Chapter One: The Broken Heart
The amber light of a dying star-system sun stretched long shadows across RUSSELL ZODIAC's dorm room.
Textbooks on quantum entanglement and xenobiology towered across his desk, but his focus wasn't on them.
It was on the reflection in his window—
or rather, the hopelessly hopeful expression he was trying to perfect.
He inhaled.
Steady. Calm. Confident.
None of it worked.
The frantic drumming in his chest only grew louder as he tapped the call icon.
The screen shimmered… and then she appeared.
---
JULIET.
Her hair flowed like a river of obsidian, gleaming in the pale light of the holo-feed.
Even through the digital static, her eyes shone—diamond bright, dissecting, alive.
The kind of eyes that could cut through a man's soul.
Or, in Russell's case… his fragile ego.
She smiled.
Normally, that smile launched a fleet of starships in his stomach.
Today, it felt more like a firing squad's signal.
"Russell? Hey! I'm just heading to the orbital docking bay.
Mom's shipping out to the Proxima Centauri outpost.
Make it quick?"
Now or never.
For the tenth time.
"Juliet, I know you're busy. And I know what you're going to say.
But I had to ask one more time…
Juliet, will you—uh—accompany me to the Solar Gala next week?"
He'd rehearsed that word. Accompany me.
It sounded more mature than go with me.
He held his breath.
His courage flickered—tiny, fragile, dying.
Juliet's lips curved.
A soft laugh escaped her—gentle, but devastating.
The kind of laugh that didn't crush you.
It erased you politely.
"Oh, Russ. Not this again."
She shook her head, black hair swaying like silk in starlight.
"You're sweet, really.
But we've been over this. I'm pre-naval flight.
My life's mapped from here to the Kuiper Belt.
You're… well, you.
It would never work. Sorry!"
The holo-screen blinked.
Connection terminated.
Russell stared at his reflection—his defeated face layered over Neo-Aether City's glittering skyline.
You're you.
The words echoed in his chest.
The most efficient rejection protocol ever designed
"Rejection number ten. Logged and archived."
He flopped backward onto his bed.
The mattress groaned in sympathy.
He wasn't out of shape—academy drills saw to that.
But right now, he felt lighter than stardust.
---
Distraction protocol initiated.
He thumbed open his holo-feed.
A prism of light fanned out across the room—ready to flood him with other people's perfect lives.
Parties on orbital yachts.
Zero-gravity selfies.
Vacations on Mars.
Everything he wasn't.
But before the first image could appear—
the hologram glitched.
A sharp pulse of blue code rippled through the air.
The soft pastel interface twisted, distorted—then collapsed entirely.
In its place, a man's face flickered into view.
Not a flat image.
A full 3D projection.
Russell nearly dropped his datapad.
The man had the same jawline, the same dark hair—only streaked with silver, and wildly unkempt.
Smart-glasses perched crookedly on his forehead.
A familiar chaos radiated from him.
"Uncle Salvador?"
Russell groaned. "You hacked my social feed again?
Ever heard of a text message?"
---
SALVADOR ZODIAC.
Genius. Madman. Family embarrassment.
He grinned wide.
"Text messages lack theatricality, my boy!
Besides, a proper intrusion vector keeps your reflexes sharp."
He squinted. "You look terrible.
Moping again?
Let me guess—the Juliet Variable remains unsolved?"
"Shut up, Sal."
"I merely observe the data," Salvador said, pushing his glasses up.
"Your biometrics are spiking. Stress high, serotonin low.
Pathetic."
His grin widened.
"Which is exactly why I'm calling! Forget the girl.
Your brain's being wasted on—what is it again? Xenobotanical poetry?
Nonsense! Come to my lab.
I'll teach you real science—subspace mechanics, plasma coil design, the kind of brilliance that built the empire!"
Russell groaned, turning onto his side.
"Not interested, Sal.
I just want a normal, quiet life.
A degree, a boring job planetside.
No drama. No crazy uncles hacking my socials for experiments."
"Normal? Pfft. Normal is for drones!"
Salvador threw up his hands. "Russell, this—wait.
Blast it, the containment field's destabilizing again—"
Static rippled through the projection.
"I have to go! The offer stands!
And remember—don't do anything I would do!
Which is everything!"
The hologram blinked out, leaving silence and the faint hum of Neo-Aether's anti-grav traffic.
---
Russell lay there, staring at the ceiling.
His heart still hurt. His pride still stung.
But most of all—
he just wanted things to stay normal.
He didn't know that in a few hours, normal would die.
He didn't know his uncle's "weird experiment" was about to collapse—
catastrophically.
He didn't know that something born in that failure would drag him into a war no one believed existed.
He didn't know…
that the first step to becoming a hero—
is almost always a spectacular, and utter, failure.