4. Enter The Crucible ArkI couldn’t tell if I’d been out for hours or days. Waking up wasn't really "waking up" at all. It was more like floating in a dark soup of nothingness, the echoes of Arriana's voice swirling around me like phantom whispers.

  Time for breakfast.

  Language of stars.

  Your lives matter more.

  You can hide from enemies. But not from friends.

  Each phrase hit me like a punch to the gut. I wasn’t crying – that felt too… easy. Instead, I was just hollow, silent. In my mind, I kept seeing her, Arriana, her hands firm on the controls, her face set with that determined look. Sacrificing everything.

  A single tear, freed by the ck of gravity, drifted sideways past my cheek. My throat tightened into a painful knot. This wasn't just missing someone; it was the sharp, searing memory of who she was, what she’d done. She wasn't just a teacher; she was a freaking supernova in the dark, and now… just dark.

  Then, a faint crackle over the pod's comm. Caleb's voice, distant and raspy. "Mark… you there? You… okay?" Okay? The word felt like a cruel joke. Arriana was gone. And with that thought, the darkness pulled me back under.

  *********************************

  The next time I surfaced, it was to the murmur of hushed voices, just outside my field of vision.

  "Is he valuable?" one voice, a male one, whispered.

  "Has to be. Why else would Commander Arriana pull a hero move?" a female voice replied.

  "Or why would Korrath's personal goons try to vaporize him? Mark my words, he's an Andromedan spy." The first voice again, thick with suspicion.

  "Give it a rest, Jax. Andromeda's ancient history. Besides, let the egghead council sort it out when he wakes up." The female voice again, sounding slightly exasperated.

  Andromedan spy? Korrath? My brain felt like it was trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing. I blinked, trying to get my bearings. Golden walls? Seriously? And a sofa that looked like a gilded throne. Oh, and a golden bathtub. Because why not? Stepping out onto the spacious balcony, the air felt… alien. Different. The only thing that felt remotely normal was the bed – a stark white sb that felt less like a mattress and more like a medieval torture device. Great. And a clear tube snaked from a pouch hanging above me – my personal alien IV drip. Lovely.

  The hushed voices outside my room grew more urgent.

  "I think I should poke him awake." Jax, the suspicious one.

  "You gonna poke him with your bster? What if he's armed?" The female voice, ced with sarcasm.

  "I'll check on him. You keep an eye on our other… guest." Her tone left no room for argument. Our other guest? Caleb! A flicker of relief sparked within me. He was here too.

  Knowing that "poking awake" might involve more than a gentle nudge, I decided to py possum. Moments ter, a hand – surprisingly gentle – spped my cheek.

  "Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

  I groaned, feigning a recent return to consciousness, slowly peeling open my eyes. A deep, dramatic yawn followed. I focused on the girl standing over me. Maybe eleven or twelve, with a wild mane of curly auburn hair framing bright, sky-blue eyes that seemed to miss nothing. Her tracksuit was… interesting. A pair of stylized wings on her right pel, and beneath a namepte on her left, three shiny medals. I squinted at the alien script:

  ???? ?? ?????????? ?????????? ???????? ??? ??????? ?

  My brain, still operating on alien Wi-Fi, transted it instantly: Squadron Leader Sophia Julliet Miles, The 22nd Commandment, the Valorant Army. Squadron Leader? Seriously? This kid was in charge?

  "Uh… Sophia Miles?" I asked, my voice still a little groggy.

  "Yep. And you're psychic? How'd you know?" Her blue eyes narrowed slightly, assessing me.

  "Your… uh… your chest said so." I gestured vaguely at her pel.

  She raised an eyebrow, a tiny smirk pying on her lips. "Well, aren't you the observant one."

  "And you're a squadron leader," I stated, trying to wrap my head around that. "Like… in charge of a bunch of space soldiers?"

  "Something like that. Now, spill it. What's your name?"

  "Mark Vance."

  "Ever heard of the Crucible Ark?"

  "Yeah, Arriana mentioned it was our final destination, like, five minutes before we almost got blown to bits."

  "And Arriana… you knew her?" Sophia's gaze was intense now.

  "Knew her? She was my Social Studies teacher. Ms. Borlough. Then, BAM! Suddenly she's 'Arriana' and we're on a spaceship getting chased by ser-toting maniacs. I st saw her telling us to bail." The memory hit me like a physical blow, a fresh wave of that hollow ache in my chest. I swallowed hard, trying to push it down.

  "And those 'maniacs'… did Arriana mention they worked for someone called Lord Korrath?" Sophia pressed.

  "Who's Korrath? And what exactly is this 'Crucible Ark' pce? Seriously, I'm running on fumes here. I need some answers."

  Sophia studied me for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she nodded decisively. "Alright, Vance. Come on."

