The Record of Unusual Creature

Regarding the new teleportation features that was installed in the MDT, there were simply too many items on the list for Raven12345 to go through individually with Hao Ren. He also realised from the tutorial menu itself that he really needed to learn the in and outs of the new feature. He was previously just a ‘passenger’, and compounded by the fact that he knew almost nothing of teleportation.

After some reading, he only realized how complicated things were on a higher level. That civilian-use teleportation cannot be done near any strong gravity fields, and that the two-way teleportation needs bilateral calibration on both end or risk a failure. The activation of a Type-One Sublight Hyperdrive engine would create frequencies that will prevent civilian-use teleportation. Gravity well generators will catastrophically interfere with all forms of teleportation…

All in all, it was a bunch of stuff that was very difficult to understand, and Raven12345 just let Hao Ren skimmed through it. He was to follow the automatic prompts from the MDT like most inspectors on the field.

Hao Ren eagerly stowed the upgraded MDT safely in his pocket. He was however still very aware of the fact that he was a country bumpkin who had never left Earth before. “Just to check…. so I need to go to this… Quipper Station? Are there any guides? How am I getting there? By space travel or teleportation? I’m totally in the dark on this.”

“The MDT will serve as your guide. There will be personnel over at the Kuiper Station to meet you. I have also arranged for a space shuttle to get you there. While it is a civilian spacecraft, it bears the warrant of the Empire, so it’s reliable. ” Raven 12345 said as she scooped spoon after spoon after spoon of sugar into her cup of tea. “Just let me remind you, you are an inspector. While you are at the bottom level of the hierarchy, you are still a civil servant in the eyes of the worlds in the Empire, so please be aware of your position, and act like one okay? Normally speaking there shouldn’t be any issues, just don’t overstep your authorities or interfere with other civilizations. If you run into any problems, please check with me. If i’m not around then you decide. But… you should be able to work your way through this. That aside… on the matter of the Kuiper Station, I probably should give you a short intro on it.”

Hao Ren felt that he had heard this word before somewhere, probably from some science magazine of sorts. His ears straightened up immediately. “So what’s the place like?”

“It’s actually rather close to Earth, it’s still within the Solar System.” Raven 12345 snapped her fingers and a holographic image of the Solar System appeared. She magnified the image towards a celestial body near Neptune. “As per the Empire’s traditions, all capital or sub-capital worlds will have it’s administrative zones and are developed accordingly. So we had built a station at the Kuiper Belt. It is currently hidden by a cloaking field. It is supposed to be discovered by humans some 235 years later… but at the rate you guys are going, I think we need to recalculate that timeline to 100 years. Your astro-science technology is progressing rather quickly.”

“That’s if you guys don’t destroy yourself first. If you guys decide to blow yourselves up in World War 3 then that’s that.” she quickly added.

Hao Ren could only gawk at the revelation that Raven12345 just told him. There are already an alien base in the Solar System? Humans were trying for years in vain to get receive any alien transmission from space, and there’s already a bunch of them in a space station somewhere by the edge of the system?

“You don’t have to be so surprised…” Raven 12345 laughed as she pointed towards where Hao Ren is standing, “Just look at where you are standing now. Bastard Barrio is directly connected to Heaven. Didn’t even see you bat an eyelid to that.”

Hao Ren gave thegoddess a very odd look. “…. If Heaven is occupied by goddesses like you…”

Raven 12345 took it as a complement and waved her hand. “Alright, that’s it for your briefing. Once you are at the station someone else will give you a more in depth briefing. Your MDT will also be downloading your mission brief soon. So.. do you have any other questions?”

Hao Ren set aside the details of his upcoming assignment. His face was serious. “I do. It’s regarding the demon hunters. Thanks for sending aid yesterday. But I still have a lot of things that I do not understand. Demon hunters, are they the good or the bad guys? I heard that they protect humans, but according to you as a Goddess, and me as your employee, why do I get into this life and death fight with them? I’m very confused…”

“Good or bad?” Raven 12345 gave Hao Ren a deep gaze. “In days to come you will realize how foolish that question was. A lot of things have nothing to do with good or evil, it happens just because situation demands it. Demon hunters are a protective force of this world, they were the guardians of the early civilization of men, and it’s by their watch that Earth had become what it is today. Their watch still continues. As for you, you too are a guardian, but you work for a higher power and thus resulted in the awkward conflict. From the perspective of a civilization’s right to exist, humans are innocent, the supernaturals are innocent, the demon hunters too are innocent. But now three innocent parties are thrown into a mix where they cannot co-exist. You as a guardian from a higher power, finding a way for them to co-exist is your calling.”

“Speak human language please.”

“… Can’t be answered. Figure it out yourself.”

Hao Ren knew that Raven 12345 would answer him like this and could only sigh in resignation. He could vaguely understand conflicts happen between humans, supernaturals and the demon hunters. All three parties have different ways of life and in their struggle to survive, a cycle of predator and prey ensues. Many supernaturals feed on humans (like your normal vampires) to survive, or if their existence itself harms humans (wraiths etc.), while demon hunters and humans will need to fend off and kill the supernaturals to survive. Surely, this cycle was not done out of malice?

He then remembered the demon hunter in the Northern Suburbs yesterday. His face, was calm and collected, there was no sense of enmity against Lily or Vivian. It was his duty, his way of life.

In the same sense, the circle of vampires who preyed on humans, would probably have been the same towards their blood slaves. It was a necessity for survival, and not caused by hatred towards humans.

Raven 12345 could see what Hao Ren was thinking and casually popped a question, “You eating a meat bun, does it mean you hate it?”

Hao Ren was conflicted, “But meat buns can’t speak, move or think, and it won’t be turning you into a pincushion with a crossbow. I’ve been thinking about this, you said that the universe is immense, and there are many planets around. So why can’t you just split humans and the supernaturals apart? Especially when the supernaturals are on the edge of extinction here on Earth? Wouldn’t it be better if you were to give them a new place to call home?

“If you can think this far, at least it shows that you had gotten some sense of scope, and not just narrowly tunneling your vision towards Earth. But it’s still wishful thinking.” Raven 12345 sighed.

“Firstly, each civilization’s progress is it’s own, Gods cannot be interfering with the daily lives of mortals. Unless said civilization is on the brink of total annihilation, destruction and rebirth is a common essence of a civilization. I think you can understand why I don’t interfere at will. Next, avoiding the problem does not solve it. Would you be separating fighting to different planets every time they fight? The world isn’t big enough for that. Lastly, who do you move? Humans have lived here for millenia and so have the supernaturals. Who are you to say if this place belongs to either party? So, the supernaturals are losing, and you’d toss them into a barren world and expect them to start over? Do you think doing this befits a goddess?”

Hao Ren really wanted to ask: What have you done till today to deserve that title?

“But all three reasons is secondary to this, the main reason is that moving all supernaturals out of Earth is pointless.” Raven 12345 took a deeper sigh. “The cause of this problem is more complicated that you’d imagine. I’m sure you’ll find out and understand it one day.”