1 Imagny

In a secret underground chamber where I conducted all my research, hidden beneath a mountain, here I am: 80 years old, exhausted, weak, and frail, yet filled with excitement and pride in front of my greatest creation. The Imagny machine, designed to transcend the barrier between reality and imagination, capable of merging the two using neural technology and a quantum gateway. It took me a lifetime of effort and secrecy; I couldn't afford to risk divulging this machine, a device with infinite possibilities. Each of its components is rare and extremely expensive, obtained by delving deep into the dark side of society. I dealt with the most dangerous individuals, constructing weapons and bombs for them, providing classified defense information through hacking. My skills as an engineer and scientist are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, but it was a necessary evil. From their ashes and blood arose the most magnificent masterpiece of humanity, my creation.

"Imagny," I say with my deep, weary voice.

"Yes, sir," responds a mechanical voice. Imagny, an artificial intelligence machine, the strangest part is that I feel like I created it, but I have no recollection.

"Initiate the startup procedure," I say, gazing at the machine before me. It resembles a cylindrical coffin, inspired by VR machines depicted in numerous manga. I used proto-Diamondium for almost the entire structure, a fusion of diamond and titanium of my own creation. It is extremely sturdy and an excellent quantum insulator.

All the components, except the core, consist of 0.5% top-grade electronics and 99.5% crystal, but a crystal so pure that it is translucent and specially designed to switch between the three stages of light reaction: reflection, transmission, and refraction.

The AI calculates the optimal solution for each nanometric surface area, for each moment and every quantum atom, whether it's a single response or a blend of two or three stages, such as x% refraction, y% reflection, z% transmission.

The cables are the second most crucial part; having the right materials is essential. It took me a long time and thousands of attempts, but I finally found the material that worked best: gold.

Not ordinary gold, but exothermic gold capable of transitioning from a liquid to a solid state. It enables 99.99% quantum conductivity. With current technology, it's the maximum attainable, although far from an incredible achievement. It's not even an outstanding result; it's merely sufficient.

The exo-gold cables extend from the core, passing through all the components.

The core itself is simply marvelous. It consists of a bundle of wires connected to a perfectly smooth black sphere—a challenging feat to accomplish with a rock. But it's not an earthly stone; it's a comet that landed on Earth hundreds of years ago. However, it's not just a space rock; it's one of the oldest comets ever discovered, precisely 12.7 billion years old, only 1 billion years less than the Big Bang.

It's aged, but my research has shown that it spent most of its time trapped in a black hole. This incredible phenomenon sets it apart, and the stone has remained completely unaffected. It is made of a material that defies all the knowledge humanity has ever discovered. I obtained it through sheer hard work and considerable luck. I stumbled upon a cosmic trail by chance while observing space in search of star correlations.

Out of curiosity, I decided to investigate this anomaly. I then discovered that this trail has existed for precisely 420 years. What's peculiar is that a comet trail typically lasts a few decades at best. For this trail to still be present, the asteroid would have to be the size of New York City. Given that life on earth has not been exterminated it is totally impossible for the comet to be that big.

Curiosity led me to delve into this strangeness, and I discovered that the trail was exactly 420 years old. What's odd is that a comet's tail usually lasts only a few decades at best. For this trail to still be present, the asteroid would have to be the size of New York, but considering life on Earth hasn't been exterminated, it's completely impossible for the comet to be that large.

It took countless efforts to conceal this cosmic trail. The only reason no one has discovered it is because my tools surpassed those of any country. I was the only one aware of its existence, but that was in the past. Governments started spending billions of dollars on scientific research, forcing me to hurry and cover my tracks. So, after an unfortunate "accident" involving the explosion of a nuclear bomb in a remote village in India, conveniently located beneath the trail.

The story caused quite a stir at the time, and creating a plausible background narrative to explain why a nuclear bomb was in a miserable Indian village was challenging. But in the end, it doesn't matter. Suspicion doesn't matter. The cosmic trail is now surrounded by radioactive material.

