The Bounty Hunter's Story | Alien Art Contest / Beyond Human - Theme : Alien Currency (Edition 4)

I participated again in the themed contest "Beyond Human" in the Alien Art Hive Community organized by @ezuntimmy.

This week's theme: Alien Currency

(What do aliens value? / How do they exchange it?)

According to the contest post, participants are to:

• create an artwork that imagines a form of currency beyond earth
• form of currency could be a physical coin, living organism, or an energy-infused relic. Think outside the realm of gold,diamond, crypto and paper.

To join in, visit the announcement post here: Alien Art Contest / Beyond Human -- Theme: Alien Currency (Edition 4).

Below is my project which consists of a short story fiction in conjunction with the currency design for this week's theme for Alien Currency.

The Bounty Hunter's Story

Black-cloaked and hooded, a tall, shadowy figure stood razor stiff in the perimeter of the Klochia Automated Relic Extractor Unit (the "KAREU"). The figure exuded an omnipotent aura, with eyes devoid of light and no trace of his features detected. His face unrecognizable as the hood hung loosely around his shoulders.

Head slightly lowered, he waited. Within minutes, the KAREU verified his identity and registered his request for life extension hours before dispensing the currency relic known as Phenix Dram.

Teller A-09 opened her reflective eyes and smiled wryly. A return worker she recognized.

With his right one hand, the figure instantly pulled out his Life Receptor. Registering less than four hours remaining, the wand's crimson eye extended from its core, searched, then locked onto the KAREU. Within the other hand, the figure held the reason for his journey to Southern Dagger, his planet's base headquarters.

She scoured the object in his left hand. A poster.

---

Teller A-09 assessed the situation. More than 168 heures will be required to capture the criminal known as Rognux, one of hundreds of their system's most prolific renegade traffikers.

She pulled out the 65 millimeter Phenix Dram and slid it into the chamber Instantly, the figure's Light Receptor connected to KAREU's gateway. Within seconds, the capsule containing the payment drained its nutrients into his receptor. But only halfway. He'd receive the remainder of the payment once the head of Rognux was delivered to Klochia's Four Planet Consortium and confirmed by the Commander of the United Klochia Forces.

She didn't expect nor receive conversation or thanks for her service. She'd learned over the years that his elusive, skilled hunter was irascible, and never in a friendly mood.

NIGHT was his name. Bounty Hunter was his profession.

He simply turned and stared into the abyss beyond the portal, and with the Wanted Poster in hand, stepped through the cave-like jagged portal and disappeared from which he emerged.

Teller A-09 stared from behind. She'd wanted to remind him that the Felix Dram was only a partial payment. But he'd surely understood it being a professional bounty hunter.

No time to waste on him. He didn't even notice me, she thought somberly. Sighing, she declared, "Next".

This is Theta Klochia. A small, thinly populated planetary system one-twentieth light years from the Solar System. Made up of five stars, the system includes a mixed-race conglomerate of sentient beings. An elusive, secretive and bonded society whose planetary rule dates back to times ancient.

Although advanced in terms of technology, it can be concluded that one weakness prevails. Desire to dominate over perceived intellectual and physical attributes of others in their system.

This dominance led to long banished practices of exotic acquisitions for hubris' sake. Beings with an abundance of resources desired to claim supremacy over other races.

Over the past century, Theta Klochia witnessed the influx of characters whose livelihood consisted of relieving other beings of their freedoms and possessions. Thus, activities determined illegal, including, but not limited to, smuggling ensued. All life types deemed valuable were confiscated by those willing to engage in the profitable business for hire.

Theta Klochia's Official Currency, known as Phenix Dram, exploded within the underbelly exchanges into the hands of a few.

The two-tiered, life-extending Relic can only be issued by Theta Klochia's Four Planet Consortium. The currency is free to those sentient beings who haven't reached the age of maturity (as defined by the Consortium). Those under the age of maturity earn a fraction wage in the form of hours extended for distinct time-portions in their lives.

Once matured, the Phenix Dram revolves into a wage earning currency as well as additional life extension.

In their consortium-agreed wage earning system, payment for services rendered depend on value-added activities. Those in positions of power ultimately determined the roles that qualified as "enriching and adding value" to their planetary system.

Thus, highly efficient groups terrorizing the planets rose to compete with others vying for the life-giving and valuable Klochia Felix Dram.

At the height of the corruption, Theta Klochia formed the Four Planet Consortium. It commissioned one of their stars to serve as an exploratory planet. The planet would occupy space with the four other planets in the Theta Klochia planetary system.

The star, Southern Dagger, would be unlike the system's other inhabitable planets. It would serve as a Terminus Station. Borne out of the advanced research and technology security sector, the planet would be utilized as a peacekeeping initiative designed and devoted to protecting the remaining planets from internal and external threats to their planetary system.

Bounty Hunters such as Night proved extremely useful to the Consortium's efforts to silence the growing unrest as thousands went missing and corruption spread throughout to its highest levels seen in Theta Klochia's existence.

[to be continued]

For my current Beyond Human theme, I created a mixed media collage design that highlights an energy or life-extending relic on one side, and a credit-based currency embedded within. Designing the relic wasn't difficult, as I create pure fractals in the advanced fractal rendering program, Apophysis 7X. The fractal I chose to represent the relic was one whole pure fractal rendered on a black background and is titled "Horned Alien".

With the fractal, I was able to embed other images to create a unique relic.

Of course, a hero protagonist and an alien criminal as the antagonist were required, together with a wanted poster that featured a reward for the criminal's capture. I utilized Canva, my design program, to blend the different type images. I leave with you my procedures in pictures which began with a blank, white canvas. I then added layers of elements.

Night Cafe	Night Cafe	StarryAI	Free	Free	Free
Text Input: "Alien using alien currency to barter. Currency should not be paper, gold, silver, or crypto."	Text input: "My inner reset button with one finger extended touching the center as I await the end of my existence."	Text Input: "Close up of a full body immortal alien character in the universe in the realm of the Undying."	Antique scroll	Blood Lips	Alien Worm #1
Style: HiDream I1 Dev	Style: Ideogram 2a Turbo	Style: Alesia Magic Air	Source	Source	Source - Contributed to the #LIL by @quantumg

I share with you my completed design for the Beyond Human Alien Currency:

Thanks for taking the time to view my post. I hope you like my mixed media collage project.