The Neptune scanners began to scream.
Not alarms.
Not warnings.
Questions.
Every display aboard the lead research vessel flooded with shifting data—numbers collapsing into symbols, symbols breaking into static, static reforming into patterns no one had ever seen.
A scientist froze mid-step.
"…Commander," she said slowly, eyes locked on the screen.
"This asteroid is not inert."
Another rushed to her side.
"That's impossible. The energy readings—"
He stopped.
His breath caught.
The readings were changing.
Adapting.
As if the asteroid was responding to being observed.
"Magnify," the commander ordered.
The lens adjusted.
Zoomed.
And then—
Silence.
Every scientist stared at the image projected above the red dust.
A child.
Lying beside the asteroid.
Alive.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then—
"Oh my god…"
A nervous laugh escaped one of them.
"This has to be a hallucination."
"A survivor?" someone whispered.
Another shook his head violently.
"No. No way. Half the planet collapsed. The atmosphere destabilized. Nothing organic should—"
The child's eyes opened.
The markings around them pulsed faintly.
The scanners went wild.
Every machine in the vicinity recalibrated itself without command.
One scientist staggered back.
"…This isn't Martian."
A senior researcher stepped forward slowly, voice trembling—not with fear, but awe.
"This child isn't just alive," he said.
"He's… integrated."
"Integrated with what?" someone asked.
The man swallowed.
"With the asteroid."
THE SCAN
They approached cautiously.
Weapons stayed lowered—not out of mercy, but uncertainty.
A handheld scanner activated.
The moment it passed over the child's body—
The device cracked.
Metal warped like soft clay.
Data poured out anyway.
Energy signatures layered inside the infant's body.
Not organs.
Not implants.
Structures.
One scientist's voice broke.
"These readings match no known biology."
Another leaned closer, eyes wide.
"…This looks engineered."
A third shook her head.
"No. This is beyond engineering."
She hesitated.
"…It's as if something built itself around him."
The commander exhaled sharply.
"So he's an alien?"
The lead scientist replied quietly:
"No."
"He's a system."
The baby did not cry.
Did not resist.
He watched them.
As if learning.
THE KING'S AGONY
From the invisible edge of Mars, King Potus watched.
He could see the Neptune scientists now.
They stood where his son lay.
He could do nothing.
His hands trembled.
"That's my child…" he whispered.
The Queen collapsed against him, sobbing silently, clutching their firstborn tighter.
Mother Telsa stood behind them.
Her staff felt heavier than ever.
"I cannot intervene," she said quietly.
Her voice cracked.
"They are outside the spell's logic now."
Potus turned, eyes red.
"So this is it?" he asked.
"This is how he's taken?"
Telsa did not answer.
Because there was no lie gentle enough.
THE DECISION
A Neptune scientist lifted the child carefully.
The moment he did—
The asteroid's glow dimmed.
The ground settled.
The storm winds calmed.
The planet exhaled.
A scientist frowned.
"Did you feel that?"
Another nodded slowly.
"It's like… pressure released."
The commander made the call instantly.
"Take the child."
"Full containment."
"Priority transport."
Someone hesitated.
"Sir… if this is a weapon—"
The commander cut him off.
"Then we need to understand it before someone else does."
The child was carried toward the ship.
King Potus screamed.
No sound came out.
His knees gave way.
Mother Telsa closed her eyes.
For the first time in centuries—
She felt useless.
THE ASCENT
The Neptune airship lifted off.
Blue light washed over the surface.
The baby lay secured inside a containment cradle.
Sensors surrounded him.
He stared upward.
Unblinking.
As the ship pierced the sky, a scientist whispered:
"I'm curious…"
"How did an infant survive the collapse of a planet?"
No one answered.
Because the truth was worse.
This planet had not spared him.
It had failed to reject him.
The ship vanished into space.
Mars remained invisible.
Broken.
And somewhere deep within Neptune space—
A laboratory prepared to wake a future nightmare.
END OF CHAPTER