Mudita ; The Gifted 2018

Chapter 23

Jaidee

It was the day of the press conference and Punn alone would be demonstrating his potential. He seemed to have gotten everyone except for Korn, Claire and I. I sat beside Claire as she kept her distance from Punn who was sitting upfront. Wave sat in front of me as he waited silently for the perfect time.

He gave me a nod and I nodded back as he walked up to Ms. Darin. He asked her if he could use the restroom and she agreed but only if he was escorted by some of the Ministry's bodyguard. I slipped him a piece of paper as he walked past me.

I smiled to myself as the plan was set in motion.

Pang had asked me to hide a laptop in one of the bathroom stalls for Wave to find and use to easily infiltrate and tamper with the Ministry's presentation.

Wave was probably gone for 10 minutes when the Minister arrived. He was asking Ms. Darin if it would be all right to start the presentation now.

"That's a great idea." We all turned our heads to see Pang, head covered with the hood of his jacket.

"I have something to tell the press too." Pang continued as the presentation flickered and it then showed the NYX-88 file and all other related windows. The screen also showed past 'failures' and 'disposed' test subjects of the Gifted program.

The Minister and Ms. Darin looked on in horror.

"After you finish presenting the Gifted Program, would you care to explain what caused the Gifted students' sickness?" Pang mocked and Punn stood up.

"Pang, you just can't be done with it, huh?" He yelled.

"If they can answer my question, then I'm done." Pang said, eyes flickering to the Minister and Ms. Darin as he removed the hood of his jacket.

"But I don't think you can." He spat before continuing. "Because that means you must admit that you synthesized the virus to control the Gifted students." He spat and we all looked at him in shock. I knew that something was wrong but not to this extent.

"But, in the end, something went wrong. The virus was contagious among a group of students but you couldn't be bothered with finding the cure. You're too busy capitalizing on the opportunity by organizing this stupid press conference!" Pang yelled.

"What are you saying? You know the story of the Gifted was leaked, and we're trying to fix it." Ms. Darin reasoned.

"Fix the problem you caused? I know what you're planning to do. This press conference is not about revealing the Gifted Program. We want to use this as an opportunity to hold a large placement exam to recruit the Gifted from across the country. Isn't that true?" Pang spat and I stood up in shock.

"Is that true? You want to forcefully hold a placement exam to scour the country for every single Gifted student?" I spat.

"Who told you about this?" Ms. Darin spat, keeping her eyes on Pang.

"Are you seriously denying that this isn't your hidden agenda? The budget for the placement exam and the future of this program must be huge. That's why the Minister is keen to push it forward." Pang revealed.

"Haven't I told you not to let him in to cause us trouble?" The Minister yelled at Ms. Darin.

"No one will be in trouble. I just need you to cancel everything you're about to do today and scrap the nationwide exam." Pang bargained.

"You are holding back national development, Pawaret. Every project has its destination, the Gifted Program included. It started so that today would happen, the day it becomes a vital part to drive the nation forward, not limited to a group of people as it has been." Ms. Darin explained and Pang nodded.