Quoted By:
“...But please, enough about me! No more questions! I should be asking about you- my most honored guest. I heard you have artifacts and relics in your ship-”
<span class="mu-b">”Yes. I am ready to have a shuttle sent over to-”</span>
Something interrupts you. Ully'Andule stops in place, as though alerted.
“My scanner indicate... you have a... <span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-s">Life Machine</span></span>, aboard your ship?”
<span class="mu-b">”I do not know what that is, friend.”</span>
“Wait- is that <span class="mu-i">the</span> lost Life Machine?! The one the Hazaar upstarts stole- all those eons ago! No way, you found it!”
<span class="mu-b">”We acquired it during our <span class="mu-i">Reconquistia</span> of Hazaar space. We used it to restore Jale here's lost youth to him. I'd like to take it for a spin myself soon...”</span>
“No no no, you don't understand. That is a Life Machine. The Life Machine is the hallmark and cultural touchstone of our people. It is what made us Aristocrats. It does not merely restore youth- though it can do that. If a serf or a pet or an organism enters it; it will restore lost tissues, regrow limbs and body parts, repair the gaps in genetic material, totally deep clean the body- destroy all old viruses and bacteria and keep the antibodies. It restores youth and cures all disease; it reaches into the being's core and pulls out their idealized self. Everything- even mental illness- is cured. But it does more then even this. For an Aristocrat, whose mind may merge with machine, it has the power to bring forth any life that they so wish. I could enter my life machine and come out a man. Or woman. Or Jaxtian. Or fish- and spend a million years in a primordial swamp planet happily munching my time away. Do you understand? It is the Society's greatest creation. It must be returned.”
<span class="mu-b">”Hmm. Unfortunately, I cannot do that. I told you before; <span class="mu-i">my</span> people only have a life expectancy of one hundred years even with our current technology and teleomere lengthening. The ability to restore youth and bring something to their genetically ideal form is paramount to my people's advancement.”</span>
“But you understand its historical and cultural significance, correct? This is the only thing we Aristocrats cannot abide- we cannot share this technology with anyone. It is ours and ours alone. Surely you understand- what is the name of your founder; Akule, the Unspeakable? Surely his mask is of utmost cultural importance. What would you do if an alien collector, say an Aristocrat, had possession of it?”
<span class="mu-b">”We would take it back.”</span>
“So you will give me the Life Machine.”
<span class="mu-b">”No.”</span>
The room suddenly feels very cold. The welcome has run out. <span class="mu-b">”...I suppose we should be leaving, then.”</span>
