The Beginning
In some place in a cybernetic realm, a lone figure in a deep blue robe with messy brown hair and hazel-colored eyes made a copy of himself and it got turned into millions of pieces. Shards if you will. They all scattered in the dome-shaped room filled with orbs that are all over the walls. Each and every piece is heading towards the orbs. In each orb, there is a galaxy. Upon closer inspection, the shards look like external hard drives meant for computers. They appear to be larger than an ordinary person with each acting as some sort of space craft. However, we are focusing our attention on one in particular. Number 7.
Number 7 is heading towards one solar system with many planets and the one he is currently heading look like it contains life. However, a comet hit the ship and drove it off course to another, similar solar system and into a planet that is nothing more than an inhabitable desert with no life and very little atmosphere. The ship crashed hard into the rocky sands with minimum damage. Inside the ship, there is some sort of stasis pod in something that looks like the inside of the TARDIS from Doctor Who. The Seventh Doctor if you have seen the show. There is a computer next to the pod.
{WARNING!} the computer text appears in red, {SYSTEM DAMAGE! OFF-COURSE FROM ORIGINAL PLANET!}
Videos of the outside can be seen from ten cameras.
{TERRAFORMING PROTOCOL INITIATED! AWAKENING SEVENTH SHARD...}
The lights of the stasis pod are turned-off as it starts to pressurized with it hissing and gases coming out.
{WARNING! DUE TO SYSTEM DAMAGE FROM COLLISION, SEVENTH SHARD IS SUFFERING FROM AMNESIA! PREPARING FOR-} the computer started to glitch. {UNABLE TO RETRIEVE ALL DATA. 95% OF ALL DATA HAS BEEN CORRUPTED. USING REMAINING TO ASSIST WITH TERRAFORMING PROTOCOL ONLY.}
The pod is finished pressurizing and opens up. Inside the pod is a male, humanoid figure. He has spiky blond-green hair with a black bandana over his forehead while also having ears of a lombax. He also has orange-colored dragon horns on his head. This young man is thin with a slight muscular build while wearing a yellow t-shirt with black sleeves and collar along with a red vest. He is also wearing red martial arts gauntlets with a triangular pattern of metallic studs on the back of the hands. For leggings, he wears blue denim jeans with a strange belt that looks like it was woven together from brown yarn in a zig-zag pattern with a Sackboy emblem for a belt buckle. Also, he has a raccoon tail. He is also wearing a pair of red high-top shoes with white soles and laces. Around his neck is a silver ring with an engraving on it that says, 'Sic Parvis Magna' that is being hung on a piece of leather string.
The pod raises up right before this being falls out of it and face first onto the floor.
"OW!" the figure woke up yet still feeling groggy and in pain while opening his teal-colored eyes, "The fuck?!"
He gets up. However, he is completely confused.
"Wait, who am I? What the hell is this place? Looks like a lab...maybe?"
He later noticed the computer. A line of text appears on the screen yet some parts are glitched out.
{Hello, Sev**** Shard. There is a pr*blem. Much of th* da*a have been c*rru*ted due to the *rash. H*wever, many of the i**ortant sys*ems are functioning.}
"Sev Shard?" he raises a brow, "Is that my name? What do you mean crash?"
He did managed to figure out some of the glitched words yet still has no understanding on what is happening.
{T** s*ip suffered a c*lli*on with * comet, caused ** t* ch*nge* course. Right now, *e*ra*or*ing pro*ocols a*e active. Terra*o*ming mu** b* a***mplished in *rder ** cr*ate a *e* h**e.}
Still confused but able to understand, Sev decides to go with it.
"Okay, so I gotta terraform the planet I am on. I think that is my main job." He's trying to piece together what his purpose is, "So am I to report to any form of headquarters of some organization or something? I'm still confused."
{No.} the computer answer, {Y*u w**l ha** other ta*k to do once terraforming ** d***. B*t mo** data ** corr****.}
"Okay, so just create life on the planet and figure out what am I suppose to do from there. I think I got it. But I am gonna need a spacesuit and some tools and materials."
A storage locker raises from the ground and shows a spacesuit that is tailored made for him and his unique physiology. There is also some special tool that look like the one from the Planet Crafter game mixed with Subnautica. The tool used for building structures yet can also be used for mining, scanning and other neat little functions. Sev dons the suit and prepare his tool as he head towards the airlock. Once the pressuring and air cycles are complete, he can go outside.
