📖 The POOT Saga

On a gas giant at the edge of the solar system, in a small town where everyone was either an engineer, a mathematician, or a physicist, a young alien named POOT was tinkering in his bedroom. Like his father before him, POOT had a knack for invention.

Life in the town was quiet. POOT lived with his mom in a cozy house, surrounded by neighbors who spent their days calculating trajectories and debating quantum mechanics. It was just how things were on Uranus.

But POOT didn't want to be like everyone else. He wanted to be a HeMoroid Miner. HeMoroids (He-Mo-roids: Helium + Molybdenum + asteroids) orbit Uranus, rich with deposits of liquid Helium and rare Molybdenum—essential materials for quantum devices and particle accelerators. Mining them was dangerous, exciting, and one of the most important jobs on the planet.

There was just one problem: his dad. One day, years ago, he told POOT he was going out to get some milk. He never came back. POOT's mom said he'd return eventually. POOT wanted to believe her.

So he waited. And tinkered. And dreamed of the stars.

One morning, POOT's mom told him that Professor Gaseous had a task for him. The professor's lab was the center of scientific research in town, and getting summoned there was a big deal.

Professor Gaseous explained that a strange signal was interfering with the local gas collectors (imagine toilets, but for Uranus). He needed POOT to gather three items to build a signal amplifier: a crystal from the dark caves, an antenna from the gassy docks, and a battery from the old lab.

Armed with scissors from his mom ('It's dangerous to go alone!'), POOT set off on his quest. He navigated treacherous dock planks over floating gas, moved stones in the caves to find the crystal, and even helped a shady merchant trapped in the old lab.

With all three items, POOT helped the professor build the amplifier. They discovered the signal was artificial and coming from within the solar system—from a planet called Earth. The professor assumed no intelligent life would be stupid enough to create a runaway greenhouse effect on their own planet...

Back home, POOT found a book about gas collectors in the library. When he pulled it, a hidden entrance opened to the basement. There, he discovered his dad's prototype gas collector and notes explaining he'd use 'getting milk' as an excuse. Dad had been working on something big—but he never made it back.

POOT's dream was finally within reach: becoming a real HeMoroid Miner. The merchant he'd helped before had set up a proper shop and offered to help him build a HeMoroid Harvester. He gave POOT a reinforced mining pick and a collection harness.

Three components were needed: a reinforced drill bit from the deep ice caverns, a power core from the abandoned mining facility, and a navigation array from the orbital research station.

In the frozen ice caverns, POOT found the drill bit—and another of his dad's research notes mentioning 'cosmic energy manipulation' and 'the lab's true agenda.' At the abandoned mining facility, he discovered the power core and warnings about someone code-named 'ZOG' who was involved in the facility's closure.

Using a gas-powered jetpack, POOT reached the orbital research station. In the zero-gravity sections, he used his natural tooting ability to propel himself between modules. The navigation array was there, along with encrypted logs showing Professor Gaseous had been studying 'universal reset protocols.'

Throughout his journey, POOT heard whispers about 'ZOG'—a mysterious figure planning to reset the universe to pure energy. The name kept appearing in his dad's notes too. Something wasn't right.

With all components collected, POOT and the merchant built the HeMoroid Harvester. They launched it using one of Uranus's steam holes—natural geysers that release pressurized gas, launching ships into orbit like a massive cosmic fart. Efficient and cost-effective!

With his newly mined HeMoroids, POOT finally had what he needed to fix his dad's prototype gas collector. He returned to the basement and got it working.

The collector created a wormhole, and POOT traveled to the far reaches of space. What he found there broke his heart: a black hole, with the image of his father smeared across the event horizon, forever trapped, unable to escape.

As POOT floated in horror, he noticed something else—a glimmering yellow shape. A six-legged yellow blob was screaming silently, trying to escape the black hole's pull, about to suffer the same fate as his dad.

POOT reached out to grab the creature, but his hand passed right through—it was made of liquid. The creature fell further toward the photon sphere. In desperation, POOT ripped off his protective white hoodie and threw it at the creature while holding onto the sleeve.

The creature absorbed into the cloth, turning it permanently yellow. POOT pulled the hoodie back on, let out his last toot, and barely escaped the black hole's grip—leaving behind the last image of his father.

Back on Uranus, POOT collapsed in tears. The creature emerged from the hoodie, absorbed his tears, and spoke its first word: 'Pii.'

After returning from the black hole, POOT couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong on Uranus. Professor Gaseous had become increasingly secretive, and the whispers about ZOG grew louder. POOT decided to investigate.

During what should have been a routine mining run, POOT noticed the Harvester's navigation system had been tampered with. Before he could react, the ship locked him out of the controls and set a course straight for that strange little planet the signal had come from—Earth.

Someone wanted POOT off Uranus. And they wanted it to look like an accident.

The crash was spectacular. Not in a good way. The Harvester entered Earth's atmosphere at impossible speeds, leaving a trail of fire across the California sky.

POOT and Pii braced for impact as the ship plummeted toward the ground. They crashed on a small farm on the outskirts of the Redwood Forest. The ship was totaled. POOT was stranded. And somewhere, a very confused farmer was staring at a crater where his chicken coop used to be.

Now POOT and Pii are stuck on Earth, trying to fit in with humans, fix the Harvester, and figure out who sabotaged them—and why. The adventure continues...