At 6 a.m., Priya felt ready to face her second day at school. She walked downstairs and made breakfast for Quinn and Sanjay.
“Pree, I want you to be careful at school today,” Quinn said.
“Why? If they want to act like a bunch of idiots, that’s their problem.”
“It’s more than that now. Did you hear the news?”
“No.”
“So far, 5,000 of the 25,000 modified kids have been released and some have gone back to school like you did yesterday. An incident occurred where some kids beat up a modified kid in a school yard. They called him a mutant.”
“Okay fine, I’ll bring ghost pepper spray,” Priya said.
“That’s a clever idea, but it’s not the answer. You need to avoid confrontation, or you might get into serious trouble. I don’t want to lose you.”
“Let me find out something,” Priya said.
She went into a meditative state. She hadn’t been trained on how to use the implant, but she managed to access the communal telepathic root by thinking the word ‘root.’ That’s as far as they got in the training before the Omanji let them go. She felt more connected than she did a few days ago. She remembered her neural network grew around the implant, establishing connections to it. She wasn’t sure what to do next, but she located the root. It prompted her to take an action. She thought of different words. When she thought the word ‘connect,’ she noticed a new prompt.
Quinn and Sanjay watched Priya, trying not to bother her while she concentrated.
As soon as she thought the word ‘connect,’ she heard hundreds of voices. She understood how to connect with Sophie but not with any specific one of the 25,000 modified children on the telepathic network. She then found a virtual way of traveling around where she overheard conversations between people, like when she and Sophie talked telepathically. She traveled amongst the voices. She realized these voices were of those who allowed themselves to be ‘overheard’ by anyone on the network, just as the Omanji had claimed.
She overheard the word ‘beating,’ and she asked to connect to the conversational group. They accepted her. His name was Henry.
Henry thought to Priya and the others in the group, “PE class was ending when they came running onto the track from behind some bushes. The coach couldn’t tell what was happening from his angle of view. They beat me with clubs made from tree branches. They ran away. The whole thing happened so quickly. I didn’t know what hit me. I don’t know who beat me.”
“That’s awful Henry,” Priya thought to him. “I’m going to talk with my mom about this. She is @NishaAstro on twitter.”
“We all follow her Priya, and you too,” he thought back.
Another member of the group thought, “What can we do? We’re all bullied now. Wait until everyone is home and going back to school and living their normal life. It’s going to be a mess. They all think we’re mutants.”
“Yes, we need to stay connected forever,” Priya thought back. “Let’s set up this network so we all have access to each other at any time. I had to wander around before I found you Henry.”
Priya and her new friends began to design their modifiable telepathic network to suit their needs and agreed to meet later to work more on it. Priya came out of her meditative state and became conscious that Quinn and Sanjay were staring at her with great interest.
“I found out what happened. They beat him and he doesn’t know who did it. I need to go now.”
“How did you find that out,” Quinn said.
“I can connect to anyone at any time,”
“Why am I not surprised? Anyway, be careful, okay?” Quinn said.
“Okay Daddy, I gotta go now. See you after school.”
Priya ran out the door and met Sophie and Amy. They cautiously walked to school, staying in the shadows, avoiding people. When they arrived, they faced the same problems. News reporters recorded the events.
“They seem polite today, don’t you think?” Amy said.
“I think they’re being nicer because of the reporters,” Priya said.
“You’re right,” Sophie said. “Notice how they lean back when we walk by. They’re giving you funny looks too Amy. Are you sure you want to hang with us?”
“I’m positive.”
Friday’s schedule had an open sixth period. They decided on chess as the elective activity. Priya played chess for years with Nisha, Quinn, Amy, and Sophie. They played in several high-level tournaments. The three of them walked into the large classroom. A dozen boards were set up ready to play. Some students were already playing.
They split up and played other opponents. Anatoly Botvinnik, the chess coach, chose an opponent for each of them. He played high level tournaments in his younger days. Once he played the number one ranked player in the world to a draw. The students respected him for this accomplishment. Priya was paired with the top ranked player in the school and in California in his age group.
“Hi, I’m Priya,” she said as she extended her hand.
“Hi, I’m Jose,” he said as he sat down.
“Did you just avoid shaking my hand?” Priya said.
“Sorry, I don’t want to get anything on me.”
