Starborn: Origin of the Stars

“You are kidding me, right?” Robin muttered and walked up to Ang’Tue, who had taken a few steps back.

In front of them the whole ground began to sink downwards, slowly vanishing in the darkness of the night. The rumbling continued for a good minute and just when the island stopped its shaking, Patience came running over. Her annoyed face told everyone how excited she was about this sudden development.

“Didn’t you say something about sleeping and taking a rest?” She scolded Robin, “How the hell shall I sleep if you freaks are trying your hardest to sink the island?”

“While I really had a strange feeling, this… somehow still comes as a massive surprise!” Robin laughed after leaning forward to peer into the darkness, finding a staircase leading into the depth.

“I must say, young man, you make a fine researcher. Your first guess was directly on point!” Ang’Tue exclaimed and enthusiastically patted Timothy’s shoulder.

“Patience, you wanted to rest, right? Why don’t you stay here and watch over Keran while we undertake the arduous job of checking out this facility?” Robin grinned at his friend.

“You are impossible, you know that?” She complained and threw him a finger, “Unfortunately you are right, I’m the best choice for taking the first watch - you are still an asshole though!”

“We’ll send Timothy back as soon as possible to switch with you, okay?” He assured her and took the energy weapon she brought.

“What? No way I’ll leave this facility before I’m done inspecting every data and machine we find, if it really is an Eltaran laboratory!” Timothy instantly jumped up in indignation.

“Oh boy, you have no idea…” Robin just chuckled and began to descend into the darkness.

“Put on your helmet and activate night vision. Ang’Tue, you will be fine with your mutation I assume?”

“Not as much as you think, but it’ll do.”

“Ah fuck, I hate this mode!” Timothy cursed, “While you can see, everything is just in different shades of gray. How should I be able to make a proper inspection like this?”

“Yeah, tough life…” Robin said with gnashing teeth.

After following the stairs downwards for maybe two or three floors, they came to a halt in front of a massive metal door. Robin immediately scanned it with his mutation, but only got a blank image in return.

“It’s not powered.” He shared with the others and after a second of hesitation, he added, “Or it’s shielded. Damnit, my confidence took quite a hit after the ambush…”

“Don’t overcomplicate things. The facility was hidden and only opened with my blood. The simplest answer may very well be the solution.” Ang’Tue said, grabbed the handle and opened the door with a swishing noise. Just like that, without any alarm going off, robots attacking or who-knows-what, they entered the Eltaran facility.

“Huh...”

After they walked in, dim lights flickered to life above them and the prickling of his passive sense made Robin aware that the whole building was slowly waking up.

They found themselves in a short corridor with three doors and another staircase, leading further down.

The first room was a small living quarter with four beds and a small bathroom to the side. While it wasn’t what they were looking for, the group still learned a lot about the facility’s history. Someone had meticulously made all the beds before leaving and even prepared some towels for the next visitors. Obviously this building wasn’t left in a hurry. Also, there wasn’t any dust or decay to be found, hinting at a pretty good sealing of this complex.

The next room was something like a community area with small lounges, a meeting table and a little kitchen. There wasn’t any food that could help them buy time for Keran however. After a few hundred years, that would be spoiled anyways, no matter how well this place was sealed.

The third door led to another living quarter, only for two people but otherwise the same as the one before.

“Seems like it was planned that the people working here would stay for a longer time and not just for a few days. While everything is small and a bit cramped, someone tried to give it a comfy feel.” Robin said when they came out of the last room.

“Makes sense, doesn’t it?” Timothy agreed, “With the storm outside, coming here is quite the endeavor. So the scientists are expected to stay for a long time and not go out all the time.”

“Don’t forget, that my people have lived in hiding not just for the last century or so but even back when the Starborn were still around. We avoid moving as much as possible…” Ang’Tue explained.

“Yeah, right. That sounds like quite the stressful life. Maybe you’d like to tell us a few stories about your past after we are done here?” Robin asked with honest interest.

“Yes, maybe…”

“Come on, let’s go down. There must be the core of this facility.” Timothy hurried them and descended the other stairs.

The next floor was completely different. After they passed another thick metal door, they stood in a big room with many little tools and machines Robin didn’t recognize. There were a few empty water tanks that looked like they were prepared for some poor soul to be put inside, readied for some creepy experiments.

