“You know,” Alena said exasperatedly, “it never has been boring around you, Robin. That’s why I chose to follow you. But damn… you’re overdoing it! This whole situation is absurd.”

  “Yeah!” Happy agreed, “It would be much better to sit down and discuss things with a cocktail in hand.”

  Her eyes longingly glanced at the door as she sighed, “I could really have a drink right now!”

  “Second drawer on the right” Kel’Bak said and pointed at a desk in the corner of the room without taking his eyes off Robin.

  “Haha, that would be great, wo–” Happy laughed but then stopped and tilted her head, “Wait, really? Awesome!”

  While Niu plundered the researcher’s hidden stash, the Augur started scolding them.

  “You don’t understand the seriousness of the situation.”

  Nodding, Robin jumped in on that.

  “Yeah, because you and Proto are explaining shit! I still have no idea what this is all about.” he cursed angrily, “The Eltaran have managed to make my body form this ‘Heart-Blood’ and conducted a test. Their scan then revealed that this blood is likely related to the Starborn, which is pretty awesome but at the end of the day nothing more than a curiosity as all humans are descendants of the Starborn and finding traces of their origin within our genes is only natural.”

  He looked at his friends who nodded in agreement or, like Krez, simply shrugged.

  “So, is my strange power a result of his higher concentration of Starborn-genes? How does that even work? It’s obviously not part of my G-Anomaly.” Robin continued as he tried to finally get some answers, “Also, what does all that have to do with the Keeper showing so much interest? And what contract have you guys signed that you want me to modify? Lastly, why do you need me or more precisely my Heart-Blood for this?”

  “Leave the first part for me, Keeper, and then you can explain the second.” Proto said and addressed the people in the laboratory. “Fine, let’s start with you, Robin. You have gotten most things correct more or less. If this actually was about mutations or genes you would hit right on mark. You do have a higher concentration than other humans and that ultimately is what manifests your ability to, well, blow up each and every electronic device around you. I assume that you somehow destabilize the energy and make it erupt. That is why the reactions are so extreme and differ from your mutation, which only allows you to sense and regulate the flow.”

  “But I cannot control that ability and it has…” Robin paused to search for the right words, “It has a strong mental component. I tried everything to get a hold of it, but I just can’t pull it off. Even Ang’Tue managed to stabilize his condition after coming to an agreement with his inner demon.”

  “That is because your situation is different. As I said, this has nothing to do with your G-Anomaly, nor with genes. Didn’t you listen? It’s called blood of the Starborn, not genes of the Starborn. Damn, those folks are so damn arrogant, they would never allow any lesser creature to inherit their precious genes.” Proto said.

  “So, humans aren’t descendants of the Starborn?” Alena asked.

  “Correct, and that has never been the original intention. It’s simply a misunderstanding on your part. Old Morris tried to create a new, powerful race and not just make a clone.” Proto explained, “But let’s stay with the basics first. Humans - and many other species - have mutations, G-Anomalies as you call it. You unlock them by empowering growth-deviations in your genes. Almost every being has these defects and what you’re doing is simply strengthening these parts of your genetic code to make them more accessible. That is what you know as G-Anomaly, with skills and passive effects.”

  When no questions were raised, Proto continued.

  “Good, then there are the Eltaran. They were the first ones to unlock G-Anomalies and while the rest of the sentient races are still trying to catch up to their level, the Eltaran already took things one step further. You know, their bodies produce a special kind of blood cell that holds a high level of energy and has a strong link to the mind. I don’t want to dive any deeper into this - not only isn’t it up to me to share these secrets, I can also see that I’m already losing you with my explanation.” Proto said and Robin growled in annoyance, without disagreeing though, “To wrap things up, the Eltaran learned to produce a drop of blood in their heart that has a really high concentration of these otherwise rare cells, the Heart–Blood. Using this blood they took G-Anomalies one step further and added a mental component. They linked the mutation to their mind and gained broader access to their abilities. You already saw what Ang’Tue is capable of.”

  “Yeah, but we also learned about the downside of this.” Niu muttered and took a swig from the bottle of booze she found, “We had a few close calls…”

  “Correct. The strong connection with the mind bears the risk to form what they call an inner demon. Scientifically speaking it is a mild form of schizophrenic disorder and most of the time they are able to keep it in check.”

  “Except in cases of excessive overuse of our mutations.” Ang’Tue added with a thin voice and Robin noticed how Mul’Jin’s face, which had an offended look at first, softened and turned sad. They probably had both their fair share of tragic stories locked up in their hearts that they were remembering.

  “Fine, now let’s move to the last part.” Proto continued after giving them a moment, “So you’ve learned that humans and all other races have slight defects in their genes that can be strengthened into a G-Anomaly. The Eltaran have developed means to link these mutations with their mind and gain access to stronger abilities. That leaves us with the Starborn.”

  Robin was sitting at the edge of his seat by now and the people all around him were looking just as interested. Even Krez was listening attentively.

