Project Egg Dossier
Summary
This collection of digital documents was recovered by Lightning in the Wind (at the time posing as Balio Sondern) from the planet of Bretheda, and stored in an encrypted credstick disguised as a ornamental piece of Red Bamboo.It was later recovered by his younger brother, Mist, and then unencrypted. A summary of the documents' contents can be found below.
Breeding Research
In 258 AG, the Barathu began a detailed study on the effects of biological augmentations on their breeding process. Specifically, they were curious to find if extensive modification -- which had grown increasingly popular for the species -- hindered reproduction, or created adverse effects on Barathu youth.To test this, the scientists purposely mated a mix of heavily-modified Barathu and natural partners, and labelled the offspring MMX (all parents of child X were modified), NNX (all were natural), or NMX (one or more of each). They followed the children for thirty years, conducting detailed testing every five years, and published their results to Confluence in 290 AG.
The study revealed a startingly fact about Barathu physiology. While NNX subjects of any number of parents showed no adverse effects or decline in breeding rates, children of modified groupings (NMX and MMX subjects) were increasingly difficult to concieve as more modified Barathu were included in the mating group. However, these modified subjects showed a plethora of interesting evolutionary developments -- related in some way to their parents' modifications -- including a higher aptitude for the mystic arts, enhanced telepathy, and even telekinesis.
The results were never released to the public, and the research team mysteriously disappeared after the initial presentations. According to conflicting documentation, the scientists were either murdered or kidnapped, and then enslaved at a remote research facility, which began working on Project Egg in 291 AG.
Project Egg
The documents surrounding Project Egg seem to be scans of handwritten notes, which were in turn covered by another hand in red pen. According to the introduction, Project Egg began after its predecessor project -- Project Mind -- was deemed a failure in 290 AG, after the results of the aforementioned study were released to Confluence. The goal had been to find an optimal makeup of Barathu to create the perfect heir to Confluence's central core -- three Barathu who were reaching the end of their lives after so many decades at the helm.However, the study revealed the source of their failure -- hundreds of modified Barathu who could no longer breed effectively, thus making Confluence's chances of birthing an egg practically 0. Instead, the new project would focus on finding the right balance of modified Barathu to create a powerful heir, but not to disable the chances of Confluence having a child.
According to the dossier, the project went on for almost a decade, and was host to an uncountable number of horrific experiments. Adult Barathu modified beyond their limits, children merged into the collective before their time, and even unholy mixes between the Barathu and other species -- notably the Swarm.
This seemed to weigh heavily on the enslaved staff, which is supported by several reports of suicide and new hires, but in the end Confluence was able to birth an egg -- with the optimal genetic makeup to produce a perfect heir, and an egg survival rate of 0.05%.
However, once the egg was birthed, one of the few scientists left from the initial staff -- Dr. Oculet -- escaped from the facility with the fruits of his research for unknown reasons. He fled to Absalom Station, but was lost in the tunnels below, and was never seen again. But the egg survived, and was rediscovered in 302 AG -- roughly two years after it had hatched.
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