A flash of memories—
In an office with a slightly aged wooden desk, a woman stood silently, staring at a nameplate that read:
"Aditya Rajan, The President."
Then a man walked in. She stood as he approached and offered a handshake.
"I'm Rathore," he introduced himself.
She firmly responded, "My name is Padma."
Rathore nodded. "Miss Padma, we are sorry on behalf of your late parents…"
But with a gaze burning in grief and resolve, Padma cut him off.
"Saying sorry represents the meaningless death of my parents. Please… don't say sorry."
Suddenly, a slow clap echoed through the room. A calm voice followed—
"Yes, I agree with your statement, Miss Padma. Sorry represents failure. And failure represents a meaningless death."
A man entered the room, sharp and composed, taking his seat at the head of the desk. It was him.
"Aditya Rajan," Padma muttered coldly. "Right… our second meeting. Last time was at my parents' funeral. So tell me why have you called me here? Will you give me a chance to take revenge on the people behind my parents' deaths?"
Aditya stared into Padma's unwavering eyes and smiled.
"Since you want revenge… and I want to regroup, that's why welcome to Project M. To outsiders, you'll appear to be a normal attendant. But inside, you will work directly under Rathore, the current founder of the Bow."
Padma's eyes flicked to the bow emblem stitched on Rathore's uniform. Curiously, she looked to Aditya again. "What do you mean… Bow?"
Then, she noticed a strange emblem on the wall behind him a mix of sword, bow, spear, and shield. A complex, forgotten symbol.
Aditya turned, looking at the symbol. His voice dropped to a low, melancholic tone.
"You mean this symbol? This isn't just a sign. This is a legacy."
Padma's eyes widened she remembered seeing that very symbol engraved on her parents' military badges.
She stepped forward. "What does this symbol mean?"
Aditya stood and faced the symbol.
"This is the symbol we are no longer worthy of. The symbol that witnessed the fall of two friends. The legacy of this entire movement.
The symbol of Code M..."
---
Back to Present Time — Operation SBS High Command Quarters
In a dimly lit control room, screens flickered. Padma, standing with clenched fists, muttered:
"Communications... not working."
Beside her, Ranvijay stepped forward calmly and strapped two crescent-shaped blades onto his back. The light from the console flickered off the shield emblem on the hilts.
He looked at Padma and said firmly,
"Aditya wants change. That's why this time—I'll act in person."
Just then, Padma's console pinged. A new encoded message had arrived.
Her eyes widened. As she decoded the message, her expression froze. Her hand trembled.
Ranvijay stepped closer, worried. "What does it say?"
Padma, her voice barely a whisper, replied:
"This... this is the original symbol of Project-M. No... this is the symbols of Code MXXXXX."
Ranvijay asked, "What do you mean…?"
Padma, rapidly clicking through the keyboard to trace the sender, responded,
"Only Aditya and Rathore know the full story behind this symbol. When I asked about it before…"
Suddenly without warning all the monitors around them flickered to life, their screens filled with cascading lines of code. A hidden internal communication program launched by itself.
Ranvijay's eyes narrowed.
"What's happening, Padma?!"
Padma rushed to the main terminal, fingers flying, trying to interrupt the process.
But the system didn't stop. Her eyes widened in shock as she murmured,
"All communication devices are… auto-fixing? Why?"
Ranvijay, tense and alarmed, demanded,
"What do you mean auto-fixing? What the hell is going on?!"
Padma swallowed nervously.
"I know a little about code… and judging from this, it looks like the communication network had a deep software issue—maybe even sabotage. But this program… it's rewriting and correcting everything automatically."
As the program finished executing, the static-filled screens cleared. The comms system flickered to stable green.
Without hesitation, Padma attempted to reconnect with the field team.
"Dev! Where are you?" she called out, panic evident in her voice.
Ranvijay, watching the monitors in silence, muttered to himself,
"What just happened? Who could possibly have the skill to hijack our communication system… and who sent that encoded symbol message?"
---
Meanwhile, Behind the noise of a bustling singing competition venue, a dark figure stood in the shadows.
He held a crimson-radiating axe in one hand, and a blood-soaked communication device in the other though his own hands were untouched by blood.
He stared at the corpse of a man—dead without a drop spilled from his body.
Silently, he crushed the bloodied communication device underfoot.
Suddenly, a sharp laser light painted a red dot on the shadow figure's forehead.
Unfazed, the figure slowly turned his head toward its origin the top of an opposite building.
With a calm, sly smile, gripping his crimson-radiating axe, he muttered,
"I appreciate you found me once again, Ayaan…"
High above, on the building's ledge, Ayaan held a sniper rifle steady on his shoulder. A smirk curved his lips as he replied,
"Looks like communications are back…"
Then, a digital voice echoed from the sniper scope:
"Warning. Destroyer Mode: Activated."
Ayaan narrowed his eyes, his voice sharpening,
"Looks like I traced you again."
---
Meanwhile, behind the venue...
Two blades clashed in the shadowed alley—the clash of a single long sword against two small, razor-sharp daggers.
With mocking disdain, Surya, gripping the sword, sneered,
"I don't get why a filthy slave like you is involved with the Hollow Pact. Did you forget the terms of the contract?"
Pothasura, weaving between attacks with his twin knives, grinned with malice,
"Oh, you mean the ceasefire contract? That contract died with the fall of the Shield."
Surya's expression twisted with fury.
"Today… I will kill you!"
Pothasura chuckled, taunting,
"Wooow, I'm terrified. Let's find out."
---
Inside the venue…
The echoing voice of the host rang out over the mic:
"It's your turn now, Miss Anaya."
Backstage, Anaya stood in silence. Her eyes flicked nervously toward the judges' table Aditya sat calmly at the center.
With a quiet breath and a bittersweet smile, she murmured to herself,
"The time has come. The second obstacle for me… and the first obstacle for Ayaan."
Clutching the mic tightly, Anaya stepped onto the stage.
Just as the lights focused on her
A hidden device embedded within the venue structure began a silent countdown.
Somewhere unknown within the walls…
A bomb was armed.
Time was running.
----
Inside the command center, after trying to retrieve the sender of the symbol, Padma and Ranvijay stared at the terminal as a single name blinked on the decrypted log-in: "Eswar."
Padma's hands froze above the keyboard, her eyes widening with disbelief. Her lips trembled as she murmured, barely audible, "It... it can't be real..."
Ranvijay looked at her, baffled. "Who is this Eswar?"
Padma slowly turned to him, her voice filled with a mix of awe and grief.
"Eswar... was the founder of the spear," she said. "He was my son's teacher... and the only man Dev ever truly looked up to. But... I'm sure no, I know he died few years ago."
A heavy silence fell in the room, pierced only by the blinking log that refused to fade like a ghost from the past demanding to be heard.