Microstory 612: Tame the Bairaz of Treiph

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The fiercest animal discovered in this galaxy when our ancestors first discovered it would have to be the Bairaz. Baira are extremely large creatures; the smallest being at least four times as large as a human. It’s skin is impenetrable, and it appears to be entirely impervious to pain, or at least it doesn’t let pain stop it from rampaging. The Baira evolved on a little used planet called Oirpelne. It lies between central systems Arithmi and Dulex, which made it a perfect neutral zone for trading deals, but it has not been used much for this purpose—or for any other, for that matter—in recent years. Oirpelne is tidally locked with its parent star, making one side of it extremely hot, and the other bitterly cold. All activity takes place on the planet’s terminator zone, which provides visitors with the only hospitable environment. Though, all in all, it’s not a great location, which is why it was never settled. Stray too far on the daylight side, called Treiph, and you risk particular flavor of radiation interfering with the electronic instruments. Stray too far into the dark side, Harom, and your instruments will seize up, or you’ll freeze to death, or both.

Baira navigate using magnetoreception, and are generally unable to survive for long on erratic Treiph, which is why they tend to stay on Harom. A couple years ago, unfortunately, one of these animals accidentally found itself on the wrong side of the terminator zone. He could be seen kicking and rolling around on the horizon, trying to find his way back home, but he was completely hopeless against the electromagnetic disturbance caused by the sun’s radiation. A few people have needlessly attempted to help the creature, but have been unable themselves to get close enough to it. Protective equipment fries too deep into Treiph, and humans aren’t built to survive under such harsh conditions. Even if they were to find a way to get close enough to help the Bairaz, he would reject this help, because his species has evolved to be angry and unruly. Few attempts have been made, and most of these were by people seeking to prove their bravery and fortitude. Their efforts have been met with nothing but failure...until recently. A small group of people who happened to have been present during the witnessing of the bloodwater at Lake Wurveol were also spotted using never-before-seen technology to travel beyond Oirpelne’s terminator line. They presumably used what some have called hypnotic technology to lure the lost Bairaz back to safety. They drove it all the way into the snow where it remains today, apparently as healthy and happy as any regular Bairaz. What’s interesting about this event is that it was reported upon by a number of galactic journalists, but not as part of the taikon. This is because the twelfth taikon has been lost for centuries. No record of it survived into current copies of the Book of Light. This has led many to believe the taikon were doomed to fail, but many of us kept faith that the answer would present itself at the right time. This is exactly what has happened, for not long after the team tamed the Bairaz of Treiph, it was discovered to be the prophecy of the twelfth taikon...by a man named Seamus.