"Ah!" the nurse shrieked. "Someone get in here quickly! The Captain has collapsed!"
She slammed her hand onto the emergency button, and the entire quarantine room began to blare with alarms.
Several scientists in white coats rushed through the doors immediately. They seemed even more anxious than the nurse, entirely disregarding their own risk of infection as they flooded the room. They quickly deployed various instruments to measure Jason's core temperature, draw fresh blood samples, and monitor his vitals.
"He's truly infected this time..." one of the scientists breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He was the head of this particular research team, a man named Aidan.
Another scientist actually let out a nervous laugh. "Yes, his temperature is at 38.6 degrees Celsius. Not dangerously high, but the fact that he fainted means the Martian virus has officially breached his system."
"Given the massive viral load we injected, it would be lethal for a normal human. It would defy all science if he didn't pass out," Aidan nodded in agreement.
"Let's see if his body reacts. This time, we are bound to isolate those specific white blood cells," a young researcher added, his voice trembling with unusual excitement.
"Alright, everyone, monitor the Captain's physical condition closely. Check his vitals every thirty minutes, no, every ten minutes. Report any microscopic changes to me immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
Listening to the scientists chatter, the nurse's expression darkened with disgust. These researchers were absolute fanatics, conducting live human experiments on the leader of their entire civilization!
Even if he was Genetically Enhanced, they had no right to be so reckless. It was sheer insanity. If the general public found out about this, the resulting mob would tear the medical bay apart.
The nurse fumed silently. She respected Jason deeply and was utterly outraged on his behalf. However, she also knew that Jason had personally authorized these experiments in the name of science and survival. Bound by duty, she could only swallow her anger and keep watch.
Meanwhile, time dragged on. For Jason, his vision had gone completely black. He retained his consciousness, but his cognitive functions felt as though they were frozen in ice, operating at an agonizingly slow pace.
He couldn't feel his own heartbeat or the temperature of the room. He felt suspended in a dark, ancient, and silent void. It felt strangely familiar, as if he had been here before.
After what felt like an eternity, he remembered. It was the same sensation he had experienced when he fainted back at the Astronomical Observatory on Earth. Yes, it was this exact dark space. And just like before, the starry sky, the constellation representing humanity, flickered into view!
Jason had found this phenomenon bizarre during his previous coma and never expected to see it again. Did this mental landscape only trigger when he lost consciousness?
At the very center of this cosmic void burned a massive, brilliant star. He intuitively knew this star was himself. Orbiting around him were tens of thousands of smaller stars, emitting steady light and warmth.
Jason understood that each small star represented a living citizen. Though he couldn't scientifically explain this phenomenon, he knew it wasn't a hallucination. It was an untapped psychic manifestation of his Superhuman physiology.
That's right. I've always had a powerful sixth sense... Perhaps this is actual telepathy, Jason mused in the dark.
Psychic abilities and telepathy often sounded like pseudoscience, but history was full of unexplained phenomena. Twins who shared emotional states across vast distances, or the sudden, inexplicable knowledge that a loved one was about to call right before the phone rang.
As Francis Crick, the pioneer of genetics, once noted: true science does not easily dismiss the unknown.
Jason felt that this internal galaxy was a manifestation of his latent abilities, even if he didn't quite know how to use them yet. He had intended to study the phenomenon after his first coma, but the starry sky had vanished upon waking.
His thoughts were stiff and sluggish now, buried deep within his subconscious. It took him a long time to process what he was seeing.
Slowly, he noticed a few stars drifting toward the outermost edges of the galaxy. Their light was incredibly dim, flickering violently as if a slight breeze could extinguish them forever.
He realized they were the infected patients. Their fading light mirrored their failing health.
Instinctively, Jason focused his awareness on the dimmest star of all. It was on the verge of winking out. He knew the man's name: Johnny, a worker originally from the South American Sector. He was currently in critical condition.
In that instant, a flood of memories and images rushed into Jason's mind, playing out like a holographic movie.
"Johnny, always be an honest man," a weary, gentle middle-aged woman told her young son. "Our family has always made an honest living."
"I will, Mom," young Johnny nodded earnestly.
The scene shifted.
"Johnny, this just isn't working out. Let's break up." A pretty girl, who had only been keeping Johnny around as a backup option, dismissed him coldly after catching the eye of a wealthy corporate executive. Johnny wasn't conventionally attractive, nor did he have a silver tongue. He was just a reliable, boring man. The executive offered a future; Johnny did not.
"...Alright," Johnny replied, making no attempt to beg or argue. He simply turned and walked away, though silent tears streamed down his face.
The scene shifted again.
"Johnny, the Lunar Base is hiring. The starting salary is sixty thousand dollars a year. With your technical scores, you're bound to get in. Our academy needs to meet its deployment quota, or we'll lose our funding. Do it for your mentor... I'm too old to go to the moon myself."
Johnny sighed, picked up a pen, and silently signed the contract.
Another shift. A cramped, sterile office.
"Johnny? From the South American Sector?" A corrupt, heavy-set Base Administrator sneered at the resume. "Put him in the mining division."
And so, Johnny became a lunar miner.
"Sixty thousand a year is too much for this labor. Treat him like the workers from the backward country. Cut it to thirty thousand," the Administrator ordered later, pocketing the difference for himself.
Johnny's pay was slashed in half. He didn't raise his voice or protest. He just silently endured the exploitation.
Watching this play out in the void, Jason felt a heavy lump form in his throat. Honest men don't get rewarded. Honest men just get walked all over...
But the visions continued.
"Hey Johnny, let's head to the shift together!" "Johnny, you're really good with that rig!"
In the lowest, grittiest levels of the Lunar Base, Johnny had finally found true friends. For the first time, he experienced a glimmer of happiness.
"Come on, Johnny, let's sneak some fresh produce from the hydroponics bay. I'm dying for some real food..."
Johnny shook his head firmly, refusing to break the rules.
"Alright, alright, you stubborn rock. I'll share some of mine with you. Look at you..."
He had smiled then. A real, genuine smile.
"Johnny, they need volunteers for overtime. The Base can't afford a power failure!"
He nodded, strapping his helmet back on.
"Johnny! We're taking off! We're leaving Earth behind, we're going to Mars!"
Johnny beamed at the stars.
In the few short months after Jason had taken command of the fleet, Johnny had finally experienced true joy. The systemic discrimination was gone. The blatant exploitation had ended. There was only equality, unity, and a shared purpose. He had been genuinely happy.
Suddenly, the star representing Johnny violently dimmed.
A crushing wave of profound sadness washed over Jason.
"Code Red! Patient Number 7 has gone into cardiac arrest!" Back in the physical world, the Mars Base medical ward descended into chaos. The Martian virus was about to claim its first life.
"Johnny! Stay with us, please stay with us!" a nurse cried out, her voice breaking into a sob. "Doctor, do something! Save him!"
"Total organ failure. Massive internal hemorrhaging... Brainwave activity has flatlined." The attending physician stepped back, shaking his head helplessly.
In the dark void, Jason felt the lingering sadness morph into a powerful, unyielding obsession. It was as if Johnny's spirit was speaking directly to him.
Johnny... you want a world where honest people aren't hurt anymore. Where they aren't bullied, right?
You want to build a better, oppression and corruption free, perfect society... right?
It was Johnny's final, dying wish.
Don't worry, Jason vowed into the silent dark. I will build it. I swear it!
With a final, gentle flicker, the dim little star detached from its orbit and merged seamlessly into the massive, burning star that was Jason.
Johnny passed away, completely at peace.