Larian Valor

A book, not yet written. We will see.

### Lar

A part set on the planet. Zac, Luce, Logan. Zac's father gets sick, later dies. Zac becomes the chief engineer. He tests the hyperspace drive. Luce receives an invitation to the Valor. She visits Lee, uncertain. Luce is tested by Monica Johnson. She is invited to a party by Sidney, Cindy, and Lindy. Luce meets Cathy Lang there. Logan is told about the Valor by her sister. She checks on her son. Logan has an unpleasant conversation with her daughter and husband. She agrees to join the Valor. Luce boards the Valor.

### The Valor

On the ship, in hyperspace. Joshua, Luce, Cindy. Joshua holds a meeting with his new commanders, Alec Carter and Liam Clemens. Vale Martell is also attending. Joshua goes to the hospital, to check on the medical officers. He is introduced to Alice Newman and Derek Nash, makes it clear that Alice is the chief officer. He notices Luce, but doesn't react.

Cindy is helping Zac with the hyperspace drive. She thinks about her dad. Zac scolds her.

Luce is having dinner with her friends; Sidney, Lindy, Cathy are there. Cindy is working. They are in good moods.

Joshua has dinner with Vale. They talk about Earth.

Cindy is alone in her room, crying. She knows that her dad must be dead by now. She remembers him. Sidney comes in and shares a few good words with her.

Luce is helping Alice with something, Liam Clemens walks in with Lily Clemens. Scandal - a child on the Valor! Joshua Lincoln is told about it. Alice says something about not trusting those from the 2nd continent. Joshua walks in with Alec Carter and Samantha Braxton, the guards. They take Clemens to the brig, while Joshua asks Luce to take Lily to Monica Johnson. Luce does so.

Joshua comes a few days later to ask about Lily. Liam's reasons explained - not to ruin his and his son's reputations.

Luce approaches Zac. They talk, Zac remembers seeing her. Not much to talk, Luce tries to make a joke. She notices that he eats the same thing every time. The young woman says that their shifts match, so they could eat together, if he doesn't mind.

Monica organizes a meeting of high ranking officers. Derek, Alice, Joshua, Hanna, Liam, Logan, Todd, Alec, Jimmy, Mat, Zac are invited. Only seven people come - Monica, Derek, Alice, Logan, Joshua, Alec, Jimmy. They chat. More information about them. They start talking about gen-enged. In Monica's opinion, Astrars are a different form of gen-enged.

Cindy is working with Zac. He gives her difficult work, hoping she'd fail. It is clear that Zac is angry and is trying to punish her. She does everything. Cindy starts talking about his father. Zac ignores her.

Joshua is with Alec in the brig, they are trying to interrogate Liam. The man relents and tells them everything about himself and Lily.

The drug plot. Several soldiers have used drugs, Hanna Solomon among them. Someone finds out, Joshua is told. He gets angry, tries to understand why. Hanna makes fun of him, he realizes that she's Cyrean, not registered. Later, he has sex with Vale, her idea. Joshua finally tells her that Astrars aren't natural which shocks her.

## Plot points

### The disease

Nathan Smith falls sick. Thinks it is a fever. Goes to the doctors. Develops other symptoms. Not a simple fever. Obviously a native disease, cannot be explained otherwise. Symptoms - fever, aches, dizziness. Logan starts investigating with Derek's help (still only one prosthetic leg, so not much help). Liam helps them. More people start falling sick. Five or so at first. Cain starts noticing a pattern - modified are immune to the disease. Logan falls sick, Derek doesn't, although both were exposed the same amount. Other similar cases. They start investigating why certain naturals aren't sick yet. A sample of Luce's blood is taken by Derek. Joshua calls Luce to him and tells her that she's half-Astrar, his daughter, not Robert's. Diana is her mother. Robert was sick, they didn't want to risk using his DNA because the disease could be inherited. Still wanted to know the biological father of their child, chose Joshua. He didn't want Luce to think that Robert wasn't her dad, so didn't tell her the truth. Luce is gen-enged, in a certain way. Luce's blood gets tested. Cain calls her and Joshua to the lab. Turns out that Luce was made using the DNA from four people, not two. Robert, Diana, Joshua, and an unidentified person. Karla is in the hospital, sitting near Logan. She's close to crying. Luce sits down near to her, to comfort her. Joshua tells her that she must resume her duties as a medic. Luce finally agrees, no other choice. They have an argument.

