The next morning, Ben Stuart woke up to the sound of knocking.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three more.
Ben opened his eyes.
For several seconds, he stared at the ceiling.
Then he remembered.
School.
He groaned.
"I have unlimited potential and somehow school is still unavoidable."
The knocking came again.
"Master Ben?"
Alfred.
Ben sat up.
"Come in."
The door opened.
Alfred entered carrying a tray.
Breakfast.
Ben looked at it.
"What's that?"
"Breakfast."
"I know that."
"Then I believe the mystery has been solved."
Ben stared at him.
"Was that sarcasm?"
"Perhaps."
Ben smiled.
"You're getting better."
"I've had an excellent teacher."
Ben got out of bed.
He walked toward the bathroom.
"What's the schedule?"
"School until three."
"Then?"
"You have a meeting with your financial advisor."
Ben stopped.
"Why?"
"Because you own several companies."
Ben stared at him.
"I do?"
Alfred raised an eyebrow.
"You did request that I make your financial situation realistic."
"I was seventeen."
"Yes."
"I wasn't thinking about taxes."
"Clearly."
Ben sighed.
"How much money do I actually have?"
Alfred handed him a tablet.
Ben looked at the number.
He blinked.
Then blinked again.
"That's..."
"Yes."
"That's too much."
"That is generally how wealth works."
Ben stared at the screen.
He had expected money.
He had wished to be rich.
But seeing the actual number was different.
There was enough money to buy houses.
Cars.
Businesses.
Technology.
Entire companies.
Ben suddenly understood something.
Money wasn't just freedom.
It was responsibility.
He handed the tablet back.
"Alfred."
"Yes?"
"How much of this can I actually spend?"
"Technically?"
"Yes."
"Almost none."
Ben frowned.
"Why?"
"Because most of your assets are structured through investments, trusts and corporations."
"So I'm rich."
"Extremely."
"But I can't just buy whatever I want."
"Correct."
Ben smiled.
"That's actually reassuring."
Alfred looked surprised.
"Why?"
"Because if I could buy anything I wanted, I'd probably become an idiot."
Alfred nodded.
"That is a possibility."
Ben looked at him.
"You're supposed to disagree."
"I considered it."
Midtown High
Ben arrived at school ten minutes early.
Peter was already there.
He was sitting on a bench outside the classroom.
Ben walked toward him.
"Morning."
Peter looked up.
"Morning."
"You look tired."
Peter sighed.
"I was up late."
"Studying?"
Peter hesitated.
"Something like that."
Ben smiled.
"Spider-Man?"
Peter nearly dropped his phone.
"Keep your voice down!"
Ben laughed.
"Relax."
Peter looked around.
"No one heard."
"Good."
Peter lowered his voice.
"You can't just say that in public."
"I know."
"Seriously."
"I know."
Peter stared at him.
Then smiled.
"You enjoy this."
"A little."
Peter shook his head.
"You're annoying."
"So I've been told."
Ned suddenly appeared.
"What's annoying?"
Peter and Ben looked at each other.
"Nothing," they said together.
Ned narrowed his eyes.
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?" Peter asked.
"That thing."
"What thing?"
"Talking like you have a secret."
Ben smiled.
"Everyone has secrets."
Ned pointed at him.
"See?"
Peter laughed.
Ned sighed.
"Whatever."
Science Class
Their teacher placed a small electronic device on the desk.
"Today we're going to discuss energy storage."
Ben immediately became interested.
The device was simple.
A battery.
A capacitor.
Several sensors.
Nothing extraordinary.
At least...
It appeared that way.
Ben looked closer.
The circuitry was poorly designed.
He raised his hand.
The teacher looked at him.
"Mr. Stuart?"
"There's an efficiency problem."
The teacher smiled.
"Explain."
Ben stood.
"The capacitor is receiving too much energy too quickly. You're losing efficiency through heat."
The teacher looked at the device.
"How much?"
"Approximately eighteen percent."
The room became quiet.
The teacher checked his notes.
Ben was correct.
Peter stared at him.
Ned whispered:
"How did he know that?"
Peter shrugged.
"I don't know."
Ben returned to his seat.
The teacher continued.
But Peter kept looking at him.
Finally, he whispered:
"How?"
Ben whispered back.
"How what?"
