I couldn’t care less about anyone else’s issues but mine at that point. Eva’s issues, blah, Cora’s issues, blah, Brandon’s issues, double blah, blah. That’s what popped into my head when I thought about these things. I was so preoccupied with fixing my idiotic mistake that I couldn’t put much thought into anything else.
Once class started, it went by fast. The teacher was still stuck on the beast genealogy and skills breakdown, which made for an exciting topic. Especially for me, as I was familiar with some of the beasts she was displaying on the main holographic display board.
Occasionally, I would hear a whistle from one side of the room, the one where the twins were. I tried my best to ignore it, but let me tell you, those two are a persistent bunch.
Eventually, when the teacher turned around to look at what was displayed in the front holoboard, one of the twins threw me a piece of paper folded over multiple times. I knew I couldn’t ignore it anymore, so I opened it up.
“Keep ignoring us, and you’ll find out how big of a scandal I and my sister can make, Khyrum! You better turn and look at me in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”
As soon as I read the letter, my eyes got as big as saucers. I knew trouble would follow if I didn’t look, so I did.
As soon as I turned, there she was, staring at me with a devilish grin on her face from ear to ear...Yara.
I saw her mouth, “Meet me after school. At training ground 3.”
I wanted to say no, but just looking at her, I knew that if I did, she would make a scene. That was the last thing I wanted. So, I nodded okay in response.
I turned back around, looking forward, and didn’t spare anyone more time.
The rest of the classes went by without any significant issues.
After reaching our phys ed course, I went over to talk to Mr. Warnick.
“Coach, do you have a minute?” I said as I walked up to him.
He turned around, trying to figure out who was calling him. After seeing me, he had this half smile as if saying, “What does this kid want now?”
“Khyrum, what a surprise,” he said halfheartedly.
“Coach Warnick, sorry to bother you again so soon, but I have a question I think only you can answer,” I said innocently.
He looked at me, skeptical over what that question could be.
“Hmm, another question, huh? Ok, let's hear it,” he said.
“I went to TG 1 yesterday to look at how the seniors practice; I wanted to see if maybe one of them had the skill you have.”
“I thought I could get lucky and see how they were using the skill, but I found it hard to assess the aptitude of their skills. They were moving super quickly, and before I could even notice what they would do, BAM, it was done.” I said in a disheartened tone.
“How can one measure a skill power and aptitude to determine how strong it is or what it enhances?” I asked.
He looked at me, intrigued by my question.
“Let me tell you, trainee Khyrum, you’re becoming more of an enigma to me. I would have never figured you for someone interested in the inner workings of a skill.”
I looked at him, a little surprised by his words. I was about to say something when he cut me off.
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“It’s not a bad thing, Khyrum,” he said.
“I admire students that want to learn this kind of stuff. It makes me think you guys are invested in bettering yourselves and humanity.”
“That’s an A+ in my book trainee and to follow up on your question. Yes, there are various ways to check on skills,” he said, a bit piqued by the topic.
“Oh really, can it be done here?” I said, feigning intrigue.
“Actually, yes, we have several machines that can do it; for instance, we can check the skill’s Tgene percentage; we can even get more technical and do an in-depth analysis of the skill to find out what attributes it has and what it can do,” he said more than a little bit piqued now.
“WOW,” I said in an exaggerated tone.
“Could you show me these machines and how they work?" I asked.
"When I awaken, maybe I can check my skills and see what I need to do to better myself,” I said.
He looked at me even more perplexed.
“Showing you the machines is not going to be an issue, but teaching you how they work. Hmm, let me think about that,” he said, grabbing his chin with his right hand.
“I understand, coach; if you don’t know how they work, I can always ask one of the other coaches; just showing me the machines should be good enough right now,” I said, sounding disappointed.
I knew that would get him riled up; he looked at me like he wanted to slap me silly for saying that.
“You think too little of your coach trainee,” he said in a cocky tone.
“Let me start the rest of the class in today’s run, and then you and I will go over to the main Phys Ed building. Your coach is going to show you not only the machines but also how they work. So, keep your eyes open so you don't miss it.”
I knew I had him then; this was how to test myself.
After putting the rest of the class to run, he and I returned to the Phys Ed building.
“Come in, but don’t touch anything,” he said.
“You are only here to observe. We usually don’t have freshmen in here as they are not awakened yet, so most of the students we test are juniors and seniors,” he said calmly.
“Understood, coach,” I said.
We walked in through the front doors. As I followed, I took a mental picture of the route. It was straightforward from the front door. After passing two offices on the left, we turned right into the next hallway. We continued forward for another good 5 minutes before we turned left in the next hallway.
From there, we passed three offices on the left before approaching a massive door on the right side. On the top, it read TESTING CENTER.
“This is it, trainee,” he said as he opened the door.
“Let’s go inside, but like I said before, don’t touch anything.”
We walked into a dark room. Some of the machines had lights flickering in the dark, reminding me of those starry nights I used to have when hunting in the Rayong forest.
“Lights,” he said, and the room lights turned on.
Inside the room were four huge machines. Two of them had a pod-like device with a seat and helmet inside. The lights flickering on those machines had a heartbeat pattern to them. Thump, Thump…...Thump, Thump.
The other two machines had sphere-like apparatus in the middle with a front door leading to a table inside. A scanner-like apparatus inside the sphere scanned the table from top to bottom. One could quickly tell you had to lie down at the table. The lights on these machines had a more erratic rhythm: thump, thump, thump…...thump, thump……thump, thump, thump, thump…. thump….
“Alright, trainee, you see this machine here with the pod,” said Coach Warnick.
I nodded yes.
“This is called a Universal TGene Sequencer, or UTS for short. This sequencer can detect up to 99% of all Transcendent Genes,” he said proudly.
I was impressed.
“Wow, 99%, that’s high. Can it detect only modern genes or some older ones also?”
“It can detect any gene ever used that we have recorded going as far back as we can on the historical records. If the DNA sequence was written down, it should be recorded in this machine,” he said confidently.
“Ok, and how does it work?” I questioned.
“You see this interface here. You press the blinking power tab as such.”
As soon as he pressed it, the interface came to life.
“Once you have it turned on. You will find the sequence analyzer tab here. You press it as such. It's going to go into this menu that says New Test analysis. If you had started the test but halted in the middle, it would have given you a second option: " Continue Test.” said coach Warnick as he continued to explain.
“Once you press New Test, there will be a countdown from 15 to 0 before the test starts. This gives the subject enough time to sit inside the pod and wear the helmet.” He continued.
“How long does the test last?” I asked.
“It’s not that long, only about 15 minutes or so,” he said as he started to shut down the machine.
Once he completely shut down the machine, we moved on to the second machine, the one with the sphere-like apparatus.
“This second machine here is called a TGene Splicer, or TGS for short.” He said as he walked up to the machine.
“This one has a similar display to the UTS, but once powered on as such,” he said as he pressed the power tab on the display.
“You’ll see a completely different set of tabs,” he continued as the machine lit up like a Christmas tree as soon as the power tab was pressed.