Chapter 16

  Visit To Prison

  Part Three

  The ocean appeared anything but calm, with the source of the sound not being waves or water currents, but a group of enormous creatures in the water. They look like whales but have shiny limbs.

  She pulled out her arm out of the window. “Who wants to race?” she yelled.

  ‘Ms., I don’t think it’s appropriate.’

  “Oh, shut up!”

  Despite taking a brain-boosting liquid, it amazed her when the whales accepted her race challenge and displayed a competitive spirit through their eyes, fins and blowholes.

  “Get ready! Three! Two! One!” she throttled the car to full speed, but what startled her were the whales. They turned to different direction and dived back into the ocean.

  “Where are they going?”

  ‘Back to their home. Who in the sane mind would race against such an invention? Animals here aren’t stupid.’

  Many terrifyingly alluring creatures emerged from the water. Vega wrapped Manya in seatbelts—meant for overly eager individuals. She told Manya that she could observe such creatures up close at a water event happening in a few months.

  They were only a few metres from the spot, yet all they could see was an expansive, pitch-black ocean. Manya looked up in the sky for any formation, but it was all clear.

  “Now what?”

  Vega transmitted a tiny, blue, flying object from her finger, resembling a pearl. It displayed its analysis data on the car’s windscreen. It went into the ocean and observed various types of sea creatures, familiar to Manya, but altered. What amazed her was the intricate structure of the ocean beneath, with a perfectly aligned ocean floor—like something was hiding under it.

  ‘I have found the destination.’

  “Where?”

  ‘Right in front of us.’ The small object, which came out from Vega’s fingers, blocked by an invisible layer. ‘There’s a private space behind that layer.’

  “Does he send an invitation or should I?” Manya slammed her forehead on the car horn—hoped to find relief from too much peace—repeatedly.

  The invisible layer disappeared, unveiling a tiny island adorned with two floating chairs, an array of snacks on a floating rectangle, and Yajvan himself. And the look of pure awe on Vega’s face. Manya pinched her hard, jolting her senses back to reality.

  ‘Physical abuse of your personal assistant is restricted.’

  “I am your master, I can do anything,” she pinched her again.

  ‘You can’t. It could cause you to face legalities.’

  “Which I can manage with your money, can’t I?”

  Vega pointed at the path stretched out from the island to her door. ‘It’s time. Ms.’ Manya was about to step out, ‘Ms., can you?’ Vega played with her hair. ‘Ask him for a photo?’

  Manya smirked. “Oh, I will. Imagine. Yajvan and a new age prodigy, in a same frame, it will become a best showpiece in the living room.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  ‘No. Sorry, I think you got it wrong. I mean. With me.’

  “Now, why would a person of such stature be interested in an AI who is just a day old?”

  Manya smirked after seeing Vega sulk.

  The path beneath reacted to her movements. It displayed an aesthetic colour combination. As her feet sank into the soft sand of the small land, a rush of emotions overwhelmed her. The path she had just walked on was now submerged in water, leaving her stranded on unfamiliar land with a man who might be the source of all her pain. Why the hell is this confidence liquid not working?

  “I saw your performance,” Yajvan faced her. “It was beautiful. Or should I say, beautifully forced?”

  “It was you! That spotlight,” Manya said. He stepped forward. She flinched. Enough to wet the sole of her shoe. “Don’t.”

  “What’s bothering you, Manya?”

  She knew what’s bothering her, but forming the words appeared to be painful. Her heart was overpowering her brain. It’s telling her brain that all the assumptions about this guy were false. With each step he took, her heart warmed, but her mind’s battle grew more intense. Her tears were the silent evidence of the internal struggle.

  “You took a gerix?” He chuckled. “Since when you required drugs to talk to me?”

  His words broke the tension, like a crack in the ice. “Why wouldn’t I? I didn’t want to become a prey to your charms!”

