Derailed
The maglev is on the way to bunker 38. People on the maglev eagerly wait for it to reach the destination so that they could re-unite with their loved ones. “We will be reaching the station in 10 minutes. There will be a compulsory contamination checkup before you could proceed to Bunker 38. Over and Out.” An announcement is made by a soldier and it is acknowledged by everyone with cheers and sighs of relief. “Where did you learn Sanskrit?” Gaurav asks, it is obvious he was looking for the right opportunity to ask that. Amrita stares at Gaurav, with a smile, she answers, “In school as a 3rd language. Unlike others who ‘used’ that subject to score high marks, I took an interest and developed my vocabulary. That, and my interest in everyday advancement in technology made me even more interested in starting a blog about it. The last thing I know, I was looking at old scriptures, mythological stories and also reading holy books in search of that one vision or idea that led to the technological advancements of today.” “So, you accept that science and religion go hand in hand? Why then there is so much disparity or disagreement among people regarding both subjects? Why are people not willing to accept that whatever advancement science is making is something which our hindu texts or scriptures have already talked about and is seeing the light of day today?” Asks Gaurav. Amrita answers, “It is because people of both subjects are not willing to bring a correlation between the two. The world has always been competitive, always trying to prove to each other that one is better than the other. A lot of scientific discoveries were made during the dark ages but the religious leaders thought that those discoveries were heresy, they felt that those discoveries questioned the word of God. Believe it or not, they even feared that people would accept those discoveries and move away from religion that will lead to the high priests losing power over the people. Strange as it may seem but the priests used religion has a way of having command over the people and anything which questioned their power was always branded as heresy. Doctors, scientists… they were considered evil or black magic experts and burnt to the stake. Let us talk about India itself. You know the condition of women during the old days. They were barred from doing almost anything… education, business, teaching… it was like men were looking at all possible means of cutting off their wings of aspiration and creating a shell around them. Women were nothing but play things, a sort of trophy for the strongest or the worthiest men. Women did not have the right to dream also and when a few of them rose up to question that, the answer to that was ‘simple’. Our dharma says that. Religion again took a front seat in that matter. Trust me, Gaurav, I have read almost all texts and scriptures… nowhere, and I mean, nowhere did I see any word or sentence mentioning about women not having the freewill of even dreaming of being somebody. Our hindu scriptures, instead, talks about what should be the duty and responsibility of a man and a woman… as a son/daughter, as father/mother, as a son-in-law/daughter-in-law… where is it written that women are not allowed to be what they want to be? This is the same country that worships woman in the form of Goddess Durga, Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess Saraswati yet look at the hypocrisy.” Gaurav couldn’t help but marvel at how much facts Amrita had gathered. It is not like he did not know about them but he could definitely make out that he had limited knowledge of almost everything that Amrita said. A thought, however, struck Gaurav. “I don’t know why but… it is almost like a few hi-fi people of that time knew the capabilities or the powers that a woman had (and have) but their ego was equally sky high. They must have been under an impression that if women were given ample freedom, they might go ahead of men… even take over the world. They felt that men might lose their importance all together on this planet and that is why they did all this. Bring out a string of rules set only for women while all freedom was given to men. Yet look at the current scenario. Woman are on top in all spheres. Business, entertainment, sports… if I had a time machine, I could have brought at least one of those idiots to the present times and make them realize the stupidity that they pulled off during the dark ages.” Gaurav says. Amrita was listening intently; she bursts out laughing at that explanation leading to a few people looking at her and trying to understand what just happened. Gaurav could only stare at Amrita, feeling embarrassed. “I was being serious, Amrita. I mean… come on, it was a serious thought.” Gaurav tries to explain still feeling embarrassed. Amrita somehow controls her laughter, taking a deep breath, she looks at Gaurav and says, “Wow, Gaurav! I know you are a good man but I didn’t know you are so noble. That revelation of yours… for me, it is a truly an eye opener.” Gaurav frowns but slowly, a smile sprout. Nodding in embarrassment, he joins in the laughter slapping his forehead. Amrita, however, does accept what Gaurav said, “You know what, Gaurav. Even I had that thought. History is interesting but there are a lot of loopholes or missing links in Indian History that a lot