Sev can see desert for miles along with some steep slopes where he can see fossilized coral at the bottom. The sky is a bright orange with barely any clouds up in the thin atmosphere. The computer analyzed that the planet does have a stable magnetosphere but requires a great deal of work in order to make it livable for life. In the upper right of his visor, he can see how much oxygen he has and only has five minutes.
"Okay, let's survey the land." he heads off to see the land around him.
First, he started to gather materials that are just on the ground. He collects iron, silicon, titanium, cobalt and other such materials in order to setup a temporary base of operations that is powered by wind turbines and solar panels. Once completed, he make himself some furniture using some of the materials he did managed to find in his ship such as fabric. He made a bed, a desk, a cooking station and a few screens with a chair. He stops as the sun goes down after long hours of work.
"Not bad." Sev shrugs, "It almost feels like I'm in a video game the way I've been building everything." He head to bed, "Time for some shut-eye."
The next morning, he continue to build more. However, he is gonna make a few things for terraforming. He build a few drills in a few places where gas is being trapped in order to build pressure and some heat. Sev also make some heaters for more heat to warm the cold, desert planet. While doing so, he make a hydroponics farm to plant crops. It will be better than eating some canned goods, freeze-dried foods and many other preserved foods his ship has. Not only that, he made an improved oxygen tank to help him last longer outside while also spreading more machines in order to terraform the planet. Not to mention making more solar panels and wind turbines to power them all. For that, he need a vehicle. Unfortunately, some of the materials he does need have to be mined since he cannot find it on the surface or in his ship.
So, he digs underground right where his ship had crashed. He built some sort of mining laser that look like one of the ones from No Man's Sky as he starts to mine deep. Sev spent three hours mining to find the required materials until he comes across something he was not expecting. Something caught fire from his mining laser so he tossed some earth onto it to put it out.
"The hell was that?" he thought out loud, "Was that gas or something?"
He takes a closer look and it actually appears to be wood. Wood planks of a house. He removes some of the planks and uses his flashlight to check inside. From what he can see, it appears to be some sort of attic with the only furnishings are a chair, a desk, a very old style computer with a monitor and a printer. Sev jumps down and continues to investigate. He opens the attic door down to the next floor and check every room. There is a master bedroom where he found skeletons of a married couple. Sev bows in respect and continues. He continues to check every square inch of the house until he made it down to the cellar. In the cellar is a large freezer that look like it is big enough to put a person in. Once the freezer is open, Sev found a block of ice with something inside. It appears to be a dog of some sort that look cartoonish. The scan reveals that the dog is still alive and takes it to his ship.
Sev takes the dog inside his ship where it can be revived. He put the frozen dog into a chemical bath that can melt the ice and cure it of its hypothermia. Sev dunks the cube in as the ice immediately melt away. The ice reveals the dog to be a small, bipedal cartoon dog that is pink with thin and long black ears, a black triangular nose and tiny limbs in proportion to its body. The dog's middle toes seem to point straight ahead while also having numerous large human-like teeth, with one having a circular cavity in it. The dog has three black spots on its back. It also has a very tiny tail.
"What kind of dog is that?" Sev asks. "Is it a beagle? A mix breed? What the hell is it?" Sev checks the dog while hooking up a nose breathing apparatus and monitoring equipment. "Seems to be male. Surprisingly alive after being frozen for who knows how long."
The heart-monitor starts flickering and show the dog is alive. After being hooked up with an IV, the dog starts to wake up.
"Hey!" Sev is excited to see the pup awake, "You're alive! You okay?"
The dog's eyes open widely and starts screaming with his eyes bugging out, tongue sticking out, ears sticking up and fur being spiky.
"Whoa whoa whoa! It's okay!" Sev tries to calm him down, "It's okay. You're safe."
"Who are you?" the dog asks.
"You can talk!?" Sev is taken by surprise, "Wow! I was not expecting that. My name is, Sev. Sev Shard. What's your name, little guy?"
"Courage."
"Nice to meet you, Courage." Sev pets Courage's head.
Courage dart his eyes around and realize he is in an unfamiliar place.
"Where am I?" he asks, "And where's Muriel?"
"Muriel? Your owner?"
"Yeah."
Sev gives a sad expression, "I'm sorry to say this, but I'm afraid both her and her husband are long dead. You've been frozen for centuries."
"What?!"
"They're nothing but bones now. They died in their bed with the house under a mile of earth."
Courage whimpers after hearing such grim news. Sev gives the little pink dog a hug.
"Would you like to be my dog?" Sev asks before letting go. "To be honest, I'm all alone on this planet I'm terraforming and would like to have some company. And I could use some help. Would you like to?"
