Planet Ignis | Ch. 25 (Patreon)

Never would I have imagined that Hitori was so good at programming. I mean, mission control sent him as the secondary programmer in case something happened to me, but I hardly had the time to decide what I would put into your brain with the constant cyber-attacks he kept throwing at me. I had to be quick. Here are the memories you will not have. I had to delete your knowledge of Earth’s History. I deleted things that you won’t need, like love, for example. After all, you are going to be all alone. All the love you need is already coded in you as a drive to survive at all costs.

No matter what, if you can get rid of Hitori, do it. He is the only one that can stop us. All others lack the means and the brains. He will starve to death if you can’t get to him. Focus on finding the others. See if they use the Stellaris grid and try to triangulate their position. That cursed commander didn’t tell almost anyone where the Settlements would be located until the very last minute. It will take decades to find them. It doesn’t matter. Your reactor should have enough power for thousands of years. You will have the time to find them, even if it takes that long. Hopefully, I will be able to guide you through this until you secure all the cores. I am only recording this in case something happens… BAAANG! What is this? Hitori?! No! What did…

Files salvaged from the Raptor’s Ghost Drive. Recorded by Schneider, the Raptor

“If you don’t mind me going first, what has happened to you, Mr. Trother?” Hitori said as he walked toward the unhealthy-looking lit.

“He is almost out of longevity,” answered Eli.

“longevity? What do you mean?” asked Hitori curiously.

The boy seemed to be thrown off by the question.

“Tell him as if it were a student at the Collegium, Eli. This is all new to him.” Were these two teachers? Eli nodded.

“It’s what we call our lifespan. To burst, we need to spend longevity.”

“Fascinating! So, the Celer mutation does cause wear and damage. Just as I suspected. Medes, please fully scan this man and run tests.”

Hitori’s hand reached out to Trother’s wrist. He pulled his hand away. “Hot!” Trother, on the other end, also pulled his hand away. “Cold!” Hitori looked at the old man and saw that he had also realized the situation’s humor. They both smiled.

“Medes, scan their body temperature, too, please.” Turning to Eli, he continued. ”What did you mean by burst? What is that?”

“burst is when we overstimulate the ignium in our bodies. It allows us to temporarily increase our physical strength, temperature, electricity production, etc.…” the boy answered. Hitori stopped and momentarily considered the implications of what they had just said. Looking at the poor condition of the old man again, he turned towards the boy. “Can you please show it to me?”

“Sure. For example, we can perceive. This is when we send our senses into overdrive.” He lit his eyes in red.

“Quick. A torch, Medes.” Archimedes’ antlers started unfolding, sensors and scanners all pointing toward Eli. “Perform temperature scan. Oh, my goodness. Six hundred degrees Celsius. Medes, open a new folder in the Celer files. Register all this information in it. Do you feel any discomfort from the amount of heat you’re producing? Does this improve your senses? Is there any backlash? How much of this do you control?”

“Doctor, I don’t think we have the time to…”

“It’s OK, son. Dr. Hitori is asking all of this for a reason. With understanding comes power. I think Dr. Hitori already has a plan to deal with the Raptor. Isn’t that right, Doctor?”

Hitori once again regarded Trother. As he did, Trother looked towards the corner of the lab. As Hitori followed his gaze, he was amazed. How had the man figured out his plan already? He could still maintain such logical reasoning even though he was on his last leg. What incredible mental resilience.

Hitori nodded. “That’s right. Right now, I am more worried about your health, sir. We have time. I want to understand if there is anything I can do to help you.”

Hearing that there might still be hope for his beloved master, Eli answered Hitori’s questions as much as he could.

“No, I don’t feel any discomfort. Ignium makes our bodies and organs practically heat-proof. red level energy allows me to see as far as one kilometer or as little as a micrometer.” As Hitori had suspected. Upon hearing Eli talking about micrometers, his suspicions that these people had a good understanding of science were proved true. Good. So far, everything is according to plan. What Hitori hadn’t expected was this bursting business. It was an unforeseen and pleasant surprise.

“Tell me more.”

“As for a backlash, we must use longevity to send our bodies into overdrive like this. So, for having my eyes perceive with crimson-grade energy, I am using up approximately a day of life per minute.” The doctor looked at Trother once again. So that was the case. He had known that forcing a Celer mutated body to keep ignium constantly polarized would eat away at one’s lifespan. He had never imagined these people pushing their bodies even further to produce these superhuman results.

