Chapter 13

  Sevavann

  Part One

  Tears blurred the world before her, which gave her a reason to enlist this place as important or have too much information exhausted her eyes? At the far end was a majestic structure piercing the sky appeared to be a king’s castle. Coloured golden and red. At least it wasn’t white and gold. A world that seemed millions of years ahead in time. This new planet size information overwhelmed her senses, made it impossible for her to find peace and close eyes.

  “What secret you hold now?” she whispered.

  The air echoed with the sound of children’s laughter and the rhythmic thwack of a cricket bat, as they performed gravity-defying moves amid their game.

  “Can we stop?” Manya said.

  “Sure,” Vidyut said.

  Upon hit, the ball multiplied. The fielders soared through the air, their bodies twisting and turning in a synchronised ballet to catch each ball. Few of them sulked to find the fake ones, while the batters were taunting them and dodging the rest of the physical and weapon attacks of fielders, using some sort of shield layer and flexible moves. A glow emanated from the palm of the kid with a real ball, as he threw it towards the floating wickets—the ball disintegrated into several fragments. A weapon materialised on the bat of a player; he shot the fragments; but before he could grasp the last one, he got trapped into a barrier and the ball’s last fragment—hit the wicket and unleashed the barrage of colourful smoky vines that hit the winning player’s gears, bat and ball. As if it had cast a spell of upgrade on them.

  “I want to play,” Manya said.

  Giggles reached her ears. Everyone, including Vidyut, was smiling.

  “Maybe next time,” he said.

  Every building was overflowing with nature, as if it had burst into a vibrant green display. Elaborate decorations adorned the entire place, adding an extra touch of elegance. The sweet little designs that traced alongside the edges of houses, giving off the artsy vibe. No matter where she looked, there were thoughtful elements that added both usefulness and a hint of flair. Water flowed gracefully through the live masterpiece and water roads. Her heart sank when a few kids pushed a young girl into the relentless water current.

  “Are they sick?” Manya said. She prepared to intervene, but Vidyut raised his arm to block her.

  Sooner, the young girl crawled outside and repeated the action with another unsuspecting kid.

  “What are they trying to prove?” Manya said.

  “They are ranking themselves,” Vidyut said. “The one who can endure the flow for the longest, ranked the strongest, and others will have to act as her/his slave.”

  A musical repetitive sound, like a ringtone, wrapped her ears. Vidyut pulled out a coin and tossed it up, marvelling as it transformed into a captivating display with a young girl’s adorable face.

  “You have arrived!” the girl chirped.

  “I told you, didn’t I? You were worrying for no reason,” Vidyut said.

  The girl seemed like Vidyut’s younger sister, or maybe daughter.

  “Why wouldn’t I? Nobody has come back unharmed,” the young girl said.

  Vidyut moved the screen back a few inches and showed himself from various perspectives. “See, all intact.” However, when he glanced back at the screen, the adorable girl on the screen had frozen. “Sesh?” he waved his hands, “Hey, you, ok?”

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  “Might be the connection,” Manya said.

  Vidyut smirked. “Sesh, my sweet little octopus. What happened to you?”

  As Vidyut inched closer to the screen, he and Manya noticed Sesh’s eyes locked on Manya. Vidyut pulled Manya’s arm, moving her a few inches to the side, followed by Sesh’s admiring gaze.

  “Oh, my god! She’s real! Not another prank of yours.” Sesh corrected her clothes, hair, her eyes were sparkling. “I am Sesh! I am your biggest fan!!” she moved her camera towards the wall, “I have all your posters! And I never sleep without my favourite view!”

  Sesh adjusted the camera to an image of Manya on the balcony of the facility. The night she heard Happy’s violin, tears streaming down her face. All those posters displayed her memorable moments from those missions and the facility. How much were they looking at? Among them were moments, altered by Happy.

