The ride home was quiet and somehow peaceful. Unfortunately, it was short due to the speed of the hovercar and the proximity of Damien's house to the school. In fact, it was so short that Damien could have walked home as he did usually.
The government agents wouldn't have agreed though.
He was too precious for the government to let out of sight.
One would wonder why the government went to such extreme lengths to protect those who had a high mark with a high possibility of awakening a good power. After all, they were in the city and cities were highly protected, weren't they?
Ha!
Things weren't so simple.
While on the surface the government seemed to have a semblance of control due to the fact that the Voronoi rarely interfered with the ruling of their colonies, the truth was that the government was constantly being harassed by rebel groups.
They attacked the government covertly and openly and they had been a thorn in the side of the government for a very long time.
At the forefront of these rebel groups was the Dusk Organization, the mastermind behind the rebel movements.
The leaders of the Dusk Organization hated the government and did everything to frustrate and cause trouble for them.
Rumor had it that the upper echelons of the Dusk Organization were former people with links to the government who had been betrayed.
Another popular rumor was that the Dusk Organization found the government sickening because of how they sucked up to the Voronoi and weren't doing anything to fight for Earth's freedom.
Regardless of rumors, the Dusk Organization had a certain habit which frustrated the government to no end.
They kidnapped newly awakened or yet to be awakened kids.
Every year, their agents swarmed Earth and abducted thousands of those yet to awaken or recently awakened to supplement their forces. This was because they knew that once the government had its hands on them after their awakening, it would be nigh impossible to get them back.
As of any organization, people were needed for it to keep standing. Obviously their forces wouldn't supplement themselves so they had to resort to the kidnapping tactic to keep their forces bolstered.
Due to this, the government decided to have their agents from the Awakened Earth Corps (AEC) protect their assets, especially those who had high marks in the governmental tests.
Outside the public radar, the government sometimes used these assets as bait to capture agents of the Dusk organization.
The hovercar dropped Damien in front of his house.
Immediately the door opened and his parents rushed out to meet him. They were home much earlier than usual. Obviously, the unexpected arrival of Damien with government agents had brought them out quickly.
"Damien! What is wrong? Why are government agents with you?" his mother asked worriedly.
"Don't worry mother, they're with me for my own protection," replied Damien as he gave his mother a hug, being careful not to lean too much into her pregnant belly.
His mother, Ava Walker, a plump woman with long brown hair and pretty aqua eyes examined her son worriedly, holding Damien's face in her hands.
Her husband, Paul Walker though, approached the agents to talk with them.
"I'm agent Finnick and this is my partner agent Daniels. As part of Agenda 111, your son Damien is considered as a special government asset worthy of protection.
He had a very high mark in the government test which means that he will be a target for certain unscrupulous groups. To prevent that, agents from AEC have been deployed for his safety," said the tall blond agent.
Damien's mother turned around immediately when she heard that. "Does this mean that he will be targeted by that evil organization and their ilk?"
"We have everything under control, ma'am. You don't have to worry. Just follow whatever we say and everything will be fine. For now, please get inside and have some rest. My partner and I will keep watch and protect Damien," replied agent Finnick.
Ava Walker nodded and pulled Damien into their modest home all the while fussing about him.
Paul Walker, Damien's father, thanked the agents.
"No need, Mr. Walker, this is our job," the blond agent replied.
Paul Walker shook hands with them and also went inside.
**
Inside, Ava Walker fussed over Damien.
"Damien have you eaten? You look pale! Sit down and let me get you some food. From what I've heard, you need a lot of energy before the awakening process," said Ava Walker as she gently forced Damien to sit and walked into their kitchen.
"Hey champ, how does it feel to be a government asset, huh?" Paul Walker teased his son with a light grin.
Damien groaned. "Come on, dad!" he moaned amidst the older man's raucous laughs.
"You must have gotten a really high mark. Those were class 4 agents. They are both at the Domain level!" said Paul Walker with a hearty laugh.
