Touch her back?
The moment the words left Herta's lips, Bai Ming's mind became a battlefield of frantic calculations.
Initial Hypothesis: Why would she propose this?
Three potential vectors identified:
1. Juvenile curiosity – a child exploring boundaries.
2. Genuine physical interest – she actually wants contact.
3. A psychological gambit – she's betting I lack the nerve.
Running diagnostic...
Vector 1: Juvenile Curiosity.
Probability: Low.
Bai Ming's eyes scanned Herta's form,held so easily in her arms. Her earlier exchange with Himeko suggested a peer, perhaps even a senior. The "child" classification didn't fit the data.
Vector 2: Genuine Interest.
Probability: Also Low.
If such inclinations were present...
Her gaze flickered to Himeko,a vision of mature elegance wouldn't a gentle, experienced partner be the statistically superior choice? A mental image flashed: Himeko's hands, a soft whisper near her ear...Heh. Not an unpleasant scenario. The inverse would be even more optimal, of course. Hehehe...
Abort tangential data streams! Focus on elimination!
With considerable mental effort, she purged the second vector from her active processing queue.
Conclusion: When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable. Only one hypothesis stood.
She's testing my resolve. She thinks I won't dare.
A spark of indignation flared in Bai Ming's chest. She's underestimating me. I was a seasoned veteran of cheek-pinching and hypothetical cuddling long before she arrived!
...Wait.
Operative word: 'hypothetical'. Actual March 7th chest contact remains uninitiated.
Irrelevant!
The core principle remains: I cannot be perceived as weak!
The thought solidified her will. "Fine!" she declared, her voice gaining a competitive edge. "You're on! I'm not scared! First one to make a noise is the little dog!"
"Oh?" Herta's lips quirked into a faint, knowing smile. "I do hope you'll remember you said that."
"My memory is perfect! It's you who should be worried about forgetting!" Bai Ming shot back. She then turned a suspicious eye toward Himeko. "And Miss Himeko! Why do you look like you've been fighting a smile this entire time?"
"Well, you see—" Himeko began, her amusement evident, but Herta raised a hand, cutting her off.
"Silence, Himeko. Don't interfere." Herta's gaze was fixed on Bai Ming, analytical and cool. "This is a stability assessment. You won't obstruct the parameters of the test, will you?"
"This is..." Himeko glanced between the girl in Bai Ming's arms and Bai Ming's determined face, a slight crease forming on her brow. Finally, she yielded with a soft sigh. "Alright, I understand. Little Bai Ming, just..."
"Worry not, Miss Himeko!" Bai Ming cracked her knuckles with theatrical bravado. "I'll have this resolved in two seconds! Tops!"
"Confidence is a poor substitute for capability," Herta remarked dryly. "Flat-chested brat."
And with that, Herta leaned her head against Bai Ming's chest. However—true to her word—her focus was purely clinical. It was the Stellaron within that held her attention. She pressed her ear firmly against Bai Ming's breastbone, her expression shifting to one of intense, scientific concentration.
Were it not for the deeply compromising nature of their position, Bai Ming would have assumed she was listening for a faulty engine.
"Fascinating stability," Herta murmured, almost to herself. "The readings are remarkably consistent."
Then, she escalated the experiment. Her hand slipped coolly and deliberately beneath the fabric of Bai Ming's shirt.
Bai Ming jolted. "Hey! You—!"
"I established the rules: reciprocal data collection." Herta's hand remained, a dispassionate sensor. "Therefore, reduce auditory output and increase tactile input."
Bai Ming sputtered, utterly floored. For the first time in her life, she was on the back foot in a battle of feminine wits! This was no amateur; this was a master tactician.
Fine! If she wants a war, she'll get one!
The room is secure. No external witnesses.
Hehehe. Let's see how she handles fingers tempered by a Level 60 Traveler's resolve and a Level 88 Captain's dexterity!
But, the moment Bai Ming launched her counter-offensive, her tactical assumptions shattered.
Herta was petite. Holding her confirmed it; she was conveniently portable. By all established laws of anime and cute-girl physics,she should have been soft, pillowy, and yielding. Failing that,she should have been the type to well up with tears at the slightest provocation. Otherwise,what was the evolutionary purpose of such cuteness?!
