Many people greeted her with bright smiling faces when they identified the person. She nodded slightly with an indifferent look on her face but no one felt offended. On the contrary, they were thrilled when they saw her nod towards them. Andrew's face became frosty when he saw this. This treatment was supposed to be his.
Catherine's face lit up as she jumped from her seat and ran towards that girl who looked like she was a few years older than Catherine.
"Elder sister Sameera, I have been waiting for you," Catherine started chatting cheerfully like a sparrow as she held onto Sameera. Sameera smiled for the first time as she looked at Catherine affectionately as she rubbed Catherine's head and pulled her to sit at an empty table.
"Sameera, why don't you bless us with your presence today?" Andrew requested in a fake respectful tone as he looked at the girl.
Sameera glanced at Andrew once before starting to talk with Catherine, she ignored him completely. Andrew snorted but did not say anything as he knew he would embarrass himself by going up against Sameera but he felt stifled by his inability. A cruel smile appeared on his face when he remembered the surprise he prepared for Sameera.
"So, how were your classes?" Sameera smiled as she asked as she started setting the Catherine's hairstyle as a few strands of hair had loosened. She also took out a pink bunny hair clip and fastened it to her blonde hair.
"Wah! Elder sister is this the bunny hair clip you talked about?" Catherine's face became red with excitement as Sameera nodded with a small smile. Catherine looked at her watch near as she said, "Jerry, activate mirror."
A small fly sized disc was ejected from the interior of the watch which flew around Catherine. A red laser-like light illuminated from that disc as it scanned Catherine's body. Pixels gathered to form a colourful 3D hologram of Catherine over the watch. Catherine magnified the image to concentrate on her face and hair. Her eyes revealed pure happiness when she saw the cute hair clip. She rotated her image, with her fingertips, in all directions to see how the clip looked good on her.
It was not that these things were not found in 'Elysium' but anything cute or adorable was looked down in this atmosphere. So, usually, no one would be interested to wear such things. Sameera designed this hair clip in a few minutes and made it with a 3D printer in a matter of seconds. This was her way of staying in touch with the 'real' world otherwise she feared she would turn into something which was not her. This was also the main reason that she liked to hang out with Catherine who was the most 'normal' girl she could find. As expected, Catherine liked this hair clip.
"Thank you, elder sister," Catherine said after she calmed down from her excitement. Catherine was as bright and talkative as a chirping bird. Sameera doubted if it had anything to do with her modified genes as her powers were indeed related to birds.
Sameera smiled as she said, "you did not tell me how were your classes." Catherine giggled as she said, "the same boring 'Genetic Coding', 'Gene Regulation', 'Mutation Models' blah blah blah, sometimes I think I should just change my subjects and go for the technology-related studies." Catherine said with a vexed expression.
"Well, it was you who opted for these subjects, right? What happened now?" Sameera asked as she drank some soup.
"Well, I thought I would study these subjects so that I can change my powers but I did not imagine that these subjects would be so complicated. You, people, are learning military tactics which are so cool," Catherine pouted her lips as she played with a spoon.
Sameera smile receded as she said sternly, "never think that way, with your personality, it is better you stayed away from fights. Also, you are just fifteen and you are already speaking of giving up. You have a long life ahead of you, do you know that people in the outside world can only live up to a hundred years? You have to plan your life carefully so that you won't regret in the future. Who knows, maybe you will find a way to increase your powers in the future."
Catherine listened earnestly and nodded at Sameera's words. She was not serious when she said that she wanted to change her subjects.
Sameera smiled when Catherine listened to her words as she said, "You don't know what girls, at your age, study in the outside world. Life is so simple out there when compared to here. They would probably faint if they see this knowledge."
Sameera remembered how Kumari and Aditya used to complain about the syllabus as they had no time to play. It was always Sameera who pushed them to study. She did not know how these fellows or her family members were dealing with her 'death' news. She cherished the memories, she shared with everyone, all the more after she had come to this place where everybody is defined by their productive value and no real relations exist.
"Sameera, how are you preparing for the task which was given to us last week?" Andrew asked as he came and sat opposite her.
"None of your business," Sameera answered coolly as she continued drinking her soup. It was not that she did not give him respect but this mission was very important to her and so she kept her thoughts on it very close to her heart.
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Andrew's face froze when he heard these words but immediately sneered as he said, "Do you know the place I have chosen to complete this mission?"
Sameera brows tightened as she looked at the sneer on Andrew's face and had a bad premonition. She looked at Andrew with an icy gaze without speaking. Andrew did not expect Sameera to answer as he continued, "Bangalore, India."
The spoon in Sameera's hand slipped and fell in the bowl as a deadly silence ensued. Andrew's followers and the people nearby suddenly felt their hair stand up as if they were in the presence of a desolate beast. Only Andrew who had a smug expression failed to sense the atmosphere as he said, "While I am at it, I might pay a visit to your family and friends. If you have any 'last' message for them, I could pass it to them."
