Felicity was a rather interesting individual.
But only to the extent of being amusing.
When Felicity died, Herta's only regret would be losing an experimental subject who could fully cooperate without any concern for life or death.
Thus, when Felicity's heart stopped beating, Herta didn't pay it much mind, though an inexplicable sense of emptiness welled up within her.
Casually returning the "Cognito Invalidater" Codebuilder to the display cabinet, Herta shifted her gaze back to Felicity's corpse. She lowered her brows in thought, as if contemplating Felicity's final resting place.
The deliberation didn't occupy much of her time. After a brief consideration, she waved her hand and summoned an even larger display cabinet, then unceremoniously placed Felicity inside.
"A barely qualified Emanator—Slightly intriguing."
Herta muttered to herself, her eyes quickly losing their luster.
"Standby mode..."
...
System Time: 23:44:58.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!"
A blinding white light flashed, and a tremendous explosion reverberated throughout the entire space station. The powerful shockwave nearly struck several staff members, and the entire station visibly shuddered from the astounding blast.
Countless black-purple humanoid armors stormed into the space station, wantonly destroying everything in their path.
"Arlan, what's happening?"
In the master control zone, a pink-haired girl steadied herself against a nearby table, barely maintaining her balance. Frowning slightly, she dialed a number and asked with confusion, "Miss... Station Head Asta, it's the Antimatter Legion. For some reason, the station's defense systems suddenly failed. Those creatures blasted a hole in the station and swarmed in all at once."
"Immediately organize the staff to evacuate to the Master Control Zone. After all personnel have successfully evacuated, lock down elevator access. I'll go request support from others."
Asta slightly raised an eyebrow. She was clearly not dealing with this kind of situation for the first time and immediately issued instructions.
"Understood. I'll remind everyone to follow Station Head Asta's judgment."
"I mean all staff members. Defense Department personnel are also part of the space station's crew, Arlan. You should be careful too."
"It's fine. I have my own judgment."
Beep beep—
The call ended, leaving only the busy tone.
...
System Time 23:47:15.
A woman with burgundy ponytail was leisurely walking through the deserted space station. Surrounding her were countless corpses of Voidrangers, yet her demeanor resembled nothing more than an ordinary after-dinner stroll.
Beside her sat a petite girl with silver ponytail.
"What are you looking at, Silver Wolf? Haven't seen you this interested in something for a long time. Let me have a look too?"
The woman maintained her perpetually gentle smile, her dilated pupils carrying a soft warmth.
"Herta's toys - the 'Curio Catalog' collected by the space station. There are many interesting things inside."
As she spoke, Silver Wolf casually swiped away the floating holographic screen in front of her.
"Here, Kafka, look. In the room storing the Stellaron, there's another curio being contained."
"Oh? What is it?"
Kafka asked in a soft voice, almost like a kindergarten teacher guiding a child to talk about something that interested them.
"I don't know either. There are no records about it in the entire space station, which means that thing is very important to Herta. Aren't you curious about what it is? I'm quite interested in finding out."
ilver Wolf placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow as she replied.
Kafka's expression remained gentle, carrying a hint of indulgence. She crossed her arms, smiled, and nodded, saying, "Alright, let's go take a look while we're at it~ Where's the target location?"
...
Felicity's consciousness was submerged in pitch-black darkness.
Having fallen into this state, Felicity could roughly guess that she had once again failed to die.
Although her consciousness was temporarily sealed away somewhere, she remained fully aware—she just couldn't control her body.
This had happened once before. That time, Herta had attempted to directly annihilate her body, and her consciousness had similarly stagnated for several days. According to Herta, the authority of Abundance lingered even after her death, slowly reconstructing her body.
She wondered how long it would take this time.
Felicity brooded unhappily.
She didn't really like this kind of situation—it reminded her of when she first arrived in this starry expanse, unable to see anything, touch anything, or do anything.
Huh?
Felicity felt as though she heard something.
"There's an independent defense system... It seems that for Herta, the [Stellaron] isn't just any ordinary collectible. But I'm more curious—what's the deal with that body stored in the same room as the Stellaron?"
"Let's finish the mission first, then go check it out. Can you retrieve it?"
"Hmph, in the field of hacking, even a genius like Herta is no match for me."
"Alright, then I'll leave the preparation of the vessel to you~"
Someone... was talking?
Felicity trembled slightly.
"How much... does she remember?"
"At least she'll remember you."
"Hmph."
The latter's voice sounded noticeably more cheerful, and her tone grew even gentler.
"Time to wake up~"
The energy of the Stellaron finally erupted—though only for a moment, that moment still affected Felicity.
Felicity jolted awake.
"Ah, an unfamiliar ceiling."
Gazing at the display case surrounding her body, Felicity remarked with a sigh. She stretched lazily inside the case, then turned her gaze to the side.
A woman with wine-red hair pressed her palm against the chest of a gray-haired girl, while a silver-haired loli stood nearby, seemingly keeping watch for the woman.
"...Bullying?"
The thought inexplicably popped into Felicity's mind.
Her movements naturally caught the attention of Silver Wolf and Kafka.
"Kafka, look over there—the corpse... is talking?"
Silver Wolf's tone carried a hint of uncertainty. She looked curiously at Felicity, wondering if Herta had some strange fetish, hiding a person in the most heavily guarded area.
—Herta, the genius from the Genius Society, keeping a secret lover? Spreading this would definitely cause a sensation.
"Mm, Silver Wolf, could you trouble yourself to stall that girl for a while? I'd like to have a few more words with my little one—just a moment."
Kafka shifted her gaze to Felicity, only to look away again almost immediately. She made the request to Silver Wolf beside her, her tone carrying a sense of urgency.
"Got it. Well, I suppose it'll be a bit of fun for me, at least."
Silver Wolf nodded, genuinely intrigued by Felicity. She truly couldn't understand why Herta would hide a living girl in a dark room.
Elio's script hadn't mentioned any accidents occurring during the Stellaron implantation. If it wasn't in the script, it couldn't be important.
Silver Wolf confidently stepped forward.