" Give him that, he'll understand."And he just smiled, and she hesitantly took it. And he waited in the class, reading his old notes, wasting his time. And Rohit took his time, and the night almost fell. And he saw him entering the class, and Dr Arya didn't look at him, and when he sat down in front of him, he placed the Red serum back into the box he was holding, and Rohit saw the blue serum on the box and he paused a little, but he continued.
" There is a minor flaw on the DNA growth and energy side, but you have perfected it."
" Like you did."
" I never perfected it." Said Rohit. And he just hummed. And Rohit said some technical stuff, which he has faced earlier, which he didn't focus on, and he just kept flipping the pages.
" Do you know why I asked you to come?" Asked Dr Arya when Rohit was done saying.
" Probably to ask what to do next with this time bomb."
" You held it before, what did you do?" he asked, and looked at him. And Rohit didn't reply and looked at him.
" I threw it away."
" So you threw the research of me and you for years on the drain." And Rohit didn't reply for a while.
" The one we made wasn't, you knew it. I perfected it after the research was cancelled." And there was silence.
" I've made two serums, one for the gene activation, and another for the energy required for it. The only thing that was left was to see its effect." And he put them back.
" This world is not simple, and has never been simple. You know what morals they have. Their morals start with profit and end with profit. The thing you have will bring only war and death."
" So what do you want? Abandon evolution."
" This is not evolution, it's a science project with uncertainty. Meta-genes are itself an uncertainty in our DNA, it could have random effects in each individual."
" We can perfect it, you can perfect it. Think of the world where everyone is strong enough, strong enough to survive anything, how many people died in that fire in the circus, how many died in that earthquake, how many regularly died because of a disease that they have no control over." And Dr Arya becomes emotional.
" Think of it Rohit, what will happen if we have the power to save everyone."
" No one has the power to save everyone, not even God."
" But we can give them a choice. A chance to change their destiny.."
" Choice? Who gave you the illusion that they were gonna make the right choice?"
" You are thinking too radically, Rohit."
" And you are thinking too idyllic Arya." Rohit also spat back, their conversation heated up.
" Whenever humans have the power they can't control, conflict has happened, you can't trust them."
" But we have, we can do. We can control who gets the power and who does not, we can develop a way."
" We are not gods. " Rohit said, and looked at him angrily. And he became silent and looked at the box in front of him.
" We,, we can't just sit there, and watch them suffer." And Dr Arya didn't look at him. And seeing this, Rohit took off his glasses and said.
" God has taken the form of a human several times, and every time he was born as human, he has died as a human, suffered as a human. No matter how strong and how Almighty he was, he still suffered." And Rohit took out a metal pen from his pocket, and crushed it in his palm. And seeing this, Dr Arya was in a daze.
" You are in confusion, so was I. You really think with power everything will become easy." And he threw the broken pen down.
" I have the power to break this pen, but not fix it back." And he looked at him.
" In my heyday I could easily lift a truck, no one on this earth was my competition in either strength or brain. I may not be as strong as my son, but I am strong enough to do many things, and be immune to almost all poison. And yet, I've had my research belittled, stolen and denied. I've been poisoned by friends and enemies alike, I've received enough death threats on patents and research that I'm sure, and as soon as I leave this country, the plane I'm traveling to will miss function next moment. I'm strong enough, my son strong enough that any of us can rule this world with our brains alone, but we don't, I don't. I can solve many problems, I've solved many problems, but what. Even if your serum can make man immortal, but what?" And Rohit looked at him.
" You can make this serum for your public or even make a watered down version which can make a human two times stronger for a day or saw. What will happen?" And he looked at him.
" You might get another Nobel prize, earn a few billions on patents, but what will be the end of it. Twenty years later it all will be waste paper, and you are not the only scientist who researches Meta-genes."
" You could make a version which cures only the genetic disease. Who'll get the benefit from this, the country? Even if you gave this research to the country instead of capital what would happen? Would the capital, who don't recognize their mother, would care about an underdeveloped or even a developed country? For them a country's value is only how much that they can whore from it."
" I've seen it, I've imagined it, and I've summarized it. The biggest hindrance to human evolution is human itself." And Dr Arya didn't say anything, just listened. His mind trying to deny everything, Rohit has just said, but couldn't come up with the reason to deny it. And in the end he just uttered.
" Why can't ... why?" This is all he could ask, trying to deny this. But Rohit didn't reply, just looked at him.
" WHY CAN'T.. " He yelled.
" We can change everything." And Rohit still didn't reply, just looked at him.
" What if,, what if someone else researches this? Another country, terrorists. We can use this on,,,"
" Then create an antidote, fighting fire with fire will only burn the surroundings faster."And Rohit became silent, and Dr Arya didn't say anything else, but his face showed several expressions, anger, frustration, guilt, sadness, and in the end acceptance. And seeing this, he stood up, his expression normal, and he left the class room slowly, not saying a word in his way.
