Before we get started on all the mysteries of a New-Man's body, let's get acquainted with Spxtro's history that led to the rise of modern humans as we now know as New-Man.
Introduction to the History of Early New-Man
New-Man is the evolution of Human on Spxtro. Due to the sub-zero environment, many humans perish every year from the harsh climate. It wasn't until the Ten Great Minds gathered to experiment on increasing humans' ability to withstand the harsh living conditions and formulated a serum that altered our genetic. The first successfully genetically altered humans were called New-Man.
The first generation New-Man had the ability to digest plants and animals for sustenance. However, the climate on Spxtro made survival difficult for other species and the Ten Great Minds made a second genetic alteration, allowing New-Man to accept Plantiumite for sustenance, creating the second generation of New-Man.
What is Plantiumite?
Plantiumite is an energy source most commonly found in the upper atmosphere and explodes when exposed to a certain level of heat.
At thirteen capiknots, gaseous Plantiumite explodes. At fifteen capiknots liquid Plantiumite explodes. At twenty capiknots solid Plantiumite explodes. One five-gram Plantiumite pill has an explosion force enough to create a crater the size one hundred metres in diameter.
What is Plantiumite used for?
Raw Plantiumite can be extracted from the atmosphere and be refined into solid, liquid or gaseous state in Plantiumite Plants for consumption. It is most commonly consumed in the liquid state in forms of tea or champagne. Gaseous Plantiumite is injected and solid Plantiumite made into pills. The concentration of Plantiumite is directly proportional to the energy it provides.
Fun fact: Most Plantiumite were stored inside iceberg islands before the Great Explosion to prevent explosions.
What is the Great Explosion?
In year 824 B.G.E. (Before Great Explosion) second generation New-Man lived on iceberg islands in communities. As various tribes and races strived to prove their superiority in technological advancements, sabotaging was common. An unknown terrorist group known as Black Blood sabotaged the Plantiumite storage on Stelecia City, the biggest iceberg on Luna belonging to the Stelen tribe.
The Plantiumite storage exploded and killed many from the Stelen tribe immediately. As the iceberg cracked, Stelecia's Central Energy Control Tower was affected. A sudden power surge occurred during the tremors as generators were destroyed affecting the Delegation Crystal. The Delegation Crystal* created an Electromagnetic (EM) Wave Explosion on maximum output causing all technology devices to die including those in nearby iceberg islands.
The EM Wave Explosion caused nearby iceberg cities to face Plantiumite Plant equipment malfunction and explosions. The failure triggered a sudden power surge that led to subsequent EM Wave Explosions from their Delegation Crystals. The chain reaction was global, thus dubbed the Great Explosion.
Following the Great Explosion was the Year of Rain**. Although widely debatable, the Year of Rain was a phenomenon created by the explosion and heat from the Great Combustion.
*See also Delegation Crystal on pg 38, Chapter 3
** See also Year of Rain on pg 256. Chapter 12
Where are the survivors of the Great Explosion?
After the icebergs were destroyed, the survivors of various tribes gathered on the stone island – Luna. The survivors put their knowledge and built a city. To avoid the Plantiumite incident, Pantiumite was introduced.
History of Luna and Pantiumite
Luna is the island where all survivors of the Great Explosion gathered. Due to limited resources and a rapidly growing population, the elected Parliament* separated the island in half. The northern half was the Inner City where talented individuals who could contribute to rebuilding Luna lived. The Southern half was later dubbed the Slums when the Parliament neglected to care for the less talented survivors causing the deaths of many, including children.
Outraged, a third party comprising of citizens from the Inner City and the Slums rose to boycott the Parliament's practice and proposed to take care of children born on Luna. They were later known as the Academy. The Parliament implemented a Population Limit Rule** and funded the Academy who took in all children from age five to eighteen. Academy graduates have five years to meet the Inner City Citizen Requirements*** in order to become a citizen of the Inner City.
*See also Parliament on pg 89, Chapter 5
** See also Population Limit Rule on pg 92, Chapter 5
*** See also Inner City on pg 100, Chapter 5
What is Pantiumite?
Pantiumite is the substitute sustenance manufactured for New-Man on Luna. To prevent another incident like the Great Explosion, Plantiumite manufacturing or possession was banned. Pantiumite's energy efficiency was less than half of Plantiumite's. The refining process was more complicated as it had to be synthesised instead of gathered, making it costly to afford.
Much like Plantiumite, Pantiumite can be refined into solid, liquid or gaseous states for consumption or injection. To regulate the cost of Pantiumite, the Parliament controls its distribution and sets the price. Credits can be used to purchase Pantiumite of different concentrations.