  He blushed. Miniature fireworks displayed around him. “You look beautiful,” he said

  His reply ended the battle inside her. It was futile from the beginning. Despite her dislike, she couldn’t deny the sense of confidence that washed over her whenever she stood next to him. Even with gerix, it was hard to find any hint of affection from him. There’s no way he’s straight.

  She settled on the chair beside snacks. However, decided to not show any sign of weakness to her foe, so she consumed just a handful of soft, yet firm, cheesy chips.

  “I am listening,” he said.

  “How did an idiot like you be a king?”

  He giggled. “What can I say? I watched your face that morning. You ‘Wretched’ woman.”

  Her eyes drifted to her shoes. “You heard that?”

  “Best few seconds of laughter.”

  “Everything.” Manya stood up. “Everything regarding you and your words is mysterious or lies,” she faced him. “And how in the world do you know my real name?”

  “Because you told me, well, forced onto me, if we put it correctly.”

  “Don’t play memory games with me,” she said. He offered her a chocolate bar. She snatched it. “How would I believe any words of a man who is at the centre of the disappearance of my mamu?”

  “Mamu?” His calm expression turned to stern. “Oh, you mentioned him before.”

  All the things she struggled to keep inside spilled out of her mouth. She recounted all the events that had occurred to herself, Atharv, and Dhruv. And how she made it to this place.

  He stood up. “Care to tell me the name of your mamu?”

  “Atharv.”

  Excitement filled his face, and his eyes sparkled. Within seconds, his giggles turned into a deep, hearty laughter. “He did used to call her sister.”

  “What?” she said. His infectious laugh had a way of spreading its joy to those around him. She caught a faint chuckle coming from the car.

  “So, he was alive all along!” Yajvan walked towards the edge. “Now all of this makes sense. How the capital was saved. And why we never able to find you on Earth.”

  “Can you make it understandable?”

  “Everything makes sense; except one thing, the one most important damn thing.” He moved closer to her. “Why now? And who is Dhruv?” His gaze expecting an answer from her.

  “He was my boyfriend. And I am not saying another word until you tell, what the hell is happening?”

  “Manya, first. Your mamu, Atharv,” he chuckled, “Is a cunning person.”

  “I know. What about it?”

  “I still can’t believe he’s alive. Everything changes now, not just the functioning of Sevavann, and the entities it’s surrounded with, but the entire cosmos,” he faced the ocean, “Manya, Atharv’s among the few individuals who had survived… a war. Including you and me. He is the greatest inventor this universe has ever seen.”

  “Are we talking about the same person? Because the one I know was lazy, single, and a little kind, and obsessed about my relationship.”

  He smiled. “A man who pushed you in the middle of a war is worried about your relationship? It must be Earth’s air. It forces you to fall deep into unnecessary emotions.” A tear escaped his eye.

  “You don’t have to hold them,” Manya said. Why? She didn’t know, but she understood the expression. More tears escaped his eyes, but he quickly changed the subject to halt them.

  “Do you remember the angel that you were assigned to capture?” Yajvan said. She nodded. “We scanned his neural link. Are you familiar with the immortality concept?”

  “The one where AI may live forever with fresh memories?”

  He nodded. “When the one assigned a new identity, their previous one gets erased,” he sipped a drink, “except the title and name from their previous life for legal purposes.”

  “And?”

  “In simple terms. We generate new bodies for new memories. But angels…”

  Manya’s eyes widened. “They plant the same wings on different humans.”

  Yajvan’s face lit up with pride. “It’s not much of use, but I thought you should know it,” Yajvan continued, “Karulsh’s identity in his last life was of a higher angel,” a surge of anger coursed through her, “whose name was ‘Kri.’”

  Hearing Kri’s name, her interest in acquiring further knowledge about him vanished. She was consumed with thoughts of Dhruv’s survival, and upon reaching a conclusion, she looked over at Yajvan.

  “Darsh,” he said.