Sev extend his hand to Courage. Courage has to think about it for a moment and process everything. Once he finished, he hold onto Sev's hand as a sign of acceptance.
Sev smiles, "Great! Now let's make you a spacesuit in order for you to survive."
The next day, both Sev and Courage are in a rover vehicle from Osiris: New Dawn as they travel along the mountains to set up more devices to terraform the planet.
Sev asks Courage, "How's the suit?"
Courage feels a little uncomfortable, "A little tight in certain areas." He is wearing a spacesuit that matches his physiology, "And my ears are a little itchy."
"Yeah, it takes some time to get used to it. Like the itchy feeling in my ass."
"Once we're done here, we're gonna give Muriel and Eustace a proper burial, right?"
"Well, gonna have to wait until we finish terraforming the planet. Otherwise their grave site would just get destroyed. Like being forced to be underwater because the grave happen to be in an ocean or lake bed. Or get destroyed by the accelerated growing flora that'll rip their graves apart."
Courage sighs, "Fair enough." He look out the window, "Just...wanted to say goodbye to them."
Sev pat Courage on the head, "Hey, don't worry. With the two of us, we can get this terraforming done twice as fast."
"Okay."
They continue to head west and made more heaters and drills, but more advance versions with more advance solar panels and wind turbines. They do this for days in all directions as they continue to terraform the planet to make it more habitable.
However, one night as they get some rest, Courage is curious about something.
Courage gets up from his bed, "Hey, Sev?"
"Hmm?" Sev is asleep but is somewhat awake.
"Have you fully explored your ship?"
Sev opens his eyes as he turns to face Courage. He is wide awake as some thoughts go through his mind.
"Come to think of it, no. I never really thought of it till now."
"How come?"
"Well, the ship looked pretty wrecked on the inside and most of its data is corrupted."
Courage gives a light smile, "Then how about we take a day off and see what is actually inside?"
The next morning, the two head inside the ship to see what is inside. The inside is still a wreck yet still find some supplies that they have been using. The whole place is in pretty bad shape with wires, pipes, vents and many chunks of the inside all over with some lights flickering, some on and some completely dead. They continue to explore despite some of the dangers.
Courage look at all directions, "This place is a lot bigger than I thought."
"Yeah." Sev admits while holding a lantern, "I knew it was bigger on the inside when I exit out of the ship, but never knew it would be THIS big."
"Just how exactly big is it?"
As they continue, Sev stops as he hears a heartbeat.
"You hear that?" Sev turns to ask Courage.
Courage raises an ear, "...Yeah. I hear something. It sounds like...a heartbeat?"
Sev turn to his left, "Sounds like it is coming from down here."
Courage gulps, "I don't like this."
The two continue on down the left corridor as they come across a door that only opened halfway. They can see the strange and eerily green glow coming from the room with the heartbeat sound getting louder. Courage and walk through easily while Sev has to duck down to get in. At the center of the room, there is a green glowing egg with lighter green patterns that look like DNA strands going vertically. The egg is about the same size as Courage that is inside a glass tube.
"What is that?" Sev tilts his head.
"I don't know." Courage is still a bit skittish about the thing.
"Is there a way to open it?"
A computer text appears on the tube. Unlike the actual computer, it is not glitchy and can be readable.
{GENESIS EGG
REQUIRES TERRAFORMING STAGE 7 TO RELEASE AND NEXT STAGE
CURRENT TERRAFORMING STAGE: 0
CURRENT TERRAFORMING INDEX: 13 kTi
REQUIRES TERRAFORMING INDEX 55 MTi}
Sev takes a closer look, "Okay, it seems we still have a long way to go in order to use this egg."
"What's so special about this egg?" Courage is curious.
The computer responds.
{IT IS A SPECIAL EGG NEEDED TO PRODUCE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THIS WORLD. IT HOLDS THE DNA OF 550 SEPTILLION SPECIES IN ORDER TO CREATE LIFE ONCE WATER IS INTRODUCED. IT PRODUCE FLORA FIRST IN ORDER TO GENERATE OXYGEN THEN PRODUCE THE VARIOUS LIFEFORMS TO MAKE THE PLANET MORE HABITABLE FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT.}
"...okay..." Courage is a little more confused.
{PLEASE GO TO EGG CHAMBERS 2 & 3 FOR OTHER MORE.}
"Huh." Sev scratches his chin, "Wonder what else this ship has."
