Nisha called at eight the next morning.
Subha was already in the lab when Aditya arrived at nine. The phone call had apparently been brief — he could tell from the particular quality of focus she was working with. Something had been decided.
"They are coming at eleven", she said without looking up.
"All three?", he asked.
"All three", she said.
He sat down and started where they had left off the previous afternoon.
Nisha, Ashwin and Imran arrived exactly at eleven.
In the daylight of the laboratory they were more clearly readable than they had been outside the institute the previous day. Nisha — sharp, organised, the natural leader of the three without apparently having decided to be. Ashwin — quieter, the kind of person who listened carefully before speaking and spoke precisely when he did. Imran — warm, direct, with the particular energy of someone who committed to things fully once he had decided they were worth committing to.
Subha explained the research from the beginning.
Not the simplified version. The full version — the book, Bodhidharma, the DNA match, the neural bridge theory, the awakening mechanism, everything. She spoke the way she always spoke — directly, technically, without apology for the complexity.
Aditya sat at the far end of the bench and watched.
Nisha asked three questions during the explanation — all of them good, all of them demonstrating that she had read the published paper carefully and was now trying to map it against what she was hearing.
Ashwin asked one question — specific, technical, about the compound interaction. Aditya noted it — the question showed a depth of biochemistry knowledge that would be genuinely useful.
Imran said nothing during the explanation. Just listened. When Subha finished he said — "What do you need from us?"
Subha looked at the three of them.
"Time", she said. "And discretion. What I am working on is not currently supported by the department. If you join this you are doing it outside your official research commitments."
"We understand that", Nisha said.
"The professor who supervised my research has publicly distanced himself from it", Subha said. "He has influence in this department. Being associated with this work carries professional risk."
A silence.
"We understand that too", Ashwin said.
Subha looked at Aditya briefly.
He gave her nothing.
She looked back at the three of them.
"Alright", she said. "Welcome."
Malathi appeared that afternoon.
She arrived at the lab at the same time she always arrived — mid afternoon, steel containers, the efficiency of someone maintaining a routine. She walked in, looked at the three new faces arranged around the bench, looked at Subha, looked at Aditya.
"You have staff now", she said.
"Collaborators", Subha said.
"Same thing", Malathi said. She set the containers down and looked at Nisha specifically — the quick assessment she had given Aditya on their first meeting. "You were outside the institute yesterday."
"Yes", Nisha said.
"I saw you from across the street", Malathi said. "After the presentation." She looked at Subha. "You didn't tell me."
"I am telling you now", Subha said.
Malathi looked around the lab — the five of them now arranged around the central workspace.
"Fine", she said. She sat down on her usual stool. "What can I do?"
Subha looked at her.
"You are a civil engineer", she said.
"I am good at solving problems", Malathi said simply. "Tell me what you need."
The antidote research began quietly that afternoon.
Not announced. Not discussed as a separate track from the main research. Aditya simply began working on a parallel set of calculations — the specific compound formulations he knew from Siddha Medicine level 8 that would neutralise the viral strain Dong Lee had introduced into the city.
He worked at the far end of the bench while the rest of the team worked on the awakening mechanism.
Nisha noticed after an hour.
"What are you working on?", she asked.
"A parallel track", he said. "Related to the ancient medical knowledge in Bodhidharma's texts."
She looked at his calculations for a moment.
"That looks like a treatment formulation", she said.
"Yes", he said.
"For what?", she asked.
He looked at her steadily.
"Something that may become relevant", he said. "I will explain when it is more developed."
She held his gaze for a moment then returned to her own work without pressing further.
'Good', he thought. 'She is sensible.'
Subha had noticed too — he could tell from the brief glance she had given him when Nisha asked the question. She said nothing. She understood by now that he worked in directions that he explained when they were ready to be explained.
He continued his calculations quietly.
The antidote research had begun.
The professor discovery happened three days later.
It was Imran who found it — not through any dramatic investigation but through the mundane process of trying to access a research database that required faculty authorisation. He had asked the professor for access as a matter of routine. The professor had declined — unusual for a faculty member to decline a postgraduate student's routine database request.
