Stars See Me [Interstellar] | Chapter 267 | The Birth of the Lover | Novela.app

“I am human,” Lei Ting said. Beneath the flickering firelight, he narrowed his eyes. Half of his face was illuminated by the flame’s glow, but deep within his pupils, a mass of dim phantoms seemed to gather. “I am human,” he repeated with emphasis. “And you are committing crimes against humanity.” “Yes, you are human, and we are committing crimes against a race called ‘humanity’... and then what?” Kotares’s smile carried a hint of amusement. “You, and the ‘Starstream’—your very existence proves that everything happening now is an established fact...” “...” Lei Ting shifted his stance, his expression remaining stony. Beside them, Evenheiler remained silent. He stared intently at the swaying shadows of the trees nearby, appearing ethereal and serene, as if he did not truly exist in this space. “You are a phantom from the future, Lei Ting,” Kotares said softly. “Remember, those who travel through time cannot change history.” “I thought someone was just trying to make us do exactly that,” Evenheiler suddenly spoke up. His voice was cold, calm, and saturated with logic. “Fine, fine,” Kotares said, seemingly unwilling to argue further. “I know you feel we are controlling all of this,” he said. “But... do you think we are the only ones doing so? No. Do you know that the starry sky Earthlings can observe is actually an illusion? At your current stage, you cannot be allowed to know. If we didn’t do this... that is when real problems would arise.” “...” Lei Ting pondered in the silence. “You cannot diminish your suspiciousness with such words,” he said, his voice low. “What you need to provide is evidence, not a riddle.” Faced with this demand, Kotares did not give a direct answer. “I know what you want to say,” he said in a light tone. “You doubt me. You worry I will cause harm to your kind. You know that beneath similar appearances, we are fundamentally different creatures... how could someone like you simply trust an outsider? Perhaps you know the future me, but what kind of person am I now? What kind of world do I come from? What is my past? What am I thinking? Why am I doing this? You know none of it.” It was true. They knew nothing. Whether it was Lei Ting, Evenheiler, the future ‘Firewine,’ or the current Kotares—they all understood the situation in their hearts. Your future is my past; my future is your past. This displacement made it impossible for both sides to reach a consensus. A consensus must be based on thought, and thoughts that reach a consensus are built upon similar experiences or common interests. Since their experiences had not yet synchronized, even if both sides knew the other was trustworthy, the act of trying to establish a relationship of trust would itself become a disaster. “I think, at the very least, we have a common goal,” Kotares said. “Even if only for that, set aside your doubts for now and move forward.” As he spoke, he looked down at the gold and silver ornaments carved upon his arm. Lei Ting saw his long, flame-red hair fluttering in the night wind. For a fleeting moment, he seemed to see a displaced shadow of fire. Within that light, he saw a sufferer in infinite agony, screaming as five different powers nearly tore him to shreds, while the power of billions of stars forced him to remain in a relatively whole state. That was the power of the Galactic Empire’s super-powered entities. They were too vast, so powerful that they should not be controlled by any single individual. Even if one were merely a conduit, it would be a catastrophe. For the man himself, the energy channeled through his mind and body every day exceeded what was required for an interstellar war. Even if his agony was shared among thousands of subordinates, it was likely comparable to—or even greater than—everything Lei Ting had previously endured. Though this vast Empire had endured to this day, and while it did not rely entirely on such a pain-filled conversion system, no one could deny Kotares’s sacrifice. But what did that have to do with the humans on a remote planet? The struggles in the stars should not spill over into a primitive civilization still confined to its planetary surface. Earthlings were being forced to bear pressures that did not belong to them; it was the greatest injustice in the world. Lei Ting wanted to know what kind of willpower allowed Kotares to maintain such a state and persist until now... and what lay hidden behind that persistence. But the more important issue remained the reality his people were facing. The one he trusted was Firewine, not Kotares. “I need an answer.” Lei Ting displayed a rare, intense subjective aggressiveness. His gaze was so sharp that even Kotares instinctively looked away when their eyes met. “Right now. An answer,” Lei Ting said. “Give me a reason worth believing, or say nothing and let this turn into something a million times worse than you imagine.” “...Are you threatening me?” “I am simply telling you that your mental issues are significant enough that you don’t just have peculiar dissociative symptoms—you also fail to grasp the priority of matters when necessary,” Lei Ting said softly. “I don’t care how many reasons you have; what I see now does not satisfy me. Do you treat Earth as a playground? Playing a game of shaping civilization here? You are trying to cover one riddle with another. There may be a reason for it, but I think you need to understand...” “...Right