A creature of Herta's caliber should feel like embracing a plush toy filled with premium memory foam—delightfully soft and profoundly comforting. Her scent should be a delicate bouquet of lavender and cotton candy,a single inhalation capable of curing anxiety and guaranteeing pleasant dreams.
This was the sacred doctrine of Moe Thermodynamics! Bai Ming was a cardinal of this faith!
The entity known as Herta was a heresy against this natural order. Her synthetic skin was impeccably smooth,a marvel of tactile engineering. But! Why is my finger tracing the grooves of a Phillips-head screw?
Yes!
Not a metaphorical fixture, but a literal, standard-issue screw! And if she applied rotational force in a counter-clockwise direction...it began to loosen.
???
Bai Ming's face perfectly mirrored the iconic 'Blinking White Guy' meme.
"Cease unscrewing my maintenance ports," Herta stated, her voice devoid of alarm. "Or I will initiate a... system recalibration."
"Guh—!" A flush of pure mortification heated Bai Ming's face.
In high-level combat, a single exchange is often all it takes to gauge an opponent's strength. Her chassis is non-standard, but her tactical knowledge in this field is vast.
Has she been running combat simulations for this specific scenario?! I'm outclassed!
"Truce! I yield!" Bai Ming cried out, admitting defeat.
"Verbal confirmation of subordinate status is required. Emit a canine vocalization."
A wise general knows when to surrender to preserve their forces. Swallowing her monumental pride, Bai Ming let out a tiny, defeated, "Woof~"
"You actually complied. Interesting data point." Herta's tone lost a fraction of its edge. "Now, re-secure the chest plate fastener and return me to a standing position. I need to confer with Himeko."
"R-right away." With trembling fingers, Bai Ming carefully twisted the screw back to its original position and set the small genius down.
Yet, more than humiliation, a profound and bewildering curiosity consumed her.
Why does a girl have threaded mounting points?
She was familiar with various body modifications,.but "industrial fasteners" was a new category.
The mere thought of the installation process...Bai Ming shuddered.
The structural integrity defies conventional biology! Is this some kind of [Space Station: Become Machine] scenario? Is the Herta unit before me a sophisticated automaton?
Herta, likely fully aware of the diagnostic chaos in Bai Ming's head, offered no explanation. She strode over to Himeko. "Himeko. Report. Did the subject sustain any significant cranial impacts during transit?"
"Cranial impacts?" Himeko's arms were crossed, her expression now one of mild curiosity.
"Clarification: Was her head compressed in a hydraulic door? Struck by the rear hooves of a Trampler? Any event that might explain the anomalous readings?"
"This is... a peculiar line of inquiry. Why do you ask?"
"Priority: Answer the query."
"No doors were involved, to my knowledge," Himeko replied, tapping a thoughtful finger to her chin. "However, according to little March's mission logs, she has interfaced with several high-velocity projectiles using her facial region. Trampler arrows among them."
"Hypothesis confirmed." Herta nodded slowly. "The unit is damaged."
"Is the damage critical?" Himeko pressed, a note of genuine concern entering her voice.
"Negative." Herta shook her head. "Core systems are operational within expected parameters. If anything, the lack of significant malfunction is the primary anomaly. There is, however, one notable deviation..."
"Yes?"
"My scans detected an... echo. A foreign signature that does not correlate with any known universal constant." Herta's eyes slid toward Bai Ming, who was still staring into the middle distance, questioning reality. "Beyond the Stellaron, her system contains an unregistered variable."
"Should we attempt to isolate it?"
"Unnecessary. It may be a dependency for her core functionality. Like spaghetti code that should crash the program, yet somehow makes it run. Debugging it is not my objective." A ghost of a smirk touched Herta's lips. "Operational status: Nominal. That is the only relevant metric."
"Your pragmatism is as refreshing as it is terrifying, Herta," Himeko remarked with a wry smile.
She was interrupted by a frantic tug on her sleeve. Bai Ming was clutching her arm, pointing a trembling finger at Herta.
"M-Miss Himeko! This is a critical error! Her hardware has exposed screw threads! Explain!"
Clearly, her internal logic processors had failed to compute a solution. She had resorted to querying the primary user.
Taking one look at Bai Ming's utterly lost expression, Himeko finally broke. A soft, melodic laugh escaped her, and she covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking for a long moment before she could speak. "Herta, I think you need to clarify the situation. Otherwise, I suspect we'll be dealing with this query on an endless loop."