Imran mentioned it in passing at the end of a lab session.
"Professor Rangarajan declined my database access request", he said. "No explanation."
Subha looked up from her work.
"Which database?", she asked.
"The international genetics research archive", Imran said. "Standard access for postgraduate students. He has never declined before."
Subha was quiet for a moment.
Aditya said nothing — he already knew exactly what was happening and why.
"There is something else", Ashwin said. He had been quiet for the last hour — the particular quiet of someone thinking through something carefully before speaking. "I was in the faculty corridor this morning. I saw Professor Rangarajan leaving his office with someone I didn't recognise. Not faculty, not a student. The man he was with — " he paused — "moved like someone with specific physical training. Not academic."
The room was quiet.
Subha looked at Aditya.
He looked back at her steadily.
"What are you thinking?", she asked him directly.
He considered for a moment how much to say.
"I think the professor's public distancing from your research was not simply a professional disagreement", he said carefully. "I think there are external interests involved in suppressing what you have found."
"What external interests?", Nisha asked.
"I don't know yet", he said. Which was not entirely true. But it was what he was prepared to say.
Subha looked at him for a long moment — the particular look of someone deciding how much to press.
She turned to the team.
"From now on — nothing about this research outside this room", she said. "No database access requests through the department. No communication with any faculty member about what we are working on. We work independently."
Nods around the room.
She looked at Aditya last.
He nodded once.
'She is getting there', he thought. 'Figuring out the picture without being told.'
That evening Krishnamurthy's message arrived.
The back room. The usual three. Rajan moving more easily — the ribs beginning to heal, the shoulder fully recovered.
"Dong Lee has changed his pattern completely since the encounter", Krishnamurthy said. "He is moving through the city differently — smaller routes, shorter exposure times, no fixed locations. He is being observed by someone and he knows it."
"His shoulder?", Aditya asked.
"We observed him three days after the encounter", Rajan said. "He was favouring his left arm. By now it will have largely recovered — but the Varma point effect on a person who has never encountered it before is disorienting. He will not understand what happened to him."
"He was seen near the medical college again", Krishnamurthy said. "Same position as before. Observing the entrance."
"He is planning something", Aditya said.
"Yes", Krishnamurthy said. "We believe he will move against the research team soon. The professor is feeding him information — he knows the team has expanded. He knows the research is accelerating."
Aditya was quiet for a moment.
'The story is approaching its critical point', he thought. 'Not yet. But getting close.'
"Maintain distance observation", he said. "If anything suggests he is about to move — contact me immediately."
Krishnamurthy nodded.
Aditya rode home through the Chennai night.
Dong Lee was planning his next move.
The professor's involvement was becoming clear to the team.
The antidote research was quietly underway.
The story was building steadily toward its critical point.
He parked the Enfield and went upstairs.
He checked his stats before sleeping.
"Khushi."
"Yes, host."
"Show me my current stats."
[Host : Aditya]
[Species : Human]
[Gender : Male]
[Age : 22 (Bio) — 24+ (Exp)]
[Stats]
[Health : 21]
[Energy : 12]
[Strength : 20]
[Speed : 19]
[Endurance : 22]
[Intelligence : 18]
[Attributes : 0]
[Skills : Driving (level 2), Swimming (level 5), Coding (level 4), Hacking (level 3), Krav Maga (level 6), Kalari (level 8), Varma Kalai (level 7), Nokku Varmam (level 4), Pranayama (level 8), Dhyana (level 6), Seventh Sense (level 5), Siddha Medicine (level 8), Multilingual (+)]
[Equipment : Modified NZT-48 (x2172), Cash ($2,000,000)]
[Points : 22840]
Points climbing steadily — team formation complete, antidote research beginning, professor's involvement becoming clear to the team, Dong Lee's pattern change all generating significant accumulation.
He put the phone down.
Outside Chennai was quiet.
The story was building.
He closed his eyes.