1 Almost Infinite
"Come out Doctor Nebulas!! The entire facility is surrounded, it's only a matter of time before we break through the blast doors!"
A brash voice barely penetrated through the five-foot thick titanium door. Further overshadowed by the constant banging as they tried hammering through.
The laboratory shook with every hit, the clanking of instruments and lab equipment only added to the chaos. Anything hung on the walls had already fallen and papers scattered across the floor.
Among the mess are seven visible PhDs in biology, engineering, and physics in their cracked frames. The papers were full of calculations and theories, unreadable to anyone but their author.
Even if anyone else was in the room to see them, their eyes wouldn't even look at the mess on the floor. Instead, their eyes would immediately lock on the medical tanks that lined the room; Filled with dissected and mutilated human bodies of different race, age, and gender.
One person, in particular, had been divided down the middle. Even with such an injury, the person still lived, floating in a medical solution that barely sustained his life. Instruments that showed brain activity reflected his body still acted in sync while split in half.
An old man in a dirty white lab coat stood in front of a large computer, his face full of wrinkles and a head of messy silver hair. His eyes bloodshot as his fingers danced on the keyboard.
"Fools?! Don't they see the value of my life's work! So what if a few dozen dregs of society give their life, their deaths won't even be a footnote to my success! My greatness!!"
The madness in his eyes was briefly hidden by the dense line of code reflected from the screen. Not even worried about the people outside; Once he completed the last step, the people he sacrificed would mean nothing and he was sure they would forgive him. For no one could resist the draw of what he's about to accomplish.
Immortality, the goal he's worked over eighty years to achieve. The moment he could think, he knew life was finite, but a grain of sand on the vast desert of eternity. Even now he could feel his mind slipping, forgetting small things here and there as he pushed forward with his work.
While some turned towards medicine and living a healthier lifestyle, he turned towards machines. If he could make nanobots that bound to every cell in his body, he could control them to repair and maintain his vitality; Even going beyond the limits of humans
"Doctor, the door will only hold for three more minutes." A synthetic voice echoed from a speaker on the desk.
"Don't bother with useless calculations Infinatis. Continue running simulations, see if there are any problems with my code. We can't afford to make mistakes now."
Nebulas spoke with a calm voice, the anger from earlier seemingly vanished. His mind hyper-focused as he typed the last line of dense code.
The clanging seemed nothing more than a symphony for this final moment. The world seemed to pause as he pressed the enter key.
The code ran on the screen like a beautiful waterfall. Billions of lines coming together to make something magnificent.
"Calculating chance of success, running simulations."
"There's no time! Synthesize the nanofluid!" Nebulas knew he had no time to spare when he saw a little over a minute left on the screen. Even now, the seemingly useless calculation made by Infinatis earlier has saved him from making a grave mistake. Further proof that his mind is slipping.
The machines started running and a silver fluid flowed through a series of tubes. The fluid filled over thirty thick medical syringes.
"Doctor, it's recommended testing on experimental body 38. She has the best match with the nanofluid produced based on your parameters."
"No, I'll do it myself." Nebulas walked towards the machine with unsteady steps. Throwing off his lab coat with great effort and exposing his rickety arms beneath. He didn't even have time to strap himself in as the needles pierced different parts of his body.
The silver fluid poured into his veins, forming bright metallic lines that ran throughout his body. The nanofluid reached every inch in an instant and began binding with his cells, transforming them into organic machines.
Silver lines ran through his body tissue like runic tattoos, indicative of the metal he used to make the machines. Due to its nature, it was the best material he had available.
The wrinkles on his face started to tighten and his hair turned dark brown from the roots. Taking on the appearance of a man in his twenties, the doctor felt completely rejuvenated.
Just as he felt a connection to the nanobots joined with his brain, the door to the lab was blasted open.
Men in riot gear stormed the office, their rifles trailing Nebulas as they moved. The man in charge walked in wearing a dark gray suit with slick black hair.
