Star Rail: The Aeon Hunters

[Warning: Mildly Explicit Sexual Content]

The first thing that Stella noticed when she woke up is the Herta Doll. It lies there unmoving on the bed, gazing blankly at the ceiling.

The next she noticed is March 10th sitting on her desk, writing something on a notebook.

"What are you writing?" Stella asked.

"Oh, this is my dream journal," March replied.

Stella tilted her head. "I see…" she tried to remember her dream and found nothing. "I can't even remember my dream…"

March twirled her pen. "That's great, you can write anything then,"

Stella opened her mouth, as if to retort. But she paused and sat down next to March. The girl wordlessly handed her an empty notebook and the Stellaron began writing.

The Stellaron wrote of the glory days when the universe was alright. She wrote dreams of colorful and vibrant world, full of life and flourish, full of death and mystery, full of hope and despair. She wrote a dream of another existence, back when the universe was not so empty. Back when fishes would swim through the cosmos, the stars danced with one another, and the dragons they make nests of glimmering stars deep in the void.

When finished, Stella turned to March. "What's your dream like?"

March's cheek reddens. "Oh, umm…" she glanced at her note, weigh her option, before quickly hiding it. "I had… Ummm… I hang out with Dan Heng,"

Something tells Stella that the content of that book is even more explicit than that.

"Anyway! Let's get out of here, we're gonna depart from the space station soon!" March said whilst packing up her notes.

Stella raised an eyebrow at that. "We're still in the Space Station? I thought we've already bailed out?" she asked her.

March shrugged. "I dunno, there must be a change of plans, since Madam Herta seems fine with us," she glanced at the puppet lying on the bed. "And Madam Herta said that she's going to send us a better puppet, so before we lost this one…"

The two looked at the doll, all sorts of thoughts running around their heads. From scientific curiosity to the unspeakable fantasy. The two wordlessly nodded at each other and began their inspection on the doll.

"The joints are very smooth, it's not clunky at all…" March muttered as she ran her fingers along the doll's delicate shoulder joint.

"The eyes are glass, like optics…" Stella noted, peering into the doll's purple eyes.

"The body is soft… It's like it made from stuffing rather than wood," March added as she gently squeezed the firm yet yielding flesh of the doll's thigh.

"Yes and the skin feels life-like…" Stella said breathlessly, caressing the supple artificial skin covering the doll's stomach, trailing her fingers down towards the delicate dip of its navel.

The two paused for a moment and looked at the doll's clothing - the frilly black coat and skimpy white dress barely covering its modesty. Stella gulped and turned to March, uncertainty and temptation warring in her eyes.

"You think we'll get in trouble for just a peek?" Stella asked.

March tapped her fingers. "Well, I mean, most likely there's nothing there, right? Why would Madam Herta add any anatomical details on her puppet? She made it for communication only right?"

Stella nodded and the two began undressing the doll. Bit by bit, they exposed more of the doll's creamy artificial skin. Their breathing quickened as they unveiled the doll's small breasts with their inviting pink nipples. Finally, they removed the last scrap of clothing, revealing the intricate folds and crevices of the doll's intimate places.

The details were immaculate. The doll's pussy looked snug and inviting, as if begging to be touched and explored. March and Stella gulped, burning the erotic sight into their retinas.

This raises so many questions. Why in the world would Madam Herta add this much detail into her dolls? Does she have any need for it? Is it for artistic purposes? 

"Wait, Stella, wait here…" March left the bed and bolted out of her room.

Stella gulped after being left alone with the naked doll spread out before her. She dreaded to think that the next person to open that door wouldn't be March. She looked back at the doll, drinking in the sight of its nubile feminine body, her eyes traveling down to its exposed nether regions with pure scientific curiosity...

The door slid open and Stella's heart caught in her throat. She turned around to find March tip-toeing into the room carrying a dark blue camera. "Shhh," she made a silent motion with her mouth. "Step aside, I'll take some pictures for… the archive."

And so, they documented their 'findings' on Herta's doll. From the joints, the face, the body, to the intimate close-up details of its most private places.

Once done, they scrambled to put the clothes back on the doll before anyone was the wiser, struggling to ignore how erotic the act of dressing the alluring figure felt.

