“That won’t be enough, I bit off a little more than I can chew this time. I am going to have to take a trip to Pier Point.” A short silver haired hacker whined at the sudden annoyance of a booked-up schedule. Then again, the sudden loss of all her accounts freed up some time away from all the games.

“What? You’re going alone? You do realize that’s the IPC’s headquarters, right?” Responded a silky-smooth voice, a constant reminder of the spirit whisper of the red wine color-haired woman known as Kafka.

They were the Stellaron Hunters, some of the most notorious criminals known throughout the universe. No one with any knowledge of the universe at large would ignore the name and yet, despite their status, some of them were not beyond the machinations of a child.

“Yup, it’s just going to be me. Why? You interested in tagging along?” The girl questioned curiously. Truth was, as fun as doing a mission alone could be, the girl saw working with others as a type of challenge that she would have to beat every time a new game started. Especially when their mission went off script.

“Unfortunately, that won’t be in the cards. Elio has me in his next script, remember?” The woman smirked at the thought. Elio’s grand plan was just about to get juicy after all.

“Oh, right, well that doesn’t seem like my kind of story. Be sure to have fun with it.” The hacker laughed unbothered.

“Well, I hope you have a good time at Pier Point as well.” Kafka was well aware of what each member of the Stellaron Hunters were capable of, and the hacker Silver Wolf was no exception to the mean. The side mission would be easy work.

“Oh, I will, I already have a plan in mind. See that cloud diner just down there? A couple of IPC temps from the Building Material Logistics Department just walked in. I’m going to go become their friend.” The Silver Wolf said pointing at the dark alleyway a couple blocks down.

“Really? Leaving already? I would have thought you would spend some more time with that cartridge you were so obsessed about.” Teasing was a common occurrence between the two criminals who reveled in the action that they got all of the time. The truth was, Blade and Sam were far too serious about their jobs and Elio and Zevende majorly kept to themselves so that left the two of them to keep up the banter and supposed comradery.  

“I said I was not obsessed with it; besides I can see this turning into a fun little game.” And with that Silver Wolf could hear the countdown of Bario Kart pumping excitement into the air as she hit play on her favorite playlist.

Punklorde mentality, the obsession of turning real life into a game was a mindset that many on the cyberpunk planet of Punklorde would take in an effort to find a purpose in the unrelenting harsh reality of the real world. And why wouldn’t they? Hackers such as Silver Wolf fractured the data of reality on a daily basis to suit their needs.

Just in case, Silver Wolf always held a few monsters from various different factions in her back pocket. With Aetherium Wars, she had gotten the hang of using real versions quite well. The only difference is instead of using a ball to capture them she just kept them in her subspace. But this mission would take a lot more tact, the IPC would love nothing more than to capture the brain behind the Stellaron Hunters.

Pier Point

Silver Wolf’s POV

The absolute gullibility of these guys was unbelievable. I mean seriously, where was the challenge? They never even checked the intruder detection system that I hacked. It’s like they were asking to have a stowaway. Whatever, as long as I get my accounts back, the mission will be successful. Funnily enough, when the freighter made its way to dock on Pier Point, I was reminded of how dull the whole planet looked. I mean back home was not much better but to be the headquarters of the largest active authority in the galaxy and the best they could come up with looked like a prison straight out of a movie. It really was no wonder though, I mean if guys like these knuckle heads were put in charge.

Alright, landing here was the easy part, now I just needed to bypass the thousands of guards who have lived their entire miserable lives here. Should be a piece of cake.

Biding my time, I waited for the henchmen to unload the cargo while I was overlooking the layout of the place again. Having never needing to go this deep into IPC files it would be a tricky gimmick to get what I needed in the short amount of time between the rotating guards. They operated on three-minute intervals, so it was likely that I would have about two and half minutes before being spotted. Not ideal but doable.

Rain beating down on the ship I knew that my opportunity was drawing near. The path to victory was in large portion dependent on the burst of energy brewing in the clouds which would set in motion a lag of guard position by 5.3 seconds on average. This event would also allow me cover for my departure from the vessel.

“Why do we always have to work in the rain!? Couldn’t the IPC have their headquarters on a beach planet or something?!” Overhearing the agents was always a treat with how dumb they all were but he wasn’t exactly wrong on the merit of the question.

