by Abhisek Basu
Hillary landed a punch on Chang, locked hands and grappled with her, turned it into a side headlock, and then she turned her head towards Natalie. “Hey! Here!” she shouted at Natalie, nodding her head, signalling her to sweep Chang off her foot. Natalie thought about it carefully, knowing full well that Chang wouldn’t have a chance against the aerial attacks from both of them once she was on her back. But it didn’t seem fair.
“Hey!” Hillary screamed again, holding on to the side headlock and signalling Natalie to join.
Natalie didn’t do that. Instead, she grabbed a surprised Hillary by her waist and launched her towards the ropes. Chang exhaled, tried to catch her breath, when Natalie turned towards her and delivered three fast punches on her jaw, alternating her hands, putting in more force in each successive punch than the ones before. She delivered a kick to her stomach, realized that Hillary was right around the corner, turned around and delivered the same round-house kick to her stomach, sending her to the floor.
“What are you doing? You’re supposed to team up with her!” her uncle shouted from the corner.
The crowd erupted in cheers as Natalie remained standing. Both Chang and Hillary were trying to get up. Natalie looked at them and slowly started to realize what was about to happen. As they got up from the floor, both Hillary and Chang exchanged glances at each other, and that’s when Natalie knew that they had formed a plan of their own while they were getting up.
Both of them got up and charged at Natalie. Natalie swerved, attempted to block the first few punches, but their raining punches and kicks brought her down. She went down easily, struggled to hold on, and then fell to the floor.
She felt them kicking into her stomach, making sure she stayed down for a long time when she turned her head and saw Evan near the other corner of the ring beside her uncle. From that brief glance, she saw Evan rolling her eyes upward, and Natalie realized what he was implying.
Natalie rolled her eyes upward, and her stat screen popped up.
She saw her health bar coming down to 78%. That meant that she had a lot more in the tank than she thought. She powered off the floor, much to the surprise of Hillary and Chang, and kicked them each away.
Pulling down her stat screen again, Natalie tried to increase her strength and agility stat, but she couldn’t. Other than her health and energy bar, all the others were greyed out. She could see her energy bar filling up, and that’s when she truly understood what she was seeing.
Chang and Hillary came running at her, but she dodged Chang and kicked Hillary in her jaw. Turning around to face Chang, Natalie delivered a sharp strike to her shoulder using her elbow, jumped over her and placed her legs around her neck and as she did, she arched her back and caught Hillary with her arms.
She was used to holding on to people’s necks with her feet from all the practice she had in Tholos. Applying pressure on Chang’s neck at just the right angle with her knees and holding on to Hillary’s neck, Natalie arched her back even further, delivered two punches on Hillary’s face which created the opening that she required. She grabbed on to Hillary’s neck in a sleeper hold and tightened her arms as fast as he could. Both Chang and Hillary screamed and squealed, trying to get free themselves, but Natalie held on. She looked at the corner of her vision and saw her energy come down to 55%. Compared to the monsters she was used to fighting, this was nothing.
She held on despite their screaming until both of them started tapping out. The bell rang as the crowd started screaming and cheering her name. The referee came to separate her hands and feet, but she had already let go as soon as the bell rang. Usually after a match ended, Natalie knew she had to look down at her opponents and say something that counted as trash talk as an announcer held a mic near her face. Trash talk kept the ratings up, kept her persona as the toughest fighter in the business alive- a fighter who not only talked well but she backed up her talk. But this time, she didn’t bother doing any of it. As soon as the match was over, she glanced over to her uncle’s side and searched for Evan. He was gone again.
Natalie walked over to her smiling, happy uncle on the corner and before he could congratulate her, she handed over the belt to him.
“Make sure no one schedules any more matches for me till I say so. Where’s Evan?” she said, still breathing heavily.
“Oh, I’m sure no one is going to challenge you for a long time after what you just did in the ring. Where did you learn that? How did you pull off two submission holds at the same time?”
