Astro (Herta) felt his cheeks burning. Fortunately, he was in a puppet body now, so no blush was visible.
He stiffly turned his head and met the shocked gaze of Arlan, who was wearing a security uniform at the corner of the corridor.
Arlan's small mouth hung open, her red eyes filled with
the daze and shock of "Who am I? Where am I? What did I just hear?"
She looked at Astro (Herta) and then subconsciously at the weapon in her hand, seemingly undergoing some difficult worldview comparison.
The air seemed to freeze.
Astro's brain worked at an unprecedented speed.
Explain? How could he explain? Say it was a system bug? Or that he was performing some kind of performance art?
No, that wouldn't work! The more he explained, the worse it would get!
He steeled himself and decided to fully commit to the persona of "Mr. Herta's perverted puppet"!
As long as I'm not embarrassed, the embarrassed ones will be others!
So, under Arlan's stunned gaze, Astro (Herta) once again raised that delicate but expressionless little face.
With an arrogant tone of "how could you mere mortals understand," he added another sentence to the empty corridor:
"Hmph! Lucky they ran fast! Otherwise, I would have made them personally experience Mr. Herta's world-shaking power!"
He even deliberately hefted the giant hammer in his hand, letting out a dull thud.
Arlan: "!!!"
She watched the purple-haired loli puppet dragging the giant hammer like a little God of War (or rather, a lunatic).
Walking with a swagger that suggested he answered to no one, he headed in the opposite direction, seemingly muttering
"Mr. Herta is both wise and brave... Mr. Herta is brilliant and resourceful..." and other such ramblings.
Not until that small figure carrying the giant hammer disappeared at the end of the corridor
did Arlan suddenly snap out of it and slapped her cheeks hard.
"Am I... am I too tired and seeing things?"
she muttered to herself, glancing with a complex expression in the direction Astro had left, then toward where Kafka and the others had gone.
Ultimately, she decided to attribute everything she had just seen to auditory and visual hallucinations caused by excessive stress.
It was terrifying. Mr. Herta actually had a loli puppet, and... it talked like that... It must be a programming error! Yes, that must be it!
She shook her head vigorously, temporarily sealing that bizarre image deep in her mind.
Gripping her weapon again, she ran toward the Master Control Zone; she was needed more there.
Meanwhile, Astro (Herta), having successfully scared off the witness,
immediately canceled the transformation once he turned a corner and confirmed no one was watching.
With a flash of light, he returned to his original form, sliding down against the wall to sit on the floor, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Damn, it's better to avoid this kind of embarrassing roleplay in the future... He rubbed his forehead, feeling more mentally than physically exhausted.
However, after this ordeal, he seemed to have become more proficient in using his cheat ability.
Leaning against the wall, before Astro could carefully consider how to stealthily collect more character icons,
a series of rapid and orderly footsteps approached from a distance.
"Survivor found!"
A fully armed Space Station security officer discovered him and immediately reported through the communicator.
At the same time, he and several teammates quickly approached. Although their weapons weren't pointed directly at him, they maintained a cautious stance.
"Identity confirmed. It's the survivor from Earth mentioned in previous reports, Astro."
Another security officer checked the information on the data pad.
Astro cursed his luck internally. He had just escaped a social death scene, only to be caught again.
He quickly raised his hands to show he was no threat:
"Don't be nervous, I'm one of you! I just escaped from over there..."
The leading security officer sized up his slightly disheveled but otherwise intact state and nodded:
"Mr. Astro, it's still dangerous here. Please come with us to the Master Control Zone evacuation area immediately. Station Master Asta is commanding from there."
Asta! Another familiar name!
Astro's heart stirred. He wondered what Asta would be like in this world?
And... the Master Control Zone sounded like a place where he could run into many key figures!
"Okay, okay, I'll go with you!"
He immediately acted very cooperative, even a bit eager.
Under the escort of several security officers, Astro passed through the still somewhat chaotic corridors and arrived at the relatively orderly Master Control Zone.
Inside the massive circular space, various holographic screens flickered with data streams.
Staff members bustled back and forth. Although the atmosphere was tense, everything seemed to be running in an orderly fashion under some command.
His gaze was immediately drawn to the figure in front of the central command console.
It was a male who looked very young, even possessing a bit of a boyish air.
He wore an exquisitely tailored white command uniform of fine material. The epaulets and sashes complemented his tall and upright figure.
He had neat pink short hair and a clean, handsome face.
At the moment, he was frowning slightly, focused on listening to a subordinate's report.
Meanwhile, he quickly issued commands on the floating light screen, his every move exuding a steadiness and competence that belied his age.
Asta... Young Master?!
Astro's lips twitched slightly. As expected, this rich lady of the Space Station... no, rich guy Station Master, had also not been spared the fate of being gender-swapped.
The security officer brought him near the command console and saluted Young Master Asta while reporting:
"Station Master, survivor Astro was found in the B7 sector corridor and has been brought here safely."
Asta looked up, his bright eyes turning toward Astro, scanning him quickly.
He nodded and said in a gentle tone:
"Good work. Mr. Astro, please rest in the nearby safety zone for now. Do not wander around; I may need to gather some information from you later."
Damn, this kid... is actually pretty handsome.
Astro muttered to himself, while on the surface, he nodded obediently:
"Alright, Station Master, I'll definitely cooperate."
He was guided to a safety zone partitioned off with temporary dividers next to the command console.
Here, some shaken clerical and non-combat personnel were either sitting or standing.
Astro found a spot in the corner and sat down.
His gaze, however, seemed glued to Asta in front of the command console as he thought about how to activate the new character entry.
How should I touch him? Should I just rush up, hug his leg, and shout "Station Master is awesome"? I'd probably be taken down by security on the spot... Pretend to trip and fall toward him? The floor is so clean it reflects light; a fall would look way too fake... Wait for him to come over and ask with concern, then "accidentally" touch him?
But he looks so busy he barely has time to breathe, how would he have time for me... Various unreliable plans flashed through his mind, but his eyes were fixed on Asta's hand wearing a white glove.
Those gloves look like they have a nice texture... I wonder if touching him through the gloves counts?