The two head on over to Egg Chamber 2 and find another glowing egg that is also making heartbeat sounds. However, the egg is purple with some ethereal blue patterns on it that make it look like it came from a mystical creature.
"So what egg is this?" Sev asks the computer.
{MYSTIC EGG
REQUIRES TERRAFORMING STAGE 5
CURRENT TERRAFORMING STAGE: 0
CURRENT TERRAFORMING INDEX: 13 kTi
REQUIRES TERRAFORMING INDEX: 3 MTi
THIS EGG CONTAINS MYSTICAL PROPERTIES THAT WILL ALLOW MAGIC TO EXIST ALONG WITH SIMILAR SUBSTANCES. WITH IT, ANIMALS THAT COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANY FORM OF MYSTICAL PROPERTIES WILL DEVELOP MAGICAL ABILITIES AND EVEN MUTATE TO CREATE NEW SUB-SPECIES.}
Courage scratches his head, "Wait, this egg contains magic?"
"That's what the computer says. I wonder if we can obtain magic."
{YES}
"How?"
{UNKNOWN}
Sev just rolls his eyes, "Of course."
"Wish I can use magic." Courage smiles with some enthusiasm. "Bet I would be courageous against many supernatural threats."
"I highly doubt you can find any magic spell that can make you braver." Sev walks to the next chamber.
"What's wrong with that?" Courage follows.
They then entered into the third egg chamber and they have to cover their eyes because the next chamber is bright with a myriad of colors blinding them. The next egg, from what little they can see, is a strange one as it has every color there is all over it while giving some sort of prismatic effect. Hence the terrible lighting. They are unable to read the text on the tube but Sev did get a glimpse of what the egg is called.
{QUANTUM EGG}
And that is all he can see before he and Courage head out.
"What was that?" Courage tries to get his sight readjusted.
"The thing said Quantum Egg, and that is all I could see." Sev rub his eyes. "No idea, but it might have to do with the laws of physics...maybe?" He is unsure, "I only got the name and I highly doubt the computer systems can tell us more. Damage as they are now."
"Guess we will find out when we hit the quota of the terraforming index."
The two leave and head on back out.
"Just how many more of those heaters and drills do we have to do?" Courage asks.
"I have no idea." Sev shrugs, "We're gonna have to look it up. Although, we probably have to do some mining to get more materials."
"Does this ship have any form of entertainment? I did found a few novels that weren't destroyed, some ambient videos, and some very old-style arcade games. Does this place have any movies?"
"Maybe we can take some time off and check to see if we can find anything worth watching."
"Let's also find some seeds to grow our own food in those greenhouse modules. I'm tired of all the can food."
"Yeah. Same here. Fresh food would be good."
They search the ship and did manage to find some seeds, more books, some movies and even some board games in one crate.
The next few days haven't been really eventful as they continue to make more machines to meet the quota for the next terraforming process. At nights, they would watch movies, play games, read stories and even did some mock acting for a bit of fun, and do some farming on certain days. Everything is slow, but there are a some days where it can be rewarding. Courage found some strange crystals that he decides to do some research on them while wearing a lab coat to do so. Sev finds it adorable that Courage is wearing a lab coat. They later started to expand the base for other projects with Courage doing research on some crystals he had found along with some strange ones that are glowing with energy.
Sev enters Courage's little lab where Courage is researching some strange material that is glowing purple.
"Hey, Courage."
Courage put down his magnifying glass, "Hey, Sev."
Sev turn his attention to the piece of earth, "What's that?"
Courage turn his attention back to the material, "I have no idea. I just found it in one of the caves and it seem to be emitting some sort of energy."
Sev steps back a little, "Is that thing radioactive?"
Before Courage can say anything, he didn't realize that the thing might be radioactive until Sev asked the question.
"Oh dear." he went as he look back at the substance, "I should've realized that."
Sev immediately grabs a lead case and run towards the material with the case open in order to seal it. However, Sev slips on a small puddle of water from a knocked down water bottle that Sev slide towards the desk and the substance drop onto his chest. When he tries to grab it with his bare-hands, the thing started to surge throughout his body as if he is absorbing the energy within that ultimately drained the shard until it is nothing more than a hunk of metal that Sev passes out.
"SEV!" Courage screamed, "HANG ON!"
Courage carries Sev into the medical bay with his cartoonish strength in order to help him.
AN: Hey everyone! And yes, I got another story here with another one coming up. Keep in mind that this is the first arc and there will be more with silliness in-between since this series is inspired by SMG4 and DevilArtemis. See ya!
