"While your tutor invited me before you to lecture, I am aware that many of you came to hear one particular story and won't let me leave without it. In the interest of time, I will address the most frequent lines of inquiry. As you know, I spent 13 weeks on Elderbone in the Line World sector, meriting to name it from my struggle there. Yes, it was grueling. Yes, I almost died, twice, and the cause of death would've been ‘Breathing Oxygen’.
I survived by learning from Chorials over 1000 years old, with knowledge that predates the Chorials themselves. I'm talking about breathing into bags of processed wood mass known as ‘paper’, or the regular intake of chemicals like zinc, selenium, collagen peptides, calcium carbonate and ascorbic acid, popular supplements on old Terra. That, my Artturisir training and a lot of lying down... The lower tracked suspension system augment, which All-Father has blessed me with in place of my legs, was a necessary result of my time with Elderbone's 3Gs. And yes, relieving yourself in a gravity 3 times standard was a, pardon the tasteless pun, burdensome experience.
For other queries, please refer to the Chorial recently published in the university database. Now, onto the lecture…”
— Professor (honoris causa) Valden Cantaris, OT-3912, Guest Tutelage, Artturisir Academy
The name of Elderbone was coined when the first deliberate, one-spacecraft Cortex expedition in this sector crashed on its surface, only to confirm that neither were not the first to share such a fate. Numerous other human-made vessels were found on the surface, their engines too weak to escape Elderbone's grasp, decrepit and betraying varied signs of origin and age.
The expedition supplied Cortex Memory Gardens with vital knowledge for future endeavors. However, the toll the voyage took on their bodies was substantial. For Cortex keen on augmenting their bodies in search of mechanical perfection, Elderbone reiterated the weakness of the flesh.
.avif)
.avif)
.avif)
.avif)
.avif)
.svg)