  She led me out of the ridiculously opulent room and into a sleek, silent lift. As we descended, I caught a glimpse of other rooms – some with bizarre alien technology, others with equally bizarre alien occupants. This wasn't just a hospital; it was… something else entirely.

  The lift doors opened onto a vast lobby that buzzed with activity. And then I saw him. The receptionist. He was entirely crimson, with eight arms that seemed to be operating independently of each other. One arm scribbled furiously on a data pad, two shuffled glowing files, three tapped away at a holographic keyboard, and the remaining two were engaged in a fierce battle with a Rubik's Cube the size of a small melon.

  "Hey, Octo!" Sophia greeted him with a casual wave. "How's the multi-tasking going?"

  The alien responded with a series of clicks and whistles, his many eyes swiveling towards us. Sophia grinned. "Nice seeing you too! Have a good shift!"

  Stepping outside, I stopped dead in my tracks. Holy cow. Towering structures, each a gleaming, brilliant gold and slowly twisting towards the sky, stretched as far as the eye could see. It was like Manhattan on steroids, if Manhattan had been designed by a particurly ambitious alien architect with a gold fetish. Hover cars and sleek spacecraft zipped through the air nes, creating a constant hum of futuristic traffic. And the pedestrians… well, they weren't exactly your average New Yorkers. Green aliens with multiple eyes, slimy creatures that seemed to ooze rather than walk, tiny, furry humanoids, towering, insect-like beings – it was like the Mos Eisley cantina had relocated to a major metropolitan area. If someone had told me this was Earth, I'd have guessed the date was somewhere around 2081… and that there had been a very interesting immigration policy.

  "Welcome to the Crucible Ark, Vance," Sophia said, a hint of pride in her voice. "A safe haven… for the brainy types."

  "Brainy types?" I echoed, still trying to process the eight-armed receptionist.

  "Yeah. The ones who dig deep into the universe's mysteries. History, science, all that jazz. Think of it as… a super-advanced, intergactic academy."

  Sophia gestured towards a sleek, levitating ptform. "Come on. The hover-train to Central Park leaves in five."

  Central Park? On another pnet? My brain was officially two steps behind reality. The train station was a blur of alien nguages and bizarre modes of transport. Sophia swiped a card, and we boarded a train that didn't just glide – it flew, silently and incredibly fast. The seats were airpne-style, but the scenery outside was… alien skyscrapers giving way to open sky. We reached our destination in what felt like seconds, seconds that Sophia informed me had covered a hundred kilometers.

  And then we were there. Central Park. Except instead of concrete and yellow cabs, it was an endless expanse of lush greenery. Giant, alien trees with glowing leaves, meadows that stretched to the horizon, orchards of strange, colorful fruit, shimmering ponds, and waterfalls that cascaded down rocks that seemed to hum with energy. The paths were made of a smooth, gss-like material embedded with intricate patterns that looked like consteltions. It was breathtaking.

  "Usually," Sophia said, leading me down one of the glowing paths, "new arrivals get the holographic tour, the video presentations. But with Arriana… gone… the welcome wagon duty fell to me. And frankly," she grinned, a fsh of something almost mischievous in her blue eyes, "I prefer the personal touch. And what better pce for a grand unveiling than right here?"

  She stopped by a shimmering pond, where tiny, bioluminescent creatures darted through the alien lily pads. "So, Vance, you want answers? Let's start at the beginning. Way back, when the universe was just getting its groove on. The Big Bang, right? Trillions of stars exploded into existence. So much power, they could have imploded without some kind of… organization. But one star couldn't be the boss of all the others. So, groups of stars banded together, forming these… unified entities. We call them star lords. Think of them as cosmic royalty. They could shapeshift, wield incredible energy drawn from their stars… and eventually, these star lords grouped together to form entire gaxies, each one electing a king among them."

  "That was, like, thirteen point five billion years ago, right?" I blurted out, remembering something Arriana had mentioned on the train.

  "Bingo," Sophia said, nodding. "And a whole lot of cosmic drama has unfolded since then. You need to understand about Lord Korrath, and the star lords of Vaelora – our little corner of the cosmos, what you still call the Milky Way. See, a long, long time ago, the Milky Way and Andromeda weren't separate gaxies. They were one massive realm called Collosieda, where star lords ruled consteltions like ancient kings on Earth. The big cheese of them all was Lord Xoronomi, the cosmic sovereign. He had six kids. Two you really need to know about: Calos and Korrath."

  Sophia paused, her gaze drifting towards a waterfall that shimmered with an otherworldly light. "But power corrupts, even cosmic power. Calos, the Lord of Darkness – charming name, right? – got greedy. He unleashed some seriously forbidden dark matter, trying to overthrow his own dad. Korrath stepped up, and their fight… well, it literally shattered the gaxy. Collosieda broke apart, birthing Vaelora and Andromeda. Korrath cimed Vaelora. Calos took Andromeda."