“There is nothing on me to get on you. Do you think I’ve got cooties or something?”
“I don’t know. Can we play now and get this over with quickly?”
“Fine,” she said as she played her first move.
The match didn’t last long, as he had anticipated. However, Priya won.
“You cheated, didn’t you?” he asked as he pushed his few remaining pieces off to the side in disgust.
“No. How can I cheat? I’m sitting right here playing.”
“Yeah, but you’re telepathic. Someone might be giving you moves. How do I know?”
“I’m not telepathic. Nobody is. You played a weak game Jose. Anybody halfway decent could beat you in this game. Don’t blame your mediocre performance on me.”
“Okay guys, stop.” the Anatoly said. “Jose, accusing an opponent of cheating is a serious thing, even though this is only practice.”
“Coach, I haven’t lost a game this year, even in tournaments. I’m the number one ranked player in the state. I played a good game and somehow, she knew my plans. If someone or something wasn’t telling her what to do, then she read my mind. Either way, it’s cheating.”
Priya sat in front of the chess board, shaking her head as the other students glanced over.
“Ugh. Jose, I can’t read minds,” she said.
“Okay everyone, continue your games,” the coach said. “Priya, can you come to my office for a minute?
Priya sat in the old musty chair in front of his antique desk. Anatoly reviewed the game, move by move in his eyepiece.
“Hmm,” he said.
He continued mumbling something under his breath every few seconds.
“What?” she said.
“What’s your rating?” he said.
“Well, the last time I checked it was 1750. I’m okay. I could be better if I practiced.
“Hmm,” he said. “Jose has a ranking of 2350 and it’s going up with every match. He might be a grandmaster in two years.”
“So.”
“So, the odds of you beating him in a single game are less than 10,000 to 1. How did you do it? You played a tough game against him. You beat him easily, and he played one of his best games. You won by brute force.”
“Oh, c’mon coach, he didn’t play a good game. He missed several opportunities to kill me. I thought I played a bad game.”
She scrolled through the moves.
“See here, and here? And three more moves to here? He had me.”
“Hmm, I didn’t notice that five-move checkmate. He didn’t either.”
“See coach? I played a bad game. I left myself open.”
“Priya, I don’t think you see. If you didn’t get instructions from the outside, then you possess an incredible mind for chess.”
“No coach. I showed you my vulnerability in that game. I made a bad mistake. I’m a lousy player. He didn’t spot my weakness.”
“Priya, only you could identify that vulnerability. Even I didn’t notice it. His checkmate was five moves away, and you had a strong position except for that exact set of moves. I don’t think anyone could calculate the series of moves to beat you, except for you.”
“That’s nice. To try to build up my self-esteem but—”
“This is not about building up anything. I want you to come with us to the western open regional tournament tomorrow. Let’s find out how you do. You’ve earned a modest but solid ranking so there’s nothing to lose. We still have 25 minutes left in the period, play Jose again.”
“Fine, but I don’t understand what the big deal is,” Priya said.
“Just go,” he said. “I’m behind you.”
She walked back into the room where the others still played. She walked to the table where her formidable position remained on the board.
“Jose, the coach told me to play you again,” she said.
“Whatever he says, cheater,” Jose whispered under his breath as he sat down.
“Jose, I didn’t cheat. You had a good chance to beat me.”
She set up the board to its earlier state, five moves before the end of the last game.
“See here, and here? You can move here … and here. See?”
“What the—” Jose whispered.
He studied Priya’s suggestion for a long time.
“Yeah, I overlooked that. Okay fine, I’ll play you again. I won’t let you off easy this time.”
10 minutes later the game ended.
Jose shook his head in disbelief.
“You’re doing something, Priya cheater.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’m doing nothing. You played another bad game, I thought you had me, but you let me go.”
“Where?”
She set the pieces back on the board to their positions from a few minutes earlier.
“I don’t know why you didn’t stop me by doing this, and this.”
Jose once again examined the board for a long time as Anatoly stood behind him.
“What Jose?” Anatoly said.
“What is she doing? Is this a joke?”
“What am I joking about?” Priya said. “You let me beat you again.”
Jose stomped out of the room in disgust as the rest of the students watched in amazement. Anatoly comforted her.
