Chapter 8: Beyond human, beyond the stars

The door opened; Noah was dragged into the hot workshop by Nina who was humming with a smirk, her tails flapping about, hitting Noah in the face repeatedly. Rusty put down his tools, placing the miniature sun into a heavily plated door to the side of the burning furnace, an intense heat radiating from it

“Geez!” Nina complained. “If I hadn’t put a barrier around Noah he would have been incinerated! He would literally turn into gas as the atoms that make him up are forced apart!” Rusty just shrugged as he took off the thick goggles that were resting on his head. “Pah! When I was his age, I was already swimming in molten steel! Don’t be a baby.” Rusty replied, walking towards Noah, who was mentally frozen upon the realisation he was almost incinerated. “It’s not even fun, I don’t know why your world treats it like a relaxing spa treatment,” Rebuked Nina.

These guys are even weirder than what I expected, and I expected a lot of weird…

Even Gaia was flabbergasted at this slapstick exchange.

Rusty was only half the size of Noah, yet he radiated an intense aura. His sharp, dark red eyes pierced deep into Noah’s soul. There was a sense of age and wisdom from the look Rusty gave Noah, as if he could see something Noah himself couldn’t. A small smirk appeared on Rusty’s face before he turned and walked back to his workstation, removing a thick metal plate from underneath it.

After kneeling down and opening it, he retrieved a small, glowing yellow gem with white streaks running through it. This time he used a pair of long tweezers rather than his bare hands. The energy radiating from the gem seemed to distort the air as Rusty moved it, placing it into the furnace he was previously working with. The white streaks coming alive and radiating small amounts of white lightning that crackled along its surface as the gem was heated up.

While this was all happening, Noah was still standing still next to Nina and looking around the workshop sheepishly. Nina’s eyes drifted towards Rusty as her eyes narrowed in suspicion at her friends’ actions. Quickly regaining her composure, she turned to face Noah again. “So Noah, getting back on topic, you’re here because you’re looking to become an alien as well as get a ship for trading right? You read my article, right? What did you think?” Nina said as she leaned in, making a ‘give me compliments face’.

Noah turned away awkwardly before responding. “It was umm, interesting I suppose? Very insightful.” Nina nodded exaggeratedly, “Right? Right? Some call me a true genius of journalism you know? I’m very well respected.”

Rusty turned away from what he was working on only to comment, “It doesn’t count if you’re the only one who says that you know.”

“Muu, you’re no fun… So, Noah you brought the material for Rusty?” After saying that, Rusty again rose from his seat before instantly teleporting in front of Noah, it was so fast Noah’s brain didn’t even perceive it. “C’mon boy show us the goods, Morris showed me some of those comics you sold him, so I figured you had some saucy stuff ya hear?” The serious atmosphere completely destroyed, all that was left in front of Noah was a perverted old dwarf, his nose heaving air out so hot you could see the steam.

Noah pulled his face back from Rusty’s before opening up his storage and emptying the products on the floor. The variety included many NSFW manga as well as live action ‘material’. To the side of that was an assortment of ‘toys’. Noah wasn’t sure which way the old dwarf swung so he got stuff for both orientations.

Rusty’s eyes literally glowed yellow as he rapidly scanned through all the manga’s, his smile growing each second. Eventually he got to the toy’s and grabbed a long phallic object and something that resembled a flashlight, he looked at them, turned to Noah and then back to the objects, before whispering in a deep voice. “Boy, the other material is some peak product I’ve gotta say, the way those so called doujins get me going is something special ya hear.” Noah in fact wished he did not hear. “But I’ve seen toys like this before and they’re fine but there’s nothing special about them.” Noah’s head fell, dreading the next words that would come out of his mouth. “Vibrate…” He muttered. “Hah? Speak up boy!” Replied Rusty. “They vibrate… to enhance the… experience.” That seemed to click in Rusty’s brain before he burst out in a hearty laughter. All the objects disappearing, presumably into his storage. “Well, I’ll say, that’s quite an innovation, I’ll have to test this later tonight! Hey Nina! He passes, let’s go and get him a ship alright?”