To date, scientists are still trying to perfect the Pantiumite formula for maximum energy efficiency. According to Marsalow's Theory, Pantiumite could reach an optimum of no more than 70% energy efficiency. The higher the efficiency of Pantiumite, the more unstable it becomes. It is believed that the Ten Great Minds have perfected the formula…
Loud rapping on the desk jolted me back to the present. Just when I was getting to the good part too! Biting back an exasperated sigh, I looked up. The lady with dark hair, thick-rimmed glasses and a much-wrinkled face with a grumpy expression scowled. I grinned in return at the familiar face."Hello, Mrs Peterman! How are you doing?" I gave her one of my thousand-watt
Like every other morning, Sable would sing 'Shooting Star' to start my day. Glancing at the red digits flashing, I smiled. "Good morning Sable…" I croaked before promptly falling back to bed. As much as I love to hear my beloved pop idol sing, not even she could get me out of bed after an especially long night. With a half-hearted grunt, I hit the snooze sensor.
Particle cavities! Pyros was already gone when I looked out the window. The Night Walker had better start running… Glancing at the time, I lamented how it was already nine.Scrambling around my room while shedding the layers of clothes, I tried to recall where I hid my custom-made suit. Last time, I had to chuck it somewhere when Alastair barged in without warni
The wind was harsh on my cheeks. Sub-zero wasn't exactly a temperature I was comfortable with. As much as third generation bodies were made to withstand the cold, we still feel the chill although we can't die from it, a true method of torture. Thankfully the visor on my face, which existed for a solely decorative purpose previously, now served a far more important function of keeping the wind out of my eyes.
My numb fingertips were sorry reminders of last night's personal hell. I had no time for even a small bathroom break while typing endlessly throughout the night. Despite the tortuous hours spent on digging up dirt from the massive information mountain, Cain had been extremely helpful and I got what I needed in no time. Unfortunately, that didn't make the process any shorter. Sitting in a cosy corner on my favourite chair, I severely underestimated the power of luxury. Fighting fatigue and heavy eyelids, I pinched my cheeks only to wince at the sharp pain. When the distraction didn't work, I took it up a notch and threw in a few slaps. Not wanting to sleep the day away, I struggled to focus on the book in my lap. Instead of devouring the information like usual, my eyes simply glazed over the squiggles and my mind registered none of it. Blinking once and then twice, focussing became impossible and the image before me turned blurry. A yawn was coming and I regretted the decision to supp
I love the simplistic design as it served my purpose. The suit was made to protect my vital organs but not restrict movement. More importantly, it was infused with medical technology that was connected straight to Kevin's system. Should anything happen to me, the nanofibre will detect it and send the information back to Cain. Depending on the severity of my condition and location, my artificial intelligence assistants will take the necessary actions as pre-programmed.Tonight is an all-out mission and I needed to be more equipped than usual. Everything I can get my hands on including traps and surveillance will be brought along. Being at three places at once is something only the Night Walker can pull off. I must admit that I'm nervous thinking about it because the success rate of this mission is highly dependable on Cain's logical analysis and Kevin's timing. However, after the modifications done, they should be able to pull this off smoothly.
I turned around and a middle-aged man was looking at me. "Um… I'm supposed to go to a certain place but I'm already lost."For a moment I was tense. Nobody would believe me when I seem so suspicious and out of place. Instead of grilling me for answers, the middle-aged man broke into a wide grin and slapped me hard across the back, causing me to stumble forward."I see how it is! You're new, aren't you? Don't worry about it. My name is Shanks, we have a lot of newbies here but you're one of the youngest I have seen. So, where are you heading?"Unable to believe my luck, I stuttered the cryonics. Shanks raised an eyebrow and my heart died a little. "That's odd. The cryonics can only be accessed by one person. Are you sure you're looking for the cryonics?"I nodded, trying to keep the panic at bay. "I'm not sure exactly what Mr Satchel wants but he told me to head to the cryonics. I have the acce
Looking up into the sky to see the familiar stars, a comet passed by the moment I thought of Mia's kind smile. As if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, I smiled back.Shrugging off the fuzzy feeling in my chest, I asked for Spencer's whereabouts.My trusty assistant replied, "Spencer is currently in Area Forty-One. He has left Helenos Satchel's apartment approximately forty-eight seconds ago and is now headed for the docks to join with his men."Well, Spencer should be fuming by now. Both the infiltrations to Luna Cryonics Services and the Patrol Guard's Headquarters Mortuary were false alarms. The Patrol Guards must be frustrated after being led on a wild goose chase.I suppose I could spare Spencer the trouble of finding me. After all, third time's the charm. Or was it the fourth? I pulled out my Orion dialler and sent a message to Cain to be delivered to Spencer using my usual method.