The Nature of an Energy Being, Shadow's Biography Options

[STSF Shadow]

Dr. Jeffrey Kelsen, MD
The Journal of Xenobiology
Special Issue on Exceptional Species
115th Xenobiology Symposium
Vol. 7, August 11, 2428

The Shadow Being


Consider, if you will, a universe in which there is no time and no finite space, there is nothing solid, nor is there anything that remotely resembles what we consider biological. In fact, in this universe all things, all beings, exist and interact as pure energy. Imagine this universe and put it as firmly into your mind as you can. There is no linear time, nor cyclical time. Time exists. Time is. Past, present, and future are one. Moreover, there is no finite space. There are no boundaries whatsoever. Lastly, everything exists as pure energy.

With that firmly in mind, imagine that at this very instant, without any warning whatsoever, you are transported into that universe. Your body is intact. You are fully clothed. You have in your pockets what you had when you left the house this morning. Absolutely nothing has changed, except that the universe in which you lived a split second before has transformed into a totally alien one - a timeless, limitless, universe inhabited by beings of pure energy.

Now, consider that after the initial shock, you find you cannot return to your own universe. You are, in essence, stuck in this alternate universe for eternity. You must sustain yourself. You must fend for yourself. You must find food, shelter, companionship - everything that sustained you in your own universe. Pause a moment and consider how you would do that. Is it even remotely imaginable how you would survive in a universe without time, without distance, without solids, liquids, or gasses? I would wager that most of you would be dumfounded at such a fantasy, yet this is exactly what happened - in reverse - to a being that has hitherto been a closely guarded military secret. This is what happened to the being that has come to be known as Shadow.

According to Starfleet records, this inter-dimensional energy being was taken from its own dimension and trapped in ours when the Federation starship USS Agincourt leapt realities thirty years ago, on July 26, 2397. The crew named the being "Shadow" because at first contact it appeared as a shadow and was believed to be a ghost by some of the more superstitious ship personnel. For ease of communication, the name Shadow has endured, and although the species has neither male nor female, the being is spoken of in the masculine.

During last month’s conference on Beta Zebulon I had the rare opportunity to study Shadow, and I can assure you that, as a Xenobiologist, it created a challenge that suggests an oxymoron of infinite proportions since there is nothing biological about him. His very existence seems to defy reason, and his survival in our universe has challenged my own concept of the universe, and it definitely broadens the Vulcan idea of Kol-Ut-Shan, or Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

Shadow is a sentient being who exhibits intelligence, reason, emotion, the will to survive, and the need for companionship, shelter, and sustenance. In short, he possesses everything we possess except for a biological body, and he exists today trapped in our universe of finite space and time. After 30 years he is still uncomfortable; he still puzzles over much that he finds in this reality.

As a Xenobiologist, there were, of course, certain basic questions I felt had to be answered. How does he sustain himself? How does he move? How does he communicate? Does he reproduce, and if so, how? In short, how did he function in his own universe, and how does he function here, outside his own universe?

As far as communication is concerned, Shadow’s pure energy state enables him to connect with the life energies of those around him, including their brain waves and any variances that may occur with their changes in emotional state. He does speak by producing sound waves that transfer to our auditory processors as words, but he does so with some difficulty. Instead he prefers to communicate through energy waves and brain waves, quite similar to telepathy. Full telepaths, empaths, and those with telepathic and empathic tendencies - all of which I lack - have been Shadow's most common contacts.

Shadow prefers to ease himself into situations and relationships. When encountering a new situation he often manifests himself as a fleeting shadow until he reaches a certain comfort level with his surroundings. Then he may take on any form, but prefers to take a form that would be familiar to the person who wishes to make contact. In that sense, I would say he is extremely polite, with a desire to conform to the expectations of the civilization in which he finds himself. In my case, he manifested himself as a Starfleet science officer, most probably because I knew he operated with science in some capacity, and because he is a ward of Starfleet I expected him to look like a Starfleet officer.

Shadow calls himself a seeker, which not only suggests that he comes from a complex societal structure, but that within that structure his function is much like a scientist. He has a great deal of curiosity and has learned many facts about our universe but is still working on the comprehension of those facts. Just as a child learns that a certain object is called an apple, the child must learn that the flesh of an apple can be eaten and the core cannot, an apple grows on trees and can be used for sauce, pies, and other delicacies. Like the child, Shadow is still working on comprehending the things in and the function of our universe. In fact, it was several months before the concepts of home, planet, and Sol System were explained to him so he could effectively help the USS Agincourt navigate in the desired direction.

Movement is simple. He thinks, and he moves. His movement is beyond time and space. Distance is no barrier to him. One meter is as one light year, and one light year is as a thousand. Within a nanosecond he is able to transport from one ship to the next, from one galaxy to the next. I say he is able to because being able to and having the desire to are two distinct concepts.

As mentioned before, Shadow is an emotional being who craves companionship. In his own universe he forms energy bonds with like energy beings. In our universe he forms what I will call a companionship bond with those whom we might call his friends. With a few, especially telepaths, he forms an inexplicable solid connection - more than a companionship bond - which enables him to transcend distance with his form of telepathy, even though it is beyond the ability of the biological friend to reciprocate. He associates with his friends much as we do. He is reluctant to leave their company and will vigorously protect and defend them when they are in need, to the end of his existence if necessary.

