15 Bubble

–Ting

"Whew we're finally here!"

March bloomed into a bright smile as she waited for the elevator to finally open and what awaited them was the appearance of the Master Control Room where all the people of the space station were currently at.

As Yuuto followed along he noticed its large open space and saw how despite its horde of researchers, the area didn't feel crowded at all.

The transparent ceiling showed the various stars shining above the station and how its colors seemingly blended with the dark space it occupies.

"Why does it always have to get this exciting?" As they continued to walk, Himeko closed her large suitcase and gently smiled at Yuuto, March and Dan Heng who approached her. "It's good that you guys are well."

"It was definitely a hassle with the amount of Antimatter minions just roaming around."

"I guess your little 'trip' was very eventful."

Himeko covered her mouth as she let out a small laugh recounting the amount of minions she had scouted with her drone as she was stuck in the Master Control Room.

"Yeah! They just wouldn't stop swarming us like a pack of locusts! Luckily we defeated them like a bug exterminator and helped everyone along the way."

March pushed out her chest in pride as she reminisced about her time to Himeko who was just silently listening with a smile.

As March was busy talking with Himeko, Yuuto felt a small tug on his sleeve and noticed that Stelle was looking at him while holding her stomach.

"Do you think there's food here..?"

"Food… I'm not sure but there might be some snacks lying around."

Yuuto also felt a bit hungry now that Stelle had mentioned it but considering their current location it wouldn't be a surprise to know that there was no food currently available.

"Ah! There's some non-perishable foods in the back storage here so I can quickly get some for you guys."

Arlan who overheard the conversation between the two, jumped up to offer his assistance as he remembered his lack of contribution during that earlier fight with the Trampler.

Offering a few supplies was the least he could do to help pay back his benefactors that lent a hand during the invasion.

"I will be back quickly after notifying Lead Researcher Asta of my arrival!"

Not letting Yuuto say another word, Arlan quickly parted from the group after greeting everyone including Himeko and went his way.

Himeko's eyes followed Arlan before landing onto Stelle who was standing next to Yuuto.

"It might have been a bit late to say but do you mind introducing me to this person over here?" Himeko held her usual gentle smile as she looked towards Stelle.

"Oh right. The person here is Stelle and she was someone who helped me during that time I was separated from these two."

Yuuto patted Stelle on the shoulder as he introduced her to Himeko and noticed how she nodded along to what he said.

"It's nice to meet you." 

"It's nice to meet you too. It is always nice to meet a new companion but the current situation is not one that I would prefer meeting someone under."

Himeko greeted Stelle's usual plain tone and ushered them to relax as they have been fighting for quite some time. Yuuto also thought this would be a good idea and wanted to see if he could find an area where he could sit.

"Himeko, I'm going to wander around a bit."

"Oh? Be sure to stay out of trouble alright."

"I'm not like March so you don't need to worry."

Yuuto waved his hand to dismiss Himeko's words and stuck his tongue out at March who was puffing her cheeks out in annoyance.

As he was about to leave he noticed a few strands of gray hair from the corner of his eyes and saw Stelle standing right beside him.

Their eyes locked with each other and Stelle tilted her head as she was wondering why he was staring at her.

"You don't want to rest?"

"I will, but I thought you would find a good spot."

"I see…"

He couldn't refute her words as he thought of sitting by one of the areas where there were seats.

"Alright let us find somewhere to rest then!"

"Yahoo."

Yuuto didn't question her any further and led the way with his fist raised upwards while Stelle followed beside him waving a similar gesture.

Himeko silently watched as they walked away and her eyes steadily followed Stelle, specifically her body.

"I'll leave her to him since it looks like Yuuto has a way to handle her. But I still need to be sure that the Stelleron inside of her doesn't go off…"

She quietly mumbled her thoughts as she realized the sort of bomb Stelle was holding judging by the potent energy she noticed radiating off her.

As part of the Astral Express, encounters with Stellerons were not something new but this was her first time seeing one being contained inside a person.

"Hopefully nothing bad happens."

***

"Finally a spot."

Stelle stretched her legs as she savored the feeling of finally sitting down after experiencing a few encounters that she would have not expected.

As they began to walk around various researchers approached the two as they had recognized Yuuto who saved them from when the Voidrangers first attacked at the Base Zone.

Stelle had to watch as Yuuto tried his best to handle himself through their hounding and after a couple of minutes of long talks, they were able to finally sit down.

"Don't slouch or else you're going to ruin your posture."

"Meh it's fine."

Yuuto waved a granola bar he had gotten from Arlan a few moments beforehand in front of Stelle who quickly devoured it once she had broken the packaging.

"It's tasty."

"I guess it really is judging by how you munched it down really fast." He opened his own package and took a bite himself.

A silence appeared between the two as they ate and Stelle who had finished her bar, looked towards Yuuto with a face asking for more.

"Here. You're going to choke if you keep on wolfing it down like that, you know."

"Thank you!"

A faint smile appeared on his face when he saw Stelle's golden eyes widen up in delight when she grabbed the bar in his hand and felt the need to eat his faster or else the ones that he had right now would quickly disappear.

"Hmm? Bright…"

"What's wrong?"

"What's that bright thing over there?"

Yuuto noticed how her gaze shifted past his shoulder and turned around to see what she was looking at. A bubble with the faint glow of multiple colors appearing within it was levitating by itself near a small corner.

'I think that's a memory bubble right?'

Trying to recall what this object was, Yuuto remembered this object as it had been one that was scattered throughout the Space Station when he explored it in the game.

From what he remembered it was a type of device that the Garden of Recollection would use to store past memories and make it easy to carry around.

There was an advanced form called a 'lightcone' which can carry more than just memories using the power of Fuli but that's where all his knowledge ends even with the memories he had gotten from the Memokeeper.

Yuuto quickly got up as he saw Stelle run towards the object without him and began to circle around trying to inspect every last inch of it.

"Nothing is happening?"

Stelle looked slightly confused when she touched the object and noticed how her fingertips were unable to pass through the exterior of the bubble's shell.

"Let me try too."

With him also lifting up his hand, Yuuto did the same movements like Stelle and just like her, his fingertips were unable to pass through.

'I could try this too.'

Yuuto used [Archive] and his arm shook slightly as he didn't expect the bubble to carry more than what he prepared for.

"It might be some sort of decoration. Like a sort of lamp... maybe.."

"Yeah I guess it's some sort of aesthetic to fit the station."

"Wouldn't something like a star fit much better than a glowing bubble?"

"Who knows, maybe the owner has some weird way of decorating."

Stelle mumbled to herself as she rubbed the exterior and felt its soft texture. Feeling disappointed that it wasn't something cool, she walked back to where they sat beforehand and leaned back.

Yuuto's eyes were still locked onto the bubble and he locked around to see if he could remember what type of memory it had based on the location.

"I'm near Herta's office…"

He tried to pull any information he had in his head but he drew a blank as this was an object he didn't really pay that much attention to in the game.

Yuuto sat down with Stelle and closed his eyes to explore this new memory and wondered if it would carry something that would be either interesting or helpful to him.