The Planet-Gazer's headquarters

The inside of the Planet-Gazer’s headquarters left Nyco speechless. He looked up at the enormous arches that formed the breathtaking ceiling. It reminded him of the interior of a cathedral.

He could see sculptures and paintings of all the famous Planet-Gazers that had served the human race with honor. A humongous statue of Lirid holding planet Earth on her back made his jaw drop. They had obviously given her the honor of having the best statues of all the Planet-Gazers as a prize for discovering the metal that permitted teleportation.

Alan had the courtesy to take Nyco to a statue of Juliet. She had also been a brave and honorable Planet-Gazer and she was celebrated as such. Nyco loved seeing a statue of her. As he looked at her sculpture, Nyco felt pride in being one of the few people that Juliet had ever considered family. He gave her a big military salute and followed Alan.

They walked past an old man that had many books in his hands. The old man’s gaze made Nyco feel uncomfortable.

-Is this him?-, the old man asked Alan.

-Yes. This is the boy I talked to you about-, he answered. The rude man studied the boy from the top of his head to the soul of his feet.

-You know he is defective. Why did you bring him here?

-Because I believe he can be of service. We are all flawed in some ways after all.

-Hmpf!-, grunted the old man. -Do whatever you want-, he said as he kept walking. Nyco was left speechless. What did he mean by “defective?”, he wondered.

-Don’t mind him. He is just old. By the way. Have you ever been to Saturn?

-N… No-, Nyco admitted

-Well, now it’s time you do.

Nyco followed the Planet-Gazer through a number of hallways and rooms until they were in his office. They went into his personal portal and Alan gave the AI the instructions of where he wanted to go. After the portal scanned Alan’s identity, an orange light covered the two travelers and sent them 1.4 billion kms away in an instant.

Nyco walked out of the portal with excitement. Apart from Earth, he had only gone to the Moon a couple of times. This was a big step for him. His first time on another planet.

Alan saw the excitement in the boy and smiled at him."You'll get used to it in no time", Alan told Nyco as he saw him feeling dizzy from the jump.

Nyco didn’t like the architecture inside Saturn’s base. It was much more minimalistic and quite boring in his opinion.
After another 10 minutes of walking they got to their destination. A big white door that read “Star Finders”.

-Ok. What I’m about to show you may shock you. I thought about a way of softening the blow of what you are about to see, but you wouldn’t believe me if I just said it to you. Brace yourself-, he indicated.

When Alan opened the door, Nyco saw a room so big he couldn’t see the back wall. But the size of the room wasn’t what caught his attention the most. Nyco saw some kind of water tanks all over the place. These tanks had babies inside.

They ranged from tiny embryos to full grown babies. The young boy was shocked. “What are all these babies?” he wondered.

Someone came to greet them. He was roughly Nyco’s age. He had a well built body and was as tall as him. Nyco noticed that they were quite similar. But what astonished him the most was the boy’s eyes.

That boy’s eyes were just like his. They were the same tone of blue and had the same black spots in his iris that made it look like his pupil was a dark sun and the spots were planets orbiting in.

The boy with the same eyes as Nyco was called Levi.

-I see you’ve decided to bring him-, said Levi to Alan. The boy then looked at Nyco. -Welcome home-, he said. -Have a look around, Nyco. Time to meet your siblings.

-Siblings? I don’t…

-You haven’t told him?-, Levi asked Alan.

-I wanted him to see it first-, Alan explained.

-Well, if you need anything just call me-. After saying that, Levi went back to analyzing the vital signs of a small embryo.

-Come on, Nyco. Let 's go for a walk. I’ll explain everything-, Alan told the puzzled boy.

Alan started showing Nyco all the tanks in the room. They were all connected by a mechanical umbilical cord to the machine that gave them their nutrients. Nyco took close attention to one baby that moved inside the liquid filled tank.

Alan then decided to start explaining everything.

-I know it must come as a shock. But this is how you were born, Nyco-, the Planet-Gazer started explaining. -Since the embers of time, humanity has always tried to find its purest and strongest self. That’s what you all are. When we started conquering the galaxy, we knew we had to send our strongest and most adaptable assets. A great scientist decided we could not play dice until the most prepared soldiers were just magically born with the perfect genetics. He took it upon himself to speed up the process. He got the finest Planet-Gazers into a laboratory, and combined all their genes to get the perfect human. They were called “Star-finders”.

-Then… I’m a…-, mumbled Nyco shocked.

-That’s right. You are a Star-finder, Nyco. When I told you that you have what it takes to be a great Planet-Gazer, I said it because you were literally born to be one. All of these babies you see here are your brothers. You are almost identical. Over the years, as new Planet-Gazer’s joined the team, they kept modifying the formula in order to enhance Star-finders. They also implant small variations so you all have different features in order to distinguish one from the other. But you are all the crème de la crème in genetics. You run faster, you fight stronger. And most importantly, you are not paralyzed by danger. You are built different, your muscles are strong, but your mind is even stronger. Truly the pinnacle of human beings.

Nyco needed a moment to take everything in. He felt overwhelmed.

-So… I don’t have… parents?-, he asked, scared of the answer.

-The Planet-Gazers are your parents. But if you mean it in the traditional way. No. You weren’t just the combination of two cells from a father and a mother.

-And… whose genes do I have in me?

-I don’t remember all of their names. We would have to run a blood test. But I can tell you one person’s genes you definitely have in you. And that’s Lirid. This scientist I talked to you about, had an obsession with Lirid. The discoverer of Liridum… A true planet conqueror. Well… Guess what feature of her’s he decided to implement in every Star-finder.

-... Her… eyes-, Nyco realized when he remembered that other boy’s eyes being exactly like his.

-Yep. It’s not that she had a particularly good vision. Your enhanced eyesight comes from some other Planet-Gazer. But he made you all have her beautiful eyes as a tribute to the great Lirid-, Alan explained.

-But then… How come I’ve never seen another Star-finder? If we all have the same eyes I should have met one before. I’ve never seen or heard of anyone with my eyes… or… Lirid’s eyes.

-Well… That’s when we enter the second part of your story.