#where did the antimatter come from?

[nomiyakazehaya]

random au idea where megatron is a walking wasteland (literally based on that same trope) because of his antimatter

what's the reasoning behind this au? solely an excuse to see a horrendously depressed, melancholic, and sad despairing megatron who's a victim of her own circumstances. that, and some musical brainworms but we don't talk about the brainworms i just love the idea of such a sweet and gentle megatron progressively growing so solemn and despondent, and actively having to avoid people and isolating herself or even going as far as self imprisonment so much as to not bring harm to others

[timebranded]

((...So, was anyone going to tell me that the Adamant Orb and the Adamant Crystal are two separate items, or was I just supposed to figure that out while playing Violet?))

[hyperfixat]

hehe here's this 2k brain rot that @suiana's post gave me (permission proof - not a thief!)

i turned caelus into a they them not sorry. also if the formatting is odd, i’m on my pc and i usually use my phone so.

They’re back.  Again.  

March has to stifle the screams of anger she wants to let out as the shackles of stillness finally free her.  Like ice melting Caelus and Dan Heng begin to move around, continuing where they had left them stranded and abandoned, left to stay stagnant at their whim. 

The worse thing is that she can’t even complain, not for lack of desire to do so, no, no she physically cannot voice her complaints.  And March knows she isn't crazy, she’s caught the twinge of annoyance in Welt’s eyes when he unpaused; seen the ghost of a scowl on Seele’s face; even the carefully controlled hardened gaze of Dan Heng has cracked before.

The Trailblazer is the only one who hasn’t cracked, obediently stopping when they will them to do so, and ever so happy to come back at their will.  March wants to corner them and ask how and why, if they know what's going on, but alas: she must trot along with her friends at their wicked will.

Dan Heng doesn't know what you are, because surely you can’t be an Aeon.  Aeons don’t hold the powers you do, even if they did surely there would be some record of you in the archives, right?  No Aeon dead or alive has the ability to puppeteer humans, and it frightens him that there is something out there that is using him in such a way.  It embitters him, both the unknown surrounding them and the way he is treated; how his whole world is put on a pause while he remains aware.  Aware of how the breeze stills and the stars stop twinkling, how the world goes silent.  What could hold such power? 

A shudder runs down his spine as he follows the Trailblazer’s party.

Welt has witnessed a lot in his time.  Nothing quite like them, though.

Himeko has witnessed a lot in her time.  Nothing quite like them, though.

Bronya, Seele, Sampo, and Natasha have witnessed a lot in their time.  Nothing quite like them, though.

Yukong, Loucha, Fu Xuan, and Jing Yuan have witnessed a lot in their time.  Nothing quite like them, though.

Kafka, Blade, and Silver Wolf have witnessed a lot in their time.  Nothing quite like them, though.

The different paths they all walk may intervene, as their personalities and beliefs may differ but there is one truth they can all agree on.

They hate you.

Caelus doesn’t.  Rather, Caelus can’t help but love you; you gave them life and led them through their trials.  You keep them safe and armored. You help them find the words to face others when their mind goes blank. 

To Caelus you are the world.

The Aeons came to know of you when Dan Heng’s frantic searches focused on them for a little too long.  While he was scanning the records they saw you.  You were intriguing from the get go, a pretty thing, sitting comfortably as a figure in the sky. The Preservation and The Nihility, whose current forms allow for more ease with floating went as far as they could to reach you.

Yet you remain just out of reach of the Aeons.

The Abundance uses one of her many arms to steady herself as she crawls along the very fabrics of their reality to get a closer look at you.  And what a darling thing you are!  Excitement that she hasn’t felt in a long, long time, perhaps for the first time ever fills her up inside.  With a shaky hand, she motions for the other Aeons to take a closer look at you.

From there the… shall we say, worship, began.

Nanook, The Destruction, takes note of your fondness for certain characters, and what his darling likes, he likes, so when the Antimatter Legion he has blessed come across the ones you are fond of, their attacks are lighter and they lose his blessing temporarily.  Sure, he wished some of the gushing from beyond the sky was for him, but you so rarely see his face on the screen (only ever in the Simulated Universe you put that Caelus through) he can’t blame you.

IX, The Nihility, will not change in their ways, not even someone like you can shift the nihilism they embody, but, perhaps you don’t notice it, your teams deal better damage over time, don’t they?  Don’t take their blessings lightly, it took a lot to bring them there.

Yaoshi, perhaps makes it the most obvious (despite you never noticing), your favorite vessels get a wonderfully boosted health bar.  You never knew to question how Blade managed to get nine thousand hit points.

It’s hard to pinpoint who thought of it first, perhaps IX or Fuli, but the Aeons, the strongest Aeons, gathered to pull you down from beyond the sky.  Through a (top secret) ritual you find yourself being hurtled down like a meteor into the freezing snow of the Outlying Snow Plains. 

…

You wake to the kind face of Caelus, which is a bit odd because he’s not supposed to be so… high res.  Or real.

“Are you alright, My Lord?”  The title doesn’t immediately resonate with you, so you disregard hearing it.  When you don’t answer right away they frown in worry, hands moving to yours, gently covering them with their warmth.

“What happened?  Why am I here?”

“You fell from the sky, do you not remember?”

“No,” what sky would you have fallen from?  You tend to stay on the ground.

Caelus worries their bottom lip and helps you sit up.  “Oh.”  There’s a pause.  “Did you not mean to come here? I thought….”

“Hm?” You prod, gently encouraging them to talk.

“I thought you were coming to see me,” their face is tinged pink and facing down in their lap.  Caelus’ hands feel hot and you rush to reassure them.

“I’m glad to see you, but I don’t know how or why I’m here,” you pause, cringing internally.  “Caelus.”  Fuck, that is their name right?  No last minute changes?

Luckily their face lights up when you say it and you find yourself pressed into their soft chest, their arms around you in a bear hug. 

“You’re really them.”  A breathy, ecstatic phrase.  Their face buries into your hair and Caelus doesn’t loosen their hold until a knock at their door.

“Trailblazer!  Pompom here, requesting an update on Their Grace’s status.”  

Caelus gently detaches themself from you and opens the door to reveal the tiny rabbit-oid conductor.  Pompom bashfully rubs their hands together when they catch sight of you awake and looking at them.

“Hello, Your Grace, Pompom is glad to see you awake and healthy.”  

What a cute creature, you think.  “Thank you, Conductor Pompom.”

They let out a squeak at your words and nod.  “Pompom needs to go check in on the other passengers, but let Pompom know if you need anything, okay, Your Grace?”

“Oh, thank you Pompom.”  They hurry away, stubby feet padding quickly down the carpeted halls.  You turn your head to Caelus, “what was that about?”

“Hm?”  Their golden eyes meet yours, head tilting.

“Why did they call me those things, Your Grace?”  

“Because you are our God above Aeons.  Do you… were you somehow unaware of that?”

The words hit you like a freight train.  “No, I’m not.”  It’s all you can think to say.

Caelus sits next to you on the bed, placing a hand on your knee.  “Yes you are.  We can feel it.  You are the one that controls this world and gives us life.”

Controls this world… and gives them life… fuck, the game… you’ve been playing these sentient beings.  Your tummy hurts at the knowledge . 

“Oh, I’m— I’m sorry.”  Your eyes prick with tears, the gravity of what you’ve been doing; how you’ve dragged these people into battles for fun.  You couldn’t have know, but it doesn’t stop the guilt eating at you.

“No, no, what are you apologizing for?”  Caelus’ hands cup your face, a finger catching the tears that drip over the brim of your waterline.  Their voice drops to a whisper, “please don’t cry, My Lord.”

You suddenly feel very watched, like a million eyes are on you.  Caelus never closed his door.  You look up and catch sight of March 7th’s glare.  The intensity of it makes you flinch back, making Caelus look up, over to:

“March, don’t give them that look.”  They scold the girl, who turns the withering look to them.

“Why are you taking care of that monster?  We told you to leave them to freeze in the snow.”  The words make your heart sink.  Being on this side of such venomous words stings, especially from someone you never would have pegged to be so hateful.

Caelus bares thier teeth, a mix of offense and hurt on their face.  “And I told you I would do no such thing to our God.”

“That is no God.”  Her voice shakes as does her head, before turning around and walking away.

“Don’t listen to her.” Caelus shakes their head in disappointment. “She doesn’t understand what all you do for us.  Please don’t hold it against her.”

…

They, the Astral Express, do not like you.  Caelus and Pompom do, they hold you in reverence, which is better than how March, Himeko, Welt, and Dan Heng treat you.  It’s all dirty looks and only partially veiled insults.  Caelus gets into arguments with them over you.  

You hate to think that you’re harming the friendships between them, and when you brought your concern up, Caelus dismissed you saying you are worth it all.  

Yeah, there’s that.  You’ve tried to explain that you are not God, but they won’t hear you out.  :(

It’s a perfectly normal day on the Astral Express when the Aeons come. 

Nanook is the first one to descend into the Parlor Car; Caelus and Dan Heng immediately drawing their weapons, The Destruction laughs once, eyes moving to focus solely on you.

“It’s so good to see you, My darling Lord.”  His voice is low and deep, and the gold flowing freely from the wounds (?) on his arms leaves a trail on the carpet as he approaches to kneel in front of you.  From your peripheral you see Dan Heng and Caelus share a look before lowering their respective weapons.

Nanook, you recognize him from the Simulated Universe blessings screen, grabs your hand, gracing the back of your palm with a chaste kiss.  His golden eyes peek up at you from behind long lashes.

“How has the Express been treating you?  I regret not being able to welcome you to this existence, but alas the ritual took a lot out of us…”

What.

“Oh, uh,” your eyes flicker around the cabin nervously.  “I’m doing alright, th-thanks…”

“Now, now, don’t tease the poor thing,” a beautiful woman (Aeon) walks in, one with many, many arms draped in soft looking, white cloth.  Yaoshi’s eyes soften when she meets your gaze.  “Hello, Your Grace, it’s an honor to meet you in the flesh.”

Caelus, Dan Heng, March, everyones’ (save for you and the two Aeons) bodies droop, posture faltering.  IX, The Nihility, has arrived.  An odd feeling, akin to that of a weighted blanket, is pushed onto your body.  It’s them, their astral, cosmic form much smaller than what should be made of their status, laying on your body like a boa.  They don’t speak, though you aren’t  sure they could in this form.

Yaoshi’s eyes flicker with amusement, and Nanook pulls himself up.  “The others were unable to make it, but,” her gaze chills and is directed at the crew of the Express.  “We all wish to make it known that disrespect, anything short of reverence toward Our Grace, will not be tolerated.”

Welt visibly shudders at the threat, and Himeko shares a look with Dan Heng.  They need to reflect on how they feel towards you, tha much is certain.

[grimalkenkid]

“The Kind of Person I Wanted Back Then”

(Had a burst of inspiration thanks to @havanillas art of Aventurine with a baby, so have this angsty-yet-hopeful Drabble! Enjoy?)

Aventurine knew his place; he was a tool for the Strategic Investment Department to deploy in situations deemed too risky or underhanded for any of the other Stonehearts. He was basically disposable, a pawn who was nevertheless useful if he could turn the tides at a pivotal moment. So it came as little surprise when Diamond sent him to once again “offer” the IPC’s aid to a particularly stubborn border planet that refused to ally with the Amber Lord against the Antimatter Legion.

Even from orbit, Aventurine saw the scorched craters where once-thriving cities stood, though the sight couldn’t hold a candle to the devastation he witnessed firsthand in his opinion. Of course, he would offer his sympathies or condolences when he met with their leader, but he wouldn’t sugarcoat anything. If Diamond thought a gentle touch would get through their thick skulls, then he would’ve sent Topaz.

The negotiation went about as well as expected. Their leader was a tough, old soldier, determined to maintain his people’s independence. However, Aventurine had seen enough of the crumbling masonry and hastily-set tents along the outskirts to sense the cracks in the man’s resolve.

“Give the IPC a controlling share in the planet’s geothermal energy market, and you’ll have the Preservation’s protection.” The words burned his tongue, bitter and acrid.

Like they should have protected the Avgin…

Aventurine left the meeting having given the leader a few offers to ponder and many possibilities to chew on. He was certain they’d come around and agree to the IPC’s terms. Eventually, everyone did.

There were few casinos still operating within the city, having lost most of their clientele to leisure activities less reliant on luck. A shame, Aventurine thought, and so he returned to the small space-port, texting Stelle to pester her into playing online poker. They were two hands deep when a laser-scorched shuttle made an abrupt landing nearby.

Dozens of injured civilians and soldiers rushed out. Aventurine hung back, keeping out of their way as they undoubtedly hurried to the nearest hospital or, more likely, a first aid kit. He tried not to think of how powerless he was right then. For all his wealth, he couldn’t actually protect anyone. Only the IPC could wield that kind of power, and he was little more than their puppet.

With a heavy-hearted sigh, Aventurine tried to turn his attention back to his game, but a lone figure lagging behind the rest of the refugees caught his gaze first. It was a small child, his awkward gait a sign that he had just barely learned to walk. He stumbled about aimlessly, his wide eyes watery and darting everywhere. Before a single thought formed in his head, Aventurine had already pocketed his phone and strode over to the confused child.

The instant the child saw Aventurine approaching him, he abandoned his wandering and stumbled as fast as his little legs could carry him towards the only adult who even seemed to notice him. Aventurine knelt down in front of the kid, his heart nearly stopping as he saw his eyes clearly, with the distinctly two-colored irises of a Sigonian.

“Where are your—?” Aventurine started, but his question would have to wait as the kid slammed into his chest, clawing at his waistcoat and sobbing as only a frightened child could.

Whatever questions Aventurine had could wait. He slowly brought his hands up and wrapped the poor kid in an awkward hug. He wasn’t supposed to be the one who offered comfort, shouldn’t be the one people trusted. Wasn’t supposed to be a person, just a tool, a pawn. And yet this kid was clinging to him like a lifeline. The least Aventurine could do was give him reassurance in return.

He patted the kid’s head, speaking softly until his tears dried and his breathing grew steady. Only then did Aventurine lift him into his arms, whispering a comforting lie as he returned to the city,

“Now, let’s go find your parents.”

Hours later, and Aventurine had the answer he’d known all along. The kid’s parents were dead, and no one would take him in. Of course they wouldn’t; why would anyone take in a Sigonian? To do so would be asking to invite a future thief and liar into one’s house.

But Aventurine was already a liar. A murder. A loser.

As the kid fell asleep in his arms, Aventurine returned to his ship, shutting himself away from the prying eyes of his subordinates. He sat down in the first chair he saw and finally let his own tears fall.

“I’ll take care of you,” he swore with all the kindness and tenderness that remained in his scarred heart. “I won’t leave you to fend for yourself. I’ll protect you… I promise.”

And he meant it.

[nqmonarch]

Dream AU

I have asks and dw I'm doing them, just had random brainrot so we posting this chicken scratch first

HSR but when you dream you enter their world and you're like wow!!! Sick dream! And they're like where the fuck did this random ass person come from?

Called dream AU cause you teleport there in your dreams, originally was going to be self aware but I think this works better.

Something about Aeons x Reader just got me in SHAMBLES.

Using he/him pronouns for Nanook

Part 2 is out

I'd like to imagine the first time you dream that you're in HSR you appear in front of an Aeon. Not just any Aeon but Nanook. As the Antimatter Legion launches its attack on the Herta Space Station, Nanook doesn't feel the need to pay much attention. Oh there was a person with a Stellaron in them, that was unique. Nanook didn't spare them more than a glance though, they'd be destroyed soon anyway.

Then, another interesting anomaly appears. Another human, in front of him, not even floating through the space but walking through it as if it was their own backyard. A nuisance, one deliberately far away from the rest of the anti matter legion. Had you tried to escape? It didn't matter. With a simple blink you would be gone.

Yet even as he felt destruction reach out to you, it had no effect, you remained perfectly unharmed albeit confused. Then your eyes landed on him, and excitement filled your face. Excitement? You moved faster, small legs carrying you toward Nanook. Humans were pitifully small, like insects only existing to infect the world. It was his duty to remove the world of them.

Yet with all the excitement you held and the care toward a being that had just tried to destroy you, it made him pause for a moment to ponder if he was to destroy you too. Even in your most miserable moments would you be able to shine as brightly? The thought didn't stay for long, after all everything in this universe was a mistake. The universe itself should've never have been created and everything in it was as putrid as the next, only choosing to hide behind rosy colors.

Nanook nonchalantly brushed his hand to the side, hitting you with it, yet the moment it touched you his hand was unable to move any further. His gaze lowered again, resting on you. You seemed entirely undisturbed and was still looking at him in awe and wonder. He doubted you were another Aeon, you had no presence at all-- but you weren't effected by his.

