Max stood at the garage entrance, gazing at the dirty, neglected room that was once a venue for family projects and idle fantasies. The walls, covered with grime layers, were now littered with abandoned tools, unfinished projects, and leftovers of old ideas. The atmosphere was heavy with the stale smell of aged wood and rusty metal. It was nothing compared to the cutting-edge lab his dad used to work in, but to Max, it was going to be the site of something new.

  Max breathed deeply, pushing up the sleeves of his worn jacket. He had a dream—a goal that had been festering in the back of his mind for far too long, eating away at him. This garage, full of rusty machinery and chipped walls, would be the building block for something much larger than himself. It would be where his dad's research would become a reality. It would be where Max would start making steps in picking up where his father had left off. The meteorite had already altered everything, and now it was time for Max to take charge.

  "This is it. This is where the future begins." He spoke to himself, his words firm with conviction, though with a hint of nervous anticipation bordering his sentences.

  Max moved around the garage with intent now. He gripped old wrenches, pushed aside metal scrap, and stripped the workbenches, the one after another. His fingers moved in regular motion, putting things in their place and grouping them. He was no longer hesitant. He had always been a dreamer, a man who experimented with ideas but never had the room to bring them to fruition. But now, all that was changed. With his father's technology, his own expertise, and an inner fire to prove himself, Max knew that this was his moment.

  His first job was to tidy up the decades-long machinery. He picked up a worn rag and wiped down a workbench caked with grime over the years. Underneath, a steel surface glowed as he cleaned, and he saw the surface that once served as a platform for inventiveness.

  Through the hours, Max's attention never faltered. He reassembled components from his dad's lab—high-tech gear and parts that he had seen only in passing. He had installed equipment he had barely comprehended as a child, but now the parts fitted together. An up-to-date computer system, sophisticated laboratory instruments, precious metals—all were wedged into the garage. It was a component of the overall puzzle, and as he lay everything out, Max felt his heart pounding.

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  "Dad, you knew this would happen, didn't you?" Max grumbled to himself as he placed a high-powered scanner from his father's arsenal. He tuned the settings, the buzz of electricity and machinery filling the otherwise quiet garage.

  There, on the workbench, lay the piece of the meteorite. Max had stored it in a little box ever since he discovered it, not knowing what it might be able to do. But now, as he set it down on the sanitized surface, he could sense its power. It was like a weak heartbeat, a throb of energy that seemed to resonate in the air.

  The fragment of meteorite, small and sharp, emitted a strange glow that cast creepy shadows on the walls. Max's eyes widened, leaning in farther. The bit of rock seemed to be alive, its energy spreading outward. It had been everything for him to comprehend the science behind it, but he knew now. This was it.

  "So, this is it, huh?" Max spoke to the fragment as if it were alive, his voice full of wonder and curiosity. He had read the notes from his father, the cryptic journal notes that wrote of limitless potential, but experiencing it himself was a whole different thing.

  The glow from the meteorite flickered slightly, almost in response to Max's words. The room seemed to vibrate with its energy.

  Max stretched out for the fragment carefully. He cupped it in his palm, feeling the warmth seep into his flesh. For an instant, he closed his eyes, allowing the weight of the moment to settle within him. The weight of his father's burden. The fact that this tiny, seemingly irrelevant piece of stone had the power to alter the world. And now, it rested in his palm.

  "This is only the beginning," Max whispered to himself. His heart beat frantically within his chest. No going back now.

  Max's thoughts went a mile a minute. What might this power accomplish? How would he tap it? The suit, which his father hadn't been able to perfect—him? Might he be the one to make it work?

  He replaced the meteorite on the workbench with care, almost religiously. The second stage would be the most difficult. He had to try it out, to learn how to harness this power, to tame it. But Max wasn't scared. His hands shook with excitement as he started putting away his equipment, preparing himself for what was to come.

  He glanced around at the garage, now transformed into his high-tech workshop. A place that would soon become the birthplace of his future. A place that would forever carry the weight of his father's dreams—and Max's own ambition.

  "I'm going to do this, Dad," Max said softly, a determined smile tugging at his lips. "I'll finish what you started. I'll make it work."