of people are not clear about. Science and Religion went hand in hand but because of a few rotten people, there was always a war between the ‘factions’ as to which should be more respected or accepted.” Gaurav is about to say something when a soldier yells, “Enemy! On the tracks! Brace yourself!” Amrita and Gaurav are on the 2nd bogey. They get up to see… not a squad but a platoon of asuras firing at the train. One of the soldier’s spots 2 Asuras controlling what looks like a cannon. Before, he could alert anyone, the Asuras fire the cannon on the first bogey. The bogey does not explode but the effect of the cannon derails the bogey, tilts it to the left side and the entire maglev screeches to a halt. The people in the maglev panic, some of them try to run out but the doors are sealed shut. “We are doomed. We are trapped.” A man yells in fright. “What are we going to do? I don’t want to die here?” a lady who has a baby in hand screams. The people then hear firing from the first bogey. Some of the soldiers are still in one piece and are fighting back. Suddenly, everyone on the maglev hears a loud thud on top of it. “What is that? There is something above us.” Gaurav reacts as Amrita clutches him in fear. They soon realize that the firing has stopped and they hear the Asuras growling – either in intimidation or in fear. “It’s him.” Says Amrita. Indeed, it is. The new humanoid announces his arrival, “Stay inside, people. I will deal with them. Soldiers, suppressive fire. Don’t worry about me. I making your job easy.” The soldiers know who it is and let out a victory cry that is also enough to make the Asuras back track. The new humanoid pounces on them and one by one rips them apart. One soldier is able to count and see around 20 of them. The battle lasts about 5 minutes, the Asuras are down but the 2 Asuras controlling the cannon are still up. They look at the new humanoid. They leave the cannon and draw swords slowly moving towards him. “Oh, so they have honor, is it? They want to die with honor?” Satish, a soldier says. “They murder innocents and now want to fight with honor. I never seen an enemy who contradicts their own beliefs.” Says Ayush, another soldier. The new humanoid nods in disagreement at the false bravery of the 2 Asuras and brings out 2 swords from his back. “There is honor in death too but I am sorry. You will receive death but without honor.” Saying, the new humanoid attacks first. The soldiers watch the new humanoid’s sleight of hand in progress as he slashes the swords faster not giving the Asuras the time to think or to react. One Asura goes behind the new humanoid and tries to attack but the new humanoid dodges, the Asura instead slashes the other Asura on his torso revealing his weak spot. The new humanoid does not miss this chance and stabs him exactly on that spot, he yells in pain and falls to the ground withering in pain. The new humanoid turns to the other Asura and duels with him. “Damn, he is playing with him.” Says Ayush. “No, he is giving him a chance but the fool is not an opportunist, I guess.” says Satish. The new humanoid has played enough, with a swift blow from his sword, the Asura loses his weapon. The former then performs a flurry of combos with his swords to reveal all the weak spots and stabs all of them. The Asura falls, he has one look at the new humanoid. Blood is coming out of his mouth, he spits on the new humanoid, curses him and then breaths his last. The new humanoid wipes the blood from his armor and walks towards the other Asura who is still withering in pain. “You are just one man with a powerful armor. Out of the armor… you are nothing. You will die a brutal death and our force will feast on your bones.” Says the Asura. “Says a coward who is himself hiding behind an armor. If death is what I will receive, it will be honorable and I will welcome it as my best friend. You… all of you are a disgrace to your kind. Not all Asuras are our enemy. There were those who were more noble than the devas, their knowledge and their brilliance is spoke about in high regards. You people are true to your name. The Usurpers, eh! How childish. Like a kid who has been giving a gift but cannot sustain that gift for a day. What he does at the end of the day… he breaks it. You were given a power; you could have done wonders with it but you people wasted it to fulfil your doomed destiny of controlling the universe. We will stop you. We will not perish in the hands of cowards like you. I will see to it that the reign of your people ends in this birth of yours. It is a promise.” Saying, the new humanoid stabs the Asura again, the latter yells in excruciating pain as the new humanoid brutally pushes his sword into the body of the Asura and twists it. The Asura lets out another blood curdling cry and dies. The new humanoid walks back to the maglev sheathing his swords. The uninjured soldiers come out of the destroyed maglev, 4 of them keep watch while the other 2 walks ahead to speak to the new humanoid. “How is he able to guess where the attack is? And why do I have the feeling that… he is following us?” Asks Gaurav. Amrita hesitates at first but then tries to answer, “I am not a soldier but I am guessing… wild guess though… he is within this perimeter and keeping an eye out for enemies. The question is… is he the only one? Or is there someone else? Is he the same person who saved us back in that bunker?” “How many are injured?” Asks the new humanoid. “We are 10 of us. 6 men standing. 