Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Forty-Eight

Alex checked on Olivia, who was sound asleep. When she returned to the lab, she saw Monk standing over Zeus. Monk had told her that he was going to try to redo his failed experiment and upload his consciousness into the tiny creature, but this time, he was just going to transfer the same language patch that he had uploaded to Alex's brain, which would enable Zeus to communicate, but retain his own personality.

Alex circled the laboratory and stared at every piece of equipment and display with an insatiable fascination and curiosity. She had a thirst for knowledge and there was an entire history from a fallen civilization waiting to be discovered. Running her fingers along the smooth surfaces, Alex was pondering an idea. When she arrived at where Monk and Zeus were, she said, 'I want to know everything.'

'What do you mean?' Monk said.

'I want to know the entire history of this planet. I want to know about your political system, your economy, your technology... I want it all.'

'There's tens of thousands of years of rich and complex history in our archives. Are you sure you can handle it?'

'I guess we'll find out.'

With great reluctance, Monk invited Alex to lay down on the oversized chair. She climbed up and her tiny body stretched out, hardly taking up any space at all. Alex fully relinquished her trust in an alien creature she had relatively little interaction with. It was perhaps her greatest fault.

Laying back, Alex received further instruction to relax. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. For the process to begin, Alex would have to be put to sleep, which made her extremely vulnerable, but she went along with it anyway.

Monk placed a tiny device on Alex's forehead that was connected to a large machine. Once it was activated, Alex felt her body become completely relaxed, and her consciousness slowly slipped away. With all her waking energy stripped, she passed out in a deep comatose state. As a highly specialized scientist, Monk continued to work in his field of expertise, transferring large chunks of data into her brain. The advanced alien technology seamlessly integrated with the Earth-based chip embedded in her skin and the transfer was underway.