"How did you calculate that?"
"Experience."
Peter frowned.
"That doesn't look like experience."
Ben smiled.
"Maybe I'm just weird."
Peter shook his head.
"You are definitely weird."
Lunch
Ben sat with Peter and Ned again.
Ned placed his phone on the table.
"Guys."
Peter looked up.
"What?"
Ned showed them a news article.
STRANGE BLACK-OUT REPORTED IN LOWER MANHATTAN
Ben's expression changed.
Peter noticed.
"You know something?"
"No."
Ben read the article.
Power failures.
Three blocks.
No apparent cause.
The outage lasted approximately forty seconds.
Ben looked at Peter.
Peter looked back.
Neither said anything.
Ned looked between them.
"Why are you both looking at each other?"
"We're not," Peter said.
"You are."
Ben stood.
"I need to make a phone call."
Ned looked confused.
"During lunch?"
"Important."
Ben walked away.
Peter followed.
Ned sighed.
"Of course."
The Call
Ben stood behind the school building.
He called Alfred.
"Report."
"Good afternoon, Master Ben."
"Lower Manhattan. Power outage."
"I saw it."
"Any connection to Project Eclipse?"
"Possibly."
Ben waited.
"Possibly?"
"There's no direct evidence."
"Then investigate."
"I already have."
Ben paused.
"And?"
"The outage wasn't caused by the electrical grid."
Ben's expression hardened.
"What caused it?"
"We don't know."
"Energy signature?"
Alfred hesitated.
"That's the interesting part."
Ben waited.
"It matches the residue from the Aegis facility."
Ben looked toward the school.
"So they're active again."
"Not necessarily."
"What do you mean?"
"The signature is similar, but not identical."
Ben thought for a moment.
"Send me everything."
"Already done."
Ben's phone received a file.
He opened it.
A graph appeared.
Ben studied it.
The energy pattern was familiar.
But something was different.
It wasn't dimensional energy.
It was biological.
Ben's eyes narrowed.
"That's not Project Eclipse."
Alfred was silent.
"No."
Ben looked at the graph again.
"Then what is it?"
"I don't know."
Ben smiled faintly.
"Good."
"Good?"
"Finally, something I don't know."
After School
Peter waited outside.
Ben walked toward him.
"You busy?"
Peter shrugged.
"Not really."
"Come with me."
"Where?"
"You'll see."
Peter followed.
They walked several blocks.
Eventually, they reached a small electronics store.
Peter looked at the sign.
"You brought me here?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Ben walked inside.
"I need something."
Peter followed.
Ben picked up a cheap soldering iron.
Then some circuit boards.
Several resistors.
Wire.
A small toolkit.
Peter stared.
"You can buy better equipment."
"I know."
"Then why buy this?"
Ben smiled.
"Because I want to build something myself."
Peter looked confused.
"You have a laboratory."
"Yes."
"With probably better equipment than this."
"Yes."
"So why?"
Ben looked at him.
"Because I don't want everything to be easy."
Peter became quiet.
Ben continued.
"I can build almost anything if I have enough time and resources."
"That's not exactly a bad thing."
"No."
Ben looked at the tools.
"But if I always use advanced technology, I'll never understand how normal people solve problems."
Peter smiled.
"That's actually pretty smart."
Ben laughed.
"Don't sound surprised."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"Maybe."
They paid and left.
Peter's Secret
They reached an empty park.
Peter sat on a bench.
Ben opened the toolkit.
"What are you building?"
"A small energy regulator."
Peter watched.
"You know how to make one?"
"Theoretically."
"That's different from actually making one."
"I know."
Ben started connecting wires.
Peter watched.
The first attempt failed.
Ben frowned.
He tried again.
Another failure.
Peter smiled.
"Need help?"
"No."
Another failure.
Peter laughed.
"You said you were smart."
"I am."
"Then why isn't it working?"
"Because intelligence isn't the same as practical experience."
Peter nodded.
"Exactly."
Ben looked at him.
"You've had that problem too."
Peter smiled.
"All the time."
Ben looked at the broken circuit.
Then laughed.
"Okay."
He started again.
This time Peter helped.
After twenty minutes, the device finally worked.
A small green light appeared.
Ben smiled.
Peter smiled.
They looked at each other.