  Calos. The name gave me the chills.

  "So, space family drama?" I asked, trying to inject a little levity into the cosmic history lesson.

  Sophia shot me a look. "Think bigger. This was a gactic civil war. And it never really ended. In a desperate attempt for peace – or maybe just to get rid of Calos – Korrath convinced Calos's own son, this rebellious dude named Tomaron, to betray his father. Korrath got the inside scoop on Nihthorne, Andromeda's capital world. Then, he and his brother Caelum stormed the pace. Caelum took Calos from behind – sneaky, I know – while Korrath unleashed this massive bst of pure radiation. Half of Nihthorne? Gone. Calos? Vanished. Poof. Did he die? Nobody knows for sure. It's the biggest unsolved mystery out here."

  We continued walking, the gss path glowing softly beneath our feet. "Okay," I said, trying to steer the conversation back to my current predicament. "Cosmic history lesson duly noted. But… why am I here? Why all the cloak and dagger?"

  Sophia stopped, turning to face me. Her blue eyes were serious now. "You, Mark Vance, are the Targeted Kid."

  "Wait… what?!" I gasped, feeling like I'd just been hit by a rogue asteroid.

  "Yep. No other kid with star lord blood has been hunted down like you. That 'car accident' that supposedly killed your mom? Not an accident. An alien assassin – nobody knows who hired him – bsted her car with a single psma shot. Clean. Then, same day, that same assassin came after you. You were just a baby. But someone neutralized him. Later? Three different aliens, shapeshifters, infiltrated your school, posing as bullies. Each one met a… let's say unpleasant end. One in intensive care, another with a crispy tongue, the st one got a shocking three thousand volts. In twenty-four hours, you were attacked twice… and you survived. Before you even got here, you'd had six alien encounters. The previous record? Four."

  My mind reeled. My mom… murdered by an alien? The bullies… aliens? The gaxy-design neckce I always wore suddenly felt less like a quirky accessory and more like… a target. "How… how do you know all this?"

  "We have our ways," Sophia said, a hint of a smirk. "Let's just say hacking into Earth's outdated security systems is easier than beating Octo at that Rubik's Cube. Rumors about you being a starborn have been circuting since your mom's assassination, but it was just whispers until Arriana contacted me yesterday. Eleven forty-five a.m., to be exact. Said she'd found a starborn and needed extraction ASAP. We pulled up the CCTV, the train schedules… Here's the intel we sent her."

  She handed me a small, metallic slip. It read:

  [Starborn Transit Authority: Mark Vance Mission Log]00:00 — Departure command issued. Mark instructed for immediate departure.00:17 — Mark boarded the Staten Isnd Ferry.00:27 — Mark reached Whitehall Terminal.00:32 — Mark transferred to the MTA Subway. Route verified toward Grand Central–42nd Street.00:48 — Mark exited at Grand Central–42nd Street Station and proceeded to the GCT Main Concourse.00:50 — Mark located Level Three Alley. Entry: Success.00:52 — Entry into the Intrapnetary Transit System authorized.00:55 — Mark boarded IPTS-9, Ptform Xureis, Level Three.00:56 — Departure sequence initiated. Velocity ramp-up: ultra-high.00:57 — Mark exited transit at Gare de Lyon, Paris. Travel time: 60 seconds.00:58 — Surface transfer engaged. Direction: Eiffel Tower unch pad.01:00 — Arrival confirmed. Mission Phase II: Begin.

  "Whoa," I said, staring at the log. "You guys were really keeping tabs." Eleven forty-five… that was right after Social Studies. The abacus incident. She saw me… change my Nintendo.

  "You see, Vance," Sophia continued, her tone shifting back to expnation mode, "the lords… they like to mingle. They're immortal, after all. And when they, shall we say, 'mingle' with intelligent beings, sometimes… offspring happen. Part celestial, part… well, you. We call you starborns. You get the powers of your celestial parent, plus the survival instincts of your other side."

  "And what kind of 'instincts' are we talking about?"

  "The big one? Language. Starborns? We're linguistic ninjas. We can pick up any nguage, speak it fluently. Doesn't matter how many we know, we can still juggle them all. Makes us good at coding too. It's just another nguage, right? Basically, we're like… delegates for the lords. Running errands all over the gaxy. Retrievals, rescues… you name it."

  "What about, like, math? Physics?" I asked, suddenly curious about my own potential superpowers.

  Sophia shrugged. "Usually nguage is the main gig. The other stuff… that's rarer. Might mean your celestial parent was, like, a super-intellectual. Maybe your dad was a lord of… intelligence? A forgotten one? A new one? Your mom was a native, so…"

  "So, the people on Earth… they have no clue about all this?"