  “I have some questions! Are you committed? If yes, who’s the guy? If not, please marry my brother!! It will pierce the hearts of all my friends, and oh my god! Please marry him!!” Vidyut ended the call and silenced the ringtone because of Sesh’s endless interruptions.

  “Sorry, she. She really loves you. You are a role model to her, to us,” he smiled. “By now she would be circling her caretaker to allow her to visit me and cleaning her room.”

  “She’s cute,” Manya said, her concern growing as her bond with Vidyut deepened by the second and the last thing she wanted was to befriend someone who would surely suffer because of her cursed life. “Caretaker?”

  “She’s an orphan, and adoption doesn’t fit in my tight and flexible work schedule.”

  “Sesh’s a lucky girl to have you as a friend.” As she approached the layer before her, a space opened up for her to lean or rest her arms.

  “More like a lenient big brother.”

  She smiled. “Vidyut, where are we going?”

  “My Home.”

  She faced him. “Your, home?”

  “Forgive me for not asking you before. I thought you would want to look your best tonight, and believe me, I have just the right people for it.”

  “What’s tonight?”

  Marina mocked laugh, startling Manya.

  “Tonight’s the Pre-initiation Day,” Vidyut said.

  “Pre-initiation?”

  “All the successful candidates till now will receive their ranks. And a mission associated with it. The last mission before becoming an official.”

  Her brows furrowed. “Rank? Before last mission? Why bother to give rank if there’s a strong chance of your failure?”

  Vidyut smiled. “To honour the hardships unranked had faced till now, and giving them a taste of what being an official is before they die or fail.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “It was, before his reign. Millions of humans had sacrificed their lives without a recognition and respect.”

  “Whose reign?”

  “The king, ‘Yajvan.’”

  “… Does one receive benefits as an unranked?”

  “Yes. Their families receive several benefits. Only if the unranked dies on a mission. If not, she/he has to apply again.”

  “Families? What about those who came from… Earth?”

  Vidyut’s brows furrowed and smiled. “You missed the orientation, right?”

  “… Yes,” Manya said with a subtle smile.

  “The ones that come from another planet are given two choices. Either enlist themselves on the path of rankers or to live a normal life, where they’ll receive a job, a house and food and other necessities.”

  “Forever?”

  Vidyut nodded.

  ***

  Whichever path they turned to, the sight of glimmery waterfalls greeted them—moving in perfect harmony as if choreographing their own dances. Colourful gardens grace the rooftops and balconies.

  Buildings and houses that float, adorned with hanging vines and suspended water features. Everything around her seemed new, yet old. And the place was too large to hug, but the one idiot from her lost memories, who could hug her, disappeared. And why am I so desperate for his hug?

  Vidyut turned the floating square into a narrow passage. A blend of modern art and advanced technology. It was lined with glowing water that illuminated everything in its path.

  Screens of various sizes covered the walls on both sides, dancing, shifting, and morphing, creating mesmerising abstract art that throbbed with life.

  Moving further, the path below came alive, responding to their every movement. Vidyut took a stop beside a mirror wall. Manya fixed her hair, which had gone through a thrilling ordeal of near-death encounters and a sudden descent.

  “Done?” Vidyut said. Manya nodded. “Then smile.”

  Marina and her lackeys joined in, laughing as they struck funny poses. Within moments, a vibrant graffiti of them appeared on the wall. Manya caught the whispers of a gathering crowd. A sea of energetic individuals had settled beneath her.

  “Don’t be rude to your fans, at least wave,” Vidyut whispered.

  After a few seconds of hesitation, she raised his arms. The fans erupted with joy. To her surprise, there were no phones or cameras present, just humans immersed in the experience, relying on their eyes to capture the beauty. It might be in their eyes. Yes. Before her heart would explode from so much attention and her fans on the roofs jump on them, Vidyut rushed them away.

  Since they had left the bustling crowd behind, Marina and her friends had fallen into an eerie silence. It was hard to tell if they were simply jealous or were being polite for Vidyut.