Interstellar Spark

Michael lay still within the life-pod, transported unchanged into the Himalayas' clandestine Institute, arriving at last in a vast chamber walled with synthetic metal.

As the medics withdrew, the cavernous room stood empty save for him—yet he knew countless eyes watched, scrutinizing.

Some weapons in their grasp stirred deep unease. In this confined space, even his speed couldn't outpace their high-velocity, devastating power.

Escape remained elusive.

His senses unfurled, piercing the Institute's depths at speeds beyond light, instantly mapping its entirety.

As on the Predator, his mind plunged into the secure electronic archives, wielding the language symbols gleaned from the learner. He devoured an ocean of data—Federation history, politics, customs, gender studies, technological leaps, theories, and more—endless and uncountable.

Knowledge that would take mortals lifetimes to grasp, he analyzed, comprehended, and etched into his memory cells at superluminal pace.

For survival, as amid the cataclysms of Inferno Star, he spared no effort.

The archives' myriad safeguards couldn't bar his senses, just as no flame from his home's core had ever eluded him.

When a power surpassed this realm's light-speed ceiling, nothing short of a magnetic shield could thwart it.

That was his gift. Then, abruptly, the chamber's walls parted, doors rising. Hundreds of armed figures stormed in, tense as if facing a dire foe—some ascending via flight-packs to the ceiling, weapons trained on him.

The pod shifted, ferrying him to a yet more inescapable cell. In another sealed room, Li Wanxiu's lovely yet weary face gestured at a vast screen displaying Michael, prone. "Dr. Walton's report holds true, Chancellor—look!"

The display flickered with scans, internal structures, skin composition, neural currents, culminating in a life-field map, pulsing a hundredfold stronger than any human's.

Li Wanxiu tapped her remote, and Michael reappeared within a triple-layered gravity pod, eyes shut, motionless as a fossil.

She continued, "After three hours with fifty top-tier Academics and two hundred seconds, we've confirmed he's mimicking Natasha—altering her data to dupe our tools."

Aglaia's heart quaked. What manner of being was he, defying imagination?

Li Wanxiu's voice rose with zeal. "There's proof bolstering this—forty-seven bacteria and over a thousand drugs tested, all yielding negative reactions."

Aglaia nodded. "He can't mimic what he doesn't know—the effects of those agents."

"Exactly," Li Wanxiu said. "This Michael's intellect and power are fathomless. Yet he has a flaw."

Aglaia steadied herself. "What flaw?"

Li Wanxiu summoned his life-field sketch again, tone grave. "Optical analysis reveals his strength stems from Inferno's sun—or any star."

Aglaia's spirit surged. "Heavens! My dear Wanxiu, my brilliant Dean—isn't this our dream? To draw energy straight from the cosmos' ubiquitous stars, transmuting it into human might? If we unlock this secret of life and universe, we'd reign supreme, conquering all, Vipers be damned!"

Li Wanxiu's face glowed, her arm circling Aglaia's shoulder. "My dear Chancellor, a choice looms—vital to our survival. We must seize his nerves, shatter his energy, then dissect him. Anesthetics fail, lasers can't pierce his skin."