This was not Andrew's way of provoking her, he had truly decided to vent his anger on Sameera's close ones as in his view they were just lowly species who would anyway die in a few years, it would be better if their deaths helped him to vent his anger. He might not be able to touch Sameera but those people had zero value in his eyes and frankly, he believed them to be no different from ants. But Andrew had clearly failed to notice the impact his words had on Sameera.
Before Andrew could fully enjoy this moment, a slim hand covered in pitch dark scales, which were harder than metal, caught his right hand. Blood drained from Andrew's face when he saw Sameera standing near him as her pupils slowly transformed into golden coloured slits. The voice which seemed to come straight from the depths of hell was heard saying, "you can come at me with everything you have and I would gladly fight with you. I won't regret a bit even if I die in your hands or schemes. But as long as I am alive, don't you dare mess with my people."
Cold sweat streamed from Andrew's head as he nodded vigourously. He did not expect to draw such a violent reaction from Sameera, he truly did not understand why one would care about those barbarians. The thing which shocked him the most was the partial body transformation that Sameera achieved so skillfully that even some adults in the 'Vermillion' class could not achieve it. But this caused the hate and jealousy in Andrew's heart to only increase. Though he agreed on the outside, he secretly decided to gift heads of her close ones to her.
But this was not over yet, though Andrew acquiesced immediately, Sameera did not leave his hand as she said, "let me make this scene memorable to you so that you will never forget today. Also, let me make sure you can't afford to go out in the coming month to complete the task. Andrew felt his heart constrict when he saw those golden slit pupils shrink into needles.
Ahhh!
A pain, which he had never experienced in his whole life, crashed into his mind as the hand covered in jet black coloured scales pulled his right hand forcefully. Andrew's right hand was ripped apart from his shoulder with sheer strength while Andrew cried hysterically as he held his bleeding shoulder. this was not a normal show of strength as one had to know that Andrew was no not a normal human. He was an elite among elites who had his body modified multiple times to evolve his physique. But still, Sameera tore his hand away like pulling a small plant from the ground.
Many gasps were heard when the surrounding people saw this scene as shudders ran through everyone's spine and they retreated further away from Sameera. But surprisingly, the blood stopped almost immediately as Andrew ingested a few pills. A new layer formed over the wound and a small appendage started growing from that wound at a visible pace.
People looked at awe at this rapid healing as they murmured, "No wonder, Andrew is an elite class with these high regenerative powers."
"I heard that he activated genes related to the Planaria, is it true?" another person asked enthusiastically.
"Leave that, did you see the control Sameera has over her transformation and that strength is off the charts," another person looked at Sameera with starry eyes. His spectacles was replaying the scene again and again as it clearly displayed the force applied by Sameera in mathematical terms accurately.
"You don't say. Activation of Mesozoic Era's ancestral genes are not just for show, you know?" another girl rolled her eyes as she said but the respect in her eyes was no less than the earlier person.
No one here was new to blood, even Catherine gasped but did not show any fear. There was only awe in her eyes as she looked at her elder sister.
Sameera held Andrew's torn hand near her mouth as a forked tongue came out of her mouth and licked the blood as she said, "I hope this is enough for you to stay away from your task and my people. If this is not enough, I want to see how you would regenerate if I cut your head and evaporate it with a laser. I don't care if they turn me into a slave or even kill me after that."
Andrew's heart shuddered when he saw the madness in those slit pupils as he gulped and nodded again. He did not wait and scurried away before Sameera felt like tearing another limb off his body. Though it was a fact that he could regenerate, before his genes were completely activated, it would take him months to become whole again.
A message was displayed on the inner side of her spectacles as a voice was heard, 'The director wants you to meet him right now."
Sameera's cold expression did not change as she threw that limb away and left the cafeteria. Her deed was not going to go unpunished but she was prepared for these consequences as long as her family and friends were untouched and safe. The humanoid robot came over and bend down to retrieve the hand with the same stiff smile which when combined with its action gave people a sort of eerie feeling which freaked them out.
If Kumari or Aditya saw the scene in the cafeteria, Kumari would faint while Aditya would be stunned as the Sameera, they knew, was a gentle person with a soft nature who couldn't stand the sight of someone getting hurt in front of her. This further goes on to prove the effect these genetic powers have on a person's heart. Though Sameera became ruthless and cutthroat, her inner nature was not tarnished from the way she looks after Catherine or protects her close ones.
Sameera came out of the cafeteria building as she made way for the large building filled with Greek architecture. The place 'Elysium' was built fully in the lines of Ancient Doric and Ionic Greek architecture. Even the word 'Elysium' was derived from Ancient Greek. The huge rectangular buildings were supported by huge columns in straight rows built with white marble completely. Humans looked like ants in front of these columns. These buildings were built using sophisticated geometry, architects included optical 'tricks' such as thickening the lower parts of columns, thickening corner columns, and having columns ever so slightly lean inwards so that from a distance the building seemed perfectly straight and in harmony.
"Kumari was a huge fan of Greek mythology, she would be thrilled if she saw this place. Don't know if Adi and Kumkum are still in contact with each other?" Sameera sighed as she turned her eyes away and hastened her pace to the director's office.