“You idiot, Pier Point is located in the middle of the galaxy making the IPC the central power with its might and incomparable reach to the surrounding systems.” Another argued exasperated at the question. The IPC definitely seems to be lacking in their recruiting department despite that dominance. Seriously, I heard a guy say that he went through eleven interviews to get the job and yet he was the sorriest excuse for an employee I have ever seen.

Ah, here we go.

The clouds above were dark and heavy but not even they could cover the brightness of a spark of lightning. The act of nature streaked across the sky before connecting with another streak bursting and redirecting the strike to the very docks where the goons were unloading.

“Sometimes it just takes a little bit of luck.” I smirked at the gift.

“Damn it, it’s destroyed!”

“Why me!”

“That whole trip was for nothing!”

“Shut up all of you! Get the fire under control or we will all be sent home without pay!”

“Yes sir!!!”

(2 Minute 35 Seconds Remaining)

As they scrambled to take out the fire which blazed despite the falling rain, I rushed my way past several of the distracted guards to a small shaft which conveniently led to an air vent inside. Releasing my drones, I brought down my visor to get a good visual inside. Of course, even the air vents would have laser detection security but that wasn’t a problem.

(2 Minute 5 Seconds Remaining)

As my drones deactivated the lasers, I kept anyone watching from noticing my infiltration, removing the alarm’s programming, and inserting something else. Next time someone checked the security down here they would be surprised to find a few pests infesting the place. They should be happy that I didn’t have a bunch of fragmentum to release. A few of the Anti-Matter Legion would have to do.

(1 Minute 40 Seconds Remaining)

“_{Cameras secure}.” A drone chirped.

“_{Generating access point}.” Another added.

This mission is great in of itself, but it would be impossible for the IPC to find everything that I plant especially when I make obvious ones to draw them away. Creating an easy in for future endeavors would allow for greater exploits after all.

(1 Minute 20 Seconds Remaining)

“_{Route secured, proceeding}.”

The facility where the IPC was storing information was obviously massive in both scale and significance. Thankfully my drones had cloaking tech but that wouldn’t cover the tracks of system interference, so I knew I simply needed to gain access and then make my retreat before making any potential mistakes.

“_{Firewall down, accessing main frame}.”

“_{Accessing IPC records}.”

(55 Seconds Remaining)

Files - P1 Access Granted

• Pier Point Infrastructure Projects
• Marketing Development Projects
• Criminal Assessment Profiles
• Debt Assessment Profiles
• Planetary Deployment Systems
• Prisoner Profiles

“All normal stuff there, hm?” A file caught my attention as I quickly skimmed through the files.

• Criminal Assessment Profiles
  • Stellaron Hunters
    • Elio
      • Elio, unknown, likely male, unknown. Destiny’s Slave: Working behind the scenes, very little is known about the leader of the Stellaron Hunters. Despite hiding in the shadows, it has never been hidden by the other members who is behind their schemes. It is of high importance for the IPC to discover their purpose and put them behind bars.

Bounty: 15,750,000,000 Credits

Wanted Level: Highest, Dead or Alive

• • • Sam
      • Sam, tall, male, unknown. Perpetrator of Calamity: Sam is likely a lost remnant of the Glamoth Empire. The true identity of the large, mechanized weapon is unknown but every time the Stellaron Hunters call on him, destruction follows. Flames bursting from his figure, he is constantly on the offensive, impossibly hard to kill.

Bounty: 12,500,000,000 Credits

Wanted Level: Highest, Dead or Alive

• • • Kafka
      • Kafka, average, female, human. Hails from New Babylon of Pteruges-V. Core member of the Stellaron Hunters, the next-in-command of 'Destiny's Slave.' Given her unique tactic of turning herself in on purpose, we have attributed her to multiple crimes including but not limited to the following: The Pier Point Heist; The Trovys Disappearance; The Stellaron events of Jemorse, Bayjhana, Shilla-39C, Ulmora, 7-Midville, Loar-51, and Dro'a; Cyber attacks against Pier Point, four counts; Cyber attacks against Planet Screwllum; Cyber attacks against Herta Space Station; The Jepella Rebellion. Suspected to be related to the following infractions: The Stellaron events of Sich-Lala, Inupeis, Oun-G7, Zukov, Lidovia, Illily, Attouine, Buhayama.

