Author's note

This is the first thing i have ever written that's longer than 3 pages outside of school, so I am an absolute novice at this type of thing. I have no idea if the pacing is right or if this will even be an interesting story but I shall try my best. Any criticism is greatly appreciated and i look forward to getting input. The only reason i am doing this is because i love reading the stories here on RoyalRoad and i feel that i should contribute something, even if it ends up being shit. This first chapter takes place on earth is really more about introducing the main character. Chapter 2 will be where the real story starts and i hope to get that up sometime tomorrow (or today since its currently 5am). Also, please excuse any spelling/grammatical errors I haven't gotten much sleep and my brain isn't working at 100%

Hope you enjoy.

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204x - New York City

Ever since Allen Farstryke was a young boy his mind had the ability find patterns wherever he looked, and to recall and understand anything he had ever read. This had given him a massive advantage in school and by the time the 3rd grade had rolled around he had been ostracized by all his peers because they deemed him “weird”. Of course anyone would be labeled as weird if they could recite the full ingredient list off the back of a box of cereal that they had eaten 3 years ago or solve any puzzle put in front of them after a short glance.

By the time high school came around Allen had become a total recluse and devoted his entirety to studying, He figured that if he could get into a top tier university and be surrounded by other people who were also in the pursuit of knowledge he would be able to finally find someone to become friends with, or at least hold a conversation for longer than 30 seconds before they became totally lost.

Sadly it did not work out that way, and his colleagues at university were even more mean spirited than the middle/high schoolers that had called him “weird” and pushed him into lockers while taunting him to try and elicit a response. After a week at university he had acquired the title of “crazy fucker” and “insane” after he had tried to explain his idea for a miniature fusion reactor that could fit into the trunk of an average family sedan. So once again, he was cast aside as a nobody, left with only his studies and overactive imagination.

It took Allen a little more than 5 years to get his dual Masters in physics and linguistics at which point he took on a “fuck school” type of attitude and decided to enlist in the military. He still loved to learn, but felt that being in an environment surrounded by people that call you crazy and taunt you on a daily basis wasn’t for him.

As for why he decided on joining the military?

Simple. With the threats of a 2nd Korean war looming on the horizon one would have to be crazy to enlist at a time like this, so if he was to be labeled as such again he knew everyone was in the same exact boat as he was.

205x - Parris Island, South Carolina

It didn’t take long for Allen to start having second thoughts about enlisting. Due to him being a recluse for his entire life he wasn't in the best physical shape. He wasn't fat, but he lacked any muscle mass whatsoever and the Drill Instructor decided to give him the nickname professor Lanky. The days went by slowly and his progress felt even slower, but thanks to the words of “encouragement” from the Drill Instructor and a “bit” of effort Allen managed to graduate from boot camp and go on to AIT to finish his training as a nuclear engineer. Aside from the occasional nightmares where he was doing endless pull-ups with the drill instructor yelling “HIGHER MOTHER FUCKER, I WANT TO SEE YOU GO HIGHER THAN A FUCKING GIRAFFES PUSSY YOU LANKY BASTARD” it turned out to be an excellent experience and he found a new love for running, since after a few miles he found his mind to be clearer than ever before which gave him the ability to dive even deeper into his research on a miniaturized fusion reactor while he was off duty.

205x - USS Donald J. Trump - Somewhere in the pacific ocean

After Allen had finished AIT he was assigned to the newest generation of super carrier the USS Donald J. Trump, which was named after the 47th president of the United States. He didn’t really know what it was named after President Trump since his 1 term in office was widely thought of as the most disastrous presidency in recent history after he had ordered a carrier strike group into Chinese waters as an intimidation tactic during his 3rd year in office, only to have the strike group wander into the testing site for advanced stealth mines. Half of the group was lost, along with the first and only carrier to be sunk due to an accident. Luckily cooler heads prevailed and an all out war was avoided, but he lost his re-election campaign garnering less than 1% of the vote.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Allen had been on the ship for 2 months before he met the first person he could consider a friend. She was a Army signals operator by the name of Ashley McCollum. The first time they met was at what was jokingly referred to as the “library” by the crew of the ship. At this point in time paper books were largely seen as antiques since tablet computers became cheap enough, so the only literature in this library were magazines with bad advice for married women, and various types of sports and hobbies.

“Corporal. Farstryke, What the hell are you doing here at this ungodly hour?” Allen being deep in thought while going over some notes was startled by the unexpected question and jumped to attention while throwing his tablet across the room and yelled “SIR, GOING OVER MY NOTES ON THE MINIATURIZATION OF FUSION REACTORS, SIR”. Not expecting such a reaction and hearing the thud when the tablet hit a nearby sleeping marine squarely in the face Ashley doubled over and started laughing hysterically. Seeing the marine that was hit jump up into a fighting stance while still half asleep with a look of confusion on his face was more than she could take and tears started rolling down her cheeks.

It took Ashley a few minutes to recover to the point where she could talk again and when looking up and seeing Allen still standing at attention brought on another fit of laughter. A couple of minutes later she was finally able to get ahold of herself. “At ease marine, there’s no reason for you to have such a serious look on your face, and why is a grunt like you going over notes on fusion reactors anyways?” Allen was taken aback when he heard her say this since he was never called a grunt before, nor did he see himself as one. “I’m sorry, but what do you mean? I’m an engineer and i have been since i got on this boat 2 months ago.” Ashley looked him over for a couple of seconds and said “You sure as hell don’t look like any engineer i’ve ever seen. I could see you walking around in power armor with a minigun though”

After she was done saying this Allen came to the realization that he had never really cared enough about his own appearance to ever check himself out in a mirror. He knew that his body had changed some during boot camp, and then even more drastically once he had graduated and taken a liking to exercise as a way to clear his mind. When he first enlisted 18 months ago he weighed in at 130lbs and was 6’1, looking down at himself now he realized that he had put on at least 90lbs since that time, Most of it seemed to be muscle too. “ wow, i guess i never looked at myself that way, i used to be a scrawny little fuck not too long ago” Ashley, stifling another laughing fit while seeing the large man check himself out and hearing his answer decides to change subjects. “Ok, whatever. So what was this about mini fusion reactors? Scientists have been looking for a way to do that for the past 20 years and haven't made any progress since the magnets that are used to create an EM field are so massive.” Allen was getting excited since he was able to talk to someone about his current passion and started an in-depth explanation of why they were doing it wrong and throwing out a bunch of words that went right over Ashley’s head. “Woah there Einstein, you might not be a grunt but i sure as hell am. Please, at least use words that i can pronounce without getting tongue tied. ”Allen looked a little disappointed, but brought his explanation down a few grade levels. “Basically, it’s the magnets that are the problem, back in the 2020s when a sustained net-positive fusion reaction was finally achieved all research on how to do it other ways was stopped, and all funding was directed at the method we currently use. But with advances in materials sciences over the past 20 years I think i’ve found a way to do it without the magnets! In a few years i could probably make a reactor that fits in the trunk of a car, while generating the same amount of energy as something the size of a football field.”