“Hey, you’re not risking anything, are you?” Josh asked, pulling Chris out of his thoughts.

“Meaning? Risking what?”

“I mean that you spilled all this to us,” his friend explained.

“Nah, hardly. If it were a piece of top-secret information, then Erzketau would have never shared this with me in the first place and, secondly, since he shared it with me, then he would definitely warn me not to open my mouth to share it further,” Chris reasonably remarked, ruffling his much too long brownish strands of hair. He ought to get a haircut soon. He’d put it off for too long.

The young man was thoughtful for a moment – but what if it really was a secret to keep from the others? Although, who those “others” were was the question. Those who are not in such a trusting relationship with the lizard scientific coordinator? It’s such rubbish. Erzketau would have warned him for sure.

Throwing his doubts aside, he quickly finished lunch and hurried to the laboratory, where he and the group were currently analyzing data on modified coniferous seeds. A couple of years ago the idea came to plant them in hotter climate zones, yet their benefit both for the ecosystem and earthlings, in general, was appreciated back in the days of the Old Earth, but with lack of preliminary research, this would cause the drying of trees. Now, scientists have been working to increase the resistance of acicular flora to higher temperatures.

Although the entire scientific complex was actively studying m-estrogen, sometimes students were assigned something more feasible suitable for their level. Also, this was serving as an opportunity to distract the students, switch their attention, thus giving their brains time to relax and reload, and sometimes to shape some not-so-bad idea relative to core business.

After spending an hour and a half among the test tubes, the group began to disperse slowly, but the holographic screens in the rooms flickered, calling for attention, and then showed the headmaster informing about the urgent meeting to be held in the fifth lecture hall and all representatives of the first hormonal generation must attend without fail.

“May the great secret be revealed,” Josh muttered grimly, and everyone moved in the indicated direction.

The lecture hall was gradually filling with students. The teaching table was occupied by two representatives of the extraterrestrial race and three new earthlings. A follower of the founder of the m-estrogen program, Erzketau-kri-Zirkaazte, was preparing to deliver the speech; his deputy, senior physiologist, Rangira-kaya, occupied an adjacent chair, followed by the doctor of genetic sciences of the Pacific faction of the Coalition, Shirokawa Kazuaki, and further sat professors, Marie François and Ravi Thakur.

Chris followed as part of his group, intending to sit in the back. In the end, he was unlikely to hear something radically new or important, because the technical details of the operation, laboratory tests, and preliminary tests weren’t kept secret, and anyone who wanted to know the information about the impending phase could easily review it.

But that god damned John, along with Sandro, had already hurried to the front rows and the curly one was waving his hand intensively, catching Chris's attention and letting him know that he had a seat for him.

Chris promised himself to strangle his friends later when the first opportunity presents itself, and moved forward, panting sullenly, trying to break through the agitated jam. He understood everyone and did not at the same time. He wished with all his heart the prosperity of human civilization. Humanity had gone through so much; it almost died, then was reborn, and once again reached new unprecedented heights of development. Still, Chris could not say that he was very exhilarated by the opportunity to acquire a new organ. If it was, say, a super-chip that represented a new development and improved the lives of all people, like an automatic blood test implant, which would be actively used to support diabetics and others suffering from blood diseases and, which allowed diagnosing deviations and dynamics, if one could track them with just a blood formula.

The young man did not plan to start a family and have kids anytime soon. However, to conceive, bear, and “deliver” simply for the sake of experiment, so that then the entire scientific complex would have a plus one sample for study... thanks but no thanks.

Sitting down, Chris looked around the hall; there were no empty seats, as expected – all his peers were present – representatives of the first hormonal generation, a prime example of the first phase, as well as all senior students who took a more active part in research related to the second phase. The entire hall was rumbling with curiosity, impatience, and eagerness, but it all broke off as soon as a short chime rang from the speakers, calling for attention, and now the eyes of all the young men were riveted to the speaker.