In the dry deserts of the western borders surrounding the nation of Bharat lies the Spiral City of Nixtom. This district is home to the most prestigious school in the entire country: High School Kolar.

After being closed for over a year, HS Kolar finally opened its gates once again as the war had come to an end. With the start of a new academic year, a fresh batch of students arrived, one of them being Abhi.

"Big Ahh School," Abhi remarked as he observed the vast establishment of Kolar. The enormous and illuminating marble building could easily be mistaken for the Taj Mahal—at least, without its spherical dome on top. The outdoor campus was vibrant and lush, with grass covering the main building from all sides. Beautiful shrubbery topiaries acted as natural dividers between the grass panels and the main marble tile pathway leading to the building's entrance. It was an understatement to call this scenery beautiful.

As Abhi walked toward the school, he stopped to notice a dog near a telephone pole on the sidewalk outside the school gate. He went over to pet it and, while playing with the dog, spotted some mushrooms nearby and picked them up. After some time, Abhi glanced around and noticed some peculiar-looking people in black suits and goggles watching him. He stared at them for an extended period before getting up and entering the campus, it was hard to ignore them as they were even inside the school campus.

Ding! Tring! Tring! The school bell rang, signalling the start of Abhi's first day of high school in a new millennium.

Abhi jogged toward the school building as the bell rang. Upon entering, he looked around in wonder. He stood in the middle of a giant hall, and the vastness of the space wasn’t the only remarkable feature; the interior of the school building was strikingly different from the exterior.

Unlike the marble facade, the inside walls were made of cement with a white finish, and the railings, poles, and benches were crafted from exquisite-looking wood. A beautiful chandelier hung from the ceiling, and two curved staircases led up to the second floor, reserved for school officials such as the principal. Though the interior was distinct from the exterior, it still exuded elegance, harmonizing well with the school's marble facade. One wall showcased pictures of the school’s special events, its achievements, and even celebrities who had visited or studied there.

"Man, I gotta hurry up," Abhi said in a rush. Many hallways branched out from the main hall, leaving him perplexed and unsure of how to navigate to his classroom. Suddenly, he closed his eyes and softly mumbled something under his breath. When he opened them again, his expression had changed completely; he looked and acted more confidently. He quickly chose a direction and began walking.

The hallways were long, and the staircases were wide. After a few minutes of walking up to the third floor, Abhi finally reached his classroom, '1C.' The classroom was spacious, but not as enormous as Kolar's colossal architecture. It featured three class boards—two at the front (one whiteboard and one blackboard) and a third whiteboard at the back of the room.

As every student, including Abhi, entered the classroom and occupied the two-person benches at random, he looked up and noticed a black cuboid-shaped box attached to the ceiling. Curious about the object, he chose to ignore it and took a seat at the front of the last column, next to a guy with peculiar-looking orange hair. The wooden benches, while large, also appeared quite comfortable. Abhi glanced to his left and saw a window beside him.

After surveying the classroom, he compared himself to his fellow students, noticing that his attire was quite different from theirs. Once everyone was seated, an awkward silence fell over the room. At that moment, the guy who sat next to Abhi suddenly stood up and spoke confidently:

"Good morning, everyone! My name is Veer. I'm delighted to be here with all of you. From what I can see, we all come from different places far and wide across our nation. With such diversity among us, I'm sure we would all like to get to know each other. So, I thought, why don't we introduce ourselves to the class as a starting ceremony for our first day at school?"

The students glanced at Veer with differing emotions, and a few seconds later, another student from the back spoke up. "That's a good idea, Veer, but how about we wait for our class teacher to arrive? That way, she can get to know us too," suggested a pretty girl with thin blue eyes and brown hair. "Good point, Dep. Let's wait for the teacher," replied Veer. The rest of the students in the class nodded in agreement.

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Creak! Bam! The classroom door swung open. A beautiful, curvy, and well-dressed lady in a saree with long black hair, classy glasses, and a giant smile walked into the class and stood in front of the class cabinet.

"Good morning, homies! Welcome to Class C of 11th grade. I’m going to be your homeroom teacher for this year. You can call me Ms. Oxlong."

The class greeted the teacher in unison. "Did she just call us 'homies'?" some students whispered to each other.

"From what I heard while walking in, you all wanted to have an introduction session in my presence, right? I'd love that! But before we begin, I need to share some important information first. I’ll give you an overview of our schedule and academic plans, and I have a special message for you as well."

The class nodded in response to Ms. Oxlong's words.

…

"Hmm, I wonder what the special message will be," Abhi said quietly. "Probably some boring informational video or the principal saying hello to the students," Veer remarked, looking at Abhi.

"Ha ha, probably," Abhi replied.

"Get your notes ready and write down all the necessary information," said Ms. Oxlong.

The students followed her instructions and began taking notes. After several minutes of information dumping, the teacher got to her final announcement:

"Finally, by the end of this week, you will have to take a Merit Test. This test won’t count toward your overall grade, but don’t make the mistake of taking it lightly, as it will determine your future as a student at Kolar."

The entire class halted their writing. They looked up at the teacher, eyes wide and mouths agape, and all exclaimed together, "What! A test in the first week?"

"Now, now, you don’t need to worry; there’s nothing to be alarmed about. This Merit Test is just to evaluate your individual and overall class abilities. It will provide data for our team to help maximize your growth, all you pokie-bears." The teacher noticed their reaction and reassured them.

The students relaxed upon hearing this, nodding in approval, though many were confused about what "pokie-bear" meant, as it was unfamiliar with these creatures.

"Now for the last announcement: we have a special informational video for you all."

"See! I told you it was going to be just another boring informational video—nothing new," Veer said smugly, glancing at Abhi.

"You called that one for sure," Abhi replied with a soft chuckle.

Tap! The teacher flicked a switch beside the blackboard. The black cuboid box above began to vibrate and illuminate green lights from its crevices. Abhi focused intently, his face lighting up as if he had witnessed a dark angel descending from above.

Some students looked on with curiosity, thinking: 'Wow, I’ve seen projectors in special halls before, but Kolar has them in every classroom?'

Others appeared bewildered, as they hadn't noticed the device previously.

The teacher held a remote and clicked a button. The cuboid box projected a computer interface. She then went to her desk and opened a silver device with "Soni" imprinted on its back, which seemed connected to the projector.

"Damn! They even have laptops in every class, huh?" Veer commented, referencing the device.

"Isn’t that like a... computer?" Abhi asked with an uncertain tone.

"Well, a laptop is pretty much just a portable computer, so you are half correct," Veer replied.

Abhi looked amazed to hear this, exuding curiosity with his eyes. Seeing his excitement, Veer smiled at Abhi’s thrilled expression.

The teacher then pulled down a polyester and cotton-made white curtain from a large horizontal cylinder atop the main blackboard, creating a screen for the projector.

"Alright, before we start, I want you to know that this special informational video comes straight from the core of the education department in the Capital, and is mandatory viewing for everyone. It will only be played once across all classes simultaneously, so pay attention."

CLICK! The video began playing on the white screen.

A man in his thirties appeared, with long white hair, deep brown eyes, and a darker brown skin complexion. He greeted the camera, saying, "Namaste," while joining his hands.

As soon as he appeared on the screen, every student, including Abhi, widened their eyes in disbelief, their jaws dropping to the floor and their eyebrows raised in astonishment.

The man on the video began to speak: "Good morning, students of Kolar. My name is Vishva Pratap Raghavan, but you may know me as the… 'National President of Bharat'."

..........