Description:

Alden never wanted to be a hero. In a world where an extraterrestrial System grants powers to a fortunate few, most children grow up dreaming of capes, code names, and saving lives. Alden grows up dreaming of something quieter. He wants to be support. A helper. A sidekick. Someone who steadies the battlefield rather than leading the charge. The problem is simple and brutal: true support classes are rare, and old-fashioned sidekicks have all but vanished. Then comes the night that shatters his life. A monster tears through his family's apartment. Walls collapse. A stranger dies in front of him. And as his world falls apart, Alden finds himself trapped inside a shimmering sphere of silver light, suspended between life and death. From within the bubble he can’t speak, can’t move, and can’t look away. He sees two superheroes arrive. He sees their fear. He feels something else watching him. And he begins to understand that whatever protected him that night isn’t normal power. It isn’t even human. As Alden grows older, the memory of the bubble refuses to fade. The System keeps its secrets. Heroes avoid the topic. And something murderous and patient seems to be tied to him in ways he can’t yet name. His journey toward becoming a sidekick will take him through training programs, rival candidates, political pressure, and dark corners of the System that were never meant for a child to glimpse. This is a slow-burn, character-driven story about a boy who survives the impossible, carries a secret he doesn’t understand, and insists on forging his own path even when that path leads straight toward something monstrous.