Song of the Void

"The Cybrans are in many ways considered the ‘always a bridesmaid but never the bride' faction of humanity. They are nearly always compared either to the Tetrarchy and the Illum and found wanting. They have less technological advancements than the Illum, though their advances in AI and cybernetics put them above the Tetrarchy. They are the second most commonly seen faction, as the Illum tend to be much more insular while the Tetrarchy thinks of itself as the major player on the galactic stage when it comes to humanity. When thinking of the factions that splintered off the Tetrarchy, everyone always thinks of the Illum first, as they were the first and have actually managed to successfully wage war on their old overlords. The Illum culture and customs are also rather memorable and eye-catching in comparison to the Cybrans that are less of a singular community and more of a collection of a wide array of individuals.

“The Cybrans do have their strong points though. Despite everything, they are perhaps the most welcomed faction of humanity, simply because they often trade with other races. Their rampant use of AI earns them no favors, but on the other hand, the other races are happy to turn to them when they have a problem that only an AI can solve. They are also one of the groups on the leading edge of integrating cybernetics with organic matter, though some races can give the Cybrans competition in that field. One of the most interesting details about the Cybrans is their reliance on large city ships as their main source of habitation instead of colonizing planets. They still use planets for resources and food, but the majority of their population lives in space."

- High Ambassador of the Mrrroww

--------

”Forgive me if this seems like an impertinent question, but I’m guessing quite a lot of what follows after this depends on us taking you at your word.” The science officer Nochehuatl stated. “You made a few statements that would be rather hard to believe under normal circumstances. Now, the fact that we are on a ship that looks quite a lot like what we know about the Progenitor’s vessels, makes things easier to swallow. Nevertheless, it would put all our minds at ease if you could prove your words. Knowing that we are truly in the presence of a living Progenitor would make anything else rather trivial to believe.” He was personally rather convinced of Selendil’s nature, mostly because he wanted to believe, but felt that it was his job to ask such questions.

His words received slight murmurs and gestures of agreement from the others, though Amaterasu frowned with displeasure at their lack of faith. “I have no need to prove myself to anyone," Selendil stated calmly. “Nor do I feel inclined to do so. Something like that would also be exceedingly complicated to prove under normal circumstances. However, if you give it just a bit of thought, I’m sure you can figure out a way to confirm things on your own.”

“The Haven.” Moonshadow suddenly stated. “The station turned control of the entire place over to you immediately upon arrival. Of course it would do so considering you’re part of the race that built the station in the first place. The station’s AI is also the only intelligent…thing old enough to remember your kind, so its words are also the most reliable. I doubt just anyone could hack an AI created by the Progenitors either. We can ask the station for confirmation later, but I think we can proceed under the assumption that the station will confirm your identity.”

Her words seemed to convince the others. They were about to burst with questions, but Lilly once again stepped forward and cleared her throat after receiving a silent signal from Selendil. “Grhm, I was given certain instructions before this meeting, though they are becoming clear only now. I was told that once it was time for questions, you could each ask one and only one. I know you’re all filled with questions. I know because I certainly am, and I don’t even know enough about the Progenitors or anything related to them to know what questions to ask. The problem is that we don’t have time for all the questions, and as I’m sure we can all sense that Selendil’s patience is not limitless either. In return to keeping our questions limited to one per person, she has agreed to provide complete answers instead of just stating something vague. Oh, I was supposed to say that we might want to confer with each another about the questions since one question can build upon the previous answers and some of us already know some of the things others might want to ask. Sharing is caring!”

At this, the gathered people all pulled to the other end of the room to discuss their questions in detail. The first one to step up was the insectoid head chef, Zzz’tak. Likely the chef had been put up as the first person due to being the lowest ranking person in other people’s mind as she had been given a question they all wanted answered. “You mentioned that Keepers ended the war with the void creatures and that you were the strongest Keeper. From your words, we can judge that the position is something that carries importance. So what is a Keeper?”

Selendil nodded. “That is a good question and one that I expected. What makes it even better is that to answer that question, I’ll have to first explain something that might have been another question you would have asked later. To understand what a Keeper is, you need to first understand the most important concept of Dhar society, that of the Unity. As a race, our minds were joined together. We were not a hive mind, at least not in the traditional sense, though there are some similarities. No, the Unity was something more and at the same time something less. We were not controlled by a single will, but we could join our minds together over vast distances and share our thoughts, memories, and emotions. No Dhar was truly alone, and the Unity was the collective whole of our minds. It gave us an unbeatable advantage in almost everything. If a Dhar faced a problem in some field, they could get the problem solved by the experts on the subject with a single thought. Of course, you can imagine the benefits in battle when all our minds were linked and all communication instant.”

