Beyond Earth

Ashes of Reality

I drifted in and out of consciousness, never fully awake long enough to understand what was happening. The only thing I knew for certain was that I'd been kidnapped.

The first time I managed to open my eyes, I found myself lying in the back of a military truck. Soldiers sat on either side of me, rifles resting on their laps, watching me with wary eyes. My vision was blurry, I heard one of them suddenly shout, "He's awake again! Shoot him! Shoot him!"

Before I could even move, I felt a sharp sting in my neck. Everything faded to black.

The next time I regained consciousness, I was being dragged across rough concrete. My body felt limp, my boots scraping against the ground, several people pulling me along. Judging by the echoes of their footsteps, the sound reverberating off the walls, we were moving through some kind of underground tunnel.

A bright flashlight suddenly shone directly into my face. I squinted against the light.

"How does he keep doing that?" a thin, nervous voice asked. "He's awake again."

Another voice answered, much deeper, calmer. "He's the strongest creature in the world. What did you expect?"

Before I could make out their faces, another needle pierced my neck. The darkness claimed me once more.

...

I awoke to a bucket of freezing water splashing across my face. I gasped for air, coughing violently, water dripping from my hair and shoulders.

As my vision cleared, I realized I was staring at a giant mirror mounted on the wall directly in front of me. At least, it looked like a mirror.

I glanced down at myself, froze. I was shirtless. My body had changed even more since the invasion. My shoulders were broader, my muscles thicker, more defined than ever. Even after surviving for nearly a week with barely anything to eat, I looked stronger than I ever had in my life.

Then I noticed the heavy steel restraints clamped around my wrists, ankles, chest, securing me tightly to a reinforced metal chair bolted into the floor.

Instinctively, I pulled against the chains. The response was immediate. A powerful surge of electricity shot through the restraints, into my body. Agony exploded through every nerve. My muscles locked up, the current tearing through me, forcing a scream from my throat. Just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

I hung there, breathing heavily, the smell of burnt fabric and scorched skin filling the room.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The calm voice echoed through hidden speakers.

I looked around the room. "Who the hell are you? And what do you want with me?"

There was a brief silence before the voice replied. "My name is Harold Stevenson."

Another pause followed. "And I need your help."

I frowned. "My help?"

"Humanity needs your help."

Ignoring his statement, I asked, "Where the hell am I?"

"You're inside Aeternum Blacksite-9."

The name struck something deep inside my memory. Aeternum. I'd heard it before.

Harold seemed to notice my reaction. "I thought you would recognize the name. Didn't Max tell you about us?"

Suddenly, I remembered. The Aeternum Institute. It was where Max had worked. The place where Danielle had met my real father before they were both hunted down and killed.

I slowly lifted my head, stared at the giant mirror. "What do you want with me?" I asked, my voice cold, staring into the darkness.

For a moment, there was only silence. Then the voice laughed. "Like I said, we need your help."

I frowned. "My help?"

"Take one look at the world outside," the voice continued. "You don't need me to tell you what's happening. Humanity is losing. Every day, another city falls. Every day, more people die. If this continues, there will be nothing left to save... we need you to stop the aliens."

I couldn't help but laugh. The sound escaped my mouth before I could stop it — dry, bitter, filled with years of resentment.

"You've got some nerve asking me for help." I shook my head in disbelief. "Maybe you shouldn't have invaded our planet in the first place. Maybe you shouldn't have wiped out billions of people."

I looked into the darkness, my eyes burning with hatred. "Funny how Karma is a bitch right?"

Then there was silence, out of nowhere he laughed again, said "You don't see yourself as a human anymore do you? Maybe I was wrong maybe I should kill you right here right now"

Harold's threat hung in the air for several long seconds. Then I smiled.

"If you kill me," I said calmly, "you'll lose the greatest weapon you've got. And when that happens... humanity dies with me."

For a moment, there was only silence. Then Harold laughed.

"Look at you," he said, almost sounding impressed. "Who would've thought? A month ago you were a skinny, short kid with crippling self-esteem issues. You could barely finish a sentence without stuttering. You apologized for everything, avoided every confrontation, let the world walk all over you."

His voice carried a strange sense of satisfaction. "And now look at you. You're six-foot-two, built like a soldier, your stutter is completely gone, your confidence has gone through the roof." He chuckled. "I've always believed that person was buried somewhere inside you."

His tone suddenly became serious. "But now it's time to make a choice."

The room fell silent. "Humanity..." He paused. "Or the Xaryth." "You'd better choose wisely."

I lowered my head. The question shouldn't have been difficult. Humans had bullied me, ignored me, lied to me, turned my entire life into an experiment. The Xaryth, on the other hand, were my father's people. My blood.

Yet every time I closed my eyes, I saw Blake laughing around the dinner table. I saw William quietly eating his soup. I saw Sheldon proudly unlocking the bunker, Kara smiling, telling me I finally had somewhere to belong.

They had accepted me without asking for anything in return. They had died because of the Xaryth. Earth was still my home. Maybe humanity had committed terrible crimes centuries ago, the people dying in the streets today weren't responsible for those sins.

