That night, Radha Varma watched her son.
After the whirlwind of the afternoon, an unnatural calm had settled on their small apartment. Arjun, her 12-year-old son, sat at his desk, not with his schoolbooks, but with her old, dusty Bachelor of Commerce textbooks.
She watched, her heart a tangled mess of pride and a deep, primal fear, as he consumed them.
He wasn't "studying." His fingers barely seemed to touch the pages as he turned them, one after another, in a steady, hypnotic rhythm. His eyes scanned the dense text on 'Company Law, 1956' and 'Principles of Microeconomics' with an intensity that was inhuman.
[Mastery 'Company Law, 1956' (Abridged) achieved. +10 PP. Total PP: 160/160.]
[Mastery 'Principles of Microeconomics' achieved. +8 PP. Total PP: 168/168.]
He was stocking his 'Personal Prana'—refueling his energy. He was sharpening his blade for the next battle.
"Mom," he said, not looking up from a book on contract law. "Tomorrow, you'll need to take a day off from school. We have to go to the City Civil Court."
Radha, who had never taken an unexcused day off in her life, simply nodded. "For the lawyer?"
"For our lawyer," he corrected her. "Mr. Murthy has the best corporate lawyers on his side. We need our own. And we need them by tomorrow."
"Arjun... we have no money. Lawyers are... they're expensive."
"The best ones are," Arjun said, finally closing the book. He turned to her, his face serious. "But we're not looking for the best. We're looking for the right one. We're looking for someone who is brilliant, honest, and... hungry. Someone who needs us as much as we need them. And tomorrow, I'll find them."
Radha had no idea how he planned to do this. But as she watched him neatly stack her college books, his small shoulders carrying an impossible weight, she knew she would follow him anywhere.