Just as he seeks companionship, Shadow seeks a place of safety wherever he goes. His first safe haven was, surprisingly enough, the USS Agincourt, the ship which snatched him from his own universe and threw him into ours. In his reasoning the Agincourt was his only link to his own universe. Moreover, aboard the USS Agincourt he found everything he needed to sustain himself - energy, shelter, and companionship. Thus, he was initially reluctant to leave the ship for fear of losing his source of sustenance.

So, exactly how does Shadow sustain himself in this universe? He is energy, therefore he seeks energy. For whatever reason he has chosen a certain power junction just outside main engineering on the USS Agincourt. Apparently he wraps around it and drains just enough power to recharge himself, for lack of a better term. He has, on occasion, mistakenly drained certain systems, but he does not have the capability to drain the energy of entire starships, shuttlecraft, or other large craft. For him to accomplish this would be the equivalent of one of us eating the entire fare of several buffet tables, the complete stores of the San Francisco farmer’s market, and then finishing off the contents of a Galaxy Mart down the street.

Some of you will no doubt point out that we have encountered deceptive, dangerous energy beings such as the anaphasic lifeform, and suggest caution with this new form, which could also prove deceptive. As with anything new we must, of course, practice caution, but let me assure you that Shadow is very unlike an anaphasic lifeform. Anaphasic energy is extremely unstable and anaphasic-based lifeforms require some sort of conduit to maintain molecular cohesion. They require a corporeal host with compatible biochemistry in order to take physical form. Shadow, on the other hand, requires no host to maintain molecular cohesion. He requires only a sufficient energy source with which to charge his stores. He might use a phaser, a force field, a tricorder, or a console in order to recharge his energy stores, and then he produces his own form as he wishes. After 30 years of careful, close observation by various groups within the Federation, we are assured that Shadow is the first first sentient and inherently benign energy being we have encountered in this universe.

Now to address the ultimate question: can Shadow die? We know from his own fears that he must be able to diminish to the point of extinction, but can he die and how can he die are two questions that have yet to be answered. Theoretically, all things must pass. However the type of energy that is Shadow has yet to be identified, for obvious reasons. Since he is a sentient being and there is no other being like him, how would one proceed in identifying his type of energy without taking the risk of damaging or destroying him? It is, indeed, a conundrum.

In his dimension, according to Shadow, groups of energy beings exist in bonds, or what we might call cohorts or clans. Shadow considers himself a positive (for lack of a better term) energy being, and those of his bond are of like leaning - they are positives. Positive energy groups seek knowledge and harmony. They are the diplomats, the scientists, and the philosophers. Conversely, there exist bonds of opposite leaning which we shall call negative energy beings. These negative groups thrive on discord and strife. When they join in large bonds they produce conflict, something akin to our wars.

Using the terms positive and negative for these groups can be confusing because, for us, positive and negative, when used with energy, usually refer to an electrical charge, and positively and negatively charged particles attract one another and seek balance. In Shadow’s dimension positive and negative seem to be opposites on a philosophical plane, though that analogy is woefully inadequate. Positive and negative cohorts vie for dominance. Should Shadow come in contact with a negative energy being, a conflict would ensue and continue until one is either run off by the other, or one is totally dissipated by the other.

The energy is dissipated, not destroyed. What exactly happens after this dissipation remains a mystery as deep as the mystery surrounding a shadow being’s infinite existence. Initially Shadow had no concept of birth or beginning. When asked, he says with some puzzlement that he simply is. He has no recollection of any type of birth, any type of creation, only that the universe, he, and other beings like him, exist and always have existed. So, can Shadow die? Certainly not in the sense that we understand death, but this dissipation may lead to some kind of ceasing to exist. Whether the energy is absorbed by another being or that the energy floats around, dissipated, until it regains cohesion and continues on as the original being has yet to be discovered.

The nature of Shadow beings, being positive and negative, leads me to the thought that our universe was indeed fortunate to have trapped a positive being rather than a negative one. Then I wonder what might happen if a negative energy being should be trapped somehow and enter our universe. We do not know if there are other Shadow beings present in our dimension, but the possibility exists that there have been other Shadow beings trapped that have remained undetected. Also, there is the possibility that, should similar circumstances akin to those of the USS Agincourt recur, another may be similarly trapped. As unlikely as that is to occur, we should certainly be aware, and on guard against trapping a negative energy being.

Let me say in conclusion that we still have much to learn about these beings and much to learn about the nature of the universe, or the multiverse, in which we coexist. We seem to question the very nature of creation, and discoveries such as this cause us to struggle to find our place in it. As a scientist I find that the more I explore, the more questions I have, and the more questions I have the more ignorant I feel. Yet, in our pursuit of knowledge we must go wherever that pursuit leads us. Our search today has indeed led us into strange territory, and no doubt our search tomorrow will lead us into even stranger realms. All sentient beings - even sentient energy beings - are inherently seekers. It is our nature to explore, to ask questions, and to look for answers. Indeed, in the words of TS Eliot, We will not cease from exploration. And the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.