The others tried to imagine, but only Moonshadow and Amaterasu had the vaguest of ideas what it might truly be like thanks to having barely scratched the universal consciousness, and even they had the vaguest of ideas. Selendil continued. “Keepers were something that helped us make sure our greatest minds were not lost forever once death claimed them. It required a certain type of talent, but a Dhar could train as a Keeper and store the memories, experiences, skills, and knowledge of those that died the moment they did and before their minds disappeared from the Unity. A fraction of the dying person’s personality was also weaved into the mix to help the Keeper to confer with those that have passed once their wisdom was sought. We were the Keepers of knowledge, history, wisdom and many other things. Some of the things we kept weren't always positive, as sometimes all that survived their passing was grief, grudges, and anger. The position came with certain advantages and disadvantages. Anyway, the Keepers were revered, but we also tended to draw away from the society sooner or later as our presence reminded the others of their mortality.”

Selendil’s previously nostalgic look turned fierce as she peered at the others. “Some of you have already figured out a few things. Yes, as the last and the strongest Keeper in Dhar history, I hold the collected knowledge of my entire race. However, you need to understand the other part what I said before you start having thoughts about gaining that knowledge. ‘Knowledge brings power’ is a common saying among most races, but it’s especially true for psions. The more we know, the stronger we become. When I say I’m the strongest Keeper, you need to understand I’m not joking. Even when compared to other Dhar, the Keepers were like the most powerful of your Deities compared to a simple P1 that can barely even qualify as a psion. And that’s an average Keeper. I wasn’t average back then and I’m certainly not average now.”

Lilly was the next one to step forward, and with an accompanied apology asked about what happened to the Dhar. Selendil noticed with some curiosity that the Illum woman Amaterasu had not shared her knowledge with the others, as she had already been told the answer to this question. It seemed there were some less than obvious currents under the surface of this pond. Whether they were signs of a power play or something else entirely, Selendil couldn’t say just yet. In any case, she gave a short explanation of the plague, and how she was the last one of her kind to survive.

The next one to ask a question was the Guardian Cherryblossom. “Why did you appear now? The Dhar disappeared millions of years ago, so what makes this time special enough to warrant your attention?”

Selendil actually laughed at the question. The question itself was not a bad one, just that the answer was sure to disappoint. The Guardians had the long lifespan required to have a longer outlook on time. They didn't foolishly consider the time they were living as something special, a mistake often made by shorter-lived races. "There's nothing really special about this particular time over others unless one considers that there might a certain amount of fate involved.” She gestured towards the room they were in. “The ship had simply deteriorated to the point that it needed me to take action. I had set certain conditions that would allow for the ship to bring me out of stasis. One of those conditions was that there would be no sign of the plague and that part was fulfilled a long time ago. However, the other condition that I won’t mention was not.”

Selendil looked towards Amaterasu. “The ship actually allowed the humans to enter inside the vessel itself just so I could be woken up under the condition of imminent danger to my person. That’s what eventually happened, and that’s why I was woken up. I’ve done all I can to repair the vessel in the time I’ve been awake, but it’s not a quick process and I need certain materials I don’t currently have access to, to bring the ship to full power.”

Nochehuatl asked a technical question that had always haunted him personally. It was not helpful to the others, but it had been something that had bugged him for years, so he took the opportunity to get the question answered. The happy trill he made once the question was finally solved clearly indicated how much the answer meant to him. To everyone's disappointment, Khaemwaset asked what it would take for Selendil to go on a date with him, and he made another painful impact against the nearest wall. However, having given her word, Selendil actually answered the question while the others administered some first aid.

“It would take a miracle or desperation on a level never before seen," Selendil replied. The consensus from the others was along the lines of ‘sounds about right'. To everyone's surprise, Khaem actually took it well. "So there's a chance!" He muttered to himself.

Bringing some much-needed seriousness back to the discussion, Moonshadow stepped forward to ask her question. “Why us? The crew I mean. To me, it seems you could operate the ship with the aid of the AI, though it might be a bit challenging. Why take the risk of having relative strangers on the ship when you know we're all going to relay much of what we learn to our own races sooner or later?"

