Dear readers,
This is my first attempt at writing a novel. I am very excited to share it with you, but I am also aware that I am still a novice writer. I have tried my best to create a compelling and enjoyable story, but I know that I may have made some mistakes along the way, especially in the initial chapters.
I hope you will bear with me as I find my footing and that you will be able to overlook any shortcomings in my writing. I am always striving to improve, and I welcome any feedback you may have.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Sincerely,
[Sandeep Kumar]
It is said that the powerful are always respected, no matter which era it is. Not only that—if a powerful person does anything wrong to someone, there is no one who will speak up against him. This holds true in every corner of the universe. Power is something for which a person will go to any lengths, even if it means killing their own kin; many people do it easily. Often, such people become enemies of humanity, and at the same time, they begin oppressing others without a care in the world for how many innocent lives are lost because of their actions.
Our planet is located at the center of the Orion Arm, and about 13,000 light years away from our world, there is another star that hosts many habitable planets. On one of those planets, a special meeting was taking place today. The atmosphere in the meeting was very solemn; no one spoke a word. The attendees looked exactly like us humans, and each person was gazing toward the gate in front of them—perhaps expecting someone else to arrive before they could begin the meeting.
After a short while, another man arrived. He looked very serious—he appeared to be only about 25 or 26 years old, but in reality, his age spanned several thousand years. Moreover, his clothes bore the elegance of royalty. His name was Andrew Symonds, and a few of his guards, who seemed to be of his age, accompanied him. As soon as everyone in the assembly saw him, they knelt and respectfully said, "Welcome, Your Highness." Nodding in acknowledgement of all the greetings, he then proceeded to his throne. Once seated, he ordered the meeting to commence.
"Your Highness, we are now facing a very grave problem," began one speaker. "Our star is gradually expanding. We had not paid attention to this initially, but now that our space organization has examined the matter, we have discovered that in just 500,000 years, it will expand so greatly that life on our planet will be completely wiped out."
The man speaking was Roger Frederick, the head of the planet's space agency. Hearing his words, everyone present became extremely serious. The king—seated on his throne—slammed his hand on it in anger. He was furious, yet he knew there was nothing he could personally do about the situation. Nevertheless, he turned to the scientist and said once again, "We have reached the pinnacle of a Type 2, Sixth Stage civilization. Can't you develop some technology to prevent our sun from expanding?"
Humbly, the scientist replied, "No, Your Highness, we cannot develop such technology at our current stage. We can only hope to do so once we have reached a Type 3 civilization."
Hearing this, the king, who was the most extraordinary astrophysicist on the planet, sighed—but he knew he could do nothing further. So he looked around at all those gathered and asked, "Does anyone have a solution to this problem?" At his question, every person in the assembly bowed their head in shame, for they felt powerless in the matter.
Then the scientist spoke again: "Your Majesty, I acknowledge that we cannot develop that technology right now. However, we have discovered another star that is exactly similar to ours. If you wish, we can develop the technology to replace our star with that one."
At these words, a spark lit up on the faces of everyone—including the king. "Very well," said the king, "we can try that. But do you know how far that star is from us?"
The scientist replied, "Your Highness, that star is not very far—it is only about 13,000 light years away from us."
At this, the room fell silent, and the king, glowering at the scientist, said, "Roger, you seem to underestimate that distance. You must know that we do not have the resources to replace our star with that other star so quickly. You should also know that in five hundred thousand years, our star will have expanded so much that it might completely extinguish all life on our planet. Moreover, when we begin the process of replacing our star, it will not only require enormous resources but will also take a very long time."
Hearing this, Roger replied, "Your Highness, I agree that the star is quite far. But you should not forget that we are at the peak of a Type 2 civilization's sixth stage simply because we cannot yet traverse light years in moments. However, we can indeed create wormholes that will allow us to travel easily from one place to another."
He continued, "And now you may ask: how will we achieve such a monumental feat within our solar system? Our agency does have a solution. In fact, we cannot create such a vast wormhole at this very moment—but if we are given the next six to seven years, we will definitely succeed. We began work on this matter almost 200 years ago because we knew that this event was bound to occur. Today, we are on the verge of successfully constructing such a large wormhole that can encompass roughly one-fourth of our star. And as you know, technology progresses linearly. Once we have completed the blueprint and overcome the initial challenges, reaching a certain threshold means that the remainder of the process will be much less difficult. Trust me, we will accomplish this in the next six to seven years."