"A faulty processor will always generate faulty output." Herta placed her hands on her hips, a gesture comically at odds with her youthful frame. "The chest plate is underdeveloped, and the central processing unit is clearly defective."
"D-don't insult my hardware!" Bai Ming protested, poking her index fingers together. "I was running a full diagnostic!"
"Cease the submissive posture. It does not compute into pity." With that, Herta efficiently rolled up her sleeve. Beneath the flawless synthetic skin, the polished gleam of a mechanical joint was unmistakable.
"Processing the data now, brat?" Herta indicated the joint with a tilt of her head. "This is merely one of my available avatars."
"An avatar! It all makes sense now!" Bai Ming's eyes widened in revelation.
"Hmph. The data is indeed remarkable," Herta mused, her gaze analytical. "To contain a dormant Stellaron and avert planetary catastrophe, I engineered an entire celestial facility..." Her eyes locked onto Bai Ming. "...Yet an unknown third party achieved a similar outcome using this off-the-shelf organic chassis. Query: What was the development methodology?"
"...You'd have to file a ticket with the original developer. My mom."
"Your... 'mom'?" Herta's head tilted in genuine processing confusion.
"Ah, I mean, the source code is inaccessible!" Bai Ming amended quickly.
"The stabilizing factor appears to be internal," Himeko interjected, gently placing a hand on Bai Ming's chest. "The Stellaron's energy signature remains contained. The platform incident seems to have been an unscheduled stress test."
"Affirmative." Herta clicked her tongue. "This unit's baseline configuration is... irregular."
"Hey! My form factor is perfectly standard!" Bai Ming retorted.
"Ha." Herta reached out and gave Bai Ming's chest a light, diagnostic tap. "Observe the minimal surface profile. Compared to this avatar, your specifications are decidedly compact. State your manufacturing date."
"But your current model has no profile at all!"
"Incorrect. I possess schematics for numerous superior forms." Herta stood proudly, hands on hips. "I could generate a comparative analysis that would demonstrate a statistical significance so vast it would crater your self-esteem, you flat-chested prototype."
The insult sailed past Bai Ming's ego, but a single piece of data embedded within it triggered a high-priority alert in her mind.
"You have a 'Big Sister' model in your asset library?!"
"Naturally. Its specifications exceed even Himeko's baseline measurements." Herta's voice dripped with proprietary pride.
"Priority request: Please initiate the rendering sequence! I need to see it!"
"Request denied."
"Aww—!"
Himeko could only sigh in amused resignation. "Why am I being used as a benchmark in this absurd comparison? I have no interest in such trivial metrics. Though I must concede, Herta, your current avatar does present a significantly younger visual profile than our little Bai Ming."
"Axiomatic. My design prioritizes perpetual optimization." Herta stated it as a simple fact.
"Kinda gives off 'Eternally 17' legacy code vibes..." Bai Ming muttered under her breath.
"Query restated: Who are you designating as 'legacy code'?"
"No one! Null response! I was performing a system purge!"
Herta's glare promised a future software update full of bugs, but she let it go. "Irrelevant. Your subjective analysis holds no value. Primary objective:" Her focus returned to Bai Ming. "...Little Bai Dog."
"Hey! Invalid designation! I am not a 'Bai Dog'!"
"The designation is accurate based on prior audio output. You emitted a canine vocalization pattern. Are you attempting to overwrite logged data?" Her eyes glinted with a mischievous light. "Or would you prefer the classification: Trash Mob
"You..." Bai Ming's teeth ground together.
Analysis: Confirmed Bratty Girl) archetype. No—Bratty Old Woman!
Threat Assessment: High.
Objective: If operational parameters allow, administer a comprehensive defeat, forcing a surrender state!
Just as Bai Ming was drafting the battle plan in her mind, Herta delivered her next line, and it caused Bai Ming's entire system to stall.
"Proposal," Herta said, her tone deceptively casual. "Remain here. At the space station."
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A/n: Hey over on my patreon there are currently two for the time being exclusive books which are
Life Simulator: Starting in Genshin Impact!
Zenless Zone Zero: Loving Daily Life Starting in New Eridu
patreon.com/deadlygoober