Alex and Izabela

Alex never fit in, no matter how carefully he tried to mimic the people around him. At fourteen he appears ordinary, but what lies beneath his skin is anything but human. Built by an advanced scientific civilization and accidentally stranded on Earth as an infant, he has spent his life hiding what he truly is. When sudden instability in his internal power system triggers a countdown he cannot stop, Alex learns the truth: if he remains on Earth, his core will explode with catastrophic force. He must escape the planet before the collapse destroys millions of lives. But leaving means abandoning his family, his school, and Izabela, the girl who has become the center of his young world. With government agents closing in, a military operation attempting to capture and dissect him, and a single scientist willing to risk everything to protect him, Alex races to build a makeshift spacecraft that can carry him far enough from Earth to die safely. Along the way, Izabela learns the truth about him and becomes his anchor in the final days of his life.