Upon hearing Roger's words, a gleam appeared on the faces of the emperor and all those present. Yet the emperor then asked, "Everything may be in order, but tell me this: if there exists an advanced civilization out there—a civilization as powerful as ours—will we still be able to seize their star?"
Hearing this, Roger replied, "Your Highness, I cannot do anything about that matter. For such a task, you will need to send one of our own powerful spies." With that, he returned to his seat, his part of the discussion complete.
At that point, another man stepped forward before the emperor and said, "Your Highness, do not worry. I will dispatch some of my spies to that star, and they will report back to me within just ten years." The king was immensely pleased upon hearing these words. This man, who led the emperor's army, was named Charles Stark.
After hearing from Charles Stark, the emperor nodded and addressed the assembly, "I do not know how you will accomplish this, but I expect updates soon, and I hope that within the next 100 years we will complete this task. Even if there exists an extremely powerful civilization out there, and even if we must kill every person or creature there, we will do so—because our very existence is at stake. Although we could, if we wished, leave this planet and settle somewhere better, we will not. Our memories are deeply intertwined with this planet, and it was here that we witnessed our civilization rise to greatness. We would never want our planet and our star—which once were like deities to us—to become a threat."
He continued, "Yes, we do love our star now, but we cannot allow it to destroy our planet. However, if in the future we find a way to restore our star to its former glory, we will do so without hesitation—simply because so many memories are linked to this star." With those words, the emperor adjourned the meeting and departed.
Seeing their emperor leave, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They remained seated for a while, discussing among themselves what steps they should take next, for it was now certain that they would never again even consider stealing that star.
Far away from Kepler 100—without anyone's knowledge—a huge danger was about to befall our planet. People were living their lives as usual. It was 10:00 AM in the small town of Neemrana in Rajasthan—the largest state in India on Planet Earth. At that moment, in a government school, a history teacher was teaching a chapter to a 12th‑grade class. The teacher's name, as heard, was Sunidhi Srivastava. Though she appeared to be about 22–23 years old, in reality her age often ranged between 75 and 76. This was because humans had developed technology that allowed anyone to live for thousands of years. However, achieving such longevity came at a very high cost—or one could opt for another method that extended life with much lower expense, though that method carried a great risk to one's life.
At that moment, Sunidhi Srivastava looked extremely attractive. She was wearing a very alluring dress that could mesmerize anyone who looked at her. Picking up her book, she began to read aloud:
"Children, did you know that our planet wasn't always like this? The clean air we enjoy today did not exist about 500 years ago. In fact, our cities and the entire world were once shrouded in extreme pollution. But sometime in the mid‑21st century, something happened on our planet that suddenly changed all our lives. Can anyone tell me what occurred that changed our lives so dramatically?"
Hearing this question, many students in the class raised their hands. Pointing to one of them, Sunidhi said, "Yes, Kalpesh, you tell us."
Kalpesh—one of the most extraordinary students of the 12th grade—replied, "Ma'am, in the year 2150 there was a most terrible war on our planet in which both humans and AI took part. The AI declared war against the humans. In truth, the AI fought that war because by that time humans had so badly ruined the planet's environment—the air had become polluted and many animals had become extinct—that it felt if humans continued to do as they pleased, they would eventually destroy the entire planet. Therefore, the Artificial Intelligence decided that rather than letting the planet perish, it would eradicate humanity altogether. And thus, a war broke out between the AI and humans. In that war, the AI overwhelmed the humans. Not only that, the AI also carried out experiments on living creatures which caused them to evolve into terrifying monsters—earning them the title of 'Demonic Beasts.' Soon, humans faced a double threat: first the AI, and then these Demonic Beasts turned against them. When it seemed as though our very existence was about to be wiped out by the AI and Demonic Beasts, a few brave people rose up and, somehow, managed to defeat the AI. Yet even then, they could not overcome the Demonic Beasts—firstly because these monsters were present in every corner of the world, and secondly because, unlike the AI which operated as software, they could not be so easily tracked down and eliminated.