Nina, during all of this was sitting on a chair to the side, two of her tails filling her ears, she obviously did not want to listen to Rusty’s talk about sex toys for the nth time. Noticing the two men were done speaking, she sat up, her tails swishing back behind her. “Well good! Let’s take a walk outside, shall we?”

As they exited the building and walked around to the opposite side of the pile of space wreckage, Noah came across a spectacular sight. Eight ships, all what could be considered medium size by typical sci fi standards stood in a long line in front of the three. The ships were approximately 1800m3. The shapes varied significantly, with some resembling traditional disk like UFO’s and others long and thin like fighter jets. While Noah was tempted to take the stereotypical alien UFO ship, he figured that would be a little on the nose. The fighter jet like ones were far too aggressive, armed to the teeth.

As Noah was looking at what he assumed to be a giant laser cannon, Rusty chimed in. “You won’t be needing one of these unless your universe is pretty dangerous, these cannons can melt through asteroids like a hot knife through butter. Though they aren’t very practical and are really only suitable for short flights like between a planet and its moon. It’s military excess so they sacrificed range for firepower.” Noah’s teenage brain was pretty tempted to get it just because he thought it would be cool to blow up asteroids, but his rational brain managed to take hold. “To be honest, even being able to travel to our moon and back so easily is a level of technology we don’t have access to yet…”

As Noah and Nina were about to move on, their eyes locked onto the next ship in the line, before turning to face each other, sighing, and moving onto the 4th ship. Rusty was about to explain the 3rd ship and had a proud expression on his face, but he noticed Noah and Nina had already moved on. “Hey! What’re you doing? I haven’t even shown you this one?” Nina turned around quickly and with an irritated expression on her face she yelled, “For the hundredth time Rusty! No one, and I mean no one, is going to take your penis ship! Don’t you know how embarrassing that thing is?” Rusty was taken aback, clutching his heart in exaggerated anguish, “How dare you woman! This is a piece of art! It is extremely functional AND beautiful!” After his outburst, Rusty seemed to deflate a little before mumbling, “seriously, no one appreciates my work…”

While this sketch was going on, Noah continued along the line of ships, the 4th ship looked fine on the outside, with a sleek design, except the interior and ship controls seemed to be designed for some sort of eight handed organism, so Noah had to move along. The 5th- 7th ships Rusty explained were apparently designed for long hauls, connected by special gates, and had limited ability to land on planets. Noah figured they were like space trains. They certainly fit the aesthetic, with a bulky and rectangular design.

The ship which Noah chose was the last one in the line, it resembled the Carrack from the game star citizen with dimensions approximately 7m high, 20m long, and 13m wide. The one in front of Noah did not look like it was fresh of the factory line, however. The exterior plating was mismatched, and it looked a bit scrappy, however Noah thought the ship had charm. Rusty turned towards Noah and smiled saying, “good choice, this one suits you I think, not too aggressive but exotic enough to give it some style. This one is in better shape than the others because the interior is close to new. The stupid dwarf who bought it was a rich brat and smashed the exterior armour by hitting an asteroid on his first flight. He just threw it away and since fixing up ships is my hobby, I brought it into my domain to play around with.”