“You did fine Priya. Don’t let him get to you. You played a good game and you beat him fairly. I know you’re not cheating because you understood conceptually how to beat your own tactics and strategy. Okay everyone, the period is over. See you all next Friday. Priya, Sophie, and Amy, can I expect you tomorrow at the tournament?”
Priya waved as they stood up to leave.
“Sure coach, we’ll play tomorrow.”
The three friends walked out into the bright sunlight of a warm early October day. Several other students walked cautiously behind them, acting disinterested.
“What’s the big deal?” Priya said. “He played two bad games.”
“Priya, Jose is a master level player and will be a grandmaster soon,” Amy said. “You dispatched him like he was a rookie.”
She glanced at Sophie.
“How did you do? You played our number two.”
“I won both games, but he played poorly too. It’s no big deal.”
Amy stopped walking. So did Priya, Sophie, and the students following them.
“What now Amy?” Priya said.
“You guys don’t understand, do you?”
“Understand what Amy?” Sophie said.
“You guys are super-geniuses.”
“And you’re super-crazy,” Priya said, trying to hide her smile. “We’re doing nothing any better than before.”
“I guess even super-geniuses aren’t fully self-aware,” Amy said. “Okay, can I study with you guys?”
Priya smiled again.
“Um it’s Friday, but fine we’ll go over to my house.”
When they arrived home, Quinn and Sanjay weren’t home, so they ran straight up to Priya’s room. Amy noticed something had changed.
“Pree, where’s your poster of the Celestial Mechanics?” Amy said. “I thought you had a crush on the synth player, what’s his name.”
“I don’t care about that anymore. I took it down.”
“This so proves my point. Don’t you guys understand?” Amy said.
“What?” Sophie said. “That we’re super-geniuses? No, we don’t.”
Amy blinked to activate her eyepiece.
“Okay you guys, take this IQ test. I’m sharing it with you now. It’s the newer more broadly based one.”
“Why?” Priya said. “You’re the genius. You got a 142, last time. I only got a 134 and Sophie got a 130.”
“That’s still top 5%. Humor me guys, okay?” Amy said.
30 minutes later they finished and submitted their answers. Amy’s genius-level score of 148 displayed on the screen. Soon afterwards, Sophie’s score popped up. 236. Soon afterwards, Priya’s score appeared. 234. The App server asked for a name. They exited the App without entering the names. They didn’t want to draw attention to themselves.
They all laughed.
“How can this be?” Priya said. “There’s no such thing as a 236 on an IQ test. Wait, I take that back. Maybe a few savants in history could score that high.
“As I suspected guys, I’m the dumb one.” Amy said.
They stared at each other in silence for some time as reality sunk in. Priya and Sophie didn’t think to each other.
“I don’t know about this,” Priya said. “I don’t think I’m a super-genius.”
“Me too, Sophie said. “I’m doing nothing different. The test must be wrong. I mean, yeah, I like reading and learning more. My memory seems improved, but it’s not as big of a deal as the number suggests.”
“No guys, it’s right,” Amy said. “I double checked. You guys are officially super-geniuses.”
Priya and Sophie couldn’t believe it.
“This makes no sense,” Priya said. “There must be some mistake. You gave me an easy test. Those puzzles were simple.”
“Okay fine, live in denial if you want, but the evidence is clear. I noticed how quickly you caught up in genetics. I watched your chess game. I know about your second axon growing from each neuron in your brain. I know what axons do. Your expanded corpus callosum. You act like things are easy but they’re not.”
“Pree, maybe she’s right,” Sophie said. “Everything seems easy lately. Haven’t you noticed?”
“Well, I’ll admit things seem easy now. We’re too close to the situation. Amy is the one who understands reality. Let’s talk to my mom right now and find out what she thinks.”
She blinked into her eyepiece.
“Mom, are you busy?”
“Yes, but I’m not too busy for you. How were things at school today?”
“Well, weirdness prevailed. First, I caught up in genetics after being a month behind. Second, I got a perfect score on the latest genetics class test and so did Sophie. Amy is the genius, and she only got a 98. I used to wish I could do as well as her. After that, I beat one of the best chess players in my age group in the world. And I beat him easily, twice. Finally, we took IQ tests, and I got a 234 and Sophie got a 236. I’m freaked out. I don’t think I’m smarter. I think everything else got easier. What’s happening to us?”