Eyes full of molten lava narrowed as they focused in on you. For once, lacking the intent to harm he moved his hand to push you slightly to the side. You moved, stumbling a bit. Nanook's heart leapt a beat.

Oh. Oh. Civilization only brought war with it, as everything within the universe was a mistake. But perhaps, this was the universe's sole purpose, this being was supposed to exist. The notion sickened him, it went against his entire core. The creation of the universe was a mistake thus it must all be destroyed, it never should've happened. Maybe, another universe was supposed to be created and you were from that. A being that shouldn't and couldn't be destroyed, this was the only possibility. An anomaly in the world of mistakes.

Nanook couldn't offer to protect you, all he knew was to destroy. But he had to say something. This universe still had to be destroyed to the point nothing remained and neither Terminus nor Oroboros would have claim to it. You had to leave, before the end tried to swallow you whole. As the one being that shouldn't be destroyed he had to stop it from happening to you. Yet as he looked back nothing remained.

...So it seems you weren't entirely powerless. That was good, but it would make it more difficult for Nanook. He had to find you again, he was already racing against time.

You woke up feeling unusually tired. Must've not gotten a good night's rest, you mused to yourself. Yet you'd had a sick dream! A smile rose to your face at the thought. You'd met Nanook, the sick ass dude from Honkai Star Rail! Man, the majesty of Aeons was still portrayed in your dreams Hoyoverse's design team did such a good job! You felt so small next to him, well you were, you were about the size of his hand.

That didn't matter now though, you had work/school to get to! Places to go, people to see, things to get done! You wanted to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, you didn't go back to sleep but on the bright side you persevered through the day! So, dragging your limbs behind you, you headed back to bed hoping to get a more restful sleep.

When you woke up, you found yourself surrounded by snow. It surrounded you like a fluffy blanket and muffled the noise around you, even with the snow you could still hear the sound of yelling. Oh neat, another hyper realistic dream. For some reason you'd always known when your dreams were dreams and you tended to dream of whatever your newest fictional obsession was.

It was nice until it wasn't. You supposed that you must've spent too much time dreaming up the fictional characters to the point you forget their original personalities. They would tend to act weird as you continued dreaming about them, which would lead you to drop the series entirely. It'd happened an unfortunate amount of times.

Hopefully, something similar wouldn't happen this time. You enjoyed these kinds of dreams where you could just observe the beauty of fiction.

You pushed yourself up from the snow, feeling your hand and feet sink slightly in the snow from the pressure you applied. If this followed the same pattern as the last dream then you were at Jarilo-VI. But where were you? There wasn't any discernible structure around you, there weren't even any fragmentum monsters. It was just snow.

Well at least you weren't able to die in your dreams. You knew that one from experience, although the experience of getting set on fire wasn't exactly pleasant. Actually it was kind of traumatizing even though it was a dream.

That being said getting dream hypothermia didn't seem pleasant so you began to wander in hopes that you would soon come across something.

To be continued when I figure out which Jarilo-VI character I want to write.

[yuesya]

Reach the optimal outcome.

An explosive detonation, an eruption of golden light. In the aftermath, the ground runs red with blood. Corpses line the path of stars, utterly silent in death.

Weigh the factors.

An explosive detonation, an eruption of golden light. Hoarse shouts. This time, there yet remains those who resist, who lift their weapons in defiance. But it’s not enough–

Find the way.

…

…

…

The future is a nebulous thing, difficult to glean and impossible to control. But not impossible to influence, and not impossible to change. Elio has glimpsed the fateful future that awaits them all. He knows what must be done, and so he will bow his head to destiny. Make the necessary preparations, nudge things along in the right direction; all so that when the time comes…

When the time finally comes…

…

Elio closes his eyes.

… The Aeon of Destruction, Nanook. A being whose goal is the cessation of all life, who views the birth and existence of the universe itself as a mistake. The Antimatter Legion serves His will, commanded by their generals: Phantylia, Zephyro, Irontomb–

–?

… 

Something is… very different in this simulation. Chance, or coincidence?

There are seven Lord Ravagers. Emanators of Destruction who carry out their Aeon’s bidding, and leave nothing but deathly silence echoing in the stars along their wake. But now, there is an eighth that is present among their ranks when Elio looks into the future again.

How curious.

It comes as an unexpected surprise, certainly, that there is yet another who draws the gaze of the Ruin Author. But it’s not an impossibility. After all, the universe is vast, and there are countless factors working in tandem that all affect the future.

The eighth Lord Ravager bears a vaguely humanoid appearance, but there is no mistaking them for something human. Their entire body is white, and filled with cracks. Like marble stone, filled with veins of gold. Blades shatter uselessly upon their skin as it strides among the stars, untouchable. Some form of invulnerability? What of their abilities? If there was to be an eighth that Elio also needed to account for, then–

The Lord Ravager opens their eyes.

And the world falls silent.

…

The Lord Ravager glances dispassionately at their surroundings, and an entire world dies.

… Elio cannot allow this.

… 

The Lord Ravager descends from the stars. Opens their eyes, and–

The Lord Ravager descends from the stars. They are met with burning flames in resistance, but emerge unharmed from the inferno. Then, they open their eyes–

The Lord Ravager descends from the stars.

The Lord Ravager descends–

The Lord Ravager–

Elio focuses upon the Lord Ravager and concentrates. There is little doubt that this is most dangerous of all the Lord Ravagers. Who were they? Where did they come from? How did the Aeon of Destruction find them?

It’s not easy, but looking into the past is far a simpler task to accomplish than simulating the future. The past only records what has already occurred, and there’s no changing events that have already been set in stone.

Elio sees–

A beautiful world, lush with life.

Smoke curls into the air. Screams. Monsters walk the lands–

Curses–

Stellaron.

Elio looks silently into the rapidly-changing scenery, and understands. The eighth Lord Ravager comes from a small, isolated world, one that hadn’t properly developed any methods of interstellar travel, nor established connections with other civilizations. And before they had any chance to do so… they were found by a Stellaron.

It’s easy enough to guess the rest of the story from there.

The eighth Lord Ravager. The sole survivor of a dead world. Sometime after the total destruction of her world, she must’ve caught the Aeon of Destruction’s attention. But for such an isolated world, how–?

Enemies from beyond the skies. Kill.

Enemies from beyond the skies. Kill.

Enemies from beyond the skies. Kill.

…

A girl stands upon the barren earth motionlessly, broken sword in hand. The eighth Lord Ravager, before she was cast into the Warforge by the Aeon of Destruction and remade anew.

… A lone girl, guarding the broken husk of a dead world even long after there remains nothing for her to protect.

The Antimatter Legion. That explains it, then. The Antimatter Legion somehow found this world after its end, and following that…

Long white hair streams out behind the girl like a banner as she tosses her broken weapon aside. The defeated enemies before the not-yet Lord Ravager disintegrate.

Then, she suddenly tilts her head upwards. Eldritch blue eyes lock directly onto Elio’s own.

“Who watches?”

Elio’s eyes snap open.

…

Bright lights. The aroma of coffee. It’s mostly quiet on the Stellaron Hunters’ ship right now, and the parlor area is empty –save for a young woman with red-violet hair who looks up from her coffee with a smile. Kafka.

“Something the matter?” she asks.

“… We need to change course,” Elio says. 

[ghostsandfools]

Interesting Stuff From Yesterday's LAES Episode:

DISCLAIMER: I go insane under the cut. There is swearing. You have been warned.

Okay first of all, where are they???? Obviously in a dream, which Lunar says "doesn't feel normal", which is already weird, but they're in a location Lunar's never been in before. Probably not important I'm just curious, like, is it just some random place conjured up by Lunar's subconscious or does Res have him in a specific location for a reason???

Res works for Cetus apparently.

Lunar sees Res for the first time and goes "You don't have a face" and Res goes "Oh, I can assure you, I do." I'm sorry???????????

This is off topic, but these episodes stress me the fuck out. Like, the writing isn't always the best and I've seen people leave the fandom over some of the decisions the writers make. Now, I don't really care about how bad the writing is I'm gonna watch it anyways, but I genuinely get stressed out over the lore, it is an issue. I worry about it on a day to day basis, I think I'm starting to get WAY too attached to these characters.

Res looks so much like Nebula, I mentioned it in a separate post but like seriously, it's not even funny how similar they look. They could be twins, at least in my eyes idk if y'all see it too. Also, I love Nebula and I would NEVER accuse her of such heinous crimes, but the astrals have basically stripped her of her rights and are making her work constantly with almost no breaks and no pay, and from what we've seen Taurus specifically treats her pretty awful, and Res did mention hating Taurus and Leo, so... I mean I wouldn't be surprised if Res and Nebula were the same person.

Res has met Castor and Pollux at some point and thinks that they're "entertaining" so I don't know what the fuck that means but I'm scared-

The order to begin the infection has been given :)

We're all fucked :)))))))

Res didn't want Lunar there??? Lunar says "I shouldn't be here," and Res goes "You shouldn't be, this was a very private meeting," so Lunar can just get dragged into antimatter shenanigans with no say in the matter randomly????? Res didn't even intend for this to happen???????

The fact that Res doesn't care about Lunar knowing is scary. Res doesn't try to hurt Lunar or kill him or get him not to tell anyone, they just don't care. Which is worrying, because Lunar could tell the astrals, and the fact that Res doesn't care about that means that they're already far enough into this plan that the astrals knowing about it will hardly be a setback.

I was thinking, maybe Res stands for Residual or Residue. Because, they said they're made out of dark star power, but they AREN'T a witherstorm, so maybe they're residual leftover dark star power.

THEIR VOICE EVEN SOUNDS LIKE A CORRUPTED NEBULA, am I going crazy here??? Their voices even sound similar, except Nebula's is much smoother obviously, but they both speak the same way, y'know? AM I INSANE??? Like, their voices are different but the way they talk and their enunciation of certain words is the EXACT SAME.

Res being Nebula could explain their inside knowledge about the astrals. I mean, obviously they could just figure stuff out on their own or through Cetus, I'm assuming dark star power entities can probably spy on people pretty well, but it would explain why they already know Lunar and that Taurus is coming to Earth, I'm just saying...

OKAY OKAY OKAY okaay okaoaksyaa SO. Res talks about getting rid of one of the astrals for good, which is interesting. Gemini said that astrals can die, but they usually come back because they're stars and stars will just supernova and reform. But Res says they could get rid of one of the astrals for good and how Cetus would love having one less to deal with. They also say one of the astrals is already out of commission??? Unless I missed something, this is the first time that's been mentioned. I wonder who it is. Probably not Libra since she's a leader, not Gemini since they've been around recently, not Taurus because he's showing up soon, probably not Aries since they're the one who helped Gemini get into Lunar's dreams, SO WHO?!

Res, (with that incredibly sexy voice of theirs~), says that they "Need Lunar" and that he's the "Perfect Catalyst". Which is interesting because like two minutes ago they described themself as a catalyst??? I wonder what they need Lunar for, maybe to get more inside knowledge about the astrals for them?

It is getting more and more difficult for me not to talk about how hot Res is the longer this post gets, they said Lunar was "Ample for corruption~" JESUS RES, JUST KILL PEOPLE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE HOT ABOUT IT, JUST KILL PEOPLE AND FUCK OFF!

WHY ARE THEY BEING SO SEDUCTIVE???? "What I'm going to do to you when I get my hands on you, I'm going to do so many horrid things..." I'M SORRY? EXCUSE ME BITCH??????

How do you turn positive star power into negative star power? Gemini said that when star power is harnessed, negative star power is the result. Lunar does not harness star power, he is basically an astral now which means he's MADE of it. Him using it won't produce any negative star power, which means Res has a way to convert pure, unharnessed star power into negative star power. Interesting. If I didn't have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to my hyperfixations, maybe I could tell you have that would work with stars and dark matter in real life, but I forgot so sorry :D

How many negative star power entities are there??? Res says Lunar will "become one of us". So far there are at least 2, Res and Cetus, but there HAS to be more than that. C'mon. There has to be. The astrals are also interesting, how many of them are there? Obviously there's the main 12, based on the zodiac constellations, but are there more based on other constellations? Are the "Astrals" just what the main 12 are called and any others are considered lesser than them? And then for the dark matter ones, are there 12 to act as dark zodiacs? Or are the less, or worse, are there MORE?

I wonder if Gemini made Taurus and Leo sound more scary as a way to get Lunar to behave himself. All they said was "Taurus and Leo destroy planets", but according to Res, they really don't. They only put planets out of their misery once they've been infected and already basically destroyed.

I wonder if Res did anything to Lunar while he was asleep? They say "you need to wake up" and then Lunar falls asleep in the dream only to wake up in real life, but I wonder if they could've done something to him in that time that he doesn't realize?

It's kinda interesting that Lunar's first thought was to go to Monty rather than Gemini or Moon or waiting for Taurus to show up. I actually have kinda a sweet reason why, more of a headcanon than a theory though. Whenever i have nightmares, my brain kinda goes back in time for a little while, and instead of calling someone I actually trust like one of my friends or my partner, my first thought is to go to my mom. Now, i don't talk to my mom anymore because she sucks, but I really liked her as a kid and when I have bad dreams I forget about all the people i have in my life now and wanna go back to her. And Monty and Lunar used to be so close, obviously Monty knows a lot about negative star power so they're a logical option of who to get help from, but i also think it would be really sweet if Lunar goes through the same thing and that's why they want to go to Monty first, because they're almost like a parental figure to him.

ANYWAYS, that's enough rambling and simping and theorizing and trauma-dumping and going fucking insane for today, if you read this far you have a VERY good attention span. I would not read a post this long, you are a better person than me.

[yunxi-11085]

"The star of the void" part 2 - the voice

part 1 - meeting

part 2 - the voice

˚ · .↝ words : 1709

˚ · . pairs ¡ hsr men & women x gn! reader

˚ · . sypnosis ¡ "you wake up in the world of honkai star rail. you heard unknown voices in your head.

but 3 familiar people come to save you.

“

₊˚ପ⊹ tw ¡¿ : memory loss?

·˚ ༘ tags // @kimura-uzuri @yaesflorist @ukiyo-ikigai @khalinda-ev

@ send me an ask if you want to be tagged in my stories!!

find the way to your own story

you will soon find the people, who ▇▇▇▇▇▇

you jolt up with a headache, a sting of pain striking you and you hold your head. gripping your hair as to alleviate the pain.

what is that voice? who was speaking to you?

the sound echoed in your ears before you finally stop hearing it.

"ugh.." you blink tears out as the pain finally goes away. where... where am I? you stand up abruptly, and then your head stung in pain again.

you stumble and hold onto the wall for support. as you attempt to stabilize your head, you take a good look of your unknown surroundings.

and huh?

isn't this the space station in hsr?

you can see through a window the central area where the doomsday beast in the game appears in. and... the antimatter legion?

confused, you stare for a few minutes before finally moving your legs. your walk was unstable as you leapt onto a nearby wall for support.

you hoped to find something to explain in this unfamiliar researching room. the large screens flash numerous codes as if it were hacked.

you walk over to a table with documents and look cautiously.

'[▇▇▇▇▇▇ number #57▒18

track rec▒rd : unknown

cryptic cryp▒c crypti▒ crypt▒▒▒ ▒▒ ▒]'

the rest of the paper were glitched out, as if paper had a code as well. strange, documents aren't usually written like this aren't they?

your hand reached out to flip the paper, but a blooming purple flashing light came out the moment your fingers glazed a tiny bit of the paper.

the purple lights started moving towards you and you back up, but that didn't stop them from getting closer until it touched you.

flash!

"urgh!"

you fall down and you feel something crawling in you, all the way into your chest area. you gasp and hold your chest, you groan in pain as the pain enveloped your body and you pass out.

'hurry. our time is almost up'

--

"-yy!! there's an unconscious person here too!" you hear a bright voice near you, but your eyes felt heavy.

"-rch, you go save them this time"

"w-haaaaa??? I told you i don't know how to do CPR!!!"

"well someone's life is at stake here, unless you want to carry a body all the way to asta"

“uwaaa?? fine…..”

you can’t help but think, that those voices sound oh so strikingly similar to those characters.

footsteps of three walked closer to you but you couldn't open your eyes somehow.

you felt warm hands touching your shoulder, and you blink. huh? pink haired, black haired, and... gray haired?

why do they look exactly like they are in the game? are they in cosplay?

"they're awake!" mar— the pink haired said.

"hey, what's your name?" Dan... heng? asked, but you were silent. still trying to comprehend and understand this situation.

"or do you not remember anything?" you flinch.

that's a good question. why can't you remember anything? you remember your name, but why does everything else feel washed out? like as if someone wiped them. only to let you remember your own name, and the... game?

"my name... is..." you said slowly, squinting your eyes and you attempt to remember.

what about your family? your friends?

why are you here? how did you get here?

weren't you just doing— what?

what were you doin—

a little touch on your shoulder snaps you out of your thoughts, you look back at the black haired man and notice their concerned eyes.

