For two weeks, they kept experimenting and studying my body at Fort Vanguard, the planetary defense force base for experimental weapon testing and exercises. I cooperated with them as much as I could. I wasn’t particularly clueless about the methods they were using to study my body. Back at school, I did my best to gain as much knowledge as I could. I was driven to reach the mark my father had created before he disappeared.
To prove his innocence, I wanted to gain power and recognition the same way he did. So I began studying his work. But despite my efforts, I still had trouble understanding his research.
A few days at the military base and I noticed something within me began to change. Not in a way I was expecting.
Every day, I began noticing changes in my body—things I couldn’t understand. For one thing, I stopped sleeping completely. No matter how much I tried to put myself to sleep, my mind refused. And being active all the time was difficult to get used to. To add to the strange list, my memories began changing. Details were being added to everything I remembered. They were becoming more vivid and clear, rewriting and putting the missing pieces together. After seeing something, I wasn’t forgetting it. And once you stop forgetting, curiosity kicks in.
That’s when I began reading books. Physics was at the top of my list, but I was reading any book I could find. I even learned a few different languages.
The more I read, the more I realized how much I didn’t know. Despite the newfound ability, I was still unable to understand how the serum worked or how I was able to survive the dose that was irrefutably fatal. That’s when I realized just what kind of effort my father had put in to understand all those books in his library. To come up with his theory of quantum gates
Going through his work, I discovered there were many things I didn’t know about him. So I asked Number One to tell me about the world my father was teleported to and the kind of people he found on the planet.
He told me that my father, together with a group of others caught up in the portal web, were all teleported to a planet called Rebirth. Aliens called Fayers are the only sentient beings who live on the planet. And since no living being could survive an unanchored jump from Rebirth to Earth, my father created a machine that could make the jump, equipped with the knowledge to operate the quantum drive and bring the message of the coming threat.
He told me that the Vodocks, who were coming to attack our planet, stood among the most intelligent sentient beings in the universe. And that they are a species with one sole desire: to conquer lesser biologicals. They sought satisfaction from blood and the subjugation of lesser life. They had the knowledge and technology to build the deadliest weapons in the galaxy, but they decided to use a different weapon instead. A weapon to amplify their already superior bodies—a drug to increase their physical abilities and use their fists to destroy their prey. A serum from long ago called ELB—‘Eternal Life Binder’—the limitless amplifier.
I became scared listing to his description of Vodocks
He paused, his voice softening. “This serum, isn’t just a drug. It’s a bridge between magic and reality, a key to unlocking what lies beyond the physical world. In different galaxies, it’s known by different names. Some call it the ‘Mana Awakener,’ a catalyst that lets you tap into mystical energies like the mages in old fantasy tales. Others name it ‘Aether Essence’ or ‘Spirit Catalyst,’ it binds the mundane to the arcane. Your father saw its potential not just as a weapon, but as a link to something greater.”
Hearing about the serum frightened me. If the enemies were coming with an army of super soldiers, how were we going to defeat them with the one vial of the serum we had?
He then told me what happened on the Rebirth planet: the Fayers anticipated an attack from the Vodocks. They knew the only way to stop the Vodocks was by using lethal force. One of their scientists was working on a weapon that could create localized disruptions in space, much like a landmine. The quantum gate my father was working on mistakenly tapped into and synced with the gates on the Rebirth planet. That’s how they got teleported to another planet.
They arrived in the middle of a war between the Fayers and the Vodocks. My father and a few others who were teleported with him to the Rebirth planet joined the fight and battled the Vodocks using the little knowledge they had of war tactics. However, the battle was completely one-sided.
Fortunately, the Vodocks took pleasure in watching their enemies suffer, so they didn’t rush to win the war. Before the Fayers could be completely defeated, they managed to get their hands on ElB, the amplifier, giving them the means to protect themselves. The only problem was that it was fatal to humans and ineffective for Fayers. He told me my father worked day and night, making modifications, and managed to make it compatible for humans. After that, they injected the people who had come with him with the drug, and in the blink of an eye, they turned things around.
He also told me that the natural physical strength of the Vodocks was found to be much weaker than that of humans. So, in their arrogance, the Vodocks toyed with the Fayers, but my father and other brave heroes used the power of ELB to defeat them, seize their technology, and chase them away.
“The Fayers won? Then what happened? Why are we preparing to fight the Vodocks who were defeated?” I was confused.
“Yes, the Fayers won thanks to the professor and others who fought with him. But the victory was short-lived. Everyone thought they were never going to return. But not long after the war, the Vodocks returned. This time, they were armed with their best weapons and came with only one mission in mind: to wipe the Fayers off the planet. During the invasion, they learned about the professor and the other humans who fought with him and acquired coordinates to Earth. I was sent here by the professor during the invasion of the Vodocks on the Rebirth planet. I have no information on the outcome of the second war. The Vodocks have vast numbers of elite armies and planet-destroying weapons. We needed at least a thousand superhuman soldiers to stand a chance of defeating them.”
“I am sorry. It’s my fault!”
The minute I heard that, I felt guilty and scared. I had taken nine vials of the serum that could’ve been used to make an army of a thousand super soldiers. Thinking about how strong Randy was compared to me and how he fought, I realized how weak I was. He only took the remnants left in the cup and became so much stronger and faster than me. I was not going to be able to stop the Vodocks with only Regeneration—a power over which I had no control and which lasted no more than ten minutes.
“You were just trying to protect your family,” Number One told me. “Your father would be proud of the brave young man you have become. Do not blame yourself for trying to protect what’s precious to you. We still have a good chance of winning.”
I was surprised to hear something so comforting from a robot. But that hope was a long shot.
“How? You said 100 soldiers aren’t enough!”
“ELB works to amplify that which is already there. The other humans with your father who fought off the Vodocks during the first war were scientists, cleaners and IT specialists. They were not trained warriors but still fought bravely. On top of that, the atmosphere on the planet had natural spores that were toxic to humans with prolonged exposure. With ELB, they were able to adapt to the harsh environment and gained powers strong enough to fight off the first invasion. Here, we have soldiers and warriors who have been fighting and training their entire lives. We don’t need a thousand soldiers—just an elite army that can get the job done.”
Number One made me realize something. If the serum was going to make fighters even stronger than Randy, then maybe we still had a chance to defeat the Vodocks. However small, it was a newfound hope. Large enough to keep me moving forward despite the guilt feeling that crept in my heart.