Robin saw two stretchers that were probably for patients and a few office desks. There was one other door and Ang’Tue was already heading towards it, while Robin and Timothy were still taking in all the impressions.

Quickly following after the Eltaran, Robin saw that the door led into a small cabin that looked like a modern server room. Ang’Tue immediately wanted to tinker with the access station but Robin called for a halt.

“Wait a moment, Ang’Tue.” He said and when he saw the old man turn with squinted eyes, he quickly continued, “No worries, I’ll stay true to my word. You’ll get your data - before we do anything else, okay? Just not rush this please… Timothy!” Robin called for his friend.

“Huh? Ooooh, that’s neat!” Timothy exclaimed after he also came into the small server room.

“Yeah and this is where the Eltaran’s data is stored, right?”

The alien nodded, still looking annoyed to be stopped.

“Timothy, do you know how this stuff works?” Robin asked.

“Yeah, Eltaran tech isn’t that complicated and not much changed over the years - at least as far as we know. Only the machines working with mutations are a black spot for me… and most other people.” He explained.

“How is that?”

“Well, while their tech is pretty basic stuff, as soon as it touches the mutation-field, it gets… mystic. You learned much about the Wuranger, right?”

“Ugh.. yeah. Damn wood-elemental like bullshit.” Robin groaned as he remembered his visit to the exhibition in Seka.

“Well, Eltaran and their mutations are a bit like that. It feels more like some messed up voodoo than proper technology.”

Robin looked at Ang’Tue who only shrugged but at least had changed to an amused expression.

“Okay. Ang’Tue, please consider my point of view for a moment. If I let you copy the data and you ‘accidentally’ delete it before the UAS can get their hands on it, I’m more than done.”

“You don’t trust me?” The old man asked.

“I somewhat do, but there is too much at risk right now. Let Timothy make a copy and please don’t touch the computer before that, okay?”

“While personally a bit hurtful, I have to agree it is a wise decision from your perspective. Please go ahead Mr. Reed.” Ang’Tue agreed and handed Timothy a little device that was probably a memory stick of sorts.

The researcher quickly stepped to the access panel and tapped many buttons. Ang’Tue watched him but refrained from commenting. After 10 minutes of awkward silence Timothy handed the Eltaran the stick and began to repeat the process for himself, making another copy.

“Thank you, you've kept your word.” Ang’Tue said and gave Robin a small bow.

“We had a deal, of course I would stick to my part.” Robin replied, with a soft voice he added, “I really hope that the data holds the solution you are looking for. Good luck!”

“Gratitude!”

Robin und Ang’Tue returned to the laboratory and took another look around. While Robin didn’t know what any of the tools or machines were used for, Ang’Tue stepped to one of the stretchers that had many little holes in it.

“This is what you are looking for.” He said, “It is a device for gene-manipulation.”

“So, you could just upgrade any mutation with this? Mankind has been looking for something like this for ages…” Robin muttered.

“Ha, no, that is not how this works. If it was that easy, humans, and even the whole UAS, wouldn’t be as stuck with the G-Anomalies as they have been for the last decade.”

“So, what does it do?”

“It repairs defects in your genes!” Timothy explained after he also came back from the server room.

“Repair? Shouldn’t repairing a G-Anomaly mean it gets better… upgraded?” Robin wondered. Hadn’t Guard said in his message, that he repaired his genes and after that his mutation essentially was upgraded?

“No, it’s different. Let’s say your genes are like a book. Each chapter describes a different part of your body and its functions. Hearing is a chapter, vision is one chapter, immune system is a chapter and so on. In this analogy, your G-Anomaly would also be one chapter. However, when you are born, that chapter is locked and only after you get the treatment it gets unlocked, giving you access to its effects.” Timothy said, falling into a lecturer’s mode.

“Okay, seems plausible…”

“Upgrading your mutation means there is a second chapter for your G-Anomaly that can be unlocked. Not all mutations have a second part, others have even three or more chapters. Right now the UAS works on a method of unlocking these other chapters.”

“And repairing?” Robin asked after he understood the general idea.