Noah nodded along at the explanation. As they walked towards the back of the ship, Rusty pointed to the four large thrusters. “These babies are beautiful, but they’re old tech and designed more for efficiency over speed. So, you’re not going to hit light speed, but at cruising speeds you’ll hit 20% of light which is fine for inter planetary travel in most local systems. Also, though it’s slow, it’s great for atmospheric flight and handles well. Void knows how that idiot managed to crash it with the auto evade functions, though he probably tried to fly manually. Noah was getting more and more excited by the second. Being able to travel at 20% of the speed of light meant that he could easily go and explore the solar system, and maybe even visit other planets. Underneath the thrusters in the centre of the ship, a large door opened, forming a ramp leading to a wide hanger. There was a wide storage section on the right where you could fit about four cars side by side. On the left there was rows of passenger seating, enough to fit 28 people. “This is the hanger, originally it was all just storage space but since traders from less advanced worlds can make a lot of money ferrying people around, I put the seats in. Walking further in, they came across a switchback stairway that led to the upper floor. After the automatic door gave way, Noah’s eyes widened. The white and grey interior looked elegant yet simple, there were screens all over the place with different things displayed on them. Wow this really fits the sci fi vibe huh.

Nina, feeling a little annoyed about being excluded in the conversation chimed in. “This is the main level, the captains’ quarters are on the back right here, with an ensuite bathroom attached. The kitchen and dining room is directly opposite on the back left. There are four more bedrooms for crew. That’s why there are three doors on each side of this main room, which serves as the common room.” Nina walked ahead towards the centre of the room, a circular podium about waist height protruding from the floor of the ship. Nina continued. “This is the ships computer, your card should be able to merge with it as well, taking on the roll of a ship AI, though our cards aren’t artificial... Anyway, it makes explaining the cards to your world easier if you can just pass it of as an advanced AI right?”

Noah nodded along, walking towards the podium and placing his hand on a smooth white panel. Upon touching it, an artificial voice filled the room through invisible speakers. “Carbon based life from detected, would you like to register this genetic signature as the captain of this ship?” Noah panicked for a second, turning around to apologise to Rusty for touching the ship without his permission. Rusty and Nina simply laughed, Nina commenting, “it’s always funny seeing that happen haha! But you can go ahead and register, I think Rusty has decided to hand this ship over to you right?” Nina turned towards Rusty. “Not yet boy, there’s something else I’d like to give you before you register, and once that’s done I’ll let you take her for a spin.” Nina’s expression dimmed a bit, biting her lip a little as her suspicions were piqued. If what she thought was going to happen was true, she decided to intervene to protect Noah. As this was going through her head, Rusty gave her a sharp look before turning and walking out of the ship.

As the three of them walked downstairs and out the ships hanger, Noah noticed the sudden tension in the air, though he paid it no mind as he was far too excited at the prospect of being able to fly a ship through space. Turning over to Rusty who was on the receiving end of Nina’s glare he asked, “so what now? Is there anything you need me to do?” Nina’s frown only got deeper as she was ignored.

Rusty remained silent as they walked back to the workshop. Not being able to bear the silence once they arrived, Nina growled. “Rusty if you’re planning what I think your planning, I will stop you… with force if necessary.” Rusty’s face remained unchanged as he walked up to his furnace, removing the yellow gem from before, however now it was pure white, the lightning on the surface had turned a vibrant and intense blue. Noah stared at the small object in awe, and then fumbled forwards slightly as he felt his balance slip. His vision seemed to bend as objects lost their shape. This wasn’t a spontaneous case of vertigo however, the glowing gem Rusty was holding onto was creating an intense localised gravity well, drawing Noah towards it. Nina reached out and quickly grabbed onto Noah’s arm, her superhuman grip holding him in place. Finally, Rusty spoke.

“Noah, you probably aren’t aware but, when you arrived here the Void started expanding. That on its own isn’t anything special, but in your case as soon as you appeared, the void hasn’t stopped expanding. Morris noticed this, but despite his skills, he hasn’t been around as long as we have, so he didn’t connect the dots.”

“Hey!” Nina was about to interrupt before Rusty turned and silenced her with his gaze. “You smelled it too right Nina?”

“Ah… yes but… what are the chances he’s the same as us? Barely anyone survives merging with a seed. There hasn’t been anyone else in over a thousand years... not since ‘him’. Even if does work, Noah would just be targeted!” Nina’s voice trembled as she yelled back at Rusty.

