2 A Boy Has A Name
His eyes stared blankly ahead, his mind wandered as he tried to figure out how he could become an alien from a fictional universe. As a man of science, he had to accept the fact the multiverse was real.
The fact he's here proved this place was real. He can feel, hear, and even taste the meat his mother put into his mouth. Even if this is a simulation, as a conscious observer it's real to him.
Accepting the fact he crossed, his mind started to turn. Figuring out the best course of action he could take now. As someone whose pursuit was immortality, he welcomed the chance to relive a new life.
First, he summed up the lessons from his previous life. While his pursuit was right, his goal was wrong. His immortality was nothing but a vain illusion, a way to cheat death.
What he wanted was true eternity. For one to realize that, they need more than a long life. They needed power, for nothing can last forever if someone else can take it from your hands.
Just like he took the advanced AI from the organization, and they took his life. He lost the moment he thought he could bargain with his success. The weak can't even have a dialog with the strong.
Even if his individual power was the greatest among mankind the moment he bonded with the nanobots; A tide of ants can kill an elephant.
It's not enough for him to be powerful alone, he needs a faction of his own.
His mind turned as he tried to remember everything about star wars. He's seen the movies to relax his mind from critical thinking. He's even read the Wookieepedia page a few times.
While the ideas behind the universe were far-fetched, recreating the things in it wasn't a fantasy with his skillset.
That's why he knew what species he became.
Star wars were and still is an enigma to him. While the technology was advanced, some parts of the galaxy still lived like third-class citizens. Even if they had spacecraft of their own and personal robots they lived like rice farmers.
He turned his attention to his parents and listened to them talk. If he was going to make a plan, he needed to learn the language first and find out what period this is.
Time passed and he adapted to his new life. Every day he learned new words by associating them with their actions. From there, he broke the words down and created an alphabet. The more words he learned the more perfect it became.
From this, he learned that his memory had drastically improved. Things no longer slipped his mind and his focus was better than it used to be.
While his father left to go hunting, his mother transformed into some sort of creature to expand their burrow. He saw firsthand how powerful the shape-shifting capabilities were.
She shifted from a humanoid form to a four-legged creature with spiral drill-like claws. Its forelimbs could freely rotate and turn its hand into a drill.
When five days passed, he fully learned the alien language.
"Kandri, the council of elders informed the hunting group about the naming ceremony in a few days." His father entered from a long tunnel that led outside. He held another large piece of meat from some unknown creature.
Since his birth, he's eaten nothing but meat. He can feel his mass has increased but his body hasn't changed.
"Is it time for the naming ceremony already?" His mother placed him down and walked to his father. Their heads touched as they closed their eyes.
When they separated, a smile was plastered on both of their pale faces.
He's learned that's how Shi'ido showed affection towards each other, or maybe a common greeting. His sample size was too small to tell.
For a species whose shape and appearance can become anything, only through their telepathy can they identify each other.
Normally, their telepathy acted as an active illusion, an aid that made people feel their disguise was perfect; Be it smell, sound, or appearance it could make up the difference. By joining heads they could link their minds and identify each other.
"I talked to the other hunters in the community, only three spawns were born this cycle." His father moved to the fire and started cooking the meat.
"Only three? That's less than the last cycle." His mother's head shook. "Four elders have returned to the soil and three have left to explore."
"It can't be helped, more ships are crashing and scouts arriving at our planet. Looking for ancient weapons of war they believe are hidden here. This makes people curious."
His mother's face twisted as she heard him speak. "They risk their lives flying through gravitational and spatial anomalies to find what might not exist?"
His father moved towards a pool of brown water and began cleaning the mud from his body. "You can't blame them, their species lives are short and their bodies fragile. They don't even have stories of their own history, let alone know the truth of the stars. Their species don't even remember the Rakata or the empires that followed."
"Enough talk about the outsiders, let's get ready to eat the harvest." His mother sat at the table with a look of frustration on her face. Upset because her father left the world a few cycles ago. Talking about this just upset her more.
Most never return, but the few who do have kept them informed on the wider galaxy. As a species that can live for five hundred years, it's easy to pass down history.
Nebulas stopped paying attention when he received information he could use. If spaceships have crashed on this planet, he could find them and try to repair the damage, or even build his own.
He had no wish to spend his whole life on this planet. These people seemed to be minimalist when it came to technology.
His blood boiled when he thought of all the tech and alien species waiting for him to explore. He also had to recreate his nanofluid.
One of the things that interested him was the force. His species was naturally telepathic but he didn't know his midi-chlorian count. That would decide how easy it was for him to connect with the force.
Just like tall people have a natural advantage in basketball over short people, but that doesn't mean short people can't win. His only fear is not being able to play at all.
In these few days, he's tried meditating and clearing his mind, as that is the only thing he really could do. He knew he could tap into the dark side with strong emotions, but he wasn't ready for that yet.
Instead, he put himself in a peaceful state, trying to feel the world around him and reach out.
The days were uneventful until his parents finally took him out of the burrow. The sight before his eyes left him stunned.
Trees as tall as skyscrapers with thick gray trunks and verdant green leaves so big they blot out the sky. The land below is blocked from the light of the stars, yet the forest is fully illuminated.
Lit by the multicolored beads that grow from the vines, twisting between the trees like a network of roads.
The vegetation below feeds off its light and decorates the grassy burrows scattered between the trees.
Like them, others are leaving their home. They all followed a winding vine until they reached a small clearing in the middle of the trees.
There, light shone from above and fully illuminated a group of twenty dressed in ceremonial garments. Everyone gathered around, their eyes full of respect.
His mother brought him forward along with two other women. In their hands were babies who looked no different than him.
The group in the middle split apart and allowed them to walk into the center. There, three beds carved from stone seemed to be waiting for them.
His mother placed him on the last stone bed, showing that he was born last.
When the three women backed away in silence, a Shi'ido in the most elaborate fur gown stepped forward.
His eyes trailed over the hundreds of clansmen until they finally stopped on the three spawn. "We gather here today to welcome three more kin into our fold."
His arms raised into the air and he seemed to speak to the light from above. "We have survived to this day due to family. No matter how hard things got we persevered. Living in this area of space some deemed uninhabitable, we have thrived."
He moved to the first spawn and pulled out a bowl containing a glowing multicolored liquid. "The radiant vines shine upon us, just like its light takes on many colors, we take on many forms."
The Elder poured a bit of liquid into the spawn's mouth while speaking. The liquid poured down his throat and seemed to activate a strange gene.
His skin turned blue from its usual gray, then yellow, and finally green before changing back.
"Welcome Porro of house Tane." The elder placed his thumb on the spawn's head as he spoke out his name.
The Elder moved to the next spawn and poured the liquid into her mouth. Her color shifted a few times before the elder spoke again. "Welcome Belia of house Darzu."
The Elder finally arrived in front of him and poured the liquid into his mouth. His body felt like a bag of popcorn as his cells seemed to pop. The color of his skin changed five times before returning to normal.
"Welcome Khan of house Nalle."
The crowd burst into cheers as meat and drink were brought. With the naming over, they started celebrating the addition of three new members in twenty years.