“Uncle! Where’s Evan?”
“Evan?”
“The guy in the red sweater. He was right beside you!” Natalie said, searching around in the crowd.
“Oh, he was just captured by the cyber-division feds,” her uncle lifted the title belt to show the cameras, and then said, “Did you know he was a beta-access augmented PA who had gone rogue?”
“I suspected it,” Natalie said.
“That explains the cops, right? I asked them why they were pulling him away instead of just deactivating him, and they said that was the order from Mindhaven. Strange, but it’s still modern day slavery if you ask me. Just because they aren’t human, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t just get some time to themselves to just go around the world and see stuff,” her uncle said.
“Did he say anything or mention anything? Anything at all?” Natalie asked.
“Nothing that I can remember. And calm down, kiddo. You just defended your title and you’re not celebrating. Look, there’s the camera,” her uncle said as Natalie smiled and raised her fist at the photographers nearby. “You need to tell me what is going on when we go backstage,” he said.
Natalie stared at him and then looked back at the camera. She knew her uncle was someone, and perhaps the only one on Earth, that she trusted. He was the only family she had left. She knew that her uncle wouldn’t directly dismiss her story and call her crazy, and even if she did, she had to try. This was the only person who would not only understand what was happening, but he might be able to provide some insight on what to do next. He had been there through all the matches, all the training sessions, and although their relationship was always based on tough love, she knew that he would help. He was one of the wisest men she knew, and if he hadn’t trained and hardened her into the fighter she was today, she wouldn’t have survived in Tholos.
“I didn’t think the bar could’ve been raised higher, but you’ve just raised the bar higher than anyone could have anticipated. Do you have any words for your next challenger, Armunkia who claims that it’s time for you to retire?” the announcer asked and held the mic at her face.
Natalie brought her lips closer to the mic. She wanted to say that she would retire soon, because now, it seemed like she had bigger fish to fry, but something about the question pissed her off.
“Retire? As long as there is light, I will fight,” she said, passed the mic back and started walking backstage.
“That was the toughest woman on the planet, and still the Champion of the World, Natalie White. Now, let us take a look at the highlights of…” the announcer said, but his voice was cut off abruptly.
Natalie looked up at the titantron screen where the video feed had cut off and it had gone black. The crowd gave a collective gasp as Natalie saw everyone’s AR phones buzzing together. Screens popped up on their AR phones collectively, simultaneously, as if a wave of light was sweeping across the crowd.
Bold white words popped up on the titantron.
“Your ignorance fuels their misdeeds.”
The “misdeeds” had trails of animated blood covering up the letters from below. It was obvious that it was some hacktivist group who had hacked into all broadcasting feeds. The screen faded away from black as an eerie lofi music with slow beats started playing. A man in a deep, robotic voice started speaking.
“As long as war is profitable, there will be no peace,” the robotic voice said as videos of the cold war with China started flashing through the screen, showing American soldiers mar
ching, following tanks on desert roads, launching rockets at buildings and running from explosions.
“But what happens when the governments we elect, turn their backs on the people who chose them?” the voice said as the videos started showing the President dancing on a reality show, the Vice President visiting a strip club, and then a video of a Congress Woman changing in a restroom which seemed out of place, but then it showed her taking off her wig, spraying black paint all over her face, and exiting the restroom as a black woman. The crowd gave a collective “Oh!” sound as the video kept playing.
“The government knows their own power, but the people do not know theirs. Imagine being a part of an experiment so vast and life-altering, and yet you have no memory of it. Imagine not taking the consent of hundreds of millions of Americans and subjecting them to something that they don’t even have an idea of,” the video said as stock footage of different parts of America played on the screen.
“Not anymore. We have what they want, and if they don’t give us what we want, we will destroy them. First, tell the truth. Do not lie to your own people. And remember, 42562355.” the voice said as the screen remained black until the numbers were said, which popped up in white letters, followed by red, animated blood covering them up. Then the screen changed to something which made Natalie gasp. The video showed an empty room. The background of it was filled with glowing green, animated code fragments falling endlessly from the top. But that’s not what irked her. She knew that whoever was sitting there was sitting in front of a green screen. It’s the person who was sitting in front of the room.
