Beyond

After the meeting, Dasha's father walked ahead while his mother trailed slightly behind, her hands nervously twisting the strap of her purse. She glanced at Dasha, who walked calmly between them, his face unbothered. A whirlwind of decisions, strangers and discussions of a strange land, and he did not care. 

Because really, who didn't see this coming?

Back home, Dasha went straight to his room. It was ordinary in every way, shape, and form. Nothing but a cheap bed, cheap desk, and a journal remained. He sat at his desk and opened his journal. Every single page was filled with meticulous notes and diagrams. Not a single page was spared.

Dasha had finished it the other day over the course of a couple hours. He flipped through the pages, finding them dull.

Hours later, there was a soft knock at the door. Dasha closed his journal and set it aside as Li Xiu stepped into the room. She was a young woman in her early twenties, with short black hair and glasses that gave her a studious look. Her intelligence was unexpectedly above the norm, memorizing and adapting at thr snap of a finger. She often felt out of place, a bit of a loser in her own eyes, striving to make ends meet.

"Good evening, Dasha," Li Xiu said, smiling warmly. "How have you been?"

"Good evening, Ms. Li," Dasha replied, returning the smile. "I've been well, thank you. How about you?"

She glanced at the closed journal. "It's good to keep a journal. Helps organize thoughts and track progress."

"Indeed. It's been very helpful."

They settled into their usual routine, with Li Xiu going over advanced concepts in biology and mathematics. She was thorough and patient, explaining complex ideas with clarity. Dasha didn't need it. It was all an act, really. He had been managing his learning curve to appear as a great genius but not superhuman, subtly faking his struggles to make her look more competent. 

"Ms. Li, I have some news," Dasha said after feeling there was nothing more to fake. "The government has offered me a scholarship to attend university."

"Really? Congratulations!"

"They were very impressed with my progress and I recommended you as my tutor. It will be a full-time position."

Li Xiu's eyes widened in shock and joy. "Full-time? Me?"

No job and a tough thesis to write. That was Li Xiu's current life. A struggling student with job prospects that she could never fill out due to her lack of self-confidence.

Dasha offered an out. "I was hoping you would take it. It will be four years long."

"That's…" Four years. Four years of taking care of an eight-year old. 

"I told them I wouldn't accept anyone but you," Dasha goaded. 

"Dasha…" Li Xiu looked touched. "Thank you so much. This means a lot to me."

She impulsively hugged him, and Dasha patted her back.

They sat there hugging.

All Dasha could think was, 'Finally.'

This was the first step in gaining influence at the university. He had carefully orchestrated this moment, ensuring that she saw him not just as a prodigy, but as someone who could shape her future.

Still hugging, Dasha's eyes flicked to the closed journal on his desk. 

Universities were filled with old, controllable men that could not see their own truth—their own mortality. They claimed to be the pinnacle of truth. They were the furthest from that.

Dasha was beyond them. 

At the age of eight, he grasped the truth that no one else had. Since the dawn of their existence, they had all been searching. Begging. Weeping.

History had been waiting for him—the boy cursed with knowledge. The desires of trillions clawed at him yet he stepped on them and kept walking through the feeble Earth.

In that measly, musty journal was the formula that touched the gods. In the small, compact home was the origin of that which was long forgotten. A myth or a dream that pulsed through the veins of all living creatures.

Immortality.