Page 42 of Claim Me
The audience hasn’t come in yet, but the panelists are already taking their seats at a long table. Behind them there’s a large colorful board with the event title printed on it.
There are about six people, plus the host, a heavyset older beta who walks up to Blue and extends his hand in a deferential way.
Blue ignores the handshake again.
"Mr. Lowen, we’re very pleased to have you here. Thank you for agreeing to replace Professor Dobrov. I’m sure this discussion will be exceptionally interesting."
Blue gives a minimal nod and takes a seat roughly in the center of the panel.
I position myself behind him, close to the wall so I have a good view of everything. I can feel some of the panelists glancing at me. There isn’t a single alpha among them, just betas and omegas, so I kinda look out of place standing there in my black mask.
Well, like many omegas and betas, they probably see alphas as muscleheads, people suited only for physical roles, which is why their expressions carry a mix of superiority and mild amusement.
Soon the organizers open the doors and people start pouring in, filling the rows. Luckily, the seats are assigned, so there’s some order, but I still notice that a group from NeverTrue gathers in the back rows.
I remember how it used to be. I went to events like this with Marcel and the rest of the group. We would shout across the entire hall. Sometimes I even annoyed myself with that kind of behavior, but wherever Marcel went, I followed.
Funny how now I’m still following an attractive, passion-driven omega, just a different one.
The panel begins with a short introduction from the host.
He talks about how, for years, science has been trying to find a way to determine who someone’s True Mate is before any physical contact occurs. The holy grail is a simple genetic test that could identify a True Mate from blood alone, possibly using ancestry databases like AO Ancestry.
"At this moment," the host emphasizes, "the closest to achieving this goal is Malden Pharmaceuticals. We are pleasedto introduce a surprise guest, Blue Lowen himself, who will tell us more about the progress in genetic testing analysis…"
A murmur spreads through the room. People clearly didn’t expect that. The reaction is especially loud among the NeverTrue activists. I can imagine that for them this is a huge opportunity. They probably came for Professor Dobrov, who already has controversial views, but now they have a much bigger target.
The host introduces the rest of the panelists, but their names don’t mean much to me, and the audience barely reacts either. Blue is clearly the only real star here.
Then the panelists start presenting their own research on compatibility detection. Honestly, I’m not paying much attention. Their talks aren’t that engaging, and I catch myself just waiting for Blue.
Eventually, it’s his turn.
He introduces himself and begins by talking about a case from four years ago, when a young man came to him wanting to eliminate incompatibility with someone he loved. That’s when Blue started researching how to genetically modify the body so it wouldn’t recognize the other person as incompatible.
One of the panelists jumps in and asks about the ethical side of such a decision, because the change wouldn’t affect the offspring’s genome, and as a result, many children could be born with fatal defects, as is often the case between incompatibles.
Blue explains that he suspected the incompatibility in that case wasn’t genetic, but caused by a severe allergic response, which turned out to be true. He mentions that he recently made a breakthrough related to that, and that studying immune reactions led him to identify new markers that science had previously overlooked.
Soon after, he developed a test capable of detecting compatibility between betas and alphas at the Low and HalfMate levels. That became the foundation of the Beta Activation program.
He finishes by saying that the newest version of the test can now detect compatibility between alphas and omegas as well, although still only at the Low and Half Mate levels.
The host opens the floor for questions.
They come quickly.
"When will there be tests for High Mates?"
"What about True Mates? Will it be available, and if so, will it be easily accessible to everyone?"
Most of the questions are directed at Blue, with the other panelists practically ignored. I get the impression they’re not thrilled about it, but that’s just how it is.
Blue gets questioned from every angle, but he never slips, not even once.
He gives solid answers that, in a way, shut the topic down by backing everything up with relevant arguments.
The event is slowly wrapping up, which I’m glad about, because I’d rather get out of such a crowded place, but then I feel that strange pressure building inside me.
