Starborn: Origin of the Stars

Robin spotted the unusual artifact towards the end of their tour.

It stood out in stark contrast as the only object not created from biological materials. Shaped like a pyramid and not bigger than a hand, its surface was made of a dark glistering alloy and had countless runes engraved. He didn’t recognize the language and unfortunately couldn’t grab the object on the display to take a closer look.

Mr. Ragweed showed some interest, too, but was not able to provide any more information apart from what was written on the datapad.

“How peculiar, such an object is not what one would expect to find in a Wuranger exhibition” he marveled, “I’ve never seen anything like that. How do they know what its purpose was, if it has lost all energy and is dead now? I’m pretty certain these runes are not of any prominent race either.”

He rummaged through his backpack and found a small notepad. Skimming through, he looked back and forth between the little pyramid and the book in his hands, mumbling.

“No, not this one... neither that one... this may be a - no, the lines at the top don’t match...”

Unable to answer any of his questions and being no help with the runes, Robin tapped into his mutated genes again. He began to feel the strain from overusing his ability, like a needle poking in his head. It has been a long day and he had activated his skill more often than ever in such rapid succession.

He pushed through the uncomfortable feeling and an image slowly formed in his mind, one he got with most of his attempts today: darkness, devoid of any blue energy lines. Just a black spot, indicating the complete absence of remnant power in the object.

“Can you feel anything from it, Robin?” The hobby-historian asked after failing to learn anything new from his quick research.

“No, nothing. Just as the datalog described, there is no energy left to sense. The inside is as black as the metal it is crafted from.” Robin shrugged and felt some disappointment from the Ommih. Obviously, his client had grown some hopes, which were crushed just as fast.

“I will talk to the staff later, maybe they have additional information.” The man said and moved on to the next exhibit.

‘Interesting…’ Not really listening, Robin halted and concentrated once more on the artifact.

‘The image I’m getting looks exactly like all the others from the failed attempts before, but why does it feel like my senses are capturing energy lines?’

It was as if an image was painted in his head - a dark void but filled with something else.

‘Invisible lines? No, that doesn’t feel right.’

Testing some more, he couldn’t come to a conclusion and had to stop, when his headache got worse. Slowly he turned away and followed his companion down the next hallway. Unable to make sense of the feeling he got from the small artifact, Robin became more quiet.

“Are you alright? Is something on your mind?” The empathic alien quickly got on his trail.

“Nah, just my head starting a little riot. I’ll be fine in a few minutes” Robin assured him.

“Sorry, it must have been an exhausting trip for you. We should be in the last room already, take some time to get better.”

Robin nodded and walked over to the couch near the center of the hall and made himself comfortable for a moment, relaxing his head and reveling in the still lingering foreign feeling.

Mr. Ragweed was quite considerate and examined the remaining displays on his own.

However, when he heard footsteps coming from the hall’s exit, Robin opened his eyes and saw a middle-aged woman with a yellow coat approaching. On her wrists was the logo of the governmental history department embroidered, identifying her as a member of the museum’s staff.

“Mr. Robin Tulward?” She asked, after reaching his couch.

“Maybe? How can I help you?” He questioned, not getting up since he was still feeling a little lightheaded.

The woman tapped her datapad a few times and looked him up and down closely.

“The data strongly suggests that you are Mr. Robin Tulward. I’m sure. Why didn’t you just confirm that?”

“What? Lady, I’m really beat-up right now! What do you want from me?” Robin scowled in annoyance.

Aghast, she perked up.

“Somebody beat you up? Here in our museum? How did that happen...” She stopped mid-sentence after seeing Robin’s incredulous look and sighed a moment later.

“Anyways… I was notified by the check-in that we have a visitor with an Energy Senses G-Anomaly.”

“Sooo…?” Robin was slowly losing his patience.

“So I came over to get you, obviously. We have a job for someone with your mutation!”

“What? That’s not how it works. I’m not interested and I already have an active assignment.” Robin pointed at the Ommih, who had just finished his tour and trotted over.

“Huh? Why wouldn’t you take the job? It’s an opportunity to discover ancient history and help humanity to grow. Who doesn’t want to be part of such a great endeavor?”