No one but me knew about the existence of this strange space rock, and once again, it took a lot of calculations, futile efforts, and false theories leading to dead ends before I finally found the location of the basketball-sized asteroid. It was tucked away in a remote spot beneath a mountain.

It took me a long time to dig, uncover, and search for it, especially because I was doing it alone. My paranoia prevented anyone from knowing what I was up to. Thankfully, with my immense fortune acquired through dubious dealings with unsavory individuals and advancements in human architecture, I was able to acquire top-notch equipment. After learning of its existence, it took me only six years to find my precious treasure.

It was in the same mountain where I had established my lab, having done most of the work myself, so it made sense to turn it into my hidden base.

I studied the asteroid, which was no larger than a basketball. I must say, this rock is as precious as it is mysterious. It reacted strangely to all the simulations I ran, which wasn't surprising. For a rock to survive inside a black hole where even planets turn to dust, it had to be unique. The rock was extremely hard, harder than any known material, but it wasn't just its strength that allowed it to withstand the pressure of a black hole. The rock possessed the uncanny ability to ignore the energies it faced, whether it was thermal heat, radiation, or vibration. It could defy the very laws of physics that govern our world.

I studied it for several decades, working on other projects in parallel. In the 30 years since acquiring it, countless sleepless nights and with my incredible genius, I've barely scratched the surface, discovering less than 0.1% of its secrets.

With my Proto-Diamondium, the only existing material capable of even slightly cutting it—which shouldn't be possible—I cannot explain the reason. The only explanation is a theory: the stone seems to possess consciousness and allowed me to study it.

I created a machine that operates on vibrations to sharpen and enhance the cutting effect of the Proto-Diamondium blade.

I polished the rock as best as I could, equipping its interior with a particle accelerator that propels two opposing atoms, one negative and one positive, at incredibly high speeds. Only after 100 rotations, when the atoms reach 99.999% of the speed of light, do they collide, collapsing onto each other in an explosion. This opens a quantum portal no larger than 42 nanometers. No matter how much effort or calculation I put into it, I cannot alter or reduce this number for some strange reason. Then, with the exo-gold cables, the quantum particles travel through the machine.

"Hehehe..." I chuckled with enthusiasm as I gazed at the machine.

'BOOM!!' A sudden explosion shakes the entire building.

"Damn, what's happening, Imagny?"

"Intruders are attacking, sir."

I swear before shouting,

"Initiate the execution procedure."

"Sir, it's too early, we shouldn't test..." the AI gets cut off.

"We have no choice, how the hell did they find us...?" I walk as best as I can, moving as fast as my decrepit body allows, but the tremors are getting stronger, dust and small debris falling from the ceilings. I'm right in front of the machine, about to open the lid when a bullet pierces my leg before hitting the machine and bouncing off the floor.

"ARGHHH!!!" The pain comes immediately.

"You really thought you could fuck me over?" a voice says from behind.

I turn around and see him: White hair like moonlight, eyes as black as shadows, a human weapon standing at 7'1, he wore a fabric mask that covered his face up to the nose, hiding the lower part of his face. This is what the greatest assassin of his time looks like, code name: Seth.

He was also my former associate, I paid him for many tasks, mostly thefts or assassinations. I also paid him a lot, not with money but with help, favors, and contacts, granting him many privileges.

All that to be one of the few to get immunity if someone pays him to kill me. But a few months ago, I decided to get rid of him, I sent him on a false mission that was a trap with a hundred gunmen and war machines waiting for him. It ended with numerous explosions and a massive landslide, I thought he was dead, his body buried underground.

I look at him and see that he didn't survive without damage, his clothes were filled with dirt, mud, and dried blood, there were three holes in his clothes representing bullet impacts, one on his shoulder, one on his leg, and one under his ribs. None of his wounds were fatal, but he shouldn't be able to walk at all.

He started walking towards me, looking at me with indifference and boredom, he looks at everyone like that, as if we were insects in front of him, I hate that look from the depths of my soul.

