“This is the job of each noble fire 

Of neighbor worlds to be the nightly star, 

But their main work is to vital heat inspire 

Into the frigid spheres that 'round them fare, 

Which of themselves quite dead and barren are. 

But by the wakening warmth of kindly days, 

And the sweet beloved nights they well declare 

Their seminal virtue in due courses raise 

Long hidden shapes and life, to their great Maker's praise.” 

      -Henry More, Democritus Platonissans (1646)

OF BLUES AND SUBSTANCE

Chapter 1: Verily At First... 

Harmony, such a fragile thing. It's not hope, it's not happiness and it's not the same as peace. But it's something many hold dear, even if they don't know it. A very small change and it goes away, everything crumbling with it. Here, I will tell you a story about purpose, life, faith, meaning and fate. For many, this may sound like silly twaddle, but it's all for the better of it for me. This is a tale of how a world rapidly slipping into chaos found found it's grip in the most unfitting of beings... 

On a distant rocky planet, there was a huge monolithic structure, shining in the last light of dusk. Composed of many, many floors divided each into many sections with a large number of rooms, it was almost like a gigantic apartment building. Each floor had two long and wide hallways that intersected in the middle, dividing it into four smaller squares, each smaller square itself divided by two smaller intersecting hallways. That's without counting the multiple other, smaller pathways randomly spread in between. Rather claustrophobic, but for many, it was home.

Dull gray walls lined with doors of every hallway, each door separated by several meters. The spaces between had anything from kiosks to garbage. The lightning was inconsistent, with lights sometimes flickering and sometimes not working at all. People could normally be seen walking around the wide halls; going to work, selling things, cleaning or simply strolling. 

Right now, one of the doors was opened with multiple individuals searching inside. Most of those inside had a tracker in their hands and were armored with layers of metal (each with a different color); they were accompanied by a small eight-legged robot with a head shaped like a camera, which quickly scanned the area. But among them were two guards, these each had a different sort of dull gray plate armor, with a short tan tunic over it, a gas mask and a plate-shaped helmet. They all searched with intensity. The octopedal automaton announced to the searchers: “The subject isn't hiding here.” 

Each of the searchers  had a strange, gun-like instrument in their hands. One of them shouted to the ones outside: 

“He's not here!!!” said a searcher, as they looked at the new signals indicated by their devices.

“He's on the halls, go get him!!!” shouted another, ordering the searchers to go and the robot and the other gas-masked guards to follow.

Unseen by them, there was a certain fellow behind another hallway. A man wearing a blue jacket that had a small insignia patch on it's right shoulder. He appeared uneasy, looking all around him, hiding from the searchers and guards. Especially the latter. Taking a short moment, he ripped out the parch insignia on his jacket and put it in one of his pockets. The man flew, passing through the sometimes-lit hallway, past confused dwellers. He hid behind a corner, in a wall in which “POLUUM” in large, dark green letters clashing with the dull gray could be seen above him.  The man continued his escapade. 

The octopedal robot again said: “The subject isn't here either.” Looking at his tracker, one of the searchers shouted “He's this way, to the east!!! Go get him!!!”, leading the others to follow. 

“Lock all the doors and activate the shields!!! I repeat, lock all the doors and activate the shields!!! He won't leave without us knowing!!!” ordered one of the searchers, dressed in yellow armor. They were hot on his trail, following his signal. 

“He couldn't have gotten far, the signal's going wild! Whenever he moves, we'll know it!!!” said another searcher. 

Nearby, the man was still jumping from hiding place to hiding place. He looked at one of the windows to the outside and tried to break it open, only to feel a very large pain as the wall's shield deflected his attack back. 

“Gyaaaah!!!!! …what ar' these friggin' shields...” 

Rubbing his pained hands, the man looked at the ducts, considering hiding in them. 

“No, no... they'll find me anyways... I can't stay here in any case...” he looked down at the floor, as it seemed it had the same strange shield that reacted to attacks.

The man hid far away from the searchers, on an empty apartment's porch, avoiding any further movement. The heavy footsteps of the guards echoed through the halls, making his heart skip a beat.

“Can't try and blast or break 'way from the buildin' either way... they'll notice. I need to just vanish...” 