“Me! I don’t wanna be a part of anything right now and I fumbled with so many rotten plants today that I will not analyze any more for a very long time. You will have to look for someone else.”

She kept quiet for a moment, clearly thinking of how to proceed and spectacularly misread the mood.

“You know, the Wuranger artifacts are not rotten. From a biochemical perspective one could say that the biological materials get their form just from the infused energy alone - no water or anything else involved. After losing contact with the main system, the modules start leaking that energy and shrivel up over time. The slightly rotten stench only comes from…”

“Hehe...” A friendly laugh stopped her scientific lecture and Robin’s imminent explosion.

“I strongly advise you to leave this young man alone for now. He already did his part for today and while I’m more than satisfied with his services, I got the pressing feeling that the Wuranger and their biotechs are not his favorite.” Salvation arrived and shook the woman’s hand.

“Hestor Ragweed, hobby-historian at your service.” The little man introduced himself with a courteous bow.

“Katlina Hutton, head of historical research.” She replied, “While I cannot understand such a closed mindset, I’ll have to respect his unwillingness.”

Throwing Robin one last look, she gave Ragweed a polite nod, “It was a pleasure to meet you, I hope you gained some new insights in the Wuranger-era”.

Before she could turn to leave, he stopped her for another topic.

“Ms. Hutton, if I may have a minute of your time. I would like to hear more about one of your magnificent artifacts in the exhibition.”

“Oh?” She wondered, “Of course, which one piqued your interest?”

“I have to say, it was a surprise to find a metal artifact in the middle of the Wuranger objects. Are you sure, there wasn’t a mistake in the mapping of the timeline? I’ve never heard of such technologies being found in relation to the Wuranger.”

“Ah, you’re talking about the pyramid-shaped data storage. Yes, we are sure it’s correct and I can reveal that we, too, were quite astonished at that find.” She said and even Robin listened in again, after the topic changed to the strange device.

“We can confirm with absolute certainty that the device is related to the Wuranger, as it was discovered just recently in a sealed complex on Ruca I.”

“Ah, I’ve read about that one, it was on the news a few weeks ago.” Ragweed concurred, “Do you have any more insights into its origin or function? I didn’t recognize the runes or find any clues regarding its purpose.”

“Well, not much more than what we put on the datapad. Our research team disassembled one artifact and its structure showed clear indicators of being designed to store data. Unfortunately, the storage was pretty huge, so constant energy support was needed. After decades and centuries have passed, all stored information is lost.

As for its origin, we didn’t even make a bit of progress. The used technology points towards a highly developed race, but the runes are unknown. We sent some artifacts back to the UAS headquarters for further inspection. But it’s just one more mystery on the already big pile the researchers over there are working on. We don’t have high hopes for timely feedback.”

“You’ve found more than one device?” the Ommih asked.

“Yes, 25 in total. But all in the same condition. We sent back five to the headquarters and disassembled one. The rest are here. Actually, that’s what I wanted Mr. Tulward’s help for.” She said, looking at Robin sitting on the couch.

“What would you need me for? I thought you said, they are all dead and even some important people from the UAS headquarters are looking into it.” Robin asked, his interest slightly awoken.

“Did you check that one over there?” she pointed at the pedestal with the little pyramid on it.

“Yeah, nothing - everything was just black.”

“Our sensors said the same, but the people from the tech department, who made the disassembling, mentioned that the alloy has some special properties that could make the readings a little bit fuzzy. We actually did have some fluctuations while analyzing, but nothing too much out of the ordinary.” She explained.

“The remaining 18 devices shall be stored in the museum’s warehouse, until it’s decided what to do with them. But before that is allowed, we have to make a second examination, with a better machine or someone who has an energy mutation. Since we don’t have such sophisticated sensors here in Seka, hiring you would be preferred.”

After her lengthy explanation, Robin felt a little bit intrigued, especially when thinking back at the strange feeling he got from the pyramid before.

Contemplating for a moment, Robin finally gave in.

“Fine, but I want to get paid… handsomely! And I’ll need a few mental refreshment stims or else we will be sitting here the whole weekend.”