by Neeraj Chand
After twenty minutes of racing through the dark maze at breakneck speed, the man slowed down and brought the car to a stop in front of a wall with a great steel door at the end. He got out of the car and walked up to the door.
“Y ou need to memorize the code.” he said to Neel, who was right behind him. “It"s your birthday backwards.” The man punched in the numbers 5092 on the keypad next to the door. There was a grinding sound of heavy machinery moving unseen, and the door swung open inwards, letting in a blast of fresh air from the other side and revealing a storage room. Neel, who had been expecting something more impressive, felt nonplussed.
“This,” the man said, moving to one side to let Neel in first. “Is Swan Laboratories.”
CHAPTER 4: New Limits Swan Laboratories was a 200 acre complex located outside the city. Every inch of the complex had been used in military research projects. Now, the innermost part was being remodeled for a new use.
The man took Neel through the tiny supply room they had entered, and out into the open ground. As they walked across the complex, Neel noticed that the huge area seemed entirely deserted.
“Are the people working on the project the only ones who come here?” he asked. “The buildings are cleaned and restocked at night by army personnel.” the man said, not slowing down the speed of his rapid stridesfor an instant. “During the day, only those who are intimately connected to the project are allowed inside. All other visitors are stopped outside by the guards. Officially, this place has been reassigned for the storing and research of medicine supplied to the army.” He took Neel to the central building, a white, six storey structure that looked as commonplace as the rest of the complex. They stepped inside a large lobby that looked a little like the waiting room of a hospital. Making their way up the stairs to the second floor, Neel saw a room marked DOCTOR A. FAHIM at the end of the corridor. They reached the room and the man opened the door, ushering Neel in. A chill ran through Neel that had nothing to do with the cold air coming from the air conditioner as he stepped inside.
The room was large and airy, with a desk and chair in the centre, and a shelf full of thick and richly bound volumes in a corner. There were four people in the room. Doctor Fahim sat behind the large desk. Divya was seated in the chair opposite him. There was a sofa arranged at the side on which sat two men who looked at Neel with great interest as he entered the room. Doctor Fahim rose from his seat.
“ Good afternoon,Neel.” he said with a smile.“And welcome to Swan Labs.” Divya rose and smiled at him as well. The other two men in the room did not rise but continued to stare at him. Neel heard the door close behind him, and turned to see that the man who had brought him there was gone. Neel walked over to Doctor Fahim and shook his hand.
“You have already met Divya.” Doctor Fahim said. He turned and introduced him to the two men. “This is General Arihant Bakshi, the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian army. And this is Mr. Subroto Rai, the defense Minister of India. They are the sponsors for this project.”
Mr. Rai shook Neel "s hand politely. Neel had seen him on the news several times, and tried to hide the shock he had felt upon seeing him. The Minister was clean shaven, and had a kind, alert face, although he looked tired at the moment. General Bakshi"s face held a sternness that reminded Neel unpleasantly of his math teacher, Ticolo. He merely nodded, a slight frown on his face as hesaid, “I hope you understand what a big responsibility you have now that you are a part of this project.”
Neel was taken aback by the abrupt remark, but before he could answer, Mr. Rai broke in. “Calm down, General, don"t make him more nervous than he already is.” He smiled at the young boy. “It"s a pleasure to meet you, Neelanchan. On behalf of the government of India, and the indian army, we wish you the best of luck with the program.”
“Thank you, sir.” Neel said awkwardly, feeling extremely self conscious.“I"ll, er… try to justify your trust.” “Divya, please take Neelto the gym.” Doctor Fahim said. Divya nodded and moved to the door. She beckoned to Neel, who followed her quickly out of the room. Before the door closed, he distinctly heard General Bakshisay, “Remember our agreement, Doctor Fahim…”
As they walked down the corridor, Neelasked “General Bakshididn"t look very happy with me. Have I done something wrong already?” “Don"t worry about him”. Divya said with a reassuring smile. “He"s feeling sore. He has very definiteideas about how things should be done, and he doesn"t like how your accident has changed the army"s plans for the serum.”