Bounty: 10,899,000,000 Credits

Wanted Level: Highest, Dead or Alive

• • • Blade
      • Blade, tall, male, short lived species. Hailing from the Xianzhou Loufu, Blade is as his name suggests a master of combat who fights with no respect for life, his own or others. Not as covert as the rest of the Hunters, Blade is used almost as a secret weapon for more heated altercations. It is documented that the Xianzhou Alliance has more information on the man, the IPC, knowing this, will continue to monitor the situation and intercede as needed.

Bounty: 8,130,000,000 Credits

Wanted Level: High, Dead or Alive

• • • Silver Wolf
      • Silver Wolf, short, female, human. Dangerous Hacker: Infiltration and data manipulation specialist. From the planet Punklorde, the hacker known as Silver Wolf is capable of the unique technique of the planet’s inhabitants known as aether editing. She is considered a thrill seeker and a prankster, but her gaming addiction is a possible weakness we can exploit.

Bounty: 5,100,000,000 Credits

Wanted Level: High, Dead or Alive

• • • Zevende
      • Zevende, short, female, unknown. Relic of the Old World: Ancient of the Concord System and daughter of the Nous Family. Not much is known of the criminal other than her ability to rupture space allowing for long distance travel. Because of her past connection with the aeon of Erudition it is believed that Zevende is very dangerous.

Bounty: 4,750,000,000 Credits

Wanted Level: High, Dead or Alive

“Oh! Now this is always a treat, I am going to have to download this for further use. Although, I feel like I should be worth a bit more; and why am I the only one with a known weakness? There’s nothing wrong with being a gaming addict!” I groaned at the diss located in my criminal record.

(40 Seconds Remaining)

Files P13 Access Granted

• Payroll Assessments
• Active Recruitment Profiles
• Marketing Development Department Training Protocols
• Business Consolidation Department Training Protocols
• Strategic Development Department Training Protocols
• Building Material Logistics Department Training Protocols
• Technology Department Training Protocols
• IPC Personal Account Suspensions

“Ah, here we go!” I found what I was looking for, now I just needed to find all of the accounts I was looking for. Thankfully, I was prepared for such a situation so all of my accounts will have been marked with my signature.

There are no pending account suspensions under the tag: HB_15T)(3I3e5t

“Huh?! Are you serious! They couldn’t have possibly gone through already, right?” I exclaimed as the clock suddenly seemed more daunting. I had to go deeper.

(30 Seconds Remaining)

Setting aside my frustration, I decided it was time to go all out and break it open. Taking control of the job myself, I made the drones retreat. This was going to take an expert’s touch.

Files P44 Access Granted

• Belobog Acquisition Project and Debt Collection
• Obsidian’s Cutthroat Strategies
• Diamond’s Key Directives
• Ten Stonehearts’ Abilities and Wielders
• Penacony Reacquisition Project
• Topaz’s Personal Files

(30 Seconds Remaining)

It’s still not enough?! How encrypted could a few suspended accounts be? Unless Herta and Screwllum were bluffing again. Damn them and their games, they could honestly pose as the villains, and no one would raise a brow.

Nonetheless, this trip was too in-depth to leave empty handed. I was obviously going to be interested in whatever plans they had on Penacony as that was relevant for an upcoming script. But some of these other files were also interesting.

Files P47 Access Granted

• Diamond’s Personal Files
• Einstein’s Personal Files
• Tesla’s Personal Files
• Renaissance de la Flamme Project

“That sounds interesting.”

• Renaissance de la Flamme Project
  • Access revoked – please use encryption key.

Interesting, a project with its own unique encryption key? Definitely worth the (10 Seconds Remaining).

Going through the various different possibilities for the encryption would have only taken a couple of seconds but what was concerning was the fact that it didn’t even take that.

51I_v3r{_^}0I_i=

It was an encryption that I was all too familiar with, one that should not have been there. Silver Wolf was the very first encryption code that I had ever made, and it was also the simplest. The likelihood that I would find the exact encryption deep in the IPC headquarters files was basically none unless, I had somehow put it their myself. But that was simply impossible, I had never delved so deep into their files, and I had never needed to. So why was the evidence saying otherwise, why was the mark of the Silver Wolf blatantly begging for attention in their files?