"hey, it's okay if you don't remember. don't push yourself." he said slowly. you nod and the pink haired girl helps you up.

"my name is march 7th! this guy over here is dan heng, and he is caelus!" march proudly says and you freeze in place.

it's as if you really entered the world of your favorite game.

you open your mouth but close it when you realize you didn't have any words to say. you nod while march holds you up by your arms.

sounds started coming from dan heng's watch, he looks at it and says "we have to get going now. it appears I have to leave to take care of other matters. so I'll be leaving them to you march."

"mhm okay! don't worry about it!" march exclaims, waving dan heng goodbye.

"since we might be seeing some antimatter legions around here... we must find you both a weapon!"

march picks up a baseball bat out of nowhere and hands it to caelus, who holds onto it like a confused dog.

"hmm... as for you, we might need to ask himeko about this"

you walk with the two before noticing a monster lurking and walking in the next room. the two noticed as well, they nodded before getting into battle.

you stand... watching them.

oh it was so different seeing them in real time instead of in game

you saw the movements caelus made, the sound of his jacket slapping each other when he hit the monster with the bat, and the sound of when he broke his fingers after the impact.

you nearly rush in before march covers for him and shields him. you think it's better if you wait til the battle is over and then go and help him.

march was cute. like no joke really cute. you would've said the game gave no justice to her but they give enough justice so you let it slide. her face was cheeky and her outfit just fit her style.

the battle was over it seems when you notice the last monster falling down, and you immediately rush over to caelus.

he winces in pain and you tell him, "don't move"

you don't know how to bandage someone up you also notice. you rip off a piece of your jacket and wrap it on his fingers. march leans down and helps you tie it up.

"don't move your hands too much.. your bones are broken" you say, holding his bandaged hand and you look up at him.

you didn't realize how close you were when you could look into his eyes— those golden pupils, it looked fascinating—

you were too close to—

you let go of his hand and scramble back, nearly falling over when you stand up abruptly.

"um... let's go" you say, turning around with a red face.

the two follow you behind. one looking at you both questionably, and the other... observing you.

you reach the center where there is an elevator and you know it is broken, you watch as caelus attempted to unlock the elevator to no avail.

"they must've locked it up because of the invasion... now what do we do?" march said

"hey, I'm back." a familiar voice appeared behind you, you turned around to see dan heng.

"it appears the elevator has been locked, I'm sure arlan had the solution to that." he said.

the trio and you hurry to where arlan was and he hands you the key. though he doesn't recognize you or caelus, the fact that he gave you the key means that he trusts you.

you didn't know what to do with that trust. maybe it was because you were with the astral express or your interaction with them seemed like you were their newest member.

you hold your breath and unlock the elevator with the key. it goes to the highest floor and stops.

monsters are awaiting your arrival it seems, and the three— starts rushing over like no tomorrow.

you can't help but feel your heart tighten at the sight. you just really love the trio. the thought of family brings warmth in you.

you meet himeko soon after and you think, she looks really, really pretty. she smiles at you fondly and welcomes both you and caelus to the astral express. you smile back.

and then, huge warning signs appear as the conversation with asta continued. you stood in place before being dragged by himeko.

and then they face off the doomsday beast. even if the game wasn't as intense, you couldnt help the feeling of dread when you see the <em>big</em> and terrifying monster.

but you were thankful they could dodge some of the attacks.

and then— the blast fires at march. you want to run but you freeze in sight. your legs were wobbly and you see caelus shielding her and taking the blow

when the stellaron within him went out of control. you— collapse.

something hot is building in your chest and it hurts, it hurts really bad. dan heng catches you right before you fall to the ground.

d' don't let it ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒!!!!

the voice comes back again, albeit a little hallower.

you hear some shouts and see a new figure appear in front of caelus. you close your eyes in relief.

end note ¡ let's get some caelus cake goin???! he's observing because he literally just woke up and didn't know what his heart beating reallly fast meant lol

sorry if you wanted to partake in the battle and help out! i'm still thinking about whether the reader will take the path of abundance/harmony because then there'll be wholesome interactions between Natasha, bailu, and luocha... but I also want reader to be a DPS or attack to get some rlly good interactions where the character scolds them and bandages them up.... next chapter and more motivation to think I guess!!

next chapter depends on how many times I open my writing app.... so maybe in a few days.

feel free to type your suggestions or ideas in my ask box or in the replies/comments! I'd be happy to read them!

crossposted on AO3 ¡ here

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s2 ep21: Deadlock

Hoo boy this one always packs a wallop. It seems shorter than other episodes when you watch it because it moves along so fast. There's no padding out with subplots or any scenes not directly advancing the story. A combination of disaster episode/spatial anomoly episode, it gets right in there with the emotional devastation and doesn't stop.

We get like one scene in the beginning before the traumatic stuff starts- the whole bridge crew anxiously waiting for Ensign Wildman to have the baby was really sweet. The crew is already like a family, so it's like they're all looking forward to the new baby in the family, aww. But then the ship has to fly through a nebula, and of course things go wrong- the ship is being torn apart and they don't know why! Time for some trauma!

I do distincly remember seeing this for the first time as a kid and being very horrified that they killed off Harry- I figured since it was Star Trek, they had to find a way to bring him back, but still, it was really shocking to see him get blown out in to space, and it still makes me want to cry watching B'Elanna watch him die, despite knowing we get him back. Then Ensign Wildman's baby died, which was also horrifying, and the ship was falling apart, and it was like wow, the horrors are really coming at us! The middle of the episode, where we see the duplicate Voyager that hasn't been damaged, and the two crews trying to figure out what was going on and how to communicate with each other, and two Janeways debating with each other what to do about their reliance on the same depleted supply of antimatter was interesting stuff, and had a sense of urgency and impending doom. (Though it did look a little awkward with how close together they had the two versions of Janeway standing and looking at each other. She's got her usual puppy eyed soap opera look she gets when she's concerned or worried, and it's fine when she does it to other people, but when two versions of herself look at each other like that, it comes off a little weird, ngl!)

Janeway, for at least the second time this season, decides to self destruct her ship so the undamaged Voyager can get home, while the other Janeway wants to find another way. But then the horrors return as a huge Vidian ship moves toward them while they're sitting ducks with no weapons. Hundreds of Vidians take over the ship and start harvesting our crew's organs, which is still horrifying to watch even knowing the other Voyager crew was undetected and still safe. In a reversal that probably shouldn't be too surprising, Janeway decides to self destruct the ship to keep the Vidians from taking it, but she sends Harry Kim to get the baby and go the other Voyager before theirs explodes. Harry's baby rescue operation is nail-biting, and watching the Doctor try to hide a baby from literally being killed for parts is just like wow, more horrors! Harry then telling the Doctor goodbye, knowing the ship is about to blow up and everyone on it will die in a few minutes is just like, the wildest throw away line ever, but Harry's in a hurry, and of course, he makes it to the other Voyager before his ship's Janeway rather gleefully lets the Vidians know they're all getting blown up in a few seconds.

Since the story never does differentiate which Voyager is 'the real one', and it's implied that they both are, it makes it impossible not to get invested in both, so we get double the horrors when both versions have lots of death. It's stated that sending more than a few people from one ship to the other would result in a phase imbalance that would destroy both ships, so I wonder what kind of phase imbalance Harry and Naomi Wildman have because of being from the alternate Voyager, and how that wasn't ever dangerous for them again. And how it was never brought up again! Sure they have the exact same experiences up to that point, so they are the same people, but like, Harry's complaint at the end that it feels weird knowing he's on an alternate Voyager with an alternate crew, and Janeway just smiling and joking that 'haha weird is part of the job!' felt like it was downplaying the situation a little too much- I think Harry would probably need some therapy after that one! But of course, Voyager doesn't have a therapist, and any therapist they had would be insanely overworked if they did, so maybe telling him to ignore it and sweep it under the rug was actually the best policy tbh!

Tl;dr: A tightly written, tense disaster story, filled with shocking moments, that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time.

[many-faced]

4am off the wall ramble time

WORLDLESS WORLDBUILDING IS SCIENCE IN A TRENCHCOAT

I've been meaning to find a way to go off on this tangent but I've finally given up and decided to go off anyway

I realise this probably isnt revolutionary in the fandom but I think it's cool

Worldless spoilers ahead

So first and most obvious, the start and end of the game are the big bang but twice which I think is very cool for reasons I'm hopefully about to explain.

But then there's the matter of red/dark and blue/light starfolk. Here's where I start going into speculation, even if it's pretty obvious. They're matter and antimatter. When they clash they destroy eachother and a new pair take their place [polarity switching]. This does make the fused starfolk a little weirder but there are some possible explanations - dark matter and strange matter. Strange matter because it's basically denatured fundamental particles,, I can't explain it well watch the kurzgesagt [sorry if I butchered the spelling] video on it if you want more info. Dark matter because of another connection - the void boxes in the PoD. Dark matter is a potential explanation for the expansion of the universe, like reverse gravity [again, kurzgesagt have a good video on it], and given how rare and confusing green stars are it makes sense to me..

Then we come to LUCA and Worldless/Them/TOFA. LUCA is actually when I realised this theory, because I'm pretty sure that this is referencing the Last Universal Comon aancestor [the organism all organisms are descended from]. This is a fun little reference and I think it's neat. Worldless is... a lot more confusing. Worldless is where worldless deviates from science and goes into fantasy and religion at the same time. Worldless has a lot of creator deity vibes going on, and may lean into big bounce theory.

This goes something like this - if the world dies due to the big crunch scenario [gravity wins against dark matter and the world collapses in on itself], it could hypothetically condense into a single object, which could then become volatile and explode, causing a new big bang. This could be what Worldless is doing, collapsing and re-exploding the world over and over in a less literal way to do whatever they're trying to do.

Infodump over, I think this is cool, would be interested to see reblogs of what others think and if this is actually a common idea or not.

If you want clarification on any of my thoughts do ask,, I did kinda just,, write and hope it sounded coherent.

[smolcinnamonchipmunk]

Cosmic Prologue

(Hello! This definitely took a lot longer than I meant it to and is… way longer than I meant it to be. I kind of got carried away with a bunch of stuff it seems, so, uh, this prologue didn’t really cover the entire prologue. In my defense, I forgot how long the prologue was and also forgot that I wanted a kind of testing bit with Nova and Herta so blame my square brain and overthinking. Regardless, I’m gonna put the second half of the ‘prologue’ on hold so I can focus on goofy Sampo bit that hopefully won’t also be long as fuck.)

Word Count: 14820

TW/CW: I genuinely don’t think there’s anything to warn about, but lemme know if I’m incorrect.

-------------------------------------------------

The sounds of fighting echoed through the metallic halls as Dan Heng ran through corridors with March 7th just behind him, weaving through Antimatter Legion enemies as they hunted for any stragglers that had to be evacuated to a safe zone. The monsters in the space station needed to be dealt with soon but any time spent fighting instead of searching could be a moment where someone could end up injured or killed.

There were a couple groups of security scattered along the station, but their groups were too large to simply dodge around creatures like Dan Heng and March could. He heard a cry for help ahead.

“March,” he glanced back to March, seeing her focus her attention on him. He tipped his head towards where he heard the noise. “This way.”

He waited to see her nod in acknowledgement before swerving towards the shout, hearing her heels follow along behind him. They turned down a hall, a Voidranger Reaver at the end backing an employee into a corner. It was only one but most of the employees on the station knew research, not combat.

As the duo rushed forward to the employee's aid an arrow flew past Dan Heng with precision and a trail of frost, sinking into the back of the Reaver and catching its attention. Angered, it let out an enraged cry as it spun around to face its attacker, greeted by Dan Heng plunging his spear into its chest. The spear was slashed to the side, slicing entirely through its abdomen as it hissed out a death rattle and exploded into a burst of residual antimatter.

The multicolored mist dissipated as it was reabsorbed into the fabric of space.

The previously cornered employee stared at Dan Heng through the dissipating antimatter in shock before it turned to immense relief that had the man visibly almost crumbling to the ground. He was able to stay upright but hiccuped with a few relieved tears, “Th-Thank you! Thank you!”

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Dan Heng stated, tone cold or cruel to most people but he was simply stating a fact. “Do you know how to get to the master control zone?”

The employee blinked at him, likely caught off guard by his bluntness. “I-I… I don’t know.”

“That’s okay,” March reassured the man with a smile, the employee looking at her like he’d just realized she was there. Then again, a monster did just explode in front of him because of Dan Heng. “If you go back down the hall and turn right in the direction we came from, there should be a group of security we just passed. They were finishing off a couple monsters, but I’m sure they’ll be able to help you to a safe place.”

“What about you guys?”

“We need to make sure that no one else requires assistance,” Dan Heng answered. “We’ve handled situations like this before. You should catch up to security before they leave the area.”

“I- o-okay,” the employee stopped himself from potentially arguing, giving an appreciative nod before turning and running down the hall they'd come from.

“You need to work on being more approachable,” March lightly scolded him, putting a hand on her hip. “Poor guy was scared to death and you being too serious just put him more on edge.”

“I wasn't trying to make things worse,” Dan Heng replied, starting to continue deeper down the hall again. March didn't hesitate to run alongside him. “I was trying to get him to safety as quickly as possible.”

“Still, maybe you should try giving them a smile,” March commented, giving him her own hopeful smile, sighing when Dan Heng just frowned slightly. “Ugh, it was worth a shot.”

Dan Heng debated responding to her but felt something brush against the edge of his consciousness as they neared an intersection in the halls, similar to when someone has a thought and then loses it to the fringes of their mind. He blinked at the fleeting feeling, slowing to a stop while trying to mentally clutch onto it. He thought it entirely lost for a second, ready to reluctantly continue searching for wayward employees when the peculiar feeling just barely pulsed back into existence, mentally latching onto the sensation that was as noticeable and fragile as a spider’s thread.

He barely perceived that it seemed to trail towards the hall on their left.

“Dan Heng?” March said his name inquisitively, walking back to him after a few seconds of not realizing he’d stopped in the intersection. “Something wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied, looking down the hall where he felt the thread lead. It didn’t get stronger, but something within him knew that if he followed it that he’d be able to trace it to its source. “I have a feeling something’s down this hall.”

“Good something or bad something?”

“I don’t know,” Dan Heng essentially repeated, not liking that he couldn’t discern it. Still, he decided to investigate the peculiar feeling and started walking down the hall on guard. The feeling became a touch more noticeable.

“Wha- if you don’t know, why are you going towards it?” March asked, sounding appalled. Yet the sound of her footsteps followed him down the corridor.

It was a fairly brief walk and a couple bends before they came across a closed door. Whatever trail Dan Heng could sense was strong enough that he could relinquish his mental hold on it and still be able to tell clear as day that whatever was causing it lay behind the door. He tried listening for anything on the other side but only heard the hum of electronics and lights. “Whatever it is is in here, but possibly dormant.”

“That’s really vague and kind of ominous,” March frowned beside him, sighing when he reached for the door control and tapped it. “Usually you’re the one telling ME not to just touch things. Still, I trust your instincts.”

This was uncharacteristically reckless of him, wasn’t it? He’d also learned to trust his gut instincts but following an intangible, unknown trail without really thinking of the how’s or why’s was indeed unlike him. March didn’t seem to be able to sense whatever he was. Should he mention it to her?

“Whatever it is, I’m sure we can handle it just fine,” Dan Heng said instead as the doors opened, walking into what looked like a small showroom. Eleven Curios were suspended on pedestals, six on his right side and five on his left, each illuminated by the glowing blue case that held them. None were the source of whatever he was sensing.

“Whoa,” March exclaimed behind him with awe in her voice. He heard her footsteps shift from directly behind him to one side, likely her approaching one of the pedestals for a closer look. “Is this Herta’s collection? This place is full of fancy little gadgets.”

Dan Heng continued past the Curios to an entryway that seemed to lead to a small backroom, where the sensation grew stronger. He stopped in the doorway and took stock of the room, bare save for a couple plants, a few stacks of canisters against the left and back wall, and two machines along the right wall with screen faces. Nothing particularly stuck out to him at first glance.

He frowned, focusing more on the aura he sensed as he looked around again, a bit surprised to see a small thing only a couple inches large on the ground beside the wall on his right. His frown only deepened in slight confusion.

Surely something so small couldn’t be the source of such an intense sensation? He supposed there were weirder things in the cosmos.

“I really don’t get why she’d go out of her way to collect these and then leave them here to gather dust.” March’s voice trailed in from the collection room, barely registering with Dan Heng. “What do you think, Dan Heng? Dan Heng?”

The confused call of his name fell on mostly deaf ears as Dan Heng stepped closer and knelt beside the object. As hard as it was for him to believe it at first, whatever he was able to sense was indeed emanating from what looked like a tiny human figure, pulsing lightly and slowly like a dormant heartbeat. Another feeling reared up in his chest, urging him to gently scoop up the figure in his hands. The body and limbs moved fluidly and limply with the movements like a living thing.

