Chapter One-A Strange Offer

"Please allow me to introduce myself,

I'm a man of wealth and taste,

I've been around for a long, long year,

Stole many a mans' soul and faith."

Zeth'an listened to the melody for a while, its' words were completely foreign to him. The fact that he didn't even recognise the language, it agitated him to the point of making his scales quiver. The melody itself was being sung by a strange creature; it was bipedal, a towering block of armour plating: It had two arms, two legs, and a head with two rows of sharp, metallic teeth.

Suddenly the creature turned, its' gaze making his instincts scream at him to run,

never looking back.

But he didn't, instead he stared back at the metallic monstrosity, holding its' crimson glare.

"Your name?" The machine growled. Its' voice sounded biological, contrary to its' appearance.

"Zeth'an s-sir." He mumbled, attempting to steady his voice. He didn't have any reason to be afraid, it asked for his name hadn't it, surely that meant he was safe.

Right?

"Good. You've been watching me for quite some time Professor, did you enjoy the song?" He was panicking now, how did this thing know who he was? He'd come here specifically to get away from the endless torrent of his life in Vahh'k'ta.

"It was good, yes, very good. But what do you want from me?" His scales were almost falling out at this point, he'd been stressed enough already. He didn't need some killing machine following him around too.

"Come now Professor, I thought my peoples' language would intrigue you. Or do you know it?" What the machine said was true, he was infatuated with the language. Knowing every language in the galaxy was his pride and joy after all.

"I am intrigued, how couldn't I be. But what's the catch?" He knew it was too good to be true, the first new language discovered since war 376 and it was discovered by him?

"I'd like you to help me develop a translator, nothing special, I just need your knowledge." The machine turned to him, its' cold eyes boring a hole into his head. Its' voice held no hint of hostility or deception, oddly, he felt inclined to believe the stranger.

His genius got the better of him.

Yes, he had considered the consequences: His vacation would be interrupted, his family would be irritated by his disappearance, he'd get a pay cut for an extended absence.

But he knew he was the only one for the job, that was why this…Thing in front of him came and asked for his help. And the translator, if he's guess was right, could only be a more complex communicator. From the looks of brutish monster before him, it loved advanced technology. And a universal translator was very advanced. There was no possible way that a universal translator could be developed without his help. He was certain.

"I, accept your proposal." Despite his best attempts, his voice wavered, his scales quivered, and his tail coiled around his front leg. "Where will we be developing this, translator?"

"Aboard my ship, it's not far. Follow me Professor." The machine turned and marched away, along the corridor towards the launch bay. It seemed to glide along the corridor, despite its' gigantic form. It blotted out the majority of the corridor, dwarfing any Vah'hsck. Zeth'an could easily have become one of the largest Vah'hsck warriors, if he hadn't been an academic. Yet, he only came up to the machines' mid-torso.

"Lead the way" His voice echoed along the bustling corridor, the machine already an impressive distance away. He needed to hurry.

The massive crowds of his fellow Vah'hsck clotted the corridor like a tide of dirt, blocking his way. Just like usual. He started moving along the corridor, he wasn't surprised it was this busy. Seeing as it was the primary passage from one end of the city ship "Obosyran". He'd been stationed as a professor for long enough to know that if he wanted to move fast, a few bribes would be necessary.

He stormed his way towards the security post, and to the commanding officers' office. He'd been here a million times, not once had he felt the need to walk among the common rabble; instead he preferred to commandeer the guards' Mag-Rider with an escort.

He wondered if whatever intelligence behind the machine, could match his own. He sat down opposite the commanding officer, and began negotiating. Admittedly, this was taking longer than he had anticipated; far longer than anticipated, this was going to take some time.