Prologue II
Prologue II
High above the Earth, the massive starship that is home to the Celestials placidly orbits. Oneg the Prober has concluded his analysis on the planet and the Celestials have gathered to assess the potential for their chosen species.
“<Report, Oneg.,” the one Above All bids.
“<The candidate species is distributed across parts of the major western landmasses. Migratory pattern modeling predicts 98.73% likelihood of spread to all habitable regions. A confirmation of Ziran’s postulate; the species has the potential for significant evolutionary mutations and should readily adapt to our experiments. Where the Eternal genome meets ideal conditions the host will be a meta-being in every way. Typical mutations will include near-immunity to disease, enhanced physical attributes, extraordinary intelligence, psionic awareness and mass and/or energy manipulation. In some cases, multiple combinations of meta-abilities will manifest. The Eternal branch will benefit from a significantly increased lifespan; a near-immortal. Further, there exists a possibility of generating a Celestial among them.>”
Oneg pauses to allow comment on the startling revelation. While no Celestial offers any thought, each is mindful of the implication; this species could become one of their greatest successes.
Oneg continues, “<The Deviant genome will be more prevalent than the Eternal. Although many of the Deviant mutations will be similar in characteristic to the Eternal, the Deviant branch will be unlikely to achieve the same degree of longevity. Their greater numbers will offset their relative impact on the success of our experiments as compared to the longer-lived Eternals. Extrapolating data provided by Tefral and Ziran, this world is estimated to be capable of supporting a maximum of ~10 billion apex hominins. At an anticipated occurrence of 1 Deviant per 10 million, a peak population of 1,000 meta-individuals can be reasonably expected.>”
“<At such a rate, this world would far exceed either Skrullos or Chandilar, where the Shi’ar have thrived. Explain.>”
“<This species has higher genetic diversity than any we’ve previously experimented upon. Though there is a naturally occurring warp-space portal near to the system, there are no near-field malevolent phenomena, such as neutron stars, x-ray and gamma ray bursts or singularities that are likely to adversely impact development. Therefore, the species should enjoy near-unrestricted advancement and evolution, adapting well to minor incidents such as impact events and other small-scale natural phenomena.>”
“<Tefral the Surveyor reports a number of impact events that have led to likely mass-extinction events.>”
“<Hargen the Measurer has catalogued the system and compiled a detailed analysis along with Nezarr the Calculator. There will be no further extinction-level events due to cosmic impacts for at least the following 14 million yearly cycles.>”
“<You have done well Oneg. Your analysis has been thorough and we will commence experimentation.>”
End Prologue
To be continued...
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