• Published 28th Dec 2013
  • 1,605 Views, 18 Comments

Gift From The Stars - Senyu



Having a job that has me recording all kinds of media is very rewarding. My understanding of the world grows the more I watch. But there is one show I keep coming back to. Is it odd to find interest in a show about two dimensial ponies humans made?

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Chapter 2



“You can’t be serious,” Naxf exclaimed in disbelief.

“Xob, do you know how many violations you would cause?” Glxur added. Indeed, each Eridin around the supplement table was staring at Xob, unable to comprehend what their friend had just suggested to them.

When he had called them together for an emergency meeting, they thought he perhaps had come up with a plan to counteract the forming proposals for the termination of Humans. Each of them had their own reasons for their recently formed attachments to the species, and they unanimously agreed that extinction would be an enormously counterproductive act to the Eridin agenda, and destroy countless things they could learn from Humans. However, when they had gathered at his request, his actually plan proved to be far more illogical than going against the Council.

“You do realize what you’re a suggesting, correct?” Ixena said, still coming to grasps with the proposed project.

“Of course,” Xob replied, flashing each of them a smile in reassurance. “All of us here have learned so many things from Humans. And we have all agreed that there is so much more to learn. Humans have this… way about them that has captivated us to some level.” Xob’s smile only grew at the nodding heads in agreeance with his statement from his friends. “The problem however, is that not every Eridin has seen their potential like we have.”

“And you believe this would help them see?” Naxf asked in skepticism.

“After my studies, yes,” Xob answered with a raised finger, his smile having yet to falter. “We are Eridin correct?” A collective murmur answered his question. “So if I were to bring quantitative data, the rest would be required to consider the possibilities and reevaluate the potential humans have!”

“You mean qualitative data, correct?” Glxur corrected.

“No, I was correct in my first statement. Quantitative data is what I need,” Xob replied.

“And how will you do that on such a complex concept?” Jixhiag finally spoke, having remained the most calm in his reactions to their eccentric friend’s request.

“We were able to quantify the Nimofa’s levels of anger, why should this be any different?” Xob countered.

“Nimofa are practically primitive in comparison to the hormone responses of any species above class 4 on the cognitive development scale,” Ixena said. “I wonder if your excitement for this project is making you lose sight of your basic knowledge?”

“If I had proposed a similar project except I interchanged the goal towards a particular Doctor from one of your favorite media entertainment, I find it hard to believe you would object against that,” Xob replied.

“That’s different!” Ixena said as her forehead grew a faint shade of purple. “Creating a four legged creature of mythological origin is far from the most charming and possibly intelligent alien in the universe! If his species were real, than the amount of knowledge we would gain would be nearly incalculable!”

“You just want to go on adventures with him,” Glxur said, never missing a moment to poke on the female Eridin’s obsession.

Before she could counter however, Jixhiag spoke again. “For all we know he is real. And ponies could be real as well.” His statement drew the attention of each of them for further explanation. He rose his arms slightly with palms facing up, a popular gesture in his preferred media entertainment, often performed by a two dimension character that simply did not care or know what to do. “Humans have guessed our forms, although their depiction of our technology was completely off. Who’s to say that they did not imagine other already existing species?”

The five of them sat in silence for a moment, each in their own thoughts at the implications such a notion held. After a minute, Xob was the first to break the silence. “Regardless of the implications, I intend to go with my decision.”

“Xob…” Naxf began. “I don’t think the risks are worth what you are seeking. You don’t even know if it will be successful. It has never been done on anything that holds a cognitive function above four meriscuuls ”

“No, I don’t if it will be successful,” Xob agreed. But his brows narrowed atop his large black and reflective eyes in determination. “But if there is one thing I have learned, is that regardless of how unlikely something is or how little sense it may make, nothing is beyond pursuit. I would never be able to live with myself if I never gave it a chance.”

The rest were quiet at the statement, for it was something a Eridin had never before even remotely uttered. To hold regret in not pursuing something that proved more risky or improbable, was a completely foreign concept to any sane Eridin. They did not know how much Humans were affecting them ever since their studies began. But challenging one of their core beliefs that had helped them stay alive from numerous threats throughout their advances in space, it brought some measurable judgment on how Xob had been influenced. And as they began to silently agree with his statement, they too wondered just how much they themselves had been affected.

“I’m in,” Jixhiag said suddenly, meeting Xob’s smile with one of his own.

