The Perfect Test Subject Rolls Around Easily Over Here

"22 October, 20XX. Latest observation. After twelve days of testing and reconfirming this newfound energy, the Soul Energy Particle, or SEP as I call it, I will record a few important conclusions for future analyses."

Arash cleared his throat and went over the most basic ones first.

"There are two very distinct SEPs I interacted with.

Variant SEP. These are Soul Energy electronically generated by the Soul Cultivation Chant given by my dearest Hana.

Origin SEP, or, just SEP. This is the one I generated myself after absorbing the Variant SEP."

At the beginning, he hadn't noticed the difference. Until now. After many days of meditation sessions, the difference was glaringly obvious.

Arash elaborated, "The longer I listened to the recorded Chant, the more variant SEP would be accumulated outside my body, like clothes covering my body. The SEP behaves independently and will not be affected easily by my instruction, as if they had their own will. Variant SEP will also accumulate when sleeping with recorded Chant as white noise."

Arash paused for a moment. He had seen something peculiar about the Variant SEPs' behavior.

"In the short moments that I napped beside the kids with the recorded Chant played at low volume these two weeks, the Variant SEP did not accumulate around them as how the SEPs behaved around me, instead the SEP entered the kids' bodies, like how they did with outsiders."

He took a deep breath before adding. "In conclusion, Variant SEP only behaved differently with me alone. Or, only I can absorb Variant SEP. This condition still needed to be investigated."

Arash continued while scrunching his brow, "Next, on how I absorb Variant SEP. I have to consciously absorb the variant SEP during meditation. The process will not happen autonomously. The meditation must follow a set of rules for the absorption to be triggered. Namely, I must dive into the node, which I will name, the Soul Core. Then, I will have to 'pull' the variant SEP covering my body bit by bit forcefully into my Soul Core. As explained before, Variant SEP isn't as obedient as Origin SEP. It is a laborious task and needs full concentration. A very low amount of variant SEP could be absorbed during each meditation session; about one particle for every 100-200 SEP. However, the exchange rate between variant SEP to origin SEP is nearly 1:3 ratio. Again, there is a need to understand this unusual phenomenon in the future."

"Next, the effect of absorbing variant SEP into my Soul Core will produce a new kind of SEP, the origin SEP, that listens to my instruction 60 to 80% of the time. I could differentiate between the two types of SEP since they both had different colors, or tints; the Variant had a multicolored pastel glaze while my personal ones are slightly bluish.

The new SEP will then repopulate my entire body as they independently gravitate into something akin to an orbit, as opposed to the Variants. The higher the concentration of Origin SEP, the larger the orbit could be stretched. Currently, the SEP orbit could be willed to cover about five meters in radius, where it was less than half a meter at the beginning of my observation. The density of the Origin SEP reduces in concentration the further they orbited from my body. Variant SEP will only populate at about 20 cm radius around my body, just like outer clothing, and has a will of its own which I couldn't control most of the time."

Arash tapped the car's steering while he tried to organize his mind to better explain both types of SEPs' distinct behaviors. The nature of the energy was quite similar, but also very different at the same time. He was no researcher, but he knew understanding them better would help him to use them effectively.

"Variant SEPs are erratic but don't have any dangerous effects to date. They will automatically enter the bodies of whoever comes too close to me or has direct contact with me. Noted effects were positive responses at 100% probability, as of today, even when interacting with Experts."

"Origin SEPs could be controlled more specifically at a range of 5 meters. I have tested and achieved a 100% success rate with a maximum of 6 experimental subjects at the same time, from the same direction. The effect is permanent once the SEP has infected the subject once even when he or she left the 5-meter range. However, how long the effect persists has not been investigated yet."

"A test on 17 individuals within a 5-meter radius at 360 degrees revealed a reduced rate to 90% where two experimental subjects projected a neutral response rather than a positive response. Namely, these two experimental subjects were located directly behind me. As a way forward, more data is needed on passive group mental suggestions."

Only Origin SEPs are malleable enough to be used for both Active Mental Suggestion and Passive Group Mental Suggestion..."

Arash paused.

Maybe he should take up books on hypnosis?

These observations really sounded quite frightening.

A 90-100% positive response rate.

Or maybe his 'field trials' weren't large enough to see any discrepancies?

To date, he has tested around 88 individuals altogether. Different ages, genders, emotion levels, physical strength, mental acuity. What else was there to test?

Heck, he had to pose as a salesman, a direct-selling agent, and sometimes as a surveyor distributing questionnaires. It was comical to the least but served its purpose. He felt like a spy.

Arash wondered how Rizal the programmer was doing at the moment. Did his 'push' help the man even after 3 days later? Or did it already dissipate?

He should've befriended the guy and found an opportunity to get the answer.

Sigh...

The incomplete data collected bothered Arash quite a bit. There was still so much to learn about this novel energy. But he knew he was out of time. Looking at the date, Arash knew he had to get ready to return to the Bateqs Village soon since the promised date was nearing. He had to put on hold with whatever future experiments he planned before and focused on using his time effectively when he was with Tok Silihan.

