METAVERSE?!

Thank you for answering my question! I decided to include the Ruan Mei and Dr. Ratio questsline later. However, I don't want to interrupt the story, so they will be included as a side story/interlude before Penacony.

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[Stelle POV]

After I finished helping that lovely lady with that lever minigame, I decided to walk around and see all the cool things in the space station. 

Occasionally, I would see these strange white floating things in the corner of my eye, I tried to follow after them, but I kept losing them…

Later, I heard they were called Wubbaboos, and they were these astral spirits who caused mischief at the space station.

Along the way, I met with that lady named Himeko, who was talking to one of those dolls that Aster had handed me earlier.

I found out through the talking doll that I apparently had something called a Stellaron inside me? 

I guess it means I'm a bomb? I thought that was pretty cool…

Himeko seemed extra concerned, though, and made an extra effort to remind me that I was allowed on the space train.

Apparently, a person is inside those "Herta" dolls. That's what they call them. The doll spoke pretty frankly but also seemed shaken up for some reason. She offered to research the bomb in me and even asked me to test something for her. While telling me this, she kept looking behind me as if looking for something.

I had a sinking feeling it was related to earlier…but I didn't have the heart to ask.

After spending an hour messing with the free food robots that floated nearby and taking those cool portal toilets, I passed a man whose head was buried in one of those bushes.

He was basically engulfed in the bush as if he fell face first onto it and accepted his fate.

Surrounding him was a massive pile of various cell phones of different colors.

I walked over to the pile curiously.

'I had no idea there were that many different phone types!' I thought as I began to inspect the pile while the man was lying unresponsive, embracing Mother Nature. 

There was even a phone with a strange grey can with a lid on it! I thought that was fascinating and immediately pocketed it. After a few minutes, I made an area to sit as I sorted through the many phones, hoping to find more interesting ones. 

Curiosity piqued, I found myself pondering, 'Why does the space station leave so many free things lying around?...' This thought echoed in my mind as I slipped another phone with a pink, white, and blue star on the case into my pocket. 

Every so often, I stumbled upon these metal boxes filled with various treasures scattered along the space station's hallways. They were there for the taking, a simple tap away from revealing their contents.

As I delved into these boxes of free loot, I remember being taken aback by the sudden appearance of some of the researchers. They seemed to be 'chasing' after me, yelling something about their belongings?. 

'Perhaps they were fans who were grateful for the rescue…'

"..."

'Am I forgetting something?'

"..."

"Ah!" I hit my fist into my palm.

Looking back at the labcoat-wearing man who had half their body buried in the shrubbery, I decided that I should do my good deed of the day and rescue the poor soul.

As I tried to rescue the man cosplaying a bush, I realized something…

"..."

'Isn't this Aster?...'

-

-

He was drooling and muttering something about "masks." He kept twitching while muttering about there being so many masks. 

I positioned him to be standing as if he were some guy gazing at the sky. 

He stood there mumbling for another 5 minutes before twitching, and a weird white mask appeared on his face.

He then seemed to have woken up. He instantly took the mask off and started chuckling ominously with his back towards me. 

Ignoring his lapse in sanity, I tap him on the back to get his attention.

He turned to look at me before raising his hand with the white mask in the air.

"I REJECT MY HUMANITY! STELLE!" 

He shouted before putting the mask back on, arched his back, and spread his arms wide, screaming a shrill screech. 

"WRRRRRRRRYYYYY!"

[Ding]

I heard a ding sound effect, like a phone notification, coming from the mask, making him twitch before jumping on the table and doing a strange dance. 

He started to roll his arms over each other before raising his hands above his head and thrusting his hips.

I grabbed the "hammer" bat he gave me earlier to "have an anime moment" and immediately smashed him in the head with it.

He flopped over face-first off the table.

[Ding]

He raised his hand while still facedown on the floor, giving me a thumbs up. 

'He truly is a strange person…'

-

-

-

After a while, I managed to get Aster to semi-normal. Still, he wouldn't stop preaching his lessons about the "Dao of the Bat" as we walked the hallways. He would not remove the creepy white mask as we explored the space station. 

Whenever we came across a pile of boxes or a canister filled with a green or purple liquid, he would immediately run up to it and smash it with a chair. 