The man wore a red mask which looked eerily familiar to the masks worn by Dr. Heinlem’s men in Tholos- the Red Alliance. It was too similar to be a coincidence, having the same tiger-shaped outer edge, with black paint below the eyes.
“We are the Red Alliance,” the masked man said, in the same robotic deep voice, which seemed to be post processed as much as possible to prevent anyone from figuring out who they were. Natalie’s jaw dropped as soon as she heard the words.
“We are the vengeance that doesn’t forget. We are the conscience that doesn’t forgive. Expect us,” the masked man said, and the feed cut off to black.
Everyone in the crowd started talking to each other about what they just saw.
“Any idea what that was about? I thought these hacktivist groups were a thing of the past, and modern security made such breaches impossible,” her uncle asked, who was standing behind her and looking at the titantron this entire time. Natalie kept quiet, trying to figure out how the mask seemed so similar or how they used the exact same name- the Red Alliance. It was too similar to be a coincidence. Her uncle understood her silence and pulled her away, leading him to the locker room.
“Now tell me. I know something’s wrong, kiddo. You’ve been acting weird. Is it that virtual PA with the red sweater? Did it say something to you? What’s bothering you?” he asked, closing the door of the locker-room.
Natalie took off her gloves and let out a heavy sigh. “You should sit down for this one,” Natalie said, which prompted her uncle to grab a chair and bring it near her. He sat down as Natalie told him everything that had happened, how she woke up in a strange place and saw strange things, how real it all felt, how dangerous it all was, the powers she had and mastered and the friends she made and lost. Then she told him about Evan and how he claimed that all the consciousnesses in the USA were being made to go on the same trial and only she was the person who succeeded. Finally she told him about how she could still see her stats in her vision, and she had to find Evan because of what he told her- that she was the one who was needed to save Earth from someone or something. Her uncle stayed quiet the entire time, didn’t ask any questions, and it seemed like he was understanding what she was saying. She told him everything except for the fact that she was supposed to meet Evan at Remnate Street in a few minutes.
Finally, her uncle nodded after hearing everything and there was a moment of silence between them.
“Wait. Do you believe all this? You don’t think all this is crazy and I’ve just lost my mind?” Natalie said, half smiling and half expecting him to say that he thought her niece had gone crazy.
“I believe you. Especially after I touched that weird key and felt an electric shock, while you managed to touch it and remove it without any problem,” her uncle said. Natalie remembered that she had tied the chain around in her hair, and she took it apart and tied it around her neck again. She stared at the key, the only proof of a three-week journey that brought out the best and worst in her. Her uncle kept talking.
“I don’t think you’ve ever talked to me this much in five years, and I had known something was wrong when you hugged me earlier today. You just seem different. Changed, and in a good way. Plus, I don’t think I’ve ever taught you how to do what you did out there, so...” he said, and leaned closer to Natalie, “No matter how ridiculous this all seems, I believe you. But what now? We need to find that guy, right?
Chapter 4
Josh sat on a revolving chair in front of a mirror, while his assistant Miss Tessa carefully glided a razor across his jaw, giving him a clean shave. He had his AR phone in his hand which projected a book on his screen, a book that he had been reading since morning, unable to put it down despite it being a rather lengthy book.
There was a knock on the door. Just from the shape of the shadow at the bottom of the door, Josh knew that it was Lewis before he could say his name. He instructed Miss Tessa to press the button on his desk, which she did promptly, and went back to giving Josh a shave.
The door slid open and Lewis entered with a letter in his hand.
“This was sent by the US government on our 4ip-secondary mail. They’ve said they’ll agree to all demands provided we release the hostages. Do you want me to read it to you?” he asked.