One of the gas-masked guards (one wearing a larger cloak over the armour than the others), asked “HOw dO yOU  ExPecT to CaTCh him iF YoU kEEp ShOutING Your MoVemENts?” with a bizarre voice sounding like what can only be described as “sudsy” or “foamy”, with every word sounding like it was said by someone gargling. 

One searcher, dressed in black armor, said: “He's definitely on this very floor. Just need to get him before he-” 

“WhAt  ExACTly IS tHE iSsuE WIth hIM?” interrupted the same gas-masked guard. 

The black-armoured searcher replied with: “For starters, we believe him to be an oddspawn... and he was wearing a jacket with a suspicious insignia.” 

Back at the porch, the hider said “Here goes nothin'....”, as he brazed himself. Holding his two hands out, facing each other, as streaks of light blue energy began occasionally swirling around his body.

“Somewher' far away... Somewher' far away...!!!” he repeated to himself, trying to concentrate but panicking at the same time. 

“Closer.... yes... somewhere like....... ” he said, right when one of the searcher noticed him, staring right at him. 

“Iv' got it...” he said, before he noticed a searcher in blue armor spotting him. The man looked at the searcher in panic, just as a small glowing light blue sphere manifested in his hands. 

“THERE HE IS!!!” the searcher shouted, as he pointed a gun-like cannon at the hider. 

“GET HIM BEFORE IT'S-” 

“No-” the man blurted out as suddenly there was a loud bang, like a mix between a short-circuit and a cherry bomb; together with a bright blue flash. After the light rescinded, he was gone. 

“Did... he explode?” asked the confused searcher in blue. 

“According to the scans, he just disappeared. He's... gone.....” explained the searcher in black. 

The blue searched kept asking: “What do you mean, gone? Gone where?"

Very far away, at the vacuum of space, in a distant planetary system, there was a bright blue flash. When the light rescinded there was only a man wearing a blue jacket. 

“What the- NOOOOO!!!!! IT WASN' SUPPOSE' TO BE THIS FAR!!!!!” he mouthed in the silent vacuum of space. 

His likeness consisted of a skin that looked blue; brown hair and eyes; no external ears; and no nose, only having two large nostrils. He was wearing dark gray pants, black shoes and a blue buttoned jacket. Had he been seen in any other situation, you'd think he was just a unimposing blue man in a jacket. 

“Ugh, I hate this... I didn' want to get this far. I thoug' I was... was it because of... Whatever, not tryin' that ever again.” 

“What am I suppose' to do if I don' find anythin', jus' fly in a random direction? Fw'all I know, I'm alone in this whol'... place.” he murmured to himself.

Now, however, it would seem obvious that he was not; he had abilities far beyond what any mere "normal" could do. The lack of breathable air wasn't a problem and the solar rays from the blue star at the center of this planetary system didn't even flinch him. In any other situation, it would seem that such a being would surely never have any real problems. Of course, that's wrong. The man in the jacket flew through the blue stellar winds, inwards. A long way from home, he was stuck in a far-off place in the galaxy. Right now, he was looking for some (i.e. any) way to find out where he was. At the moment, he flew past a moon, getting close to a planet. The last thing he wanted was to waste away alone... in the middle of literal nowhere. 

As he flew closer to the planet, he took a good long look at it. With a brown surface with large, gray clouds, it wasn't exactly lively. He looked disappointed until he noticed a bright dot, a small yellow light. He quickly began to descend onto the planet, hoping to find some intelligent being. As he descended, he felt the fast winds of the upper atmosphere and, eventually, the persistent rain on the surface. Here he finally saw the bright light in the foggy distance, at the top of a huge tower, like a lighthouse. 

“So there is somethin' here, I hope they 'preciate visitors...” he whispered as he flew across the fog, towards the tower. 

When he finally arrived there, at the tower's base. Looking up, he could see just how tall the tower was, reaching hundreds upon hundreds of meters in height, with a bright light at it's top. Drawing his attention back down, he beheld a large pair of doors. Old and neglected, they were much taller than our Man in the Jacket himself. In fact, the whole place looked neglected. There weren't many noticeable buildings besides this tower. The few that were, looked empty and windowless, the same neglect tainting them. It was already twilight and the rainclouds covered any light from the sky, leaving everything in a dim tone. 

“He-Hello, is... is ther' anybody here?” he shouted, not being willing to risk scaring anyone by forcing the gates open. 

“What are you doing here?” a voice asked behind him.