At least, he was quite successful in controlling the SEP. He was confident that his basic mastery over the energy could help activate the pendant given by Tok Silihan, if it was possible at all. If not, he would find some other way.

Arash switched off the recording pen and proceeded to walk out of the car park area. There was a spot where the light was out. It had been that way since he returned from his excursion to the aborigine village.

Probably, the maintenance team was not doing their job again although the Resident Whtsapp Group has been noisily complaining nonstop. Their negligence earned quite a bit of dissatisfaction among the residents. Most are small families with little kids or university students, hence, ample lighting was important to prevent accidents or mugging.

Arash walked by calmly as always.

However, he suddenly paused his step. 

Someone was standing in the darkness; his features weren't visible due to the lack of light. Arash could only make out a mop of messy hair with a simple black shirt and loose, slightly dirty gray pants. He was holding a thick stick with the length of a baseball bat.

Arash's heart skipped a bit once he saw what the other person was holding. Seriously, was he really going to be mugged?

Arash gulped, slightly nervous. He saw the origin SEP orbiting languidly turned energetic as he stretched the coverage area as maximum as he could. 

It was not enough. 

He had to take three slow steps ahead courageously.

Finally, the stranger was within the five-meter range. Some of the SEP orbiting Arash entered the stranger automatically.

"Hello? Who is it? Please do come out of the darkness so that we can get to know each other."

The unknown person took two more steps forward, revealing his stony face with unfocused pupils. In his left hand was a stick with studded nails. 

"Hello, I'm Ed. I was planning to take some cash from you and beat you up with this stick if you decline." The unlikely response almost sounded robotic in nature.

After a pause, he added, "...and once you give me the dough, I will still beat you up to close your mouth." He shrugged as he explained matter-of-factly.

Goosebump rose on Arash's arm, "Ahhh, oh, I see. Can you not do that?"

The sluggish guy immediately answered, "Nope, I need to protect myself too after I mug you."

Arash's heart raced as he heard the vicious response. He had to turn this situation around no matter what! He rephrased his previous question into a clear command, "Please don't attack me. In fact, don't attack anyone else, especially in this area."

He willed for more Soul Energy Particles orbiting around to enter the scary person. He wasn't sure whether his SEP would be able to properly influence a person who was on substance since this guy's condition was so obvious. Just to be safe, he pushed in double the amount of SEP than usual.

Ed's unfocused gaze cleared up slightly. He took a deep breath as he looked significantly fresher, "Okay." The drug addict threw the stick to the side. The sound was glaringly loud with added echoes.

Both of them faced a few seconds of awkward silence.

Arash closed his eyes as his mind raced like ten thousand horses galloping over a wide plain.

It was an opportunity.

He would've missed it if it was not for Rizal, the programmer, fleeting over his mind when he was recording his findings.

"Take this money. Sober up and overcome your addiction to whatever you're taking. Find the first opportunity to eat and drink properly." Arash took out his wallet and passed a wad of cash to Ed without counting.

"Tomorrow morning, go to a barber and cut your hair. Then, buy toiletries and clean yourself properly at a public toilet to look presentable. Find a job by tomorrow evening, and rent a cheap room nearby. Be calculative and spend this money wisely. Text me every day at this time to report your progress for thirty days." Arash checked his smartwatch. It was already past midnight, specifically 12.24 am.

"You can jump jobs if the pay or the benefits are better. After you accumulate enough without having to starve or delay rent, you can pay me back once the thirty days are up. If you need more time, it's alright, I will wait as long as you need. Await further instructions through text from me later. You can also ask for advice on anything you need to know. I might not reply to your message immediately, so just wait for the answer to reach you eventually."

Arash decided to be as detailed as possible to test his postulate. 

Knowing that it was a risk, he decided not to give any other information about himself. He exchanged numbers with Ed by leaving a whtsapp text message.

+60111356XXX: Report your progress today.

"Remember, text this number every day. Why don't you try now? Report your progress. Label my name as Mr. A."

The unkempt young man looked around erratically as he tried to figure out what to report on. He finally returned to the wad of cash inside his pocket and counted hurriedly with trembling fingers, a testament to his severe backlash from taking contraband.

Ed: Obtained RM625.

Arash massaged his head, feeling a little lost. He should've counted before giving just now. There goes Tok Silihan's RTEs.

He sighed lightly and brushed it off after a while. Ed looked like he needed the money more than Tok Silihan anyway.

On the bright side, with RM625, Ed could get a room for a month at RM300-400. With another RM300, he would be set for about 2 weeks' worth of meals if he money-pinch a little since a full meal costs about RM10. Arash was positive that by the time the money ran out, Ed would've gotten a job to feed himself.

This time, he would properly follow up on Ed's progress to see how long his 'influence' persisted.

Arash lamented on his protagonist-level good luck. The perfect test subject conveniently rolls around easily when he needed one.

...