“There you are! It’s rude to ignore people when they’re calling your name, you know? Did you- whoa, what’s that,” the irritation in March’s voice almost immediately turned to curiosity as her footsteps got closer. “Why does Herta have a tiny doll?”

“I don’t think they’re a doll,” Dan Heng mused, trying to decipher the being in his hands amongst his mental archive and the urge in his chest. Holding the being in his hands he felt a dissonance in the aura like it was unstable. “I’m certain they’re alive.”

“Wha- that’s even weirder! Why would Herta have a tiny person?!” March exclaimed beside him. “Are they okay? How do we even tell if they’re okay at this size?! How are we supposed to wake them up to make sure they’re- Dan Heng!”

As Dan Heng continued studying the small being and pondering the growing feeling in his chest he realized to his own horror that long repressed instincts were surging to the surface. Before he could steel himself and stamp down the previously dormant instincts, he found himself lifting his hands towards his face and opening his jaws.

—----------------------------------------

I was only aware of existing.

For all I knew, this warm darkness of unconsciousness was the entirety of my existence and I wouldn’t have any complaints. Unfortunately, this content void wouldn’t last.

A jostle disturbed the darkness I was shrouded in. Not enough to pull me out of it, a mere ripple effect that surfaced my awareness enough to notice things beyond the warm void of sleep. Soft heat beneath where I lay and muffled voices.

I wanted to ignore these and other sensory feedback that lay on the cusp of my consciousness, but the more I tried to return to the dark warmth, the more it slipped away like water through fingers.

The voices slowly grew loudly and more focused rather than incoherent mumblings, the floor beneath me was relatively soft and warm, drawing attention to the fact that the air was cooler in comparison. Eyes I hadn’t been aware of having suddenly noticed red through closed eyelids, informing me that the world around me was bright. The urge to keep them closed was slowly losing to cognitive questions that slowly came to mind such as ‘Where am I?’, ‘Who’s talking?’, and ‘What happened?’.

“-ertain they’re alive,” one of the voices said, masculine in nature. But, what was masculine? Why did that matter?

“Wha- that’s even weirder!” A feminine voice, prompting the same questions.

I was too busy sluggishly pondering and slowly dragging myself up mentally to start groggily opening my eyes to pay attention to what was being said. Cracking my eyes open, my face scrunched as they immediately closed at seeing a blur of colors overtaken by just how bright it was. I blinked a couple times to try and adjust my vision, slowly gaining some focus.

“Dan Heng!”

The sudden exclamation made my eyes widen in surprise, heart skipping a beat. My eyes snapped into focus looking up above me, taking a moment to realize that a giant mouth was directly overhead and getting closer. I jolted up to a sitting position with a sudden burst of adrenaline and a yelp as a giant palm coupled with a ‘Wait, stop! They’re too small for CPR!’ shoved the face above me to the side. Crawling backwards in startled confusion, I recoiled when my hands went from fabric to skin, realizing that the ground beneath me was also a hand. Or, hands, rather.

“They’re awake!”

My attention was torn from looking at the massive hands beneath me towards the loud voice where two faces loomed above.

One belonged to the hands holding me, expression unamused and slightly sour as the hand that pushed him away slid off his cheek, black bangs drifting over his face from the movement. Gray eyes edged with red underliner turned from his companion to look down at me. His expression was unreadable to me, something that set me on edge.

The other face was the opposite. Pink-blue eyes stared down with what I could only think of as giddy fascination, a wide smile framed by light pink hair. She exuded an excited energy that made me anxious in its own way that made me already feel overwhelmed.

“They ARE a tiny person!” the person not holding me commented loudly, making me wince slightly. I had a feeling this was her normal volume. “Are you alright? You can hear me, right? Do you remember your name? Wait, you can understand me, right?”

“I-...” I held a hand to my head to try and still the mental spinning. There was a lot racing through my mind, confused and overwhelmed as my brain tried to sluggishly process my current situation, and that wasn’t helped by trying fruitlessly to remember anything from before waking up here. “... I don’t remember a thing….”

“Aw, that's not good…” the girl frowned a bit at my response while the guy just continued to watch the interaction with a straight face. “Can you try harder?”

The absurd question caught me off guard enough that I briefly forgot about my more worried confusion of who I was, where I was, and why I was small in favor of wondering why the hell this chick would essentially say, “Just remember, it’s easy!”

Before I could even try to form a response she suddenly looked appalled and a bit guilty, asking, “Wait, do you not have a name?!”

“Wha- I have a name!” I protested on instinct, feeling a sudden surge of spite.

Both faces blinked at my outburst and stared at me for a couple seconds, making me struggle to not avert my gaze. I might not remember anything but I was learning pretty fast that I did not like eye contact. Both exchanges exchanged a brief look after some silence, making me frown a little.

“What’s your name then?” the guy asked, making me realize in embarrassment that they had been waiting for me to tell them my name.

“Oh, uuuuuh,” I made an anxious noise as my face felt a bit warm, trying to think. I feared for a moment that I actually DIDN’T have a name before one suddenly shoved itself to the forefront of my mind. “Nova! It’s Nova.”

The guy seemed unperturbed by my overzealous answer while the girl blinked in surprise again.

“Nova?” the man repeated my name as though testing it in his mouth, nodding in satisfaction and adding, “Nice to meet you. My name’s Dan Heng, and this is March.”

The man - Dan Heng - tilted his head towards the girl for a moment to gesture, considering his hands were preoccupied, but before he could continue I couldn’t help but blurt out, “March 7th? Like.. the date?”

“Yeah, but you can just call me March if you want,” the girl replied chipperly. “Good thing you remembered your name, otherwise we’d have to call you by today’s date!”

“I mean, you wouldn’t have to?”

“Regardless,” Dan Heng interjected, giving March a slightly stern look as she opened her mouth to reply to me. “The Antimatter Legion are still very much a threat and we need to finish our sweep of the area. We can ask questions on the way.”

The floor beneath me twitched and shifted slightly, making me yelp as he stood up from his crouch on the floor.

“Wait, wha-,” my heart rose to my throat and my stomach felt like it dropped beneath me, feeling dizzy from vertigo. I tried to shake it off, asking, “Wait, way to where? What the hell’s the Antimatter Legion?”

Being raised off the ground and no longer really loomed over, I could finally give some attention to my surroundings. I wasn’t exactly pleased, bright lights and metallic walls were everywhere in this room. It felt almost clinical.

“Back to the master control zone. Asta and the other researchers have gathered there,” Dan Heng replied, turning to March before I could ask more questions. “March, you take Nova. I’ll lead and make sure no Voidrangers get in our way or attack you. You just need to make sure you hold onto Nova.”

“Got it,” March nodded as I blinked in surprise. Suddenly, her hands were cupped right beside his, one bare and the other with a black archer’s glove.

“Heh?” I made a confused noise, turning to indignant surprise as the hands beneath me started to tilt, depositing me in March’s waiting hands. “Wha- if it’s dangerous, why not worry about me later?! I feel like taking me along is just detrimental to focusing on bad guys.”

“Don’t worry! The Astral Express is no stranger to danger,” March said chipperly, making yelp when I was shifted into a single palm so that she could pose with a peace sign by her face proudly. Behind me Dan Heng lightly scolded ‘March, don’t jostle them.’, which prompted the girl to chuckle sheepishly and rub the back of her neck. “Sorry.”

I just stared at her for a second as I tried to make any connection with anything these people have been saying, but absolutely nothing was ringing a bell. “I have no idea what the fuck an Astral Express is either.”

“Oh, geez,” the girl sighed a bit. Dan Heng walked from in front of March to around her, going into a darker looking room. March glanced over to see him walking and started following behind him. “I guess you wouldn't really know anything if you’re some kind of Curio or part of Herta’s collection.”

“The fuck is a Curio?!” I exclaimed, getting frustrated with all this stuff I have no Aeondamn clue about. “The name Herta means dick-all to me!”

“Let’s start with something basic,” Dan Heng said ahead of us, stopping by some glowing pedestal. His gaze felt sharp as he looked down at me in March’s hand, making it feel like he was trying to dissect my entire being. “What are you?”

“Human, of course,” I replied angrily before remembering that I was literally sitting in someone’s hand. “At least… I think so.”

Both of them looked at each other again for a moment, further frustrating me as they were somehow able to be on the same page without any words. March looked like she was trying to figure out the best way to word things, or maybe she was just trying to figure out what to even say or ask.

“Do you remember anything before we woke you up?” she asked hesitantly, brow furrowing as I shook my head and bit my tongue to keep myself from snapping again. “Do you know if you were… always this small?”

“No,” I said forcefully, shaking my head again. Something niggled at the back of my mind that this whole size thing was new. “No, I’m certain that I used to be bigger. Or, normal-sized, I guess, I don’t know what to call it. All I know is that something happened to make me… THIS.”

March looked at Dan Heng, who’d been staring very intently at me this entire time. He met her gaze and softened slightly back into the unreadable, straight-faced expression.

“They don’t seem to be lying,” he told her, causing more indignation to flare up that I barely contained out of curiosity to see what he’d say next. He looked back down at me, unphased by the glare I couldn’t help. “I’m not sure if anyone on the space station will know exactly why you’re small or even where you came from, but this is a research station. I’m sure someone will be willing to help, but we need to get going.”

I huffed through my nose after a second, swallowing down my initial anger at the fact that either of them thought I was lying for some reason. “Fine.”

“Lead the way, Dan Heng,” March said, voice back to being peppy. As he turned around to keep walking out of the room and she began to follow suit, she paused with an ‘Oh!’ and walked over to the raised floor beneath the weird pedestals, picking up a black and gold baseball bat that was just lying around with the hand not holding me. “I don’t know who leaves a baseball bat in a collection room, but we should probably see if this is Herta’s at least.”

“Sure,” I agreed with a noncommittal tone, the random name still meaning nothing to me.

“Right, you still don’t know who that is.” March gave me a slight smile, looking a bit apologetic as she continued following Dan Heng. “Let me try to explain.”

And try she did.

Not very successfully, mind, it was a lot to try and remember in such a short period of time. Everything from this Madame Herta being the head of the space station and a member of some Genius Society, to her explaining what the Astral Express was - giving me MORE names with no faces - and why they were here, to explaining how the Antimatter Legion attacked the space station. There was a lot more, mostly about people on the ship like some Asta and an Arlan, who they apparently lost contact with when Dan Heng checked some comms or something. But, none of it really stuck.

It didn’t help that Dan Heng and March were running through the halls, needing to clutch onto the nearest finger to try and keep from being knocked off, and the Antimatter Legion things were roaming around. Dan Heng managed to keep most of them away but there were a couple times where a floating orb or weird humanoid got too close and March had to swing clumsily at them to buy a couple seconds before they were finished off by a spear.

By the time the duo came across a blocked elevator and went to the nearest safe zone, which was also a control room, I felt rather dizzy and nauseated. It was only a slight relief when March’s pace slowed to a walk on approaching a door that mechanically slid open.

“Hey, you together?”

The unfamiliar voice caught my attention, looking towards it to see a guy with darker skin than the duo escorting me, noticeable scars with a couple obviously fresh wounds, and a stern purple eye behind white hair that faded to dark brown at the tips pulled back in a short ponytail.

“We are. You must be Arlan, Head of Security,” Dan Heng commented, gaze trailing down to the hastily bandaged wounds on the other man. “Do you need any assistance?”

“No,” Arlan shook his head, looking similarly as stoic as Dan Heng. Great, two unreadable guys and an overenergetic woman holding me in an overly confusing situation. “The bandages will do just fine for now. I was supposed to cover everyone as they evacuated but… I didn’t expect to end up failing in this task.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Dan Heng reassured, surprisingly enough to me. “Your leg and dominant hand are injured. It was a wise decision to hide here and avoid a head-on encounter with the Legion.”

Arlan made an unconvinced expression, but March added, “Yeah! Most of the staff have been evacuated safely, so right now our highest priority is to return to the master control zone and plan a counterattack! Do you know how to use the elevator? I couldn’t start it…”

“Sorry, but who are you guys,” Arlan asked, expression slightly distrustful. “You’re not wearing any research or security uniform.”

“I apologize for our lack of introduction,” Dan Heng said, seemingly not bothered or taking offense to the other man’s suspicion as he raised a hand to his chest in introduction. “We’re from the Astral Express. We came to deliver a rare relic Herta trusted us to find… We didn’t expect to arrive during an invasion. We were sent by Lead Researcher Asta to help with evacuating and to find you.”

“I see,” Arlan nodded, looking somewhat satisfied with this answer as he relaxed slightly. “Sorry for being on edge. The Legion came at a very suspicious time, almost right after the security system suddenly failed. After the evacuation was complete, the elevators were all shut down to keep the Legion away from the master control zone. Since Lady Asta sent you to look for me, I assume she must’ve given you the encryption key for accessing the elevator system?”

“Oh, right, she did give me some sort of card…” March spoke up sheepishly, drawing both the men's attention. Even I looked up at her with appalled surprise.

“... March…” Dan Heng looked over at March with light exasperation, probably the most expressive I’d seen him.

“But where did I put it…” March murmured. She held the baseball bat to Dan Heng and shifted to start checking her person when he took it, but that unfortunately meant that I was set to be jostled.

“H-Hey!” I yelped as the hand beneath me was lifted and held to the side so that she could pat herself down with her free hand, feeling a bit dizzy from the somewhat quick motion that was entirely absentminded by her. Shaking my head to clear it, I watched her check her camera pouch and pat her skirts, realizing after a few seconds that there was a feeling of being stared at. And, looking around, I quickly saw Arlan looking at me intently like he just realized I was here. I hesitantly waved awkwardly at him.

“You…” Arlan’s single visible eye was widened, gaze flicking from me to the two I was stuck with.

Before he could say anything else however, March exclaimed in triumph as she pulled out a card from some fold or hidden pocket of her skirt, holding it towards the Head of Security in success, “Ah! Here it is!”

To my relief, she resettled her hand with me back to in front of her. When Arlan took the card from her, not really taking his eye off of me, she commented, “Hey, Nova. Mind if I switch hands? You’re not heavy or anything, but holding my hand up like this for a long time is starting to make my arm tired.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I don’t mind, I guess,” I absentmindedly replied, still finding it surreal as her other hand lifted up beside the one holding me. I was prepared to sort of scooch myself over from the current hand, but I made an indignant noise of surprise when she tipped her hand to cause me to slide into her other palm. It wasn’t rough or particularly fast-paced but it was still incredibly unfamiliar and weird. I felt slightly less incensed with March’s happy ‘There we are!’ as I was shifted.

“Who is that?” Arlan asked, pointing towards me with the key card.

“Oh, yeah, maybe you’ll know,” March exclaimed, thrusting her hands out in front of her with me just trying not to be shoved over from the force to go from sitting to prone. “We found them in Madame Herta’s collection room. They said they can’t remember anything or how they got this size.”

“March, you need to be more considerate of Nova,” Dan Heng stated disapprovingly, earning a small apology from her. He turned his attention to Arlan. “We were hoping that Herta would either be able to help identify Nova’s past or help return them to human size.”

“I…” Arlan looked at a slight loss for words but was a lot quicker to recover than how I assumed I’d react if I was a normal person and someone just had a tiny human. “I don’t recognize them, but we can check the database for any employee or guest records that match.”

“That’d be appreciated,” Dan Heng nodded in satisfaction.

“No problem. Now that we have the key, we should get going,” Arlan started walking towards the console, a noticeable limp to his gait, though it was obvious that he was powering through the pain. Alarmingly well, in my opinion. He slid the key card into a slot on the console and punched a couple buttons.

From the glass of the control room all of us saw the elevator activate, raising a central mechanic up.

“Let’s go,” Dan Heng said, holding out the bat for March to grab with her free hand.

“Hold on,” Arlan interjected, looking up at both March and Dan Heng. “I only activated the elevator on the highest floor. We’ll have to go there to use it.”

“What?” March commented in surprise right as I said, “Why? That seems unnecessarily far.”

“Sorry… This space station was entrusted to Lady Asta by Madam Herta. I must do this for the safety of the master control zone and the staff there,” Arlan looked slightly apologetic, holding out the key card. “So I’ll have to trouble you to take a bit of a detour… Sincerest apologies.”

“Huh? You’re not coming with us?” March voiced the question that went through my head, her hand twitching a little beneath me.

“My leg is injured… I’d only slow you down. I’ll stay here and shut down the elevator once you’ve made it to the master control zone,” Arlan gestured to the elevator to accentuate his point.

“You won’t slow us down,” Dan Heng assured the other man, frowning at the comment. “And you should be able to shut down the elevators from the master control zone, right?”

