30: Meta-Test.
Daniel entered the vast, crystalline chamber. It was one of the testing rooms within the fortress used for the study of alien species. It was also his testing chamber to figure out exactly what had happened to him.
Ever since the disaster at the science fair, he had been experiencing a strange sensation. This sensation had only intensified when he forced his body to adapt and assimilate cosmic energy. It felt like holding his breath, albeit slightly less uncomfortable. It was time to breathe.
Slowly, he let the cosmic energy within him begin to release. He watched with a sense of curiosity as a blue aura of energy started to envelop his body.
It reminded him of those fighting anime where the protagonists unleashed their inner power or something like that, although he wasn't really making any conscious effort.
Following a hunch, he raised his palm and tried to concentrate. Slowly and with effort, the blue energy began to gather, forming a sphere. It took a lot of time and concentration, but he had done it.
He played with the sphere for a bit but didn't release it.
"Codex, what can you tell me about this sphere?"
Instead of that, he let the fortress's artificial intelligence provide an analysis.
Most of what the artificial intelligence said consisted of extensive calculations, but towards the end, something caught his attention.
[Following these parameters, the energy contained within it is sufficient to alter the molecular structure of matter in a radius of 5 square kilometers.]
With panic, Daniel quickly reabsorbed the energy in the sphere.
"No more energy balls for now."
Who would have thought that creating a cosmic energy sphere was highly dangerous? Or maybe he just put too much energy into it? Unfortunately, experiments like these were not things he dared to continue on Earth. It would be preferable to find a distant planet, many light-years away and completely devoid of life.
Nodding to himself, Daniel decided to try something else. He asked Codex for a target to shoot at. Fortunately, the fortress had plenty of them.
Kryptonians had to practice their aim, after all.
A strange, featureless white mannequin made of an unknown metal appeared in the room. Its form was humanoid but devoid of any distinguishing features.
Daniel took a few steps back from it before extending his hand. This time, he decided to concentrate much less energy. He simply released a small amount, as if he were spitting it out quickly, although that was an odd analogy.
From his outstretched hand, a rapid burst of blue energy shot out at incredible speeds, even for Daniel. Pure energy traveling at the speed of light.
There was a blue flash, and when he looked, the mannequin remained there, seemingly undamaged.
Daniel gazed at it with some doubt before asking Codex for a second mannequin, leaving the first one untouched.
When the second mannequin appeared, Daniel aimed and, this time, didn't fire right away. He "looked" inside it and examined the energy it was about to release.
"I see," these words came from his lips, confusing the observing AI.
The blue energy in his palm turned into a darker shade of blue with lighter blue specks, and then a burst of energy was shot out.
This time, the second mannequin wasn't lucky, and its molecular structure destabilized, causing it to explode into many small pieces.
"Codex, show me the data for both mannequins when they were impacted."
Now in a scientific mode, Daniel began to study this strange phenomenon.
Looking at the data, he confirmed a peculiar suspicion he had harbored before.
"The energy responds to my feelings, emotions, and intentions."
When he fired the first burst, he only wanted it to reach the mannequin and do nothing more.
That's why the energy didn't do anything more.
For the second one, he specifically focused on wanting it to cause harm; he wanted the mannequin to be injured. Though he certainly didn't expect it to be destroyed in that manner, he definitely wouldn't use that on humans.
Alteration of the molecular structure of matter?
Recalling this, he remembered the properties of his Smart atoms and how these properties had been integrated with the cosmic energy in his body.
He looked at the still-standing mannequin and approached it. With a quick motion, he tore off one of its limbs. He examined the metallic arm before placing it near the point where he had removed it and concentrated.
The blue energy in his hand shimmered and extended to the mannequin.
He watched in amazement as the limb reconnected, and the point of rupture disappeared as if it had never been damaged in the first place.
Another thought came to his mind, and the energy in his body began to move, starting to envelop the mannequin completely.
He used his "inner sight," and with joy, he realized that he could observe the atomic structure of the mannequin now that it was surrounded by cosmic energy.
He realized that it wasn't just a mannequin; it was also a robot that could move in a controlled manner, presumably used for various types of training.
He looked at the atoms of the mannequin and with morbid fascination, he forced the energy to flood every inch of the molecular structure.
There was a change, different from when he had used his energy previously to repair the torn-off arm. Previously, he had only used the properties of the cosmic energy in his body to guide the atomic structure of the mannequin back to what it once was.
Rather than repairing, it was like guiding the molecules back to their previous state, very similar to how Smart atoms remembered their previous state to aid in a Viltrumite's regeneration, but he did it faster and more concentrated, making it more efficient.
Now he wasn't just doing that; he was forcing the properties of the cosmic energy into the molecular structure of the mannequin.
Although he supposed that continuing to call it cosmic energy would be a mistake. After all, this energy was a combination of traditional cosmic energy and his Smart atoms.