"That was satisfying," Ben said.
Peter nodded.
"Yeah."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Peter asked:
"Can I ask you something?"
Ben looked at him.
"Sure."
"Why do you trust me?"
Ben thought about it.
"Because you could have told someone."
"About what?"
"The things you've seen."
Peter looked away.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Ben smiled.
"Exactly."
Peter looked back.
Ben continued.
"You're not the kind of person who exposes someone else's secret."
Peter looked at him.
"Neither are you."
"No."
They sat quietly.
Then Peter smiled.
"Friends?"
Ben smiled.
"Friends."
They shook hands.
That Night
Ben entered his private dimension.
Lyra was waiting.
"How was your day?"
"Normal."
She smiled.
"Good."
Ben walked through the library.
"You know what I realized?"
"What?"
"I've spent years training."
"Yes."
"I've learned science."
"Yes."
"Engineering."
"Yes."
"Magic."
"Yes."
"Alien biology."
"Yes."
"Dimensional theory."
"Yes."
Ben stopped.
"But I haven't learned how to live."
Lyra looked at him.
"That may be the most important thing you have learned."
Ben smiled.
"Maybe."
He looked toward the library.
"How long have I actually spent here?"
Lyra calculated.
"Approximately four years."
Ben nodded.
"And outside?"
"Only a fraction of that."
Ben looked at his hands.
Four years.
He had spent four years becoming stronger.
But emotionally...
He was still seventeen.
Ben realized something uncomfortable.
He could have the intelligence of the greatest minds in existence.
But intelligence couldn't automatically teach him how to be a person.
That required experience.
Failure.
Friendship.
Loss.
Choices.
Ben smiled.
"I think I need to spend less time in here."
Lyra looked surprised.
"Why?"
"Because there's a whole universe outside."
Project Eclipse
Deep beneath New York, Dr. Elias Voss watched a monitor.
The same energy pattern appeared again.
But this time, something unexpected happened.
The signal disappeared.
Voss frowned.
"Where did it go?"
A scientist checked the readings.
"It vanished."
"Completely?"
"Yes."
Voss stood.
"That's impossible."
The scientist looked nervous.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The signal was detected near Midtown."
Voss became silent.
"Ben."
The scientist nodded.
"We believe so."
Voss looked at the screen.
Then something changed.
A second signal appeared.
Much weaker.
But unmistakably similar.
Voss stared at it.
"That's not Ben."
The scientist shook his head.
"No."
Voss slowly smiled.
"Then we have another variable."
Ben's Room
Ben sat at his desk.
The small energy regulator sat in front of him.
It wasn't impressive.
It wasn't revolutionary.
It wasn't capable of powering a city.
It was just a small device made from cheap components.
But Ben kept looking at it.
He had built it with Peter.
And somehow...
That made it important.
His Omnitrix suddenly beeped.
Ben looked down.
NEW ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED
Ben's expression changed.
He opened the scanner.
The signature appeared.
It was faint.
Almost invisible.
But Ben recognized it.
The same biological energy from the Manhattan blackout.
He studied the waveform.
Then froze.
It wasn't coming from a machine.
It was coming from a person.
Ben's eyes widened.
"An enhanced human."
The Omnitrix scanned again.
BIOLOGICAL ENERGY DETECTED
DISTANCE: 8.2 KILOMETERS
STATUS: UNSTABLE
Ben stood.
Then stopped.
He looked at the clock.
It was late.
He looked at the Omnitrix.
Then toward his bedroom door.
For once, he didn't immediately run toward danger.
He thought.
Peter was probably asleep.
Alfred had already warned him about unnecessary risks.
He didn't know who this person was.
He didn't know whether they were dangerous.
So Ben made a decision.
Not every problem needed to be solved tonight.
He saved the coordinates.
"I'll investigate tomorrow."
The Omnitrix went silent.
Ben turned off the lights.
But across New York...
A young man suddenly woke up screaming.
His hands began glowing.
The lights in his apartment exploded.
And somewhere nearby, a Project Eclipse sensor detected the surge.
A red message appeared:
SECONDARY ANOMALY CONFIRMED
SUBJECT UNKNOWN
STATUS: AWAKENING
Dr. Voss looked at the screen.
This time, he didn't smile.
He simply whispered:
"Now things get interesting."