“Agreed,” March chipperly hopped in, nodding in solidarity with Dan Heng. “We made it here with Nova, and if you’re willing to hold them on the way then Dan Heng and I will be more than enough to protect you! Let us worry about the Antimatter Legion. You just follow us with Nova and keep yourself alive.”

“I don’t think that last comment is as encouraging as you probably think it is,” I stated bluntly, looking around in confusion at trying to find the logic of the statement. Was it factual? Sure, but telling the Head of Security ‘Don’t worry about it’ just felt weird. A bit irritated, I asked, “Do I get a say in this hand off, or is that a no?”

“Oh, uh,” March looked caught off guard and uncomfortable by my question, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. “I guess we should ask you… Are you cool with Arlan holding you while we make our way to the master control room?”

“Yeah, no, that’s fine,” I said casually in satisfaction, far less irritated after the question. When three pairs of eyes blinked at me a little bit in surprise at my easy response I shrugged a little in indignation. “What? I woke up small as hell in a stranger's hand, got handed off to another stranger’s hands, have no clue about what’s going on or my past, and there’s been a lot of shaking me around. I’m pretty sure it hasn’t even been an hour. I just wanted to be asked about my opinion at least once today.”

“I suppose that's only fair,” Dan Heng commented slowly, a hint of curiosity in his tone.

March still looked slightly disgruntled at my tone but, with my verbal blessing, she proceeded to hand me off to a seemingly hesitant looking Arlan. Going from skin and the soft but durable fabric of an archery glove to what felt like rougher, heavier duty gloves - I had been wary of his right hand considering it was armored, but was relieved when the underside was fabric - wasn't exactly the most pleasant, but his uninjured hand was steadier than March's. The key card was tucked safely into one of his pockets and he held his injured hand out.

“You sure you wanna carry both the bat and Nova,” March asked Arlan, glancing down at his bandages.

“I can handle it,” he replied, his look telling everyone that he wasn’t budging on that.

“Alright, then,” March gingerly gave him the bat, allowing her to take her bow off of her shoulder. “Just let us know if you need us to slow down or stop for you!”

“... Thank you.”

Dan Heng and March led the way as Arlan directed them on where to go, with me simply along for the ride once more. I hadn’t realized just how unbalanced March’s hold had been, surprised at how still Arlan’s hand was beneath me in comparison even as the trio ran after Arlan refused to take a slow pace. I was impressed with how much he was running considering his limp. Worried as well, but not like I could do anything.

It took a surprisingly short time of running through rooms with Dan Heng and March dispelling more monsters before the elevator came into view again.

“Is that it? We’ve reached the elevator already?” March asked, slowing her pace as we approached the walkway to the elevator. “That wasn’t too many monsters- Oof, probably shouldn’t have said that… Might bring bad luck…”

“You’ve grown, March,” Dan Heng stated approvingly, giving the woman a glance before immediately turning to the group's right. Before I could follow his gaze he darted in front of a glowing purple projectile, blocking it with his spear. It pinged off the staff's handle and ricocheted dangerously close to Arlan and I. Something seemingly charged out of nowhere, impacting Dan Heng’s staff as he raised it again in front of the group.

With its attack blocked a metallic creature backed up and pranced towards the elevator shaft, turning around to bellow at us. It had a humanoid torso where an animal's head would be.

“The fuck is that?!” I exclaimed.

“It’s a Trampler,” Dan Heng replied, keeping himself between the rest of us and the creature. Throwing an arm back, he briefly glanced at Arlan, directing, “Off the bridge! March and I will handle this!”

March was already poised with a frosty-looking arrow drawn back, keeping an eye on Dan Heng as it seemed like she was waiting for him to make the first move. Still, she spared a bright smile towards Arlan, adding, “Leave it to us!”

Arlan’s hand twitched beneath me, fingers curling for a moment before stopping, though I could FEEL the tension in his hand beneath the fabric. Looking up it was hard to see his expression from this angle but I noticed his visible eye glance down at me for the briefest of moments. After a second or two he nodded in acknowledgement to the duo and retreated to the walkway against the wall.

Both of us watched Dan Heng take the Trampler head-on, rushing in to slash its sides and legs, dodging and weaving through trampling hooves while March hit it with frosted arrows to its humanoid torso.

It stirred something within me, some part of me longing to join the fray. Whether out of an altruistic want to help rather than remain on the sidelines or something else was unknown to me. I only knew I wanted to get in on it and, based on the occasional twitching from the hand beneath me and a glance up at Arlan’s strained expression, he was feeling a similar way.

With two on one, it seemed like the Trampler would go down fairly easily, especially with Dan Heng quickly intercepting it anytime it tried to charge towards March and forcing its attention back on him. It let out an angry bellow.

“March, on your right!” Arlan shouted, jolting me from the loud exclamation. Looking more towards March than the Trampler I realized the concerned shout, three Voidrangers flying over from who knows where, each with its attention focused on the archer.

“Huh?” Despite the surprised noise March was easily able to dodge the first Voidrangers attack, firing an arrow into its arm and earning a pained shriek.

I couldn’t get too comfortable watching the continued fight, a jolt going up my spine and urging me to look behind us towards the doorway we came through to get to the elevator. The sharp claws of another Voidranger gripped the edge of the doorway as it maneuvered itself out of the room on the other side, mask turning sharply towards us. It definitely saw us.

“Arlan!” I cried out, slamming my hands on the fabric of the glove beneath me as the thing shrieked.

“Hnngh!” Arlan was quick to dodge as the thing slashed at him, swinging at it with the bat given to him. He let out a grunt of pain as it made contact but it was enough to stun the creature. To my relief, the hand I was in curled a bit protectively, making me feel like I was less likely to spill off to the ground.

“Arlan!”

Dan Heng’s exclamation drew my attention, seeing him finish off the Trampler with a plunge of his spear severing the humanoid and animal half apart. I was jolted as everything moved, Arlan dashing towards the elevator bridge. Even if he was stubborn, he definitely knew that letting the Voidrangers keep the group split wasn’t good.

“March!” Dan Heng shouted, March peeling off from her own struggle as Arlan reached the elevator bridge. The trio grouped up defensively on the bridge as more Voidrangers materialized around the platform, the Tramplers body not even fully dissipated yet.

“Sore losers! You can’t just gang up on us!” March shouted at the surrounding crowd angrily, falling on deaf ears as the Voidrangers continued to close in.

Cool. Love waking up in an unknown, completely precarious situation, being entirely helpless, and about to die. Guess I didn’t really need answers if I was dead.

Before I could completely accept the fate of myself and my companions, something whirled in from the side, completely tearing apart one of the Voidrangers as it flew in. An arm of the drone flung out as it spun some more, extending an active circular saw that cut through three more. I worried when it spun towards us that we were going to suffer the same fate, but the saw retracted and the drone actually stopped between us and the Voidrangers.

Dan Heng and March seemed to know it was friendly, March nudging Arlan to move forward while Dan Heng exclaimed, “Go!”

The group skirted around the drone to run to the activated elevator, with me clutching onto the nearest finger to try and stay steady from the mad dash inside. As the doors closed behind us the other three took the opportunity to catch their breath. I was just trying to get over the shock of almost dying.

The elevator doors opened fairly quickly, not allowing much reprieve. But thankfully there were no Antimatter assholes on the other side, only a woman with red hair and a white dress closing something as she straightened.

“Why does it always have to get this exciting?” the woman asked as she turned towards us, not pausing for a response before adding, “Anyway, at least you’re back. March, Dan Heng, you’ve been through a lot.”

“Whew, Himeko. What took you so long?!” March exclaimed tiredly, the trio walking towards the woman. I continued glancing her up and down, taking mental stock. “That last wave of Antimatter Legion came at us like a swarm of locusts. Have you ever tried shooting locusts with a bow?”

The woman, Himeko, laughed warmly at March and replied, “I wouldn’t have made a difference. My orbital cannon can deal with a whole bunch of enemies at once, but I couldn’t just blow up the space station with it. Herta would NOT like that…

“Are you alright, Arlan?” the woman redirected her attention to the man holding me with an expression of light concern. “Asta’s been worried about you.”

“I’m fine, a quick patching up will do. Thanks for asking,” Arlan reassured and thanked her. I yelped a bit in surprise as he turned and held me out towards Dan Heng. “I must report the situation to Lead Researcher Asta immediately.”

Dan Heng nodded and I was once more deposited into his hand, March taking the bat. I wasn’t even paying attention as Arlan bid farewell and walked off, my attention more on being disgruntled at feeling like I wasn’t going to be able to do anything myself. I was so bitter at my current lack of autonomy that I completely missed some conversation until March’s voice cut through.

“Oh, that’s Nova! We found them like this in Herta’s collection room, but they seem to have amnesia and don’t know what happened or who they are.”

“Huh?” I blinked in surprise at hearing my name, jolting a bit when I saw that the red-headed woman was kind of leaned over to get a closer look at me. Not super close, but I hadn’t been expecting it when I looked over. Still caught off guard, I automatically said, “Uh, hello?”

“Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Himeko, navigator of the Astral Express,” Himeko introduced herself with a smile.

“In other words, she’s in charge of where the Express goes,” March chimed in.

“March hasn’t been any trouble for you along the way, has she?”

“Nova, think carefully about how you wanna reply to that,” March put her free hand on her hip. At some point while I wasn’t paying attention she strapped her bow back over her shoulder.

“Uuuuh, I dunno, no comment then,” I replied, feeling like I didn’t know these people that well after only knowing them for a little over an hour.

March looked disappointed at my response, saying flatly, “ … Oh, looks like we have two Dan Heng’s on our team now.”

“Please leave me out of this,” Dan Heng sighed above me, not even needing to look up to know that he was exasperated. His tone said enough.

Himeko laughed with endeared amusement, catching me off guard as she straightened, commenting, “Look at you all, you’ve already gotten really close. Come on, Asta has been worried about you two and we can see if she has any ideas to help with Nova’s situation.”

She turned around and started walking the opposite direction of the elevator, making me realize that the hallway was not only pretty short with offshoots on either side, but that it was filled with several researchers in small groups either conversing or comforting each other. From the sounds coming from the offshoots, it sounded like there were other groups as well. For some reason, I was not pleased with the fact that a lot of people were around. Maybe something to do with being so small.

With Dan Heng and March not hesitating to follow it also became obvious that the whole room was MASSIVE, even from what I imagine a normal-sized person's perspective was, walls of windows on either side that showed the systems of stars outside and a front that converged on itself to a point. Were we at the front of the ship?

I zoned out a bit as the group walked, more focused on taking stock of the surroundings. With how loud it kind of was in here I didn’t even realize there was someone closer by talking until I noticed that the natural sway of Dan Heng’s hand had stopped for a couple seconds. Blinking to clear my mind and refocus, I looked forward to see the back of another woman, this one also with pink hair. Unlike March hers seemed more… salmon?

“-predict that the Legion is about to unleash over ten waves of continuous attacks. Everyone, brace yourselves,” the woman in front of us directed, voice louder than it had just been to project her voice. Who she was talking to exactly, I had no clue.

“Asta!” March greeted from Dan Heng’s left, catching the attention of the woman. “We’re back!”

Asta turned around to face us, a relieved smile on her face that matched the relieved exhale she let out. “Whew, I’m glad you’re all back safe. Arlan just told me about the situation at the storage zone, and about his injury… Thank you, for all your help.

“In times of disaster,” Asta’s face turned solemn. “I realize more and more that the space station’s researchers are its most valuable assets… Alas, we were ill-prepared for such emergencies… we should have built up our security and combat departments. On the other hand, the entire crew of the Astral Express seems to be extraordinarily skilled.”

“What is the current situation on the space station?” Dan Heng asked, making me glance behind myself as he half-crossed his arms, the shifting catching my attention.

“The situation is under control for now. The damage to our security system was minor. The intruder only managed to alter a small amount of data, so it was an easy fix. The real problem lies with the researchers…,” Asta sighed, looking out toward the throngs of scattered researchers around the room with concerned thought. “They trust Madam Herta wholeheartedly and never thought that the space station would be breached by the Legion. A broken spirit is far worse than a broken body.”

“Let’s go speak with the researchers,” Himeko suggested. “Right now, the space station can’t afford any more unexpected turns, especially from within. Have you tried contacting Herta?”

“I sent multiple letters, all met with silence. You know her, Himeko,” Asta looked disappointed as she looked back at Himeko. “The space station is but a mere warehouse for followers and rare items. She doesn’t really care about it.”

That didn’t really sound reassuring to my whole being too shrunk to either be useful or even really autonomous. Despondent researchers and the supposed head of the space station being completely apathetic.

Himeko, however, seemed undeterred as she said, “I knew it… No matter. I’ll also send a letter to Herta and tell her that we’ve brought the rare item she seeks. At least that might get her attention. Maybe the added mystery of our miniature guest will help peak her interest.”

“That would be of great help,” Asta smiled back at Himeko, no longer looking as distressed. At the allusion Himeko made toward me, which made me stiffen in surprise, the woman blinked and then seemed to realize I was in Dan Heng’s palm. “Oh! I apologize for not noticing you sooner. Arlan told me about your situation, but since he said you were in safe hands I refocused on the Legion attack. Let me assure you that as soon as the Legion is gone and everything is stabilized, we’ll get to work on helping you as soon as we can.”

“You’re fine,” I told her, waving my hand a bit dismissively. Did I like being this small? No, but I also wasn’t going to get on her case about caring for the station right now. “No rush. Not like I have anything else to do, I think.”

“Dan Heng,” Himeko looked over at the man holding me. “March and I are going to go around the room to see if any of the researchers need help on behalf of Asta. Why don’t you and Nova check in on Arlan and see if Nova matches any profiles the space station has on file, either personnel or guest authorization.”

There wasn’t an immediate response from him, making me look up after a couple seconds as he suddenly started moving, realizing that he probably nodded in acknowledgement to the woman before walking away.

“See you later!” March said chipperly, giving me a wave as I looked back at her, Himeko giving a small wave as well.

I waved back with uncertainty, feeling conflicted. On one hand, I was already overwhelmed by, well, everything and the light pink haired woman was a bit too much energy for me right now. On the other hand, I suddenly felt very awkward in the comparatively silent man’s palm as he walked from the platform where Asta remained. Thankfully, Arlan wasn’t far off the main platform so I didn’t have to feel awkward for very long.

“... If only I’d caught the Antimatter Legion sooner…” The shorter man was murmuring to himself beside two guys in uniform. Since they weren’t in lab coats, I assumed they were likely security personnel.

“Arlan,” Dan Heng greeted, catching the smaller man’s attention. “How are you feeling?”

“Dan Heng,” the other man returned the simple greeting. As he turned there was a slight wince as he shifted the weight on his legs. “I’m fine, this pain is nothing, really. I’m used to it. I should be proud of it. It’s a reminder of being able to protect everyone. Ahem, but don’t tell Lead Researcher Asta what I just said.”

“A commendable mindset. However, it’s important to make sure you still take care of yourself. You can’t protect anyone if you end up too injured to stand on your own,” Dan Heng stated. I had the uncanny feeling that this was definitely mildly hypocritical. But I also had a suspicion that whoever I was, I also fell into a similar pitfall. Still, he wasn’t trying to scold the other man. “What’s the status of the space station?”

“Stable, for now,” Arlan replied, expertly pivoting into reporting even when his face soured slightly at being told to care for himself. Now, the sour expression was more dour and solemn. “There were a few researchers who didn’t make it… The rest are fine, mostly minor injuries. But I’m worried about their mental states. Most of them came to the space station because they admired Madam Herta. But now they can’t reach her or even their own families. I just hope they can all survive this crisis.”

“This Hera sounds like she sucks compared to Asta,” I couldn’t help but comment, arms crossed over my chest. I might not even be working under Herta, but with the way it sounded like she handled things I was starting to be miffed on the researcher's behalfs.

“I can’t speak to Madam Herta, but my first impression of Lady Asta was that she was the daughter of a rich family, owners of a big company. She was kind to me though,” Arlan said, face still neutral but tone less naturally stern. “When she went to the space station, I followed her. I don’t know much about science, but I’m glad to be able to protect people in pursuit of their research.”

I frowned more, not very satisfied with the response.

“Regardless of feelings about Herta, there’s no denying that she and the space station have made many advancements in the ways of ingenuity and inventiveness,” Dan Heng stated, sounding like the personification of a textbook. “Arlan, we have one more request before leaving you to rest.”

“I’m all ears,” the other man replied, crossing his arms over his chest with slight interest.

“We’d like to see if you can look through the station logs to see if there’s anything regarding Nova. Either personnel or guest profiles for access to the ship.”

“I should be able to use one of the consoles in here to access the security logs,” Arlan hummed slightly in thought, uncrossing his arms and starting to walk along the platform. “This way.”

