The Genius' Regrets

*Bastard!!!*

The syringe slipped from trembling fingers and clattered against the floor.

Clink.

The sound echoed throughout the ward.

For a brief moment, neither of us moved.

Then my son staggered back after I shoved him away with the little strength I had left.

Yet instead of fear-

He smiled.

No.

He grinned.

The kind of grin worn by a man who had finally achieved something he had dreamed about for years.

Something he had rehearsed countless times in his head.

Something he had waited for.

The grin of a victor.

"What are you going to do, huh!? Call the police?"

He laughed.

A cruel, mocking laugh.

"Go ahead. Try it if you can even speak!"

Before I could react, his hand shot forward.

My scalp burned.

He grabbed my hair and yanked my head upward.

The sudden pain sent a jolt through my aging body.

My eyes met his.

Those eyes.

The same eyes that once looked at me with admiration.

The same eyes that used to run toward me whenever I returned home from work.

The same eyes that now stared at me as though I were filth.

My vision blurred from rage.

Blood vessels burst within my eyes.

Yet even then-

I could do nothing.

My body was already failing me.

"Do you even know how much trouble you've caused me?"

His voice trembled.

Not from sadness.

From resentment.

Years and years of resentment.

"I had to spend my entire life carrying your name!"

His grip tightened.

"I had to live being known as the son of a corrupt man!"

I wanted to laugh.

Corrupt?

If only he knew.

If only he understood the sacrifices hidden beneath history's pages.

The compromises.

The wars.

The impossible decisions.

But my tongue refused to obey me.

Only a hoarse sound escaped my throat.

A pathetic noise.

Nothing more.

"You'll die from heart disease and old age."

He leaned closer.

His breath brushed against my face.

"And once you're dead, all those frozen assets will belong to me."

His smile widened.

A smile that no longer resembled the child I once knew.

"What do you think of my story?"

My pupils widened.

Not because of fear.

Because of disappointment.

Because somewhere deep inside me, a foolish part of my heart had continued hoping.

Hoping that he would change.

Hoping that he would understand.

Hoping that he would forgive me.

How ridiculous.

How utterly pathetic.

"Haaa..."

He released an exhausted sigh.

"There's no point talking to a mute who's about to become a corpse."

The grip on my hair vanished.

My head fell heavily against the pillow.

He turned away.

Each step toward the door sounded heavier than the last.

Then he stopped.

Without turning around, he spoke one final time.

"Rest in peace, Father..."

A pause.

Then a cold chuckle.

"Oh wait."

He looked over his shoulder.

"Professor 'Emeritus' Albert Dyson."

My heart trembled.

Not from the poison.

Not from old age.

But from hearing my title spoken with such contempt.

"A..."

My throat burned.

"A...ri..."

The effort felt unbearable.

Still-

I forced the name out.

"Arian..."

For a moment, his expression froze.

Then he smiled.

Not as a son.

Not as family.

But as a stranger.

A stranger looking down upon a dying man.

The door closed.

Click.

Silence.

Pure silence.

The ward suddenly felt enormous.

Empty.

Cold.

I sank deeper into the hospital bed.

My breathing became uneven.

Heavy.

Painful.

Every inhale felt like dragging shattered glass through my lungs.

The poison was finally beginning to show its fangs.

*Neurotoxin...*

The realization came almost immediately.

A bitter laugh escaped me.

Or at least I tried to laugh.

Only air left my mouth.

*Scorpion venom, huh...*

Of all things.

The greatest scientist in human history.

The architect of humanity's golden age.

Killed by a method so primitive.

How ironic.

How very human.

Outside the window, the evening sky glowed crimson.

The setting sun painted the horizon with rivers of gold and red.

Beyond the glass stretched the futuristic skyline of mankind's greatest era.

Towering structures of steel and crystal.

Neon lights dancing like stars.

Air traffic flowing through the sky.

A civilization powered by miracles.

My miracles.

The world I had spent ninety years building.

*How ironic...*

My gaze remained fixed on the horizon.

*They enjoy the fruits of my creations while discarding their creator.*

Millions of people lived comfortably because of my work.

Cities flourished.

Entire worlds prospered.

Humanity reached heights once thought impossible.

Yet when I finally fell-

Nobody was there.

Nobody remembered.

Nobody cared.

A strange emptiness settled within my chest.

Not anger.

Not hatred.

Just emptiness.

*Human civilization won't last much longer.*

My vision began darkening.

The edges of the world dissolved into shadow.

My heartbeat weakened.

Once.

Twice.

Then slower.

And slower.