One of Selendil’s tails curled in frustration, a gesture the others didn’t understand yet of course. “It’s a bit complicated. Some of it is me taking a chance on you. Some of it is me seeking for a purpose. Some of it is because I think you might turn out useful.” She looked towards Cherryblossom. “For instance, despite my other skills and my protestations otherwise, I have no ability to handle hydroponics, and Nox has expressly forbidden me from even trying. You possess skills I do not have, and knowledge of the current situation I do not have access to. Or, you’re handling work I would rather hand off to someone else. Besides, I don’t consider the information you pass on to be a threat. I would rather you get the information this way than robbing the graves of my people!”

Her slightly heated words caused the others to go silent. Other than Amaterasu and the Illum, they had not considered the implications of the various races going through the Progenitors ruins in the eyes of one of the Progenitors that came back. Selendil was quiet for a while and looked away from the others as she finally continued. "Some of it is also the fact that I'm dealing with the loss of my entire race. You have to understand that while it's been millions of years for you; to me, it feels like something that happened only a few weeks ago. Due to the Unity, we were a very social race, even a relative hermit like me. I might not have been an active participant, but I was an active observer. While you cannot replace those that I’ve lost, maybe you can fill some of the social void I’m now staring at.”

Her words elicited quite a bit of pity and a slight bit of worry in the others. They now realized that the Dhar in front of them was likely to be somewhat unbalanced by all she had faced. Survivors of mass deaths were often traumatized for understandable reasons, and she had just been through an ordeal they could only begin to imagine. They were not sure how to take the news. Lilly was the only one to react. She was in many ways a straightforward person and just placed a paw on Selendil’s head in a gesture of sympathy. That caused the others to almost have a fit at the sheer audacity. All this time Selendil had projected an air of untouchability and superiority, as her feet didn’t even touch the ground.

The touch awoke Selendil from her slight funk and in retaliation she pulled Lilly off the floating pillow and onto her lap, where she started scratching the large cat from behind the ears. “No wait, please don’t, that’s so wrong!” Lilly protested, before suddenly seemingly going limp and starting to purr. “Oh right there, that’s the spot.” Unknown to Lilly, Selendil had met feline species before and could use her senses to locate just the right places to scratch and a bit of psionic energy applied in the right place went a long way.

Amaterasu cleared her throat a bit. “Well, to get back into the questions, I believe I’m the last one. I think I’ll use mine on something a bit more personal as I’ve already asked some questions before. What happened to the Illum woman that boarded your ship when it was discovered? I used her to track this ship as you know, so I know she’s still around.”

“Oh, her? Well, I had no idea what the situation was when I came out of stasis, and the nanites in her body seemed to indicate she was harmless, so I initially thought she was supposed to be either an offering of some sort or something sent in to test the waters. Whatever the case, she was an intruder and I needed some information so I took it straight from her mind. I did not account for the fact that her mind would be so fragile, so it was accidentally broken almost immediately on contact. It wasn't until I did the same to the human Deity I captured that I realized how fragile everyone was. In any case, she's alive. Her mind is broken, but I did consider that I might end up fixing it once I have the time and energy." Selendil explained simply.

“Accidentally? I mean, I’ve heard of the minds of people shattering under heavy psionic interrogation, so that could be considered an accident, but that doesn’t quite sound the same as what happened here. I’ve certainly never heard of anyone being able to repair such a broken mind.” Moonshadow pointed out.

“Well, it’s not something that happens quickly, but it’s doable. Now is not the time though. We have a mission to do.” Selendil replied before turning towards Huang, who in turn had been quiet so far. They had all assumed he wouldn’t get a question as he wasn’t part of the crew, at least not yet. “This is where you come in.”

“Well, having heard your explanation, I'm more motivated to help, however, this is a bit more complicated than just my motivations. I asked my contact for a meeting and they agreed, but we still need to enter Cybran controlled space, and my people are not terribly fond of strange ships approaching the city ships.” Huang rubbed the well-groomed beard on his face. “I don’t suppose they will be able to stop us strictly speaking if we approach them, but I doubt they will be very cooperative if we force our way in. It's hard to get accurate and sensitive information if we're locked in a shooting war, no matter how one-sided."

“And they’re not going to want to have anything to do with me or my kind.” Amaterasu pointed out. “While we were still nominally at peace some weeks ago, the relations between us Illum and the Cybrans have always been a bit strained. Now they think my people have this ship and they’re rather desperate to eliminate the advantage we might be able to gain from it. The news about the ship should start filtering back towards them pretty soon, but I’m not sure if that will turn into a quick peace or not. Either way, they would not be happy to see me, and they might not react well to this ship either.”

