Quite Advanced, Yet More 2 - (Honkai Star Rail, SI)
"So, this space station is a research facility that is friendly with your group, this... Astral Express?"
Dan Heng nodded as I finished my question. "The Astral Express is the home of the Trailblazers. We usually take care of businesses tied to retrieving rare relics or sealing Stellarons."
From my understanding, these 'Stellarons' were supposed to be akin to what the Abyss was in Teyvat, a corrupting force that tended to pollute and rot the planet's natural order. It was indeed a saddening discovery to know this phenomenon was widespread to beyond Teyvat but... I offered a nod at the exhaustive answers I was getting.
I got just a bit on Dan Heng as a person, this 'Archivist' acting also as a guard with his lance, while the girl that tagged along in this party, March 7th, was an amnesiac individual that worked as a 'warrior'. She was a bow user, and she was not using Cryo, but 'Crystal'. Which was odd to accept since I could feel the Cryo-like energy within her body.
Out of the trio I was now partnered with, Stelle was the most perplexing. She was... aimless, incredibly confused over her situation, but overall accepting of orders and praises.
"Good job." I remember humming as I patted her head. She didn't do much to show a strong reaction to the headpat, rather she appeared a bit happier as she finished her first fight after waking up.
All in all, the trio had synergy on their own, and I added some zapping 'Electro support' when it was needed. The path to reach the Express was, however, very difficult to move through- it wasn't just these monsters of the 'Anti-matter Legion', but also the fact that some sections of the station had shut down entirely due to the attack.
So, we had to slowly re-activate all panels that were needed to unlock some of the doors around. A tedious chore, but a necessary one as we finally managed to get close to the core elevator and... we found someone else.
Wounded and bruised, Arlan was the head of the Security Team at the Space Station. White hair, dark-pink eyes, and a bit of a tan complexion. He was quite worn off from facing off numerous foes all at once, and he gave us some bad news regarding the current station's situation: the attack may actually succeed since the 'owner' of the Station, Herta, was currently missing. And we were asked to help him to reach the Bridge.
So, more chores, more fighting and... boss fight?
Right as we got the Elevator to work, a bigger foe appeared in our path. Akin to a centaur, this monster had a lower body like a horse, and a upper humanoid body. It also had a bow with an intense concentration of energy which meant any use of that weapon could be trouble.
"Be careful you all, this one is a tough one," I hummed, seeing nods, but I eyed Stelle the most as she was as a 'newcomer' as I was about this sort of stuff. "Get ready."
As this battle started, a major relevant element came up that Dan Heng had only mentioned briefly during the previous brawls - monsters have a 'fatigue limit'. A sort of 'Resistance' that could be broken by using the elements they were weak against.
At a certain point, the monster started using its bow, but its 'focus' was soon wrecked by a combination of attacks, a thin barrier around it shattering as it became weaker to all sorts of hits. All was doing quite well despite the step-up from the previous battles but... I guess I got a bit too cocky in expecting this to remain advantageous battles for us.
Before dying, the semi-quadruped decided to roar loudly and attract various mobs around us. A swarm of flying humanoids soon appeared, more than a dozen at first glance. They were still relatively weak to me, but I saw how this could be bad for the rest of the team. I could try to take multiple at once, but I wasn't truly that sure I could move that fast to take most of those there.
Still, even before I had the chance to make a choice, something came rushing out of the elevator. It was flying fast, rotating viciously and cutting several of the monsters in its path. It even finished off the mini-boss before stopping right in front of us.
"Come on, I gave you an opening."
The path was indeed clear, and while I would have preferred to fight it out, I knew that Arlan was in no shape to hold out without some proper medications for long. So, I nodded and turned to rest.
"Get moving, kiddos!"
I definitely knew it was quite odd that I, a fellow young man, was being such a 'dad', but at this point they were just willing to go along and rush to the elevator. The doors closed behind us right before any of the recovering monsters could attack us, and we were soon brought upward to where the bridge was.
And right where the owner of the drone greeted us. Red hair and yellow eyes, the gorgeous woman I was introduced to was indeed showing her beauty off despite wearing a black jacket around her shoulders, her white dress doing a lot to emphasize her curves as I made a new acquaintance in the form of one of the 'leaders' of the Astral Express, Himeko.
"I have to be honest, I don't think Herta has ever mentioned about you," The redhead muttered, yet smiling pleasantly. "But I am glad to hear that you helped these three. You have my gratitude, Mr. Bukharin."
"John is fine, Himeko. I am not much for formalities."
Despite that pleasant exchange, I still felt my body forced to pause a moment as I glanced around after we shook hands. An odd reaction for anyone that was unfamiliar with my background but... let's just say I had plenty of reasons to be wary of befriending beautiful women when around someone like Lumine.
Luckily for me, she wasn't there and that wasn't going to cause me any problem in the long run. Hopefully.
If there is something that Kafka loved after a well-done mission, it was a much-deserved bath.
Filling the tub with nice warm water, soap, and then some bubbles- the woman just sank there and allowed the bliss to hit her innermost. She sighed at the peaceful pleasure of being free for a while from any form of chore. Free to wash up, relax and get ready for the next mission.
She hardly called this a 'job' considering she had so much control over the details of it- she may have to submit to Elio's own predictions, but Kafka still retained a dominant will over these visions. After all, what is the point of living life if you can't 'break from the line' when it is possible?
Call it selfish or call it deep, Kafka minded not the notion of being an outlaw due to her antics, especially since it made life so monumentally blessed for her to enjoy. Each day was a surprise... like the one she got as she finally opened her eyes from a little nap in the tub and noticed a pending message from Elio.
It was a query: Why are you still in the Space Station?
Kafka offered a frown at such silly question. If it had been someone else, she would have dismissed it with a mere 'I am not there anymore', but this one was Elio and... if he said such a thing, then it meant that something was off. She was definitely in her flat's tub, enjoying the bubbles and the warmth of the water.
So, the woman took a selfie, one that was provoking but enough covered to not be too lewd in nature. She attached it to her reply, just so that Elio had proof of her response.
I am cleaning up, so no, I am not in that station, Eli.
She leaned back, waiting patiently for a response as this curious question had her wondering how did someone like Elio make such a 'mistake'. It was wrong to imagine such a thing but... maybe she left something of her that lingered? Maybe in giving the Stellaron a 'new home'?
The answer came at a fashionable lateness, as predictable from someone like Elio as his response was... well, interesting.
I believe Herta has found someone 'like' you.
Oh~?
That was a surprise. It wasn't as anomalous as many would believe considering that planetary divergences tended to spawn some unique 'copies' of other individuals. Silver Wolf had already 'noticed' a few around of herself, so it was fair to assume that Kafka wasn't excluded from that list but... for one of her 'counterparts' to be in the Station and for her to not notice it?
Now she felt a bit sad since she could have made a new friend.
Oh well, there's the next time, I suppose~.
She replied to that answer with a mere 'neat', and then got back to bathe. She washed up, rinsed up, and then started to dry up her hair. A giddy smile appeared on her face as she pondered on a very important question about this matter:
Is it wrong I want to tease my counterpart if he is truly like me~?
AN
The Plot goes along, and Kafka says henlo at 'it is not incest if they are supposedly your self from another dimension/world'.