Dan Heng followed Arlan as he walked past some of the scattered groups of researchers. Most were too busy talking amongst themselves or coping with the situation alone to pay attention to us but one researcher happened to look over and notice me. Her eyes widened in surprise and I was grateful when Arlan and Dan Heng passed too quickly for her to make any comment, relieved when we stopped at a console further away.

Arlan wordlessly signed on to the console and started tapping away as Dan Heng silently watched and waited.

I was starting to feel the awkward silence creep in again, but it seemed like it was just me. Neither of the men looked like they had any issues with the other being quiet or remaining silent themselves. Meanwhile, I was resisting the urge to fidget too much, not wanting to draw the attention of either to distract them. My mind started to wander aimlessly, zoning out until I heard Arlan’s voice speak up again.

“I’m not seeing anything about a Nova in the system,” Arlan said slowly, scrolling through whatever he was looking through. He looked back, but instead of addressing Dan Heng like I expected he looked directly at me and asked, “Do you remember if you have a last name or anything else identifying?”

“Oh, uh,” I blinked in surprise, caught off guard at the question. I thought for a second but something told me that no amount of trying would let me know if I had a last name, let alone what it was. “No, no last name that I’m aware of.”

“If that’s all we have to go on, then I can’t find anything in the system,” Arlan locked the console system and turned around to look at both Dan Heng and I. “Sorry. I wish there was more I could do to help.”

While I felt disheartened at hearing that the space station had nothing on it considering this was where I woke up, Dan Heng was undeterred and replied, “Don’t worry about it. The fact that Nova isn’t pulling up in the system is actually valuable on its own.”

“Uh, how?” I asked, looking up at Dan Heng skeptically. I personally felt like this helped absolutely nothing.

“It means that whatever happened to you or your past, the space station has nothing to do with it. Which narrows down our search, even if it’s only the barest amount.” the man said bluntly. And even though it didn’t feel like he wasn’t necessarily trying to be reassuring, it did make me feel a bit better when phrased that way.

“I guess,” I sighed.

“Dan Heng!” March’s voice called from behind us. Dan Heng twisted to look back where March and Himeko were standing a little ways behind him, March waving chipperly. The bat Arlan had given her was secured to her waist now, an odd sight considering everything about her was pastel except for the black bat.

“Looks like March and Himeko are done checking with the researchers in the area,” Dan Heng stated, turning back to Arlan, “We appreciate you looking through the system.”

“No problem. I hope you find the help you need,” Arlan replied, the last comment directed towards me as his gaze went from the taller man to meet my eyes.

I nodded in appreciation with a small smile. “Thanks.”

Dan Heng bid Arlan his own farewell and walked over to March and Himeko. Neither he or I were even able to greet the two women when March commented, “Himeko and I went around to ask the researchers if they needed any help, but all we got was just some random small requests and one person complaining about coffee. I can’t be too mad at them though. Given the current attack, they probably need to focus on something else.”

“Was Arlan able to find any information on Nova?” Himeko asked.

I’d started zoning out before realizing that she was looking expectantly at me, not Dan Heng, stumbling over my words as I answered, “Uh, no. No, Arlan said that I didn’t show up in the system at all, but Dan Heng said that it at least narrowed the search a little.”

“That’s one way to look at it,” March said, putting her hands on her hips and giving Dan heng an unamused look. “A very Dan Heng way to look at it.”

“Still, it is accurate,” Himeko stated, looking at March before addressing both. “Now, let’s return to Asta and-.”

Something within me stirred the same moment that Himeko was cut off by alarms suddenly going off in the master control zone, something entirely unfamiliar. I heard March’s gasp of surprise but it was undercut by Himeko directing, “To the bridge!”

The trio, and me holding onto the fingers that slightly curled around me, ran to where Asta stood, staring at holographic warning symbols that flashed in front of her.

“Asta! What’s going on?” March exclaimed as we stopped beside the other pink-haired woman.

Another holographic screen flickered to life in front of the other symbols, some winged creature pressing a humanoid claw into what I could only assume was the ship’s force field. Alarmingly, it looked like it was slowly sinking its claws in.

“Take the Express and leave,” Asta ordered, looking back at the group. “I’ll stay.”

“But-,” March started to argue, taking a step forward only to be stopped as Himeko looped her arm with the smaller woman’s.

“Let’s go.” the redhead said. March’s eyes lingered on Asta before reluctantly letting herself be led away.

Dan Heng’s fingers twitched beneath me, looking up to see that he was also a little conflicted as he turned from the Lead Researcher and followed to where Himeko rushed to the elevator doors. She carefully guided March into the elevator and waited until Dan Heng was inside before activating it. As the elevator whirred to life and descended, the trio remained in tense silence, something that I wasn’t going to break.

The elevator dinged a tone far too pleasant given the circumstances and, as the doors opened and Himeko shepherded the other two out of it, there was a sudden crackling sound from the redhead.

Himeko pulled out her phone, Asta’s voice frantically exclaiming, “The supply zone’s defense shield won’t hold much longer. You all need to hurry… I’ll be here, you’ve got to fend them off… You… hurry…”

Asta’s voice trailed off, interrupted before being entirely cut off by crackling interference for several seconds.

“... We lost communications,” Himeko said worriedly, looking solemnly at the screen for a few seconds after disconnecting from whatever communication app continued to emit static.

“Are you thinking of going back?” Dan Heng asked. I looked up to see his eyes narrow slightly, surprising me a little until I heard him add in a firm tone, “Let me remind you, that’s the Doomsday Beast, the Legion’s planet destroyer.”

Okay, yeah, nope. I was definitely seeing why he’d turn even more serious than he seemed to be naturally.

“The space station is Herta’s creation. As long as a Lord Ravager-” - I groaned silently to myself as Himeko replied to Dan Heng, trying to make a mental note that ask what the hells a Lord Ravager was later - “ - doesn’t intervene, there should be no problems.”

“B-But we can’t just run away like this, right,” March asked anxiously, looking between the man and woman.

“I mean, sure you can,” I commented, not liking that everyone looked at me. Crossing my arms I shrugged, gesturing my arm dismissively down the hall. “You just gotta keep going down the hall.”

“Not helping!” March said, putting her hands on her hips.

“The Doomsday Beast can rip off the defense shield like tearing paper, and Herta’s not here,” Dan Heng continued trying to stress his point with a disapproving frown. “The station’s defenses are too weak to stand against the Antimatter Legion. Either way, the Legion has the blessing of the Aeon, Nanook. They came prepared and everyone here is not.”

“That’s why we have to leave and take Nova with us,” Himeko stated resolutely, catching me and the other off guard.

“Me?!” I questioned in surprise as both March and Dan Heng asked in equal surprise ‘Nova?!’. I suppose in hindsight that it seemed kind of fucked up to leave someone the size of a figurine to fend for themself on a massive ship about to be destroyed, but-.

“They’re… that important?” Dan Heng asked, looking down at me with a skeptical expression.

“Wow, do ya think you could have worded that a bit fucking differently,” I looked up at him angrily. “Just go ahead and chuck me into the nearest trash bin, why don’t you?”

“Nova’s the one who can help us turn the tides… Of course, I may be wrong,” Himeko interrupted before Dan Heng could respond.

“I think you’re wrong,” I murmured worriedly, not sure how she even came close to that thought process. Her knees had to hurt from jumping to that conclusion. I was appalled when Dan Heng replied though.

“... As you say so,” he sighed, looking resigned. “Alright, what should we do next?”

Himeko smiled at Dan Heng, turning to look towards the only other exit of the room. “This is the supply zone where the maintenance crew works. There’s a path here that leads to the nearest railway platform. Let’s head over there and meet up with Welt.”

“Are we-?” I started speaking only to immediately get cut off by March.

“Mr. Yang?” March asked, looking surprised again. “Mr. Yang’s here too? Didn’t he stay on the Express?”

“The Astral Express tracks our coordinates in real time,” Dan Heng turned slightly as he addressed her. “And with such a huge change in the space station’s movements, there’s no way Mr. Yang wouldn’t have noticed.”

Himeko hummed in agreement while I still struggled with her earlier comment, telling March, “I can almost guarantee that your Mr. Yang is already on his way. Right now, we might be able to handle things if it’s just the Doomsday Beast. But, if the Destruction’s Emanator were to appear…”

“I- The Destruction’s Emanator?” I asked dumbly, feeling like March maybe explained something along those lines earlier.

“Let’s hurry up and get out of here. I’ll explain later,” Himeko said, starting to rush towards the door on the other side of the room. I noticed a large, rectangular case against her back as she ran, something I’d missed earlier and seemed far less important than the situation as Dan Heng and March began to follow her.

Once more finding myself just holding onto as securely as I could while being taken along for the ride, I exclaimed, “Are we just going to gloss over the whole me somehow turning the tide thing? Because I think we’re glossing over the whole me somehow turning the tide thing!”

“It’s Himeko!” March replied, looking back at me as the group ran.

“As skeptical as I am, we both trust her judgment,” Dan Heng added, not looking away from charging ahead. A smart move that allowed him to give a little ‘March!’ in warning as the group ran past another group of Antimatter Legion. I watched as Himeko took the case on her back and swung it at the nearest enemy, clocking it with the edge of the case while March and Dan Heng dodged the others.

Notably, I couldn’t attack or dodge thanks to my being unarmed and FUCKING TINY.

“Ugh, this stupid bat!” March complained loudly, looking down at the thing as it bumped against her leg with each step. “Running with this is throwing me off.”

“I think-,” my voice hitched in my throat when Dan Heng swerved around a creature with blades on its forearms. “I think that y’all are forgetting that I’m absolutely SMALL AND USELESS.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” March tried to say reassuringly, but it was entirely unconvincing with the grimace she had. “Well… shorter… Anyways, I’m sure Himeko has a very good reason to think that you’ll be super useful, even if we don’t know what that is yet.”

“Do I have to be useful? Can’t I just return to a normal-size and live out my life?” Whatever life that even WAS.

“We should almost be there,” Himeko called back from a little bit ahead, running through another self-opening doorway to another massive room with several smaller walkways leading from other entryways on the right hand side to a huge platform walkway on the left.

“Aww yeah, it’s the platform!” March exclaimed excitedly as Himeko continued to lead them towards it.

“... The Express isn’t here,” Dan Heng commented, sounding cautious. I saw him shift his grip on his staff in the corner of my vision, looking like he was preparing for more fighting.

“It has to be nearby!” March replied optimistically, raising her hands to her face to make binoculars with them as she looked back at Dan Heng briefly. “Let me go take a peek with my sharp eyes.”

March kicked up her speed to sprint ahead of the group with a small laugh, earning a sigh from the man holding me and a concerned look from Himeko. The redhead glanced back at Dan Heng.

“Of course,” Dan Heng muttered under his breath, increasing his speed casually to try and catch up to March as we approached the platform. A couple seconds went by before he either noticed or sensed something I didn’t, making me yelp as he fully sprinted towards the platform, shouting, “Wait, March!”

Something in my chest pulsed.

The pastel-haired woman made it a couple steps onto the platform before stopping and turning around at Dan Heng’s shout. My eyes widened in surprise when something massive flew by outside. From the massive platform opening we could see the creature from before, the Doomsday Beast, glide away from the platform and show off its dual sets of wings.

“The Doomsday Beast…” Himeko said worriedly, slowing to a stop beside Dan Heng and March. “It’s really here.”

The Beast began to turn back towards the platform, circling back around as March unclipped the bat from her side and threw it aside. Slipping her bow off her shoulder and creating an arrow to nock back, she seemed way too undeterred as she exclaimed, “Get down here!”

“Careful everyone!” Himeko warned as the Beast descended on the platform, throwing her case to the ground where it popped open with a heavy clack.

A drone like the one that had shown up earlier whirred to life and escaped the confines of the case just in time to be blown back by the gust of wind from the Beast half-landing at the edge of the platform, standing on the platform with two pairs of arms while its hind legs disappeared from sight beneath the platform edge. The Beast reared up the floating purple orb and V-shaped end of its neck as much as it could, roaring from the pseudo-head.

“Get Nova somewhere safe and come back,” Himeko directed at Dan Heng, picking up the now empty case. To my surprise she must’ve hit something on the case to make an extension pop out with a circular saw at the end. “We need to buy Welt time to get here!”

Like before when tasked to check up on Arlan there was no auditory acknowledgement, just immediate action.

Dan Heng sprinted off to the side while March and Himeko kept the creature's attention. It wasn’t very far before he skid to a stop beside seemingly random containers near the platform edge, certainly not the safest option but it looked like one of the few available considering it was almost entirely bare save for a few benches, screen billboard, and scattered containers.

“Just stay here,” Dan Heng said, tilting his hand to drop me on the ground unceremoniously, albeit carefully. Without another word he turned on his heel and sprinted back to the two women.

I wanted to shout ‘Wait!’ or something else, but that would only serve to waste his time. After all, as much as I’d like to do anything or be anywhere else, I was physically unable to do more than watch from around the containers as the man charged into the battle and slashed at one of the Beast’s larger hands when it swiped towards March. The hand flinched away, metal sparking from the spear attack, and the Beast roared angrily.

Aeons or whatever, I felt so fucking scared and USELESS.

I anxiously fidgeted in my spot, heart pounding in my chest while I began to pace beside the container I was beside. I had no communications - not like communications were working - or weapons, or even a normal fucking height and this weird fucking feeling in my chest was NOT HELPING.

“Do I risk running off to try and get someone? No fucking way I’d make it anywhere in time for any help, even if I was a normal-size.” I muttered to myself. I spent several seconds feeling distressed at my lack of ability to do anything before something happened to the weird feeling in my chest. It didn’t go away, but it… it felt like a second heartbeat, one that gave me the tiniest bit of an adrenaline boost or something similar. “Aah, what the fuck?”

I looked myself over as the background noise of roaring, metal hitting metal, and explosions continued, not noticing anything really different. So what the fuck just happened?

Great. Now instead of just worrying about dying along with the rest of the space station because of a massive creature, my body’s deciding to be weird about it. Maybe this is just what panic attacks feel like? Because I was definitely nearing one, if not actually there, given the circumstances.

I tried to take a steadying breath and leaned against the container, telling myself, “Maybe if I don’t look at the fight, I can’t be stressed about the fight.”

It was something I felt was fundamentally incorrect, but my options were limited. It definitely didn’t help the weird feeling, gasping a little when the same internal pulse happened again, giving me another teensy bit of energy and a slight feeling of nausea. I groaned a bit in distaste at the sensation, thinking that it also somehow made the grooves in the container I was against feel different.

I didn’t even think that was possible, looking down at where my hand rested against a seam in the metal of the container, narrowing my eyes like it was somehow the containers fault I was feeling weird. I opened my mouth to make some snarky comment to pass what little time the space station had left when my eyes widened in a bit of surprise and confusion.

Was the… was my hand slowly getting bigger?

I blinked and moved my hand to a rivet beside the seam, my fingers not even able to reach either side of the metal disk. I stared intently at my hand where I could see the rivet beneath it, uncertain if I was noticing an extremely minute change in my hand size or if I was going insane.

Another pulse went through my chest and I gasped when my hand got noticeably bigger. Not much, maybe an inch if I was normal-sized, but it was something. And the weird pulsing had something to do with it.

“Wild,” I said as I pulled my hand away from the rivet. It wasn’t like it was just my hand that got larger, I seemed proportionally the same. So either whatever happened to make me this small was only temporary or something was causing me to grow. And either one had good implications as long as I got bigger before the station went down.

I moved to peek around the container before pausing at a quick thought, putting my hand back on the rivet as a quick test. With the previous boost in size making me slightly larger, I placed my still smaller-than-the-rivet hand almost to the edge of the metal disk, becoming unreasonably excited when there WAS a visible difference as my thumb went from almost touching the edge to becoming flush with it.

“Fuck yeah!” I exclaimed, pulling my hand away. I still couldn’t help but look around like some wizard or something would be barely visible in a corner with a stick pointed at me, the source of either my diminutive size or curing it. No one was around save for the people and the Beast I could hear on the other side of the containers but SOMETHING was causing me to passively grow. But…

“... What changed?” I muttered to myself in confusion, deciding to finally peek around the corner to check on the fight. My excitement didn’t matter if the Beast won.

Speaking of, the Beast was swiping at the trio on the platform with an angry cry. Himeko managed to recoil in time to avoid being snagged by one of the metallic claws, twirling with the case and using the saw against the hands carapace; March was barely able to roll away, the wind from the creatures wake making her hair blow wildly as she struggled to regain her footing; Dan Heng managed to jump over the blow, landing on the disembodied forearm and running towards some floating object near the Beast's chest.

He jumped and plunged towards the object with spear pointed downwards towards it, speartip sinking into an inky black orb with specks of white like the space sky behind the Beast. It roared angrily and one of the smaller arms reached up to snatch Dan Heng. The man tore his speartip from the orb - my chest pulsed with the weird sensation again - and slashed at the groping claws before landing on the ground.