“Repairing means we take a look at all your chapters that are unlocked and check if there are pages missing. Then we try to recreate these missing parts. That results in this specific function of your body working better. In most cases all your chapters are fine, except for those people that have natural gene defects, however for nearly all people the chapters with the G-Anomalies are pretty messed up and repairing them helps to make your mutation more effective.” Timothy finished his lecture and hesitated for a moment, “When my genes got repaired, my mutation - Class D - Eidetic Memory - stayed the same, but now I can ‘store’ much more information in my head.”

“That was actually a pretty good analogy, I might use that for our young ones later, too!” Ang’Tue enthusiastically nodded.

“Yeah, thanks. But do say, you got your genes repaired? Where? Why have I never heard of this before?” Robin pointedly asked and saw his friend wincing.

“Ah you know, that is kind of locked knowledge to UAS personnel.”

No reference to this topic found in the introduction

“I’m pretty sure there was nothing about that in the documents I got when I arrived on Gaunus.”

“Yeah, that’s an introduction. You have to reach a specific level to get access to this… so please don’t fuck me over, okay?” Timothy said and awkwardly scratched his head.

“Repairing genes is often pretty expensive. It makes sense that the UAS doesn’t want to advertise it.” Ang’Tue said.

“Yeah, there is a bit more to it or else they could just say you have to pay for it yourself, but it’s also not like a privilege-only thing. They use this therapy on sick people with natural gene defects to help them live a better life.”

Robin thought about it and his mood fell a bit. If Guard already had repaired his genes, what else could Ang’Tue do for him? Also, his mutation didn’t only get ‘a bit better’, he now had completely new skills. He still believed in his upgrade-theory, even if the scan of his G-Anomaly returned mostly bullshit characters.

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.” Robin said and turned to his friend, “Timothy, please get Patience here. She should get a repair-session, too. Who knows when we would get another chance like this.”

“Okay, on my way!” Timothy readily exclaimed and walked to the door.

“Timothy…” Robin said slowly when he noticed the way-too-happy mood of his friend, “I know you’ll stop in the upper level to check everything out, but I expect Patience to be down here in an hour at most! Keran doesn’t have much time left…”

“I… yes.” The young man said and left.

“You look disappointed!” Ang’Tue said after Timothy was gone and the two were alone.

“I already got a repair-therapy once, I think. So if this machine cannot upgrade my mutation, then I don’t have much hope for any improvements.” Robin explained.

“You think? Interesting choice of words…” The old man chuckled, “Shall we test it out?”

“No.” Robin declined and got a raised eyebrow in return.

“We have so many crazy machines down here. There must be something that can help Keran, right? Can we focus on that first?”

Ang’Tue observed Robin for a moment.

“Maybe, but then we won’t have enough time for your mutation. Are you sure? It’s as you said, another chance like this will not come by easily…”

Without hesitation Robin shook his head.

“Thanks, but he is part of my crew. They come first.”

“He isn’t loyal to you, though!” Ang’Tue pointed out.

“I know, he is completely devoted to the UAS and mankind in particular. Even so, I believe he will keep his word.” Robin said, “And I do have my own codex, as fragile as it may be. I think if I start putting my wishes for power over the survival of my people, I’ll become someone I don’t wanna be. It would be hard to return from that path.”

Ang’Tue just listened and slowly nodded.

”Amiable, loyal, level-headed. You will become a great leader when you stay true to your values and morals!” He said and smiled, “Now, up on the stretcher with you!”

“But…” Robin began but Ang’Tue waved him off.

“I can only do very little for him. I can buy him 12 more hours at most. We can do that after we have finished this. Better the young, fierce lady doesn’t see you mutating a second time, right?”

“...it was a test?” Robin asked when realization hit him.

“Yes, I wanted to see what kind of person you are. I’m more than satisfied! Now come here!”

Moments later, Robin was lying butt naked on the stretcher with the many holes in it.

“How will this work?” He asked with uneasiness in his voice, since one needle-like sensor was already injected in his arm.

“Fascinating! Marvelous!” Ang’Tue exclaimed after he got the first results from a quick scan shown on a display.

“You identified the problem correctly. I cannot upgrade your mutation the normal way and repairs were done well. However, there is still another option. That will cost me quite a bit though.”

The old man moved next to Robin and looked at him with the grin of a sleazy merchant.

“Let’s make a deal!”