Smart Energy? Or Atom Energy? He would have to decide that later.
Slowly and somewhat tired, Daniel separated from the mannequin and looked at it. It didn't appear different, but that wasn't the reality.
"Codex, I want the mannequin to attack me. I want a combat practice."
[Understood, commencing standard combat practice in three, two, one.]
When the countdown reached one, the mannequin moved.
It moved.
Faster than the speed of sound, its figure was instantly in front of Daniel, its fist threatening to strike. However, Daniel quickly extended his hand and caught the blow.
There was a shockwave, and the reinforced floor, made of an unknown crystalline material, beneath Daniel's feet, sank slightly.
But the fight didn't stop for a moment. In the blink of an eye, their figures traversed the entire room, shockwaves after shockwaves shaking the place.
One of Daniel's punches made the robot's head turn to the side, but it quickly recovered and countered with an elbow to the stomach.
The air was nearly knocked out of his lungs, but he recovered with strength, delivering a knee strike that sent the robot into the air.
Where once a simple hand movement was enough to tear off a limb, now his moderately serious blows didn't even harm it.
Both of them closed in again, and the battle continued.
Although Daniel was somewhat tired from using his energy on the robot, it didn't dampen his enthusiasm for this fight.
For the first time in a very, very long time, he could strike without concerns.
After exchanging blows for several minutes, Daniel decided he had learned enough.
With a final move, both flesh and bone against metal, they clashed.
There was a moment of silence, and then the metal gave way, and the robot's arm was destroyed.
"Enough, deactivate the training mannequin."
Looking at the damaged mannequin, a huge smile couldn't help but form on his lips. He quickly gathered the broken pieces and used his energy to repair the arm, leaving it as good as new.
He looked at the mannequin, contemplating its performance.
Obviously, the mannequin had never been that strong.
Even if it was a product of an advanced star-faring civilization, it was just a practice mannequin, mass-produced to assist in basic tasks.
If Krypton had such powerful robots, they certainly wouldn't be mass-produced and left in every fortress they built.
So why had it been so strong?
That was because of what Daniel had done.
Using the energy in his body, he forced every atom that composed the mannequin's existence to mimic the Smart atoms.
A forced semi-transformation.
Needless to say, the effect this had was substantial.
Every component of the mannequin was enhanced by the change in its molecular structure.
In every aspect, this mannequin could be called a semi-Viltrumite.
If he had to measure its level of strength, this mannequin would be just as strong as he was when he first arrived on this world.
Like a Viltrumite who had just awakened their powers.
Feeling the energy inside the mannequin, Daniel made some calculations.
The effect was permanent.
Unless he removed the energy from the mannequin, it would never be the same again.
This was due to the way the energy had combined with his Smart atoms.
Atoms produce energy.
Smart atoms adapted and assimilated cosmic energy.
Now, the energy they produce also feeds the cosmic energy within him, creating more energy inside his body.
That's why he felt tired when he completely changed the atomic structure of the mannequin. It consumed a lot of cosmic energy, and his atoms had to supply more energy to create even more and replenish what had been expended.
One had to understand that, for the most part, a Viltrumite survives solely on the energy created by their Smart atoms.
Otherwise, they would have to consume massive amounts of food or breathe much more air than a human does.
And Daniel arrived at the conclusion that the only reason a Viltrumite couldn't survive without eating or breathing for extended periods of time was that they expended more energy than their bodies produced.
After all, flying, super speed, super strength, and super durability didn't come for free.
If a Viltrumite remained still and didn't expend that energy, theoretically, they should be able to survive without breathing or eating.
In simple terms, their endurance was used to generate more energy.
And theoretically, the robot was in a similar state now, but at the same time, superior.
Its false Smart atoms were generating energy to fuel the cosmic energy he was forcing his atoms to mimic, so they created more energy to sustain themselves in an endless cycle.
Truly a perpetual motion machine.
Entropy, who needs you?
It was very strange, but it somehow worked.
Much like what happened in his body, but in a slightly different way.
In his body, there were real Smart atoms.
The cosmic energy didn't need to assist his atoms in mimicking something they already were. Instead, it nourished his atoms to produce more energy, which, in turn, nourished the cosmic energy, feeding the Smart atoms.
It might be confusing to grasp, but in simpler terms, it was a perpetual motion that continued to generate energy within him.
Of course, he expended energy, but he calculated that he was now producing more energy than he was actually using. Without his nucleus, he was effectively immortal in a certain sense.
This should have also increased his natural regeneration speed, but he wasn't sure to what extent.
On the other hand, his physical strength didn't increase significantly. After all, even though his atoms underwent significant stress, it wasn't physical stress in the strictest sense of the word.
He wondered what would happen when his body became stronger in the future; would energy production increase?