Meanwhile, those who were relieved to see the AI defeated did not know that just a few years later another attack was looming—an alien invasion. Around 2080, our planet was attacked once again—this time by aliens—and the danger was even greater, for not only humans but the entire planet was at risk of annihilation. Just when it seemed that our extinction was inevitable, something happened—though no one knows exactly how—that completely changed the course of human history. In those dire circumstances, many humans underwent a transformation and began to acquire different elemental powers. Some gained the power of ice, some water, some poison, and some even healing powers. Using these new abilities, humans defeated the aliens. Moreover, secret documents recovered from the aliens' spaceship revealed that by using something called 'flash' they could empower themselves further. And not only that, by slaying the Demonic Beasts they could also obtain weapons that would help them advance even more.
In all, humans ended up acquiring three such "planets" (or realms), each of which was extremely powerful in its own right. On the first planet, those at the pinnacle of power reigned supreme; on the second, those same people dropped to the bottom of the food chain; and the same held true on the third. Yet humans did not give up—they soon managed to conquer the first planet. However, before venturing to these other planets, humans had to become S‑rank warriors. To achieve that, they decided to kill the Demonic Beasts on Earth in order to enhance their powers—and they succeeded.
Hearing Kalpesh's answer, Sunidhi Srivastava was very pleased, and she rewarded him with praise. But then her eyes fell on a boy sleeping in the very last row of the class. Seeing this, her face flushed with anger as she shouted, "Aryan, you have slept in my class again! How many times must I explain that every class is important? This is a 12th‑grade class, and you should know that board exams are held in 12th grade. If you fail here, your career will be ruined—after all, you won't be able to evolve! You must focus on your studies!"
At these words, the class erupted into a commotion. Among the students, Kalpesh—the one who had just answered the question—added, "Ma'am, Who are you even talking about? Don't you know he's a loser? No matter what a loser is like, he's nothing but trash—and whether he studies or not, no one will ever give him a job. What difference does it make if he studies? Maybe that's why he's off selling horses!"
Hearing Kalpesh's harsh words, Aryan—who had been roused from his sleep by Sunidhi Srivastava's scolding—spoke up, "Dude, I'm not some lowlife who lives off someone else's scraps, so keep your mouth shut!" And with that, he quietly tried once again to go back to sleep.
Seeing him do so, Sunidhi Srivastava grew even angrier and said, "Aryan, how dare you sleep in front of me like this?"
Aryan retorted, "Ma'am, I already know what you're teaching—I remember everything about this chapter, so there's no point in listening." Hearing his reply, Sunidhi Srivastava was taken aback. Although she was angry at first, she remembered that Aryan had always been the top student in her class; so she did not press the matter further. Nevertheless, she expelled Aryan from the class. Without any further protest, Aryan left and went outside, where he slumped against a wall, beaten. Now, all he could think about was his future, for he knew that he would never be able to evolve. All he had was the prospect of merely surviving.
A short while later, Sunidhi Srivastava's period ended and, soon after, the school bell rang. In fact, Aryan was an orphan who had managed to complete his education solely on a scholarship—and he had always been at the top of his class, so his full scholarship was never in doubt. Because of this, even if he made a mistake, he was forgiven. At that moment, Aryan—now 17 years and 6 months old in the year 2621, when humans had advanced considerably and had achieved a Type One civilization (with progress steadily continuing)—was sent out of the school and headed toward his room.
As Aryan reached the road and walked along, lost in his own thoughts, he suddenly noticed a young girl of about eight or nine years old crossing the street. Just as she was crossing, an out‑of‑control truck began barreling toward her. When the truck came dangerously close, Aryan realized that the girl would not be able to escape its path. Without any hesitation, he decided to save her. In the process of rescuing the girl, he was caught under the truck and was severely injured.
Now, many might think that in the early 27th century trucks would have become so advanced that such an accident would be impossible. For your information, however, allow me to say that I am merely hypothesizing—because sometimes, no matter how advanced technology becomes, it can still fail when you least expect it.
At that moment, Aryan lost consciousness. Blood kept streaming from his head, bringing him close to death. As his eyes began to close, only one feeling filled his mind—sorrow. He thought to himself, "Will my life end like this? Perhaps it's for the best; at least I'll be free from this wretched existence. I only hope that if reincarnation exists, I may be born into a good body so that I never have to face such hardships again—and so that my life is not spent like this trash." With that thought, his eyes closed. He had no idea that a momentous event—one that would completely change his life—was waiting for him.
What that event was… if you want to know, you will have to read the next chapter of this story.