Rusty sighed as he pointed to Noah who was attempting to regain his footing. “Just look Nina, it’s the same as before, the seed is calling him. Whether it benefits us or not, is beside the point.” Noah was looking back and forth between the two, the confusion on his face turning to fear as he sensed something was wrong. Gaia, do you know what they’re talking about?

@^%^*#((*@&(@(&*(&!)((*(&@#^&%@!!!!!!!!

“Hey! What’s going on? Gaia?! Gaia?!” Noah panicked as Gaia emitted an incomprehensible noise in response to his question. Nina looked at Noah, who was beginning to struggle even harder against the gravitational pull. “Rusty, the last time this happened… ‘he’ only caused destruction, it corrupted him… and it’s only getting worse. What makes you think anything would change this time?” Nina’s voice was filled with emotion, as if she was reliving a traumatic memory.

“Nina, this is still a gamble, but there’s a difference. The expansion isn’t corrupting the new worlds, it’s not sucking them dry. After we fought ‘him’ at Titan’s hold all those years ago, the Void gave me this. Up until he joined, it was inactive and cold, now look at it. Everything has to be balanced, seeds included, so the chances of this harming the boy are low.” Nina turned her gaze to the gem rusty was holding onto, she noticed that even someone as powerful as him was struggling to hold it in place, as it was drawn towards Noah. The tendrils of blue lightening were reaching out towards Noah desperately, as if it was meant to be with him. “

“Guys! Hey! What the fuck is going on?!” Noah was hysterical at this point; his body was completely off the ground with only Nina holding onto him under his arms, as his body was being drawn towards the gem.

“Noah…” Nina was conflicted before she looked to Rusty one last time. “Are you sure this isn’t a mistake?” Rusty looked into her eyes before nodding. “It’s a risk we have to take.” Rusty turned towards Noah and began walking towards him, the gem’s lightning tendrils becoming more and more active.

[email protected]^(Noah!&*&((*Dont!*^*&*((Struggle^**&!*&@*Accept it!! !%&@%!&* I’ll protect you!!!$%$&^*

With his heart beating at a million miles an hour, Noah closed his eyes. He didn’t know what was happening, or what they were talking about, but he trusted Gaia. She was the only one he could trust in this situation. The gem started vibrating erratically as Rusty moved closer before it broke away from the metal tongs, flying towards Noah. It zipped through the air like a shooting star, twisting space as it moved. Suddenly, Gaia slipped out of Noah’s pocket the card flew to intercept the speeding gem and as they two collided the golden card turned to liquid before wrapping itself around the gem. Rusty and Nina’s eyes went wide as this happened, but they could only stand still as the gem pierced Noah’s heart.

Noah’s eyes opened. It was dark, empty, a void. Nina and Rusty were nowhere to be seen as Noah grasped his heart. There was an intense heat inside of him, an energy that was just waiting to burst out. In the distance, a golden light appeared, it was small and dim, but it radiated such a comforting warmth. Noah moved towards the light, swimming through the endless abyss, the warm light seemed to call him, like a child entering their mother’s warm embrace. When Noah reached out to touch it, a flash of light filled the surroundings. When Noah’s vision settled, he saw a woman standing there. Her eyes a radiant crystal blue surrounded by rings of gold, her hair long and golden with white streaks through it, emitting a brilliant energy. She reached out towards Noah and placed her hands on his cheeks and smiled.