Besides... If I refused Harold, I doubted I'd leave this room alive.

I looked up. "I'll fight for humanity."

A satisfied smile spread across Harold's unseen face. "Wise choice."

A loud metallic click echoed through the room. The restraints around my wrists, ankles, chest unlocked one after another, dropping harmlessly to the floor. I slowly stood, rubbing my sore wrists. A door behind me slid open with a mechanical hiss.

For the first time, Harold Stevenson walked into the room. He wasn't anything like I'd imagined. He wasn't an intimidating military commander or some ruthless scientist in a pristine white lab coat. Instead, he was a slim, pale man in his late fifties, wearing an oversized gray suit hanging loosely from his narrow frame. Round glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, his neatly combed silver hair making him look more like a university professor than the man running one of humanity's most secretive organizations.

He offered me a polite smile. "Walk with me." Without another word, he turned, left the room.

I followed. Outside, the facility stretched farther than I could've imagined. Endless steel corridors branched in every direction, illuminated by bright white lights embedded in the ceiling. Scientists hurried past carrying tablets and stacks of files, heavily armed soldiers standing guard outside reinforced blast doors. Massive windows overlooked laboratories where researchers examined pieces of alien technology and strange biological specimens recovered from the battlefield.

As Harold and I walked through the underground complex, conversations gradually died away. People stopped what they were doing. Scientists lowered their clipboards. Soldiers subtly tightened their grip on their rifles. Everyone stared at me. Some looked curious. Others looked frightened. A few simply looked... fascinated.

After several minutes, I couldn't ignore it anymore. "Why does everyone keep staring at me?"

Harold smiled without slowing his pace. "Because you're special."

I frowned. "Special?"

"You're the first successful human-Xaryth hybrid in recorded history. To them, you're a miracle... or a disaster waiting to happen." He glanced at me. "You inherited abilities that no human should possess."

"My father?" He nodded. "Just like Avada."

We stopped in front of a large steel elevator. As we waited for it to arrive, I finally asked the question that had been haunting me ever since Max told me the truth. "What do you know about my father?"

Harold's expression became thoughtful. "When humanity first arrived on Earth, the Xaryth revered one individual above all others." "Their greatest warrior." "His name was Avada."

Harold folded his hands behind his back. "He possessed strength beyond anything we've ever recorded. He could tear giant trees from the ground with his bare hands, leap incredible distances in a single bound, outrun any creature on Earth, his skin was so durable that our earliest weapons couldn't even scratch him."

He looked directly at me. "To the Xaryth... he wasn't just a leader." "He was a god."

I remained silent. "We knew that as long as Avada stood beside his people, we'd never conquer this planet. Defeating him in battle was impossible, we searched for another way."

Harold sighed. "Eventually, we found his weakness." "He loved women." "We used that against him." His voice grew quieter. "We lured him into a trap, captured him, imprisoned him." He looked away for a moment. "When you take a god away from his followers, chaos follows. Without Avada to unite them, the Xaryth became divided, our conquest became much easier."

His face hardened. "We believed we'd wiped them out. We knew a handful escaped into deep space, we never imagined they'd survive... let alone return with technology far beyond our own."

A soft chime interrupted him. The elevator doors slid open. Harold stepped inside. I remained rooted to the spot, struggling to process everything I'd just heard.

"My father..." I whispered. Harold looked back at me. "Come on." I slowly entered the elevator. The doors began to close.

I looked at him. "Are you telling me... my father was immortal?"

Harold adjusted his glasses. A faint smile crossed his face. "Yes," he replied quietly. "He was..." His expression darkened. "...until he wasn't."

I stared at him in disbelief. "How?"

Harold didn't hesitate. "For centuries, we experimented on his body. We pushed him to his limits, searching for a weakness. Eventually... we found one. We discovered a way to suppress his abilities, make him vulnerable." He adjusted his glasses. "So when your mother helped him escape, we couldn't allow them to disappear. We hunted them down, killed them both." He paused for a moment before adding almost casually, "No offense."

I clenched my jaw, said nothing.

The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, Harold led me down another brightly lit corridor. Scientists and soldiers stepped aside as we passed, their eyes following me with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

We eventually entered a large, empty room. The only object inside was a steel table. Resting on it was a long black machete. The blade shimmered with a faint blue glow that seemed almost alive.

Harold walked over to it. "This," he said, "is forged from Xervix Steel." I frowned. "The same metal used by the Xaryth generals?" He nodded. "When our recovery team found you in the ruins, this metal was recovered alongside you. That meant only one thing." He looked directly at me. "You killed a Xaryth general." His lips curled into a faint smile. "That was enough to convince us just how dangerous you really are."

He picked up the weapon before handing it to me. "We reforged the steel into a machete. Xervix Steel is one of the few materials capable of cutting through Xaryth flesh with ease."

I wrapped my fingers around the handle. The weapon felt... perfect. Balanced. Natural. As if it had been made specifically for me. For the first time since the invasion began, I finally felt armed.

