“Inside The Flow, there appears to be an operation system of all reality; mayhap if we could decode this information; we might very well hack the universe”- Dr. Aelius Varis

It’s my eyes that do it, they're strange metallic silver, all shiny. A permanent reminder of my brush with the void. People tend to have a reaction when they see them. There are two basic groups of people based on their reactions.

Group A; the superstitious when they see me they will look away saying a prayer while forming the sign of the Quant. Like they are warding off an evil spirit. Or maybe mutter “unclean devil” or you know, try to kill me.

As bad as they are, they aint the worst. That would be group B, they will stare in fascination believing I’m flow touched, reach out and try to touch me. Or ask me to bless their child or something like that.

Both groups are annoying as hell, and both groups are right.

Love me, hate me I still can't get my head around it all after all these years.

There are a lot of people out there that wish I'd never been born. With all the blood on my hands. I must concede that my detractors may have a point. Truth is, they should have, by all accounts; gotten their wish. But I came into this world subverting one expectation after another.

Cuz, here I am, at the end of all things; recording these words despite everything. Probably explains how I’ve lived my life, like I’m dead already. Sorry for the rambling. Damn, I told Tiafan I’m not any good… but he insisted I record all this.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

So where was I? Oh being born, right. To where it all began, or at least, where I began. All I know about my parents is they signed on this pre FTL slow boat colony ship. Way back before the Celestial Hegemony was even a thing. Trying to escape the old earth directorate I imagine. They figured better to live free out under an alien star, than just exist in one the giant combines of earth. Gawd what awful times those must have been.

You see, my birth was nothing short of a miracle, or a curse, depending on who you ask. The ship got caught in the gravitational pull of a cosmic monster lurking in the darkness about six years into their journey.

Stuck there in time dilation for two millennia, nobody survived but me. According to the records no one was supposed to be able to get pregnant during the trip, drugs in the food or water or something. So evidently the radiation killed everyone else, somehow changed me into something… well me. The Zedoria that found me, took me from my mothers womb. They said her body, like the rest of the colonists, was alive but no soul, no consciousness.The Zeds sent in drones that disrupt causality to extract the ship. The Zed’s may be our enemy and all but they don’t lie. Something to do with their code. I still have a copy of the manifest though, I used to read through the names when I was kid; try and work out which pair of names belonged to me.

The Zed’s, being Zed’s, are a bit melodramatic, they decided I needed a name and Starborn was what they came up with. It wasn't just a name though, but a prophecy, or so they believed. These celestial wanderers, with their eyes always fixed on the vastness of space, saw my survival as a sign. To them, I was a child of the stars, a beacon in the dark, a symbol of life's persistence against all odds. Didn't stop them from making me a slave though.

The cruel hand of fate had ravaged my life, mercilessly claiming my family. But destiny, in her bitter irony, spared me, casting me into the depths of a slave cage. A twisted joke, really – the most ironic outcome always seemed the most likely. And yet, in some warped way, I owe those heartless captors. Without them, I wouldn't have had the chance to kick their fuzzy ass’s across the spiral arm. But that's a tale for later. Back then, I was just an infant, my world limited to the basic needs of survival.