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Dharmesh was amazed at everything he was seeing. He had never imagined he would end up on another planet and attend a military school there.
"By the way, I have a question. If I'm here now, how will I tell my parents that I won't be able to come back for a long time?" Dharmesh asked Isha.
"I liked your question. But only a teacher here can answer that. Come with me, I'll take you," Isha said as she led Dharmesh inside.
As he walked in, Dharmesh carefully observed everything around him. He had never seen a military school before—let alone one like this.
After walking for a while, Isha brought him to a man around 40 to 50 years old. He looked old but was clearly strong.
"This is Master Abhishek," Isha introduced him to Dharmesh.
"Can you answer a question for me?" Dharmesh asked Abhishek.
"Of course I will," Abhishek replied.
"I don't know when or how I'll return home. But if I don't go back soon, my family will start to worry and may even begin searching for me. I didn't tell anyone where I was going," Dharmesh explained.
"I have one question for you—do you want to stay here and learn all this?" Abhishek asked.
"Yes, I want to stay," Dharmesh replied confidently.
"Alright, come with me," Abhishek said and took him into an empty room where a strange machine stood.
"Get inside and sit on the chair," Abhishek instructed.
Dharmesh followed his direction and sat inside the machine.
"Put this on your head," Abhishek said.
Dharmesh placed the device on his head. Abhishek pressed a button, and a countdown began—from 1 to 100.
When it was done, Abhishek called Dharmesh out.
Dharmesh was confused about what was happening, but he stepped out.
"So, what was that?" Dharmesh asked.
"That machine creates a clone. Your clone has now reached Earth—your home. It looks exactly like you and contains all your memories and thoughts. It will live with your family just like you did. When you return, you can swap places again. This way, no one will suspect you were ever gone," Abhishek explained.
"What if something goes wrong? What if the clone doesn't work properly?" Dharmesh asked anxiously.
"Don't worry. More than half the people here have clones back on Earth, and there's never been a single complaint. No one can tell the difference—even if you saw your own clone, you wouldn't be able to tell it apart," Abhishek reassured.
"I still want to see how it's functioning. Can I watch it?" Dharmesh asked.
"You can. Each clone has a camera in its eyes that lets us see everything in real-time," Abhishek replied and played a video for him.
Dharmesh saw his clone reach home. His mother was talking to it just like she did with him, and his father was scolding mildly, as usual. The clone then went straight to his room—just like Dharmesh would.
"How long would you like to watch it? It'll do the same things you did every day," Abhishek said.
"This machine is amazing. Now I don't have to worry about anything and can learn freely here," Dharmesh said.
"You can learn everything. Isha will help you. First, explore the military school properly. Then come back to me—I'll get your admission done. But remember—this school is very different," Abhishek said with a mysterious smile.
Dharmesh found the smile a bit strange but didn't say anything. He followed Isha outside. Now that he knew his clone was handling things at home, he was at peace.
"So, how do you like your clone?" Isha asked.
"To be honest, it's amazing. I never imagined something like this. Everything here is so different," Dharmesh replied and kept walking with Isha.
Soon after, he checked his system and saw that 25% of his challenge was complete. He realized that interacting with others helped complete his challenge faster.
He kept exploring the school with Isha. Once he felt he had seen it all, he asked her where he would stay.
"There are plenty of rooms here, but let's see which one you get. But you need to complete your admission first," Isha said.
She took him back to Abhishek for his admission.
"Are you ready for admission, Dharmesh? Just remember—once your name is registered, it can't be removed. You'll have to follow all the rules here," Abhishek warned.
Dharmesh didn't mind and proceeded. Soon, his admission was complete.
Abhishek took out a box and handed it to him.
"Open this," he said.
Inside, Dharmesh found a smart watch and a room number.
"What is this?" he asked, confused. The watch had no strap or chain.
"What are they for?" he asked.
"The number is your room number. You'll share it with two roommates. As for the watch, just place it on your wrist," Abhishek said.
"But how? There's no strap," Dharmesh protested.
"Just place it on your wrist—it'll do the rest," Abhishek replied.
Dharmesh followed the instruction, and the watch wrapped around his wrist on its own. But he couldn't take it off.
"Who said you could? It can only be worn once—then it stays," Abhishek said with a smile.
"But I don't like it. How do I remove it?" Dharmesh asked.
"First listen to its benefits. You'll change your mind," Abhishek said. "It's connected to our system. If something happens to you—if your heart stops—it'll alert us, and we'll come to help immediately."
"That's it?" Dharmesh asked.
"You'll also get 100 local credits daily. Note that Earth money doesn't work here. You'll need to use these credits to buy food and essentials," Abhishek added.
Dharmesh checked the watch. It had several options, including the wallet, which showed ₹100. He didn't withdraw anything yet.
"This is great. If I can manage everything with this…" he said, now more comfortable with the watch. "What else can it do?"
"It tracks your heartbeat, stamina, speed, strength—everything. Look at it now," Abhishek said.
Dharmesh looked. It showed the number 1.
"It just says 1," he said.
"That's your current rank. The higher the number, the stronger you are," Abhishek explained.
Dharmesh noticed that Abhishek was wearing a similar watch. "What's your number?"
Abhishek showed his wrist—his watch showed 70.
"Is that high or low?" Dharmesh asked.
"The max is 100. No one's reached that yet. Even our strongest warriors are below 90. Anyone above that is nearly unstoppable," Abhishek said.
"I'll increase my number. I won't stay at 1 for long," Dharmesh said confidently.
"Don't worry about the 1. You'll have a test soon. After that, your true rank will be displayed. Since you've just enrolled, your test starts tomorrow. You're lucky you came on time—if you were late, you'd have fallen behind the others," Abhishek added.
"How long will I have to stay here?" Dharmesh asked.
"Usually, it takes 3 years to train someone fully. After that, it depends on whether you join the military or become a Traveler," Abhishek replied with the same smile.
Dharmesh really liked Abhishek—he always gave clear answers. Thanks to that, Dharmesh's challenge was now 50% complete
To know what happens next, stay tuned for the next part of the story.