I would then hear a ding sound that started sounding a little too familiar as he started doing what he called his "gamer dance." 

Which was him moving both his arms in an odd fashion, which he called the "floss."

I could hear a faint laughter in the air, but I assumed it was just some of the researchers somewhere…

"..."

'I've given up at this point.'

I look at him as he is almost frothing in the mouth, staring at something in his hands.

'Maybe I should remove that weird mask… 

Then again, he is like this without it, so…'

Eventually, we made it to an area that looked a little different than usual as it was this office-looking room with a weird interface in the back. Next to it was another one of those "Herta" dolls; she watched as Aster and I walked into her office. She stared intently at Aster like a hawk as he strolled in. 

Aster, unfazed, surveyed the office, his attention drawn to the portraits adorning the walls. He retrieved a marker from one of his golden portals, his ridiculous mask still in place, while Herta's intense look remained.

Herta, her patience wearing thin, tapped her foot impatiently and continued to stare at Aster. In the meantime, he was busy defacing the portraits with mustaches and unibrows as a series of dings echoed ominously behind me. 

With a resigned sigh, Herta gave up on staring at Aster and began to explain her project to me. It was interesting as apparently she could simulate an entire universe and see screenshots of ancient history regarding Aeons. It was like this big video game that I could go into virtually and do whatever I wanted!

'She even offered to pay me to test it out!'

As she finished explaining how it worked, she put her hands on her hips before stating…

"I call it the Metaverse," She said proudly.

At that moment, a clack of a marker falling on the floor could be heard, causing me to turn around to look at Aster and only see him staring at where we were standing. 

Aster just stood there, his expression hidden behind that mask as he blankly looked at me while the constant sound of dings was heard.

Ding

Ding

Ding

Suddenly, a huge crash shook the ship, knocking me off my feet.

Sitting on the ground, I turn my head back towards Herta to only see…

"..."

An Anvil with the word Bat on the side?

"..."

'Did…Aster just drop an anvil on Herta?'

I immediately looked back at him in shock, as he had just pancaked the owner of the space station.

He just pulled a pair of sunglasses out of a portal before putting them on over his mask. 

He pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose, causing them to flash before a weird wind came out of nowhere. The wind blew his labcoat behind him, and a strange chorus of laughter was heard in the air.

"..."

"Take that Space Zuckerberg!" Aster said before extending his right arm and giving a thumbs down.

"..."

Ding

******

[Accessing Database]

[Welcome Admin]

[Asters Bat Log]

[Bat-4444 | Codename "Ribaundo"]

Description:

"The true bane to a gacha gamer" - Aster

Bat-4444, otherwise known as "Ribaundo," is a bat of the "Utility" class that Aster had kept on his person occasionally. This bat is approximately 5 cm long and is worn as a necklace around Aster's neck. The bat is of silver coloring with ancient Japanese Buddahistic symbols (Magatama) carved into its entire length. It is shaped like a classic baseball bat that has a chain necklace hooked through the handle. 

This bat was crafted by Aster in his home using various household appliances to forge this bat into what it is today. It is made from pure silver, which Aster had stolen from his goth neighbor next door while he wasn't home. 

Through a mysterious process, Aster managed to imbue this bat with abilities using methods unknown. When asked about this new piece for his collection, he only said that he wanted to "full counter" like an anime character.

This bat served as a barrier that blocked not only all physical attacks from hitting its user but also concepts such as destiny and luck. 

When something is sent towards Aster under the coverage of Bat-100, that ailment/attack/anything is immediately reflected back at equal, if not higher, force.

While it is powerful and can protect Aster from outside negative influences, it has its downsides.

For all intents and purposes, it is a wall that blocks both the good and the bad from affecting Aster. This means that good fortune and destiny's favor(plot armor) do not reach Aster.

That is why Aster does not always keep this bat equipped, as it can affect his gacha roles or make it hard to eat (junk)food. Even feelings of affection directed at Aster would instead get neutralized by the bat, completely deleting the idea of liking Aster from the people it affects. 

Aster is reluctant to use it and views its creation as a mistake. He feels that he got caught up in the hype and made it a tad too powerful in the process.

This is why the Bat is an emergency-only tool and a sign that if he is wearing it, something has genuinely gone awry.