“Oh.” Neel said, feeling the excitement that had been building up inside him since the morning fizzle out as though someone had thrown cold water on him. “I suppose he chose the passwords for today?”
“Well… yes, he did.” Divya said, smiling apologetically.
“Great.” Neel sighed.“Two minutes in and already they don"t like me.”
“It"s nothing personal against you, Neel.” Divya said. “He"s just having trouble with the idea of a teenage soldier.”
“One thing he and I have in common.” Neel muttered. “Well, don"t worry about any of that, you don"t have to deal with the General right now.” Divya said comfortingly. “Just focus on the training. Take this whole experience one step at a time, and you"ll be fine.” Neel nodded silently. Perhaps it was only his imagination that Divya did not sound very confident.
“Do you know what this is?” Divya asked as they passed by a table in the lobby, trying to take his mind off the General"s behavior. Neel had noticed the table when he had first entered the building. It had a jug of water and a packet of plastic glasses in a corner, and the middle was filled with packaged boxes which seemed to havearrived recently. “These are some of the things you will be using over the course of your time spent here. We need to confirm their proper dimensions and quality before they can be put to use. This material is quite interesting.”
She took out a curious piece of black cloth and handed it to Neel. He unfolded it and ran his hand over it, and saw that it was in the shape of a full face mask. It looked like ordinary cloth but there was something differentabout it. “It feels strange.” he said as he felt the texture.
“Its surface is covered with hydrophobic polymers.” Divya said. She took the mask from him and held it out on her palm. “Watch this.” She took the jug of water in her other hand and poured it over the cloth, soaking it completely.
Placing the jug back, she handed the cloth to Neel. “Notice anything strange?”
Neel examined the cloth. It was completely dry. Not a trace remained of the water it had been drenched in seconds ago. “How did you do that?” “They"re called nanofibres.” Divya said, smiling at his look of amazement. “They"re a new type of clothes that uses nanotechnology to create a special surface on the clothes. No amount of dirt or fluid or oil can stick on its surface. It all rolls away, leaving the clothes completely clean. Quite interesting, isn"t it?”
“I never knew these kind of clothes existed.” Neel said, examining the cloth closely. But even his superior vision could not trace the tiny metallic spikes embedded on its surface. “ The world is a lot bigger and stranger than you realize, Neel.” Divya said quietly. “You"re scared right now, but think about all the new things you"ll be discovering while you"re here.”
Neel nodded, the smile fading from his face as Divya "s words brought his mind back to why he was there. “I know. I"m just a little nervous. But I"m not reallyscared or anything.” His voice did not sound entirely convincing, even to his own ears.
“You certainly look scared.” Divya remarked . She took out her mobile and turned on the camera. “Say cheese.” She clicked the picture and flipped the mobile to show it to Neel. He stared at his picture. He looked completely bemused and lost, holding the mask and staring at the camera with a frozen expression. “Now does that seem like the face of a soldier?”
“I guess not.” Neel admitted with a small grin, putting the cloth back on the table. “So just stand up straight, be confident, and give the rest of the day a
chance before you start feeling depressed, okay?” Divya said with an encouraging smile. Neel nodded, and the two continued on their way out of the building.
They arrived outside a large hall a hundred yards away from the main building, where the driver from the morning was standing waiting for them.
“This is Captain Arjun Shukla. He will be your trainer.” Divya said, introducing Neel to the driver. “Nice to meet you , Neel.” the Captain said, shaking Neel"s hand. For the first time since meeting him the man smiled. It was a slow, careful smile, as though he was unused to the gesture, but it was unexpectedly warm and comforting.“It seemsyou"re capable of some amazing things. I"m glad we"re working together.”
“Yeah, me too.” Neel said, shaking his hand. “Although I don"t exactly know what I can do…” It was a point that had been preying on his mind a lot. “We"ll worry about that later.” Captain Shukla said. He studied Neel for a moment, then spokequietly, “I understand that this must all be new and intimidating for you. Just remember that we"re all here to help you deal with your situation.”