“Gaia?” The first word that came out of Noah’s mouth. He was sure it was her. “What just happened, you collided with that thing? Where are we?” Gaia smiled, responding. “Well, you know how Nina said I could merge with the ships computer right? I felt something on an instinctual level, that I needed to accept this seed, that we needed to accept this seed. I’m not sure how to describe it but now I feel… complete. As for where we are…” As Gaia turned around, she put her hands out, the white streaks beginning to glow. A ball of energy formed in her hands, golden spirals rotating and condensing. Suddenly the ball shot out faster than Noah could keep up with. In the distance the ball of energy exploded, Noah felt a thumping pain in his chest as he grabbed his heart. “oww what the fuck! Wait, are we… inside me?” Gaia giggled before turning back to face Noah. “Technically yes, but we’re actually inside the gem. I also got this body after I merged with it, and these abilities.” Gaia turned to her left and right, showing off her body. Noah’s cheeks flushed red before coughing. “Ah, ok, you look nice.” A haughty smile appeared on Gaia’s face. “I know right? I’m smoking… Speaking of bodies, you should have a look at your own. I don’t think you’ll be needing Nina’s alien disguise anymore…”

After saying that, the dark void began to fade, and Noah’s body regained consciousness. Opening his eyes, Noah saw a worried Nina standing over him with wet cheeks, semi dried tears staining them. Lifting an arm towards her face, Noah brushed aside the tears and then noticed his hand. White marks running along it. Nina grabbed Noah’s face and looked into his eyes. “Noah! Hey! It’s you right? Do you feel anything weird? Do you have an urge to destroy everything in sight?” Noah leaned back before replying, “Ah! I’m fine Nina, I’m just, really confused right now.”

Sitting up abruptly, Noah tore off his now burned suit. He ran over to a mirror on the side of the workshop. The white marks weren’t like paint, or tattoos, but streams of moving energy, he could feel it flowing through him. Looking over himself, he saw an intricate network of energy veins spreading across his body stemming out from the area above his heart. Noah looked at his face, his iris’s were glowing golden and his hair had streaks of the same white energy that Gaia had. The most notable thing was the glowing golden halo hovering above his head. The Gem was embedded in his chest, small golden ruins spread across its surface. Touching the gem, Noah felt a wave of fatigue, the energy veins and halo losing some of their lustre as the energy rushed towards his chest, forming a ball which shot out and hovered in front of him. The ball expanded and formed the silhouette of a woman.

After the light faded, Gaia was standing there, in a silky white robe, a look of surprise on her face. “Oh, this is cool! Looks like we don’t have to wait for the domain upgrades anymore for my body.” Gaia noticed the weird expression on Noah’s face as he looked between her and his appearance in the mirror. “Yeah… so I’m not human anymore? Oh wait, my status!”

Gaia waved her hand, Noah’s status appearing in front of him. It was still fairly simple but there were some significant changes.

Name and Age:

Noah Valentine, 18 Earth years

Race:

Human/Celestial (Seeded)

Abilities:

- Enhanced mental abilities (general)

- Celestial Seed energy (limited)

- Enhanced physical abilities (seed) (Limited)

- Solar energy absorption (Race)(Halo) (Limited)

- ???

Titles:

- Selected by the Celestial seed

- Dual soul (Companion card)

- Watched by the void

- Watched by ???

“Celestial? Is that why I have this halo?” Noah reached up and felt the halo above his head, having apparently regained some of its brightness after Gaia appeared. It felt like nothing he had ever touched before. Simultaneously feeling like a gas, liquid and a solid. The energy seeming to change state or be in all states at once.

“I’m sorry for scaring you kid. I should have told you, but I was worried that if the seed grew in power before it had a chance to assimilate with you, the sheer amount of energy could have compromised your control over it. Though it seems your companion here took care of it.” Rusty turned and smiled at Gaia.

“The reason I was so worried,” Nina continued, “was because the last person who accepted a seed became a shadow of his former self. Quite literally, becoming the origin of what we call shades, eating away at the energy of the multiverse. We don’t know why the void allowed it to happen, but apparently it gave the solution to Rusty; where it laid dormant until you arrived. To be honest, even we aren’t sure what’s going on.” Nina flopped down on a chair, her tails drooping towards the floor. “We sensed something different in the energy you give off, most people in the void have the same imprint, the energy of the void, but some people, like you, like us, are different. Like Rusty here, I’m sure you’ve seen the statue in the city? Yeah, that’s him with the colossus seed activated, and I also have the yokai seed.”

