Episode 1: The Frozen Blue Cradle, Sputnik Planitia

Episode 1: The Frozen Blue Cradle, Sputnik Plain The most lonely and distant edge of the solar system, the Blue Cradle, an abyss of eternal darkness and silence 5.9 billion kilometers away from Earth. In the bitter cold of -233 degrees Celsius (40 Kelvin), a temperature close to absolute zero where not a single trace of human warmth can reach, 'Sputnik Planitia', called the vast heart of the dwarf planet Pluto, was spreading out an endless sea of ​​pure white nitrogen ice. Beyond the thin methane fog, where even the atmosphere was frozen and close to a vacuum, huge hexagonal glacial convection polygons, which had slowly risen and subsided over hundreds of thousands of years due to weak radioactive heat sources inside the planet, were embroidering the silver land like a geometric network spanning thousands of kilometers.

The thickness of the huge nitrogen ice sheet was several kilometers, and sharp glassy crystals of carbon monoxide and methane sticking out like frost at the boundary where the plates met. Above the dense nitrogen glacier, huge mountain ranges of water-ice rocks as tall as Mount Everest on Earth floated like giant icebergs, creating a panorama of bizarre sculptures. The sky was deep and pitch-black, as if it had been poured with ink, but in that infinite space without atmospheric scattering, hundreds of billions of stars were embedded in a shape that looked as if they were falling down like jewels.

Far in the distance, the dwarf sun's white rays, glistening bloodlessly like faint match flames, grazed the surface of the bluish nitrogen frost, casting a long, cold silvery afterglow. Rustle rustling. In the deep cradle of the ice canyon, where no life seemed to be able to breathe, a small, miraculous movement occurred. The hardened methane frost crystals crunched and shattered, and a cute front paw of a newborn young animal popped out of the ice hole. The fluff that sprouted between the pink toenails trembled as if sensing minute quantum vibrations in the air.

The next thing that appeared was 'Leo', a mysterious baby snow leopard wearing bright opal-colored nano-crystals that bounce interstellar radiation between its pure white fur. “Puu……Kyaa…….” Leo's eyes opened cautiously. Leo's large eyes, which captured the horizon of the frozen planet for the first time, were shining clear with a sapphire blue radiance deeper than the abyss of space. Leo tilted his head and lightly licked the translucent blue methane frost crystals sticking out on the floor with the tip of his tongue. When a spark of static electricity flew out of my mouth, I was startled and cried out, “Hitch!”

He let out a cute sneeze and leaned back. The nitrogen ice floor on which Leo stood on all fours was covered with sharp ice thorns, but mysteriously, the thick cushions on the soles of his feet absorbed the murderous cold of -233 degrees Celsius with the energy of his entire body, emitting bluish biological heat. Every time the cold ice touched, a fine blue electric spark erupted from the sole of his foot, and that energy became the driving force that made Leo's heart beat vigorously. However, when Leo looked around with his head, the enormous warmth that should have been by his side was nowhere to be found.

The huge body of the legendary interstellar snow leopard ‘Lyra’, the mother who held her in her arms and nursed her, melting the harsh cold with her majestic purring, was nowhere to be seen. Next to the ice cradle where Leo was lying, only huge footprints were clearly visible, extending towards the Milky Way on the distant northern horizon.

“Mom…? Ahh! Mom, where are you…?!” Leo cried out at the top of his voice toward the frozen plain. However, in the vacuum of air with almost no air, Leo's cries did not become sound waves spreading through the air, but only became quantum telepathic waves in his chest, shaking the silent ice plain in emptiness. At that time, his mother's faint and sweet voice, like the sound of the wind, became a telepathic reverberation and softly echoed inside Leo's ear.

‘Leo, my little star… … Don't be afraid. Your claws sprout to climb the rugged ice mountains of the frozen planet, and your blue eyes open to see beyond the darkness the path of stars. Please do not blame your mother for leaving you alone. The orbits of dwarf planets beyond the Kuiper Belt are distorted, and a vicious interstellar storm threatens to engulf our clan's home nebula.'

'mom… … Don't leave me alone... … ! It's scary... … !' ‘Find the compass of the sky, Leo. Awaken the deep memories of ancient probes, pass the great eclipse of Charon, and cross the galactic river. When you leap towards the greater universe on your own feet, we will meet again in the embrace of the dazzling constellation beyond the Oort Cloud.' Mom's voice turned into silver interstellar dust and disappeared into a faint nebula far away in the night sky.

"mom……!" As soon as a transparent teardrop fell from the corner of Leo's eye, it immediately turned into a brilliant blue diamond ice particle in the -233 degrees Celsius air and fell to the floor. The tear jewel that rolled around disappeared into a crevice in the ice. It was right then. Beep! Cheesy! Under Leo's feet, in a deep crevasse where the hexagonal nitrogen glacier had cracked, a blue laser scanner light flashed along with an eerie high-frequency electronic sound. A fist-sized silver sphere that had been half-buried in the ice for decades trembled and floated into the air, shaking off the cold methane frost.

