The ceremony continued for precisely five minutes, and then the principal's voice boomed once again through the speakers.
Vikram couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity with his previous speech, yet the unfamiliar familiarity eluded his grasp.
As the headteachers of each class took turns announcing the students' names based on their rankings, Vikram's attention was drawn to Mr Pondicherry, the headteacher of Icarus's elite class 12-A, standing near the first row.
He commanded the stage with an air of power and authority that reminded Vikram of a great general. It stirred something deep within him, like a sense of brotherhood amongst rivals on the battlefield.
Casper, noticing Vikram's curiosity, explained that Mr Pondicherry was a formidable C-rank Shika, one of the few in their zone and the second one in Icarus High. The mention of the term "Shika" again struck a chord within Vikram, evoking a surge of emotions he couldn't quite explain.
"Shika(ri)—The supernatural hunters born off the corrupt environment after the Freefall were the final grace of God upon this world and the devil's ultimate trickery before the stage opened itself for the Grand Plan."
A flurry of unknown excerpts raced through Vikram's mind, connecting the dots between the zones, the Wall, Akashvani, meteors, and now the concept of Shikas.
The pieces of the puzzle started to form a picture, and a sense of unease settled upon Vikram's face.
It dawned on him that he had read about this world—the world of Diaspora—during his breaks from the war.
The realization brought both astonishment and confusion. How could he have entered the world in a book? The pain in Vikram's temple intensified, jolting him with a sudden bolt of agony.
"Ugh...!" Vikram stifled a scream, struggling to maintain composure.
Casper, sensing Vikram's distress, reached out to help, but Vikram pleaded with him to stay quiet, fighting through the pain. Casper reluctantly withdrew his hand, his concern evident in his eyes.
As Casper observed Vikram's anguish, he couldn't help but reflect on Avi's life.
Avi, born into a Shika family, was considered fortunate in a world plagued by apocalyptic conditions. Even the lowest-ranked Shika, an E-rank, enjoyed privileges that non-awakened humans could only dream of. But Avi's circumstances were far from fortunate.
Avi's younger sister suffered from a congenital condition, leaving her with a weak constitution that demanded expensive medication to sustain her life. Tragically, when Avi was only seven years old, his parents lost their lives in their quest to find an A-rank herb, leaving behind a seven-year-old boy to care for his sickly sister. With no other family to rely on, Avi quickly learned the harsh realities of the world and took it upon himself to change their fate.
At the tender age of eight, Avi exhausted the meager savings his parents had left him and sold their house, moving to the slums to live as an unknown orphan, all for the sake of caring for his sister. From then on, Avi tirelessly worked odd jobs and dedicated himself to private study, striving to reach a stage where he could attend the Awakening Ceremony as the head boy of the 12-C class.
The stark difference in social status between Casper and Avi was evident, a glaring reminder of the profound inequality in their world. Despite the barriers that society erected, fate had found a way to bring them together, forging a deep and unlikely friendship.
As Casper gazed at Vikram, or rather, Avi, he felt a surge of admiration for his best friend's resilience and determination.
'I've heard of healing potion aftereffects on unawakened. He must be suffering immense pain at this moment." Casper misunderstood Vikram's condition and didn't disturb him.
Avi's unwavering spirit and indomitable will had drawn Casper to him, transcending the boundaries of their social divide. And now, as Avi struggled through the pain, although Casper's heart ached with a mixture of compassion and helplessness, he was confident of his friend's resilience.
Their intertwined fates had brought them to this moment, standing on the precipice of their own awakening. Casper knew that whatever happens, there is no turning back from this point on.
******
{ 1 Hour Later }
It took Vikram approximately half an hour to regain his composure. By that time, all the students from class 12-A had finished their awakening process.
The process itself was straightforward—students would sit on the pillows placed on either side of the meteor fragment on the stage and touch the fragment with hands and meditate to initiate their awakening.
As each student touched the meteor, it would glow in random colors, and their unique mutation would start to manifest, showcasing the powers they had awakened.
Despite the clamor and cheers that filled the open space, Vikram only caught glimpses of few students awakening process due to his own silent awakening from sleep.
Among the awakened students, one girl garnered the most applause. She had awakened a rare mutation—a "Prodigal" mutation called the "Spiritualist" that allowed her to tame and train spirits.
Vikram recognized her as the same girl he had seen at the gates earlier. It seemed she wasn't a student of Icarus High but had been given the opportunity to awaken after all the 12-A students had finished.
It was a unique privilege that not many in the whole world could obtain so easily. Each year, only a limited number of students, no more than 100, were granted the chance to awaken their Mutation and embark on the path of becoming a Shika. The meteor energy that fueled the awakening process was finite, and once depleted, students had to wait for another year to have another opportunity.
As Vikram observed the girl with her ghost-like tiger cub manifestation, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy. The rarity of her Spiritualist mutation, combined with the applause and special treatment she received, emphasized the significance of the awakening ceremony and the potential power that awaited each student.