Noah closed his eyes, trying to process everything before sighing. “Haah, this is all so complicated. Though I’d be lying if I wasn’t excited. By the way Nina, what do you mean I’d be targeted?” Nina’s face cramped up before responding, “ah, yeah, like Rusty said, the void has to maintain balance, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, right? So, your seed also has an antithesis, you’d have a ‘watched by ???’ title which is most likely ‘him’.”

Noah nodded his head as he re checked his status. He wasn’t sure if he would have to confront ‘him’ in the future. “Speaking of, why do you keep saying ‘him’? Doesn’t he have a name?” Rusty tapped Noah on the shoulder as he led him outside. “it’s out of consideration for your, and your worlds safety. After all, ‘if you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you’.” After quoting Friedrich Nietzsche inexplicably, Noah was once again led back to his new ship. After Rusty and Nina led him to the central computer with Gaia following along, Rusty nodded and signalled for Noah to place his hand on it. As he did so, Gaia also placed her hand down. The console lit up before a voice came through the ships speakers. “DNA Registration complete, welcome abord Captain…”

“Valentine, Noah Valentine”

“Registration complete &^!**(&!” The ships computer seemed to glitch out. As Noah turned his head, Gaia’s body melted into a golden stream and poured into the ship’s computer. The three of them looked around and Nina exclaimed, “oh this is interesting, Gaia and Noah’s seed energy has seeped into the ship.”

“Yoohooo, I’m in the ship. No more of that boring default AI anymore!” Gaia’s cheerful voice filled the room. Rusty and Nina turned to face each other before Rusty spoke up. “I think you deserve a bit of a break from all this. Take the ship for a spin, start trading, and enjoy yourself for a while. Over time you’ll get a hold of your racial and seed abilities. So we’ll leave for now.” As Rusty and Nina moved to exit the ship. Noah ran down the stairs and caught them before they exited the ramp. “Um! Thankyou! Despite being shot in the heart by a seed, you still helped me, with this ship and stuff. Also, Nina, thanks for looking out for me, I know you were just worried about me.” A flush of embarrassment spread across Noah’s face as he called out to the two. Rusty gave a nod, a smirk across his face. Nina’s tails waved around like a happy dog, her face was turned away to the side, her ears flapping up and down.” Rusty elbowed her as they walked away. Prompting Nina to whack the perverted dwarf with one of her tails, sending him flying thirty metres into a wrecked ship. Noah chuckled, happy that the serious energy had faded a bit.

As Noah walked back up into the ships main room, he walked further to the front of the ship and sat down in the pilot’s chair. A large panoramic window spread out in front of him, allowing him to also see above and below him. A bunch of panels in his periphery showed live video feeds from other external and internal ship cameras. “Ok Gaia, I hope you learned how to fly this thing when you merged with it because I certainly don’t know.” Gaia’s chuckle filled the room. “No problem, closing the doors.” A vibration could be felt at Noah’s feet, the camera to his left showed the cargo hanger door closing and locking. “Initiating engines.” The whirr of the ship’s engines began, the pitch climbing as the engines spooled. “Life support active, mobility thrusters ready, energy shield 100%. We’re ready to go Noah, where should we start?” Noah’s heart began beating rapidly as Gaia listed off the take off procedures. He was about to finally take a trip through space, in his ship, where should he start? “Hmm, I want Earth to Notice me, but I still want to visit the outer planets so let’s start with Pluto, and we can work our way towards the Earth.”

“Aye aye captain!” The outside of the ship was covered in a golden light and a second later, they were in space, Noah’s felt his body become weightless as he stared out the front window, a vast and endless space filled his vision. “Wow”, the first words that came out of Noah’s mouth. His journey was truly beginning.