Chapter 341: Idiot DNA

Dom felt like Mina had just stabbed him in the heart. He had told himself that he had written her off as a valid option, but her words told him otherwise. Somewhere in his subconscious, Dom hoped Mina would give him a chance, but at the same time, he was glad he could fill a void for her.

Depending on how he looked at it, Mina was telling him and anyone else with a pair of ears that she was in no way, shape, or form interested in him. On the other end, she was telling him that he was important to her; someone in her life that she regarded as family.

Dom just so happened to look at his boss when Mina made that statement, and the look of pure joy on the man's face was punishment enough, but President Lee was severed instant karma by the less than socially aware doctor Jeremy Witt.

"Mina, sorry if we scared you back there, but we won't stop bothering you until you retake an IQ exam." Mina frowned.

"I will score lower if I take it now; I need time to relax. The day has been stressful." Jeremy gave Mina a single nod, he may have been socially awkward, but he knew when to push and when to back down, unlike his sister who only knew how to push.

Rebecca was the smartest of the Witt children, but she was also the rudest, the most arrogant, and the most disliked among them. Jeremy was no social butterfly himself, but like Mina, he was able to socialize normally under most circumstances. It made him suited for the position he held and made him an excellent doctor because he was unmoved by emotional factors; only considering facts.

With an IQ of one-fifty-seven Jeremy bordered the spectrum of genius, and was gifted in analytic reason, working memory and processing speed. That would have made him perfect for emergency room work, or a field combat physician, but there were no wars going on, and crime in Pan was limited. Even if he went to the worst area of the country, Jeremy would be stuck treating ailments that were highly associated with poverty, not gunshot wounds.

The Witt's parents had met through one of the social clubs Mina had mentioned, both were from non-affluent families, but both were well known in their prospective fields and made a name for themselves in doing so. Jeremy's mother was a well noted author while his father was a mathematician. They both taught at a university level and attempted to groom their children to follow in their footsteps. Unfortunately, there is only so much control one can have over a child's brain development.

The desire to control was the main reason Jeremy's parents had sent their children with a former president of Pan country. The man had scouted for children who were gifted and attempted to train them as super soldiers. The problem the then president ran into was that most parents were unwilling to give up their children, which led him down a misguided path of purchasing them.

Taken away from a normal environment early, Rebecca turned out more antisocial than her siblings. She was just eight when she was recruited, while Jeremy was eleven when he was sent. Bressaw was sent a few years later; and at a much older age. He was gifted in tactical reasoning, but as the years passed, he was pushed out by more 'gifted' young men and women, who would ultimately end up on the third level, with no real purpose.

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Dom tried to pay attention to the conversation regarding the correlation between high IQ parents and their children, but he was failing. He had only understood the part about smart people having smart children, but he also knew that the Witt's had a brother who was nothing like his siblings. The man was not dumb, but he was definitely not a doctor.

"What about Bressaw? Shouldn't he have a high IQ?" Dom asked, and Mina turned her head to face the man as if he had spoken a name that should not be mentioned. She had assumed that Bressaw was Doctor Witt's brother in name only, but the way Dom spoke made her think otherwise.

"Our brother is average, but he does excel at certain things because of the rigorous training our parents put us through. Rebecca is the way she is because she spent less time with our parents, while he spent more time with them. As Mina mentioned, it is not an exact science, but the way I see things is two out of three is not bad," Jeremy replied, and Mina knew he was talking about his future children.

Jeremy went on to explain to Dom that the correlation was there, but the science was lacking. Much in the way two high IQ individuals could have a high IQ child, two average IQ individuals could produce a child with a high IQ. The same way high and low IQ individuals could produce a genius.

"So, a smart person could marry a dumb person and still have a smart baby?" Dom asked. He had taken the conversation too literally and Mina felt the need to correct him.

"A high IQ doesn't make you smart. To put it simply, it just measures the potential of your brain. There are also outside influences that play a role in whether an IQ is just a number. Plenty of high IQ individuals prefer artistic outlets. For the Witt's its medicine, for me its numbers." Jeremy nodded along with Mina, still oblivious to the look of hatred he was getting from President Lee.

"So, there is no such thing as idiot DNA?" Dom asked Mina, but Jeremy replied.

"That is a subjective question with no exact answer. Some genome mutations could affect brain health, which could, in turn, make a person less able to retain information."

"But both parents have to be carriers of the mutation," Mina interjected. She disliked conversations that placed a person's value on what they could or could not do, and it was one of the issues she had with Pan country, which she believed focused on increasing the intelligence of the rich, while keeping the poor dumb. "It's like my eyes; my mother's eyes are light, but they are still brown, and my father's eyes are like mine, just less intense. However, because both my parents carried the gene for lighter eyes, I inherited it."

Dom felt like the conversation he was having had gone into a complete circle, but with Mina's explanations he was able to keep up, and for some reason it made him think of her as a mother. He mentioned it to Doctor Witt, who seemed surprised that Dom could even understand as much as he did.

"Mina is incredibly suited to be a moth-" President Lee interjected by clearing his throat.

"Do you still want to go to the third level?" he asked, and Mina found herself on the fence.

"Can Dom come?" Once again Ian could not say no. Zane's words regarding Mina being able to manipulate outcomes flashed in his mind, and while he thought he would be able to stay strong, he was not. Something about that 'cute' hoodie she had on, made his heart flutter.