The class was empty leaving a lonely figure of Dr Arya, he looked at the only thing that he could say, is totally his own creation, and one thing that he is proud of. But what's the result? He wanted to laugh, but he didn't, who would want to laugh in this situation, and on his own self nonetheless. He was frustrated, a little annoyed and desperate. How would you feel if you made something for someone, but someone else said, no this thing must be used with precautions, so it's better to hand it over to me. I'll protect it. And when my mood is good, I'll give it to the one you intended to give. Isn't this nonsense?
He felt frustrated and angry, wanting to throw something, but his years of life or an experience didn't allow that. But sometimes, your experience may betray you.
Dr Arya was about to hold the box, but he accidentally dropped the control remote of the board screen behind him, and it automatically turned on, and when turn to grab it, he saw the figure of Krish, and the pieces of the broken pen left behind by Rohit, and a look realization flashed I'm his eyes, which become into a frown and then thoughtful.
" Maybe I should try it." He said, and grabbed the box on the table, leaving the screen behind him.
And in the far land, Krishna was standing near a lake, different from his hometown, more like an industrial pit left behind after abandonment, and little far, Priya was there, ruining the scene by vomiting. And Krishna was a little confused by this.
" Are you crazy, flying over this far?" And she vomited again.
" I… I'm sorry?" He was a little confused, and gladly, she didn't see that. And soon she regained her composure and looked around, and asked.
" Why did you come here?" And he didn't reply directly, but sat on a nearby stone, and then replied.
" I was….confused." He replied honestly. And she also came close, and sat beside him.
" About Dr Mehra?" And he nodded, and they both just sat there silently for a while, and Priya broke the silence.
" I really don't wanna say anything, and yes, Dr Mehra didn't have a very likeable personality, he can be very annoying with his that damn superiority complex, and something feels like, he should not be human, and sometimes you just want to say him get out but you can't… ." And she started to complain about him, which most of them couldn't understand, because she was explaining her own problem, instead of his, so was little confused, and soon she also saw this, and felt a little ashamed, but was able to manage his expression.
" Don't look at me like that." She said with a little blush on her face, and Krish stopped looking. And Priya got a little annoyed.
" Why are you not looking at me?" And he looked confused and looked at her
" Don't look at me like that?" And this time he was totally confused.
" What are you saying? Look or not look? Say something clearly?" And seeing his reaction, she understood.
" I mean, don't look at me with those eyes." And she blushed, and turned, her face. And he was genuinely confused, he wasn't the first one who couldn't understand a woman for the first time. And soon they became quiet, and she controlled her smile, and then said.
" Dr Mehra,,,, your father didn't have this,, what we call treatment before. He fought for it." And he looked at her.
" Being a genius is not always a good thing, being a genius, you have to face what a genius faces. He didn't explain why, but he has to have that cheerful style,,,just like you." And she became quiet for a moment.
" But one day, he suddenly changed, he no longer indulged in friendly talk, he no longer had that sunny smile, and the friend he once had, was gone. And he never talked about it to anyone. He has his fair share amount of secrets, but some of them are obvious."And they both looked at the setting sun in front of them, and slowly, she put her head on his shoulder.
" you know Daadee really wants to meet you." And she nodded.
" Let's go there to see her, you and me alone."
" Why are you putting your head on my shoulder?"
" Blockhead." she said, and ended this extra scene.
And in the hospital, Supriya was just unpacking the gift she got, and ate the chocolate she got. Sakshi was phoning her phone. Rohit was sitting in his lab, looking at his monitor, where a picture of krish was displayed. Dr Arya was in his lab, looking at the red serum in hand, and a photo of his son and him, his eyes melancholy.
The next day, when the sun rise, Dr Arya stopped his alarm clock, and looked at the closed box in front of him, he hadn't slept yesterday, and his eyes were little heavy with sleep, he looked at the alarm clock, and then his wrist watch yawning a little, all the night he couldn't sleep, his mind racing with all the scenarios that could happen if he take the serum himself, it was giving him the headache. He looked at the photo of his son, and murmured to himself.
" It would be great if you were alive. I wouldn't have to think that much. Didn't I just make this for you?" And he stood up, changed his clothes and freshened up himself. He walked out of his home, and entered his lab, and sat back on his chair and put down the box, which he kinda wanted to throw away. And seeing this, he just asked himself..
" Who am I even waiting for?" He couldn't understand why he was hesitating. He looked at his son's photo, and remembered what he said to him. And then at Rohit and his friends, and a look of determination flashed in his eyes. He grabbed the red serum and a special injection gun, his hand shaking a little. He grabbed the injection, and his eyes became a little firm, and he controlled his arm, and slowly placed the injection on his arm, and took a deep breath. He calmed himself down, and looked at the red injection in front him, and with a firm voice, he pressed the injection. The whole room became more quiet, He felt like the whole world had become quiet, and he slowly pressed the trigger. And nothing happened, and nothing happened for a while.
" Did he???" He was thinking something when the whole world became different. And he fainted.
And inside his body, his cells were changing, becoming livelier, becoming better.
A metamorphosis, an absolute change that changes everything, everything about him.
And his mind was evolving, changing.