Beacons in The Dark

Chapter 1 - Auspicious Beginnings

"As Far as we can tell, it all started with the Starslingers." - Exo History 001a v.1

The night air of Star City always smelled like citrus, because it was piped mechanically throughout the areas, and the alluring aroma was closely guarded by the Scentmakers Guild. The odor annoyed Blue, though so many other tourists to the world of Alphanas seemed to love - theyd travel lightyears, traverse the galaxies just to smell the famed citrus of the Prime Superplanet.

The wash of stars across this part of the Spread were indeed spectacular, augmented by a near invisible particle field that collected the moon and starlight and diffused it down in silver lightlines across the megalopolis, creating a silver cascade that dazzled the eyes.

Some radicals across Alphanas claimed the diffused light caused mutations, but this was widely dismissed.

Blue stood outside the Lorseekers Guildhouse, a shining amantium ziggurat, multi-tiered and looming like a monstrous black beetle amongst plains of glaring white and black panels of concrete embedded into the guilds grounds, interspersed with ultra green copses of grass, creating a checkerboard landscape that stretched far into the glowing horizon and beyond. The micro-climate of the guildlands (and all were different) was a dry sort of humidity with a few sparse clouds zig zagging into the the distance, but reports from the Weather Office said that a rainstorm was going to be scheduled within the next few micro-cycles to help seed the grass stores; as of course appearances meant a lot.

Guilds played a large part in the Autonomous Empire; they procured and protected valuable secrets and would brook no competitors - all economy was routed through the differing guilds who deferred to Imperial decree. Any creation of guildmarked merchandise or knowledge was punishable by death and deletion.

Security grounds were common around Guild properties which were strictly off limits to regular citizens, and because of the immense size of Alphanas, these grounds could stretch from hundreds to thousands of miles across, each with their own myriad of traps, mazes, and defenses.

To battle the long distances, telecasters were used to transport peope, they would instantly disassemble and reassemble a person to a certain extent, enough to cover the wide expanses of guildlands. They resembled large stone arches but radiated a strange energy that glowed violet to his augmented vision, letting him know that the caster was ready to take him in.

Blue Zek was a Historian, the head Loremaster of the Loreseekers Guild, and had been so for the past five hundred cycles. His research and work had been utilized and distributed throughout the Systems, and his insights had even been appreciated by the Autonomous Emperor (though he was unaware this penultimate attention had been paid his way

Pushing his fingers back through his unruly black hair as he stepped through the telecaster, he looked around briefly at the guildlands.

He was not a tall man, barely topping five and a half feet, with a lean wolfish face and pale skin engineered to resist discoloration. He wore a long black duster with matching ebony pants with purple stripes down each legging, a strange pair of gunmetal silver shoes fastened to his feet.

Equippid with basic modifications further specialized by his own special tweaks, Blue could hold his own in the dangerous job of a Historian.

He had scanning ocular insets, flexbone implants, and various hardware and software upgrades wired into his human flesh because he had to - he had to be faster and more agile, had to see where others could not, and be able to withstand blows that would crush stone; all for the love of what he did, for the love of knowledge.

Historians were the lifeblood of the Empire. They tracked down the lost technology that fell out of the grip of humanity during The Migration, when the home galaxy was torn apart and the refugees were forced to cross the universe and throw their generations to evolution.

The sound of the wind through the megascrapers whistled through his ears in an unending sussuration as he took the long walking route to his domicile, where his assistant, Nami, a Trowan, also resided. Blue, though Loremaster, opted not to live in the guildhouse for reasons that he would not give.

On this day he was troubled.

On this day he had heard of something called Jhiva, something that defied anything he had heard; a technology that he could not comprehend, something that expended energy without using energy - a true conundrum.

And as he walked, a form with a solid state laser pistol gripped firmly in its hand shadowed him without his knowledge.