Warning: Contains spoilers for Dr. STONE Reboot: Byakuya
A one-volume spin-off series of the Dr. STONE manga reveals an unexpected ally waiting for humanity to come to space. Dr. STONE is a fairly new manga that only started its serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2017. The series is set three millennia after the present. Earth has been engulfed by a mysterious light, which turned all living beings on the planet into stone. After three millennia, an incredibly smart human being breaks out from the stone. Senku, the boy who got out of petrification, is a science genius. He possesses a vast amount of knowledge that allows him to re-create technology of the present from scratch.
Senku knows the exact time and date of his petrification's undoing, since he has been counting all throughout. With his mind, he manages to survive and experiment at the same time. Eventually, he also creates a solution that allows him to free other people from petrification. He's able to save his friend and gather more materials for another batch of medicine. But when they faced an unprecedented danger, they are forced to revive an infamously strong high schooler. They manage to escape the predicament, but have released a murderous villain. Senku has to pretend to be dead and part ways with his friends. That's when he finds a village that isn't from the past and is inhabited by people.
Dr. STONE Reboot: Byakuya, which is coming out on March 2, tells the story of the astronauts who left Earth the day before the petrification happened. Byakuya is Senku's father, albeit not by blood. Together with the other astronauts, he has seen how the petrifying light engulfed the Earth. He then convinces his comrades to return to Earth and build a human civilization that will hopefully help Senku rebuild civilization after he revives. That results to Ishigami Village, the village that did help Senku fight against his murderous enemy. However, the real highlight of this spin-off series is Rei, the robot the astronauts left in the International Space Station. Before going back to Earth, Byakuya tells Rei to take care of the ISS and wait for their return. That's what Rei does. It fixes the station using the available resources in space. What's more is that it manages to create a series of 3D printers, which further create a smaller version of the ISS and Rei. The day Rei wakes up again is exactly the day Senku also revives.
Byakuya's journey and legacy have already been explored on the original series, and Dr. STONE Reboot: Byakuya barely adds any new information. Rei, on the other hand, has only been mentioned in passing. Rei's adventures and hardships may not only be an entertaining read. It may mean something deeper. This may actually be a foreshadowing of Dr. STONE's ending. With a functional and possibly habitable ISS, Senku may actually achieve his dream of going into space.