“Is that all it says?” Josh asked.
“Yes. There are veiled threats of what we can expect if we don’t comply, but that’s the gist of it,” Lewis said.
“Fine. Carry on with the plan,” Josh said, as he scrolled to the next page on the screen.
“Don’t you want me to read it to you?” Lewis asked again. Josh stared at him.
“Lewis. We’ve known each other for quite some time. Do you think I don’t trust you?” Josh asked.
“No, sir. It’s just. This is an important mail from the government. You might want to read it,” Lewis said.
“I have, already. What you said is enough. Is the fallback address still available on the 4ip-secondary mail?” Josh asked.
“It is, sir,” Lewis said.
“Send them an email telling them that if they don’t hold a press conference and tell the public about it, we will drop severed limbs of the hostages all over Washington DC,” Josh said.
Lewis stood there for a while, and then he said, “Sir, is that necessary? We can do it all without informing the press and the people, right?”
Josh went back to reading the book. He could have said, “Do what you’re told,” and that would’ve been a perfectly appropriate response, but he didn’t. Lewis didn’t have much time left, and the time he did have left, he wanted to make sure he got the respect he deserved for his sacrifice.
Keeping his eyes on the screen while a razor blade kept grazing his cheeks, Josh said, “Lewis. Never forget what we are. Our allegiance is towards the people first, and to the world at large, second. Without that, ruling over earth would be meaningless. We have enough resources already to vanish, to walk away from all this, but we’re still here because we want the world to be a better, fairer place. For that to happen, the public must know the extent of the deceit that they’ve been subjected to. They must know the lies they’ve been fed, and that is of prime importance before we begin our work at Quanti Valley,” Josh said.
Lewis nodded. “Is that a book from the tor-network?”
“It is. Look,” Josh said, and turned his AR phone around, which turned the screen towards him. Just as
he did this, Miss Tessa’s blade slipped and left a small cut on Josh’s face.
“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, Mr. Bones. Please!” Miss Tessa pleaded with a shaky voice. Josh raised a hand towards her, demonstrating with his gestures that she has to be quiet while he and Lewis are talking. Blood started gushing out of the small slit as Josh scrolled back to the cover of the book.
“Dungeons of Perdition- A series by Abhisek Basu,” Lewis read, mouthing each word carefully. “Wait, didn’t you tell us that the place you went to, Tholos, had the same name?”
“It sure had. This book from 2019 to 2020, a time when we weren’t even born yet, has all the details of Natalie White’s adventure along with her friends’. This also has a detailed breakdown of her stats, skills and inventory- something the tic drive footage lacked. Do you know about the theory of the watcher authors?”
“The theory about some authors writing down vivid and accurate details about something in the future which they should have had no way of knowing?” Lewis asked.
“Yes,” Josh said and scrolled the screen down to let Lewis read some of the words, “Turns out, that wasn’t just some theory.”
“Mr. Bones, I have a bandage on the top drawer, if you want I can go get that,” Miss Tessa said, her voice still shaky.
Josh snapped at her. “You’ll do no such thing.”
He held up his hand and cupped Miss Tessa’s face gently, feeling her heart beat faster, her breaths erratic. “Lick the wound.”
He could understand from Miss Tessa’s hesitation that she wanted to question his order, but he was pleased when he realized that she knew better.
She promptly brought her face closer to his cheek, brought her tongue out and licked the cut. Josh felt her warm, tender tongue gliding over the cut on his face. “Till it clots, keep licking.”
Lewis was standing there without a reaction. He was quite used to the eccentric habits of his leader, and Josh knew he was already aware of his unpredictability- a trait that made him stronger than most realized. He once told Lewis about how Einstein once plucked a grasshopper from his garden and ate it and then told him about how Tesla hated pearls (and any kind of jewellery) so much that just the sight of them made him angry. Lewis didn’t have anything to add, but he was just awed at how much Josh knew about the world- things which weren’t taught in conventional digital schools or universities.