But I'm not stupid, even injured as he is, I know he could kill anyone ten times over, and for an old man like me, that number is much greater. It's not the time to hate him.

"Wait, listen to me, I made a stupid mistake, I was also attacked, my informant tried to betray me..." I just need to buy some time, just a little, if I can reach Imagny's capsule, I win, and if the machine works as it should: I will become a god.

I just need one last stroke of luck. He was now a meter in front of me, and he stops abruptly.

"He tried to betray you...?" He looked at me without really seeing me as if I were transparent while speaking in an annoyed voice.

I grit my teeth to hide my anger. I use my tired arms and my one functional leg to stand up.

"How long have we known each other? 8-9 years, we are as close as friends can be in our profession, I have never double-crossed you, and I never will..."

"Hmphh..." he said thoughtfully, I try to discreetly move towards my contraption, which was half a meter behind me.

I reached it with small steps after 10 seconds, and I touched the pod with which I was about to open the capsule. He looks at me then and speaks slowly:

"Yeah, you're right, I've known you for a long time, we have worked together well, I know you inside out, and I know two things about you; first, you're the smartest guy I know..." I was relieved at his words.

"And you don't make mistakes." He whispered those words before shouting at me in the chest.

"Clap..."

I lost my breath and groaned, my legs gave way, and I fell to the ground.

I slightly turned my back and tried to climb onto the capsule with my hands, bringing my body close to the machine and pushing my muscles to their limit for a simple pull.

"Aghhh..." I push with all my might, trying to get back up, gritting my teeth and ignoring the pain.

My face turns red with strain, I hear the debris growing louder and the tremors intensifying. I was close to the capsule when my left side takes a hit, and I'm sent flying several meters away. Seth looks at me for a few seconds, his leg raised, before turning towards the entrance which is now blocked by a large piece of debris.

Seth didn't need to look around to know it was the only entrance. He had studied the blueprints of the base and speculated on possible hidden exits. He knew it was a risk to come after him, but he wanted to finish off the second guy himself, the one who almost killed him. He thought of a solution and seeing the strange contraption in front of him, he noticed how the bullet had bounced off the materials.

"Bang... Bang... Bang..." he fires three times, seeing the bullets bounce without leaving a scratch. The material is something he has never seen before, a dark blue color, beautiful, intimidating, and highly resistant. Seth takes off his jacket and retrieves all the grenades, placing them under the contraption without removing the pins. He also places his C4 explosive, making sure to take the detonator. The tremors have begun to destabilize the entire structure of the mountain, there are only a few minutes left before everything collapses.

Seth starts searching for debris the size of a hand, picking them up one by one and placing them in a circle around the explosives. They need to prevent the grenades from rolling away, they must stay under the contraption to facilitate a powerful implosion. Time is running out. He looks to his left and sees the Doc lying in a pool of blood, muttering to himself and delirious. Seth looks at him for a second before climbing onto the machine, lying down, and closing the capsule.

How did this happen? I've been discreet throughout my 70 years of life. Everything has gone crazy in recent months.

"Hahahaha..." a bitter laughter escapes my bloodied mouth.

Silent, paranoid, that's who I am. Why did I make so many mistakes? I was so close, just a few months, and I would become a superior being. Are the gods mocking me? Showing me that I was nothing but entertainment to them from the beginning, dancing in the palms of their hands? Enjoying watching me try to escape the human body that serves as my prison.

Is it Destiny? Condemning me to nothing more than being a mortal like everyone else, living and dying at their whim, decomposing to feed the worms and the earth upon my death, turning to dust under the yoke of time? Or perhaps it's the devil? Tears filling my eyes, I turn my head and see my creation, imposing, unreal, dark blue like the depths of the ocean, so majestic and yet so dangerous... My eyes widen, and I realize.

It's not the gods, it's not the devil, nor even destiny that has condemned me. As my eyes widen, it's Im...

"BOOM!!!!!!"

The roof collapses.