“The Beast…” My eyes widened at the realization. My chest hadn’t started feeling weird until the Doomsday Beast showed up and, while I didn’t know what that meant or even how it was affecting me, its presence was somehow making me bigger.

Putting a hand to my chest, I glanced around for any sort of height marker on the container. The most reliable was the rivets but I could only guess that I’d barely managed to grow a centimeter? Maybe. Regardless, still not nearly enough to be of any help or even save myself if I wanted to.

“Fuck. There has to be a way to make this faster, right?...”

Almost immediately after I said the question aloud I felt another pulse of energy in my chest, instinctively putting my hand against my chest and looking towards the fight. With a slight frown of confusion I noted that no one had made an attack against the weird object in front of the creature, it was just floating a bit higher so why was my chest doing the pulse-y thing?

The four segments around the dark orb center expanded outward, a blast of gold and black striking its own arm with an inky black cloud with gold particles shaped like cosmic cubes.

I gasped when my chest pulsed again, needing to hold my head as a wave of lightheadedness accompanying the almost electrifying sensation made my vision blur. Shaking my head to try and clear and refocus my vision. I froze when I subconsciously noticed everything wasn’t quite as large as before, slowly holding a hand out to a rivet in disbelief. Oh, that was NOTICEABLY smaller.

Spurred on by the sudden discovery, I tried to measure myself against the side of the container and, while I had no clue what my actual height was, I was at least twice the size I was before.

“Fuck. YES.” My heart raced in my chest excitedly and I glanced back towards the fight for a second before quickly looking around for ideas. If the others could maintain the fight long enough, then I could do something to help… Maybe. I needed a weapon, and even then I wasn’t sure I’d be any good at fighting.

My gaze locked onto the discarded baseball bat that March had thrown aside earlier, hissing a small, “Yes!”

Until I remembered that it was within swiping range of the Doomsday Beast that was currently rampaging on the platform with giant claws that could squish and tear apart a normal human, let alone one as small as I was. I’d have to be careful if I wanted to get close enough to grab it from the ground and there weren't many places to hide between me and the fight. Maybe I could try to get the attention of one of the others? That ran the risk of distracting them and getting them killed…

Okay, maybe don’t get their attention.

“Nnngh,” I grimaced as my chest pulsed again, still not used to the feeling. Narrowing my eyes at the bat I decided that I may as well shoot my shot and go for it, even if I wasn't large enough to use it yet. “What's the worst that could happen, I die?”

I pushed aside the part of me that was very much against this whole thing, that wanted to just kind of curl up in a corner and wait it out, in favor of the part of myself that's been itching to be able to jump into the fray since waking up. Staring intently at the fight to try and mentally figure out the speed of the Beast's movements for several seconds, my chest pulsed twice more - once for Himeko managing to get the circular saw against the weird object and two for the creature blasting it's other hand with the black and gold beam.

No clue what function that served the Beast, but it helped me get bigger, and that's all I cared about right now.

“Okay. Okay. Let's do this,” I told myself, taking deep breaths as I psyched myself up, bouncing from foot to foot a bit. Fear began to creep up at the back of my mind and I knew that if I waited too long that I'd chicken out. Before my limbs could reach the point where they'd no longer listen to me, I started booking it from behind the containers, feeling almost immediate regret as I slowly got closer to the fight. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.”

I continued repeating the word under my breath as I ran. A shudder ran up my spine, something instinctive making me look up in time to see a shadow descending towards me. I exclaimed in panicked surprise, my body moving quicker than my mind as it lunged to the side and rolled out of the way of a white-soled black shoe that landed almost exactly where I was. I was taller than the ankle belonging to the foot now, but the close call still made it very apparent that one misstep could be deadly if not fatal.

“What the- Nova?!” Dan Heng’s voice preceded an impact against my side and the air being forced from my lungs as I was scooped off of the floor. Fingers that previously dwarfed me now had to curl around my midsection, my teeth rattling a little as he lifted me up and continued to run. “What happened?”

“The floating thing in front of the Beast,” I replied, earning a slightly confused glance from him and added, “The cube thing with the orb!”

“The Antimatter Engine?” Dan Heng asked. In any other circumstance I’d take it as condescending, but not right now.

“Whatever! Everytime one of you hits it or-,” I winced as the weird pulse happened again, looking over to see March nock another arrow in her bow. I felt more than I saw how the grip on me tightened a little as I grew a bit more. Thankfully, his fingers twitched in surprise and the feeling of slight claustrophobia lasted only a second as I continued, “-or the weird cube bit opens to blast at its hand I get bigger for some reason.”

“You still need to stay away from the fight,” I didn’t realize he’d brought me back to the containers until I was set back down on the ground beside them again.

“No, I can help!” I protested before he could turn around and run off to rejoin the fight. I was surprised he gave me the time of day for me to make my case. “If you guys just keep smacking the engine, and maybe goad it to use it long enough, I can pick up the baseball bat and help!”

Gray eyes flicked back towards the ongoing fight, a second of quick thought as he seemed to struggle to not jump back in.

“You guys need to buy time for Welt anyways, right?” I asked, regaining the man’s focus. My own gaze flicked back to the fight, feeling tense myself at seeing Himeko block the Beast's claws from striking March with the shockingly durable drone case. “What else is there to lose?”

Dan Heng narrowed his eyes at me slightly and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking behind his tense, stoic expression. I felt my heart sink as he whirled around and ran back to the fight.

“Damn it,” I hissed to myself with the thought that the man had, somewhat understandably, completely disregarded me in favor of the battle. But I was surprised when, while running towards the Beast, he paused just long enough by the bat to spin and kick in the direction of the containers I was beside.

It clattered loudly - well, not loud in comparison to the roaring and sound of metallic claws on the rail platform - across the floor before skidding to a halt against the containers. I couldn’t help but pump my fist a little and say, “Yes!”

The man continued to run at the Beast, ducking beneath angry claws and jumping onto the floating engine again. With a plunge of his spear through gilded corners that sunk back into the orb at the center and I felt my chest pulse again with another shot of energy. I saw him look at the others and open his mouth but I didn’t hear him over the outraged roar the Beast gave that rattled the containers beside me.

The smaller pair of claws from the Beast lashed towards Dan Heng, the palms slamming together when he tore his spear from the orb and jumped up in time to dodge being crushed.

I guess I didn’t actually have to worry about them prolonging the fight to goad the Beast into using the engine since, as Dan Heng landed beside the other two and threw his arm out in front of March protectively, it pushed itself off the rail platform and rose into the air with flared wings. With arms and wings wide, the engine floated to remain in front of its chestwith the gilded edges expanding from its center with a jerky motion.

Several rings of white appeared behind the Beast as bright blue patterns glowed on its wings and multiple golden lights appeared in the air behind it. The golden lights exploded into gold-blue beams that descended onto the rail platform in a blinding display that had me averting me flinching as I shielded my eyes.

The cosmic flashbang only lasted a few seconds but it took me a couple more to try and clear my vision, stumbling a bit as my balance wobbled and planting my hand on the side of the containers. Something moved beneath my palm and threw off my balance a little again but I was able to remain upright, rubbing my eyes with a hand and looking around with colored spots. The stack of containers that used to tower over me was still tall, but now I was almost as tall as it was.

My eyes widened, quickly looking to where the others had been standing, a feeling of relief flooding through me when particles settled to show that the others had managed to dodge the barrage of lasers. I was a bit surprised to see a couple ice arrows misting from the orb of the engine like a floating pincushion, the creature leaned back like it was almost as winded as the humans on the platform in front of it.

The relief didn't last long when I noticed the Beast throw its head back with a bright glow starting to emit from the orb at the end, sensing an incoming attack.

My body moved faster than my mind, not even sure where it was going to strike as I paused just long enough to scoop up the baseball bat and sprinted forward. Everything felt like it slowed down as the creature tossed its head to the side with another beam bursting out before snapping it forward to direct the beam at the rail platform, moving towards where March was knelt on the ground.

The platform that had felt like a never-ending plane when I was on the ground before now felt small, able to quickly rush between Dan Heng and Himeko to plant myself between March and the Beast on an instinct I didn’t even know I had. I didn’t even have any time to be either impressed or appalled at my own actions before I found myself blinded by the beam and felt the impact against my chest. To my immense surprise, it didn’t hurt but maybe it was just too intense for my nerves to sense.

I was surprised when the blinding white turned to pitch black, brow twitching as I heard a multi-layered voice say, “I must leave now.”

“What happened…” I found that my eyes were closed as I instinctively opened them in confusion, eyes widening at seeing a giant golden gash above me. There was a shockwave of golden glow from above it, realizing there was a massive shadowy figure. A pulse running through my chest again in time with the shockwave only concerned me further. “The fuck?”

“You must see the end of your story.” the mysterious voice spoke again like a whisper.

“Who are you?” I asked, trying to look around but I was stuck floating through nothing like debris in space. I noticed a glow emanating from my chest and glanced down to see bands of gold and yellow extending and looping back to myself like solar waves. Alarmingly, even though it didn’t hurt yet, it was starting to feel like there was a pressure in my chest like something within me was gearing to explode.

“Reach the end of the story in your own way,” the mysterious voice said, sounding unaware or unphased, even as I placed my hands against my chest to try and keep whatever reaction was happening inside. Even as my head began to throb with white-hot pain and flashes of memories that were and weren’t mine forced themselves into my head, ending with a painful flash of golden eyes opening to look down upon me with an apathetic expression that bordered on disdain. “They have already noticed you.”

A brief visage of the golden-eyed entity with golden gashes flickered across my vision before I suddenly found myself back on the rail platform, my chest exploding with pain that reached the very ends of my being, vision flickering in and out of focus with the almost electrical pulses that throbbed from the light in my chest.

I didn’t realize that I’d fallen onto my knees, just focused on trying to press my hands and arms to my chest in the instinctive attempt to keep whatever was inside from bursting out of me, even as I saw the beam of the Beast parted like water on either side of me. It was a fruitless endeavor as the pressure that’d been painfully building within forced my hands away and caused my back to snap back with sudden waves of energy that agonizingly arced out, making me cry out in pain.

My eyes closed against the excruciating feeling, vision flickering between the unfocused sight of my surroundings and spotty blinding white. It could have been seconds or days before I noticed a blurry orange glowing object appear in my vision quickly getting closer, unable to flinch away from it tapping against my forehead.

Almost instantly, the pain stopped, my eyes closing with relief. It wasn’t until I felt arms against my back catching me that I even remembered that I was a person past the fading phantom pain that lingered in my limbs.

“Mr. Yang! Are they…” March’s voice behind me made me open my eyes groggily, taking in the blurry figure of a man with glasses and a cane.

“They’re okay now,” the man replied, looking down at March and I through his glasses. The shape of a train pulled in behind him and I briefly thought that this must be the Welt guy the others were talking about if he was coming with what I sluggishly assumed to be the Express. He started to turn towards the train, scarf drifting behind his back slightly as he added, “Let’s talk somewhere else.”

I had several questions I wanted to ask here and now, but my body had other plans as my eyelids grew heavy again before everything went dark.

[kandyrezi]

Kcalb + Wodahs [thesis]

Still working on some fics, but in the meanwhile, I had this post in my drafts for so long and I forgot about it entirely, so I thought I might as well edit and post it now.

I was going to discuss the “Kurotsuno & Sullivan’s relation to Kcalb” theory first, but I got finished with this one a lot faster, so I’ll be posting the former one at a later date. This headcanon post concerns Wodahs & Kcalb + their relation to one another.

This is just for fun, so I apologize for any potential inaccuracies - if that’s the case, then I implore people to point them out so I can try and fix any inconsistencies there might be. This is quite short, but there’s always a lot to talk about.

I want to first start off by not focusing on either Kcalb or Wodahs, but on other characters far distant from TGG to give a bit more context and background behind my theory. Namely, this image here is quite intriguing.

Ivlis, Rosaliya, & Reficul are labeled as, “Manufactured by God” - that is, they were created by the God of the world they (used to) reside in.

Two appear to be missing from this picture, leaving out Satanick & Kcalb, but they obviously had to appear somehow. They did not materialize out of thin air by nothingness - we've seen previously, as an example, Siralos created Ivlis (& Igls) from flames, Meikai was created from a star by Satanick. So, if their corresponding Gods did not make them out of something, then where did they come from?

Speaking out of materializing out of thin air, All of the Gods ALSO had to “appear” somehow, as they are not clearly the highest deities in DSPverse, considering Vicers, Justim, Photon, Nortkele, Reminiscences are all above them in terms of ranking and categorizing, although it's largely unknown what they are supposed to represent (in the grander scheme) or even what species they are. They could also similarly just be cosmic deities, but higher-ranking than the gods we currently know most about.

It is likely, as one of many possibilities, that either Justim or Vicers created them. Judging by the image below - by how Justim is in focus and standing in front of all the other gods - I’m inclined to think they are the one who created all the Gods, at the very least, since they have been stated to be “God of Gods” - yet Vicers has never been called “Devil of Devils”, which would make sense if Vicers only created two of them (Satanick and Kcalb), as the rest of the devils were created by their own corresponding Gods.

Justim: *gestures behind them* these r my ocs! ^ u ^

(Not really related as such, but Photon and Nortkele are fairly obvious in a sense what they’re supposed to represent (it’s pretty much spelled out in their names), but that leaves Reminiscences… so, maybe they (she?) are a personification of “Matter” while their dark counterpart is a personification of “Antimatter”? Either way, they’re supposed to represent at least something floating around in space? An atom? A neutron? We’ll have to wait patiently for a while longer for another clue.)

Anyway, back to Vicers.

“The power to bestow life and the power to take it all away.”

So, Vicers can both create and destroy, it seems like. If he really did make Kcalb, he could have bestowed the latter with his destruction powers.

Vicers & Justim’s relationship seems quite complex, they’ve been inconsistently described as several things ( “can’t stand eachother, can’t live without one another either” / “used to have a big fight in the past”, and now “lovers” ), all these facebook relationship statues could be spread out within a specific span of time; maybe they started off as friends, then got into a conflict with one another, almost started (or did start) a war, then they made up, but it was still quite tense between them. At long last, they settled their differences and then became friends again, eventually lovers.

Wodahs could similarly have been created by either Vicers or Justim (or they could have created them together, as sort of a peace treaty and proof that two opposite beings can co-exist together, but I am more inclined towards only Vicers having manufactured Kcalb, as well as Wodahs.)

EDIT: Future!me has come to edit this wall of text before posting, having now read some of the more recent information from one of DSP's drawing livestreams. "Did Etihw create Wodahs?" question was answered with an uncertain: "You can say yes AND no to that." well, that kinda throws the "Vicers created Wodahs" theory out the window, doesn't it?

So, what if Etihw gave life to something that originally belonged Kcalb? Like a feather from a crow?

Characters of different species can be “blood siblings” as we’ve seen (Igls Unth is an angel, Ivlis is a demon, but they’re still technically 'siblings' created by the same god, if you see them as such), so could Kcalb & Wodahs be the same? It might be more appropriate to refer to them as half-siblings in this case.

Reficul & Sol / Ivlis & Igls Unth “Devil and the Head Angel” - both duos are considered blood siblings, so why couldn’t Wodahs & Kcalb be considered the same? (granted, Reficul used to be an angel, so using her is kind of a flimsier example.)

I personally can’t get behind either 1) “Kcalb used to be an angel” or 2) “Wodahs used to be a demon” theories, because

1) For Kcalb to have been angel, he would have to have been created by Etihw in the first place, but that’s clearly (as we saw in the previous point) not the case.

2) Wodahs has been an angel since he was a young babey;

and a FALLEN angel, no less? Gray wings in DSP’s universe are associated with damnation by god... hmm…

We’ve seen angels turn into demons, but never a demon turning into an angel. The concept of "redemption for your sins" doesn’t appear to exist with Gods & their angels. Once you’ve turned into a demon, there is no "reversing" that effect or gaining back the status as an angel. It’s the same with biblical/mythological concept of angels/demons (as all fallen angels automatically become demons, but never in reverse).

Since all angels are typically created by Gods, Wodahs could possibly be an outlier and considered not a true angel, but a “farce” in a sense he was created out of something that originally belonged to a Devil, hence why his wings have been gray since he was a child.

He’s also quite brutal in some instances in TGG in contrast to most angels; he keeps bullying/purposefully reminding Kcalb about his missing eye (instead of just letting go of the past), chokes out Grora and almost breaks her leg when she messed up his flowerbeds, and his GGT!self was seen trying to drunkenly molest GGT!Grora in one of the omakes...)

But, maybe in the past things were different with someone like Etihw (who is generally considered an anomaly amongst the other gods), who was willing to give Wodahs actual pure white wings and halo when he left Kcalb to go over to Etihw’s side during the war (thus is the reason Kcalb took his eye for betraying him in the first place).