4 are injured.” Satish answers. The new humanoid looks at the first bogey that had tilted. “Are you the same person who saved Major Robert? In bunker 38?” asks Ayush. The new humanoid looks at Ayush. Due to the helmet, it is impossible to know what expression the latter has. Ayush is quick to notice the sign of ‘AUM’ on his helmet and on his arm guards. “Yes, I was the one. The enemy, without a doubt, has a huge army. The ratio is 10 to 1. I am doing what I can to bring down as many squads or platoons that they have but your seniors need to work faster to create the techs required to fight them. It is safe to say that… I alone cannot possibly defeat them.” The new humanoid says. As he starts to walk away and teleport, Satish wanted to know something, “Do you have a name? How do we address you?” The new humanoid looks at the soldiers again. He is hesitant at first but then responds, “Call me NARAYAN.” Satish stares at NARAYAN. The name sends a chill down his spine. The latter is on the verge of teleporting when Satish remembers something. “We are trapped in here. The front bogey has tilted. We need to transport these people to bunker 27.” Says Satish. NARAYAN had kneeled down to teleport but after listening to Satish, he looks at the tilted bogey again. He stands up and assesses the damage. “I don’t suppose the first bogey is the only thing pulling or pushing this train?” asks NARAYAN. “No, the controls of this maglev are on the first and last bogey.” Says Ayush. “I thought so. I will move this bogey to a side after which you can activate the maglev and transport these people to safety. You will, of course, make sure that everyone knows that there is a damaged bogey here so that the metro traffic does not run into problems or unnecessary accidents. We have enough problems going around, does not make sense creating another.” NARAYAN says. Satish and Ayush stare at NARAYAN. They are impressed. They move the injured from the damaged bogey to the next bogey and then, watch in amazement as NARAYAN single handedly shifts the damaged bogey to the other track. Ayush comments, “I can’t wait to have Mr. Roy design the new armors. Whoever it is, he is definitely utilizing its potential to the max. How else, can a single person take on a platoon and then have the strength to move a bogey as heavy as that?” “I have just got news that the Colonel will be arriving in Bunker 38. Mr. Roy is going to give a demonstration and his ideas of the new armor system.” Says Satish. NARAYAN gives the signal to start the maglev and Satish acknowledges. As the maglev moves, the people come forward to have a glimpse of him with a lot of them thanking him and also cheering him to fight on… for them. “He is a friend, Amrita. Why would he risk his life for us then?” Asks Gaurav. Amrita continues to look back at the place NARAYAN was standing and says, “Even if he has an ulterior motive, he is risking everything for it. By the looks of it, he is all alone… yet he is fighting on. One day, we will get to know who he is and I pray to God to keep him safe.” The maglev reaches bunker 27. The people go through a contamination test after which they are allowed to get down from the maglev. Ayush and Satish had already passed on the message about the attack on the maglev and also, about the damaged bogey. However, they are still summoned by their commanding officer to provide a detailed report. One soldier had succumbed to his injuries and his body was taken for cremation while the injured soldiers and a few injured people were taken to the medical wing. Amrita and Gaurav are united with their loved ones. “We were so worried about you and after we got to know about the attack… I couldn’t take it anymore.” Amrita’s mother says, crying profusely. Amrita consoles her mother, saying, “Please, Mom. I am alright. I am standing right in front of you. Please stop crying.” Amrita is happy to be re-united with her Mom and Dad. As for Gaurav, there is bad news. “Your mother is in bunker 15. Your father… he was killed during the attacks.” Says Gaurav’s would-be-father-in-law, Dinesh. Gaurav is deeply saddened by this news. He sits down on a chair and starts to cry. Amrita and her parents are also deeply saddened by this news. Amrita and Priya sit by his side trying to console him, while their parents look on. “I have advised the help desk officials to have your mother transported here. I have signed the papers. Take a grip, son… your mother needs you now. You need to be strong. We are all with you.” Says Dinesh. “Thank you, Uncle. Thank you for everything.” Says Gaurav, wiping his tears. He then looks at Priya, “I am not going to lie, Priya… I never believed that you will try to find me. We only knew each other for about 8 months. After all this, I believe I made the right decision to spend my entire life with you. I will never leave you, Priya. I promise.” Priya smiles, she hugs Gaurav and the latter reciprocates. Amrita feels so happy for them yet deep in her heart, she also feels a sharp pain. She remembers about Vishal and thinks, “Why did you behave like that, Vishal? You would have been with me. I would have introduced you to my parents. I wanted you to be by my side but you… damn you!!”