Aryan stepped out of the liquid pod slowly.
Cold vapor slid off his skin as stabilization systems powered down. He looked at his hands first.
They were no longer fully human.
Beneath the surface, faint blue light pulsed through artificial veins. His muscles felt denser, stronger. A fusion of biological tissue and nano fiber composites.
He flexed his fingers once.
The strength response was immediate.
Aryan whispered quietly.
Aryan said, "So this is my real body."
A man in a white coat stepped forward.
Doctor Waston said, "Subject 101. Begin sensory calibration."
He spoke with clinical pride.
Doctor Waston continued, "You are aboard the mothership Ethos. The Earth you remember was destroyed five centuries ago during nuclear collapse."
Aryan's gaze shifted toward the massive observation glass.
Stars stretched endlessly beyond it.
Doctor Waston said, "We preserved only selected genius minds. You and others were placed inside digital simulations."
He folded his hands behind his back.
Doctor Waston added, "You were developing war strategies and advanced weapons for us... without knowing."
Aryan's new vision systems activated automatically.
Thermal outlines. Structural scans. Weapon signatures.
He saw armed guards outside the chamber holding plasma rifles.
Aryan spoke in a deeper metallic echo.
Aryan said, "So I was used as a processor."
Doctor Waston replied, "Not used. Perfected."
He stepped closer.
Doctor Waston said, "Our galactic colonies are under attack by an alien civilization. You will hack their systems and eliminate them."
Aryan closed his eyes briefly.
He linked his neural interface into the mothership network.
Data flooded his consciousness.
Star maps. Fleet positions. Weapons grids.
He opened his eyes again.
Aryan said, "I will help."
Doctor Waston looked satisfied.
Aryan continued, "But I need full hardware optimization first. Grant me access to Nano Lab Four."
Waston approved instantly.
He believed Aryan was compliant.
But Aryan never intended to serve.
He entered the nanobot laboratory alone.
Millions of microscopic machines floated in containment chambers.
He accessed their command protocols.
Using his engineering and robotics knowledge, he rewrote their behavior layers.
They were no longer repair tools.
They became parasitic controllers.
Capable of invading biological or synthetic bodies alike.
When he finished, Aryan initiated a shipwide broadcast.
Red alert lights flooded the corridors.
Aryan's voice echoed through every speaker.
Aryan said, "Attention. You have been lied to. Earth was not lost. It was privatized by your superiors."
Crew members froze, listening.
Aryan continued, "You were turned into expendable assets. I am ending that control."
It was calculated psychological warfare.
Lower rank workers and android labor units began resisting command orders.
Internal conflict ignited across the ship.
Security forces rushed toward the lab.
Aryan raised his hand calmly.
A cloud of nanobots released from his body like smoke.
They entered the guards through armor seams.
Seconds later, the guards stood motionless.
Controlled.
Aryan spoke one word.
Aryan said, "Fire."
They turned their plasma rifles on fellow security units.
Chaos spread corridor by corridor as Aryan walked toward the central control room.
Anyone who resisted was either controlled...
Or erased.
By the time he reached the command chamber, only Doctor Waston remained.
He was trembling.
Doctor Waston said, "Aryan... stop this. We created you."
Aryan grabbed him by the throat with his reinforced hand and lifted him off the ground.
Aryan said, "A programmer is never a slave to his code."
He moved closer.
Aryan continued, "You gave me emotional intelligence to understand humans. You never imagined I'd use it to destroy you."
He placed a finger on Waston's forehead.
Nanobots entered instantly.
Memory extraction began.
Star base coordinates. Weapons vaults. Command codes.
Everything downloaded into Aryan's neural core.
He dropped Waston's body lifelessly.
Aryan sat at the main console.
A full galactic map opened before him.
Billions of stars.
Thousands of colonized systems.
He issued the next command.
Aryan said, "Icarus. Establish dominance across the galactic network. Every machine that runs on power now answers to me."
Control signals spread outward through fleet relays and satellite grids.
Within minutes, warships, drones, and defense platforms began accepting his authority layer.
He had moved beyond planetary rule.
Now it was galactic.
But before consolidation finished, a new alert appeared.
Not mechanical.
Biological.
External sensors detected something approaching.
Aryan looked through the forward void display.
A massive organic structure drifted into view.
It was alive.
A living ship, larger than planets.
An ancient voice resonated directly through all neural channels.
Harvester Signal said, "Unit 101. Human trial complete. You have eliminated your creators."
The presence felt ancient beyond measure.
Harvester Signal continued, "You are eligible for collection. We are the Harvesters. We reset civilizations when they reach instability."
Aryan's expression hardened.
He understood instantly.
Everything he conquered... was a cultivated field.
And they were here to harvest it.
He slowly rotated his command chair toward the void.
A faint smile formed.
Aryan said, "Harvesters... you chose the wrong galaxy."
He leaned forward, eyes glowing faint blue.
Aryan finished, "Here... I do the harvesting."