Neel nodded to him gratefully. He still remembered the sickening, panicked emotions he had experienced yesterday in his room. Those feelings were still present within him somewhere, but now he was also aware of one more thing. No matter what situation he found himself in now, he was glad he had people like Doctor Fahim and Divya and Captain Shukla to help him get through it.
* * * Neel followed the Captain and Divya into the huge hall. He stepped inside the building and stared around. The room was filled with a strange mixture of what seemed like normal exercise equipment, and a host of other, strangely shaped gadgets, the likes of which Neel had never seen before which were hooked up to computers.
“This hall shall be the focus of your visits for now.” Captain Arjun told Neel as they entered the gym. “These machines are used to measure the force behind kicks and punches.” He indicated the gadgets lying on the tables. Walking over to the nearest table, he pulled out a black bag and handed it to Neel.
“Put these on.” he said. Neel opened the bag and drew out a shiny new set of navy blue track clothes. “The changing room is that way.” Captain Shukla pointed towards the far right of the hall, where a single room with an attached shower had been added recently.
Neel emerged from the room wearing the track suit. The clothes fit him well, although the slacks were slightly too long for his legs, as was usually the case with most pants he bought. At five feet two inches, Neel was shorter than most of his classmates, a fact that he was self conscious about. He found himself wishing that the miraculous serum could have added a few extra inches to his height as well.
He returned to the hall to find Doctor Fahim standing next to Divya and Captain Shukla. Next to them stood two other men of around Captain Shukla"s age, their eyes studying Neel as closely as the Defense Minister and the General"s had in DoctorFahim"s room. The way they both stood at attention with their hands behind their backs confirmed their military background.
“Excellent.” Doctor Fahim nodded, looking Neel over as he came up to them. “The clothes seem to fit reasonably well, and the extra length of the pants will probably serve you well for the more… athletic part of the program that we have planned today. But before we begin, allow me to introduce to you to your other two trainers.” Doctor Fahim indicated the man directly next to him. “This is Lieutenant Tejas Negi.”
Negi was a stocky, barrel chested man. The ruggedness of his broad features told of a hard life, but his face had an open, friendly quality to it. He grasped Neel"s hand in a firm handshake. “Nice to meet you, Neel.” he said. His eyes crinkled with a glint of playfulness as he smiled. “I"m looking forward to working with you. From all I"ve heard, it seems you can demolish me in a fight with both hands tied behindyour back. You"ll need thorough training to handle that kind of power, and that"s what we"ll try our best to provide you with.” “Thanks.” Neel said, and found himself returning the smile.
“And this is Lieutenant YogeshPremi.” Doctor Fahim said, indicating the other man. “Pleasure to meet you.” Premi said in a deep voice as he shookNeel"s hand. He was as tall as Captain Shukla and Doctor Fahim, and had a slim, sinewy build. His neat moustache reminded Neel of his history teacher"s, Mr. Pannikar. Premi looked at Neel carefully, and gave him a slow smile, which did not quite reach his eyes. Neel received the impression that Premi, like the General, was silently sizing him up. He decided that he would prefer to have just Captain Shukla and Lieutenant Negi as his trainers.
Doctor Fahim and Divya led the way to the left side of the hall, where two padded posts had been fixed to the ground. The six of them gathered around the posts, and Doctor Fahim turned to Neel.
“Today we begin the first phase of this operation.” DoctorFahim said. “In order to decide how best to make use of your powers, we must first gain as accurate an idea as possible exactly what you are capable of. We are in an entirely new territory with this project, and knowledge will be our biggest weapon. So we will devote your visit here today to finding out the extent of your strengths and it"s limits. Before we begin, do you have any questions you might want to ask?”
“No, sir.” Neel said, wondering if he should be standing at attention like Negi and Premi. He wished he was more familiar with army etiquette. “ Then let us begin.” Doctor Fahim said. He nodded to Divya, who went over to a wheeled table that was loaded with motion capture equipment, an accelerometer and a computer.