“Since you are talking about red grade, I imagine you can even go beyond that?” asked Hitori. “Please show it to me. Just briefly. I don’t want you to experience any pain or discomfort. Medes, record all of this.”

Eli lit up his eyes in red again. Then hotter, orange. Then even hotter, yellow. The yellow became increasingly brighter until it was almost white. Hitori felt the heat on his face. The ice on the walls started melting again. Such power. Incredible. Eli quickly disengaged his perception.

“Subject manifests the ability to channel heat and electricity to concentrated body parts. The maximum temperature registered is a thousand and five hundred degrees Celsius. What else can you do?”

“I can enhance. This is what we call when we overstimulate the ignium in our muscles.” Eli rolled up his sleeve, and his thin arm became significantly larger. “This is red enhancement. We can go beyond.” As Eli increased the energy output, the muscle grew larger, and then larger again. It returned to normal.

“How much strength do you have when you enhance?”

“If I give it my all, I can pick up a couple of tons.”

Hitori now understood how they had been able to push the Raptor off the mountain.

“Subject can increase the tensile strength of ignium mutated muscles. The added heat and electricity flowing in the muscles increase their elasticity and strength. Normal muscle fibers would tear under strain, but due to the increased metal content in the body, the subject can perform superhuman feats of strength.”

“Fascinating. Are all survivors able to do this?”

“All are capable of bursting, but there are differences between individuals. Some are more talented in one certain type of burst than others. bursting requires a lot of concentration and control. Some are only able to do it to a certain extent. I would be considered rare in my tribe because I can comfortably go up to high-yellow-grade energy. Some extraordinary geniuses can go beyond that and go up to blue-grade energy.”

Incredible, thought Hitori. There was a significant difference in energy from yellow to blue fire. blue fire was at least three thousand degrees Celsius. That a human could put out so much energy was incredible.

“Is there anything else? Any other type of burst?”

“There is emission.” Eli looked around, saw a relatively empty place in the room, stretched out his hand, and emitted a very short and brief red flame. “This is the weakest I can do. More than that, and I will damage your equipment, doctor. There isn’t much oxygen here, either. This is also the most wasteful of all bursting types. We shouldn’t use it unless it is absolutely necessary.”

“Subject can channel heat and electricity to a focused point of his body and release concentrated projections of energy.”

Hitori was amazed at how far the Settlers had taken the potential of the mutation. The implications were incredible. No wonder they had been able to survive until now.

“Thank you, Eli. That was extremely useful data. It will be helpful.”

“Can you help my master?” Hitori frowned at the word.

“Master? Are you a slave?”

“Trother is my teacher. He is like a father to me,” answered Eli. Then he paused and asked Hitori: “What is a slave?” Hitori sighed in relief. Good. There was no slavery in their society.

“Let’s wait for Archimedes to do a few tests. We will know it in a few moments.”

“Dr. Hitori, can you tell us more about Statera?” interrupted Trother. Another selfless man noted Hitori. It was more important to him to understand the situation to help the boy or his fellow Settlers than it was to ensure his survival. What an incredible duo. Were all survivors like this?

“Statera is my latest work. It allows one to conciliate the Celer and the Tardus mutation to offset their weaknesses. Additional testing will be required before I can ensure it works as intended.”

“Are the temperature changes we experienced earlier a result of this mutation?” asked Eli. This boy was perceptive.

“Yes. I used the differences in temperature in the lab to generate electricity in my body. It allowed me to power up my cells and polarize the nutrient-rich ignium you gave me. Thank you again. It tasted a bit metallic but was otherwise very filling.”

Trother let out a burst of happy laughter that echoed in the lab.

“So, you used the energy available in your surroundings rather than the energy in your cells to polarize the ignium? Hahaha. This changes everything! Well done, doctor.”

He couldn’t let this brilliant man die. He had understood at once the significance of his work. His survival would increase the chances of his plan working. Archimedes signaled that it had finished running through the medical scans and tests to Trother. Hitori started looking through the results.

“We have some sad news and some good news. The damage you have caused to your body is immense. I don’t think it is possible to reverse it, Mr. Trother. At most, I think I can help you go to sleep, just like I was. Your brain activity will remain intact. In other words, I can only save your mind for a few years.”

“We can talk more about that when we get to the Burrows. For now, tell us what your plan is.”

Pointing to the machine in the corner of the lab, Hitori responded. “I will tell you on the way there. Medes, get everything ready. Fire up the engines and get ready to depart. Run program XT5.”

Ch. 26