Zack's Offer

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The Heart and the Mind

Heart: Yeyyy! we're contracted! How should we spend our night to celebrate this grand occasion?

Mind: By writing the next chapter 

Heart: oh...

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Tyler wasn't the only one to get rejected as a series of failures followed right after him which made his guilty conscience feel a bit better.

Seeing the scene that was currently unfolding right in front of their eyes Andrey, Jacob and Jenny all looked towards each other in worry. It was clear that this series of failures that had occurred right in front of their eyes had given a very intense blow to their morale.

"Compatible, passed," Zack's emotionless words entered everyone's ears attracting their attention which was earlier only focused upon their own worries.

Seeing that the person who got selected was the class nerd most of the people who had been rejected started doubting their own eyes and ears and as for those who still had not given their test a ray of hope seemed to have appeared for them.

"Oh my god! How did Barney get selected?"

"Damn! Am I dreaming? Is the machine flawed..."

"God! Why is this world so unfair!"

"Why him?! It should have been me!!" 

A series of complaints were voiced and the majority of them were from students who were rejected. Zack who was getting a bit annoyed by the sound just looked at them and hissed in an annoyed manner.

"You guys can leave you know? It's not like we're going to conduct another test for you," 

Zack's words hit everyone where it hurt and they stopped their complaints and entered back into their former depressed moods. They knew that standing here was only wasting their time but their curiosity took the best of them. 

Seeing them all go mum Zack didn't bother with them and sent Barney back to his seat as he began replacing the used needle to prepare for the next student.

Barney walked back to the group of students in a jovial mood. Just like the rest of the students he too had lost all fate in being able to get selected but fate had a different route in store for him and he ended up getting selected.

When he reached the group of students a large crowd hurled around him. They were the students whose turn was about to come and they needed to know what Barney did differently that got him selected.

"Barney tell us! How did you approach the test?"

"Yes! Is there a secret? Please tell us. Was there a particular thing you were thinking?"

"Oh great class nerd enlighten the masses and let the knowledge freely circulate in this world."

Seeing the sudden change in attitude that he was receiving from his classmates Barney's ego was given a nitro boost and he melted.

"Haha guys it's no big deal, it's really simple alright. This is what I did..." Barney began to give his explanation.

"...think nothing?" A few voiced out at the same time

"Yes," Barney innocently nodded.

"And how to do that?" They asked.

"You know...just think about nothing. It's pretty easy, close your eyes and think nothing?" Barney said in a simple manner which made almost everyone look at him weirdly.

"You sure about this?"

"Well...this is what I did and I got selected, that's all I have to say," Barney said as he went back to take his seat leaving the group of students perplexed whether to believe him or not.

As he saw the students discussing the method which he had just told them Barney was sweating inwardly while thinking to himself, 'I was so nervous while waiting for the results that I didn't even glance at that guy's holographic bracelets and you expect me to remember what was on my mind?'

Barney knew that if he said that then he would only be inviting the ire of the whole class so he decided to make up a lie. What better way to cover up his lie than to hide it under the blanket of being able to 'empty his mind'? He was sure that his explanation didn't make any sense to anyone at all so he would be able to handle it with just a shrug when they come to him for trouble later on.

"Should we trust him?" Jacob asked Andrey.

"Let's see the next results, if we see any great change then we should consider his words," Andrey replied.

Soon the next person was called upon and the result was a failure. The disheartened student rushed towards Barney to raise his complaints but the latter only shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe you didn't empty it properly?" was the reason given by him which only irked the student further.

Finally accepting his defeat he dejectedly walked towards the area where the rest of the failed students were standing. They welcomed him with open arms in their group of failures and consoled him.

Another series of failures continued and it was finally Jenny's turn. She looked nervously towards Jacob and Andrey and the two of them nodded towards her to wish her luck. 

She too nodded back in a weak manner as she turned her head back and started walking towards the testing table.

"Argh" Jenny grimaced from the stinging pain as she waited for Zack's emotionless voice which they all had become used to by now. With each passing second she felt that her heartbeat was beating higher and higher as she was anxiously waiting for results from Zack's mouth.