It was a moment of anticipation and excitement, but for Vikram, it was also tinged with anxiety and uncertainty.
'What will happen to me. Am I even considered a native of this world? Will I be able to awaken too?'
The pain in his temple had subsided slightly since an hour ago, allowing him to gather his thoughts. He contemplated his own awakening, wondering what kind of mutation he would inherit, if at all.
His mind swirled with possibilities, imagining the range of powers that could manifest within him. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to his being here in this world.
It was as if a invisible hands behind him were puppeteer-ing his life and making his decisions for him. Vikram didn't like this feeling at all.
Vikram's memories of the Diaspora trilogy flooded his mind once again, merging with fragments of Avi's memories. It was as if the lines between reality and fiction were blurring, intertwining their destinies in ways he couldn't fully comprehend.
Questions buzzed in his mind, seeking answers to the mysteries that surrounded him. How had he ended up in this world? What role did he play in its unfolding story?
Lost in his thoughts, Vikram's attention was drawn back to the stage as the announcement echoed despite it being an open space. The headteachers of each class were called upon to introduce their students and reveal their rankings.
The atmosphere crackled with anticipation. The awakening ceremony was reaching its climax, and soon, Vikram and Casper would step forward to discover the true nature of their own mutations.
With a deep breath, Vikram steadied himself, determination glimmering in his eyes. No matter the challenges and uncertainties that lay ahead, he was resolved to embrace his awakening and uncover the secrets that awaited him.
**
"Avi, are you okay?" Casper asked, concern evident in his voice. He felt a mix of sadness and helplessness, unable to alleviate his best friend's pain.
"Yeah, nothing to worry about," Vikram replied in a cold tone, but his muttered words afterwards hinted at something more troubling.
"Okay, if you say so. Look, it'll soon be our class's turn," Casper said, trying to shift the focus away and onto the excitement of their own awakening.
"Hmm, I wonder what kind of mutation I'll receive," Vikram pondered aloud.
Casper's enthusiasm waned as he replied, "There's a high chance that both of us will inherit a mutation from one of our parents. You know, genes play a significant role..."
"That may not be the case," Vikram interjected, acting mysterious.
"Inherited mutations are the lowest level of mutations, even something a rat can awaken. Humans have a better chance of awakening something stronger than their base genes," Vikram stated, as a matter of fact.
Casper's tone turned slightly dejected as he responded, "Sure, there are rare cases of superior Shikas being born from humble backgrounds like ours, but they are less than a hundred in the history of our Zone. I'm not getting my hopes up too high. I'm banking on getting an Engineering mutation within the Technomancer class because both my parents are Engineers, anything beyond Engineer like Radiologist, Machinists, or Puppeteer is just wishful thinking."
"Why worry? You can still acquire a higher mutation later on. I've heard about something called Gene-fluid. Doesn't it still exist?" Vikram asked with doubts of his own. 'Maybe the world isn't exactly the same as in the novel.'
"Oi! What are you talking about? Do you think it's easy to get 'Itra'? It's a product that even high-level Shikas like Mr Cherry can't get their hands on, let alone people from the lowest rungs of society like us," Casper replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Vikram felt a sense of relief knowing that "Itra" also existed. Even if it was hard for others, given enough time, Vikram was sure that he could get his hands on Itra.
'Definitely not anytime soon though ~sigh'
He received a lot of memory fragments just now and a portion of it were fragmented memories of Avi's life in this world.
It was apparent that Avi didn't have much to himself except his sister and Casper, and the progress he had made in this world thus far was partly due to Casper's unseen support.
'This is really a strange fate. Even in this new world, my reincarnation has received similar treatment!'
The uncanny similarities with his last life slightly worried Vikram.
However, for some unknown reason, despite the awakening of his memories to some extent, his emotional intelligence seemed to have heightened and he found himself having too many unnecessary thought and feelings.
It was a shift he couldn't fully explain, but it had already happened.
The most disconcerting revelation was that he still had a sickly sister in this new world. The weight of her existence weighed heavily on him, reminding him once more of the similarities between Avi's experience, his sister, and Casper's circumstances.
Many questions swirled in his mind, but for now, he had no means to find answers. He pushed the thoughts about his unknown sister and Casper to the back of his mind, focusing instead on the stage with anticipation, eagerly awaiting his turn to awaken.
One solace Vikram found in this whole process was the knowledge that the order in which students awakened didn't matter. According to the "Gene Theory" mentioned in the Diaspora Trilogy, the meteor fragment would awaken the genes within each individual, not allocating powers based on any predetermined sequence. It offered a sense of fairness, leveling the playing field for all the students in the ceremony.
With a mix of excitement and apprehension, Vikram's gaze remained fixed on the stage. The awakening process held the promise of unlocking hidden potential, revealing the unique powers that lay dormant within each student.