“Jixhiag, you can’t be serious,” Naxf said.

“Why not? It sounds interesting,” Jixhiag merely replied. Turning to Xob, he thrusted his thumb to his chest and attempted a half smile. “Xob, I will get you the genetic data you need.”

“Well if he’s in, I might as well be too,” Glxur sighed in defeat. “I’ll get you the necessary Sequencer Pods to cultivate them in.”

Xob’s smile only grew at he then turned to Ixena and Naxf expectantly. Ixena blinked over her reflective eyes before closing them and crossing her arms, one of the many habits she picked up from Humans. “Fine, I’ll help too. I’ll provide the Neuro-Developers.”

Then all four of them turned to Naxf, eliciting a small quiver from him in reply. “Stop staring at me like that! Of course I will help!” he exclaimed. “Honestly, is it wrong that I am the only one worried about getting caught doing this?”

“Not at all,” Glxur replied happily. “You’re often times the one who keeps our heads level, something that will be even more important if we keep adopting traits from Humans!” Glxur wanted to pat him on the back like he had seen in his shows, but the presence of other Eridin in the Nourishment Center prevented him from doing so. If any of them spotted the odd behavior, he wouldn’t be able to avoid strange glances for over twenty Huga.

“Tsk, I won’t always be there,” Naxf said as he reached for the cubes in the middle of the table, the first one to eat since they had arrived. “I will acquire you the necessary embryonic fluids and equipment. We have some spares over our last project.”

“Thank you all,” Xob said, turning to look at each one slowly to show his appreciation. It makes me so happy that I managed to have friends like them. For one of the few times in my life, I am unable to express in words how important they are to me, and how that continues to grow. Maybe the magic of friendship is possible after all.

“Alright then,” Xob announced, already focusing his mind on the first steps to begin the project. “Let’s get started!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xob sat before his computer, and gazed at the multiple floating screens before him that flickered through various data and algorithms. A smile broke onto his face at gathering all of the necessary computations to begin the project, feeling a quivering sensation deep in his chest that he could not fully understand. But he had a pretty good idea what it was.

It was eager anticipation, excitement, and apprehension.

He had similar sensations whenever a new episode would come out for his favorite shows, particularly My Little Pony. But the feelings at those times were incomparable to the ones he felt now. He never knew he could feel this strongly about something. Feelings were not common for emotionally mute Eridin, a species who from birth, raise their young to suppress irrational and sudden hormonal changes in the brain that caused such feelings. They were explainable, predictable, and in the end, deemed unnecessary. Xob however, felt that conclusion was wrong.

There were more things to it than the Eridin realized, deeper levels that had not been encountered before. Feelings so complex, he wondered if any machine within their empire would even be able to calculate the outcomes. Thanks to humans, Xob and his friends learned that there are even more mysteries in the universe. All they needed to do, was look inside themselves.

And so he sat before his station, ready to begin the first piece of code for the project while his friends gathered their promise parts. He estimated that it would take two weeks for the initial stage to be finished, another for the embryonic growth, and a month for them to develop. While such an amount of time is considered to be miniscule for an Eridin, Xob felt that the on coming weeks would be the most tense and nerve wracking moments of time in his life. And he couldn’t be more excited about it.

“Alright Xob,” he said to himself, cracking his fingers and flexing them for the assault his four keyboard panels were about to experience. “Let’s start this party.”

And with gentle click on an awaiting holo-button, his music started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a flurry of strokes across the glowing panels, Xob’s moved his hands about with such vigor and precision, that he appeared as if he was constructing an orchestra of life itself. Moving with grace and speed, hundreds of lines of codes and computations flashed a crossed the monitors, casting dim reflections of their outputs onto his wide black eyes.

For three days Xob inputted data into his station for the basic design of their bodies. From the littlest detail such as how their cells divided, to the texture of their coat. DNA strands, cells, blood vessels, nervous system, skeletal structure, muscle fibers, cerebral structuring, everything needed to create a pony flashed from his fingers to the glowing consoles. He felt as if his brain already knew exactly what to type, the blueprints held firmly in his mind and simply waited for his rapid moving hands to type them out into existence. All of it was exhilarating as more and more code poured out from him and into the computer. And when the initial data was inputted, he began to work on the placement of all his work.

