The sky above Neo Echelon City never truly slept.
Even at midnight, holographic constellations shimmered between the towering spires, artificial stars orbiting corporate satellites like obedient planets. Traffic lanes glowed in layered ribbons of light. Drones hummed like mechanical insects. Somewhere far above, beyond the illusion of civilization, the real galaxy stretched in silent, unreachable majesty.
Kaiser stood on the edge of a rooftop, looking up at both the fake stars and the real ones beyond.
He was seventeen. Ordinary. Unremarkable. Invisible.
And yet, tonight, something in the universe had decided to notice him.
The wind tugged at his worn jacket. The city below pulsed with life, ambition, and greed. People hurried through streets chasing dreams of wealth, status, power. Kaiser had no such grand dreams. He only wanted answers.
Why did he feel like he did not belong here?
Behind him, the rooftop door creaked open.
"You are going to fall one day," a soft voice said.
Kaiser turned, a faint smile touching his lips. "Luna. You always say that."
Luna stepped out onto the roof, strands of silver black hair catching the neon glow. Her eyes reflected the sky in an unsettling way, as if she saw more than ordinary people. She was calm, observant, and often too perceptive for her own good.
"Because one day, you might," she replied. "And I would rather not explain to the principal why our classmate turned into street art."
"Charming as always," Kaiser muttered.
Moments later, the door slammed open again.
"Bro, why do we always meet in places where death is an option?" Max complained, jogging toward them. Tall, athletic, loud, and painfully honest, Max was the type of person who lived as if tomorrow was guaranteed.
Behind him came Nux, chewing on a nutrient bar like it personally offended him. Lenzo followed, adjusting his smart glasses while murmuring calculations under his breath. Last to emerge was Suzy, cheerful as ever, swinging a small backpack at her side.
Six friends. Six lives. None of them realizing how deeply their fates were about to intertwine.
"Group rooftop therapy again?" Suzy teased. "What is it this time, Kaiser? Existential dread or alien paranoia?"
Kaiser chuckled weakly. "A little of both."
They gathered near the edge, forming an uneven circle. The city lights painted their faces in shifting colors, as if destiny itself were rewriting them every second.
Kaiser lifted his gaze back to the sky.
"Do you ever wonder," he said quietly, "what lies beyond all this?"
Max snorted. "More homework."
Lenzo pushed his glasses up. "Statistically speaking, beyond our sector lies uncharted galactic territory with limited human exploration due to resource constraints and political barriers."
Nux smirked. "Translation: rich people claim the stars, poor people get streetlights."
Luna stayed silent, staring upward.
Suzy smiled gently. "I think it is beautiful. The idea that the universe is bigger than our problems."
Kaiser nodded. "I feel like… there is something out there calling me."
Max raised an eyebrow. "Calling you? Bro, that sounds like the start of a horror story."
"Or a destiny story," Luna murmured.
Before anyone could respond, the night changed.
The artificial constellations flickered.
Every holographic star in the sky froze.
Then, one by one, they shattered into static.
The real stars beyond brightened violently, as if the cosmos had opened a massive eye.
A beam of light descended from the heavens.
It was not white.
It was not blue.
It was a color that did not belong to human perception, twisting between shades like a living concept.
The air trembled.
People on distant streets screamed.
Drones fell out of the sky.
Every screen in Neo Echelon City displayed the same message in glitching text:
SIGNAL DETECTED
CANDIDATE FOUND
The beam struck the rooftop.
Kaiser felt it before it touched him. A pressure behind his eyes. A heat in his chest. A whisper brushing against his mind.
Not you.
No… it is you.
He staggered backward.
"Kaiser!" Suzy shouted.
Luna grabbed his arm. "Stay with us!"
But the light ignored them.
It wrapped around Kaiser like a cocoon.
In that instant, time fractured.
His childhood memories surged forward. The day he first looked at the stars. The loneliness he never spoke of. The sense that his life was merely a prologue to something larger.
A voice echoed within him.
Not male. Not female.
Ancient.
Heir of Dust. Child of Earth. Do you seek ascension?
Pain lanced through his skull.
"I do not even know what that means!" Kaiser shouted.
You seek purpose. You seek transcendence. You seek the stars.
Images flooded his mind. Galactic wars. Collapsing civilizations. Immortal beings drifting through the void. Blood, power, betrayal, and eternity.
He saw a man standing atop a mountain of corpses, smiling calmly.
The man's name burned into Kaiser's soul.
Charles.
Charismatic. Elegant. Terrifying.
A villain born not from madness, but from ambition refined to perfection.
Do you accept the path of conquest?
Kaiser clenched his fists. Fear clawed at him, but something deeper rose beneath it.
A hunger.
A desire to rise above insignificance.
"If I accept," he whispered, "will I be able to protect the people I care about?"
A pause.
Protection is a consequence of power, not its purpose.
Kaiser glanced at his friends. Max's defiant stance. Luna's unwavering gaze. Nux's nervous grin. Lenzo's analytical calm. Suzy's trembling concern.
"I will accept," Kaiser said. "But I will decide my own purpose."
The cosmos laughed.
Then struggle. Grow. Fail. Transcend. Or perish.
The light exploded.
Kaiser screamed as his body convulsed.
He felt his cells burn and rebuild. His heart hammered like a war drum. His senses expanded violently.
He could hear the city's heartbeat.
He could see the flow of energy in the air.
He could feel the distant pull of planets and stars.
And beneath it all, a new presence awakened inside him.
A core.
Not physical. Not spiritual.
Something beyond classification.
The light vanished.
Silence crashed down.
Kaiser collapsed to his knees, gasping.
"Kaiser!" Max rushed forward, grabbing his shoulders. "Are you alive? Say something!"
Kaiser looked up.
The world looked different.
Brighter. Sharper. Crueler.
"I am alive," he said slowly. "But I am not the same."
Luna stared at him intently. "You feel… different."
Lenzo activated his glasses, scanning Kaiser. "Your biological readings are off the charts. Your energy signature does not match any known classification."
Nux whistled nervously. "So he got chosen by space god. Cool. Terrifying, but cool."
Suzy knelt beside him. "Does it hurt?"
Kaiser hesitated. "It feels like… my life has been rewritten."
Far away, beyond the city, a man stood on a balcony overlooking a private orbital dock.
He wore a tailored suit, his posture relaxed, his presence overwhelming.
Charles smiled as he watched a holographic projection of Neo Echelon City.
"So," he murmured, eyes gleaming with interest, "the universe has chosen another pawn."
He tapped his finger against the glass.
"Let us see, Kaiser… will you become my rival, my tool, or my successor?"
His smile widened.
"I hope you entertain me."
Back on the rooftop, Kaiser slowly stood.
The wind no longer felt cold.
The stars no longer felt distant.
For the first time, he sensed the vastness of the galaxy not as a dream, but as a battlefield waiting to be conquered.
"I do not know what I am becoming," he said quietly to his friends.
Max grinned. "Whatever it is, we are sticking with you."
Nux smirked. "Someone has to make sure you do not become a tyrant."
Lenzo nodded. "If this involves unknown cosmic forces, then I refuse to stay uninformed."
Suzy smiled brightly. "And someone has to remind you to stay human."
Luna met Kaiser's gaze.
"Your path will be lonely," she said softly. "But you will not walk it alone."
Kaiser looked at them.
At his friends.
At the city.
At the stars.
And deep inside, a new conviction formed.
If the universe had chosen him, then he would not merely survive its trials.
He would conquer them.
And one day…
He would stand among the immortals.