Mira

You are exerting yourself way too much, maybe this will help!

Wow, we could use you in the next war!!!

Turn the cannon up to High! *Maybe that is too high... Oh Well!*

Ho Hum, so when is this battle supposed to start?!

Let's try the Attack Fork!

The enemy approaches, but they seem to be hesitant...

Take THAT!

ATTACK!

YOU are a piece of cake compared to Dr. Sloth!

I wonder how these work...

Neopia's night skies are in trouble! I don't know if this is one of Dr. Sloth's evil schemes or just a really pretty form of pollution. All these spheres are making it pretty hard to fly around up here, though. It's going to take some dedicated spinning to clear this mess. You are going to help me, right?

What in the name of the first faerie are you doing out in space, Neopian? Comets are heading straight for Neopia and I don't have time to be a tour guide! If you can't help out, then at least stay out of my way.

I was heading off to Mystery Island for a nice vacation... *sigh* The survival of Neopia comes first. Care to help me out and make the job go quicker?

Fortunately, the universe doesn't always need saving from the likes of Dr. Sloth. I like to spend some of my free time playing with the wonders of the stars, like this little game. It can be quite relaxing.

I mean as long as your helping me blast these blastoids...I'm not opposed to a challenge!

Err, excuse me. I'm lost. I bought this map, you see, but every time I follow it, I end up in the same place. Even when I go to different destinations. I'll need (ITEM) to get to the bottom of this.

I'm back here again?! How is that possible? I asked for directions. You need to find it or I'll be stuck in this loop forever.

You found it! Quick, give me the (ITEM) and I can disenchant this evil map.

There! I hope that did the trick. Hopefully you won't see me stuck in this loop, again. And hopefully you won't see me stuck in this loop, again... Just kidding.

That "Starshine in a Bottle" must've been defective. Not only have I lost my sparkle, but the very stars themselves look dimmer. Would you help me restore them? I'll need (ITEM).

I miss my sparkle. Did you find anything?

The stars looks so dim. They could fade away at any moment. Could you hand me the (ITEM)?

Ah! That twinkling has returned to the stars. You have my eternal gratitude.

Oh. I'm afraid there's been a bit of a mix up. That "Moon Polish" that I got; it's influencing the moon's gravitational pull. Think of the tides! You've got to find (ITEM) before my Water Faerie sisters start to panic.

We need that item. Quickly, I've got to get fix the moon's orbit.

That's right! (ITEM)!

Now I just need to time it right... Yes, orbit corrected. Well... Let's hope there's been no lingering damage to the laws of gravity.

There are too many comets heading straight for Neopia! There's no way I'll be able obliterate them all on my own... hey how's your aim?

Oh Kari, it seems another bewildered Festival-seeker arrived on the latest shuttle!

And have plenty of old embarrassing stories to show for it.

That's my fault! Or rather, because of the strange objects on this table. I found them while patrolling deep space. They caught my eye while I was cordoning off a quasar, so I scooped them up just before they were sucked in.

Don't you worry, I usually keep my distance, but I just had to be sure the objects weren't living. Even after I recovered them, I still couldn't identify exactly what they were, but they all had an unmistakable negg-like look to them. So, my friends at the Virtupets Station developed a special containment chamber for them to be safely stored while I invited Neopia's resident Negg expert to help me unravel this mystery. After all, I hear she was quite the detective last year!

Oh, just a "tad" worried?

*chortle* So dorky.

Looks like our specialist has arrived!

I've seen a lot of oddities travelling through the depths of space, but nothing quite like these.

No need to fret, you gave it your best Doctor. Although I'm not sure where we turn now...

Who is it this time? Jerdana?

And what exactly did he work on?

We could use just about any help we could get at this point...

Oh? Have you gotten to the bottom of our mystery?

You're sure it's a Giant Space Fungus? I've never seen Giant Space Fungus look anything like these before...

Maybe we should talk this over first...

