The Record of Unusual Creature

Lily and Vivian glared at the MDT but the latter was unfazed. It had a ‘Come bite my impenetrable casing’ look to it. Hao Ren on the other hand did not believe for a second that they two was capable of doing science. He knocked on the table to stop Lily’s gnashing and took the pentagonal crystal plate. “What have you found?”

The MDT activated it’s holographic display. “No different than a usual diary, it’s by someone working at the planetarium. I’ve translated the logs, see for yourself.”

Hao Ren read the diary displayed before him and found that it was a report of the movement of stars in diary form. The initial part was about equipment maintenance, weather reports, constellation reports, but towards the end of the report, something caught Hao Ren’s attention:

“….The nineth night, the sky is clear. The atmosphere stability is excellent. We had discovered an amazing celestial phenomenon. The Arkana I had let out a bright flash. The countour of the star expanded to that of a sun, and the crimson glow radiated one fourth of the skyline. Our scanners had recorded this incredible scene, and the masters think that this is a supernova. He theorised that this could prove that Arkana I is indeed a very ancient star despite its various perimeters do not match your usual stars… Most regrettable is that we were unable to obtain the planet’s data before it went supernova, but perhaps we should be glad that it did explode, so now we could study the planet from it’s radiation….”

This particular line was highlighted by the MDT. Hao Ren turned to the device and asked. “Do you think that this Arkana Supernova has anything to do with the First Born Apocalypse that befell Tannagost?”

“Remember the data vault from Alamanda? That contained every information about the Tannaeans. Based on the records, the first appearance of the First Born’s tendrils was after the third day of the Arkana Supernova.” the MDT shut up the holographic display. “Regardless, the supernova was the last major unusual phenomona before the coming of the First Born Apocalypse. Whether they are connected or not, we should pay attention to this celestial event.”

Hao Ren’s face stiffened, as he feel into a deep thought beside Lily. He suddenly asked. “Have the data vault been connected into the Imperial Data Network?”

“All done, ages ago and it is fully translated and categorised. Connecting to theThird Repository. You can use your authority to activate the data vault of any dead civilisation’s but you can only edit the ones that are under your name.”

“Link me up to the Tannaeans data vault, look for details about Arkana I….hmmm… and any celestial data before the night of the First Born Apocalypse.”

The supernova records in the repository reminded Hao Ren of something. He realised that the First Born or the Goddess of Creation, both came from space. If the apocalypse long ago had some sort of forewarning, it will probably appear as some sort of celestial phenomenon, and it was something he needed to pay attention to.

The Third Repository was nicknamed ‘the Graveyard of Civilisations’ and The ‘Tomb of the Species’. It was a storage device of limitless capacity and specialised in storing the samples and specimens of fallen civilisations within the Xiling Empire’s borders, and most of the samples and specimens came from the inspectors. In their cross-world faring, it was inevitable that they meet many civilisations who had fell, and collecting, documenting the relics and remnants of these civilisations is part and parcel of an Inspector’s job.

Due to the special nature of the Third Repository, every visitor will need to go through a maximum security mental connection. Hao Ren felt that his spirit was being split into two, just like last time back then at the Dragonspine Ridge where part of his spirit returned to the Surface World. While he could clearly see his living room, a part of his vision was being brought to a very surreal place. Part of his psyche was going through a very vast area, and silhouettes of many figures went past him: They were Inspectors from other universes and they too were visiting the Third Repository. The Inspectors sensed a newcomer had visited the place and some of them turned back to give a friendly greeting. Hao Ren responded in kind. And it wasn’t long before the information he requested was being displayed before him.

Arkana I, was an ancient star on Tannagost’s ecliptic plane and it was a star that confounded the Tannaean astrologers for milleanias.

The Tannaean astrologers had called the first star on their ecliptic plane, Arkana. The word meant ‘red arrow’ in their tongue, and Arkana I was the point of the stars that made the arrowhead. It was crimson all year long and was the brightest star of them all. The Tannaean astrologians had noticed that the crimson hue would wax and wane since astrology was a thing and it lasted until the coming of the First Born. The waxing and waning of the crimson hue differed from your usual stars, and it was the first of many mysteries of the star.

The second mystery was that the Tannaeans wasn’t event sure till the end of their civilisation if Arkana I was even a star.

Based on your typical astronomy, aside from the planets within the system, every star that glittered at night should be a star, as plantes do not glow and cannot be seen by the eye under normal circumstances. The Tannaean astrologers had investigated this for over a thousand years, but yet they still could not ascertain what sort of star Arkana I was. Each and every of it perimeters and characteristics was closer to that of a planet. Its temperature was mild, and radiation levels was low, and it did not have any spectral features that a star would have. It was undoubtedly showing characteristics of a solid state planet and there were no trace of light distortion around it. That proved that Arkana I was small, much smaller than your standard star.

Yet there it lies above Tannagost’s skies and could easily be seen on a clear night.

The Tannaeans had an almost encylopedic record just specifically for Arkana I, and there was this one remark: This crimson star should not exsit by all accounts. A low density, low temperature star should have been well hidden in the darkness of space, but it was now the brightest star in the sky. This was against everything we know of the stars….

The last of the mystery was at the end: Unable to determine the distance.

Arkana I stood majestically in the sky, but the Tannaean astrologers could not determine the exact distance from Tannagost. The data gotten from the most common ways of calculation: Triangular Parallax, Spectral Parallax, and Cepheid Parallax resulted in vastly varying data, resulting in the astrologers not being able to pinpoint the distance. It was like a shadow before the eye, you can see it but you will never find it in the real world.

And it is because of these mysteries, the argument of Arkana I between the astrologers never stopped. The various schools of thought regarding Arkana I were so closely contested, whether it was a star or a planet, or was it just a mirage?

And this supernatural star went supernova ten thounsand yearas ago, only to have the First Born’s tendrils to breakthrough the surface on the third day.

Hao Ren rubbed his eyes as he left the Third Repository. Lily perked as she wagged her tail excitedly, “How was it? How was it?!”

“A very complex, weird star.” Hao Ren pressed Lily’s ears, like how he treats a pet dog to get the lass to calm down. He then explained briefly to the rest on what he saw in the repository. “All in all, it did not fit into any natural law, I suspect it really have something to do with the First Born…”

As Hao Ren and the rest was talking about Arkana I, a voice suddenly came from the back. “Oh, a discussion I see?”

Hao Ren looked up and saw Big Beardy opening the door as he held a roasted rabbit in the other hand. The sky was dark by then. Time indeed flew by without them noticing. Big Beardy was outside all day long and after finishing his ascetic meditation he made his way back. Vivian slapped her forehead. “Eh, I didn’t see the time… I’ll go make dinner!”

Lily was salivating as she looked at the roasted rabbit in Big Beardy’s hands. Her tail slapping against the sofa armrest like a wardrum. “Mr Landlord, Mr Landlord, are you hungry? I’m sure you want some roasted rabbit right? But you cannot finish it alone right? So….”

Hao Ren buried his face in his hands. “Oh stop it, you’re just making a fool of yourself. Beardy bro, mind sharing some with her?”

Big Beardy laughed heartily as he passed a piece of the roasted rabbit meat to Lily. “What were you guys on about?”

“The matter of Tannagost.” Hao Ren told Big Beardy about the weird star that went supernova. “Ten thousand years ago, the skyline of Tannagost was lit up…”

Big Beardy had just asked for fun, but after hearing Hao Ren’s description he frowned. “Wait a minute… I may be overthinking this… but the ancient tomes of the Disciples of Glory had something like this too.”

“Huh?!” Hao Ren exclaimed.