After a moment, another question crossed my mind. "If humans arrived on Earth with technology advanced enough to wipe out the Xaryth... then how did we end up like this? Why are we so weak now while they've become so much stronger?"

Harold smirked. "Earth changed us." I frowned. "What do you mean?" "Our ancestors evolved on a very different world. Different atmosphere. Different gravity. Different conditions." He folded his hands behind his back. "Generation after generation, humanity adapted to Earth. We became physically weaker, technologically stagnant, eventually forgot where we came from." He shrugged. "It's honestly a miracle we're still smarter than most of the wildlife on this planet."

His words left a bitter taste in my mouth. "So everything humanity achieved..." "Was built on the ruins of another civilization," he finished.

Silence settled between us. Finally, Harold checked his watch. "Enough history." He turned toward the exit. "It's time for you to meet your team."

I blinked. "My team?" He nodded without slowing his pace. "That's right." A knot formed in my stomach. "I'm sorry, but... I don't work well with teams." Images flashed through my mind. Kara. Blake. William. Sheldon. Their smiles. Their laughter. Their bodies lying lifeless across that bunker floor.

I lowered my head. "I've already lost one family."

Harold's expression softened for only a second before becoming serious again. "I'm aware of what happened." Then his voice hardened. "But whether you like it or not, you're not fighting this war alone." He stopped outside a reinforced steel door, looked me straight in the eyes. "And let's be honest... We don't fully trust you yet." His gaze drifted to the faint scars on my body. "I'm sure you've already noticed that our specialized rounds can penetrate your skin."

The warning was clear. "If you decide to betray us," he continued calmly, "we have ways of dealing with you." He placed a hand on the door handle. "So choose your actions wisely." Then a faint smile crossed his face. "Besides... even someone as powerful as you is going to need all the help he can get."

Harold's eyes suddenly drifted to the thin scar on my chest. He frowned. "How did you get that?"

My heart skipped a beat. If he found out that Xervix Steel could pierce my skin, he'd realize the Xaryth had discovered a way to kill me. That was information I couldn't afford to share. So I lied. "I was mugged about a year ago," I said without hesitation. "There were two guys. I saw their faces, one of them stabbed me before they ran."

Harold studied me for several long seconds, as if trying to decide whether I was telling the truth. "That's strange," he finally muttered. "That scar wasn't mentioned anywhere in your file." I simply shrugged. "Maybe it was overlooked."

He didn't look convinced, he chose not to press the issue. Instead, he opened the reinforced door beside him. "Come on. It's time to meet your teammates."

I followed him into a spacious barracks lined with four bunk beds, metal lockers, racks of military equipment. The room smelled of gun oil, sweat, fresh coffee.

The four soldiers who had kidnapped me were already inside. The woman who had shot me in the neck sat on the edge of a bunk, methodically cleaning her rifle. She looked to be in her late twenties, sharp brown eyes, dark hair tied into a tight ponytail, a long scar running beneath her left eye. She didn't even try to hide the hostility in her stare.

Leaning against one of the lockers was a broad-shouldered Black man with a neatly trimmed beard, powerful arms folded across his chest. His expression remained unreadable, the way he watched me making it obvious he didn't trust me.

Beside him stood a lean blond man with icy blue eyes, a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder. He looked relaxed, his gaze never leaving me, as though he were calculating exactly how many bullets it would take to put me down.

The last soldier was the youngest of the group, a slim man with messy black hair and rectangular glasses. He looked more like a college student than a soldier, yet the pistol strapped to his thigh suggested otherwise. Unlike the others, his expression wasn't hostile. It was nervous.

Harold stepped forward. "Everyone, this is Albert." No one greeted me. The silence was heavy. Harold sighed before pointing at each of them. "This is Captain Rachel Hayes, the leader of the squad." The woman gave me a short nod, didn't smile. "The big guy is Marcus Cole, our heavy weapons specialist." Marcus grunted in acknowledgment. "The blond one is Ethan Cross, our marksman." Ethan gave me a faint smirk. "And the last one is Daniel Brooks, our combat medic and communications expert." Daniel offered an awkward wave. "Hi." The others shot him an irritated look, he quickly lowered his hand.

Harold clasped his hands behind his back. "Whether you like it or not, you're a team now."

Rachel stood, slung her rifle over her shoulder. "We're really trusting him?" she asked coldly. "We don't have much choice," Harold replied. Marcus looked me up and down. "If he turns on us..." "He won't," Harold interrupted, though his tone suggested he wasn't completely certain. Ethan smirked. "And if he does?" Harold looked at me. "Then you'll deal with him."

The room fell silent again. I tightened my grip around the handle of my Xervix Steel machete. This wasn't trust. It was an uneasy alliance built on necessity.

Harold glanced at his watch. "Our mission starts now." He turned toward the exit. "Let's move." The others grabbed their weapons, filed out without saying another word.

I looked down at the machete in my hand, its blue edge catching the overhead lights. For a brief moment, I wondered how long I'd keep letting other people decide my fate. How long would I remain someone else's weapon... Someone else's puppet?