Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

Darkborn

A thousand eyes, a thousand eyes staring at them through the windows, black and immovable impossible to tell what they were looking at and, wildly uncomfortable. Adam stood next to Ramirez on the bridge awkwardly looking at nothing in particular trying to pretend they were not being stared at though it wasn't really helping.

Ramirez leaned over slowly to whisper, "This is getting a bit creepy."

"You know they can probably hear you right?" Adam muttered from the corner of his mouth, "They read minds after all."

"Well then they really need to learn to take the hint."

Adam glanced back at the cluster of starborn suctioned to their windows , their palms pressed flat against the glass, their fingers splayed outward. Still protected behind Conn's mental shield, Adam could still hear their thoughts, listening as if from underwater, "They're scared." He said softly. He closed his eyes again trying to make out the images flickering inside their heads. Starborn didn't see the same way that humans did, and so it was an alien experience looking through their heads. Starborn were simultaneously more and less sensitive to light. More sensitive because they could pick up different spectral frequencies. Starborn prefer blue light because it has a higher frequency and carries more energy. That was primarily why Starborn were more attracted to blue stars which were hotter and tended to produce more energy anyway.

So when he looked into their heads he saw a world that was similar to his own portrayed in different ranges of spectral light, which is basically what humans had, except he could see onto much higher frequency including the UV spectrum. Still it wasn't the same. Looking into Sunny's head he could see onto the UV spectrum, but this was.

It was hard to explain.

How do you explain seeing when its nothing like seeing in the traditional sense.

All he could say is the world was a spectral map with an emphasis on blue and UV light. They couldn't sense light intensity so much as light frequency which is why looking directly into the sun couldn't blind a starborn.

Behind them, the door at the end of the room slid open, and he recognized Sunny's distinct signature as she stepped into the room two parts concerned and annoyed. He could sense it around her like an aura . The two of them turned just as she was walking up arms crossed eyes fixed on the window behind them

She gave Adam a look, "So there I was about ten minutes ago, waking up I need to realize my battle partner had gone missing when I turn over and low and behold the window is absolutely obscured by faces staring in at me. Did I fall off the bed scrambling for my spear, perhaps, who is to say."

"I'm sorry." Adam said rather sheepishly, "That happened after I got up, and I thought you needed your sleep."

She gave Adam a long look, "Adam, you're the one who needs the sleep out of everyone on this ship. Now want to tell me what this is all about."

Adam turned and motioned to the group, trying to articulate their emotions into words. Overhead Conn was still talking to them on a more one on one basis.

Lord celex had taken the opportunity to transform himself into a starborn and floated next to conn listening in on the conversation. The two of them would have been almost indistinguishable if it wasn't for Conn's impeccably tailored suit, and Celex's pants which, while they had fit him as a human hung off his hips rather dangerously as a starborn.

He leaned in to sunny voice low.

There was no reason for him to whisper, the starborn would hear him regardless, but somehow it felt more polite this way, "They're scared."

Sunny shifted nervously, "I don't like the sound of that."

"They say they are being hunted by infected void starborn just like the ones we encountered when-"