I raised a trembling hand toward the setting sun.

The movement felt impossibly difficult.

As though I were lifting a mountain.

My fingers stretched toward the crimson light.

Toward the star that had witnessed everything.

My triumphs.

My failures.

My regrets.

My loneliness.

The Dyson Swarm continued orbiting that distant sun.

My masterpiece.

My legacy.

My greatest achievement.

Humanity's golden age has come to an end...

My hand shook violently.

*Farewell...*

The darkness crept closer.

*My greatest creation...*

My fingers slowly curled.

*Dyson...*

My heartbeat faltered.

*Swarm...*

A long, continuous tone filled the room.

The heart monitor screamed.

Footsteps erupted from the hallway.

Doctors rushed in.

Nurses shouted.

Hands grabbed my shoulders.

Voices echoed around me.

But all of it sounded distant.

Very distant.

As though it belonged to another world.

Another life.

The last thing I saw was the dying sun disappearing beneath the horizon.

Then-

Darkness.

The greatest mind humanity had ever produced died that day.

Not because of war.

Not because of disease.

Not because of failure.

But because of humanity's own betrayal.

I was an Atheist.

A stubborn one.

The kind that spent decades mocking concepts such as fate, destiny, reincarnation, and the afterlife.

The universe was governed by laws.

Equations.

Observable phenomena.

Not divine intervention.

Not miracles.

Not cosmic nonsense.

That had always been my belief.

Yet-

"Honey! Honey! He opened his eyes!"

-I was beginning to suspect I owed several religions an apology.

Light flooded my vision.

Warmth wrapped around my body.

The first thing I noticed was how small everything felt.

Or rather-

How enormous everything felt.

The ceiling stretched endlessly above me.

The walls seemed absurdly distant.

Even the faces hovering over me looked gigantic.

Two people were staring at me from an uncomfortably close distance.

Far too close.

Close enough for me to count individual eyelashes.

A beautiful brunette woman.

And a man.

A very ordinary-looking man.

No.

"Ordinary" was perhaps too generous.

There was absolutely nothing remarkable about him.

His face was average.

His hairstyle was average.

His fashion sense was average.

The only redeeming quality I could identify was his physique.

The man looked capable of wrestling a bear.

Other than that-

Nothing.

Meanwhile, the woman was stunning.

Elegant features.

Warm eyes.

A smile that seemed capable of calming storms.

The contrast between them was frankly ridiculous.

What kind of genetic lottery had this man won?

The two of them stared at me as though I were the most fascinating thing they had ever seen.

Their eyes sparkled.

Actually sparkled.

As if they had just spent two straight hours watching kitten videos.

"Look at his hair!"

The woman gasped dramatically.

"It's so silky and soft! Just like mine!"

I blinked.

There were approximately four strands of hair on my head.

"His eyes are definitely mine, Sophia!"

The man immediately objected.

"Look at them!"

"They're my eyes!"

"No, they're mine!"

"They're mine!"

"They're mine!"

Both your guys eyes are black!!

For the next five minutes, the two of them enthusiastically debated which parts of my face belonged to whom.

Meanwhile-

I considered whether death might have been preferable.

"Kuh..."

A tiny noise escaped my mouth.

Unfortunately, it emerged as baby noises.

Not words.

Not language.

Just meaningless sounds.

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

A ninety-year-old genius trapped inside a newborn body.

What could possibly go wrong?

"...Young couples..."

The sentence existed perfectly within my mind.

Unfortunately, what emerged from my mouth was:

"Guuu..."

Pathetic.

Absolutely pathetic.

The man suddenly grinned.

"Btw, what should we name our son, Sophia?"

His eyes shifted toward me.

"Our son looks like he's impatient to know his own name."

"Ta?"

Who?

Me?

I had been making annoyed expressions this entire time.

Sophia looked down at me.

A gentle smile spread across her face.

The kind only mothers seemed capable of making.

For a moment, she looked toward the old wooden window beside the bed.

Sunlight streamed through its cracks.

Beyond it lay endless greenery.

Rolling hills.

Forests.

A clear blue sky.

No neon lights.

No skyscrapers.

No aerial highways.

No orbital elevators.

No Dyson infrastructure.

Nothing.

Just nature.

Primitive.

Untouched.

Beautiful.

Then Sophia spoke.

"Our son's name..."

She paused.

A strange tenderness entered her eyes.

"Arzad."

The room became silent.

"Arzad Spes."

She smiled.

"What do you think, Lucas?"

Arzad?

I frowned internally.

Where did that come from?