"Compatible, passed." Zack's words finally entered Jenny's ears as her tensed body relaxed all of a sudden. The emotionless voice of Zack reverberated in her ears and morphed into the most mellifluous voice she had ever heard.

Jacob cheered for her from the waiting area and Andrey carried a smile on his face seeing that she had passed. Jenny rushed back to the waiting area with delight clearly written on her face as she hugged Jacob tightly.

"I did it! I did it!" She said as her grip over Jacob tightened.

"Haha You really did it! Good Job Jenny," Jacob hugged her back and cheered her for passing. Seeing the present scene Andrey just smiled, he was happy for his friend and didn't intend to disturb this moment for him.

After another series of disappointments another student was selected but this time not a lot of students were surprised as the one who got selected was Alex.

Alex gave Andrey a smug smile when he returned and said, "Do you think you'll be able to succeed?" 

"We'll see," Andrey gave a half-assed answer and soon it was Jacob's turn. Andrey was a bit nervous regarding but seeing that Jacob was selected he finally took a sigh of relief.

It would be too hard for him to witness that the couple that was just on the brink of being created would be torn apart just because of a test.

Finally, it was Andrey's turn and he walked towards the table after hearing his name and roll number being called out. While Andrey was making his way towards the table he felt that Zack was looking at him quite intensely.

"Is there a matter?" Andrey asked.

Zack looked towards his superior who nodded towards him. Seeing this Zack finally opened his mouth, "Your father was also a warrior right?"

"He indeed was," Andrey replied, he felt that something was strange here.

"You see..." Zack said he took out a vial which was hiding inside the pocket of his lab coat. The vial had the same red liquid inside it but the only difference was in its colour. It had a much darker shade of red colour.

"This?" Andrey couldn't help but ask.

"Here's the thing..." Zack explained to Andrey that he was giving Andrey a choice. To choose between the vial containing the liquid with higher purity or the normal one that had been given to all the students.

"What's the benefits? and the risks?" Andrey asked.

"It has not been tested until now...since this equipment was only recently created and all the progeny of the warriors from the previous year had already been selected by the former testing method...but theoretically it should increase your speed of absorbing the red energy by twenty per cent or more..."

Hearing this Andrey became a bit interested but since the method had not been tested earlier he asked him for the risks associated with it.

"It's the liquid form of the energy contained in a high-grade red stone and once it enters your body it will completely assimilate with your body...in the previous testing method which used a solid red stone, the red aura was only felt by the subject's body for a few seconds to initiate the opening of the few body pores and the process was completed..." Zack paused and continued.

"...so it's quite dangerous and it's only because you're a progeny of a warrior that we're opening this method for you. If you fail half of your bodily organs might fail or you'll enter into a vegetative state."

Hearing his words Andrey couldn't help but say, "Are you guys crazy...suggesting something like this to a student?! Don't you have even a bit of conscience in you?" His voice carried a hint of anger in it as he felt that these people were clearly playing with people's lives here.

Hearing his words Zack couldn't help but chuckle which made Andrey furrow his brows, "Hehe how would having a conscience help in saving the human race? We're almost on the path of extinction after the heavy blow we suffered a few weeks ago."

Hearing his words Andrey just remained silent not saying a single word.

"Anyways, I completed my task of informing you, now it's up to you to choose, the guaranteed safe path or the risky gamble? What will you choose?" Zack asked as his previous emotionless voice took over.

Seeing that Zack was not forcing or trying to bait him into the riskier path Andrey's anger towards him quelled down a bit as he started thinking over his decision. 

If given an option to be stronger then he would readily agree to it just like the rest of the students but after knowing the risks that were associated with it he leaned more towards rejecting the offer and choosing the safer path.

'I'm just a normal guy...why would I take such a risk...wait...I'm not normal though..." Andrey paused in between. He felt like cursing himself as how could he not realize that this was like a heaven-sent opportunity specially made for him?

If things go wrong he could just revert back in time and stop Zack from injecting the fluid inside him.

With his mind set Andrey nodded to himself and said with a smile,

"A shot of risky gamble please..." 

"W-what?" Zack's emotionless expression faltered after hearing Andrey's unexpected response.