Trials In Tainted Space - Tales Of The Stars

Chapter 1 - The Failure

The light overhead buzzed lightly as it illuminates the large table and the small number of scientists looked at the schematics. They studied them with a look of confusion, trying to understand how this would be possible. After the original head of Steele Tech, Victor Steele, had died, he left all of his inheritance to his son, Joseph Steele. But had also left the several pods for him to find to gain control over the company. But because of this, Joseph had to explore the galaxy, setting all kinds of danger to be found, but the company had this in mind. So, they had been designing a device to clone the successor as a way to make sure that the company would not fall into the wrong hands, mainly Jill Steele. With this in mind the scientists were carefully studying the sheets to make sure any flaws would be removed for a perfect replica of Joseph.

Months would go by as the team worked tirelessly testing and perfecting the machine, making sure that every stage in the process would be correct. They were trying every form of technology at their disposal to see how it would work, until one day they had a breakthrough. The best way of creating the clone would be to have the DNA of the creature and something for the DNA to bond to. So they started to research on creatures that could bond symbiotically with a host in order to benefit both specimens. After some time they had found it, the perfect subject, a rare primal form of a Rahn known as a "Black Mimic Rahn". They had the ability to bond with a host in order to evolve and develop in their life cycle before leaving and becoming a average Rahn. The team quickly requested this specimen and received it later on.

After months of work, using everything they had, the device had been completed, "Biological Unrestrictive Intelligent Life-form Development Enhanced Reconstructor" as it was called, would create the first successful clone of a creature. On the day of the first run, everything was set, the energy reading were perfect, everything was clean and precise. As they started the machine, the arms of the device quickly moved, picking pieces of materials and stacking them one by one, forming the skeletal structure from the bottom up. After certain parts of the structure had been created, smaller arms had appears in larger amounts, and began to set the tendons on the structure, making sure that they would not fall apart. After 5 hours of manufacturing, the clone had come out as a success, but it was not required to be around for now, so they cryogenically froze it and locked it away in storage. But after all of the of that, the team was successful, and quickly celebrated for the achievement.

But during all of this, they still had the Rahn on standby, held in its container, watching as they celebrated and partied while it was locked away. After a few weeks the team was at it again, working on a new project that would allow them to open small doorways into different areas of the lab. As they tested the portals, one of the scientists had the idea of using the Rahn as a test object, everyone agreed as they thought it would just die if the portal closed, so they quickly tossed it through. With the portal being unstable in itself, it quickly closed with one of the ends being severed from the container, and hit the floor with a loud metal thud. They all quickly turned to where the other end of the portal was, and saw the creature slowly emerge from its prison.

The coloration of it was that of a purplish black, slightly shiny as it reflected some of the light off its body. It slowly moved on the floor, seeming to stretch and form itself into that of a snake, before quickly slithering out of the room. The scientists quickly called security and reported the situation, before long the security teams were dispatched and were searching every corridor. But as they searched for the specimen, it was already long gone, and had gotten into the storage area, searching for something. After some time, it had found it, the clone, and quickly grew, growing into that of a skeletal structure. It quickly examined the tank that contained its "ticket" to freedom, and found a lever that would release the door. It pulled, the door fell, and it rushed to connect to him.

As the clone opened his eyes, he found himself in what seemed to be a dark alleyway, littered with trash and broken items. He couldn't seem to remember anything, not even his own name. Confused by his situation, he tried to remember something, anything about himself or what happened. All he could seem to remember what that his name began with J, but beyond that, he was clueless about his past. He tried to think of a name that could fit, then the name Joshua appeared. "Yes, that will work." the clone thought. Joshua slowly got up from his resting place and examined the area around him, see if there was anything useful. All he could find was a large tattered gray tarp, a discarded pair of pants, and a large brim hat. He quickly snatched them and covered himself with them.

After he readied himself, he quietly exited the alley, only to realize it lead to a large busy town square. Luckily for him, no one seemed to mind his presence, and he quickly snuck around and go into a small rest stop before anyone got suspicious. As he entered he couldn't help but notice the large amount of bovine like humanoids around him, he reached the clerk desk and gained the attention of the clerk. She was extremely tall, about 6 to 7 feet, and the best way to describe her figure would be voluptuous, her breasts were the size of his head and were tightly squeezed in her shirt. Everything about her was overall large, but Joshua wasn't here for that, he needed information and fast. "Where exactly am I? I seem to have gotten amnesia and forgot how I got here.", he said. "Why, you're on New Texas sugar. But i can understand that amnesia you have, those bruises look pretty bad." she said motioning to the various dark spots on his arms.

He quickly covered his arms with the tarp and requested a room. She gave him the keycard for the room and he swiftly headed towards it. After he closed the door behind him, he entered the restroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His dark brown hair was messy and tangled, his skin was pale and small spots of dark purple riddled his body. In his mind he thought he looked like a train wreck turned into a person, he needed to fix it. After a few minutes of combing, washing, and patching up, he looked like a whole new man. However, he still tried to remember who he was, what happened to him, and how this happened. He stared deeply into his face, trying to see if there was anything that could help him.

Nothing, he couldn't think of anything, he was a complete stranger to everyone. But as he was examining himself, from the depths of his mind, he heard a voice that was far from his. "Josh...", the raspy and deep voice echoed. Joshua quickly jumped back from the mirror, tripping over his feet and falling onto the floor. As his mind tried to figure out what in the world was going on, he hesitantly raised himself from the floor and looked in the mirror again. He still was himself thankfully, so after he relaxed he headed back to the bedroom and tried to fall asleep, still trying to figure out what he heard. After a few hours of sleep, Joshua rose from his bed, slightly groggy and rejuvenated. As he exited the bed he noticed that the large bruises and bumps on his body were gone, as if they never happened. He turned to the nearby clock as say that a day hadn't even gone by, but still trying to fully wake up, he stumbled towards the bathroom to get himself ready.

He took a shower, brushed his hair, checked himself for anything irregular. Nothing out of the ordinary, unfortunately, but he still couldn't figure out how the bruises vanished. Still, as he stood there looking at himself in that large mirror, he couldn't help but wonder how exactly all of this was happening and why. But no matter how hard he tried to think and remember, nothing came up, all he could think of what the name he thought was his own and everything after he awoke. "Joshua...", the voice called again, this time it echoed in his head. He couldn't understand, why was this happening, who was he, what is this voice he was hearing? "Joshua..." It said again, louder and more stern this time, as if it was trying to get his attention. But he didn't want any of it, he just ran the bed and tried to sleep ignoring all the calls from the voice in his head.

But just before he fell asleep, the voices responded with something different, a simply "Welcome..." and everything went black.