Tess stared at herself in the mirror, relaxing as she pulled her unruly hair into a ponytail. Her bronze curly hair had natural ringlets that made it a bitch to maintain. It was also why she kept her hair at shoulder length for her own sanity’s sake. She could also see the dark bruises under her eyes, a sign of her lack of sleep after the disappearance of Jin Azul.

She picked at her outfit, a light grey short sleeve sweater, and plum purple sweatpants. Cozy and casual was her preference to the chagrin of mama, though mom didn't give a shit. Plus the sweater hid her figure, which was less distressing to her anxiety. As she got older it had become more obvious that she was her parent’s kid.

It also didn't help that her parents, especially Aitana, gathered a lot of looks from men with even a few women joining in those stares. It was actually quite creepy sometimes how easily eyes ended following Aitana’s hips or bust rather than her face. Most of the time they were warded off by Yaga since she was rather intimidating with her height and her creepy gaze.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for herself. More and more of those lecherous gazes and uncomfortably amorous grins had been directed at Tess to her embarrassment and distress. Which explained all the classes on self-defense, Yaga had a knack for weapons. She had taught her everything from using a pencil to stab a guy to firing a mass accelerator rifle. 

When she was younger, Tess had looked more like Yaga, lanky with knobbly knees, and not very pretty in her opinion. Then puberty hit her like a truck without her noticing, and it was only her awkwardness and form of dress that saved her from the sort of nonsense her parents used to deal with. She wasn't conservative, she loved color patterning and certain mixes, but also liked baggy and comfortable clothing rather than tight jeans and low cut tops. 

Tess tilted her head, pursing her lips as she let her impulses run on their own. She wanted to swing her legs back and forth, she wanted to twitch and move, to tap her fingers against her thighs, to walk back and forth and back and forth and—

“Just breathe. How does an origonium core work again?” Tess asked herself, sitting down on her bed, legs vibrating with nervous energy. She spoke aloud. “An origonium core is a device which generates and directs the emissions of activated origonium, which includes a mix of exotic forces including dark energy. A drive field assembly uses solid-state nano-arrays to modulate power input and field control, and a system of waveguides and field projection arrays shape the output of the core.”

Tess had taken elective classes in Origotronics and had worked in the field for her self-gratification. Origonium had a lot of applications and building a little drone that could fly was just one of many of them. 

She turned away from the mirror, thinking about the events of yesterday. Jin Azul had vanished and there were barely any hits of a struggle besides overturned earth and unsettled iron sand. Jin wasn't much older than her, her family were elemental channelers, specializing in controlling earth as a whole. Rock, crystal, dirt, sand, and even metal. It made them very good miners, and they had made a lot of money from it. Their main business was in metals and origonium.

Titanium, cadmium, magnesium, iridium, and vanadium, along with plenty of iron. They were independently wealthy, kind, and hardworking people. And now their oldest daughter was gone, vanished into the night. 

She had almost fallen into a panic attack, but Swift-Feather had been there to keep her calm with her warm and protective presence. Tess had then spent her time running the numbers on the field geometries of an origonium core, the precise manipulations required to channel dark energy to manipulate gravity and mass, to invoke other more exotic effects using non-euclidean fields of force to manipulate physics. 

She wasn't an expert, but she was certainly a hobbyist in origotronics, and that had helped give her mind focus and calm rather than the buzzing terror between her teeth and the sensation of crawling, scratchy skin. 

Tess crossed her arms, blowing out a huff of air as she examined her room. The walls were off-white and covered in posters of individuals she respected. 

Harriet Osman was a scientist from the thirty-fourth century who had established the use of Applied Physics within the medical field. A lot of diseases and ailments had been cured or had treatment regimes created for them because of her actions.

Kenji Nakamura was a man who fought for the rights of his people, the Tuyuko after their city-states were conquered by the Anahuac and the Castellans, with all three being her ancestors because of Aitana. Keeping the flames of his culture alive, and doing things that resonated across the centuries.

Tess sighed as walked across her messy room, unlocking her door and stepping out. She hissed at the harsh sunlight from a hallway window, they needed to put curtains on that damn window. She thought with resentment, yawning loudly as she scratched an itch on her hip. 

The door to the master bedroom opened and out stepped Yaga, her bright red hair even messier than hers. Tess stopped moving at the expression written on her parent’s face.

Yaga Hoshino looked awful, wearing a pink shirt that said ‘I’m 40 and swinging’ to her disgust and fuzzy slippers. The heavy bags were unnerving because Yaga slept like a rock most of the time. So how much worse is mama if mom is like this?

“Mom?” 