“So, we need a new plan. Ideas?” Selendil stated and looked towards the others.

“Well, instead of rushing in with the rather big and powerful Progenitor ship, how about if we take a small group with a shuttle? We can even travel most of the way on this ship, and just take the shuttle to reach the destination once we’re close enough.” Moonshadow suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea. The city ships would not mind a single shuttle or a small team of aliens. Both are a rather common sight after all.” Huang agreed with a nod.

“Sounds like a plan.” Selendil decreed, solidifying the outline for the first step of their plan.

--------

The shuttle they were using was approaching an enormous vessel even larger than the section that made up Haven station. There were three other ships of similar size nearby, and they were all orbiting a world covered mostly in oceans. All four of the ships were surrounded by a fleet of ships, protectively buzzing around to stave off any potential trouble. Three of the four ships had opened what Huang called their ‘Iris' which allowed the light of the local star to shine inside the city ships. The last ship had its Iris closed either as a protective measure or to simulate a night cycle inside the city. The other three ships were in their day cycles and were covered by some glass-like material.

“Oh, I didn’t expect four cities to be together. My contact only told us to come to Zhuxian at this location but didn’t mention the three other cities.” Huang stated in genuine surprise. “It seems they’ve all come here to stock up on water. That or there’s something bigger going on.”

“Amaterasu mentioned a war. Maybe they’ve come together for protection?” Moonshadow suggested. She had come along as she was good with negotiations, and because her presence would be fairly inoffensive. With Selendil, the three of them were the only ones present in the shuttle.

“Unidentified shuttle! Identify yourselves!" The nearby patrol vessels made contact and were handled by Huang, as he spoke one of the languages most commonly used by the Cybrans. The language was a decent proof of identity as it was something only used by the Cybrans when they dealt with their own. The shuttle was quickly given a berth along the numerous docks lining the city ship they were approaching.

As they were preparing to disembark, Huang pointed out something. “Umm, Selendil, your appearance is rather striking and will draw quite a bit of attention. You used some sort of suit when we first met. Even that will draw attention but less than your real appearance.”

While aliens were common on Cybran city ships near the border, Selendil didn’t look like a normal alien. Her almost ethereal appearance would draw attention and a lot of it. “Don’t worry, I have a plan.”

“Could I ask what kind of plan?” Huang phrased carefully.

“I can freely change my appearance. I’ll look just like another Cybran when we disembark.” Selendil explained.

“That’s…fine I think. How do you know what to look like though? I’m a Cybran, but you can’t have seen too many of us and you can’t just copy me.” Huang already had a bit of faith with the plans as he had realized Selendil was quite powerful and resourceful. He was just making sure.

“Nox intercepted communications between your ships and city ships. She picked an appearance for me that should be fairly appealing but also conforming to the standards of what seems within normal variables.” Selendil explained shortly. This was something they had talked about before and were now implementing for the first time.

“Just to make sure, you didn’t just copy the appearance of someone from the media, right? I only ask because that will not help things.” Huang asked.

“Don’t worry, the appearance is something we created ourselves. It uses some of those ‘media people' as a base, but doesn't copy them." Selendil stated confidently. She wasn't stupid.

“Alright then. Let’s go.” Huang relented and they finally exited the ship while Selendil’s entire appearance shifted. Huang took a quick glance just to make sure she didn’t appear as a famous actor or something and was glad to see that wasn’t the case. His eyes snapped straight back though and he was speechlessly staring at Selendil just as the doors on the other side of the hangar opened to allow for the inspectors to arrive, which meant it was too late for Selendil to change again.

Selendil and Nox had made a slight miscalculation. They had used the images and videos in the broadcasts between the ships as a base. They had then extrapolated what the Cybrans found appealing and then created something that was a fair bit more appealing than the base they had used as a comparison. The problem was that the base they had used already included the most attractive Cybrans chosen for their positions mainly due to appearance, as those were the most viewed people among the broadcasts that had been sent between the ships. So Nox had used the most beautiful celebrities as a base and then went a bit further. The end result was staggering, and it didn’t help that Selendil still retained a certain level of realness and power normally not seen in such celebrities.

Even the inspection team was frozen in place, while both Selendil and Moonshadow looked at each other, confused by the reaction.