Pollux (Beta Geminorum) is the brightest star in the constellation Gemini. It is named after one of twin brothers from Greek and Roman mythology. The other twin, Castor also has a star named after him, but is less brighter than Pollux. However, the two stars are not twin-like at all. Pollux is a orange-colored star that is the closest giant star to the Sun; it is located approximately 34 light years away from here. It is the 17th brightest star in the night sky. Pollux can also be located by drawing a northwestern line that goes through Rigel and Betelgeuse
little dr.: Skimming over some code that is displayed on a holographic screen. Hm…this is taking me longer than I thought. I would have liked to send this killbot out on a test run today, but I guess that can wai-
Madara: Hastily opens the door and dashes up to little dr.’s desk. GUESS WHAT I FOUND?!?
little dr.: Whoa, whoa, relax…! What could you possibly have for you to be this energetic?
Madara: Takes out a few containers containing individual, different colored, glowing fragments. I found some of these things in the arena!
little dr.: Hmm? Picks up a container with a small, white shard and examines it closely
Madara: What are they?
little dr.: Tilts the container to move the shard around. Actually, I do-
GUCCI: Rushes into dr.’s office. Sorry to interrupt, but I just found a bunch of these weird shards floating in the arena. I saw someone shot at one and their fleet was suddenly able to shoot faster, despite their large fleet size. Care to explain?
little dr.: Well, as I was saying, I have no clue what they are.
GUCCI: Say what now?
little dr.: I’ve never seen them before…You also mentioned something about a pilot being able to fire lasers faster?
GUCCI: Nods. It’s like as if these fragments give you power-ups or something.
little dr.: Looks at Madara. Have you seen any unusual effects caused by these fragments?
Madara: I saw Paki moving super fast and he kicked my butt a few times. :v
GUCCI: I don’t want to even think about a faster Cyan…
little dr.: Okay, anything else you two observed? Examines the container with an orange-colored shard.
Madara: Shakes head. No.
GUCCI: Hmm, not that I’ve seen.
Boop: Standing in the doorway. How about a fleet shooting a destructive, long-distance laser?
Madara: Wut?
GUCCI: Wait…How destructive?
Boop: Walks towards the group. I was just minding my own business when suddenly I saw this streak of light coming from my right and watched it take down a few fleets all at once…
little dr.: Looks at the different colored fragments Seems like that each of these fragments provides a fleet with a unique ability.
GUCCI: If it’s really not you who released them, then who did?
little dr.: I doubt the other bot builders are responsible and there hasn’t been an update log about this, I believe. Quickly checks the Captain’s Log. Yeah, no update on the Captain’s Log.
Boop: Glances at the containers and shards. I see 7 different colors here…therefore pilots can acquire 7 different abilities. Anyways, I’m going to head back out and figure out what these shards do. Guess I’ll attempt to have fun while avoiding getting killed too often.
Madara: Haha, race all of you to the arena! Dashes out of the office immediately.
GUCCI: Sighs. There he goes…Might as well join you, Boop. Plan to join us, dr.?
little dr.: I might as well experience it for myself. Let me quickly contact EU and NA West first and ask them if they are also seeing these new features. Pulls up Discord.
Boop: Got it, see ya later then. Boop and GUCCI leave the office
little dr.: Quickly messages both servers, glances at the shards, and gets up to leave
In the EU Server, the pilots were also facing the same effects from the mysterious shards…
Werewolf: So this light yellow shard gives you a temporary shield…? Holds up a small fragment.
1: Yeah, these new shards give us new powers.
Werewolf: What does this do? Picks up a blue-white shard.
1: I’d be careful with that if I were-
Werewolf: Fires a powerful, single laser that immediately takes down a noob fleet that was shooting at him. Oh-wasn’t expecting that!
1: Ye, that shard packs a punch. xD You lose some of your ships though whenever you use it.
Werewolf: I see…Is this a new update?
dein Bruder: Flies over to 1 and Werewolf. No, it’s not; and it seems like the NA server also has these fragments floating around.
1: Hm?
dein Bruder: Shows the message from little dr.
Werewolf: Who is responsible for them?
dein Bruder: Shrugs. Perhaps an unknown hacker? little dr. claims that it’s not him. Besides, he’s been building bots lately.
1: Might as well have fun with it while it lasts, you know?
Werewolf: I guess we should figure out what these shards do in the meanwhile?
dein Bruder: Sure, why not. Does anybody happen to know how many different fragments there are?
1: So far, there are 4 unique abilities we know of: increased flight speed, increased firing speed, provide a temporary shield, and that…deadly laser.
Werewolf: I’ve noticed that they’re kind of rare at the moment. Perhaps there are more out there. 😀
dein Bruder: I’m going to message little dr. back before I continue playing. Leaves the two pilots behind.
Werewolf: Messenger beeps and checks it. Oh, seems like Sasha has found a shard that gives pilots the ability to create a “death zone” around the player…Interesting.
1: Like the Death Zone that surrounds the arena?
Werewolf: Nods However, she’s very confused about where these shards came from. It’s like as if they suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
1: We’ll eventually find out sooner or later…
Back in little dr.’s office…
little dr.: Plops into his chair at his desk and pulls up Discord. Hm…? dB messaged me…Probably answering that message I sent earlier. Reads the response. I see. So, those fragments are also in the EU arena as well. I bet that they are also in the West arena.
ThePilot: Casually walks into little dr.’s office and notices the pile of shiny fragments on his desk Looks like you already know about them, huh?
little dr.: I assume that you’re here to discuss that?
ThePilot: Nods. I got that message from you earlier but decided to drop by here while I’m visiting the East section.
little dr.: Say…You’re not the one responsible for these power-ups, are you?
ThePilot: Me? Nah. I thought it was you at first until you sent that message. I like these power-ups, though.
little dr.: I’m still curious about who implemented them…It’d be interesting if I could equip my bots with those fragments.
Strange: Enters the office. Thinking about that so soon? 😉 Walks up to the desk.
little dr.: Hah! Why, of course!
Strange: I found that this particular fragment’s ability is to give you any random ability. Places a pale orange shard on dr.’s desk It forces you to adapt to whatever power you get from it.
little dr.: Interesting. Makes note of it on a notepad.
ThePilot: I remember that some pilots lost fewer ships whenever they would split. I bet that’s another ability.
Strange: I’ve noticed that too, especially when a larger fleet would split.
little dr.: That would benefit pilots that are dash-heavy. I could easily improve my bots with these mysterious shards if I wanted to.
Strange: Heh, I guess that future of you taking over Spaceone is getting closer. 😉
little dr.: Before I do that, I’m going to look into them first. I’ll try to figure out where they exactly come from and see if they’ll permanently stay in the game.
ThePilot: Roger that. I might as well do some digging myself. I’ll see you all later. Waves as he walks out.
Strange: So, nobody claimed responsibility for them, huh?
little dr.: Shakes head. So far, nobody has reported anything suspicious relating to the fragments. I suppose that we might as well play along with it for now. Heh, this kind of reminds me when we suddenly saw those bots for the first time a few months ago…