The redhead pinched the bridge of her nose with a growl. “Gods. Yesterday was a shitshow and a half. There's a lot we're going to have to set up today so get your fat ass moving into the shower.” a bewildered Tess sputtered as she was turned around and pushed back into her room. 

“The fuck?” Was her response to the tallest of her parents. 

Yaga replied. “I’m going to… be frank here, I know we always hated the College of Gnomon. Tried to push you away from it.” She said with a tumultuous expression. “But the Azul was part of a pretty strong family, it would take a literal tank to take down that kid. But she was snapped up just like that.” she snapped her fingers for emphasis.

Tess nodded, she understood how dire the situation was.

Yaga stroked her cheek, smiling warmly. “It’s not safe here anymore, and I'm not sure the defenses of the local colleges are good enough.”

“Is that the only reason you're letting me go?” Did she sound bitter? Because she very much was.

Yaga smiled sadly. “No. We can't stop you, you'd find a way to get what you want. You get that from both of us,” she ruffled Tess’ hair with a smirk. “No this just means you don't have to use your little discretionary fund and end up eating ramen for four years.”

Tess blushed. “You knew about that?”

Yaga smirked. “We’re not idiots and you aren't a subtle kid.”

Tess coughed awkwardly. “I should go.” She fled from her mom like a coward.

---

Yaga rolled her shoulders, to remove the odd crick in her neck. She had a lot of mysterious aches and pains with this body. That tended to happen when your body was effectively a resurrected corpse. It had taken a lot of advanced cybernetics and breakthroughs in applied metaphysics she couldn't even begin to comprehend and the experimental procedure had come at a cost. 

She had been a great and wandering wrath, a story told to frightened children, a warning to weary travelers in those dark woods she had called home in her first life. Ghosts, vestiges, echoes played by different rules than spirits. They didn't have their sheer range of power, but they weren't restricted by the same Bans and Banes. 

They could freely possess the living, and the power they did have corresponded with their cause of death. Freezing led to power over ice, cold, and hypothermia. Deaths related to fire led to burning, smoke, heat, and it was often more absolute than what other spirits were capable of.

It was why many of those ghosts became the core of High Spirits, clumping together with compatible spirits into gods of the spiritual plane. Even so, this only happened to degraded ghosts, as souls and spirits were of a different kind.

“It's a huge pile of shit hitting the fan,” Yaga said with a tired expression on her pale face. “Warning signs were always there after what went down nineteen years ago, but we ignored them after our retirement.”

A mistake in hindsight.

Her wife rubbed her eyes, her wild dark hair turned into a crow’s nest due to neglect. “We didn't have much of a choice, we were too jaded, too tired to keep going. We thought we had secured our future and failed to safeguard it for our child.” 

Upstairs they heard Tess’ footsteps as she zipped about her room, but her thoughts were honing in on the speed, on the hesitancy and pauses. There were a lot of questions their daughter had that they couldn't answer. Yaga was angry, furious with the people that were endangering their family.

They could never be ready.

Aitana leaned into her with a sigh, brushing back her lovely dark bangs. Yaga smiled, lovestruck.

“Gods, you're still as sexy as the day we first met.” Her wife’s dark cheeks flushed, and she smirked. “Well at least that's one benefit, with Tess out of the house we can make the beasts with two backs heh?” Yaga waggled her eyebrows, and she let out an oomph when her wife smacked her in the stomach.

Aitana was hopping mad, stamping her foot in a lagomorph-like fashion. “Para siendo un idiota!” 

Yaga cupped her cheek, lightly bumping her forehead with her hottie of a wife. “Your idiot mind you, or are we going to have to replicate our wedding night again?”

Aitana rolled her eyes. “Please be serious, there's a lot of work to be done to keep our daughter safe.”

Yaga’s smile dimmed, and she hummed her assent. “You’re right, Tess is a strong girl but she's inexperienced. But we can’t lock her away forever, she needs to spread her wings and fly.”

Aitana nodded. “I… I’ll have to do my best to prepare her.” She simply said.

Yaga squeezed her shoulder. “We both will.”

---

The drive to Santa Amaya was nice and awkward, and Tess was forced to endure her anxiety, tapping her fingers against her bare thighs in a regular pattern.

Pat-pat, pat-pitter-pat. 

The highway cut through the Gran Cuenca, through the patchwork of prairie, forest, mountain, and canyon that surrounded the cities of the southern inland corridor of Hanowa. Trees were sparse here, and the plains and valleys made a pretty picture. But what grazed on those plants was much more interesting, Longhorn Bonnacon. 