"There, phew…" March sighed in relief once the doll was back to its regular clothed state. "Alright, nothing happened this morning, okay?"

"Okay,"

[LINE BREAK]

After the… Research, March and Stella left the room and to the captain's bridge of the Hyperion. There, they saw Dan Heng already sitting in the corner, reading a tome all cool like, while sipping on a cup of tea. He gave the two a short nod before returning back to his read.

At the end of the room, sat Welt on the captain's table with the new Herta puppet standing in front of him. The two seems to be discussing about all sorts of things. The former has a small smile on his face as he explained about strange complicated topics, whilst the latter has that excited spark in her eyes.

The latter then noticed March and Stella, who grimaced at the sudden attention.

"Ah, you're finally up, come, there's something very interesting I wish to discuss," said Herta. So far, she seems oblivious over what happened early this morning.

Stella bowed in front of her. " Good Morning Madam Herta! Sorry, for wrecking your space station the other day…" the urge to apologize was unbearable, but it has nothing to do with the space station.

"It's fine, it's fine, nothing I can't handle," Herta smirked and folded her arms. "Anyway, this is the new puppet I prepared for you and your journey. I can't promise you that I will be there the whole time, but this puppet is equipped with auto-battle function, so you don't have to worry about much when I'm around, ahaha!"

The turmoil of scientific curiosity made the two flinched. Stella quickly shook her head to banish the thought. "So, Mr. Yang, Madam Herta, where are we going next? What do the Trailseekers do, anyway?"

Mr. Yang nodded. "Ah, good question, let me brief you on our mission," he stood up and the window that shows the view of outer world behind him began to flicker. "It's quite simple, really, we wish to put the ingenuity and rationale of the human or sentient minds at the same level of Aeon and forces that be."

Stella's eyes widened. "You wish to turn humans into god-like beings?"

"No, no, I simply wish to put our current understanding of the universe at the same level as even the ancient and omniscient," he straightened his glasses. "I don't fancy the Aeon look down upon the mortals and how these Stellarrons mock our very understanding of reality. I wish to understand them, not fully, but until we are on the common ground even against the pantheon."

Stella nodded, she roughly understands what he meant. Though, it seems like a very tough road ahead.

"An admirable goal, isn't it?" Herta spoke. "To think that someone who were the closest into being a god would think so highly of the scientific pursuits and mortal endeavor," she folded her arms. "And I honestly want in on this little adventure of yours,"

So this is their goal, not only they are going to defy the odds, but also the Aeons themselves. Stella wondered what does that make of her, since she's a Stellaron unlike everyone else. Then again, March did say that the past isn't always set in stone…

"In any case, now that Madam Herta has lend us one of her battle-ready puppet, we can continue on with our journey," Welt stood up and the spaceship thrums into life. "Our next destination is Jarilo VI, our sources found evidence of Stellaron within the planet,"

Alright, the adventure is finally starting! Stella couldn't help but feel excited after hearing this. They promised them adventure after all. Despite not remembering anything, the prospect of a grand adventure does set a fire in her.

"Alright, we're going to do a jump!" March took Stella's hand. "Come on, let's find some place to sit down," she led her to sit down next to Dan Heng. "Your first adventure, fun isn't it?" she asked her.

Stella slowly nodded. "I look forward to it,"

"Great!" March put a hand around Stella and Dan Heng's shoulder, much to the latter's chagrin. "We're going to do so much fun! Those people at Jarilo VI have no idea what's coming for them! Ahaha!"

There was a whirlwind of light bursting forth from the windshield. Stars they danced in front of Stella's vision as the Hyperion made its way across the cosmos. The air feels heavy and she can feel her own body phasing in and out of existence.

Until finally, everything stopped. The three of them gazed out through the windshield to find a white snowy planet floating in the cosmos.

"It looks… barren," Welt muttered to himself. He pressed a few buttons on a console in the captain's bridge. "Hmmm, there's a concentrated point of life at the western part of the planet," he muttered. "We'll touch down in the snow plains nearby, get ready Trailseekers."

Stella watched with wide eyes as the view of the planet gets closer and closer until the white snow covers the entire windshield. She wondered just how cold this planet is and what sort of people she'll encounter here. The Abominable Snowman perhaps?