---
Chapter 1: The Day of Choice
The sun had barely breached the horizon of Blue Planet, yet the sky above the sprawling Federation Academy shimmered in an iridescent blue. Adrian stood at the edge of the observation deck, hair slightly mussed, uniform slightly too large, and a mind buzzing faster than any student—or probably any human—had a right to. Today was the day. The day he would choose his path.
He inhaled. Around him, a thousand cadets were already milling about, their own nervous energy palpable. Some were nervous, some excited, some just pretending to know what they were doing. Adrian, on the other hand, felt… normal.
Well, as normal as a polymath with the Newbie Package of Futuristic Polymath Genius could feel.
"Adrian, you look like you're going to faint," a voice said beside him. It was one of the instructors, a gaunt woman with cybernetic eyes glinting.
"I'm fine," Adrian said, forcing a smile. Truthfully, he was buzzing with anticipation. Not fear. Excitement. This universe—the Blue Planet—was a chaotic playground for someone like him. The humans here were weak, integrating into a multiverse where aliens, evolved beasts, and hyper-advanced civilizations had long dominated. Adrian's Newbie Package gave him a leg up, but the challenge lay in what he would choose: Genetics, Mecha, or Spiritual?
Most cadets scrambled for Genetics—they wanted raw power. Others picked Mecha, craving machines stronger than natural life. A handful chose Spiritual, the least popular path, opting for discipline and energy mastery. Adrian smirked. Of course he was going to pick Genetics, but that wouldn't be the end. He was going to integrate all three paths Malik-style. Chaos. Adaptation. Polymath engineering.
He glanced down at the System Lab Console, hovering holographically before him. The lab ticked at a 1:1000 rate of normal time, meaning one day in real life here equated to nearly three years of accelerated lab research. Perfect. He could experiment, fail, adapt, and refine while everyone else merely blinked.
A holographic card floated above the console: Resource Allocation Card – One-Time Use. He smirked. This was going to make the first step easy. One card. One chance. One hybrid gene module.
"Let's see…" Adrian muttered, fingers brushing the console. "We're starting simple. But hybrid."
The plan was insane. Six genes. Six species combined into a hybrid gene module. Each picked for its unique advantages.
1. Dung Beetle – raw strength relative to size. He chuckled. "If I can lift one thousand times my weight, the rest of humanity doesn't stand a chance."
2. Tadigrade – extreme regeneration and resilience. Essentially a mini-super soldier.
3. Immortal Jellyfish – cellular rejuvenation, near immortality at the cellular level.
4. Spider – agility, reflexes, web synthesis for traps and tools. Bonus points for being his favorite from comic history.
5. African Bush Elephant – sheer brute power, stamina, and organ durability.
6. Octopus – adaptive limbs, intelligence, camouflage. Why not? Multi-limbed manipulation would make lab work… fun.
The genes pulsed in holographic strands before him, coalescing slowly into the hybrid form. Adrian's mind raced as he traced calculations, formulas, and system rules. Each gene had to be compatible. Each module had to fuse without destabilizing his DNA. A mistake, and… well, death wasn't the worst possibility here. System failure, genetic rejection, or worse—permanent debilitation—was.
"Step one," Adrian said aloud, smacking the console for dramatic effect. "We isolate regenerative genes first." His fingers danced over the control panel, opening sequences to extract cellular blueprints. "Tadigrade… you're mine."
The system AI, quietly observing, let out a teasing chime. "Are you sure you're qualified for this, Adrian? You're just a cadet."
Adrian snorted. "Technically, I'm a polymath with a Newbie Package. And I've binge-watched every genetics anime, read every scientific paper on Earth, and memorized the comic book lab manuals. So yes, I'm more than qualified."
The AI hummed. "Confidence is impressive. Arrogance is often deadly."
"Noted," Adrian replied, tapping a series of commands. Within minutes, the tadigrade gene sequence stabilized. The console displayed: Gene Fusion 1/6 – Stable. He grinned.
"Next, dung beetle." The AI rolled its eyes. "Seriously, strength genes? You know there are better choices."
"Better choices don't make it fun." Adrian winked. "This is science and style, not pure efficiency."
Over the next hour, the hybrid module slowly took shape. Each genetic addition came with careful analysis: octopus intelligence to supplement brain function, spider agility to integrate with reflex pathways, elephant endurance to buffer the systemic load, jellyfish regeneration for redundancy. Each species added complexity, and each step required careful material gathering, which he would simulate using his one-time resource card.
While the system hummed, Adrian glanced outside. Cadets dashed to their labs, some already fumbling with their modules. He noticed one cadet trip over a containment tube. "Classic," he muttered, laughing. Part of being a teen in a futuristic polymath body was enjoying the chaos of everyone else failing.
He also caught sight of girls walking by—the usual teenage reaction, a blush here, a nervous glance there. He shook his head, laughing. "Still human," he whispered. Not every part of him could be enhanced by genes. Some things, like first crush jitters, had to be learned the old-fashioned way.
Finally, the last gene—immortal jellyfish—was integrated. The module shimmered, a translucent figure with pulsating strands of every species' DNA interwoven. Adrian stared. This was no longer just a project. It was him in potential form.
"System," Adrian said, fingers hovering over the activation button, "let's begin fusion."
A warm light enveloped him as the hybrid module interfaced with his DNA. The process was meticulous. Each cellular strand aligned with his own, adaptive pathways formed, and internal systems calibrated. He could feel the strength of the dung beetle, the resilience of the tadigrade, the intelligence of the octopus—all merging seamlessly.
After what felt like hours in accelerated time, the system finally chimed:
Hybrid Gene Module Fusion – Complete
New Genetic Capability: Active
Next Upgrade Path: Gather Resources for Sequence Evolution
Adrian opened his eyes, feeling… different. Powerful, but still human. Still curious. Still a teenage polymath in awe of the world.
"Step one," he muttered, grinning, "complete. Time to see what else this chaotic universe has for me."
The sun rose higher over the Academy, glinting off the holographic towers, the distant multiverse ships arriving for their integration courses, and the first hint of alien life gliding across the skyline. Adrian's adventure had only just begun, but already, he could feel the pulse of the universe waiting for him to experiment, fail, adapt, and grow.
And somewhere in the system's quiet voice, a teasing tone echoed: "I hope you're ready, Adrian. This universe doesn't wait for anyone."
Adrian smirked. "Good. Neither do I."
---