Xavier stood at the helm of his newest creation, a personal life-protection bracelet designed to revolutionize human interaction with the universe.
The bracelet was not Xavier's favorite invention, but it was his least-destructive idea in recent years; his spiral of depression and aggression pushing his inventions in rather obtuse ways.
The bracelet, a sleek band of shimmering material, was the culmination of years of research and experimentation; it held the promise of a new era of humanity – a chance to transcend its limitations and explore the vastness of the cosmos.
Humanity was aware of other species but given the efficiency of their Utopia, they hardly cared about what was outside their Supercluster.
The science behind the bracelet was complex, yet elegantly simple.
By harnessing the principles of quantum entanglement and neural synchronization, the device allowed its wearer to project their consciousness into different forms of life across various worlds.
The bracelet created a temporary, symbiotic link with the host species, enabling humans to experience life as different beings.
This profound connection fostered empathy and understanding, bridging the gap between species and cultures.
It brought a subtle shift in the intention of humanity's technology.
Smart Light Technology implemented new safety-heal features, focusing on different biological structures.
Xavier was especially surprised to find many organizations popping up, meant to offer support to war-torn planets, planets hostile to life, and planets where resources had been depleted.
Over the next century, humanity's reputation grew, and they became revered as the leaders of the galaxy – a well-earned title.
The life-protection bracelet played a significant role in this transformation as humans experienced life through the eyes of other species; they gained a deeper appreciation for the diverse forms of existence in the vast universe.
This newfound empathy significantly reduced human supremacy movements, promoting peace and cooperation among the stars, and the many planets that resided between their gaps.
However, not everyone embraced this change.
A faction known as the supremacists cling to outdated notions of human superiority and opposed the integration of other species.
Tensions simmered, eventually boiling over into a brutal conflict that cost many lives on the out planets.
Xavier, who had always been a beacon of peace and understanding, with a hint of madness, found himself thrust into the heart of the war with constant assassination attempts.
Of course, a mad genius was not only a genius in research but also protecting himself and his research.
There were a couple of narrow escapes, sending him into regeneration pods with a missing lung and once, even a missing heart, but overall, he survived and was wiser for it.
In one of the fiercest battles, the Supremacist forces ambushed Xavier; the air crackled with energy blasts, and the ground shook with the impact of explosions.
Xavier, armed only with his intellect and a few defensive gadgets, fought valiantly.
But as the enemy closed in, it seemed his end was near.
Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light erupted, and Xavier found himself enveloped in a protective shield – one of his own designs, powered by the life-protection bracelet.
Reinforcements arrived just in time, driving back the Supremacists and saving his life.
…...
Decades passed, and peace once again graced the galaxy.
But it was a fragile peace, constantly threatened by lurking dangers; one such threat came in the form of Taxomites, a race of toxic predators that emerged from the depths of space.
Resembling giant ticks, these creatures exuded green, toxic fumes and liquids, growing more ghastly the more one looked at them.
Xavier suspected it was a form of mental suppression, which his mental shield helped with, albeit barely.
Taxomites were virtually unkillable, capable of surviving in any environment, and even a whiff of their toxic presence could instantly kill anything that needed to breathe oxygen.
The Taxomites arrival heralded a devastating war that would push humanity to the brink.
The creatures bypassed all human technologies, rendering shields, weapons, and defenses useless.
Humanity, despite its advanced technology, found itself losing ground.
In one of the darkest hours, a human base was under siege; soldiers in exoskeleton suits fought valiantly, but the Taxomites were relentless.
Acidic fumes filled the air, and the cries of the wounded echoed through the corridors, inspiring a primal terror in the researchers at the base.
Buildings crumbled, and the stench of toxic death hung heavily.
Bodies burst upon hearing the screech of the Taxomites, and those that inhaled the fumes simply dropped dead, shriveling up as if slugs deprived of water.
Amidst the chaos, Xavier's adopted son, Ethan, stood tall.
An orphan with a unique mind, Ethan had resonated with Xavier from the moment they met; he possessed a rare combination of intellect and courage, and Xavier had taken him under his wing, nurturing his potential.
It was merely to fill a void left by his missing wife and daughter but it did wonders for his mental health.
Together, Xavier and Ethan worked on countless projects, pushing the boundaries of human knowledge and capability.
During the siege, Ethan discovered a way to buy time for the survivors to escape; he rigged the base's power core to create a massive energy blast, hoping that would be enough to repel the Taxomites, already aware it would not be enough to kill them.
As the creatures closed in, Ethan activated the sequence, knowing it would be his final act; he looked at Xavier, a mixture of determination and sadness in his eyes.
"Go, Dad," Ethan urged, his voice steady despite the chaos around them. "You have to get out of here."
Xavier's heart shattered as he realized what Ethan was about to do. "Ethan, no! There must be another way," he yelled.
There was only enough energy for one person to escape.
Ethan shook his head, a sad smile on his lips. "This is the only way. I love you, Dad."