He still shows more loyalty to Kcalb in the game over Etihw despite everything, which reaffirms my theory of him not having a very close relation to Etihw post-war.

Curious to hear anyone else's thoughts on this!

[caramelstarlight]

Space Riders -2

Hey! Before you scroll or leave, I made a DogDay chat on CrushOn AI, it would be super helpful if you go give it a like! I may post it on C.AI as well. You’ll know which one by looking for this art:

You probably already saw the other one. But… here’s more! Add me in your space rider AU comics if you want, I don’t mind at all! Tag me when it’s finished! :0

People I’m Tagging: (Creator and a person adding me to their comic. Will update when more people do or when they stop. Maybe-)

@onyxonline @thedeadchildrean

Overdrive:

I was trying to do gradient feet and aura (the things connected to eyelashes) but I figured it’s fine without it so you can add that on your own time if you want.

I’m not drawing without the clothes on. That’s just weird… but imagine another outfit or something-

So umm… a bunch of powers are here from the stars and cosmos! Include whichever you want in your comics!

Also yeah. Gonna sound OP as Shit, most of it I just took from the wiki and edited it a bit, I added quotation marks to give them credit. I was gonna do it myself but god damn was I not prepared to see like a billion powers-)

Credit: SuperPower Wiki

I only did some of them. Mainly because at this point I was getting tired but I feel bad since I told a few people it’d be out by today-

But most of them r kinda self explanatory. Or just click on the link and scroll down to where it explains it (which should be right under it) and how it works.

link: https://powerlisting.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Power

Cosmic Symbiosis (“Concentrate the power of the cosmic being that lies within one's body and manipulate it.” Basically OverDrive Mode!)

Cosmic Manipulation (“Control cosmic forces” Such as: “manipulation of matter and energy across space and time, the manipulation of the space-time continuum, altering the fabric of reality, the creation of force fields, the creation of inter-dimensional portals and vortexes, psionics, energy projection, and cosmic awareness, manipulate comets, meteors, asteroids, moons, planets, stars, nebula, neutron stars, quasars, black holes, white holes, galaxies, antimatter and dark matter. They can generate stellar winds, solar flares, cosmic storms, and invoke meteor showers. They can also empower themselves and others by harnessing the power of cosmos.”)

Cosmic Empowerment (“Gain strength from the cosmic forces”)

Cosmic Energy Manipulation (“Manipulate cosmic energy.” Such as Stars, Planets, use it to my own will)

Universal Power Link

Personal Stellar Energy

Stellar Generation

All Star-Based Powers

Bio-Stellar Manipulation

Bio-Stellar Transformer

Esoteric Star Generation

Fire Generation

Light Generation

Nuclear Generation

Plasma Generation

Stardust Generation

Stellar Blast

Stellar Manipulation

Black Hole Manipulation

Pulsar Manipulation

Stardust Manipulation

Stellar Amplification

Stellar Energy Manipulation

Solar Flare

Stellar Attacks

Stellar Deity

Supernova Inducement

Supernova Manipulation

Stellar Magic

Astrology

Esoteric Star Manipulation

Nova Manipulation

Techniques

Black Hole Creation (Self explanatory)

Star Creation (Self explanatory)

Star Fall (Self Explanatory)

Stellar Arts

Stellar Healing

Stellar Physiology (“Have a body made up of stellar energy. Basically overdrive mode”)

Stellar Pressure (“Generate damaging stellar energy.”)

Stellar Regeneration (“Use stellar elements for regeneration.”)

Stellification (“Transform others and oneself into stars, stellar energies and constellations.“)

What I added:

•Healing (It can be a spell or just an ability, works to an extent, can lift cursed, add buffs etc, cannot reverse any type of physical damage that has been dis-attached from the body. For example unable to put an arm back in place. Only works for wounds and helping out. Can fix sprains or stuff though. Stellar Regeneration is limited to small things like losing a bit of your ear, a patch of skin comes off etc…)

•Flight / Hover (I just wanted to add it to fly lmao.)

•Force Field (Can protect against a bunch of stuff (for example lasers, rocks, blasts, explosions etc.) only can withstand strong attacks if supported by other allies who have similar powers. (For example but not limited too: Sun,Moon,Eclipse,Space,Other planets, Aurora Lights or other natural phenomenons related to space in some way.)

•Light manipulation (Able to summon a light source at any time. It helps when you’re afraid of the dark y’know?)

(this was posted at 4am my time-)

[possiblylisle]

On the Pond's Surface: Part Nine

The council finally gave up and granted Wakako the antimatter cell she wanted. Almost immediately, she set herself onto preparing the next trial while Bon tried and failed to figure out how Grant could draw antimatter from the cell without cracking it open.

                “Let me help before you accidentally shatter that thing and get yourself killed.” Grant reached over to take the cell from Bon, but it scuttled away, passing the cell to the braided arms of its back.

                “No. I will handle this; you must continue to rest before we conduct our next test.”

                Grant stepped closer, trying to reach around the Tendrid’s body to grab the cell. “I am getting plenty of rest, and you forget that I used to work with these cells all the time. I know how they work and how they pump fuel into a skip drive.” He feinted, causing Bon to stumble and pass the cell directly into Grant’s open arms. “Do you see these parts at the end? That is where the antimatter comes out. It’s drawn out by the drive’s catalyst.”

                He pointed toward the narrow end of the cell, opposite its carrying handle. At the very tip of the narrow end were three small, solid circles that faintly pulsed with the light of churning antimatter. Holding the cell out toward Bon, he allowed it to be taken back.

                “What is your suggestion then?” Bon inspected the cell closer, rotating it in its tendrils.

                “We’ve established already that my body functions like a skip drive, so I think as long as the cell’s injectors are touching my skin the antimatter will get pulled out by my body’s catalyst, or catalyst equivalent.”

                Bon moved the cell to one of the eyes on its body’s side, freeing the front to look up at Grant. “And you are sure that that will work?”

                “Nope but it’s the best we’ve got.”

                Wakako finalized the parameters for the next test and pushed Grant to begin immediately. Bon protested, demanding a longer resting period, Grant did not.

                The sooner we figure out if this works, the sooner I go home.

                She had altered the range of the test, extending the goal from one week to two, arguing that he’d be able to go further with the antimatter from the cell. Bon continued to protest, Wakako and Grant continued to move forward. The day came and Wakako loaded him into the shuttle. Bon counselled him on mental exercises to keep himself centered and sane. They ran the test.

                With the cell’s injection ports pressed firmly against his skin, Grant made the bubble. He held it closed, unconsciously calculating just how long to hold before letting it pop. The physical strain was lessened as he felt the untethered coursing of the cell’s fuel pumping into his skin. Instinct told him to stop. He dropped the bubble and felt his back slap against the cafeteria floor. The midnight lighting was on, but the room was clear. The antimatter cell pulsed with weaker power.

                He quickly returned to his quarters and dressed just as the future Wakako had instructed. Bringing the antimatter cell with him, he barged into the Doctor’s quarters and stood by her sleeping face. The glow from his skin irritated her awake and he relayed the newest code phrase, clutching the cell in his arms as further evidence.

                Success.

                Six weeks later, they ran the next test, sending Grant one month into the past. The cell emptied itself of the last of its reversal fuel and he made up the difference with his own. The code phrase was relayed, and the empty cell turned over to Wakako. Success.

                Almost there, Grant thought as he flopped back on his bed hours after the test and post-test examinations were finished. I’m coming for you Kimi.

“The Flotilla’s council is delaying us again,” Wakako announced over dinner two weeks after their most recent success.

                “What’s their reasoning this time? Don’t want to hand over more antimatter cells?” Grant poked at his food, not feeling particularly hungry.

                Wakako regarded him with a look over her glasses and mindless swirling of an empty fork through the air. “No. I’ve managed to thoroughly convince them to provide any antimatter cells that we may acquisition. The University of Opportunity finally gave me the grant I’d been asking for to pay for testing materials. The problem comes from the Flotilla’s rigid schedule. They’ve scheduled another skip for three days from now and until then they are refusing to give me antimatter.”

                “Fair enough. They don’t want a repeat of my home ship. Best thing we can do is wait.” He finally felt the urge to eat something, scooping a small amount of food into his mouth.

                Bon’s talk-box chattered as it continued to eat its dinner. “This is perfect for us then! We will all have an opportunity to get some well-deserved rest.” It turned slightly so that one of its eyes faced Grant. “I will be forwarding you recordings of guided meditation to help you keep yourself aligned. I highly encourage you use them.” It then turned its attention to Wakako. “For you, I am strongly recommending that you spend the next three days doing no work unless it is absolutely necessary.”

                Wakako simply nodded in response.

                The three continued to exchange meaningless small talk as they ate. Once their food was gone or cold they returned their dishes and utensils, leaving the cafeteria.

                Separating himself from the other two Grant took the long way back to his quarters. Passing through corridors that led him close to the ship’s outermost hull, he watched the void outside through a porthole, sitting beside it with his back resting against a beam.

                The scheduled skip was convenient, exactly what he had needed. His plan before that hadn’t been great. He didn’t know how he’d convince Wakako, Bon and the Flotilla council that an entire year’s worth of antimatter cells would be necessary for the next trial, so the skip would be a useful way to avoid that conversation.

                Taking cells from the shuttle’s skip drive wouldn’t take long. He could have them lined up and ready to use within a few minutes; plenty of time before the skip to prepare himself. But before that was the matter of Bon and Wakako. He’d tell them, of course he would. They already knew this was something he wanted, and he suspected they would soon realize what he could do during the skip. The problem was finding a way to convince them he could really do it.

                We have three days; I’ll find the time. He stood up and pushed himself away from the beam. Leaving behind the porthole, he leisurely strolled back through the corridors all the way to his quarters. He opened the door and stalked over to his bed, sitting on its edge.

                The reader on his nightstand chirped and the screen glowed to life. Swiping it from the stand’s top, he opened the notification. A message from Bon. He opened it. Inside was a link to a recording of some guided meditation class along with a written message from Bon.

I hope these are sufficient to aid you in mental fortification

                                                              -Uwunau’me’bon

                Grant let slip a tiny chuckle and set the reader aside. Slipping his hand into the open slot directly under the nightstand’s top, he grabbed a pair of headphones and slipped them on. Quickly connecting them to his device he got comfortable on the floor and started the recording, following its instructions.

                The meditation’s facilitator was a small Shaza. Their speaking voice was naturally soft, guiding the people around them. Directing them to empty their minds and focus solely on a single point. Grant did as he was told and focused solely on the only thing he could think of.

                There you are, Kimi.

Tag List:

@capnmachete @leahnardo-da-veggie @tamiveldura @lorifragolina @liminalgoddessworld

@humbleartspawn @orion-lacroix @insecure-pilot @xenascribbles

[formosusiniquis]

today is a new day to find you - ch 3

Steve Harrington is on his picnic bench.

“Oh good, you did stop by your locker.” It’s a sentence that luckily requires no comment since Eddie doesn’t know what he’d say anyway.

“Listen-”

“I haven’t figured out your schedule yet. It’s like everything I do to figure you out changes things. I tried taking notes, but,” He is laying flat on his back on the bench saying these batshit fucking statements to the sky. The wind rustles the trees as he blows a raspberry to punctuate his trailing thought. Maybe the wind and the sky have settled into something that suits the strange mood Harrington is setting.

“Are you stalking me, Harrington?” It doesn’t come out as a joke. It sounds just left of scared. He’s the teen in the horror movie about to realize the pretty boy isn’t a friend.

And Harrington laughs. A crack sounds in the woods, branches rustling, a deer with better sense taking off to safety. Fright. It makes the bubbling laughter all the more manic. Eddie knows manic. “Shit,” he says it on an exhale, struggling for breath. “I guess I am this time.”

This time, deja vu. He’s embarrassed and upset, screaming at Harrington in the hallway.

But Harrington hadn’t even been in Murphy’s class today, and Eddie’s homework had made it zipped up in his backpack all semester except today. A month of classes and no good will.

There’s probably bird shit on the benchseat Harrington is sprawled across. His gray rich boy jacket pillows his head and protects his perfect mane. Is this where he’s been all day? With legs spread, straddling either side of a seat he’s too long for. Waiting for… Waiting for Eddie Munson of all people?

“It’s not creepy,” he insists and really he must. Cause from where Eddie is standing -- five feet away, ready to make a quick getaway lest he get pinned to a tree with a comically long hunting knife; gasping for a last breath and looking for answers from a silent killer as a bloody title screen fades in -- it looks pretty creepy.

“You know what a time loop is, Munson?” he asks. The segue intriguing enough that Eddie creeps closer. The early fall dead, his fated brethren, crunch on the ground beneath him. There is no stealth to his approach. Harrington is a haunted thing, something not of this world and Eddie is…

Eddie is afraid. 

He is a coward by trade. He knows it’s far from desirable as traits go. But it’s what he is when the devil’s in the doorway. Eddie is a runner.

Harrington can sense him and Eddie is curious and afraid. So he approaches with uneasy feet; and, at that table with no one around but the wind and the trees and any critters brave enough to listen to Steve Harrington’s half mad cackle, he sits. As far as he can from what once was a boy he went to class with.

“Didn’t think Steeve Harrington would be a fan of sci-fi,” he lets his mouth drag out the name, lets himself relish in the feel of it. Maybe if he changes the shape enough it will all fit again.

“I’m full of surprises.”

“Well, I’m familiar with many a concept, your majesty; but why don’t you surprise me again and tell me what you think a time loop is.”

He can just make out Harrington’s face, just past the softening boundary of the weather worn table. He pulls a face at the sky, more disbelief than scorn, and continues to make no move to sit up. To face Eddie.

“It’s a loop of time, Munson. Thought you were into this shit. I know you aren’t a super senior because you’re dumb.”

The backhanded compliment catches him across the jaw. “Maybe I wanted your astute observations on the subject, Harrington. Someone should give you a chance to be more than all that hair.”

“You’ve got a real gift for being a dickhead, anyone ever tell you that?”

“I’ve heard something along the lines.”

The belabored sigh he gets in return is fitting a prize lapdog, “Here’s the thing inquiring minds wanna know,” he finally says, “you’re stuck because of antimatter or sunspots or cause a groundhog cast a magic spell-”

“A groundhog?” It sputters out in a laugh.

“That’s my personal guess, I couldn’t remember what you said last time.” He blows right past that particularly confusing statement into, “What are you going to do -- specifically -- none of that whatever I want shit.”

“Why is that shit?” The fall afternoon sun cuts through the canopy for just a second. Finding a break in the rain heavy clouds to lay a golden hand on Steve Harrington.

“In my experience, it’s a lot harder to do whatever you want than it looks.” The sun is smothered again, and the absence of the dappled gold leaves a gray faced kid behind.

Eddie can feel the splintery wood grain threatening to send slivers beneath his fingernails, it doesn’t stop the arrhythmic beat he taps the table with. What does Steve Harrington have to be sad about? What on this Earth is there that he might want and can’t have.

“Maybe you just don’t know what you want?” It comes out as a question. A softening of an accusation though he hasn’t softened anything about himself in years. Except for his sheepies. And even then it’s a provisional softness.

“What do you want?”

Read the whole chapter on AO3 Now

[mysticstronomy]

WHERE DID ALL THE ANTI MATTER GO?

Blog#238

Saturday, October 22nd, 2022

Welcome back,

In 1996, Discover reported on a new experiment that would probe the far universe for signs of antimatter. These particles are theoretically identical in behavior to the ones we know, but with opposing electrical charges, among other differences.

Physicists’ theories about the Big Bang say there should have been equal amounts of matter and antimatter created during the event. But we live in a universe full of matter, with little antimatter in sight.

There are different explanations for this, including that all of the antimatter might just be too far away to see. The search for distant antistars and antigalaxies was the focus of our April 1996 article, “The Antimatter Mission,” which chronicled the genesis of an experiment called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS).

The experiment set out to measure cosmic rays to see if any of them came from antimatter.

The AMS has been running on the International Space Station since 2011, but it has yet to turn up much evidence for antigalaxies and the like. It could be that our universe is largely empty of antimatter, which poses another question: Where did it all go?

Scientists have long posited that slight differences in how matter and antimatter behave could have led matter to win out in the moments after the Big Bang.

But finding those asymmetries has proved difficult. Now, physicists with Japan’s T2K experiment have published data that move us closer to an answer.

T2K scientists are tracking a curious property of neutrinos, hard-to-detect particles that rarely interact with matter. Neutrinos change type, or flavor, as they travel — for example, muon neutrinos might turn into electron neutrinos.

The T2K experiment has been watching how both regular neutrinos and antineutrinos oscillate between flavors, and they’ve noticed there’s a slight disparity in how they behave.

Originally published on astronomy.com

COMING UP!!

(Wednesday, October 26th, 2022)

"CAN WE CREATE ANTIMATTER??"