They're so big! She was awed by both their size and their body shape, they were a mishmash of features. A large elephantine body, a massive shield-like crest with prominent curved horns and tusks jutting out from their lips. They reminded her of extinct creatures called dinosaurs, but she knew they weren't closely related. Bonnacons were cavatherians, while dinosaurs were more closely related to birds and crocodilians. 

As mammals go they were certainly strange, with their hollow bones and saccule respiration and their itty bitty babies they could pop out thirty at a time. The state of Persha contained most of the savannas and forests of the Grand Basin, and since half of the land was owned by the government it was untouched wilderness for hundreds of miles around.

There was a screeching yowl, and her neck cracked as she turned to follow the sound. A Raiju was on the hunt, and she saw a pig squeal in terror as a monster leaped from the thick grass. The Raiju was a huge rodent that hunted like the big cats of the western continents, resembling a cavy but with huge muscles and powerful legs, and enormous dagger-like incisors. 

She watched in horrified bewilderment as the half-ton rat restrained her prey with sharp claws, before delivering a bite that pierced through the skull and spine of a helpless pig. She looked away from the grisly scene

“We’re going to the convention, aren't we? Pretty sure we confirmed that?” There was a sharp sound in the background song, Yaga turning to face her from the passenger seat.

“It took you an hour of driving to ask that question?” Yaga chortled, an ugly snort-filled laugh entering the air.

Tess blushed. “Hey! I wasn't sure if you guys were ready to talk about it! You know I'm terrible at measuring the atmosphere.” Yaga’s eyes flickered to her daughter with a bemused giggle.

Aitana cleared her throat and Yaga shut her mouth. “We’ve got about two months between your graduation and enrolling into Gnomon. Hopefully, their programs and local laboratories can help you figure out why your channeling is so…” 

“Unstable, explosive, sucks total ass?” Tess deadpanned, tapping her foot against the floor of the car. She wanted nothing more than to strangle whatever sick God had decided her soul would be a mess of epic proportions. With her bare hands even.

“Pretty much kid,” Yaga responded as she expected and her laugh was bitter. “Too many shamans are parked around the Rips, the Days of Iron left too much of a mark on the Spirit World, tore holes in the fabric unfixed for more than a hundred years. It's why we couldn't find you any teachers… or at least not ones with too many strings attached.” 

“You don’t have any trustworthy spooks?” Tess smiled at the shared looks of her parents. She wasn't stupid, her parents had been wrapped up in something dark and secretive. Years before she was born… They didn't talk about it much. 

“No. We moved on from our old lives for a reason.” Was her mama’s cold statement, dark hair moving back and forth as she shook her head.

“I wasn't going to ask,” Tess said with a roll of her shoulders. “I know better than that.”

“Why do you want to go?” Aitana asked, and Tess was startled by the question. “What do you want out of this?

What do I want huh? 

“I want to learn how to live with the power I was given,” she started, unable to stop. “I want to learn how to do more, I want to better understand the world. Maybe I can't fix it on my own, with how… broken it is. But my powers are a part of me, I want to live my own life, and I think Gnomon can teach me what I need.” 

She waited for the judgemental tones, the disapproval, the anger, and the disappointment. Dark eyes wide and full of stormy emotions. 

But it never came. 

A pale hand squeezed her shoulder, and she saw the smiles on her parent's faces.

“We understand.”

Tess smiled, feeling so much better about her prospects.

---

Tess was wide-eyed as she stepped out of the car, she rarely went on any trips outside the nearest towns. Jakob’s Bell was a pretty simple town, divided into north and south. It had three major roads, one running from north to south and dividing the city in half while the other two ran from west to east. One of the roads curbed away to avoid a marshland, and she could sense the wake of a nature spirit within its heart.

Today, however, there were decorations set up for the convention Gnomon was organizing for the greater system of education for channelers and shamans in the region. There were bright lights and banners and pretty ribbons, and the splash of colors was a breath of fresh air. It was hung over entire rented-out conference centers, and she could see the crowds of people of all shapes and colors and creeds.  

“Don’t go far, we don't need you getting lost, Tess,” Aitana warned.

She scoffed. “I’m almost eighteen years old, I'm practically an adult.” Tess kept her tone from getting whiny. “But yes, staying close is safer, I understand.” She added with a warm smile reaching her eyes.  

She marched forward with enthusiasm, eyes focused on the crowds slithering towards the main convention center. She was fascinated by the scenery, the swirl of spirits, the energy and atmosphere was intimidating 

But she had a skip in her step and she was not going to calm down any time soon. Not today! She could feel the stirring of energies, that gut feeling that told her about the shockwaves sent through reality by channeling. 