With a heavy heart, Xavier activated his bracelet, and in a flash of light, linking him to the energy core of the base, depleting what little resources it had left, he was transported back to the human home planet.
The last thing he saw was Ethan, standing tall amidst the chaos, a true hero to the end.
The loss of Ethan pushed Xavier to the brink of sanity.
Consumed by grief and guilt, he retreated into his lab, isolating himself from the world; the once vibrant and hopeful scientist became a shadow of his former self.
His mind, now a tempest of sorrow and madness, turned to the only thing that could distract him from his pain – his work.
Creation…
It was his bane and blessing…
As a genius, everything affected him, infiltrating his work, and turning beautiful devices into harbingers of death and destruction.
Made worse by the fact that Xavier could not bring himself to destroy anything he had made – everything deserved a chance to show its beauty.
This forces him to build a vault of forbidden technologies…
In the depths of his despair, Xavier turned to long-forgotten research, building a new machine, one that would surpass anything he had ever created.
He poured every ounce of his anguish into the project, working tirelessly, day and night; his once bright eyes now bore the haunted look of a man who had lost everything.
The machine, a complex web of quantum circuits, wide-band rays, and neural interactions, was a testament to Xavier's genius and his torment.
It was designed to interface directly with the fabric of reality in a limited capacity, a tool that could potentially rip answers from the interconnectedness layered atop known space and time.
But as Xavier worked, his thoughts grew darker…
The loss of his son, the countless lives taken by the Taxomites, and the burden of his own failures weighed heavily on him.
His obsession with the machine drove him further away from the memories of his wife and daughter; Emma and Lily, once his guiding stars became distant echoes in the recesses of his mind.
Nothing was holding him back now – nothing but the burning desire to create something that could change the course of history, to grant him the answers necessary to defeat the Taxomites.
The lab, once a place of innovation and hope, now felt like a tomb.
The hum of machinery was a constant reminder of the life Xavier had left behind; he barely ate or slept, and his existence was reduced to a relentless cycle of creation and despair.
The machine grew more complex with each passing day; a physical manifestation of Xavier's fractured soul.
As he worked, the stars outside his window continued their silent vigil, a reminder of the vast universe beyond; somewhere, out there, Xavier imagined Emma and Lily looking up at the same stars, their hearts filled with the same yearning and hope.
"I have forgotten what they look like," Xavier whispered, tears leaking from his eyes.
The stars barely glimmered, as if the cosmos itself was conspiring to keep him isolated in his grief.
Admittedly, Ethan was not all too important to him, but that modicum of connection took countless years to form – more preparation Xavier had placed on his own research.
Collapsing one thing felt like collapsing everything…
"I will find my way back to you," he whispered the phrase that allowed him to sleep every night and each time, it rang more and more hollow.
The more Xavier learned, the more impossible his dreams seemed; yet, despite the darkness that consumed him, a flicker of hope remained – a fragile ember in the depths of his soul.
In the quiet moments between his fevered work, Xavier allowed himself to remember Ethan's final words and the limited connection they shared; it was this memory that kept him tethered to reality, a slender thread of humanity in a world that had grown increasingly alien.
Ironically, he was an alien…
The humans native to Humanity were taller, lighter-skinned, and vastly more knowledgeable in unique ways.
Luckily, their biological nature was close enough to Xavier's that their life-extension sciences worked on him as well, perhaps, worked in some ways better than they would on natives.
Days in the lab turned into weeks…
Weeks in months…
Months into years…
The war with the Taxomites continued to rage on distant planetary bodies, humanity neither winning nor losing; by choice, given their best level of destruction would cost more than just the Taxomites' extinction.
As the machine neared completion, Xavier knew that he was standing on the precipice of something monumental.
The question that haunted him was whether his creation would bring salvation or further destruction; in his heart, he hoped it would be a beacon of hope, a way to honor the sacrifices of those lost.
Still, the way he had gone about the collection of knowledge was less than desirable.
The machine, in essence, was a supercomputer capable of tracing the connections between the fabrics of reality, collecting knowledge in many forms, and ripping it out of the minds of those unwilling to share if it deemed the knowledge valuable enough.
"I will need to build a failsafe into SAGE," Xavier muttered.
With a final, trembling breath, Xavier waved his hand to alter the composition of the smart-light particles, and then he pulled at the air to alter the gravity necessary to fit the parameters of the machine, SAGE.
The room filled with a blinding light, and for a moment, he felt a profound connection to the universe – a glimpse of the infinite possibilities that lay beyond what was known and unknown.
It was darkness and light, shadow existed as liquids, and tears as crystals, love as the space between atoms, and lightning with sentience – everything was written and re-written in a trillion different ways, using only the first three letters of the universe's alphabet SAGE could tap into.
In that instant, Xavier understood that his journey was far from over; it had hardly begun, there were still battles to be fought, still lives to be saved and there was a grander reason for his presence in this new universe.
And perhaps, just perhaps, at the end of his journey, there would still be a way to find his way back to Emma and Lily.