Round 2

It had been a month since Kaze came back from IAEA. The contact info he gave was an email id that was created with the help of ZIA for purposes like this. He was beginning to think that he saw wrong and he wasn't a selected candidate.

One fine day, after he had given up entirely, however he did get a notification. Turns out he was asked to show up the following week in the headquarters for a full body examination before proceeding to the next level. They will only let you in if you're deemed fit. That seemed like a logical situation given the amount of physical activity one might need in IAEA. Even the people in desk jobs there required a minimum amount of training just in case of emergency.

There was one tiny problem though. He was physically something else. He did not see anyone different that day, which might mean that maybe aliens were not allowed. It could also mean that aliens are allowed but none participated or the ones that did changed their appearance like Kaze. He was starting to reconsider his decision of joining IAEA soon enough.

Now that he had a stable job, he could continue his research from here. After all, IAEA wasn't absolutely necessary. But his ship was there, and having access to the main building would make it easier for him to get that ship, or any ship for that matter when it was necessary. Maybe it will make contacting his crewmates easy too, It has been long since they talked, what if they presume he was already dead. He was glad to be here and survive so long, but he didn't plan on staying here forever.

If he agreed to appear for the interview and he was caught for who he is, he could get in serious trouble. He managed to swoop in last time, he wondered if he could do it again. Was it possible that the consequences of his actions would be different now that he had an appearance of a human.

He was lost in his thoughts while he stared at the invite when Xander walked in.

"Do you know what they do for physical examination"? Kaze decided to ask the only person who has any idea regarding this.

Xander was a bit taken aback by the question, but regardless he decided to answer him "Well, they measure your height and weight to check whether you qualify for being a candidate. They also check your full body for any kind of deformities".

"With machines"? Kaze asked just to confirm.

"No! With eyes. Why waste technology on something that can be easily and precisely done" Xander gave him a 'are you crazy' look. Kaze sighed in relief because then maybe he won't be caught this time. "But yeah, if everything is alright they do a genetic analysis".

"What"? Kaze deadpanned.

"Yeah, they have to screen you for any underlying genetic condition that may or may not manifest later in life. They are very thorough about who they hire". Xander sighed. He grabbed the tool for which he came for and left.

After he was gone, Kaze decided to contact ZIA. "How does this genetic analysis thing work"?

"They take your blood and run it through a machine called Gene Decoder 2.8". ZIA gave him a simplified answer. Kaze panicked the moment he heard it. Kaze was lucky that even his blood was a shade of red. It was slightly darker than human blood, bordering on maroon, but it could still pass for human blood.

What was scary was that the results it would give. There was no way it would reveal that it is human, let alone healthy. If he wanted to make it in, he had to find an alternative way.

At the IAEA, he was deemed physically fit after which they proceeded with blood collection. Due to a minor power issue they had to do it manually instead of automated and thus they would need a minimum of two days to process that.

Since it was his day for the one on one interview, with undetermined genetic structure he was still called in for his interview.

When he entered the room he found himself surrounded by eight interviewers. They all asked him basic interview questions, which thanks to Xander he prepared well. After that he was offered a few refreshments and the interview continued.

They asked him all kinds of questions, gave him various scenarios to work on and thus the whole interview took four hours. Turns out they only do two interviews per day, which is why round 2 is considered very long.

He managed to answer most of them with confidence and got stuck in few of them, but did overall well. According to his fake data, he was a twenty three year old human, but in reality he was far more experienced than that and thus an interview like this was a piece of cake. Especially due to the questions being scenario based. The scenarios they provided, most of it was encountered by Kaze way before. To him, it was like recalling events instead of active thinking.

When the interview was almost over, Kaze was asked one last question for which he had to think more.

"As I can see, and advertised by Chief McKinley here, you are very good when it comes to automobiles. Then why are you applying for this program instead of the tech team"?

The honest answer would be that it would give him a chance to escape whenever he felt like it, and access to most of the things here unlike the tech team. But he needed a lie which would be convincing enough so that he makes it. After a bit of careful thinking he decided to answer.

"I have always dreamt of doing this, to deal with intergalactic beings, they always excite me, while I do have a talent with machines I want to pursue this. I also believe that knowing about tech can help me in the field too in case of emergency". Kaze replied without stuttering which fortunately convinced the interviewers.

They dismissed him, and asked him to wait for any further reply. Accepted or rejected both would be notified in due time.

It was already evening by the time he was done. After returning he was so exhausted that instead of doing his shift like he originally planned he decided to just take the day off. His manager didn't bother asking him anything but he did get a snarky 'I told you so' from Xander.

After two more weeks he finally got the notification that he was selected for the programme and was placed in the group C. There were supposed to be ten groups and given how only 50 of them were supposed to be chosen.

He was happy his plan worked and that he didn't get caught. What plan? You see, he was on his way to the IAEA when an sudden idea hit him. All he needed to qualify for the blood test was that his blood must be of a human one. Back at the day before his interview, he faked an medical emergency. According to ZIA that is where the blood was most easily accessible to. Due to regular screening procedures, there was a very low chance that those blood were genetically defective.

He got some blood from the person who was on blood transfusion right next to his bed when no one was around. All he had to do was somehow switch it with his blood.

When he found out the process was automated, with the help of ZIA, he developed a computer virus that would cause a minor temporary disturbance. When the powers went out, it was dark for everyone, but for Kaze, it was much less darker. He took an empty vial from the container, poured the blood in it (the one which he got from the hospital) and then threw the vial which contained his own blood.

You would think they would also run an identity test while they had the genes, but luckily all they screen for is genetic diseases, maybe because unlike Kaze the whole process in front of everyone's eye...and that's how he evaded from getting his identity exposed.

He was doing well so far, but now that he was going to be staying at IAEA 24x7, communicating with ZIA was going to be much more tough. So the question at hand now was...how long would he make it there?