Monument

Dr. Charles King has built a career on happy accidents. Dubbed “Side Effect Charlie,” his unplanned breakthroughs have reshaped entire industries—from a friction‑free metal surface that rendered traditional metallurgy obsolete to a peculiar crystal that defied ordinary physics. Though his methods often begin as mishaps, King’s meticulous nature lets him replicate those “mistakes” into reliable results, earning both admiration and resentment in the scientific community.

Now King stands on the brink of his most consequential invention: a crystal‑based propulsion system that appears to breach the light‑speed barrier. With a press conference looming, he hopes the demonstration will finally clear his tarnished reputation and launch humanity’s starships into the depths of space. Yet the very nature of his discovery hints at unforeseen repercussions, leaving him to weigh the promise of interstellar travel against the shadows cast by his past side effects.