linking up

"Mr Onana, what are your plans after leaving this place?" Mr Myers asked abruptly, interrupting their hushed conversation. The sound of his voice made them jump and look up guiltily. The rest of the class followed their gaze and stared at him with curiosity and awe.

"The Imperium Academy," he answered calmly, without hesitation. His words caused a collective gasp among the students and the teacher.

"You mean…you're a transcendent?" Mr Myers asked, barely hiding his shock. He knew what that meant. It meant he was one of the chosen ones.

Brian felt their eyes on him, burning with envy and admiration. He knew he was different from them. He had always known. The odds of being a transcendent were astronomical, depending on one's genetic ranking. And he fulfilled the requirements."

Human genetic ranking ranged from 0 to 10. But most people never got past 2. In fact, 99.9% of humanity was stuck in that range. Only those who reached 4 or higher were called "transcendents".

It was unheard of to have two transcendents in the same class. But that was the case for Brian and Raïssa. They were the rarest of the rare, the one in a billion.

Being a transcendent was not something you could inherit or achieve. It was a random gift of nature for first generations like Raissa. They had transcended their normal human status and become something more. Some fanatics even worshipped them as messengers of the gods or angels.

For those who were born from transcendents like him, the chances of being a transcendent were much higher. They had a 50% probability of inheriting that genetic trait. Gary told him his father was powerful even among elementals. No one understood how or why it worked that way, it was a mystery that no one had solved yet. Or at least no one at their level.

But being a transcendent was not enough to become an Elemental. That was another level of rarity and power. It required a genetic ranking of more than 5. And only he had that among his peers. Not even Raïssa could match him in that regard

But even if they were not Elementals, being a transcended was still a great honor and privilege. They had the opportunity to join the stellar consortium directly and serve as high-ranking officers in their law enforcement. They were respected and feared throughout they system.

"Yes sir, I am," he said politely. He felt their stares on him and looked away. He did not like the attention.

"Very well," Mr Myers said. He saw that they were still eyeing Brian with envy and resentment. He decided to give them a reality check. "Don't be jealous of him, though. His path will be the most perilous one among you all. And don't think that being a transcendent will guarantee him a spot in the Imperium Academy. It's not that easy to get in. Transcendents may be rare for lambda citizens like us, but on a larger scale, there are thousands of them just in this planet competing for the same goal. So you better work hard, Onana."

.....

Two hours later, Brian was relaxing in the cafeteria with a drink in his hand. He watched the other students celebrating and saying goodbye to each other.

He was interrupted by Raïssa's arrival. She sat down next to him and gave him a serious look.

"So, are you ready for this?" she asked.

"I guess so," he said. "But can you go over the plan again? Who else is coming with us? We can't pull this off by ourselves, you know. And this is not like our usual escapades."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"For someone who is always worried about his fuel expenditures, you sure don't mind wasting it on drinks like that" she said

"I skipped breakfast today, okay? There was no water at my place. And this drink only costs three minutes. Now stop stalling and answer me already," he said.

She waved her hand casually and summoned a server drone to their table. It hovered in front of her and waited for her order.

"I'll have what he's having," she said to the drone, placing her hand with the timer on the payment zone. The drone deducted the amount and flew away to get her drink.

"Thomas and Bob are in," she said, as the drone returned with her drink and left them alone. "They're getting everything ready for us right now. They'll meet us at the surface when we're done here."

She took a sip of her drink and said, "I'll explain everything again when we're with them." She looked at him expectantly.

He stared at her for a moment and then asked, "Why did you say you gave up on going to the Imperium Academy? I know there are other places where you can use your high human abilities, but don't you want to learn how to control your body better?"

She shook her head and said, "First of all, they're not the best option for high humans. Second of all, I don't want to be around those high-born snobs who have everything handed to them. We're not from the same world. And third of all, I already tried and failed. It was a horrible experience for me. I'm a delicate young lady, you know."

Brian snorted at her and said, "Sure, sure. You never know, maybe the selection this year will be a piece of cake." He got up from his seat and said, "Come on, let's go."

They both left the cafeteria and got into a taxi that took them to the surface. he had been living underground for so long that he was not used to the sunlight. It was bright and warm and made him squint.

"Lower the brightness by 20%, please," he asked the AI. "I can barely see anything out here." He missed the neon lights and the artificial illumination already.

"You should get some enhanced eye implants," she suggested. "They would adjust to the light automatically. Besides, we're almost there." She looked out of her window and watched the bustling cityscape pass by.

"The taxi descended to the ground near a towering warehouse that loomed over them. They paid the fare quickly and watched the taxi soar into the sky again. They saw two figures waiting for them near the entrance