MY OBSESSED ALIEN KING

NEON KING: EARTH'S RULER

The command room sat high above the city, all glass and shadow. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped around the space like a cage built of starlight and steel, the skyline glittering below in scattered gold small, insignificant, beneath him. A cool blue light pulsed from a holographic map suspended in the air, continental maps hovering around it, lines of data crawling across them like veins. Banks of monitors lined the walls, screens flickering with numbers and feeds only he could fully read. Black leather chairs sat empty and exact, polished floors throwing back fractured reflections of light, as if even the room itself didn't dare make a sound.

In the center of it all, he sat motionless. His pale silver hair fell across his brow, framing piercing blue eyes that looked like you'd get lost staring into them. His jaw was sharp, unreadable; his collar loosened just enough to reveal the dark edge of a tattoo curling along his neck, disappearing beneath fabric like a secret he wasn't in the mood to explain. One hand rested against his cheek, fingers still, the picture of restraint coiled tight beneath the surface. If *beautiful* was the perfect word, it still couldn't properly define him he looked divine, untouched by the world, and sinful at the same time, like a temptation you should stay away from but can't help being drawn into.

The only sound to be heard was the low hum of machines. No voices. No footsteps. Just him, the dark, and the weight of whatever he was building in his own crazy little corner of the world.

Then the door burst open, shattering the absolute silence.

Neon immediately looked up to see the intruder, a frown crossing his face the moment he recognized who it was and that frown was practically the only expression he'd worn in three weeks. His deep voice boomed, demanding why Kael was there, why he kept breaking the rules. The thing is, Neon doesn't *have* emotions you could call him a psychopath, someone who suffers from sociopathy, a condition where a person doesn't feel even the faintest trace of human emotion. And if you asked Neon, he'd say he's been this way for as long as he can remember.

He grew up in an orphanage, and when he was four years old, the matron discovered something unusual: he could already understand fifty languages and solve complex math problems. But one day, a girl named Maya also at the orphanage picked up a cat, and the cat died of an illness. All the other kids cried. Only Neon didn't. He simply picked up the cat and threw it in the trash, saying coldly, "Dead = no value anymore = useless."

Every kid was stunned, but the matron was the most stunned of all. From then on, she noticed Neon would sneak off to hunt for different animals experimenting on them while they were still alive...

**BACK TO PRESENT**

Kael walked in with a smug look on his face. He had a head of richly layered blue hair, tousled in loose, strandy waves that fell messily across his forehead. A few strands always seemed to escape, framing sharp, angular cheekbones and giving him that effortlessly undone look like he'd just rolled out of bed looking devastatingly handsome.

His eyes were dark and heavy-lidded, half-hidden behind rectangular tinted sunglasses that sat low on a straight, refined nose the kind of accessory that said he was never in a rush to let anyone see exactly what he was thinking. His brows were thin and expressive, lending him a permanently smoldering, slightly smug expression. Full lips, tinted a natural rose, were usually curved at one corner never a full smile, just enough to make you wonder what he wasn't saying.

A small gold hoop earring sat perfectly in one ear, paired with a black choker chain that gave off that bad-boy vibe a subtle hint of rebellion against his otherwise crisp look. He wore a white button-down shirt, collar deliberately left open, sleeves loose, the fabric slipping off one shoulder in a way that felt less like an accident and more like a calculated move to pull you in.

As one of the Neon King's closest friends and official spokesperson, Kael had the silver tongue of a born diplomat. He flirted even when he negotiated smooth, unbothered, always one step ahead. He'd deliver the King's most serious decrees with a teasing smirk, somehow making even diplomatic statements sound like a personal invitation. Underneath the charm, though, there was a sharp political mind Kael never said anything by accident.

He strode into the office and dropped himself into the slick black chair. Almost immediately, his sharp ears caught the sound of a knife slicing through the air toward him. Flipping himself backward, he dodged it the blade missing him, leaving only a scrape mark behind. He spun toward the culprit.

"Really, Neon? Do you want to get me killed? I'm your friend, for crying out loud. I know I'm not supposed to sit in your chair okay, look, I'm up already but can't you ignore your god-damn rules just once?"

Neon responded calmly, as if he hadn't just attempted to kill someone thirty seconds earlier.

"If I don't follow the rules, I make mistakes. And if I make mistakes, the world suffers."

Kael was rendered speechless. All he could manage was, "You — you — you—"

He shook it off. "Whatever. The Mars project we still need some materials to finish the ship."

Neon said nothing, fingers still moving across the keys, typing code only he could understand.

Kael continued, "Now that we've eliminated a lot of the obstacles stopping life from existing on Mars like the machine that shields against radiation and the one that handles the cold there are still some important things left. Oxygen. Food production."

Neon's response was immediate and cold. "What exactly are the scientists doing if they can't figure out something this simple?" His aura shifted, turning oppressive in an instant. Even Kael lowered his head, muttering an apology.

Ignoring him, Neon went on. "For oxygen go to Antarctica, get the algae, make phytoplankton, send them to Mars along with the radiation shield. We don't want them evolving. I created some serums recently add them to the nutrient mix."

"For food production go get the pollinators. Do I really need to tell you what that means?"

Kael's head shook on its own.

"When I was young, I had a farm of different pollinators, and they've been evolving. Go to India and get them."

Kael nodded fast and bolted out of the oppressive office. Once outside, he couldn't help but let out a long breath of relief.