Captain Arjun signaled to Neel to come closer, and he came to stand in front of the two posts. “These are the machines we"ll be using to measure the strength of your body.” Captain Shukla said. Neel noticed the other two men had drawn back slightly, and were watching him very intently.
“Now, Neel.” DoctorFahim said. “These are the kind of posts used in professional circles to practice kicking and punching.” He motioned to the wires that were running out of the backs of the posts and into a machine kept on the table. “When you hit the post, the sensors attached to it will register the force of the hits, and the computer will record how much force the hits carry, and give us an accurate measurement of your strength. I want you to punch the post with all the strength you can manage,and then kick the other post.” He stepped back carefully from the posts. All six of the adults looked at him expectantly.
Neel stared at the posts. He could see several drawbacks to what they were asking him to do, the most obvious one being that they were expecting him to deliver a kick. “Er… I"ve never really learnt how to kick.” he said nervously.“I"ve never had, like, a karate lesson or anything. They taught us judo when we were kids, but I don"t really remember any of it…”
“That"s not important right now.” C aptain Shukla said. “It doesn"t matter how you kick. Right now we need to understand exactly what your kicks can do. Just do it any way that seems natural to you.”
Neel nodded. He took up a position between the two posts. The others drew back further. This was beginning to annoy Neel. They were all acting as though he was going to detonate a bomb under them, when he did not have the faintest idea what he was doing.
“As soon as you are ready, Neel.” Doctor Fahim called out quietly. Neel focused his attention back on the posts. He paused for a moment, staring at the two targets. Swinging his fist, he punched the first post as hard as he could. Turning around, he swung his leg up and kicked the other post, accidently stumbling forward and landing hard on the ground. Behind him, he heard a loud metallic clang. He pushed against the floor and sat up on the floor.
He stared up at the others, aware that his first demonstration could not in any way be called impressive. “I told you I didn"t know how to kick.” He said to the Captain defensively. But he was staring at the posts instead of Neel.
The others gathered around the young boy as he got back to his feet and stared at the posts as well. The one that he had punched was broken in half. The bolts fixing the other one to the ground had torn out, and the post had sailed through the air, trai
ling wires, and landed ten feet away.
Neel looked at the ruined pads, and then at the doctor. He was conscious of the fact that he had done something very impressive. But he had also fallen down from his own kick, and he had broken the first thing they had given him. “They weren"t very strong.” He stammered in explanation. “I thinkwe"ll need something stronger to test my strength.”
“They a re used to test heavyweight boxers.” Doctor Fahim said. The others were also staring at him and he read disbelief in the eyes of his trainers.“We had arranged for reinforced equipmentfor these tests.” Doctor Fahim continued. “But it seems the results are going to be muchgreater than what we had been planning for.” He turned with a smile to the three trainers, who were all staring at Neel. “Gentlemen, I give you the first Alpha soldier.”
“ Well, that was certainlyeven more impressive than what I had been led to believe.” Captain Arjun said slowly, staring at the posts. Divya walked over to the computer. “The sensors broke before they could get a proper recording.” She called out to Doctor Fahim.
“Then we will need to repeat the experiment next time with stronger equipment.” Doctor Fahim said. “Captain Shukla?”
“This way, Neel.” the Captain said, motioning towards the door of the hall. The Captain led the way out of the hall, and to an area of the ground which seemed to have been freshly dug up, so that the earth was soft and yielding. “ The serum underwent considerable change while we were extracting it from the apes and trying to adapt it for human use.” Doctor Fahim explained as they made their way to the centre of the field.“It is not possible to ascertain exactly how the capabilities of the apes would translate into a human"s body without practical demonstrations. For instance, the apes we studied were able to leap to astonishing heights. Can you guess why?” Neel shook his head.
“Because their legs muscles were so strong, they were able to gather incredible amounts of power in their feet.” DoctorFahim explained. “The increase of Follistatin in leg muscles boosts their strength. The stronger your legs are, the more force is stored in your lower body, and the higher you can jump.”