The Record of Unusual Creatures

2Lily and Vivian glared at the MDT, but the latter was unfazed. It had a "bite my impenetrable casing" look to it. Hao Ren on the other hand, did not believe for a second that the two of them were capable of such scientific things. He knocked the table to stop Lily's gnashing and took the pentagonal crystal plate. "What have you found?"     1

The MDT activated its holographic display. "It's no different than a usual diary; it's by someone working at the planetarium. I've translated the logs, see for yourself."     

Hao Ren read the diary displayed before him and found that it was a report on the movement of stars in diary form. The initial part covered equipment maintenance, weather reports, and constellation reports, but towards the end, something caught Hao Ren's attention.     

"...The nineth night: the sky is clear and atmosphere stability is excellent. We have discovered an amazing celestial phenomenon. The Arkana I released a bright flash. The countour of the star expanded to that of a sun, and its crimson glow radiated across one fourth of the skyline. Our scanners recorded this incredible scene, and the masters think that this is a supernova. He theorized that this could prove Arkana I is indeed a very ancient star, despite the fact that its various perimeters do not match your usual stars... Most regrettable is that we were unable to obtain the planet's data before it went supernova. But perhaps, we should be glad that it did explode, so we can now study the planet from its radiation..."     

This particular line was highlighted by the MDT. Hao Ren turned to the device and asked, "Do you think that this Arkana's supernova has anything to do with the First Born apocalypse that befell Tannagost?"     

"Remember the data vault from Alamanda? The one that contained every information about the Tannaeans. Based on the records, the first appearance of the First Born's tendrils was after the third day of Arkana's supernova." The MDT shut off the holographic display. "Regardless, the supernova was the last major unusual phenomona before the coming of the First Born's apocalypse. Whether they are connected or not, we should pay attention to this celestial event."     

Hao Ren's face stiffened as he feel into deep thought beside Lily. He suddenly asked, "Has the data vault been connected to the Imperial Data Network?"     

"All done ages ago. It's been fully translated and categorized. Connecting to the Third Repository, you can use your authority to activate the data vault of any dead civilization, but you can only edit the ones that are under your name."     

"Link me up to the Tannaeans' data vault. Look for details about Arkana I... hmm... and any celestial data before the night of the First Born's apocalypse."     

The supernova records in the repository reminded Hao Ren of something. He realized that the First Born or the goddess of creation both came from space. If the apocalypse long ago had some sort of forewarning, it would probably appear as some sort of celestial phenomenon. Hence, it was something he needed to pay attention to.     

The Third Repository was nicknamed the "Graveyard of Civilizations" and the "Tomb of the Species". It was a storage device of limitless capacity and it specialized in storing the samples as well as specimens of fallen civilizations within the Xi Ling Empire's borders. Most of the samples and specimens came from the inspectors. In their cross-world faring, it was inevitable that they would meet many fallen civilizations. Collecting, and documenting the relics as well as remnants of these civilizations were part and parcel of an inspector's job.     

Due to the special nature of the Third Repository, every visitor would need to go through a maximum security mental connection. Hao Ren felt that his spirit was being split into two, just like that time in Dragonspine Ridge, where part of his spirit returned to the Surface World. While he could clearly see his living room, a part of his vision was being brought to a very surreal place. Part of his psyche was going through a very vast area, and silhouettes of many figures went past him: They were inspectors from other universes and they were also visiting the Third Repository. The inspectors sensed a newcomer had visited the place, and some of them turned back to give him a friendly greeting. Hao Ren responded in kind. It was not long before the information he requested was being displayed before him.     

Arkana I was an ancient star on Tannagost's ecliptic plane. It was a star that confounded the Tannaean astrologers for millennia.     

The Tannaean astrologers had called the first star on their ecliptic plane, Arkana. The word meant "red arrow" in their tongue, and Arkana I was the point of the stars that formed the arrowhead. It was crimson all year long, and was the brightest star of them all. The Tannaean astrologers noticed that the crimson hue would wax and wane since astrology was a thing. It lasted until the coming of the First Born. The waxing and waning of the crimson hue differed from usual stars, and it was the first of many of its mysteries.     

The second mystery was, the Tannaeans were not even sure till the end of their civilization if Arkana I was even a star.     

Based on typical astronomy, aside from the planets within the system, every mass that glittered at night should be a star. Planets do not glow and they cannot be seen by the naked eye under normal circumstances. The Tannaean astrologers had investigated this for over a thousand years, yet they still could not ascertain what sort of star Arkana I was. All of Arkana's perimeters and characteristics were closer to that of a planet. Its temperature was mild, and radiation levels were low. Plus, it did not have any spectral features that a star would have. It was undoubtedly showing characteristics of a solid state planet and there was no trace of light distortion around it. That proved that Arkana I was small, much smaller than a standard star.     

Nonetheless, there it lay above Tannagost's skies, and it could easily be seen on a clear night.     

The Tannaeans had an almost encylopedic record specifically just for Arkana I, and there was this one remark. "This crimson star should not exist by all accounts. A low density, low temperature star should have been well hidden in the darkness of space, but it is now the brightest star in the sky. This is against everything we know of the stars..."     

The last mystery was at the end: they were unable to determine the distance to Arkana I.     

Arkana I stood majestically in the sky, but the Tannaean astrologers could not determine exactly how far it was from Tannagost. The data obtained from the most common ways of calculation: Triangular Parallax, Spectral Parallax, and Cepheid Parallax resulted in vastly varying data. Hence, the astrologers were not able to pinpoint the distance. It was like a shadow before your eyes. You could see it, but you would never find it in the real world.     

Due to these mysteries, arguments revolving around Arkana I between the astrologers never stopped. The various schools of thought regarding Arkana I were so closely contested. Was it a star or a planet, or was it just a mirage?     

And this supernatural star went supernova 10,000 years ago, only to have the First Born's tendrils break through the surface on the third day.     

Hao Ren rubbed his eyes as he left the Third Repository. Lily perked up as she wagged her tail excitedly. "How was it? How was it?!"     

"A very complex, weird star." Hao Ren pressed Lily's ears like how he would treat a pet dog to get the lass to calm down. He then briefly explained what he saw in the repository to the rest. "All in all, it did not fit into any natural law. I suspect that it really has something to do with the First Born..."     

While Hao Ren and the rest were talking about Arkana I, a voice suddenly came from the back. "Oh, a discussion I see?"     

Hao Ren looked up and saw Big Beardy opening the door and holding a roasted rabbit in his other hand. The sky was dark by then. Time had indeed flown by without them noticing. Big Beardy had been outside all day long, and after he finished his ascetic meditation, he made his way back. Vivian slapped her forehead. "Eh, I didn't see the time... I'll go make dinner!"     

Lily was salivating as she looked at the roasted rabbit in Big Beardy's hand. Her tail hit against the sofa's armrest like a wardrum. "Mr. Landlord, Mr. Landlord, are you hungry? I'm sure you want some roasted rabbit right? But you can't finish it alone, right? So..."     

Hao Ren buried his face in his hands. "Oh stop it. You're just making a fool of yourself. Beardy bro, mind sharing some with her?"     

Big Beardy laughed heartily as he passed a piece of the roasted rabbit meat to Lily. "What were you guys on about?"     

"The matter of Tannagost," Hao Ren told Big Beardy about the weird star, which went supernova. "Ten thousand years ago, the skyline of Tannagost was lit up..."     

Big Beardy had just asked for fun, but upon hearing Hao Ren's description, he frowned. "Wait a minute... I may be overthinking this... but the ancient tomes of the Disciples of Glory mentioned something like this too."     

"Huh?!" Hao Ren exclaimed.