  “They are different. Simply put: the Starborn are perfect, they don’t have any defects in their genetic code.”

  Robin only registered half of what the AI said and hung up on something completely different. “Proto, mate, you are fucking old, right? You have been there when the Starborn vanished.”

  “Rude!” Proto complained, “But true, why?”

  “It’s the second time I’ve noticed this already. You’ve said the Starborn are perfect, not that they have been perfect. Simple Present.”

  “Ah…” The AI said and sighed, “Well, to answer the question you’re not daring to ask: yes, they are still around. Not here in what you call Civilized Territories or anywhere else close by, but, yeah, they haven’t been eradicated.”

  “Then…” Robin muttered, his mind clouded by the sudden revelation.

  “Then that talk is better reserved for another time.” Proto cut him short, “Instead let us return to the topic at hand. Starborn not having genetic defects also means they do not have mutations. No mighty Starborn with a strong G-Anomaly. So, why are they still so powerful?”

  “They are?” Alena raised an eyebrow, “How would we know?”

  “Oh, yeah, right.” Proto realized his mistake, “You take any Starborn, no matter how weak - even Anastasia the damn witch… right, - any Starborn, no matter how weak, could stand here and let Ang’Tue attack with anything he got. Our demon-minded Eltaran would achieve nothing, not even his admittedly strong dark smoke of death would do shit.”

  “Okay, noted.” Happy nodded, “You set the scale.”

  “Great, that leaves us with the question: how?” Proto continued, “Well, It’s still about what we discussed earlier. While humans have mutations and Eltaran are able to further strengthen them due to their special blood cells, Starborn only have these blood cells. Their whole system is driven by blood that holds an insane amount of energy that is easily influenced and controlled by their mind.”

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  Ang’Tue, Mul’Jin and Kel’Bak gasped in shock. Clearly this was news even to them and different from the others, the Eltaran had a much better idea how significant these blood cells were.

  Ignoring them, Proto kept going with his lesson, “And, the Eltaran among you might know this, while this energy is controllable it isn’t useful directly. Instead, the Starborn use this energy to optimize their genes, mold and adapt them so their bodies gain new abilities. Abilities like innate energy shields that would easily block Ang’Tue’s smoke, increased processing power for their brains, affinities with elements to control… the stronger the energy within a Starborn is, the more they can change their body to develop new features.”

  “Amazing.” Ang’Tue whistled.

  “So, what you’re saying is that the Starborn are basically doing it the other way around? While Humans have defects that can turn into mutations and Eltaran have a bit of internal energy they can use to link these mutations with their mind to make them stronger, the Starborn have so much of this energy that they can create mutations based on their personal desires?” Robin summarized.

  “That… yeah, that is pretty much what I was explaining over the last 20 minutes.” Proto said in surprise, “I didn’t think you would be able to keep up!”

  “Yeah, thanks and fuck you.” Robin scowled, “Having that cleared up, what does all that have to do with me or the experiment of this Old Morris?”

  “You’ve seen what happens to the Eltaran who are tapping too much into their special blood, expending their inner energy.” Proto said and Robin glanced at Ang’Tue once before nodding, “Good, seeing how much the Eltaran are getting affected by their meager amount of special blood cells, what do you think how the Starborn are faring with a body running only on that stuff?”

  “Since this is a leading question, I’m inclined to guess: not good!” Robin said, more prompting a question than giving an answer.

  “Wrong!” Proto cheered, “No, if you’re asking the Starborn, they are living the perfect life as beings at the pinnacle. You see, these folks are born with a much better brain than any species out there and as such they are able to embrace what the Eltaran are fearing, making it part of who they are. This has side effects though. Starborn are the embodiment of arrogance, the energy pulsing through their bodies constantly reminds them of how much better they are than anyone else.”

  “Is that also what triggers my strange mental state when using my power?” Robin asked.

  “Precisely, and it all comes back to something we both learned way back when we first met on Ruca II.” Proto sighed and made a long, suffering pause, “Your limited mental capabilities, even for a Human that is. You are getting completely overwhelmed by the feeling of superiority that your blood is giving you and are in danger of losing yourself to it.”

  “Asshole…” Robin hissed and turned to Mul’Jin, “Is there a way to cut off the power for this sector of the city? It would be awesome if we could silence this guy!”

  “Uhm… sorry, I don’t think that is feasible.” She said, “Also, I would like to hear the rest of his story.”

  “Great!” Proto cheered while Robin groaned in defeat, “So, Starborn are stable but arrogant folks. They are natural born rulers. However, Old Morris realized how much potential for growth, expansion and development they missed out on simply because they never acknowledged anything that wasn’t invented or created by one of their own. Morris saw what none of his fellow people wanted to see: the Starborn lost themselves in their own glory and began to stagnate.

  So, at some point he left the Endless Empire and started to experiment on a new race. He wanted to create a race that was something between the Eltaran and the Starborn, mighty and powerful, but not consumed by their own blood. What this new race would lack in personal prowess they should compensate with the adaptation and assimilation of achievements from other species.”

