"How did we miss this?" Bagchi hissed but it was more directed to herself than anyone else.
"The mercs were smart enough and also bold enough to camp out in the entrance where we don't put cameras, given their closeness to our own security. It's a lapse for sure," Anuj sighed at the prospect of having to write up a tedious report as he stared down the collapsed corridor.
The first sign of trouble had been raised when three injured fighters had come out, followed by gunfire. The mercs chasing them were quickly put down by their security.
Once the three were tended to, they had said there were more of them inside so Bagchi had immediately begun to dispatch a salvage team. And that's when they heard news of a roof collapse.
They were late but managed to reach the structure and quickly began to clear out the rubble, finding one critically injured and one dead.
"What do you think happened here?" Anuj asked as they walked in step into the caverns.
"Your guess is as good as mine. But in my opinion," Bagchi stopped and looked around, her hands on her hips before looking up at Anuj, "the dead one messed with someone he shouldn't have in the first place."
Anuj had a somber look on his face as he glanced around at the destructive impacts the battle had on the surrounding walls.
"Mam! You need to see this!"
A technician with a tablet hurriedly ran up to where they were and handed the tablet to Bagchi who squinted first at the suddenness but gradually narrowed her concentration.
"They were first at the entrances so we missed a lot," the technician chatted away, "but by some luck one of them dragged the other to the inside where our cameras were running and we got lucky."
Both she and Anuj had their jaws open while they watched the footage before Bagchi snapped to the technician, "how many have seen this?"
"Uh, probably," he turned around to look at the groups gathered to help excavate the collapsed sections, "some of them there?"
"Tch, fine." Bagchi thought hard before continuing, "delete every bit of this footage right now."
The cheery technician's smile dropped immediately and he had to be yelled at to get the point through before he scampered away.
But it was already too late by then.
That footage that had rattled them both had become a national sensation already.
☆
"I know of a way out of here," Dipan pointed further inwards, "besides the exit."
"Why aren't we going the usual way?" Sanit asked with a complaining tone.
"Because you just murdered someone and incapacitated a Scaler."
"A what now?"
"It's another word for an Awakener. Will you let me help you or not?"
Dipan turned to see Sanit hoping he realized what he had done but when he saw him scratch the back of his neck a bit confused and ask, "so?" Dipan shook his own head.
"Just follow me dude."
Dipan led them both to an access ladder that went all the way up to a service exit and out.
He opened the hatch up and was immediately bathed in sunlight. He turned to look at Sanit and that's when he saw it.
"Holy—you're bleeding! And like in gallons."
"I'll be fine," Sanit hobbled over and allowed Dipan to shoulder an arm.
"You're not fine, in fact you should be dead by now," Dipan muttered as he carried the heavier one with him.
"Death huh?" Sanit chuckled. "That's fine too."
Dipan had a tough time to hold onto his stuff and also Sanit who kept slipping a lot.
"Shit we need to climb up but with you like this," Dipan began but was cut off by Sanit.
"Relax man, I'll be healing up in no time."
Sanit glanced at his open wound and froze. It was still as open as it was an hour before.
"Why am I not healing?"
"That's because you took the full force of a realm construct. What did you expect?"
Dipan somehow managed to drag Sanit all the way up the ladder and flopped him down on the ground.
"Stay here," Dipan dove into his phone and dialed someone, "hey can you pick me up?"
Sanit was shivering and trembling now. The vast amount of blood loss finally catching up to him and dulling his senses.
"Who were you calling?" he asked, his voice sounding delirious.
"Someone to help us—dude you're in real bad shape," Dipan pointed out.
Sanit gripped his chest and yelped in pain, "it usually heals up fast."
Dipan knelt near him and examined his wound with a squeamish look, "I think it's more of an internal damage. The cut just went too deep. And–yaar even your bone is half sawed."
Sanit faltered as he rested and suddenly had a thought just as he began to lose consciousness, "hey my phone…there's someone who can help…in my phone. Her number…"
"What?" Dipan asked half unsure while still reaching for the phone he had been handed over earlier.
He flinched when Sanit's phone unlocked in just a swipe, and he looked up, "you don't lock—oh."
But Sanit had already lost consciousness by then leaving Dipan hanging and he went back to scroll his phone, whilst shaking his head at his own predicament.
☆
"So Piya where did we leave off last time?"
The 3A's sponsored University psychologist leaned back on her couch while subtly hinting at Piya to do the same but she wasn't in the mood.
'Why am I not running away from here right now?' She thought to herself as she looked around in frustration.
The room was quiet and lavishly arranged. It was the room adjacent to her living quarters. The psychologists that is. Dr. Riam.
The furniture, the abstract paintings, the ghastly sculptures in and around the space reminded Piya of the elite circles her parents fawned about.
'They'd be real proud now wouldn't they?'
"Piya please don't give me the silent treatment."
The girl's head snapped to the older woman's and the doctor got a little wary.
This session was one of many that Piya had been forced to attend especially after her parents had been informed of her being in a Rakshasa sighting close to her home.
She had yet to figure out how the information got out but she figured it was the government. So they were bound to get to it sooner or later.
As a policy, inborns were strictly prohibited against engaging any Rakshasa whatever their powers might be.
It had been a contentious issue when it had been passed years ago and it still remained as one even today.
With countless deaths and damage attributed to this biased policy, many considered it to be a supergraphic change to influence the next generation of powered people.
Trying to establish a population with a skewed ratio of ten Awakeners to one inborn every thousand people.
But only the powerful can oppose and the inborns having lost influence over time had been relegated to the sidelines for the foreseeable future.
And where did Piya, an inborn girl who had no inclination to use her power come in all of this? Absolutely nowhere as she had no interest in her abilities.
Yet here she was. Having to sit for a mandatory session to air out her feelings about the 'attack' weeks ago.
"I told you already, I'm fine and it's been a week already."
Riam leaned forward eyeing her notes, "and what about the boy who saved you? What can you tell me about him?"
Piya's eyes traveled all through the doctor's face taking in every little detail before she penetrated her skin to study her body, "what boy?"
Riam gave an exasperated sigh, "come on now. Don't play with me. You know what I'm talking about."
'She has a hint of a tumor in her breast, should I tell her?' Piya had a methodical gaze on the psychologist and held herself back from airing it out.
Instead she asked, "is this the 3A asking or is it you, doctor?"
Riam had no response to it.
But before she could say anything a phone rang somewhere and Riam noticed whose it was, "you can answer it."
'I was going to anyway,' Piya picked up the call after rummaging through her bag and despite seeing an unknown number wished the person spoke long enough to somehow finish the session.
"Hello?" She asked over the phone and for almost a minute stayed silent.
Then she suddenly stood up, knocking her bag down and startling Dr. Riam.
"How bad is it? It's not...ok fine, just tell me where to be alright?" She glanced over to where Riam was and gave an apologetic smile as she began to leave.
Dr. Riam stood up baffled and angry, "where are you going, hey!"
"Sorry, I'll be back later if you aren't such a douche."
Piya hurried away having had the last word and also her mind racing with the details of the call she had just received.