*************

Seth finds himself lying in the capsule, which offers just enough space for comfort. In his hand, he holds the detonator connected to the C4 explosive. He knows he needs to wait for the ceiling to collapse and then push the button, timing the explosion to take advantage of the weakened structure. If he times it right, the blast will create an opening rather than destroying everything in its path.

He sets his countdown timer for 7 minutes and 37-43 seconds, according to his calculations.

[< Initialization of the Machine >]

[< Calculation of Data... >]

[< Start of the procedure >]

"Hmmm, this thing has an electronic voice. What is this machine supposed to do?" Seth wonders, feeling uncertain about the contraption created by the mad Doc.

"Stop the procedure!" Seth shouts, deciding not to take the risk with a machine designed by someone so unpredictable.

[< Filling the capsule... >]

But Seth realizes he can't stop the process. A transparent gray liquid begins to pour out from the bottom of the capsule. It's not a major problem for Seth since he can hold his breath underwater for 47 minutes in static apnea.

Time passes, and after 3 minutes, the entire capsule is filled with the liquid. Seth opens his mouth slightly, allowing a few drops in. He tastes and swallows, confirming his suspicion—it's not water, probably some kind of sleep-inducing substance, though not chloroform. Seth knows he has a high resistance to practically all poisons on this planet, so even if it's something unknown, he isn't too worried. The tremors grow stronger, and Seth starts to think and imagine what would have happened if he were just an ordinary guy, with a regular job and a loving family, with mischievous children. His eyes narrow slowly, but he realizes he's been drugged. He bites his lips, the pain helping him stay awake.

"Hmm, this machine is strange. I need to leave now," Seth decides, abandoning his waiting plan and pressing the buttons.

"BOOOOOOMMMM!" He feels himself being lifted off the ground as the explosion engulfs everything.

[< Error, Lost Connection... >]

He did everything he could, but he finally closes his eyes.

[< Create Multiple Space-Time Rift >]

[< Selection Portal To World #13072001 >]

[< Manipulation Of Fate >]

[< Background Creation >]

[< Successful >]

*************

Dans the room filled with golden splendor and magic, a King sits, observing a nurse attending to his wife, the Queen, who is currently in labor. Suddenly, the ceiling and the upper part of the palace are torn apart, pierced by a luminous force that sends all the nurses crashing into the walls, severely injuring them.

An Energy Column descends into the Queen's belly, where the unborn fetus resides. Through her skin, one can see the baby starting to glow with shades of blue and purple, resembling a galaxy. The mother relaxes and falls into a gentle unconsciousness. The column, composed of an infinite number of digits resembling a code, emits a blue and purple light with a luminous point.

All the Asgardians look up at the sky and witness this magnificent and mysterious scene. Odin, utilizing his divinity and OdinForce, attempts to understand what is happening. He realizes that the baby is not in danger, but he wants to ensure the safety of his wife. To his astonishment, his OdinForce cannot penetrate this energy; his power is rendered useless. He has no idea what this column is.

"Impossible..." the King murmurs, instantly knowing that his child is destined for great things. "Their future will be unimaginable... their destiny!!" Odin's eyes widen, and he employs all his divinity and OdinForce to create a dome around Asgard, isolating the powerful energy emitted by the beam and preventing anyone from seeing what is happening. He channels his power to create the most impenetrable barrier possible, determined to conceal his unborn child.

So much danger would befall the Nine Realms if someone who is not an Asgardian learns of what is transpiring here. If even a single impatient visitor, in the hopes of a reward, were to report this anomaly to the Celestials, the consequences would be horrendous.

As he carries out these measures, Odin keeps his gaze fixed on the unfolding scene. He sees his wife begin to float, and the column continues its advance into the fetus. After a minute, the entire energy column gradually disappears as it reaches its destination.

And calm returns for a brief moment, only to be interrupted by the cry of a baby. The child has apparently emerged from the Queen's womb on its own, gently and smoothly. Odin checks on the condition of the child and then tends to his wife, who remains unconscious.

The door opens, and a dozen guards enter.

"Your Majesty, are you well? What is happening?"

Odin takes a deep breath.

"My son is born... Look, Astral Odinson."