Damien's eyes went wide though. "Domain level experts? That is unbelievable!" he exclaimed.
Domain level experts were rare. They were very powerful because as their realm was named, they had formed a domain around them. This made almost invincible in any surrounding space when they unleashed their domain!
When one awakened, there were eight realms of power which had three levels;
Early, mid and peak. With each level, the power increased moderately but as one progressed in the realms, the power increased exponentially! The realms were namely;
Enlightenment realm
Advanced realm
Grand realm
Domain realm
Transcendent realm
Ascended realm
Planetary realm
These were the eight known realms of power in the galaxy. With each realm, the jump in power was huge.
Powerful alien races like the Voronoi had millions of forces above the Grand realm! Their planetary realm experts were over a hundred!
On the other hand, Earth's planetary realm experts were only nine!
That was how wide the gap was when Earth was compared to other alien races.
Most of Earth's experts were in between the Domain realm to the Ascended realm.
Having two Domain realm experts guarding Damien meant that he now had a C grade citizenship! This meant that he was privy to information that those with lower access grades didn't have access to.
Free healthcare was also something he now enjoyed.
He could skip stringent processes with his citizenship and get immediate service and access to buildings he formerly had no access to.
All because of him having such a high mark.
"Food is ready," called Ava as she brought out plates heavily laden with food. Her entrance broke Damien out of his short reverie.
"Eat up Damien," she ordered, placing the plate squarely in front of him. Damien knew he had no choice so he took his fork and began to eat.
"So son, what mark did you get to have class 4 agents guarding us?" Paul asked as he forked a piece of chicken into his mouth.
"I had a 19," Damien replied, tearing the meat off the chicken bone.
"What!?" exclaimed Paul, dropping his fork.
Damien grinned at their reactions. Now that he thought about it, it sounded ridiculous.
"Yeah dad, I had a 19. They said I have a 90% probability to awaken in each of the three Paths," said Damien.
His parents stared at him agape with shock.
"No wonder the government sent over two Domain realm agents. You're now an important asset," his father commented, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Yeah," replied Damien as he focused on the food.
The rest of the day was uneventful as Damien spent it inside talking with his dad and playing games.
At nine o'clock, his mother kicked him off the console to go and sleep.
Damien tossed and turned in bed, half excited and half scared about what the new day would bring. Eventually, he fell asleep.
**
Damien was up early in the morning. He exercised lightly and was soon ready to leave for school.
"Be safe, Damien," his mother said worriedly, giving him a bear hug. Damien pulled back and touched her pregnant tummy, hoping to feel the movement of his unborn baby sister. She didn't disappoint and Damien felt a slight movement as his unborn sister eagerly kicked at the walls of Ava's tummy.
"You got this champ. I'm proud of you," said Paul Walker as he shook the hands of his son. Damien nodded at his dad and opened the door.
Out in front, a familiar hovercar was waiting, alongside the two agents.
"Good morning Damien, Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Samuels," Finnick greeted politely. Everyone responded and Damien quickly got into the hovercar. He waved at his family one last time and the hovercar took off!
It didn't take long for them to arrive in front of the school.
Damien got down and the two agents followed him to the assembling point where his mates were gathered. The two agents kept their distance as Damien fell in line with his mates.
Mr. Davis and a couple of teachers came were already in front giving orders.
"All those with a mark above 10, come to my right!" Mr. Davis called. Damien and four others stepped forward and stood at the right side.
A quick roll was taken and the teachers came up three short!
One of the six students with a good mark, Freddo, was missing.
Two others with a normal mark were also nowhere to be found.
Mr. Davis frowned and began to type away on his comm. Damien knew that Mr. Davis was asking agents to head over to their residence and check up on them but from the grim look on his face, it was clear that the trio were nowhere to be found.
Damien became suspicious and took a subtle glance at Victor. Hadn't Victor given the opportunity that Damien refused to Freddo? All this reeked of a dark plot.
What if Victor was an agent of the Dusk Organization?
Should Damien tell Mr. Davis about his suspicion though?