The Lupine System

Arrival

The Kardashev scale was created to calculate the level of a civilization based on how much energy it could harness.

As humanity stood currently, they were a Type II civilization, meaning they could directly harvest the energy from entire stars by building megastructures known as Dyson spheres.

The sun that Earth orbits produces about 386 billion tera-joules per second, and the Earth, before achieving Type I civilization status, could only use about 0.014% of that energy.

Now, though, humans could harness the energy of multiple stars to sustain themselves as a race.

The more energy a civilization could use, the greater its capabilities would be. An example of this would be increased options when it Jane to building structures, both on and off planet.

Something that became even more apparent to Mike as they got close to the Thescera Satellite Station. He watched as ships went in and out of the massive structure, some ships were massive themselves, some vessels being several hundred meters in length, yet they couldn't compare to the absolute behemoth that was the satellite station.

The number of ships that were going in and out of the structure was also insane. From this angle alone, Mike guessed that there were at least a thousand ships of different shapes and sizes moving to and from the satellite station.

The Captain explained that the station was what allowed for information to move freely within this region of space, and smaller satellites spread across several star systems were connected to it. It was essentially a main hub where information was passed through and sent out with its help. It was also quite important as it served as a base for the military as well to restock and repair items.

In short, it was a pretty important spot.

Mike and the other evacuees watched as their ship and the fighters that had been escorting them thus far moved towards a section of the station. Mike wanted to call it the 'lower' section. But he learned that orientation is a bit weird in outer space, so up and down are a bit skewed.

As they got closer, he noticed other ships like theirs with more fighters moving in the same direction, and there were quite a few too.

'He told us that the evacuation efforts were quite thorough.' Mike thought with some elation. Maybe Big Joe had survived!

Soon, the ships reached the massive structure and went towards an opening that was more than a kilometer tall and wide with a strange blue film that was meant to keep the simulated environment within safe from the vacuum of space.

As for what was within? Well, it was a massive hangar.

The ship passed through the film, and Mike felt a faint change. He wasn't sure if the others noticed, but he felt like he was suddenly more grounded.

'Gravity?' He mused as the ship moved.

The hanger was truly massive. It spanned over a dozen kilometers in either direction, with all sorts of vessels parked in different spots across. He saw what looked like mechanics moving about, inspecting the many ships and repairing those that had damage. Which is also when he realized that this hanger was almost strictly for military use, as the ships he saw were either like the one he was on, the fighters that escorted them, or larger vessels like corvettes and dreadnoughts.

Mike felt like a kid in a candy store. Back on Klein 4, he only ever saw ships from a distance, so to see so many in one spot, and up close at that, he felt like he was fulfilling a latent desire of his...

Another thing to note is that the ships that had landed before them were already ushering the people they had evacuated to a certain spot, creating a large line.

The ship eventually landed in one of the designated spots, the action causing a small jolt to run through the ship before it stabilized.

"Alright, everyone." The Captain stood up from his seat and looked at everyone, his gaze stopping on Mike for a moment before he spoke.

"From here, your identities will be confirmed as well as those related to you. You will go through the sorting process before you are shipped off to wherever. So prepare your minds. For some of you, it's simply a matter of moving. For others, your lives are about to change. As for whether it will be for better or worse, that remains to be seen." When he finished, the back of the ship opened and the ramp touched down.

As soon as it opened, Mike was assaulted by a wave of noise and smells

People talking, machinery whirring, ships taking off and landing, steps sounding, sweat, metallic smells, and more.

It hit him like a punch, causing him to physically recoil as he shut his eyes tight and tried to make sense of the chaos.

He was vaguely aware of his name being called, but it was all too much.

He fell to his knees and panted. He heard pounding in his ears. Was that his heart? This was dangerous, if his heart rate was spiking, then his ferocity...

He turned off his thoughts.

As soon as he did, he stopped thinking about the sensory overload and simply let it wash over him.

Soon, his nose and ears began to adapt on their own, and things started to settle.

He blinked a few times as the sensory overload slowly subsided, and when he came to, he realized that the soldiers had formed a protective wall around him while the Captain was kneeling in front of him, his hands on his shoulders.

"Are you okay kid?!" He said while shaking Mike and the boy nodded, still a bit stunned from what just happened.

"Take your time. Breathe." The man said with a steadying voice. It took Mike nearly a minute before he managed to somewhat regain his composure.