The difference between a normal soul and the soul of a channeler was subtle, and a shaman had a unique signature of their own. A normal soul was weighty and smooth, more solid. A channeler soul was amorphous, more faded, energy diverted to the machinery of their powers. A shaman, however… their soul was scuffed up, more like a spirit than a normal soul. 

Tess thought souls were like different models, a normal soul was less souped-up, imbuing the mind and body with power and might. A channeler soul had machinery built into the soul, using the energies to fuel alterations of reality. A shaman was similar, but the interface was on the surface of the soul to interact with the Spirit. She had both models of a soul, but she didn't know enough on how to unlock her potential.

Her sense of direction snapped back into her mind and her body barreled through the crowd. She could hear her parents calling out to her, but Tess was no longer listening as the song guided her where she needed to go. All her focus had slammed into her like a trainwreck. There was someone she needed to find.

She whistled a formless tune as she descended a short flight of stairs, turning a corner. There she found who and what she was looking for. 

Her mystery target was tall, a good foot taller or more and they certainly didn't have a human figure. They leaned against a bench, claws clicking against the wood. Tess flipped out internally. Is that a diderik? On Terre of all places? 

The young woman was mesmerized, her eyes swiftly scanning the real-life alien standing uncomfortably in a crowd of humans. 

The diderik reminded her of a giant bird in a lot of ways, but a closer inspection showed the differences. They don't wear clothing for one thing. They… she had a long deep torso and digitigrade legs ending in three-clawed feet. Tess knew the diderik evolved as pursuit predators, and she saw that legacy in those strong and muscular legs. Her arms were extended, wrists turning as she gripped the top of the bench. A four-fingered hand, with curved claws, tipped with iron.  

What? She knew her stuff about xenobiology.

Anyways, the stranger had a large hatchet-shaped head covered in fine black hair ending in a hooked beak, with two massive tooth-like points jutting out from the tip of her beak. Four furry ears swiveled around, one pair at the top of her head, the other at the back bottom end of her jaw.

“So cool…” She whispered in distraction, looking at her outfit next. The alien was wearing a turquoise open back shirt, adjusting the collar with four silver eyes narrowing. A slitted black cloak and oddly shaped trousers completed the outfit, red backfins folding out in a nervous motion. 

“Human.”

Tess blinked as she was pushed back by a light push from clawed hands. She flailed wildly and was steadied by strong furry arms.

“What—” She had almost fallen flat on her ass like an idiot, nearly slipping on an actual banana peel of all things. 

“You should be more careful,” The tall alien commented, a distinctive flanging effect to her feminine voice. “You humans are a lot squishier than most of the other races.”

Tess was mortified, ripping herself from the avian alien’s grip. “Oh… gods I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I got distracted and thought you looked cool, and why am I still talking, make it stop oh fuck—” A single claw poked her on the forehead.

Meep! 

“It’s alright, it's fire under the bridge as you humans say?” The alien ventured with a shrug of her fins(sails?). 

“Water.” Four silver eyes simultaneously at her sputtering reply. “It’s water under the bridge.”

Tess wilted under the gaze of the diderik, the alien tilting her head at her behavior. 

She nodded. “Ahh. That does make more sense, in my tongue fire and water share a common root.” Her beak opened slightly as she talked, jaws shivering in a harmonious triple cord. “I’ll have to expand my vocabulary then, human words are… distinct.” 

“Why are you here?” Tess blurted out, too curious for her own good.  

“I’m here to attend this seminar event, I'm planning to be a student at Gnomon College. Its credentials are excellent, and I wish to learn more about my powers from a new perspective.” The alien revealed, shifting from foot to foot despite her aloof expression. “You’re doing the same are you not?” 

Tess smiled, bouncing on her heels. “I am, so we’ll probably end up classmates. Which makes it okay to ask your name right?” She was too excited, thoughts jumbled and scattered as her motormouth ran. 

“Anataya Xinji.” She offered with an amused shiver of her jaw. “You may call me Xinji.” 

“Oh you’re like the Tuyuko, you use the surname first!” She remembered that being true but it had been a while since she had checked.

“It stands for our grove. I am a daughter of the Anataya grove, just as all my sisters are.” Her fur rustled, Xinji seemingly in reaction to her proud clicking whistle. “What is your name, or will I need to keep calling you human in my head?” There was a teasing lilt that made Tess blush.

She bowed her head respectfully. “Oh. I'm Theresa Hoshino, it's nice to meet you.” she meant it, meeting an alien her own age was exciting. Somehow in her soul, she knew she had done the right thing in following the path she had chosen. 

