Testers

A Short Story: Out of reach

"Hmm... That's an interesting question, Shep Shep. I think the hardest lesson I learned while stellaforming alone was understanding that there were things beyond my control... that I just had to wait out, I guess?" said Kosmic, eating some flowers he had bought from a florist.

"What do you mean, Kosmic?" said Ken.

"Oh, is it time for a short story, Kosman?" said Shep Shep, sitting down on the grass alongside Ken and Kosmic. Music played in the distance from the merchants' festival, and the crowd sounded like waves hugging the shore on a windy day.

"Yeah, I guess it is about time for...

A Short Story

Out Of Reach

...is the title of this one," said the alien.

Eons ago, when the alien was still exploring the cosmos and understanding how the fabric of space was woven, an anomaly occurred that he had never imagined possible. The dark matter star he had called home had become very unstable, emitting Hawking radiation at a rate beyond comprehension. This radiation warped space and time, making everything confusing for the alien and hindering his ability to properly gauge the universe.

Desperate to protect the creatures near the dark matter star, the alien decided to absorb the harmful Hawking radiation into his body and convert it into light, hoping to minimize its destructive impact on other life forms. Focused on controlling the radiation and trying to fix the collapsing dark matter star, the alien inadvertently harmed his own atomic structure. Despite his efforts, his miscalculation meant that the creatures were not as far from harm as he had thought.

In his quest to safeguard life, the alien faced the harsh reality of cosmic complexities, learning that even the noblest intentions could lead to unintended consequences in the vast expanse of the universe. Yes, the light he emitted was now visible for many and helped some organisms grow, but he could not control the inevitable end of what he once called home...

"Boom!!! It was all gone in an instant. There was nothing I could do, and all the hard work I thought I had done did not make a difference..." said Kosmic as Shep Shep interrupted.

"Kosman, I'm sorry to hear that. But wait, is that the story? That was sad, man," said Shep Shep.

"Yeah, there has to be more to it than just realizing it was all for nothing," said Ken.

"Well, that was where I was going towards. You see, I thought it was all for nothing. I thought I had lost time and efforts to form a brighter, safe environment to live, but I lacked the wisdom and knowledge necessary to actually accomplish something," said Kosmic.

Frustrated, the alien sought understanding and wisdom. He traveled throughout the universe, observing and attempting to figure out how to build a stable dark matter star that could also serve as a source of gravity to attract matter and form galaxies. One day, he encountered a couple of testers in the process of forming a dark matter star. The young alien watched in amazement as they emitted energy fluctuations, leading to the creation of massive strands of star dust and the birth of nebulas.

Noticing the young alien observing them, the older tester informed his companion. They both decided to greet the alien and offered him a place to stay. Witnessing the skillful craft of the testers, the alien became curious about their expertise. He started asking questions about the hows, whys, and whats of their work. The older tester patiently sat down with the young alien in his giant cuttlefish ship, helping him seek answers to all his questions.

However, there was still a concept that eluded the young one: how to prevent stars from collapsing suddenly, how to protect everyone around, and how to be a stable source of gravity, a rock that could stabilize matter in the cosmos.

.

"I'm not following," said Ken.

"You see," explained Kosmic, "they helped me understand that our job as testers mainly involves stellaforming stars and matter into habitable zones. However, we cannot control the outcomes of other testers' actions nor how the stars react after we have built them, specially if it's a team effort both part must work towards the same goal, if not, then it will collapse. The dark matter star I grew up with was not built by me, and if it collapses, it's not because I did anything wrong. It's just a circumstance I fell into, beyond my control. But they do not define the quality of tester that I would be. Yes, there are things in the universe that are beyond our control," he continued, "and we must learn to navigate them as testers, to continue on to greater things."

"So this couple was like mentors to you?" asked Shep Shep.

"Yeah, and not only them, but other testers also gave me many valuable lessons, as they did. While spending time with them, I began to understand that a lot of things can go wrong in our line of work. But more often than not, things would turn out well in the end," said Kosmic.

"So did they help you make a dark matter star of your own to live?" asked Ken.

"No, but they gave me many tools to help me. Testers cannot help other testers stellaform unless they are in sync eternally," said Kosmic, and he added, "So they didn't help me build stars, but they taught me everything they knew, and time allowed. By combining all the knowledge they gave me and the tools I now hold, I was able to craft my staff," he said, showing what looked like an ordinary wooden stick.

"Oh? Your poking stick? I thought you found that in a forest, Kissimiman," said Shep Shep.

The alien chuckled at this variation of his name and said, "Would you like to know how I made it? While making it, I realized how to put into practice all that I had learned from those friends."

To be continued...