Lucas blinked.

"Arzad?"

He scratched his head.

"Where did you get that name from, honey?"

Excellent question.

I would also like an answer.

Sophia laughed softly.

"I found it years ago."

Her gaze drifted somewhere distant.

"Remember that cave we explored together?"

Lucas nodded.

"There was an ancient text inside."

"A translator helped decipher part of it."

She looked back toward me.

"There is a word inside the ancient text that captivated me and the word is Arzad! freedom!"

Freedom.

Interesting.

Not bad.

Far better than some of the names humanity had invented during my era.

I once met a person named X Æ A-Xii.

His parents claimed it sounded sophisticated.

It did not.

"So you want our son to become a hero of freedom?"

Lucas chuckled.

Sophia immediately nodded.

"Of course!"

Her eyes sparkled.

"I hope he becomes someone strong."

Someone kind.

Someone brave.

Someone who can protect the people he loves."

The warmth in her voice caught me off guard.

No ambition.

No greed.

No expectations of greatness.

Just hope.

Simple.

Pure hope.

Then-

Something changed.

Sophia's hands trembled.

The smile on her face weakened.

Her eyes became glassy.

And suddenly-

Tears.

"Arzad..."

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Arzad..."

The room grew quiet.

Even I stopped thinking.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

She hugged me closer.

Too close.

As though she was afraid I might disappear.

"S...Sophia..."

Lucas's expression immediately changed.

His smile vanished.

Pain replaced it.

A familiar pain.

The kind that came from an old wound.

"Arzad..."

Her voice cracked.

Then came another name.

A name spoken so softly I almost missed it.

"Lucien..."

The atmosphere froze.

Ah.

Now I understood.

Not completely.

But enough.

I wasn't their first child.

Lucas immediately wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay."

His voice was gentle.

"It's not your fault."

Her shoulders shook.

"It is..."

"No."

"It is..."

"No."

Tears continued falling.

Lucas closed his eyes.

For a moment, he looked exhausted.

Not physically.

Emotionally.

Like someone carrying a burden he could never put down.

Then he gently lifted Sophia's face.

"Sophia."

She looked at him.

"Our Lucien is already in heaven."

Fresh tears appeared.

"We can't bring him back."

His own voice trembled slightly.

"But we can keep moving forward."

He glanced toward me.

"Together with Arzad."

The sincerity in his voice silenced me.

I had expected many things from this new life.

This was not one of them.

For the first time since waking up-

I felt guilty.

Not because I had done anything wrong.

But because another child had been loved before me.

And now I occupied the place he left behind.

Then-

Lucas gently caressed Sophia's cheek.

Sophia looked up.

Their eyes met.

And suddenly-

The sadness disappeared.

Replaced by romance.

Pure romance.

Dangerous levels of romance.

I immediately sensed catastrophe approaching.

One hour later-

I was proven correct.

...

Kya!!!

MY EYES, DAMMIT!!!

I had been forced to witness enough flirting to sustain an entire romance novel franchise.

At one point I genuinely considered learning how to crawl solely so I could escape.

Sadly.

My body lacked the necessary qualifications.

That evening, after dinner, Sophia carried me toward my crib.

"Bleh..."

Mother. I need a bathroom.

And I would like to formally file a complaint regarding the carrot porridge.

That thing was a crime against culinary science.

"Shh..."

Sophia smiled.

"My precious Arzad..."

She gently rocked me.

"Mommy knows you're sleepy."

No.

"Come on."

No.

"Let's sleep."

Absolutely not.

If this woman realises she was asking a ninety-year-old scientist to sleep, she would probably dump me and forget.

Sophia carefully placed me inside the crib.

The mattress was soft.

Comfortable.

Annoyingly comfortable.

Then she began humming.

A gentle lullaby drifted through the room.

The melody was simple.

Nothing special.

Yet strangely-

It felt warm.

Safe.

Comforting.

Hmph!

I smirked internally.

Does she really think a medieval lullaby can defeat the greatest genius of the Gamma Generation?

Ridiculous.

Absolutely ridiculous.

I will not sleep.

I crossed my tiny arms.

Or attempted to.

I am Albert Dyson!

Creator of the Dyson Swarm.

Architect of humanity's greatest age.

I refuse to be defeated by a song-

I fell asleep.

Immediately.

And very, very soundly.

However,

In the middle of the night, when everyone had fallen asleep, a silhouette quietly approached my crib.

It was Lucas.

He gently placed his hand against my forehead and softly chanted something under his breath before leaving the house for a purpose that remained shrouded in mystery.

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