“Theresa!” She flinched, oh no I’m in trouble. “Do not run off like that, you could have gotten lost or worse.” Aitana was pissed, stomping her foot like she always did when she was mad or frustrated.

Yaga was giving her a shit-eating grin, and she grimaced when she saw Xinji’s flinch. 

She patted the air next to Xinji’s arm. “It’s okay, it's just my parents. They’re cool, just worried.” She smiled up at her new acquaintance, centering her vision between her two pairs of eyes.

Aitana stopped in front of Tess with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest. The atmosphere had become tense and awkward.

Tess cracked.

“I uhh… made a new friend?” She waved to Xinji, the alien bird woman giving her a confused chirp.

Her mother did not look impressed.

---

Compendium Entry (Technology): ORIGONIUM

Origonium is a rare material, a form of exotic matter that is undergoing a phase shift between many states of existence, occupying space-time in a different frame of reference. Origonium is different from all other matter, having a far higher energy state than even quark-gluon plasma. As such to exist in our reality it must constantly bleed off energy. A form of force not native to our reality. Origonium is a precipitate matter born entirely in the Spirit World, drifting until it hits a solid solution. This material is the substrate of interstellar empires, exploitation of this substance unlocks the ability to manipulate physics due to the substance’s ability to channel energy fields on a massive scale.

Origonium acts in three fashions, it can be used as a conduit, transforming energies from higher realities into forms capable of energetically interacting with the material plane. When energized it can create a space of altered physics, affecting numerous physical constants. Finally, it can be incorporated into living beings to enhance their paracausal powers.

Origonium allows for the creation of exotic heavy-armor and components light enough to be mechanically moved. It is the basis for all FTL and Void Rail travel and is critical in the field of Applied Metaphysics and Paracausal Disciplines. Origonium is found anywhere in the known universe but appears to flow to the place of most resistance, high points of energy which often includes neutron stars, black holes, and the remnants of supernovae. On planets, origonium collects around volcanoes, fault lines, and areas of high spiritual activity. Most Origonium is mined on worlds, but the largest known mine is around the cracked planet known as Hades.

---

Galactic Planetary Index: Orion Bubble- Khepri System - Terre

Terre is the third planet of the Khepri system, a prototypical garden world and the cradle of humanity. It hosts a population of eleven billion, making it one of the more densely populated worlds in the Orion Bubble outside of panadim industrial hive-worlds. One unique factoid is that despite their small reserves of fossil fuels,  they managed to pass through an industrial age with limited access to petroleum and its byproducts. 

Terre from a commercial and industrial standpoint is a major hub, essentially the heart of a vast network of worlds, comparable in output to entire forge worlds without compromising the biosphere or their population’s quality of life. The main reason for this concentration of industry can be tied to the sheer number of channelers in their population and the technology developed as a result. Clean energy and technological sophistication allows for the highly efficient exploitation of their rich natural resources.

The biosphere of Terre is rich and ancient, dating back at least five billion years, proving to be far more ancient than the biosphere of most other garden worlds. This rich biosphere, in turn, gives room for the emergence of life forms that display unique abilities. From the western dragons which display control over fire, lightning, and plasma to the leviathans who control the seas and the ice.  

Another major factor is the extreme levels of spiritual activity on Terre, only equaled by Pulotu. Shamanism is a practice on Terre that extends back at least ten thousand years, and it became a more vital tradition with its near extinction during the Days of Iron. Even now prospective shamans of all ages make yearly pilgrimages to Terre, including the reclusive Kanaloaa. 

Another major mystery of Terre however, is the planet itself, its baffling geological record continues to be an area of debate for scientists in the field of astrogeology. Based on geological records, a catastrophic event occurred on a planetary scale. The planet’s crust shifted by at least seventy-five degrees, the rotation of the planet sped up by between fifty four and one hundred eight minutes, and the orbit of the moon was altered. This triggered a mass extinction event that wiped out seventy-five percent of all life on the planet and was paired with similar events occurring simultaneously across known space. The shift created the massive east-west corridor stretching from Asu to the southern tip of Sakae and buried most of Alkebulan in ice and frigid cold.

Several fringe theories crop up because of the odd nature of ancient strata from this period. The distribution of minerals and metals on Terre isn't consistent with known geological processes, and higher concentrations of radioactive materials are found throughout the planet. Shifts in the concentration of nitrogen in the soil and carbon dioxide in the air indicate a dramatic alteration of the environment. Some fringe theorists postulate an advanced civilization once called Terre home citing numerous unusual sites as evidence as byproducts of advanced technology. 

Precursor Theory remains unsubstantiated as a cause for the unusual nature of Terre’s geological record.