When he saw the appearance of the Doctor his face instantly fell.
Nebulas just looked at the intruders and smiled. His arms spread to the side to show off his new form. "As you can see, I succeeded. The world's first immortal has been born!"
The words left his mouth with pride, but instead of shock and awe, he got silence.
"We never doubted you would succeed Nebulas, that's why we provide you with so much funding. The problem is what you did behind our backs, stealing important research results from others and running away. Not these useless people in tubes."
The man shook his head and drew his gun. "You thought you could move out here, in the middle of nowhere, and continue your research without us knowing? The organization has deemed you as a loose cannon, one it cannot control."
The man didn't even wait for Nebulas to respond, he pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession. Two in the chest and one in the head, his aim so precise a layman could see he's practiced countless times.
The expected scene did not occur, Nebulas still stood with a smile on his face. The bullets absorbed into his flesh and the blood flowed back into the wounds as they healed.
"What kind of immortal can be killed by bullets?" Nebulas sprung forward, his body taut like a cheetah. His speed so fast he arrived before the man in what seemed like an instant.
"What?" The man's eyes widened as Nebulas's fingers wrapped around his throat.
By the time he lifted the man in the air, the commandos in riot gear finally opened fire. The bullets sank into his body like throwing rocks in mud, his wounds healing just as fast as they appeared.
Nebulas frowned, every shot felt like a hot iron rod piercing his flesh. He could feel his energy depleting with every shot, like a diabetic low on insulin.
His fingers tightened to crush the man's neck, betting his body could last longer than their bullets. He's not a soldier, all he can do is rely on his calculations based on his research.
The man felt his life fleeing from his body. Knowing what would happen to his family if he failed the mission, he enacted plan B. He struggled to move his hand and twist a dial on his watch. At that moment everything went blank.
Not because his watch was a flash bomb, but a massive explosion had stripped them of their senses.
Knowing the danger of the doctor's research, the organization equipped him with a series of small tactical nukes for this very situation.
The nukes caused a small sun to form before it reduced the entire mountainside to cinders.
--
Nebulas opened his eyes once more, confused as to why he still lived. He vividly remembered the explosion engulfing his body and rendering him to ash.
His first thoughts were his nanobots were more powerful than he imagined, but that was quickly thrown out of the window by what lay before his eyes. Two creatures stood in front of him with pale bark-like skin, a wide crackly mouth without lips, and small eyes deeply sunken in their face.
When they saw him open his eyes, they turned towards each other and spoke in a language he doesn't understand. As someone who spoke over twenty languages, he found this hard to believe. At that level, all languages started drawing inspiration from each other.
His eyes scanned around, judging by the size of these two creatures, he realized either his body had shrunk or they're giants.
All attempts to control his body were futile, not because it's damaged or restrained, but the way it moved was fundamentally different from what he knew.
His mind wanted to work one way but his nerves are wired to work in another.
One of the creatures reached down and picked him up, their eyes locked before a grotesque smile appeared on its face.
Seeing that the creature wasn't eating him, he realized this must be his parents and he's their baby.
He didn't panic when he realized he's been reborn as an alien creature. Instead, he was calm, a nagging feeling in the back of his head told him he's seen this creature before.
His mind raced as the creature carried him around what looked like an underground cavern. The rocky halls were illuminated by glowing stones embedded in the walls.
Arriving in another room, some kind of meat was being roasted over a fire. The smoke was carried away by a mechanical vent built into the wall.
Seeing some technology mixed in with this primitive style drove him further into confusion. Unable to figure out what kind of species this is or how advanced they are.
The creature he assumed to be his mother sat at a table made of mud and stone with him in her lap.
His body twitched as he learned how to properly move it, like a disabled man learning to walk again.
Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock. When the creature he assumed to be his father went to remove the meat from the fire, his pale arms transformed into stones.
Everything clicked at that moment, realizing where he knew the creatures from. An obscure race in the Star Wars universe named Shi'ido, a species of shapeshifting telepaths.