Or seek a second opinion... Just to be sure.

It certainly couldn't hurt. I'm not sold on Magon's hypothesis yet myself.

That's great! Why did you trail off like that?

I will make no such promise...but if you really think we can trust him I will at least hear him out.

Oh, um, the pleasure is all mine...and please call me Mira. Did you say your last name was Ophiuchus? That sounds very familiar.

Please take no offence, but I am already wary of the less scientific path we have been going down to identify these objects. And now that there is a possible safety risk if these do turn out to be spores, I don't know how comfortable I feel allowing someone who not only has something to prove handle these objects but someone who could possibly turn us down a path that is completely away from science.

Alright fine! But the objects aren't leaving my site! [sic]

Okay, times up Orion. I heard Magon disappeared last night without a word...so I'm really hoping you have something to report.

Hold on! This is what I was afraid of. We are jumping to a lot of conclusions with no proof!

I don't know. Is it wise to get others mixed up in this?

I don't think I'll ever let you live this down no matter what happens! But to be honest, I'm feeling a little foolish myself as I've run out of ideas if this doesn't work out.

That is not at all what I just said!

Let's hear it!

I don't understand.

We don't have time for games. Just tell me.

...Oh! Oh! I have an idea! I'll need some time to get everything together, though.

I don't even know if I'm right, so there's no way I'm explaining it all before I've put everything together. Just give me until tomorrow!

Alright I've conversed with Dr. Landelbrot and he has helped me gather everything we need.

The objects were in the vacuum of space, and yet they survived. If, going off the hypothesis that these are alive, then whatever is protecting them would of course be practically impossible for us to identify as, besides my magic, nothing on Neopia has the ability to survive space like that. So the time for testing is done. We must now go into the experimentation phase!

Non-invasive experimentation! We will use what Orion said about conditions and gradually expose them to different kinds of conditions they would never experience in space. My working theory on the matter is that this protective layer around them will stay on and guard them against any dangers until the conditions are safe enough for them to awaken.

Just like any good lab, we will take the necessary precautions! Dr. Landelbrot has helped us develop a new containment chamber that will allow us to test our mystery objects using different conditions while keeping them safely sealed away. And if that is not enough, we have many other fail-safes that at the very least will keep everyone on Neopia safe if things are to go wrong.

I was just joking! Do you really think I'd ever put you in danger?

The one big thing they'd never have experienced floating around in space, gravity!

Not much. You see I am slowly rising the gravitational strength inside the chamber. We are actually about to hit Neopia's gravitational...wait something is happening!

They're...they're

Bython!

Wait, holding them could still very likely be deadly or at the very least dangerous. I can't risk either of us getting hurt...Hey, how about letting your festival-goer choose one to adopt. We could see how that goes first!

Come on, you can tell they want to!

Okay great! They seem fine!

Oh relax! I could already tell from the chambers' toxicology readings that the creatures were harmless! I just thought it would be funny to see you sweat a little!

Well, I should still run a few more tests on these little guys so you are welcome to hang out until the festival ends!

Before you go, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank you. Even though I had my reservations at first, I don't think we could have uncovered this mystery without your help! In the future, I'll try to keep a more open mind about how we can broaden the horizons of science through alternative avenues.

Yes, well, it wasn't even a negg after all, so I guess I dragged you up here for nothing...

Oh, shut it...you know I did. I probably wouldn't have figured out what it really was without you anyway. So, thanks for all your help!

Thank you, it was nice of you to think of me... Having one with me will also let me continue my studies on them so I will take you up on that! You know, I was thinking I might actually come back with you to Neopia for a short time.

What? No... I just have been meaning to talk to Illusen recently. She's been wanting to see me to talk about a possible pollution problem, and with all the smog I've been seeing in the atmosphere recently, I figured this was as good as time as any to finally go see her and discuss it.

Whatever, let's just go!

Oh, and by the way Kari, I've been meaning to ask you about this interesting photo I came across...