnated in Teyvat as a modern guy, now was struggling with machinery of this kind.
Still, I persisted in my chase. I could tell I was getting very close to my target when... it vanished. Suddenly, abruptly, enough to cause me to suddenly slow down and snort.
"Seriously? Not even a 'hello'?" I mumbled with a growing grimace on my face. "Oh well, let's try to see what they left behind."
I doubted the sudden disappearance was done without leaving any trace, plus I was still close to my destination and... I may have hit the jackpot right as I turned the corner near the last door I was to cross. I found two individuals about to walk through it.
The closest of the two paused, mustering an Anemo-boosted lance at me.
"Halt! Who are you?"
"Not an enemy, youngling," I muttered politely, forgetting my 'new age' as I saw the two frowning at my term. "I have been battling those troublemakers in the station, and I have felt something that is tied to the attack briefly linger on this room. I am not your foe."
There was a pause, then the other individual, a girl with soft pink hair smiled.
"My name is March 7th, this here is Dan Heng-"
"March, we don't know if he is truly a friendly person."
"If I wasn't, I would have attacked you both like those hooligans infestating the station," I argued flatly. "I get the paranoia, but... trust me. We wouldn't be talking if I wasn't your friend."
A hint of a threat, enough to make Dan Heng's eyes narrow but the girl ultimately yanked at him enough to make him ease down.
"Fine. But... what do you mean with 'something tied to the attack'. You think the source is behind this door?"
"Used to be there, yes. All I can say is that this 'energy pattern' appeared right as the attack began, and I tried to catch up to it until I felt it vanishing just before meeting you two."
The two shared a look and then nodded.
"Fine, but... you take the lead. We will watch your back," The young man offered and I nodded. I could tell these two weren't going to stab me if I didn't do anything worrisome, so I calmly walked up to the door and then I interacted with the terminal. "Also, what's your name?"
I blinked. Smiling as I focused on the door.
"Name's John Bukharin. And I am quite lost on where I am right now."
Not exactly the fanciest way to introduce myself, but I guess it was best than nothing. The door opened shortly after, and what I found waiting on the other side was a gray-haired girl that was slumped on the ground, her back leaning on a wall as she slumbered quietly.
I walked up to her, the two partners chasing closely as I soon crouched down and looked into her pulse and her breathing- and what the fuck am I feeling stored deep inside her?!
"She is... fine. Give her a moment to recover." I mumbled, holding back a deep sense of unease as I realized this girl was... not normal. Her body was seemingly 'waking up' due to what unnatural form of energy ran inside her, and soon I was seeing her beautiful golden eyes opening to me.
"Hello kiddo. How are you?"
"...Tired," She stated softly, a glint of familiarity flashing through her gaze. "Do I... know you?"
"No," I admitted quietly. "Actually, I don't even know your name. What is it?"
"...I don't... I don't remember."
"Are you sure?" March inquired, almost sad to hear this. "Give it a try, think about it."
The gray-haired girl nodded and then... something 'hit' her before speaking.
"Stelle. My name is Stelle."
And that's how I became the proud dad of three kids.
AN
In this line up we have for the expanded 'Nameless' team: John Bukharin (Team Dad), Dan Heng (The Troubled but Dutiful Son), March 7th (The Favorite but Forgetful Daughter), and Stelle (Trash-lover, Baseball-batter, Daddy/Mommy's girl);
Also, happy birthday March! (This chapter was written on March 7th)
