The Last Slice of Space Chronicles: Lark Arias

Science, especially chemistry, is the only thing that five year old Lark Arias cares about. It is such an all-consuming passion that psychologists from Drell, the planet in the far distant future where he lives, would call him a "natural obsessor." As a consequence, he doesn't care about people. He hates them. He despises even his own parents. Lark has no friends and this absolute solitude has never bothered him. Then one day, he bargains with a man called Haus, promising to get him a mysterious substance, "par-the-air", in exchange for a lifetime supply of chemicals for his own experiments. Before he knows it, Lark finds himself invited to be a scientist for the Rarerus, an organization that fights against the Arach, viruses from another planet who aim to antimatter all mankind. He soon meets Raoul, an enthusiastic fellow scientist, and Liara, the universally adored leader of Rarerus. He is later even forced to work together with his meddlesome and excessively extroverted classmate Karrin Treek. From then on, Lark's life acquires a new dimension as he becomes embroiled in a world of danger and adventure, where a wrong step may mean death-or even worse.