Not an Omega (EN)

12

Noah returned home, exhausted. He had moved to a new house. His job had offered to provide everything he needed, but although he accepted the money and food, he wanted to choose his new home himself. He had become a bit paranoid and desired the comfort of anonymity. Indeed, the incident that had occurred two years ago had deeply traumatized him.

After escaping hell, he had secluded himself in his room for months, not giving any news. People from his school were worried and tried to get him out for weeks, but to no avail. They eventually gave up one by one. The only news Noah received from the outside world came through his phone. However, there was one person who visited him regularly. It was the same person who had convinced him to go out just before everything went wrong. At first, Noah was distrustful and ignored his calls, just like he had done with others. But this person didn't give up. On the contrary, he came as often as possible. He was the only one who knew his address. After four months of confinement, Noah eventually relented, and they spent pleasant moments of companionship in his apartment. After a year, Noah began to go out again, always accompanied by his friend. He managed to resume his studies and obtained his diploma within a few months.

When he completed his training, a mysterious remedy, administered like a vaccine but not actually one, appeared. It seemed to have incredible results, with nearly 85% of subjects fully recovered and out of danger. Despite significant controversy, it quickly became evident that the remedy was effective.

Noah, like many others, was requisitioned to various accelerated training camps to administer the serum to as many people as possible. But who had discovered this remedy? In the end, it was Aronson Corporation that won the race. During his training, Noah heard strange rumors about the discovery of the remedy. Some said that the remedy did not come from AC but that they had stolen it from another company (probably a rumor spread by a competitor that went bankrupt). Others claimed that the company itself had released the virus to make a profit. But one would have to be foolish to kill more than half of humanity and lose all those potential clients, given that estimates suggested it would take at least two centuries for the human population to return to its former level. And this assuming every couple would have at least three children. The last rumor was equally illogical: some said that Aronson himself had given blood (containing a genetic peculiarity) which had become the basis for the remedy. All this sounded a bit like voodoo ritual, if one could voice an opinion.

Still, the remedy was not the only thing that saved humanity. After a global treatment, the former patients developed strange characteristics. So much so that society had to completely reinvent itself.

To summarize the situation in a few words for simplicity, one might say:

In addition to men, women, and non-binary people, society is now divided into three categories:

Alpha: They are generally well-developed physically and tend to succeed in whatever they undertake. Dominant by nature, they easily compete with other Alphas and are highly territorial. They emit pheromones to dominate or seduce others, triggering the heats of Omegas who will be immediately subjected to a pheromone shower. These pheromones are mostly used during sexual encounters.

(Recently, we encountered the very first case of a pregnant male Omega. No one knows if this pregnancy will come to term. That said, there is already significant controversy over this "unnatural" phenomenon. One might almost believe that only the most narrow-minded survived the global genocide. It would be amusing to base a theory on the relativity between narrow-mindedness and virus resilience. After all, it would be just to balance the odds for these poor unfortunate souls who were not blessed by nature with intelligence but still deserve a small discount on health.)

Omega: Except for a few exceptions, Omegas tend to have an elegant but not very athletic physique. Unlike Alphas who now occupy the highest positions in society, Omegas are generally at the bottom of the hierarchy. Their physical condition does not allow them to hold very physical jobs, and their heats (which occur every month and last several days for most) put them at risk. Although they already suffer from Alpha oppression daily, the heats are when the Omega emits "seductive" pheromones that can drive nearby Alphas mad and make them aggressive (many cases of assault have already been reported). In these cases, Omegas are asked to stay home during their heats (which does not help their job prospects).

Beta: Betas are the last category. Unlike Alphas and Omegas, they did not experience any particular changes after their vaccination.

Noah looked at his identification card lying on his nightstand. Next to his name, surname, and date of birth, there was a particular category: gender. Noah stared at the significant letter next to the small "h" indicating male, and fell into a dreamless sleep.