Sylvia wasn't in a hurry to test out this seemingly rather useless skill.
Mainly because she didn't have any old photos on hand—the pictures in her phone were all taken recently. Even if she read them, it'd be hard to judge the results.
Better to wait for a chance later.
Truth be told, Sylvia couldn't really think of any use for this thing at the moment.
It felt like she might need another skill or two to pair with it before anything decent would come out of it.
Just as Sylvia, bored out of her mind, was considering whether to chat with Acheron for a bit…
Firefly suddenly sent a message:
[Firefly: Hey, it's me, Firefly.]
[Firefly: I heard from Silver Wolf about what happened today. Are you still on the space station? Didn't run into any trouble, I hope?]
[Firefly: [(づ> v <)づ♡]]
Seeing Firefly reach out with concern on her own, Sylvia couldn't help but let a smile slip.
[Sylvia: No trouble at all. The attackers weren't a large force.]
[Sylvia: But… I can't help feeling you're a lot chattier over text now. At the start, you'd just send stickers.]
[Firefly: Glad you're okay, hehe. Before, I was always inside SAM—fingers were too thick to type easily.]
[Firefly: Thanks to you, I can walk around freely outside now. There's so much I want to tell you~ Hehe, I've already planned our next date.]
Sylvia felt a mix of surprise and warmth.
Well, that's just how it is for someone with so little romantic experience. She could handle Silver Wolf's chattering or Kafka's rational, restrained style just fine.
But being hit with such a straightforward, cute approach from someone like Firefly? That was hard to resist.
Especially when that girl could even hold up a transformation device and shout 'transform!'
There was just no saying no to that.
[Sylvia: Can I ask where we're going?]
[Firefly: Hehe, it's a secret~ Silver Wolf teased me last time for our date being too plain, so I put in a bit more effort this time. Just look forward to it, okay?]
[Sylvia: Alright then, I'll look forward to it.]
Even though Sylvia knew Firefly's idea of a 'date' probably didn't carry any romantic undertones…
The wording itself was just too ambiguous—it was hard not to read into it.
And also.
How come Silver Wolf seemed pretty close with Firefly?
Was it because she was easier to approach without the armor on?
Sylvia sometimes wondered what the Stellaron Hunters were like back at their own base.
From what she could tell so far, the personas they showed to the outside world seemed to shift in subtle, intriguing ways when they were among themselves.
Of course, Sylvia couldn't be sure if that was just 'stereotyping' caused by all those silly fan interpretations she'd seen.
[Firefly: Oh, right. I've been trying to make some desserts by hand lately.]
[Firefly: Doing it through the mech before and making things with my own hands now feel completely different. Too bad what I make doesn't taste very good yet.]
[Sylvia: Take your time. You'll get the hang of it.]
--+--
Over on the other end of the phone, Firefly shared all sorts of little everyday things with Sylvia.
It was kind of… like a bird let out of its cage—maybe a bit too energetic.
For instance, she'd spent three days switching beds to compare how it felt to sleep in hers, Silver Wolf's, and Kafka's.
And concluded that Silver Wolf's bed was softer.
So she went and bought the same mattress Silver Wolf used.
Even though most of Firefly's rest time was still spent inside her own medical pod.
Or another example:
The first dessert Firefly tried making was an oak roll cake.
But obviously, aside from herself, no one else among the Stellaron Hunters considered that thing 'dessert.'
Silver Wolf, having reached her limit, materialized a recipe book and shoved it at Firefly, telling her to make something a normal person could eat.
If Sylvia didn't know Firefly was the famous 'Stellaron Hunter SAM,' she might have mistaken Firefly for a sweet, slightly goofy, ordinary girl.
But then again, that wouldn't be entirely wrong.
To her, 'SAM' was just a weapon. But 'Firefly' was a girl.
The two weren't separate, but they'd never overlap either.
And what Sylvia meant to Firefly…was probably that a lot of those little thoughts belonging only to 'Firefly' would be shared with her.
As for Sylvia, she didn't mind listening to Firefly's everyday chit-chat at all.
If anything, from all these rambling stories, she could almost picture Firefly's adorable expressions.
And just then…
Stelle, lying beside her, finally woke from her deep sleep.
Her eyes slowly opened.
Sylvia turned her head, meeting Stelle's dazed gaze.
"You're awake? How are you feeling?"
After saying that, Sylvia glanced down at her phone again.
[Sylvia: Stelle seems to be awake. I'll go check on her.]
[Firefly: Go ahead, go ahead~]
[Firefly: [(づ> v <)づ♡]]
[Sylvia: [(づ> v <)づ♡]]
Sylvia sent back a heart emoji too before putting her phone away, turning to Stelle who was rubbing her head, still looking out of it.
"…Is this the space station? Did you wait here for me?"
Stelle propped herself up, looking at Sylvia beside her.
"The crisis at the space station is over. I didn't have much to do, so I stayed with you. If you can walk, I'll take you to see Himeko."
Stelle nodded.
She felt a bit lost and uneasy now. The incident was over… so where should she go?
And in her memory, when Kafka was giving her instructions, Sylvia had been standing right behind Kafka.
Did Sylvia know something? Or know where she should go?
Thinking this, Stelle spoke up:
"…Um, do you know what I should do next? And… what do you know?"
Sylvia was a little surprised by the question but quickly remembered the system's evaluation of Stelle.
So she took Stelle's hand, helping her to her feet.
With a smile, she said:
"You still seem a little dazed, but that's alright—I was planning to talk to you about this anyway."
"Oh… thanks?"
Stelle tilted her head, thanking Sylvia.
"Let's talk while we walk."
Sylvia led Stelle straight to find Himeko.
"Do you remember what's inside your body?"
"Vaguely? What is it?"
Stelle only remembered there was something inside her, but she didn't really understand what.
Sylvia gave a simple explanation and also mentioned Herta's involvement.
"…Most members of the Genius Society are quite arrogant and self-centered. About this matter, you can ask the navigator of the Astral Express."
"As for Kafka… honestly, I don't know much about their plan. I just know she'll come find you eventually. Don't worry too much."
After listening to Sylvia's explanation, Stelle suddenly blurted out:
"What about you? Which side are you on?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.