CHAPTER 1 : ACCIDENT

"Hahaha! I did it! I-I finally did it!" I laughed in euphoria looking at the purple element in the glass slab, the result of five years of my constant hard work. My jaw started to feel slack from smiling as I admired my discovery for a full ten minutes.

Then my gaze shifted to the slab Adjacent to it...on the stone placed within it to be precise. This seemingly ordinary-looking rock has been shocking the world ceaselessly for the last couple of years.

This is a piece of meteorite that landed on Earth about a decade ago, and was named "Perseids".

So far, 56 new elements have been extracted from the compounds discovered on it, furthermore, there are some substances scientists aren't even able to extract from their respective compounds due to the lack of required equipment.

Ever since I was a child, I have always been very curious about the infinite cosmos which we live in. This did not diminish even after I graduated from high school, so...I opted for astrodynamics for higher studies. As I learned more about it, the more intriguing it became. After getting my baccalaureate, I got an internship at one of the biggest space research organisations in the world. I studied and researched rocket science like crazy, trying to quench all of my thirst for it.

Humanity had been exploring outer space for nearly 60 years and has discovered many things nonetheless. However our exploration speed was still too slow to my liking so..after my internship period when I officially became a scientist, I started researching how to improve on that, and I actually found a solution to even solve the problem altogether. A method to achieve or even go beyond the speed of light...well...theoretically.

HOWEVER... I found out that the major element required for its implementation hadn't been discovered which of course disappointed me a lot. Despite that, My determination did not lessen.

I started searching for it or maybe making it artificially. I checked all the elements that existed in the world and personally listed down all of their properties and...my hard work did not disappoint me as I noticed that the new elements extracted from perseids showed some similarities with my hypothetical element. Although none had the major property I needed which was having negative mass, some properties were indeed similar. Therefore I decided to thoroughly study perseid, requesting a piece of the mysterious meteorite from my organization for research.

After nearly 5 years, I finally found it, I did it. With this discovery of mine, my name will go down in history. Now looking at the purple element in front of me, I felt like all the painstaking hard work I had done for all these years was worth it, totally worth it.

With this, humanity will reach new heights in space exploration. We will be able to warp through space, achieve the speed of light or-r or e-even go beyond that.

Though it's still a theoretical concept. but now that the main element has been discovered. Given some decades, it would become a reality.

I looked at the purple element affectionately as if looking at my own child.

But suddenly....my smile froze, gazing at the element....the radiation it was emitting to be precise, illuminating not only the slab but also the space around it which should not have been possible because the slab was radiation-proof.

"Oh F*ck", I said in disbelief.

A chill ran down my spine at the thought of this weird unknown radiance seeping into my body.

Ignoring the leaking radiations, I ran for the emergency button to isolate the lab from the outside world and inform my superiors in the organisation I worked for.

I was currently in my personal lab and as a person who likes to work alone, I don't have any assistant which I am really regretting at this moment.

"Beep beep...isolating the lab...everyone is advised to go outside or hide in the isolation chamber...notifying the authorities". A robotic voice rang throughout the lab after I pressed the emergency button, which was installed in every researcher's lab in the organisation just in case of these kinds of situations.

"Huh", I heaved a sigh of relief. Then ran towards the isolation chamber in the basement. After running in front of the stairs leading downwards, I took a final glance at my back, only to see that more than 30% of my experimental lab was already engulfed in purple radiations, which were continuously spreading in every direction, trying to cover the areas that were not yet occupied.

Gulping my saliva, I ran towards the isolation chamber like my life depended on it, which probably was. Taking the stairs down to the basement, a door made of steel appeared in front of me, which somewhat looked like a door to the bank locker.

My gaze went to the screen installed on the left side of the door. Not wanting to waste any time, I abruptly typed the password with trembling hands.

After at most a second, the door opened with a clicking sound. I immediately went inside.

The isolation chamber had a floor area of around 250 square feet. On the left wall was a solitary bed, while on the right corner, there was a huge refrigerator stocked with enough food and water to last for six months. A study table with a chair was positioned in front of the bed, and a bookshelf stood in the left corner.

Looking back, I hurriedly closed the door with a bang.

Then, I looked down and examined my body thoroughly, searching for any unusual marks or symptoms. Despite my close inspection for five minutes, I couldn't find anything visible to the naked eye. Although I know that I was briefly exposed to radiation there's nothing I can do at the moment. Someone from the headquarters will arrive within an hour at most.