now, I stand on the side of my race. You may view this behavior as a form of kinship protection. Therefore, I may act irrationally at any moment because of what you have shown me, unless you make me clearly understand that my worries are unnecessary.” In this speech, Lei Ting did not mention the so-called Interstellar Convention. In truth... the influence of outsiders did not only bring harm. Since the die was cast, the hard truth was to fully utilize the visible value within it. Humans of this era had never signed any Interstellar Convention. Since the master of the regime dominating the galaxy was leading the way in breaking the law, that damn convention could be treated as a scrap of waste paper. From the very beginning, Lei Ting never intended for that thing to have any extraordinary binding force. He had only brought it up to add a sliver of legitimacy to his words and his subsequent demands. “Even if only for the sake of a better outcome, I need to know more. We will eventually meet again in the future, Kotares. You should be clear about what we will face then... some of which includes mistakes you made yourself. Intelligence is the foundation of an offensive,” Lei Ting said, his tone cautious and gentle. “The war happening in the future needs it. I need it.” “You need it,” Kotares sighed softly. “I understand... You need it because this starry sky needs you.” Lei Ting was slightly stunned. Before he could deny it, Evenheiler suddenly spoke: “Correct.” He pressed a hand against Lei Ting and leaped forward lightly, landing in front of him. “Atreus Kotares...” he said softly. “...You have a name that belongs to a ‘human.’ Do not forget that.” Kotares suddenly fell silent. He gazed intently at the two before him, his mouth opening as if to say something, but only a breath of night wind escaped. At the end of the high court hall, atop the sublime stairs, the blurred figure of a giant sighed, blowing a piercing cold wind. Ice crusted over the surface of the decorative pools in the distance, only to be swiftly melted by the targeted thermal maintenance system. “In the location where the Milky Way sits, there once existed another galaxy. It was destroyed in an ancient war. The Milky Way you see is the reconstructed corpse of that galaxy and several others,” he said softly. “People like us...” He gestured with his hand, indicating the three of them and the clamoring crowds nearby. From their vantage point, they could see the piled white stones and cut stone pillars within the broad courtyard at the center of the town. Grapevines were draped among them, their green leaves swaying in the night, the half-ripe grapes emitting a fresh fragrance. People draped in soft cloth and bronze ornaments moved to and fro beneath the trellises. Some held vessels, some laughed and talked with others, and some wore iron weapons or armor as they moved sporadically through the crowd. Philosophers talked loudly by the bonfires; mathematicians nearby discussed the possibility of measuring the stars through numerical logic. In the shadows of the corners, groups huddled together, and in the rooms at the end of the corridors, crowds gathered to seek secret pleasures. “...‘People’ like us—carbon-based organisms, structures composed of a head, a main torso, four limbs, and flexible joints, evolved in similar environments... we produce nearly identical emotions from nearly identical stimuli, and do nearly identical things for nearly identical reasons.” Kotares asked softly, “Do you think civilizations like this... are common in this starry sky?” “—They are not,” he answered his own question. “Because those that were ‘too similar’ are all thoroughly dead.” As he spoke, the two felt the surrounding space begin to warp. The space they occupied began to suffer isolation, the distance between them and other coordinates stretching infinitely. The city transformed from surrounding buildings into a distant, dark shadow. The light of the stars quietly vanished. A high, vast vault of heaven shrouded them, and beneath it, a rune roared to life with light. The rune was hundreds of meters high, glowing in the darkness. Its left half was a strange heart, and its right half consisted of three full stalks of wheat. The right side was currently transforming into the left; the process was smooth, though a few nodes of light remained silent in the darkness. From within the giant rune, ‘The Deceased’ stepped out. She, whom they had met not long ago, was still exquisite in form, but the wheat she had held was gone. No... her entire right arm, which had held the wheat, was silently dissolving. Soon, she had lost an arm, the cross-section reflecting a shimmering, glowing starry sky—a reflection from the present world. “...Alright,” Evenheiler murmured. “I understand...” Lei Ting stood silent beside him, his expression grave. He also understood the reason why the two of them had traveled to this point in time, which seemingly lacked any major anomalies. It was the process—or rather, the result—of ‘The Deceased’ dying and ‘The Lover’ being born while the direction of civilization was being deliberately manipulated. *** | Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 死者 | The Deceased | An archetypal entity or title representing a past state. | | 爱人 | The Lover | An archetypal entity or title representing a new state/civilization phase. | | 崇高阶梯 | Sublime Stairs / Sublime Dais | The elevated platform/stairs in the high court hall. |