ANDAMAN ISLANDS
OLD PRISON SITE
ABANDONED SINCE 1971
Rishi and Manav get off the boat. Manav hands over a full bundle of cash to the sailor who then turns the boat around and leaves. Rishi looks at Manav and asks "So, why are we here?"
Manav answers "Aaryan suspects that someone here is trying to do something they should not be doing, that is all you need to know."
Rishi's eyes narrow, and suddenly widen, he enters a vision again. This time, it is not a massacre of a tribe, but a peaceful modern cafe, with two girls and another guy. The four friends seem to be having fun, talking and laughing. Then they pay for the food and exit the cafe, the area looks like somewhere in New Delhi. The guy from whose eyes Rishi is watching pushes his hand into his pocket and pulls out a phone. The moment the screen lights up, the date reveals itself "7th January 2025". This is the last thing Rishi sees before exiting the vision.
He drops to his knees, panting rapidly. Manav comes running, helping him up. Urgently, he speaks "Damnit Rishi! We cannot stay at one spot for long, they can find us. We need to keep mo-"
Manav is unable to complete those words as he suddenly notices multiple men, dressed in all black shirts, trousers, boots and long coats that reach their knees surround them. They all have their faces covered by black masks, pure, plain, black masks with no features at all except that they completely cover their heads and fit tightly. There wasn't even a single hole, at least for eyes. Nope, they are completely plain, pure black.
"You are late!" The man says in a very calm voice.
Manav's eyes widen.
"Rayan has been expecting you! Please follow us!" The man continues
Manav looks down at Rishi who was unconscious. The man looks at Rishi as well, then turns to the others and commands "Help them!"
Rayan grabs the small cup and gently brings it closer to his mouth. He takes a small sip of the warm tea and takes a deep breath, calming himself down. His lips curl into a gentle smile of sincerity as he senses the new presence in the chamber.
Manav looks around, the walls were filled with old paintings of kings, battles, wars, revolutions and great politicians. Before Manav started speaking, Rayan uttered the first words "When Hades come up with the formula of power, I laughed at it until people started falling for it. I then had the realization how ignorant the humans are really. They think they conquered the world, that they stand far on the apex of the food chain. They have no idea!"
He turned around gently, standing up, smiled at Manav "It's been a long time since we have seen each other. Let's discuss our matters over a cup of tea, should we?"
Manav's eyes narrow, he looks right into Rayan's eyes, his mind was full of skepticism. He slowly nodded, keeping his guard up.
Rishi's eyes open, he wakes up on a bed. As he sits up, his head aches violently. He grunts with the pain as he gently rubs his head. When he looks around, he sees a room, it looks like a luxury hotel room. Aesthetic bed, grey wallpapers, even a TV was there. He turns to look at the bedside table and sees a small calendar. Leaning in, he focuses on the present date, it reads "2nd February 2025", his eyes narrow as he leans back.
"7th January to 2nd February. If that person in that cafe was me, then it hasn't been that long since I lost my memories and joined the X Graders. But if that person with his friends was me.... was the person who killed all of them that night.... also me?" Rishi's eyes widen at the thought.
Rayan sips the tea from the cup, Manav sits on the other side of the table, holding the cup in his hand but not even looking at it. Rayan chuckles and speaks "You assume that the tea is unsafe for you! You wound my honor by thinking I would drop so low."
Manav looks at Rayan and speaks "I am not here for tea."
"Certainly not!" Rayan interrupts "You are here because you suspect something. You suspect that I am trying to resurrect a person called Achyut Shivanam. Would that be correct?"
"Correct!" Manav utters "Let's just hope my assumptions are wrong!"
"I assure you Manav." Rayan says with a nonchalant smile "I have no such intentions. However, my question to you is.... how long does a memory wipeout spell work?"
Manav's eyes narrow "What do you mean?"
Rayan chuckles "Well, the thing is that the memory wipeout spell that alters the memories of the target is rather.... fragile. It does not erase anyone's memory. It just blocks the parts of the brain that hold them. Those barriers are.... easily weakened when a force strong enough strikes the mind. Something like.... maybe a blood eye!"
Manav's eyes widen "What the hell do you mean? How do you know that we-"
Rayan smiles again "And as I thought, you and Aaryan used that spell without properly learning about it. And as for how do we know.... well, you aren't the only ones who.... spy!"
Rayan follows his words with a calm and a very gentle smile "We are Persians! We have a habit or staying ahead. You have my apologies for the invasion of privacy. I advise that you stay cautious, Rishi might slowly regain his memories soon, and I highly suspect he would want to stay once he does."
He took another sip, smiled very gently this time and said "After all, we have been watching him since he was a child!"
Rishi sits up on the edge of the bed, placing his feet on the floor, pressing his hand on his forehead. His eyes narrow, his brows tighten as he tries to think hard. After a minute of deep thinking, he utters one name.
"Siya!"