Sensibilium Blog

George had been working for the Theik now for over seven years, in that time he had seen the final annihilation of the Chegwin Hordes, at the extremely high cost of yet another planet, and had been deep in research attempting to decipher the information held within the cloning devices salvaged from the war. There was nothing strange in the actual existence of cloning technology, the Theik had had similar technology for aeons, the mystery lay in the devices origins. He was still no closer to discovering who had built the devices, but it was clear now that they were ancient, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years old.
He clutched his latest report waiting outside the High Office. He was perspiring lightly, unsure how his latest results would be taken by Kxpir, the current head of technological research, his paymaster.
When the door began to open, Georges' tension went up a little.
Kxpir was sat behind a large oak desk, in an adequate-sized room, large paned-windows looked out onto the homeworld of the Theik, Zrpclik. The two adjacent walls were filled with bookcases, overflowing with Theik books, maps and scrolls.

"Come in, George, come in," Kxpir called out.
It had always intrigued George that all the Theik he communicated with spoke in his native tongue rather than Theik-Speik. A situation clearly of concern to a few people, he had been told. He rarely spent time away from his Theik research collegues, so hadn't really noticed that he was being treated differently. Perhaps he should broach the subject with Kxpir?
"Ah, you have your report I see?" Kxpir noticed as George approached the desk and sat down in the chair.
"Yes," George motioned to his report, "But it's not what I'd call great news, I'm afraid."
"No matter, " Kxpir said, "Whatever it is, it has to be faced. Is this about the origin of the devices?"
"No, it's regarding how they got here."
"Okay, sounds interesting. Biscuit?"
George looked down in horror as the Theik revealed a bone china plate stacked high with Jammie Dodgers, he couldn't believe the Theik would have them, especially considering the Chegwin Motherships had been designed from them.
"Don't worry, we found a good supplier on some Earth place. They're quite fresh."
George looked at the Theik, and slowly reached for the nearest Dodger, "Er, thanks."
"Now, do go on," Kxpir put the plate to the side of the desk.

500,000 years ago, a race called the Tyanan had ruled the Universe with an iron fist. Upon discovering cloning technology, the Tyanan elite chose to eliminate the general populace, and instead populate the Universe purely from clones. Not your standard clones by any means, with the ability to manipulate their DNA, it was a simple process to remove the undesirable elements and add more useful elements, such as the desire to work hard, and to not question authority, amongst others.
Late in their reign however, strange things happened with some of the clone colonies. It started quietly at first, production levels fell, and more and more clones began referring to themselves as Keith. It was later discovered that during the usual 15 minute break per day, a transmission from the future was broadcast to these colonies. The programme was later identified as "Cheggers Plays Pop", but it's significance is still unknown.
After several bloody wars, and the destruction of thousands of planetary systems, the remaining Chegwins fled to a little known black hole. The Tyanan were in hot pursuit when all thirteen Chegwin vessels vanished just before reaching the event horizon.

Kxpir leaned back in his chair, "Wow, so potentially we have time-travelling crazy aliens that could appear at any time? Worse than the Chegwins?"
"I'm afraid so, sir," George looked sadly into his lap.