"Okay... I'm good now..." He managed weakly.

The Captain sighed and helped him up.

"That's good, what happened back there?" He asked, and Mike took a moment to respond, aware of the gazes of the other evacuees on him.

"I guess... my senses haven't fully adapted to how sensitive they are." He said with a weak smile, and the Captain smiled.

"Right, greater senses than before. Should have seen that coming." He looked at Mike again.

"Are you sure you're okay? We can wait a bit until you're alright. We aren't in that much of a rush." He said, but Mike shook his head.

"No, I'm good now. Really." And he meant it. After the initial overload, his senses were rapidly adapting to their surroundings. He felt that if he focused on something, it would become more pronounced. But as things were, his brain was automatically filtering out the unnecessary sounds and smells. It was still more potent than he was used to, but he could function, at least.

When the Captain made sure that Mjke was truly alright, he nodded.

"Alright then. Let's get going.

...

The soldiers escorted the evacuees through the massive hangar, and just like Mike had noted, they were led into the long line of people who were also evacuees that Mike had seen when they'd arrived in the Hangar.

Many of them looked haggard, others worried, some annoyed, but the overall mood was somber, which made sense as most people had lost something in one way or another.

Mike was constantly rubbing his nose from the large variety of scents as well. Even though he'd adapted somewhat, being so close to so many different people with unique scents on them was still a taxing ordeal, so it would take him a while to get used to it.

Something to note, though, was how the soldiers from their rescue ship had surrounded him. There were soldiers among the crowd, yes, but they were there to maintain order. Right now, it was abundantly clear that they were escorting Mike, and this drew more than a little bit of attention.

He had to stop himself from fidgeting as he felt the gazes of so many people on him at once. It was unnerving, to say the least.

To keep his mind off things, he turned his attention to the hanger, and it truly was massive. The ceiling was so tall that if he still had his eyesight before his transformation, he wouldn't have been able to see it properly. As for the length of the place, well, he could tell that there were over a thousand ships of different sizes within the hangar, and that was just the length.

Drones and machines also moved about, some assisting the mechanics in repairing damaged ships or doing scans which Mike assumed were for inspections.

He could spend hours just looking around and marveling at the place, but eventually, they reached what he assumed was their destination.

The long line of people reached a series of entrances, and at the end of each entrance was an A.I attendant who looked to be asking each person some questions.

Mike frowned a little bit. The lines were very long, and the only reason he could even see the end of it was—once again—due to his absurd perception.

'This is gonna take a while.' He thought, but to his surprise, the captain and the soldiers didn't stop moving and instead ushered him to another entrance that was quite empty.

Mike felt the attention on him ramp up as he was moved towards this entrance, and he couldn't help but ask.

"Uh... Where are we going?" The captain glanced at him before replying.

"I think we already established how unique your case is. Hence, your screening process will be quite a bit different from everyone else." He explained, and Mike nodded.

They soon reached the entrance, and instead of a single A.I attendant, there were a few armed bots which looked like 3-meter-tall bipedal droids with a bunch of guns mounted on their bodies, with a single human male standing amidst them.

Mike inspected the man who similarly inspected him back, and he couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine. The man was fairly tall, above 6 feet at least. He was on the leaner side, with bright blonde hair and piercing grey eyes.

'Dangerous.' That was the first thought that crossed his mind when the man stared at him.

When they were closer enough, the soldiers stopped and saluted.

"Sir!" They all said in unison, and the man nodded calmly.

"At ease." He said before looking at Mike curiously.

"Who would this be?" He asked, and the Captain stepped forward.

"Sir, when we were evacuating the inhabitants of Klein 4, we came across him. His case is unique compared to the other evacuees. Not only does he possess an ability, he says that he got it from an ability orb." The last part caught the attention of the man. His eyes went from piercing to mildly surprised.

"Interesting. I trust you wrote a full report?" He asked, and the Captain nodded before holding up his watch, tapped a few things, and Mike picked up a faint vibration from the one on the man's wrist.

The man nodded.

"Alright, you are dismissed." The soldiers nodded, and the Captain gave Mike one last look, giving him an encouraging nod before turning and leaving with his squad.

"Follow me." The man said in a voice that brooked no argument before turning and walking into the entrance. Mike hesitated for a moment before quickly following after him. He had a feeling that whatever was about to happen would be quite significant moving forward.