After all, the stronger his Smart atoms, the more energy they would produce, and cosmic energy theoretically should grow accordingly.
Setting aside all these thoughts, he looked at his hands and at the mannequin again.
He wondered, could he give false Smart atoms to a living being?
.
.
.
The answer was no.
Looking at the agonizing lab rat in front of him, Daniel furrowed his brow.
It seemed that forcing a living being's atomic structure to change completely was much more harmful than he had expected.
This was the least unpleasant result yet: a lab rat writhing in agonizing pain and experiencing multiple failures of its vital organs..
He quickly retracted the energy and began using it to repair the damage to the rat's body.
While he hadn't been able to create a living being with false Smart atoms, he had made the discovery that he could do the same as he did with the mannequin when he repaired its arm but with living beings.
Using the energy within him to guide the molecular structure back to a previous state.
Calling it a healing power was tentative; it healed and repaired but not in the strictest sense of the word.
It was more like making the wound regress to a state where it didn't exist.
But he decided it was his power, so he simply called it a healing ability.
Of course, it wasn't that simple.
Moving away from the rat, he went to another part of his newly inaugurated private laboratory in the fortress.
He looked at a dark-colored cube.
"There are no signs of it returning to its previous form, nor that any of the changes made will disappear." He took the cube, and with the blue energy in his hands, he began to transform it into a military-looking boot, just as it originally was.
So, his energy could not only "heal" or "repair" by guiding the atoms of something to a previous state, but it could also be used to alter the molecular structure of something and thus change its shape.
His "inner sight" greatly helped in this regard.
Without it, any change he wanted to make would be a deformed disaster.
For now, tentatively, it could be said that Daniel had the ability to alter the matter he touched using cosmic energy and the inner sight his nucleus provided.
Of course, this consumed energy and took some time.
Not to mention that doing this with living beings was a big, no.
He couldn't alter the atomic structure of something biological without waiting for that something to die.
In a very horrific way.
For the biological matter part, he could only assist by making that matter regress to a previous state, hence his so-called healing power.
Changing something from that matter or altering it in some way could be fatal to varying degrees.
Thinking about this, Daniel played with the boot in his hand. It went from a boot to a ball, and from a ball to a stack of paper sheets. He altered the structure to change the material in rapid succession as a form of training to see how detailed he could be if he did this in a hurry.
The answer was, not very.
Looking at the deformed half-crystal and half-fabric box in his hand, Daniel sighed and made it return to being a boot.
To make a detailed and well-structured change, he needed to concentrate and not rush.
Additionally, he couldn't alter the amount of mass; any change he made could only be maintained within the original amount of mass. For example, he couldn't turn a boot into a car.
But he could turn a car into dozens of boots.
This opened up many possibilities.
Touching the white scientist's suit he had on, in a faint blue glow, its structure changed and it returned to his repaired Defiant suit.
With this ability, he had gained the most coveted power of a Magical Girl!
Instant outfit change!
Best of all, he didn't need to use his hair anymore to create clothing.
He only had to obtain any type of fabric and modify its atoms to turn them into false Smart atoms.
A bit disappointing that so much effort and work now didn't serve much purpose, but it was also very exciting.
He had been quite limited with the things he could do due to the material.
He looked at his phone; it had been almost 8 hours since he started his research, less time than he had expected but more than he had realized.
He wondered if Carol had already left or was still in the fortress.
Although he no longer needed to eat, mentally he felt that this was the moment to get a hamburger.
Leaving the laboratory, he began to think about what kind of burger it would be.
.
.
"So, now you can heal, repair, and alter things?" at a WDonalds.
Carol looked at Daniel with amazement as she sipped her soda.
"Basically, it's strange but useful." Daniel extended a finger, his senses ensuring that no one could see his action, and a small blue flash of light shimmered at the tip where he touched Carol's glass.
Carol felt the change and furrowed her brow.
"Lemonade?"
"Fake lemonade! It tastes the same, but I just changed the flavor. Doing a complete change would have taken me a few more seconds." Carol removed the lid from her glass and realized that it still looked like soda, but now it tasted like lemonade.
"That's amazing!" She also got excited, and soon they both started playing with the food they had ordered.
Carol had Daniel turn part of his hamburger into a pizza and some of his fries into fish sticks.
"Thanks to this, I have an idea for my next suit," Daniel said as he turned his hamburger into a bean burrito.
"You're going to change your suit?" Carol asked.
"Yeah, I think it's time to be more heroic, maybe finally get that cape I wanted. What do you say, want a cape?" He asked excitedly.
Carol thought about it before nodding enthusiastically.
"Yes... I want a cape." Carol smiled, picturing that image in her mind.
"Then we'll have capes!"
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Note:
There's a lot of information; I hope it's been understood. Please tell me what you think or your opinions.
Soon, there will be an important announcement, but first, I'll let you read this chapter at your leisure.