  Proto stopped to give everyone a moment to digest these secrets of the past, before he continued.

  “Unfortunately Old Morris never succeeded. In all his attempts he never managed to naturally breed a specimen that produced enough of the special blood. He manually grew a few, but they always lacked the mental capabilities to suppress its effects.

  At the end, the experiment was deemed a failure and the old guy was executed by the Starborn for tarnishing the reputation of their race.”

  “Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, venerable First!” Kel’Bak praised the AI when the long history lesson finally came to an end.

  “Yeah, you’re welcome.” Proto waved him off.

  “To summarize,” Alena said, trying to sort her thoughts, “The Starborn are extremely powerful but in turn get consumed by their arrogance. That Morris-guy then tried to create a new race that would be a bit less powerful but more open to the world. He failed since he couldn’t get his specimens to reproduce and retain a stable balance between power and mental capabilities.”

  “Yup.” Proto confirmed.

  “And now there is Robin, a human anomaly because…” Alena now had to start guessing how to continue, “because he has a much higher than normal concentration of these special blood cells despite being naturally born. Though even he is not what Morris was looking for since his brain is too weak to keep his blood in check.”

  “Correct!”

  “You know, it is even more hurtful to hear someone calling you stupid when it is in a scientific context and not just meant as a simple insult.” Robin grumbled and snatched the bottle from Happy.

  “This brings me to the second part. What does all this have to do with the Keeper?” The Augur stepped in but Niu raised a hand.

  “No offense meant, but will this be another one-hour-lesson? We should really order something to eat then, because I’m reaching my limit here.”

  “You should be grateful that such valuable knowledge is shared with you…” The Keeper hissed in anger but quickly caught himself, “But no, this part is less complex.”

  The people in the room pulled themselves together once more and listened as the Augur began his explanation.

  “To sum things up, the Keeper have already been around when the Endless Empire was still strong. As we were the only race that could stand up to the Starborn, a pact was made to ensure a peaceful coexistence. Among other things, we signed two main agreements. First, the Starborn aren’t allowed to dabble with ?ther in any way, while in turn the Keeper must refrain from collecting knowledge directly from the Starborn. Second, neither of us is allowed to ever initiate - directly or indirectly through leading others - any kind of attack on the other species or their creations.” The Augur said, “Now we have the Second who is on a rampage and threatens to destroy anything within the known universe and while the Starborn are no longer here, the Keeper are still bound by the contracts. However, with the blood of the Anomaly we now have the tools at hand to modify or cancel these contracts.”

  “Okay…” Happy said when the Augur didn’t continue, “Wait, that’s it?”

  “Yes, there is nothing else to add.” The Keeper said.

  “You see that, Proto?” Robin leered, “Seven sentences, directly to the point and without constantly insulting those who are listening. That is how you explain important matters!”

  “If I had to explain his part, I could’ve done the same…” Proto grumbled but everyone in the laboratory, even the two Eltaran, shook their heads.

  “Nah, I don’t see it.” Niu shot him down.

  “Yeah, you just love hearing your voice.” Alena agreed.

  “So, what is happening now?” Robin ignored their bickering, “You want to use this Heart-Blood of mine to change the contracts. What will happen to me if you extract it? Sounds like it’s kind of important for my body.”

  “Actually, you’ll only benefit from this.” The Augur said, “We are sure that you’ve used your special blood cells for two things so far. Gaining access to ?ther and creating the ability to destabilize energy. While the former has already become a part of your G-Anomaly, the latter is still mostly based on your inner energy.”

  “...which I cannot properly control.” Robin followed along.

  “Indeed. I suggest we use the framework you’ve subconsciously created to transform this ability into another part of your mutation. This would give you easy access and control, while only being slightly less powerful. On the other hand you would get rid of an unstable rogue element within your body that threatens anyone around you.”

  Robin was taken aback when he heard that. “That really sounds like a good plan. No other side effects than losing a bit of its power?”

  “Well, you would be cut off from developing any further abilities in the future. At least for the next decade or two.” Proto said.

  “But I would also gain full control over my mental state, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, fine. Let’s do this!” Robin enthusiastically nodded.

  “Uhm, just like that?” Kel’Bak asked, “You’ve gotten a great gift from the Starborn themselves. Do you think it’s wise to just throw that away?”

  “....yeah.” Robin looked at the man, “Mate, I would give much more to ensure a stable mind!”

  “I can only agree.” Ang’Tue chimed in and Mul’Jin also nodded.

  “What will you do, after getting rid of the contracts?” Alena suddenly asked the Augur.

  “We plan to assist the First in his fight against the Second.” The Keeper said matter-of-factly.

  “Proto? You want to fight the robot who singlehandedly defeated the Starborn? Without even having a body?” Robin yelped in surprise.

  “I don’t need a body.” Proto chuckled, “I have you, don’t I?”