*Chapter 3: Arrival in Yunnan*
Cold air hit Elux’s face the moment the plane doors opened.
Yunnan Province. Mountains rose on every side, dark and sharp against a gray sky. The tarmac was private, cracked, and wet from recent rain. At the center stood a convoy of black SUVs and a group of people in white coats.
Nanjue was at the front. Same black suit. Hands in his pockets.
“Mr. Smith,” he said. “Welcome to Facility ARES-1.”
No one offered to take Elux’s bag. He didn’t have one.
The ride up the mountain took forty minutes. The road carved into the cliff. Below was fog. Above were wires and cameras. At the top, the mountain opened into a compound built directly into the rock. Steel doors. Glass domes. Symbols etched into the stone that Elux didn’t recognize.
Inside, the air smelled different. Antiseptic, but under it, ozone. Like after lightning.
Doctors moved past without looking at him. Soldiers with no insignias stood at every corridor.
Nanjue led him down three levels. Elevators. Keycards. Retinal scans.
They stopped at a massive chamber. The walls were lined with cables. In the center was a pod made of glass and black metal, filled with blue light that pulsed like a heartbeat.
“This is Project ARES,” Nanjue said.
Elux stared. “That doesn’t look like a training room.”
“It isn’t,” Nanjue said. “We failed twelve times trying to make stronger men. Stronger men still die.”
He turned to Elux.
“We stopped trying to make soldiers. We started trying to find the right version of one.”
Elux frowned. “What do you mean, version?”
Nanjue gestured to the pod. The blue light inside shifted, and for a second Elux saw himself in it. Standing. Then running. Then on the ground, bleeding. Then not there at all.
“Dimensional instability,” Nanjue said. “There are many Elux Smiths. Most of them break when we try to pull strength across. You didn’t.”
“So this is... what? Multiverse stuff?”
“Call it what you want,” Nanjue said. “The science is older than your country. We found a way to anchor one consciousness across realities. To borrow their traits. Their durability. Their luck. If it works, you won’t just be stronger. You will be every version of yourself that survived.”
Elux looked at the pod. Then at the doctors watching him.
“And if it doesn’t work?”
Nanjue didn’t answer.
Two technicians stepped forward and gestured to a side room. Clothes. A scanner. An IV.
“0600,” Nanjue said. “You have two hours. Eat. Rest. Say goodbye to this world if you want.”
Elux nodded. His mouth was dry.
In the prep room, he sat on a metal bench. He pulled out his phone. One new message.
_Transfer complete. Account: M. Smith. Balance: $500,000,000.00 USD_
He didn’t call his mom. What would he say?
Instead he closed his eyes. Lagos. Suya. The noise. His mom frowning at tomatoes.
When he opened them, a nurse was standing in the doorway.
“Subject 13,” she said. “It’s time.”
Elux stood. His legs still felt like they didn’t belong to him.
The pod was waiting. The blue light was waiting.
Nanjue watched from behind the glass.
“Remember,” he said through the speaker. “If you feel yourself splitting, hold on to one thing. One anchor. That’s what keeps you from getting lost.”
The glass door sealed with a hiss.
The light started to rise.