My time was up, I knew, so I took what I could from the files and jumped ship, erasing all traces of my presence in their systems. I didn’t even have time to leave my signature foot print as I was too busy solving these riddles. Did the IPC leave this in their files as bait? Did they want me to know that they knew I would be here? No, there was too much available in their files for it to be bait. Something else was at play here.

As my drones returned to me, I returned the security back to its original protocols and began my track back to the dock to explore my best bet of escape. The rain was good cover, but it wasn’t exactly welcome, reminding me that there were always things in the universe that I couldn’t control. Thankfully I didn’t need to take any showers or anything as my aether editing covered that, but it was still a damper on the mood.

“How many times do I have to tell you buffoons! Get the damn cargo to the finish line as if you’re lives depended on it! It doesn’t matter how fast you do your job if it’s all destroyed in the end! You’re all going to be demoted and I will see to it myself that all of your bonuses are revoked for the foreseeable future!” I heard the haughty shout of a rather tamed example of IPC discipline. Hah! Serves them right!

“B-but boss! We were just doing our job as normal, how we supposed to know that lightning would destroy everything!” One of the guys from earlier protested courageously.

“It’s raining ain’t it?!” The boss rebuked.

“Uh, well, yeah…” And the courage was suddenly snuffed out.

“Uh, well, yeah, you’re a dumbass. You idiots, will head back to Punklorde to reclaim the supplies at whatever cost necessary, and I won’t have any excuses!” He proclaimed leaving no room for argument.

“Y-yes sir!” And the two goons who unknowingly welcomed a Stellaron Hunter to their headquarters would unknowingly provide me with the way out as well. How convenient.

Safely back on the ship, I didn’t wait to start digging into what this project was. Renaissance de la Flamme, as high as it was in the pecking order of files, did not have the same feel as most of the other files. There was a lot of personal files at the higher secured levels, but this project had secret written all over it. At P47, only the directors and highest levels of IPC officials would have access.

Renaissance de la Flamme: This is an account of events that occurred during the top-secret experiment on Punklorde conducted by the science branch officials in the Technology Department.

Immortality was something that many sought in their reverence of the Preservation as a means to serve the Aeon. For the longest time, many believed this to be impossible until the rise of the long-life species of the Xianzhou Alliance. A result of a so-called mistaken interaction with the Aeon of Abundance. Immortality is not an evil like the followers of the Hunt like to proclaim but rather an insult to the End. It was this discovery that halted all further experiments. Inviting an Aeon to the table is like inviting chaos itself and that is what we did.

So, they wished to find a different path to immortality as a gift to the preservation? But why would they be conducting the experiments in Punklorde?

Not knowing where to start we sought the advancements of other societies as a launch point. With the funding and manpower of the IPC it was not long before we found our candidate for experimentation. Punklorde was filled with people who seemingly bypassed the rules of reality as simply as they ate breakfast, and it was clear that there were exploits waiting to be discovered there.

Madam Cocolia of the Seventh Heights Orphanage was our in. The woman seemingly unhappy with her lot in life found interest in our project through unknown means and took it upon herself to introduce herself to our party upon our arrival on the planet. Her eagerness and bashful claims should have clued us in to her eventual machinations, but we overlooked them for the sake of the project.

It was true, experimenting on children was not supposed to be in play at the outset of the project and yet despite the terrible premise we overlooked the morality of it because of the children themselves. It was clear after a while that the kids had been brainwashed by Cocolia to serve her own means, but we only saw willingness to serve a greater good.

Experiment Subjects:

Subject 1 – Bronya

Subject 2 – Seele

Subject 3 – Sin (Deceased)

Experiment  Notes

Day 1

Aether editing was no small feat for IPC agents who had never wielded such power before. But after learning the science behind it, the activity was not nearly as remarkable as one would suspect. The conclusion made many of my colleagues question whether or not we required the assistance of Punklorde any further but we continued onward nonetheless.

Subject 1, simply known as Bronya, was an interesting case as the young girl, despite having no access to educational material, was a prodigy in technological studies and even contributed some ideas in the early experiments. We began with low levels of hypnosis using aether editing to provide suggestions directly to subject 1’s brain. These suggestions were mainly used as a way of stimulating certain brain chemicals to produce the desired effect.

