103 The Other Side

In some unknown location in the world,

It was a bright morning and the atmosphere was cool while sunlight flooded this place which resembled a cafeteria but was a little different. Many young boys and girls came in as they laughed and excitedly conversed with each other. If one had to point out the most noticeable aspect about these people who ranged from 14 to 18 years in age, it would be that every boy and girl was handsome and elegant. Each of these kids could definitely make a living by the value of their physique and faces.

You could find every race in these kids. There were Africans, Caucasians, Asians, Indians and many more races. One could find people of different nationalities here. They all conversed with each other in various languages as they held food trays and started picking from the food stall which displayed a wide range of cuisines. If one took the time to count, there would be more than 200 varieties from around twenty cuisines from all over the world. These kids all wore the same white clothes, watches and spectacles.

You would think that this was just a cafeteria in a famous international school but if observed closely, you would start to see some things in this setting that are not supposed to exist in this day and age. There were many domestic robots which were doing chores of humans as they vacuumed, cleaned and handled the leftover food trays.

Domestic robots were not new nowadays but these domestic robots were humanoid and they could perform sophisticated actions, similar to a normal human, quite easily. The efficiency with which these robots communicated with the students would make one feel as if one was hallucinating. One couldn't find a difference between them and normal humans if they did not take the stiff expressions on their faces and the lack of life in their bland, glassy eyes into consideration.

Also, they were no visual screens in the cafeteria like TVs, instead, a high-quality 3D hologram could be seen floating in the air which depicted details like the weather, news scrolling and class activities & their timings.

'Today is a good day for Surfing activities as the swell height is 7 ft and the swell period is 18 seconds. The west swell will be hitting the bay today, the off-shore wind speeds are very low and ideal for surfing.'

An announcement in a mature female voice was heard along with 3D visuals of the beach and the waves was displayed. Some of the students got up excitedly as they stuffed some food in their mouth and made way for the exit after they heard this announcement while the others ignored it and continued with their gossiping.

These people showed no surprise at this high level of technology which would make many jaws drop in the normal world. It was clear that these teens were accustomed to these things. They were other kinds of announcements about new biological or chemistry-related breakthroughs. Special seminars by some professors on these discoveries was open for bookings and the students just had to say that they were interested, for a slot to be booked. In a matter of minutes, all the slots were filled and the next announcements took over.

"Miss, would you like another cup of Cappuccino?", a humanoid robot asked a Caucasian girl with natural ginger hair who looked like she was around fifteen years. An impatient expression could be seen on her face as if she was waiting for someone. She had an adorable round face with some baby fat which made her look cute and likeable to anyone who saw her. She had styled her hair into a Y-Dutch braid.

"No, wait for some time." She replied as she waved her hand.

"Okay, Miss, can I get you anything else?" the humanoid robot put a polite smiling expression which was quite stiff as it asked.

"Sure, where is Elder sister Sameera? Why is she late today?" the girl asked the robot in an eager tone. She could know it if she had asked the same to her AI assistant but Catherine liked to converse with these humanoid robots as it felt like she was talking to a real human.

The robot paused for a second before answering, "Ms Sameera had authenticated to share information regarding her, with Ms Catherine, up to class 3 priority list. Ms Sameera had went to meet the student representative of the 'Scarlet Group' which has delayed her a little, she is currently on her way here, estimated time of arrival – 3 minutes 19 seconds."

"Who do we have here? Little Catherine is waiting for her elder sister," a handsome boy with a thin face said as he sat across the table without asking Catherine's permission. He was followed by two boys and a girl who sat with him leaving no chair empty.

The boy's eyes were narrow as an evil aura permeated around him which scared Catherine. Fright could be seen on Catherine's face as she stood up, she wanted to stay away from this gang. Also, there was no place for Elder sister Sameera to sit if she came.

A smile appeared on the boy's face but coldness flashed in his pupils as he said, "Sit down."

"Bu...but Andrew, there is no place for Elder sister Sameera, you guys carry on," Catherine stuttered as she tried to reason. When she said the name Sameera, fear flashed in the eyes of Andrew's followers but quickly became normal when they looked at Andrew. They were in the cafeteria after all and nothing to fear.

The coldness in Andrew's eyes increased as he said in the same tone, "Sit down." Catherine trembled as she sat down. The people following Andrew laughed mockingly when they saw Catherine's apprehension.