I let out a deep breath as I made my way to the bed, lying down and shutting my eyes. My mind wandered to what my next course of action would be after sorting out this chaotic situation. "Perhaps, I should seek out a substance that can effectively shield against the harmful radiation emitted by that mysterious purple element," I pondered.

I was struggling to decide on a research approach when, perhaps due to exhaustion or anxiety, I immediately dozed off.

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I was jolted awake by a bright purple light that shone directly into my eyes, feeling of discomfort made me hastily attempt to open my eyes however at this moment

"Aaaaaaahhhh", I felt like my head was splitting in half, and my body was being poked by millions of needles.

I opened my eyes only to find that purple radiations filled the entire chamber room,

illuminating my body in a similar hue.

The excruciating pain was unbearable as if my body was being crushed from within. I clenched my teeth so hard that it caused blood to trickle from my mouth. I persisted for the longest 10 minutes of my life, until falling unconscious which finally put an end to my torment.

I couldn't tell how long it had been, but suddenly my sight was restored. Looking around, I found myself surrounded by an endless, impenetrable darkness.

'Outer space?' I thought but if that were true, then I probably wouldn't even have been able to think straight as all air would have been sucked out of my lungs because of the pressure difference, killing me in nearly 2 minutes.

'Then am I....dead?' Panicking, I couldn't help but come to this conclusion.

However at this moment, suddenly a purple light appeared in the void some distance away from me out of nowhere, igniting fear in my very being. I instinctively tried to move away from it but suddenly found out that I...couldn't. Panicking I looked down and found out that my lower body was transparent, there was no skin, no organs, and no bones. it was entirely ethereal. I literally looked like a f*cling ghost.

After a minute, I took a deep breath to calm myself down before directing my attention towards the source of the luminosity. Despite thoroughly scanning the emptiness for any other possible alternative exits and founding nothing but emptiness, I made up my mind to move towards the light.

I pushed every inch of my body forward, like a person fighting to stay afloat in deep waters. I kept at it for a full 10 minutes, but despite my effort, I was only able to move an inch at best.

'Fuck, with this speed, it'll probably take me months to reach the light, and who knows if it'll even still be there by then.' I thought, feeling frustrated but still kept moving forward.

However, all of a sudden I felt something moving in the void, I don't know how, but I could feel it. Tilting my head to look at my back, I saw a transparent figure, the size of a human moving towards me...no...the purple light to be precise. I was just in its way.

As if the light was calling to it, the figure was moving towards it at a very fast speed as after nearly half a minute, it was almost in front of me. I felt like it was my chance and tried to grab onto the figure to move with it.

But just as I was about to grab it, my hands felt repulsion so powerful that they bounced back, the resulting momentum threw me a few meters away, it was like we were opposite poles of a magnet.

I stood at my position in a daze as the ethereal figure passed through the light, and completely disappeared from the void altogether.

'Huh', I heaved a sigh, 'I knew it was not going to be that easy.' I thought, not surprised by the outcome as only because of this repulsion force I was able to sense the figure earlier.

Inhaling deeply to calm myself down, I reflected on what had happened just now. After what felt like an hour, a brilliant idea came to my mind.

'Why don't I arrange myself in front of the figure and just use the force of repulsion produced by our collision to move forward?' pondering over my idea for a while, I thought it was feasible, THAT IS if another one even arrives.

I don't know how much time passed but I felt the same feeling again as I instantly looked back at the figure that was moving. Although It had somewhat different features from the one I saw before, but was still transparent.

Clicking out of my thoughts, I calculated the direction and angle needed to achieve the desired effect and force. Then I made use of every swimming skill I could think of to move my body to position myself at the right place. If I had flesh, I probably would have been soaked in sweat at this point. Just as I arranged myself at the right position, we collided.

A force of thousands of Newton hit me and I was instantly repelled towards the purple light at a blinking speed.

The produced momentum was able to take me just about 5 inches away from the light. At this distance, I could myself swim to it but I waited for the figure to pass through first.

Pondering over the matter, I couldn't help but wonder why those beings could move effortlessly while I remained stuck in place. Furthermore, they appeared to lack consciousness or voluntary movement

Upon careful consideration, I deduced that they are summoned by an external force beyond the purple light, unlike me. Needless to say, I have no intention of taking their position. Who knows what their fate will be?

After roughly 30 seconds, the second figure also passed through the purple light. I held back for a moment and then followed suit.