As Aman sat in his corner of the classroom, waiting for the teacher to come in for the first class, he suppressed a yawn.

He had understandably had difficulty sleeping with all the plans he had for the future buzzing about in his head.

Looking around, he found that the atmosphere of the class was different.

If this was a usual day, there was no way the class would be so energetic this early in the morning.

Now, they were practically buzzing with anticipation as they conversed excitedly among each other.

Even Ashok had ignored him today, not even sparing a glance.

It seemed that he had missed some important announcement when he had bunked classes.

He wanted to ask someone but knew that it would be futile as everyone in the class was under the unspoken rule to ignore him.

So, he settled down to wait.

He didn’t have to for long as Miss D’Souza came in accompanied by a tall man.

To be more accurate, a tall elf.

Aman’s eyes widened and his heart nearly stopped beating as he jumped to conclusions.

Had the man from yesterday blabbed about him? Had that mystery organization come already?

Was the elf here to capture him?

Were there people currently at his home taking Preeti and his mother away?

“Class. This man here, is a genetic expert. He will be teaching you the basic method of soul meditation. I think that your physical education teacher has already told you what that is in yesterday’s class. So, I hope you’ll do your best to learn.”

Miss D’Souza’s clear voice cut through the fog of his panic and Aman realised how groundless his fears were. How illogical his conjectures.

He had left school after lunch the day before. Combined with the time taken to commute and the waiting time in the hospital, by the time he met the injured expert, it was just time for school to give over.

There was no way the expert coming to his school could be connected to the event the day before.

Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one to react exaggeratedly when the expert entered so he wasn’t conspicuous.

The expert walked in with his back straight and looked at them down his nose disdainfully.

His eyes were yellow and had pupils resembling those of a cat, which were reduced to vertical slits under the morning sunlight.

It was another high-level genetic modification that had recently passed human trials. It boosted the night vision greatly by modifying the structure of the eye.

Just like cats, the retina of those who underwent the process developed a reflective film called the tapetum just below it which reflected the light falling on it back through the retina, giving the photo-detecting cells a second chance to detect the light.

That was why their eyes shone at night like the feline source of the gene ampoules.

“I have been tasked with guiding you in your first attempt at soul meditation. I have been told that all of you have soul sensors. Correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Then for the past four years, since the time most of you got them, you must have been familiarizing yourself with how your soul feels. At this stage, the soul sensor should just be like your sixth sense organ. Our research has indicated that just by being aware of the soul, one strengthens it. That strengthening is enough to allow one to undergo the two genetic operations of Gene Extraction and Gene Fusion.

“Without that excess soul strength, those two operations would kill you. That is why we don’t allow anyone without a soul sensor into genetic hospitals. What I am about to teach you today is an advanced technique that will allow you to enhance your soul further.

“It is the first step down the path of the genetic warrior. I will be testing all of your aptitudes today. The ones that catch my eye will have a chance to attend the National Seminar on Eugenics. Following which, you will compete against others like you from across the nation for a chance to study at the Indian Institute of Eugenics, the birthplace of some of the most splendid genetic-experts our nation has produced since the opening of the Genetic Era.

“So, give it your all.”