Dr. Vegus came to the palace when I was two and a half.
Not for me, though I wished he was. He'd been called to check on Shirahoshi, who'd been feeling sick. Turned out to be nothing serious, just a cold, but Otohime was always cautious with health stuff.
I watched him work from the doorway. The way he examined her, asked questions, took notes. He was methodical, careful. A real scientist.
"Feeling better, little princess?" he asked Shirahoshi.
She nodded, sniffling. "My throat hurts."
"I'll have some medicine sent up. You'll be good as new in a few days." He packed up his bag, then noticed me lurking. "Ah, Prince Arquen. Keeping an eye on your sister?"
"Yeah."
He smiled. "That's good. Family looks after family." He started to leave, then paused. "You know, you have very observant eyes for someone so young. If you ever want to visit my research facility when you're older, you'd be welcome."
My heart jumped. "When's older?"
"Oh, maybe when you're five or six? Old enough to understand what you're looking at."
Three years. I'd have to wait three more years.
"Can I come sooner?"
Dr. Vegus laughed. "Eager, aren't you? We'll see. Ask your parents."
He left, and I was stuck there, annoyed. Three years felt like forever.
"Arquen?" Shirahoshi's voice was small. "Are you mad?"
"No. Just thinking."
"You're always thinking." She coughed a bit. "What about?"
How to speed up my timeline. How to get access to real equipment. How to—
"About making you feel better," I said instead.
She smiled at that, even though she looked miserable. "You're nice."
I sat next to her bed. "Want me to tell you a story?"
"Really? You never tell stories!"
Because I was terrible at it. But she was sick and sad, so whatever.
I made up some dumb tale about a brave mermaid who explored the surface. Shirahoshi loved it, hanging onto every word even though the plot made no sense. By the end, she'd fallen asleep.
Otohime found me still sitting there. "That was sweet of you."
"She's my sister."
"I know. But not every older sibling is so caring." She sat down on the other side of the bed. "You're going to be a good king someday, Arquen."
"What if I don't want to be king?"
The words surprised both of us. I hadn't meant to say that out loud.
Otohime looked at me carefully. "Why wouldn't you want to be king?"
"Too much responsibility. Too many people depending on you. What if I mess up?"
"Everyone messes up sometimes. That's part of being alive."
"But kings can't afford to mess up. People get hurt."
She was quiet for a bit. Then she reached over and touched my head gently. "You're carrying some heavy thoughts for someone so small."
You have no idea.
"Arquen, can I tell you something?" She waited for me to nod. "Being king isn't about being perfect. It's about caring enough to try your best, and being humble enough to admit when you're wrong. If you can do those two things, you'll be fine."
"What if my best isn't good enough?"
"Then you ask for help. That's what advisors are for. What family is for." She smiled. "You don't have to do everything alone."
But some things I did have to do alone. The evolution research, the genetic modifications—I couldn't exactly explain that to anyone. They'd think I was crazy. A toddler talking about advanced genetics? Yeah, right.
Still, her words helped a little.
Over the next few months, I kept working on the formula. The binding agent was stable now, which meant I could start testing modifications. Nothing major yet, just small tweaks to enhance existing traits.
In the mental simulation, I created a test subject—a generic shark fishman. Applied the formula with a slight modification to enhance jaw strength.
The simulation ran.
And the test subject's jaw literally exploded.
Okay. Too much, too fast.
I dialed it back. Ran it again.
This time, the jaw strengthened but then the teeth started growing uncontrollably, breaking through the gums.
Nope.
Again.
The teeth grew normally but the jaw couldn't support them and fractured.
This was harder than I thought.
I spent weeks just trying to enhance one single trait without causing cascading failures. Every change affected something else. Strengthen the jaw? The neck muscles couldn't support it. Fix the neck? Now the spine was stressed. Fix the spine? Now the whole skeletal structure needed reinforcement.
Everything was connected.
"Arquen, dinner time!" Mira called.
I blinked, realizing I'd been staring at nothing for who knows how long. Again.
At dinner, Fukaboshi was talking about wanting to join the army when he grew up. Ryuboshi wanted to be an explorer. Manboshi didn't know yet. Shirahoshi wanted to help people like Mother.
"What about you, Arquen?" Otohime asked. "What do you want to be?"
Everyone looked at me.
I thought about it. "A scientist."
Neptune nearly choked on his food. "A scientist? Not a warrior?"
"I can be both."
"That's... unusual for royalty."
"Why? Isn't it good to understand things?"
Otohime was smiling. "I think it's wonderful. We need more thinkers in the world."
Neptune didn't look convinced but didn't argue.
Later, Fukaboshi cornered me. "You really want to be a scientist?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because scientists change the world. Warriors just protect it."
"Protecting is important too."
"I know. But changing things means there's less to protect from in the first place."
He frowned, thinking about that. At barely two years old, he was already more thoughtful than most kids. "Can't you do both?"
"Maybe. That's the plan."
"Then I'll be a warrior scientist too!"
I almost laughed. "You don't have to copy me."
"I'm not copying. I'm helping. That's what brothers do, right?"
Something about that hit different. In my old life, I didn't have siblings. Didn't have people who wanted to help just because.
"Yeah," I said quietly. "That's what brothers do."
That night, I went back to the simulation with new determination. Maybe I was thinking about this wrong. Instead of modifying one trait at a time, what if I modified the whole system at once? Made everything stronger together so nothing was left behind?
It was riskier. More variables. But it might actually work.
I set up the simulation and ran it.
The test subject's entire body lit up as the modifications took hold. Muscles enhanced. Bones reinforced. Organs optimized. Blood flow improved.
And then... it stabilized.
No explosions. No mutations. Just a stronger, healthier version of the original.
[Milestone Progress: 45%]
[Note: Holistic approach successful. Continue current methodology.]
I wanted to shout, but it was the middle of the night and that would wake people up.
So I just sat there, grinning like an idiot.
It was working. It was actually working.
Still a long way to go. This was just one test, one species type, one formula. I'd need dozens more for different fishman types. Hundreds of tests to make sure it was safe.
But for the first time, it felt real. Not just a theory or a dream.
I could actually pull this off.