“You mean 134, right?”
“No Mom. 234.”
“Pree, Rachel and I discussed the modifications the Omanji did to your DNA. That extra axon growing from most neurons in your brain and the wider corpus callosum in the same sized brain will make an enormous difference. We weren’t sure what the difference would be until now. The changes are real. We’ve been helping the modified kids in the compound and they’re reporting similar effects happening to them. You aren’t alone. Talk to them and you’ll see.”
“But I’m the same as always.”
“Remember what I said Pree, everything is relative. Einstein didn’t think much of his abilities either. To him, they were normal.”
“But I’m no Einstein.”
“Yes Pree, you’re not. You may be smarter.”
“Yeah, right Mom. Anyway, has Bok or Yoova contacted you? What’s happening?”
“I’m worried about Bok. I haven’t heard from him in two full days. He might still be fighting with his parents about whether he should merge with the telepathic collective. Or they forced him to do it.”
“I hope not,” Priya said. “I like him. He’s standing up to them. After what I’ve been through, I want the Omanji to go, but I want Bok to stay here because he’ll be happier. What’s happening with Yoova?”
“Yoova is helping to put on the first concert performed by the Yoots. It’s tomorrow. The buzz looks promising for a big turnout. They put a video on YouTube and over 200 million views happened in only a day. Do you wish to come?”
“I wish I could go, but I’m in a chess tournament. My coach says I might be a top chess player. I’m not so sure about that.”
“Pree, you should go,” Nisha said. “Do everything. Try out everything. Be self-aware. Write in your journal. Track your progress. You know what I’m saying.”
“Yeah, I know. Well, say hi to Yoova and Bok if you run into them. I gotta go.”
They disconnected.
Soon afterwards, Quinn came home with Sanjay. Priya cooked them all dinner.
“This is awesome Pree,” Sanjay said. “What’s gotten into you? You don’t know how to cook, but this is like eating at a fancy restaurant.”
“I don’t know Sanj. I threw a bunch of things together. It’s no big deal.”
“Priya and Sophie are super geniuses.” Amy said.
“Amy, what are you talking about?” Quinn said.
“They scored over 230 on IQ tests, and Pree and Sophie are in a big chess tournament tomorrow.”
Priya looked across the table at Amy.
“Don’t say that it’s embarrassing. If you say that to anyone at school, you’re SO dead!”
“130 right?” Quinn said.
“No. 230!” Amy said.
Quinn raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Is this true Pree? It’s over 230?”
Priya glanced down.
“Well, 234 to be precise.”
“That would be the world’s highest IQ.”
“No Daddy, Sophie got a 236.”
Sophie, who smiled broadly. Quinn opened his eyes wide.
“Okay, it’s the second highest IQ. What are you going to do with it?”
“With what?”
“With your new brain.”
Priya didn’t hesitate.
“Well, I’m going to cure autism and many other genetic problems. Afterwards, I’ll create some new species.”
“Me too,” Sophie said.
“I guess I’ll be getting their coffee,” Amy whispered under her breath.
Priya peered at Amy with disappointment.
“Give me a break Amy, you’re smarter than me.”
“Not anymore, but I’m smart enough to understand what’s going to happen. You’ll know reality soon enough. I’m not going to talk about this right now.”
Priya turned to Sophie and thought silently to her, “What is she talking about?”
“Well, I will say that-” Amy said.
She paused when she noticed the silent communication.
“Hey, don’t do that in front of me, it’s rude,” Amy said.
“Sorry,” Priya and Sophie said in unison.
“I’m sorry too,” Amy said. “I need to get used to this so I might as well start now. I think this will be a long struggle for all of us.”
“Amy, what are you talking about now?” Priya said.
“I’m talking about the future. I don’t think you realize what’s happening. You’re too close to your situation to see it clearly. Are the rest of the mods like you?”
“Mods?” Sophie said. “Oh, the others modified by the Omanji? We call ourselves that. Um, I think they’re like me. We all had the same alterations to our DNA with variations for immune system issues.”
“In that case, the future of the human species has been irreversibly altered, assuming that the Omanji don’t wipe us out,” Amy said.
“What are you talking about?” Priya said.
“I’ll tell you later. I’m freaking out right now. Let’s go study, okay?”
They walked upstairs and studied for the rest of the evening.