to recent years.” She promised. He patiently nodded. To the others her grin somehow grew more. “One last interesting fact I neglected to tell everyone.” “ What? That it’s sentient?” Renee said with heave sarcasm. “ In a way.” Stephanie didn’t hold back. “Even though my readouts showed the edge of the sword to be a single molecule thick…” She paused for dramatic effect. “I could not make it cut anything beyond semisolids like a stick of butter. I even tried cutting my desk in half and all it did was rebound. I tried to even nick my thumb, but it would not work.” “ But how is that possible? Does it make a protective shield?” “ So far I can’t discover the how. It didn’t detect any energy output. But my theory is not as absurd as I originally believed. It’s Oliver’s blade and only in his hands can it cut. Oliver, please demonstrate if it can cut by sliding the tip through the ground.” Seeing they wanted to know, he turned it point down and slowly the edge sunk below the surface with minimal effort, but gave enough sensation to know it met resistance. He then pulled it out with much more care. “This is dangerous.” He admitted. “It could stop the movement like I did to the creature.” Sensing damage to the ship, it began self-repair and the hole sealed itself as if nothing happened. “ You mean it could kill us. And yes, it can. I’m glad you understand the concept of death. And the creature is called a Beast we refer to as a Salamander.” Oliver sat the sword down and it stopped sparkling. “Why do I not want to see any of you dead when that Salamander made my mouth get wet and this area be in pain?” “ It’s hunger just so you know. Hunters eat Beasts and other animals. As to why you don’t want to see us to die is good. It means you would never again see us.” Jessica said, curling her auburn hair around a finger. “Oliver, you know how bad you struggle to understand us? Death is just like what you were when my wife found you, but in death you don’t recover… you lose everything. Death is the end.” “ I don’t want to see anyone die… I like talking.” “ We’ve diverted from the main topic. Can we get back?” The blonde archeologist didn’t get denied. “ If you thought his sword was interesting, it pales in comparison to the armor found with him.” She lifted the strangely shaped brown cloth from the case in her lap. It held a faint sheen to show it was metallic, but felt like silk. “ This is the second ever recorded armor discovered to be organic metal.” “ No.” Hissed Sparky as he stretched his neck closer to get a closer look and sniff. “Organic metal is myth.” “ It’s fact now.” Stephanie challenged. “I thought it was some hoax too. A rumor of a rumor of yet another rumor since no one of any credibility has seen a genuine one before. “ After I was cleared medically I took it back to my study and cleaned the Star-saber and the armor. I should have done the armor first because it is more fundamentally inspiring than the weapon. “ When I say organic, I mean the material acts and reacts like our immune system. Cut a piece and it begins repairing, sensing damage, but without a nervous system I could find no nanites. Unlike our own nanite infused armor which basically makes patchwork. His armor regenerates , given enough time… like our natural bodies or ships. And the metal has what I can only assume to be a type of stem cells just waiting for some kind of program… and I think the programmer is on Oliver’s arm.” He pulled the sleeve back on his right arm out of sheer curiosity. “This?” “ The original multi-tool, yes. Oliver, just for a test I want you to imagine turning this brown color snow white.” Stephanie’s prompt had him imagine just that and in a moment the idea was formed. The vambrace reacted to its host’s will and a needle thin spike pierced the distance between them. Spreading from