The Ruler's Stone

The Blue Light

After some time, everything became normal again.

The smoke inside the space station was gone. The red alarm light was off. The loud beeping sound had stopped. The air system started working again. The station was quiet.

Junior was breathing heavily. He was looking at the main computer screen. The damage report was coming.

"74% systems damaged," the computer said.

Sir walked slowly to the window. He was an old scientist. He had worked in space for 20 years. He was not scared easily.

He looked outside. The space was dark, but beautiful. Millions of stars were shining.

"See, Junior. I told you. Everything is okay now," Sir said with a small smile.

But then Sir saw it. His smile disappeared.

On the big radar screen, a small blue dot was still blinking. Beep... Beep... Beep... It was right in front of their eyes. It did not go away after the accident.

Junior also saw it. He ran to the radar.

"Sir, what is that? That signal was there before the shutdown also," Junior said.

Sir zoomed the camera. The outside telescope camera moved slowly. And then, something appeared on the screen.

It was better than before. Now it was very clear.

It was a stone.

A stone was floating alone in the dark space. No one knew from where it came.

But it was not a normal stone. It was different.

It had blue lighting powder in it. The stone had blue lighting powder inside it. It was glowing. The powder was moving inside the stone like liquid light. Sometimes bright blue, sometimes dark blue. It was like the stone had a small galaxy inside it.

Junior's mouth was open. "Sir... what is that?"

Sir's eyes were shining. He had spent his whole life researching space. He is researching those reactions in space which create new stars. He knows how stars are born from big explosions. He has seen many strange things, but he has never seen a stone like this.

"This... this is impossible," Sir whispered. "This stone... it is alive."

They had to get it.

Sir used the robotic arm of the station. The short robot settelite out slowly. It was very risky. The temperature outside was very cold. But Sir controlled it perfectly. The robot grabbed the stone.

They brought that stone inside their lab for research.

They put it inside a special glass box. The glass box was for dangerous samples. The stone was inside, glowing. It was beautiful.

Sir took his notebook.

"This stone has power. This blue powder is energy. Maybe this is the energy that makes new stars. If we can understand this, we can understand how the universe starts."

Junior was also excited, but he was still looking at the other computer. The main programming screen.

(Junior): Sir, the programming is working fine. But the temperature is slowly increasing. Which is not good for this station. The system is getting hot. From 30 to 45 to 60 degrees. It's increasing very fast.

Sir did not listen properly. He was lost in the stone.

(Sir): Hey, Junior, don't worry. Everything is fine here. You worry too much. This is a small problem. Look at this stone! We found it!

Sir was dreaming. He thought they were going to get the best research of history by doing that. He thought that thing can change his life . He thought the whole world will know their name. He thought, "We will become the greatest scientists in history."

He touched the glass box. The stone's blue light became brighter when he touched it.

But Junior was right. The programming had a problem.

The temperature was now 90 degrees. Then 110 degrees. The computers were becoming hot. The wires inside the wall were melting.

Junior started shouting.

"Sir! We have to do something! The station will burn!"

Sir finally looked back. "What?"

*But fate had something else planned.*

What they didn't know was that the blue stone was not just glowing. It was giving energy. Big energy. And that energy was heating everything.

Junior did not wait for Sir. He jumped to the main keyboard. He started fixing the programming which will control the temperature.

His fingers were moving very fast. Code after code. Line after line.

`temperature_control.exe -- restart`

`cooling_system = ON`

`override manual = YES`

He was sweating. His shirt was wet. The heat was now everywhere. He was trying to save them.

"I can fix it! I just need 10 more seconds!" Junior shouted.

Sir also ran to help him. "Come on! Come on!"

And at that very moment, because of a sudden high temperature, the whole system shuts down.

BOOM.

All the lights went off. All the computers went black. The main screen became dark. Everything stopped. Only silence.

Darkness in the space station.

And now,

In that darkness, only one thing had light.

The stone.

The stone with blue lighting powder inside it was glowing brighter than ever. The blue light was now filling the whole dark lab.

And inside the blue light, They saw something. The powder inside the stone was making a shape.

Sir voice was shaking.

... this stone... it's not just a stone..."