Holographic bones flickered into appearence at a press of a button, before being whisked away by his fingers into their appropriate places. After creating the skeleton resembling a pony, veins spontaneously formed between flesh and muscle that layered themselves over the bones until finally the skin appeared, and their coats grew showcasing the basic design. With that complete, he split the single model into six separate copies, and began to work on them as separate projects from thereon.

He worked long into the nights, and rose again in the morning with little fatigue, his mind so enthralled by the process that he found it hard for him to spare any free time away from the project. There was so much to do, and so little time to wait for.

Throughout the week, his friends came by and brought their promised equipment. Handing over small trinkets, or delivering on floating pads larger items that were almost too large for the room. Shortly any open space within Xob’s room quickly became a maze of electronics and tubing; inter connecting all of the machines to each other and his station. Large see-through incubation pods that even a human could stand in comfortably whirred to life as gallons upon gallons of greenish liquid filled the empty container. This is where they would be born, from a small maturation sac to the fully developed bodies they would become. Xob could only wait with excitement at the ongoing progress they would incur each day.

Then came the second stage. With six mechanical arms that ended into fine points, thin strips of flesh was materialized onto large white trays, building layer by layer the hand held size sacs that would hold all the genetic data the ponies held. The sacs would serve as a layer of protection, and a source of nourishment for the hungry cells as they began to divide and grow, becoming more complex and eventually into the final shape he had developed on his station.

And after the first two weeks were over, Xob carefully picked up the first maturation sac, staring at it in wonder as hegently held the flesh like egg, and placed it into the a pod. Upon contact with the green liquid, it began to beat like a heart would, a sure sign that everything had gone according to design, and the process of creating a pony began within.

He repeated the process with the remaining five sacs, and after carefully placing them into their own respective pods, he took a few steps back and admired his work. The pods had internal lights inside, and they casted odd shadows across his dark room, highlighting the beating sacs as they began to work their genetic process.

It was then during that first day as they developed, that Xob felt a strange sensation of joy and fear. Everything seemed to be according to plan, and his calculations showed no faults were predicted to occur. He was also confident that after they developed, he would have no problems inserting the needed memories and personalities into their blank brains to truly create the ponies from the show. With all that considered, it made sense that he was excited.

So why did he have this looming feeling that something was not going to turn out the way it was supposed to? Was it what humans called intuition? A sense of dread despite how well everything seemed to be going?

The concept of intuition seemed absurd for Xob. He was Eridin. He believed in hard facts and numbers. Everything could be explained, everything could be calculated. It was what allowed him to achieve what he had done over these past two weeks.

But he could still not shake the feeling.

With a sigh he placed his hand on the pod, watching with mixed emotions at the floating sac inside. He had etched onto his pod the symbol of the respective ponies cutie marks, and he currently was looking to Twilight’s incubation pod.

“I hope that all of you turn out alright. I know it’s silly to think otherwise but…” Xob blinked rapidly in expression of the nervousness growing inside of him. Despite whatever his Eridin mindset and teachings taught him, he could not deny the fact they did not know everything. Humans had a great deal to offer them in knowledge, and perhaps his personal bond towards the species had allowed him to develop the ability of sensing danger. He had feelings that have been suppressed his entire life, and the very goal of this project was to feel and understand them, to prove to all Eridin that they were denying a very important part of themselves.

And so he looked on with worry, wondering what it was that may possibly go wrong in the project. A thousand variations, a million paths, a billion outcomes. Just what were these ponies that he had given life to would do? He intended to only keep them alive for a few months; just the amount of time he estimated would be needed to discover what he had set out for.

If they were discovered however, the reprimands for doing what he had done would be career ending. He would never be allowed on a interspecies observation station again. But that was not what he worried for the most. There was something else that he just couldn’t quite pin down; some unexpected outcome that he had not considered or calculated. But what?

“I hope you turn out alright, my little ponies, and that you truly can show me the data that we Eridin desperately need, “ Xob said. He couldn’t allow himself to focus on concern that may or may not happen. Right now, his attention would be needed on maintaining their growth and correcting any of the predicted errors throughout incubation. He needed to focus on his goal. He couldn’t become distracted by what ifs. It just wasn’t how a Eridin dealt with a situation.

“Please let everything go according to plan…”

Author's Note:

Tried to create a scene with fast paced music to showcase a time montage and the excitement Xob has during the project. Hope it turned out well for you all and didn't seem overly rushed. Timing music in a story is hard...