Herta Space Station.
Outside one of the Curio collection rooms.
A tall young woman with pink hair opened the door and stepped inside.
She wore an elegant dress with intricate details, and her pale blue eyes looked clear and composed.
This was Asta, the Lead Researcher responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of Herta Space Station.
Yes.
The very same absurdly wealthy Asta whom Kai had been eager to meet.
A certain Emanator of Elation, watching from the shadows, was already close to tears.
Rich bestie.
Kai was hungry.
Please provide food and unlimited credit access.
Asta surveyed the collection room with a serious expression.
Not long ago, she had received a message from Herta.
One of Herta’s puppets had abruptly lost its signal, and Herta wanted Asta to investigate.
Asta immediately traveled to the puppet’s last recorded location.
“That is strange.”
“It is not in the main collection room.”
“Could it have malfunctioned inside the control room at the back?”
There were numerous Curio repositories throughout the station.
Each one had an attached control room where researchers catalogued and monitored the stored Curios.
Herta Puppet Number 91 had originally been stationed inside that control room.
Asta walked through a corridor lined with secured display cases and entered the room at the far end.
All the equipment remained in place.
The Herta puppet that should have been standing before the instruments was nowhere to be seen.
“That does not make sense.”
“The surveillance records show that Number 91 never left this room.”
“How could it simply disappear?”
Asta frowned.
She had never expected one of Herta’s puppets to vanish from inside Herta Space Station.
Before arriving, she had assumed that the puppet had merely suffered a technical failure and disconnected from the network.
Instead, the puppet itself was genuinely missing.
“Could someone have stolen it.”
The possibility suddenly occurred to her.
Asta slowly turned and examined the Curio collection behind her.
Every Curio remained exactly where it belonged.
None of the surrounding instruments appeared damaged or disturbed.
If a thief had entered the room, they would have ignored the priceless Curios.
They had also ignored the station’s advanced equipment.
They had taken only a single Herta puppet.
Silence.
That seemed highly unlikely.
Who would infiltrate Herta Space Station and take such a tremendous risk merely to steal one puppet?
It could not easily be sold.
Using it without Herta noticing would be nearly impossible.
What would anyone even do with it?
Asta quietly dismissed the idea of theft.
“Perhaps the surveillance network malfunctioned.”
“Number 91 may have left the room before breaking down somewhere else.”
“I will ask the station staff to keep an eye out for it.”
Asta did not consider the incident an immediate emergency.
She turned and began walking toward the exit.
What she failed to notice was the black-haired woman with twin ponytails who silently appeared behind her.
…
It was Kai.
During her recent tour of the IPC headquarters, Kai had conveniently acquired a personal terminal.
With the navigation system, she had quickly located Herta Space Station.
After wandering through the station and gathering information, Kai confirmed one important fact.
The Stellaron was still secured within the station.
That meant the Stellaron vessel had not yet awakened, and the main events had not begun.
The Astral Express could still be somewhere else in the universe.
Kai therefore decided to find her own entertainment aboard the station.
Her first contribution to station life was quietly borrowing one of Herta’s puppets.
The missing Puppet Number 91 was currently trapped in Kai’s arms.
Its purple eyes remained fixed on Asta as she walked toward the door.
Its mouth opened and closed repeatedly in a silent plea for help.
Herta herself was not remotely controlling it, but the puppet’s autonomous standby system was still highly intelligent.
It had recognized Kai as a threat and was desperately attempting to alert Asta.
Unfortunately, it could not produce a sound.
Kai had made sure of that.
She had also prevented the puppet from moving.
“I would love to introduce myself to the station’s walking treasury immediately.”
“But I cannot rush something this important.”
“Meeting Herta comes first.”
“If everything goes according to plan, this is going to be hilarious.”
“Hehe.”
The door closed behind Asta.
Only Kai and Puppet Number 91 remained inside the room.
Kai looked down at the puppet’s adorable face.
Her smile gradually became more suspicious.
“Hehehe.”
“Little Herta.”
“Please remain calm while Doctor Kai performs a very serious examination.”
Kai raised one hand and slowly brushed a finger across the puppet’s cheek.
Her fingers stopped beneath its chin.
She gently lifted its face and studied it from several angles.
The puppet stared at Kai in alarm.
This was bad.
It had been captured by a complete lunatic.
It wanted to escape, but its body refused to respond.
With no other options, it tightly closed its eyes and prepared for whatever ridiculous treatment Kai had planned.
However.
Nothing strange happened.
The puppet instead felt light pressure around its wrists and knees.
It cautiously opened its eyes.
Kai was poking one of its knee joints with a fascinated expression.
“This is incredible.”
“How does the joint move so naturally?”
“What material did Herta use?”
“Even the surface texture is remarkably convincing.”
Silence.
So she really was examining the puppet’s construction.
Number 91 quietly relaxed.
Apparently, Kai had only wanted to inspect its design.
That was indeed what Kai meant by an examination.
Calling it research might have been generous, since she understood almost none of the technology involved.
She was simply curious.
Puppet Number 91 was an extraordinary artificial body built using technology far beyond anything Kai had encountered in her previous life.
Naturally, she wanted to poke it.
After checking its wrists and knees, Kai stared at its face.
Herta’s puppets had supposedly been modeled after her younger appearance.
That meant the puppet’s cheeks were probably designed with exceptional attention to detail.
They looked extremely squishable.
Kai raised both hands with growing excitement.
Number 91 had only just relaxed.
The moment it saw Kai’s expression, alarm returned to its eyes.
So the danger had not passed.
Kai’s hands moved closer.
Then she gently pinched both of the puppet’s cheeks.
After confirming that they were indeed soft, Kai treated the puppet like an extremely expensive plush toy.
She hugged it.
She ruffled its hair.
She repeatedly squished its cheeks.
Puppet Number 91 stared blankly ahead.
Was that all?
Once it realized that Kai did not intend to damage it, the puppet completely relaxed.
Resistance was impossible anyway.
It might as well tolerate the indignity.
To be honest, being hugged by another woman was not the worst fate imaginable.
After calming down, Number 91 also noticed that Kai was remarkably attractive.
Perhaps sixty percent as charming as Herta herself.
That was still an impressive score.
From that perspective, this situation was not a total loss.
After thoroughly satisfying her curiosity, Kai finally released the puppet.
Its hair was disheveled, and its clothes had become slightly wrinkled.
“Can you let me go now?”
The puppet’s voice carried obvious exhaustion.
“Not yet.”
“I still need your help convincing the real Herta to appear.”
“The one with the pointed hat and the enormous ego.”
The puppet paused.
“Our help.”
“Wait.”
“What exactly are you planning?”
“Hush.”
Kai gently placed one finger against the puppet’s lips and gave it a playful wink.
“Good night, little Herta.”
The puppet’s vision went dark.
It lost consciousness.
Kai carefully placed it against the wall before turning her attention toward a distant section of the station.
“You are next, Madam Pointy Hat.”
“Hehe.”
◉◉◉◉◉
Save to library!