**How is the disease cured?**

* ~~Do they find the cure because of Shahari? Would the Sarassians wander into the ruins, where Nathan contracted the disease? If so, then they'd know about the cure. Local herbs, as simple as that.~~
* ~~Another solution - they learn about the cur from the Sarassians themselves, not from Shahari. But that is out of the questions because then they'd need to meet them whiles still sick.~~
* Cain, with Derek's help, synthesizes the cure using enzymes (?) from gen-enged crewmen. Especially the likes of Karla, Sidney, and Cindy. That could really work.

### Shahari

Jimmy Murray is investigating the ruins near Ubes. He falls from somewhere and injures his leg (breaks it, twists his ankle. Something like that, enough to incapacitate him). A young woman is watching him. At first, Jimmy doesn't see her. Then he does and starts attempting to communicate with her. Obviously she doesn't understand him. The man knows he won't be able to get back on his own. So finally he decides to giver her a sweet. The young woman is interested, she gets closer. Jimmy points at a canteen, he's thirsty. The woman understands and comes back with the canteen filled. The archaeologist draws a plan of the surrounding area on sand, points at the ship. Shahari seems to understand. She helps him up. It takes them at least a few hours to get to the ship. Cain greets him and treats his leg, then forbids from entering, but obliges and brings a translation matrix. He carefully connects it to Shahari. Now the woman can understand what they say and speak their languages.

## Questions

### **What is the point of Shahari?**

She is the first 'native' found on Ubunte. First sign that there are more people on the planet. She guides them to the other Sarassians. She offers a fresh set of eyes, a different POV. That could be interesting, the Ranans from an outsider's perspective. How is it different from Riley, though? He's also an outsider, but he gets closer. Shahari stays on Ubunte, so she could be one of the main characters then. That could work. Now she's the POV in one part, the one that deals with the Sarassians.

### **How does Zac find out that he's an android?**

In order of increasing emotional taxation

1. So, it is well known that Zac loses consciousness on the way to the caves. This is because he ran out of energy because he wasn't made for such physical exhaustion. He could be tested once they return and, that way, he would find out. Nothing too complicated to it. Similar to what Cain experiences.
2. Zac starts breaking down: memory, concentration, temperament problems. Obviously, something wrong with his inner mechanisms. Cain finds out.
3. Zac attemps to kill himself by overdosing on his antidepressants. Luce finds him unconsciouss. Cain (or the other doctors) manage to save his life. A brain scan is done - android parts.

Actually, I already know the answer. Zac loses consciousness on the way to the caves. Ran out of energy, not made for physical exertion. Once they get back, Cain takes a brain scan and finds out. First, he tells the other doctors, then Monica. He asks Joshua, Luce, and Zac himself to come. They come, Cain tells Zac. Zac doesn't react instantly, no reaction at first. Shock, not programmed to realize. Programmed to ignore all hints. Gets used to the fact. Months pass. Gets closer to Jeannie. Finishes fixing the engine with Cindy, still stuck on Ubunte. Point 2 happens partly. General depression, loss of concentration, energy, lethargy. Finally, he overdoses and Luce finds him unconsciouss. Cain manages to save him. Reprogram time! That it basically what happens. He attempted to commit suicide because he had lost his purpose, he was useless. Happens to androids, could even happen to Cain. His 'friends' keep watch over him: Luce, Cain, Monica, even Lily. Cindy doesn't come. Lily manages to cheer him up, out of all the people.

### **What is wrong with Riley?**

1. ~~Epilepsy~~
2. ADHD
3. ~~Dyslexia~~

All are disorders that can be related. All make learning difficult, cause great disadvantages. Epilepsy is the cruelest, especially combined with his bionic hand. ADHD... could work. This is the one thing I have no idea how to solve. Logic does not match with what I want. We will see. Dyslexia is not severe enough. After doing some research, ADHD seems to be the answer. The main questions now becomes - Should he run out of medication? That would be interesting, but I doubt I'd be able to describe such a character. I'll try, the idea seems to be interesting.

He falls in love with Cindy. That's for certain. They stay together on Ubunte, along with Leo, Jimmy, and Shahari.