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A few days had passed since Mia came to visit Alex. Early this morning, when Alex woke up, he realized something in him had changed.

Closing his eyes to focus on these changes, Alex concentrated all his senses to feel what had shifted in his body. He couldn't find exactly what had changed, but the feeling was still there.

After a while, Alex decided to ignore it. If it was one of his abilities, the feeling would grow stronger over time. After breakfast, he went to school with his father, Jonas.

Classes went on as usual, except during recess Alex noticed that Sheldon had been busy reading some books. Alex sensed that Sheldon was studying a way to land the auxiliary rocket without having to discard it in the ocean.

"Do you need help?" Alex asked.

"No, I can do this on my own," Sheldon replied.

"What happened to him?" Tam asked.

"Sheldon wants to prove to the NASA scientist that he was right," Alex said with a shrug — he had more important things to work on.

"Cool," Tam said as she continued eating her lunch. Soon the bell rang, and everyone except Sheldon returned to the classroom.

The afternoon classes were calm, and Alex continued his routine.

...

Days passed and it was Saturday morning. Alex was busy in the lab, studying cold nuclear fusion.

He wanted to bring the ARC reactor to life, but was facing difficulties with reaction stability during the fusion process. It was at that moment that someone entered. Alex, who had his eyes closed, deep in deduction, sensed the other person.

Opening his eyes, he saw Sheldon.

"Sheldon, what are you doing here?" Alex asked.

It was Sheldon's first visit to Alex's lab, and he was looking around at everything.

"Is something wrong?" Alex asked again.

Sheldon felt a bit of envy, but explained why he had come.

"You told me I could use your computer if I needed help, right?"

"Yes — do you need to use it?" Alex asked.

"I need to borrow your computer. I need to access propulsion and weight ratios from the Johnson Space Center server."

Alex had been expecting this. He pointed to the desk and said, "It's right there — just go ahead and use it."

"Thanks," Sheldon said and walked over to the computer.

He quickly accessed the data he needed and wrote it down in a notebook. Then he approached Alex and looked at the blackboard filled with scientific formulas.

Alex noticed and smiled. "Do you know what that is?"

Sheldon looked at Alex with a hint of disdain and said, "You're trying to calculate the number of rotational cycles needed to generate energy equivalent to 3 gigajoules."

Realizing that, Sheldon placed his hand on his chin and thought for a moment. Alex waited silently. "You're trying to build Tony Stark's ARC reactor?"

"Correct, I'm trying to create the ARC reactor through cold fusion," Alex said with a smile.

Pointing to one section, he showed where the chemical element palladium was marked.

"Palladium? Why?" Sheldon asked, puzzled.

Alex explained: "Palladium can absorb large amounts of hydrogen — 900 times its own volume. That hydrogen is what I use to generate electricity through cold fusion."

Sheldon thought the idea was very plausible and said, "I can help you with the calculations."

"Thanks, but no need. Did you get the data you needed?" Alex changed the subject. He wasn't worried about Sheldon trying to prove something to him.

What was on the board was just a small part of the whole project. Even though Sheldon was smart, it would take him years to research the ARC reactor at the level Alex had.

"Yes, I need to go — I have some calculations to do," Sheldon said as he turned and left.

Alex remained silent. Truth be told, he had been deducing a new element to replace palladium — just like in the movie.

All of this was difficult for Alex to work out, as he lacked the necessary knowledge. Bringing something from the movies into the real world was a challenge he had to overcome.

His plans... and to travel the multiverse, just like Rick Sanchez.

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Author's Notes:

I am writing a new novel, the name is: Twilight - Dimensional Traveler