Results were indeterminant.

Day 8

Subject 1 was showing no progress with hypnotherapy causing us to believe that we would need to go deeper. The next step would be replacement. Instead of suggestions for preexisting brain chemicals we believed it was best to replace certain chemicals all together. This would allow us to bypass the brain’s hostile response to our suggestions and make a large leap in progress.

Subject 1 was given ample amount of testing to assure stable variables and determine conclusive results. Subject 1 started exhibiting symptoms of muteness after we began dialing down the activity in the left hemisphere for the purpose of maximizing processing speed and thusly creating an eventuality of increasing brain activity. The goal is with an increased brain activity in the right areas the effects of aging can be decreased.

Results were positive.

Day 38

Subject 1 began questioning her involvement in the project as the symptoms began to ramp up. It was unfortunate because we believed that she really wanted to help the cause. However, as subject 2 stepped forward we were gifted with the opportunity to work on a fresh subject using the data we had already surmised.

Subject 2 named Seele, was a much different prospect than her predecessor. She did not have the talents of subject 1 and yet our subsequent experiments found her to be the perfect replacement. Subject 2 took to the replacement therapy with flying colors exhibiting no unordinary symptoms. In fact, she even claimed after a few different tests that everything seemed to be slowing down for her as if her mind was processing things at a much faster pace. This was a result worth pursuing.

Results were successful.

Day 52

Subject 2 continued experimentation successfully but we decided that it was time to get a broader scope. Subject 3, named Sin, was determined from the group of children to be a backup to subject 2 as well as a secondary data point. The preliminary test were going well, creating a positive outlook for taking the experiments further.

Results were successful.

Day 69

We finally came to a breakthrough when subject 2 began exhibiting a decrease in aging activity. According to our data, subject 2’s brain started commanding the rest of the body to take up the suggestions from the hypnosis causing the entire body to speed up. These suggestions allowed subject 2’s body to take on natural human progression such as aging and teach it to deny the unwanted disease. It was like teaching an immune system but much more powerful.

Subject 2’s success made the girl hard to contain at first as she frantically tried to control her spazzing body but after several rounds of testing she became used to the new norm.

Results were conclusive.

Day 72

With subject 2’s situation under control we believed we were getting closer to results with subject 3 but we never got to see those results. Subject 3’s body was found in an alley way several blocks away from the orphanage, brutalized. Speaking with local authorities given the nature of the experiments was out of the question so we kept this to ourselves. The IPC was unable to find conclusive evidence of how subject 3 ended up in such a state.

Day 79

There was more than one Aeon that found immortality to be an abomination. This we now knew. Returning to the lab on the seventy-ninth day I was surprised to find a lack of guards outside the premises. In my mind, I knew that there was something unusual happening but for the life of me I couldn’t put my finger on what.

Entering the lab, I was stunned to see the figure of subject 2 standing in the midst of several dead bodies. On the dead scientist grew branches of decaying plants and what seemed like cocoons of blooming butterflies. Subject 2 noticed my presence staring at me with glowing purple eyes that could only belong to a beast. Her form was decorated with a black substance of an unknown nature. Whatever we had done, had made subject 2 the embodiment of death. I will never forget the words that she spoke,

“Fathom not, the work that you do, it is a fault of thine ignorance that leads thee upon thy heretical path. To deny the end is to deny the beginning, to deny such things is to deny thine existence. Your work is at an end, your denial is finished, your death is written.” The girl then proceeded to summon a scythe bringing the deadly weapon upon my neck. I was left completely and utterly at her mercy.

This concludes the notes of Lieserl Albert Einstein

Are you serious! You’re really going to leave me with such a cliff hanger? What a bummer. That being said, this experiment was one worth looking into further. It was clear that these experiments into the capabilities of aether editing were ones I hadn’t even considered yet. However, based on the ending here it was not something one could do with out consequences. Not to mention the implications of my encryption being on a secure IPC file. A personification of death huh? There’re only a few aeons capable of manifesting such concepts.

“Hmph, what a vibe killer.”

Melugon

This chapter is for all the fans of the Stellaron Hunters. Also it wouldn’t be a space fantasy without the dumb storm trooper troupe right? The Interastral Peace Corporation really needs to do better with their recruiting efforts.