Three small anti-gravity propulsion rings rotated at different angles, and the one-eyed blue lens in the center of the sphere zeroed in on Leo's sapphire eyes. [System reboot complete. Main power on. Quantum reactor synchronization… … 99.8%. Release standby mode.] The artificial intelligence's voice, which was dry and mechanical but had a somewhat old-fashioned feel to it, rang clearly and directly into Leo's brainwave receiver. [Biological scan results: Carbon-silicon hybrid interstellar beast, snow leopard subspecies. Entity Identification: Body. Pluto's Sputnik Plain 114 degrees west longitude, 12 degrees south latitude.

Environmental temperature: 40 Kelvin (minus 233 degrees Celsius). That's amazing. A body hair nanocrystal structure that surpasses the shielding of a spaceship. I am a navigation support unit belonging to the Ancient Interstellar Exploration Association, codenamed 'Argo'.] "Ahh! What on earth are you?! Are you a flying silver stone?!" Leo was startled and took a step back, his white fur standing on end. Then, the floating drone Argo clicked its lens aperture and circled around Leo. [It’s not a rock. It is a 3D space precision navigation unit.

And an unidentified snow leopard entity, your bio-heat and quantum vibration waves have forced my hibernation sensors out of it. Analysis Report: Your bioenergy cannot survive for long on the frigid surface of Pluto. You need to find immediate shelter.] "It's noisy, you're a floating piece of metal! I don't need a place to hide! My mom... do you know where she went?!" When Leo stretched out his front paw and tried to hit Argo, Argo activated an anti-gravity field and easily rose 10 centimeters to dodge the attack.

[Analyzing trajectory data of parent entity… … Beep beep. Thirty-seven standard days ago, a high-energy gravitational wave signal was recorded in the log as a massive interstellar creature departed the Sputnik Plain, crossed the crystalline ice spiers of the northern 'Tenzing Montes', and leapt into a Kuiper Belt escape orbit.] "You mean Mom went to the Northern Ice Mountains?!" Leo's ears perked up. [warning. The northern Tenzing and Hillary Mountains are made up of solid water-ice rock spires more than 10,000 feet (3,500 m) high.

In addition, deadly nitrogen storms reaching speeds of 120 kilometers per hour and crevasses in the crust caused by Charon's tidal force are occurring all the time. The probability of a snow leopard safely crossing there alone is statistically less than 0.04%. It's almost suicidal.] "I don't care about the probability! I'll go no matter what, no matter if it's 0.04%! I'll follow my mother's path to the end, even if it means walking on all fours!" Leo planted his front claws on the hard nitrogen ice floor and opened his chest. In the young snow leopard's blue eyes, an intense flame that seemed to set the darkness on fire was burning.

Argo's lenses crackled and flashed blue light. [Illogical behavior pattern. Risk tolerance rate of 99.96%. however… … The interstellar resonance frequency detected in your brain waves exactly matches the encryption key for the ancient interstellar map sealed in my memory. Conclusion: If you are left alone, there is a 100% chance of permanent loss of ancient exploration data. Besides, those reckless eyes are too interesting a subject of study to be neglected.] “Hmph! Who is studying whom? I am a great snow leopard on his way to find his mother!” Leo wagged his tail and snorted.

Argo rotated the gyroscope inside the sphere and pointed to the huge satellite Charon in the night sky. [Additional information provided. Pluto and Charon are the only complete 'double dwarf planets' in the solar system whose center of mass is located in the vacuum of space between the two celestial bodies rather than inside the planet. Charon's tidal forces are expected to cause violent uplift of the fault zone north of the Sputnik Plain in the next four standard hours. If you don't move quickly, your path will be permanently blocked.] Argo blinked its lens down, lowered its anti-gravity propulsion sound, and lightly landed on Leo's head.

[Temporary navigation support has commenced. Primary objective: The ancient compass obelisk atop the Tenzing Mountains. Let's go, Leo, the reckless baby snow leopard.] "Heh, even if your words are cold and harsh, they are still quite useful, Argo! You have to guide me straight!" The confident and confident smile of a young beast appeared on Leo's lips. Leo ran vigorously toward the huge 5-meter-wide nitrogen glacier crevasse that blocked his eyes. Ta-tat- kwaang! The young snow leopard's hind leg muscles contracted as if they were exploding, and anti-gravity repulsion force spouted out through the blue nanocrystal fur, and Leo's body flew high in a parabola toward the empty space of Pluto, where the gravity is only one-twelfth that of Earth.

[Warning, excessive jumping power! Risk of going out of orbit... … Beep beep! Error of landing on the other side of the crevasse: 0.02 millimeters. A level where biological reflexes cannot be measured. That's amazing, Leo.] "See? I'm not just a weak leopard cub! I won't stop until I get to my mom!" Leo, who landed lightly on the ice hill on the other side, shook off the silver snow dust from his entire body and roared vigorously. The pale silver craters of its massive companion moon, Charon, filled half the sky, casting majestic shadows over the icy plains. In the bitter cold of -233 degrees Celsius and the pitch-black abyss of space, the great interstellar wanderings of Leo the baby snow leopard and Argo, the ancient navigation drone, as they attempt to cross the Milky Way in search of their mother, have finally begun to take their first steps.