There was a reason that Andrew was picking on Catherine and the reason did not lie in her but with her elder sister Sameera. Before Sameera had joined this program, he was the elite, the prodigy of 'Cherry' class of the 'Scarlet' group but since Sameera joined, he had lost his popularity and had to be satisfied with being number two. He just couldn't stomach it that a new entry like Sameera who was just an outside barbarian, would become everyone's favourite in a matter of a few months.

To make it worse, Sameera was not someone who could be subdued. Andrew had tried and failed miserably. She was proud, cold and meticulous. They were talks of promoting her to 'Vermillion' group even before she reached 18 years and fully activated her ancestral genes. How could Andrew whose father was a key member of the 'Elysium' branch of the organization accept this? He had been here for many years, since he was eleven, accepting an elite treatment and laurels among the executives for the genes he had activated. He was destined to become a key member of this organization when he became an adult.

But here comes an outsider, a year ago, and stole his popularity, his merit, his fame. If his father did not warn him, Andrew would have already made a move on her. He would have at least crippled her genetic powers. It was quite easy with a vial containing 200mg of genetic scissors.

A boy who was one of the followers of Andrew said flatteringly, "Boss, the increase in your strength has been never before seen in any of the students. Even Sameera cannot compare to your potential, it is just a question of time before you will leave Sameera in the dust. Your father is in the group of directors of Elysium and he is privy to some confidential knowledge about the plans that our parent organization has. Didn't you say that your father said something about a new plan? Can you give away a little information to your loyal followers?"

Andrew enjoyed these words as he looked at Catherine who had an indignant expression on her face when she heard these people trash talk about her elder sister. But she did not say anything as there was indeed some truth in these words. Andrew did have more potential to gain strength as the genetic powers, he had activated, were quite unique. But her elder sister was no pushover either. Frankly, Catherine's genetic powers were quite common and passive. to add on to that, she was an orphan with no background to support her. This was the reason that no one cared about her, only Elder sister Sameera who had come a year ago took care of her and accompanied her.

Andrew smiled a little when he heard these words as he said, "Father had said that the top five countries, in terms of military power, have started serious diplomatic negotiations and that they plan to take on our organization together. They seem to have become jittery about our organization's capabilities even with the fact that they practically don't know anything about us. It's quite hilarious actually." Andrew laughed mockingly as disdain could be seen clearly in his eyes. The way he saw it, his organization was already capable of taking over the world, he did not understand what caused the delay. In what way could the outside world compare with them, they were just barbarians in his eyes.

"So, what is our organization going to do?" the girl who followed Andrew asked as she looked at him with awe. Even Catherine picked up her ears when she heard this conversation. She was also interested in the outside world though she did not share Andrew's views. She had heard some stories from her elder sister which further increased her curiosity.

"Well, my father said that our organization had already sent a warning to cease these activities." Andrew scoffed as he placed a fried mushroom in his mouth.

"And if they don't stop?" an Asian boy asked eagerly. Andrew took his time as he slowly munched as the people around him waited with eager expressions. He gulped as he cleaned the corner of his mouth with a clean cloth as he said slowly, "They are planning on creating five acts of disturbances in these five countries respectively so that these countries would realise their foolishness in the face of our organization's rise. It is no different from an ant trying to stop a juggernaut." Andrew said with pride in his eyes.

Everyone here knew the name of the main organization but they refrained from uttering its name as they felt it would be disrespectful. It clearly signified the place that this organization occupied in their minds. He did not have to tell the nature of disturbances that the organization would make as the moment these people moved, it was not going to be any less than a ghastly act which will be branded in the minds of those barbarians forever.

The people around Andrew jeered along with him, these individuals had grown in this environment from a tender age. They were already conditioned to possess an innate superior feeling over normal humans. They had been imprinted with the notion that they were born to rule this world and lead it in the future. Catherine winced when they heard these people talk as she did not share their enthusiasm. Andrew snorted with disdain when he saw Catherine's reaction, these people with worthless powers were as bad as normal humans in his opinion. He did not understand why such people were still allowed to mingle with them.

The more talented a person was, the more indoctrination he was subjected to. In that way, Catherine was spared from this influence which was the reason that she was able to accept Sameera more easily when compared to others who viewed her as a barbarian in the beginning. Sameera was only accepted when her genetic class was revealed to everyone.

When these people were discussing what actions will be taken by the organization, a girl entered the cafeteria. She had a stunning figure which attracted many gazes as she walked calmly towards Catherine after spotting her. Her oval face, beautiful olive black eyes and ravishing dark hair gave off an ethereal aura and a mystical feeling.