  Sophia snorted. "No clue? Vance, the Eiffel Tower? Human-built bst pad. The Space Needle in Seattle? Gaxy's biggest psma gun. The Pyramids of Giza? Radio beacons pointing right at Earth. The Statue of Christ the Redeemer? Sor radiation collector, beaming energy all over the pnet. The Pentagon? Valorant HQ on Earth. The only ones in the dark are the regur Joes, the tourists, the politicians, that too to am extent. In fact, many movies and series leaked the secrets of the gaxy, the most embarrassing being Star Wars and Guardians of the Gaxy. Space missions were actually warfare machines. Ever heard of Apollo 11? T'was shifting the first nuclear weapon to space. It was collected by the Valorants on the moon. English vocabury? The word valour came from Vaelora. The game 'Valorant'? Copy-paste."

  "So… I'm like… an illegal alien?"

  "Technically? Yeah. But you're one of us now. And remember, humans aren't the only 'native' species the lords like to… hybridize with. You've got Vidiians, Netretz, Freegans, Xandarians, Sovereigns…"

  "And they all go to this Crucible Ark?"

  "Yep. And you're about to be enrolled."

  "When?"

  Sophia's expression turned serious again. "Korrath's forces were tailing you too close. We need to figure out why you're such a hot commodity. I'll try to get you enrolled before the week's out."

  "And if they keep coming after me?"

  Sophia's expression turned serious again. "Korrath's forces were tailing you too close. We need to figure out why you're such a hot commodity. I'll try to get you enrolled before the week's out."

  "And if they keep coming after me?" I asked, a shiver running down my spine despite the warm, alien sunlight. The image of that sleek, bck ship and those purple energy beams was burned into my memory.

  "They won't," Sophia said with a confidence that was almost… unsettling. "Not here. The Crucible Ark is sanctuary. To every starborn, and anyone else seeking knowledge, safety, or… a new beginning." She paused, her gaze sweeping across the vibrant, bustling park, a hint of something wistful in her eyes. "This pce… it's the closest thing we have to a true neutral ground in this gaxy. Even Korrath wouldn't dare viote its sanctity."

  "Neutral ground," I repeated, the concept feeling both comforting and strangely fragile. "So, I'm safe here?"

  "For now," Sophia conceded, the word hanging in the air like a question mark. "But we can't ignore the fact that they went to extreme lengths to get to you. We need to know why, Mark. What makes you so special?"

  We walked in silence for a few moments, the alien sounds of the park – chirping creatures, the hum of distant hovercraft, the melodic rush of the waterfalls – filling the space between us. My mind was reeling, trying to process everything I'd just learned. My mom… killed by aliens. I was some kind of… hybrid space kid. And people were trying to kill me for it.

  "And Caleb?" I finally asked, the question feeling almost secondary in the face of everything else, but still important. "Is he… okay?"

  Sophia hesitated, her gaze shifting away from mine. She took a deep breath, the movement almost… theatrical. "He's… awake. But he's… having a bit of a time processing everything. Especially… your situation."

  "My situation?" I frowned. "What's wrong with my situation?"

  She stopped again, this time by a cluster of glowing, purple trees. She reached out, gently touching one of the pulsating leaves. "Mark… you need to understand. Starborn are rare. Powerful, yes, but rare. Most of us… we know our lineage. We know which lord we descend from. You… you're a mystery. And that… that makes you unique. And potentially… a threat."

  "A threat?" I sputtered, incredulous. "How am I a threat? I can barely operate a microwave!"

  Sophia actually chuckled at that, a genuine, warm sound that momentarily broke through the tension. "You'll learn, Mark. You have potential. Untapped, raw potential. But Caleb… his situation is… also unique. He knows he's a starborn, though his lineage is also… less clear. What he's struggling with… is the degree of attention you've attracted. The fact that you're the 'Targeted Kid' while he… hasn't been."

  She turned back to me, her expression thoughtful. "It's… a lot for him to process. Realizing the danger you've been in, the fact that you've been hunted so relentlessly… and that he, his best friend, was caught in the crossfire. He feels… responsible, maybe? Or… just overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all."

  A wave of guilt washed over me. I hadn't even considered how all of this must be affecting Caleb. He'd been dragged along on this insane adventure, nearly killed multiple times, and now his best friend was apparently some kind of cosmic anomaly that everyone wanted to either protect or destroy.

  "So… what are we going to do?" I asked, trying to push down the worry for Caleb and the lingering fear for myself. "Just… hang out in this garden all day?"

  Sophia shook her head, a small smile pying on her lips. "Not today, Vance. Today was just… orientation. Tomorrow… tomorrow, the real fun begins." She cpped me on the shoulder, the gesture surprisingly… comforting. "Get some rest. You're both going to need it. But before that..... let us take another ride, shall we?"