"Of course, you can," Tian An replied. She seemed to have rediscovered the motivation that drove Theresia – seeing others interact with such endearing warmth was truly heartening.
"From now on, you can call me Little March or March 7th, whichever you like," March 7th chirped.
"Just call me Theresia," Tian An nodded. Although she wasn't sure if using someone else's name was appropriate, she felt Teacher Xiao Te would understand. Right?
"So, what do we do with this thing?" Welt tapped the large pod resting on the floor with his cane.
"Hmm... Is there no space on the train?" March 7th pondered for a moment.
"There is, but not much. There's a storage room on the second floor of that carriage over there, but it's mostly filled with miscellaneous train supplies we don't usually use," Himeko answered.
Storage room... she must mean the room that belongs to a certain grey-haired individual later on. That place is indeed quite large. Still, before the official event happened, grey-hair actually slept on the floor... Quite the character.
"Speaking of which... finding a room for Miss Theresia seems a bit tricky too," March 7th suddenly remembered they hadn't chosen a room for Tian An yet.
"It's okay, no rush. Until we clear out space for things, Miss Theresia can stay with Little March for now," Himeko proposed. She could see March 7th was very willing to interact with this girl who had an older-sisterly aura.
"No problem for me!" March 7th answered almost instantly.
"Um... Regarding this pod... I have an idea," Tian An slowly raised her hand.
"Oh? Let's hear it."
———————————————————
And so, when the Astral Express started moving again, a white tail trailed behind the very last carriage, drifting along the tracks, even sporting the same kind of trailing effect as the train itself.
Tian An sat quietly on the sofa in the main hall, gazing out at the starry sky.
The others were occupied with their own tasks. March 7th was playing chess with Dan Heng, Welt was studying some kind of blueprint, and Himeko seemed to be tinkering with the coffee machine.
Pom-Pom... wasn't seen. No idea where he was ().
Her second night aboard the Express was approaching, and one question kept circling her mind.
Just what was the energy that light sphere had given her?
She could clearly feel the power surging within her body. She replayed her entire previous life in her mind but couldn't recall possessing any special abilities.
Could it be? Was I destined to be hit by that truck, only to be granted immense power by some mysterious system?!
...
Forget it. Such a cliché plotline is best left to imagination. After all this time, the only conversations inside Tian An's head were with herself.
Perhaps... after my soul transmigrated, my leftover body was modified and launched by Earth to communicate with aliens in the cosmos?
The more Tian An thought, the weirder it got. If she kept going down this path, time travel theories would probably be next.
"Strange..." Tian An stood up and walked to the window, staring intently at the faint glimmer emitted by the distant stars.
"Why are those three stars still there?" Tian An placed her hand on the windowpane, wondering.
Ever since waking up in March 7th's room, she had continuously seen those three stars fixed in the same position. The structure of the current starfield also looked very similar to the previous one.
Haven't they noticed?
Tian An turned to look at them. No one showed any sign of abnormality.
"Could it be..." The anomaly in the sky coincided with the appearance of a pod, and the person inside the pod was connected to her.
Could March 7th and the others not see the anomaly in the stars?
"Sis Himeko, where have we traveled to?" Tian An decided to ask.
"Traveled? I remember..." Himeko walked over to the holographic projection table and began checking the train's current location.
"That's not right. Why is the train still in the same place?" Himeko looked puzzled. According to the star chart, the train's current position was only a tiny distance away from where it was last night.
Even a human spacecraft could have flown further in this amount of time.
Before Tian An could respond, the train suddenly lurched. The starry sky outside the window ripped open like a tear in a film. The area where the glowing stars had been turned into pitch darkness. Then, the entire starfield began to be consumed by a fiery red light, as if incinerated. This light grew larger and larger, spreading to every corner before vanishing completely.
In its place was a completely different vista of space, with a totally new layout.
At least those three stars were gone.
"It seems... this is the real appearance of the starfield we've traveled to," Tian An murmured to herself.
The situation just now felt very much like the train had been caught in a repeating loop of space, with those inside completely unaware. The train kept traveling in circles within the same repetitive space until someone noticed, breaking the cycle.
This space... it must have manifested shortly after the train initially departed.
"Sis Himeko, how is it now?" March 7th also leaned in to look at the navigation chart.
"The route has normalized, but we still haven't traveled very far," Himeko replied, looking at the screen.
"We didn't even notice..."
"Um... I noticed," Tian An raised her hand. "From the time I woke up until just now, there were three stars always in the same position. They never moved." Tian An pointed towards a patch of darkness outside the window where the three closely clustered points of light had been moments ago. Now, there was nothing.
"Three stars? How come I didn't see them?" March 7th rushed to the window, following the direction Tian An pointed, and searched her memory.
"That's not right. Although I don't stare at the sky constantly, I do remember the general positions of the stars. I've never noticed three stars clustered together like that."
So, this space deliberately created an illusion for them... Then why could I see through it...?
Tian An was puzzled.
Tian An was thinking.
Tian An's brain stalled.
Surely those three stars couldn't be the home of certain three-surnamed people? Since when could the dehydrated ancestors show up here?
Absolutely impossible.
Then perhaps it was some kind of hint.
Seeing Tian An lost in thought again, March 7th had no choice but to wave her hand in front of her face once more.
"Uh... Theresia?"
"Hm? I'm fine, don't worry."
Tian An often tended to tune out her surroundings when deep in thought...
This was likely related to her incredibly rich inner life contrasted with her minimal real-world actions.
Hiss... Wait a minute, lowered perception?