After the discovery of nano-photons and souls, several attempts were made to try and influence the particles.

Basically, human, or for that matter, any living cell generated biomagnetism which had been shown to be the source of nano-photons.

So, Nishith K. Kishore felt that it would be extremely logical for bio magnetic fields to be able to influence the nano-photons.

Therefore, he put his ideas to the test and it was discovered that our brain waves could affect souls. For his discovery, he was awarded the Nobel Prize and hailed as one of the founders of the Gene Era.

While it is true that brain waves can affect souls, the effects are extremely negligible under ordinary circumstances. Only the most intense of brain waves can cause the soul to change substantially enough to affect the body.

As an example, the Placebo effect occurs when the brain strongly perceives something to be correct and the soul responds to the belief and alters the body accordingly.

There was a case where an obese person was given sugar pills daily and told that the pills were a new weight loss drug which was extremely effective.

Fabricated statistics were also shown to him about people who had lost weight after just taking a pill a day… no exercise, no diet control.

Surprisingly enough, the man lost over 5 kg in a week.

This is where the soul sensor comes in. It is a device that can amplify the ability of the brain to detect and influence the soul.

It basically acts like an additional sense organ that allows one to sense the soul. Every child who can afford to do so is equipped with a Soul Sensor at the age of 14 through a surgery.

As the technology advances and the sensors grow increasingly cheaper, the userbase is growing broader. More and more people are joining the gene era.

Preeti’s fourteenth birthday was coming up and Aman wanted to gift her a sensor.

Although, the effect of the mind on the body via the soul wasn’t really that reliable, it had been proven to make subjects much less prone to diseases, including ones like cancer.

In Preeti’s case, her chances to have a relapse would be drastically reduced and her recovery would speed up if she was equipped with a Soul sensor.

***

Aman stared at the ceiling of his room blankly, the flat stretch of white paint doing little to distract him from the events of the day.

After the elf had released his hold on him, he had run as fast as his degraded constitution could carry him and fled the alley. He didn’t want to spend another moment in that dangerous place. He had absolutely no curiosity about the ‘them’ that were hunting the man down.

After reaching home, he had put his soiled handkerchief into the washing machine and started a spin in order to remove all traces of the blood. He didn’t want to worry his mother after all.

While his mother was occupied with helping Preeti with her physio in order to prevent bed-sores, he had sneaked the Soul Sensor into his room.

Now it was in one corner of his cupboard, hidden under a pile of his clothing.

Right now, he was in a dilemma about what to do with the thing. While the voice of reason in his head was urging him to discard the hot potato and throw it in a dumpster somewhere, the other part of him, the ambitious part, kept telling him that this might be great opportunity.

Due to the state of his genes, he had been marginalized by his peers. the same peers who had tried every means to get close to him when he was still handsome and the captain of the football team.

However much he might have matured under the cold shouldering of his peers, he was still a warm-blooded youth.

No matter how elaborate and rational his plans for his future, they involved a large amount of patiently biding his time.

Which young and ambitious fellow could be truly resigned to a life of obscurity until his mid-twenties? The seven or so years in front of him seemed to stretch on endlessly like a bleak desert landscape.

But now, the Soul sensor in his cupboard was like an oasis and it was attracting him with promises to quench his thirst for the limelight from which he had been so prematurely displaced.

There was a large amount of risk involved in using the sensor as it would put him firmly in opposition with the unknown organization that had chased down the elf.

But, the fact remained, they had no idea that he had the sensor. The elf was the only one in the vicinity when he had passed on the device and he already had one foot in the grave.

If he was stealthy enough about it, he could get rich silently and they would be none the wiser.

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. It was a decision of great importance and he didn’t want to make it impulsively and regret later.

There were several logistic difficulties involved in keeping the Sensor a secret.

Since it was so important, it had to be a very advanced model and would raise suspicions about how someone like him got his hands on it.

The only place he could think of where the operation to replace the Soul sensor he had currently with that one could be done confidentially was the grey market hospital.

There was a vague plan fermenting in his mind about giving his sensor to Preeti while he used the ill-gotten one but he would have to iron out the details and ensure that it would be worth it.

He sighed and got up from his bed.

Anyway, he wasn’t going to be reaching a decision anytime soon. He needed more time to think on it. Maybe after a night’s sleep, he would have new ideas.

Going out of his room, he saw Preeti walking around in the living room with the support of his mother. Her complexion was pale and there were close beads of sweat on her forehead, denoting how even such little movement was strenuous for her.

His eyes went to the IV canal attached to the back of her hand with a bandage. She wasn’t in a state to consume solid food yet, having to obtain all her nutrient requirements via IV drips.

The faster he got her a Sensor, the faster her health would take a turn for the better.

Aman decided that the next day he would do his best to gather information about means to get his sensor replaced confidentially.