Starborn: Origin of the Stars

Robin turned off his Interface when the train came to a halt one stop before his station.

The invention of the Interface was the last, but most important step in making modern technologies more accessible. It provided a connection to the net where one could find any kind of entertainment, information or social activity and visualized the data stored on the Neuro-Chip. Its screen was integrated in an opaque eyewear, like a contact lens and got its power from the user’s body. There were many individual variants and specialized adaptations, but Robin didn’t try his hands on those yet. For now, he wanted to get the Melody II flight-ready and take her for a ride. After that, maybe it would be time to look for a transparent model that could support live access to some flight data.

Robin got off the train and had to stretch a little bit.

‘Damn, nearly three hours just to get here. I hope it’s not a total waste of my time.’

When he walked out of the station, the sun had almost reached its peak. He realized there were far fewer people around, probably because this district was reserved for a few selected establishments, museums and governmental buildings. Up to no living space, and definitely none a normal person could afford, no industrial buildings and no shops. But there were many more open areas to relax and for recreation.

Green fields in a world of metal and technology.

Robin inspected an especially fancy park he passed.

“That’s a real tree!” He exclaimed and quickly shut his mouth with hand.

‘Great, now everyone knows I’m a hillbilly!’ He thought, taking a second look at the majestic tree growing a few meters from the sidewalk. It was around 20 meters tall and had a huge, wide spreading green crown - definitely one of these leaf trees he had seen online before. A small path guided interested souls towards its trunk and was decorated to both sides with colorful flowers.

“Looks really beautiful. It would be inappropriate to go over and touch it, right?” He mumbled and shook his head.

Leaving the park behind, he followed the streets roughly in the direction of the museum hosting the Wuranger exhibition.

On the way he also observed the architectural changes. The buildings here were all much smaller than in the other districts. They often had little plots of land around, sometimes even small artificial gardens. The style seems to prefer optics and flair over practicality. Many buildings had additional towers and complex looking porches attached. It was also obvious that metal wasn’t any longer the dominant material. Different types of pale stone had gained the upper hand.

Nearing the museum, he realized that the locals also set a new standard concerning security in this district. Each and every house had sophisticated systems with lots of cameras, sensors and drones installed, often combined with stern looking security personnel standing in front of the doors.

‘That must be a fucking boring job!’ Robin thought, eyeing the bouncers.

He noticed that even the governmental forces were more active here when a CPD passed by.

Those Citizen Protection Drones were the real deal. Fully armed and with access to the records in the police database, they were little more than tamed combat machines just waiting for someone to step out of line.

Robin arrived at the museum after walking for a bit longer and stood in front of a white building with a red, pointed roof and two peculiar towers to each side. Over the wide entry was its name engraved in magnificent runes: Rucasur History And Arts.

Looking around he spotted the sign of an assembly point for guided tours. He took a seat and waited for Mr. Ragweed, his client for the job. A few minutes passed and a welcome lady made her way over.

“Greetings and welcome to the Ruscasur History And Arts museum. Right now, we have two active exhibitions, one for special artworks of local libertines that express their romantic feelings on the world in beautiful colors and…”

“Burn in plasma! Please not…” Robin uttered under his breath.

“Come again? Do you want to know more? It’s a really wonderful collection of masterpieces! Seeing the art of such great free spirits, you can nearly feel the emotions they put into it.” The woman continued, full of energy.

“Yeah that sounds awesome, but I’m here for the Wuranger stuff. I’ll just accompany one of your guests, so I’m fine for now, thanks again.” Robin tried to throw her off.

“Ah what a shame, but it is as it is when duty calls. Don’t feel too sorry. If you are that interested in the Special Arts exhibition, come over to the ticket box after your assignment is finished and ask for Asami, I’ll get you a discount!” She gave him a bright smile and walked away to welcome another guest.

“Well, seems like some context may have been lost in between the lines.” Robin chuckled after she was gone and looked for Mr. Ragweed again.

The Ommih arrived a few minutes later, being as enthusiastic for the dead plants as Asami was for the special arts.

“Mr. Tulward, I’d like to thank you again! You cannot believe how hard it was to find a technocrafter for this excursion” The little man repeated for the umpteenth time while they entered the museum, “With your Energy Senses we will unravel all their secrets, I have a good feeling for today!”

“Please call me Robin. And it’s fine - it’s a nice opportunity to get out of the workshop for once.” Robin tried, more to motivate himself than to appease his client.

After they got through an identity check and five or six different security stations, the duo followed a circular route towards the first hallway. In the luxurious room, they found many different displays presenting a multitude of objects on both sides of the path.

A few hours and dozens of dead flowers later, it became clear that Mr. Ragweed was unambiguously well versed in Wuranger technology and history. He did provide Robin with much background information on a broader scale than even the datapads could do.

There were lots of pieces that looked like some kind of root, all shriveled and dried up - supposedly old machine parts and devices for data storage.

Interwoven vines created complex systems with different functions and the slice of a tree represented the biological counterpart to modern screens and displays.

Every now and then Robin had to use his energy senses to feel for remnant energies, often without any result. But a few pieces had still some life left, connected to modern tech to keep them stable. He analyzed all those objects and described them to his client, answering dozens of questions each time.

Robin found only one display that showed something worthy of his interest. A little pyramid, made of metal and not of biological origin.

The little screen at its side stated:

Unknown Artifact

Presumed to be an ancient data storage of an unidentified allied race that did trade with the Wurangers. Made from an unknown metal alloy.

No data could be salvaged, the device died after hundreds of years without any energy.

While the description was interesting, it was something else that really caught his attention: He definitely could feel remnant energy in the artifact.

Not much, but enough to wonder, why the datapad labeled it as dead.