Two Lives - Origins (Episode XX)

"Let me tell you a story." He said.

"I thought I asked you a question." I was getting irritated.

"Do you want your answers?"

"By all means, go ahead. I'm dying to hear your story." I faked interest and started listening. I think he noticed too but didn't say anything.

"A man kills another out of anger and desperation. What would be your justice?"

I didn't know where he was going with this question but I complied. "It's not that easy. What was the situation? Motive? Why did he kill him? Without these answers it's impossible to pass the right judgement."

"The one that died was a thief. He tried to steal something from the other one and in the struggle, the thief died because the owner had hit him hard a couple of times on the head."

"I don't support thieves but killing them is just extreme. He could've disabled him and escaped. But wait... what was the thief trying to steal anyway?"

"A year of hard work. If it was lost, well, all would be lost for his family. And the thief tried to steal that. The future of an entire family."

Now I wasn't sure about my judgement. If it were me in that place, my rage would've known no bounds. "I'm not sure if the thief deserved it but I'd say he had it coming. But still, that doesn't mean the other man can kill him.

"The thief had a son with a terminal illness. The cure was far out of his reach because he was poor. He wanted to save his son. He tried to steal something that would give him enough money to save his son."

Oh, shit. Now I wasn't sure if he just made that up. "Doesn't matter. Thieving is wrong and so is killing."

"The owner came to know about the son. He helped him. Cured him. Gave him a life. The owner thought the boy deserved the truth. He told the son about the incident, after a few years when he was in his twenties."

"That's just downright stupid. Why would he do that? I mean, that's the last thing the boy should've known." I realized my outburst when he looked at me with one eye raised. "Sorry. Continue."

"The boy killed him a couple years later. In this story, who do you think should suffer? The thief, the owner or the boy? Who do you think deserves punishment?" He looked at me intently.

As far as I know, he just made up the story. But the story in itself, was... disturbingly logical. I couldn't pass a judgement. The thief and the owner, they both had a greater moral obligation. Protect their family's future. They did what could save their family. It wasn't necessarily what would've saved their family but it's all they had.

But the boy... In my heart, I knew what he did was wrong. A man who gave him his life back. A man who helped him grow. A man who didn't want to lie to a son about his father. I mean, that's a role model dad right there. He didn't have the heart to forgive. Most of all, he didn't have the heart to forgive a good man.

But when I put myself in the boy's shoes and I'm looking at the man that killed my loving father, yes, it didn't matter. It didn't matter what he did for me. It didn't matter he was there for me. It may hurt me in the future but in the moment, yes, I will dream a hundred ways to kill this man.

There is no justice in this story. The more I started thinking about it, the more confused I became. In the typical justice system, the boy should be tried for his crime and sentenced to prison for life except if he had a good lawyer, maybe get a reduced sentence.

I sensed a deep stare on me boring down on my consciousness. I was so deep in my mind, I totally forgot who I was sitting with. He made up this story. Why should I stress myself over it?

"You made up this story. Why should I bother? But if you really want me to answer your question, the boy should be tried but with a lesser sentence. Happy?!"

He just smiled. I sat there for some time in, what seemed to be, an awkward silence.

He said, "I'll get in touch when you need it", just when I was about to ask, 'shall we go?'

"Sure. You know where to find me." I stood up and walked towards the back entrance of the Hall. Before I walked inside, I turned and looked behind me. He was just sitting there. Still as stone. And then I walked into the building.

The moment I stepped in, my mind screamed, 'Rahul'. I ran towards the elevator and shouted, "Call Noulin Ahmed", into my communicator. When I reached the elevator however, there were a lot of people waiting. I took to the stairs without a second thought.

"Yes, John." I heard Noulin on the other side.

"Come to the rooftop. Bring something to...", I didn't know what to say. "To wake someone who's knocked out. Right away."

This is the second time in this week that I had to scale this building on foot. Damn. I was getting tired of this but I remembered how I felt that day on the rooftop. No, I can't stop. After what seemed like a long time, I reached the twenty fourth floor. Noulin was waiting for me.

"What's happ..." Before she could finish, I grabbed her arm and pulled her behind me.

"Sorry. One of our snipers, Rahul, I think has been knocked out. I need your help."

When we reached the rooftop, Rahul was there alright. He was still looking into the scope of his rifle with his trigger finger ready.

"Thank God, nothing happened to you. Hey, is he still there? Can you see him?" I stepped next up to him but he didn't answer. I touched his shoulder and shook him.

"Rahul." And he just slid off the rifle and fell on the floor facing the sky. "Rahul", I shouted. I checked him. There were no signs of blood. Noulin was already sitting next to me and started working on him. As I shook him again, he turned a little, said something and went back to sleep again.

I walked to the rifle and looked into the scope. It was focused on the bench we were sitting in the park. With one thing different.

Antony wasn't there anymore.

Two Lives - Origins (Episode XIX)

He knew about Rahul.

My mind started racing. If Rahul isn't here yet, how did he know? Did he hack the message? If he didn't listen in on the message, how did he know about him? The woman. It must've been her. I hoped she hadn't hurt him.

"Tell me, John. How can you stop him when he's a hundred steps ahead of you?"

I had no answer. He let go of me slowly and I felt a sigh of relief when my foot found solid ground. He took a couple of steps back. My breathing felt heavy. It took a couple of seconds to gather my sense of balance.

"You said you wanted to talk. This is how you talk?" I mockingly spit on the sidewalk.

"Giveth thee Respect. Taketh thy Respect." He corrected his coat.

"What?" I would've punched him but I knew better. So I stayed my anger.

"Give your Respect. Take your Respect."

"I wasn't respecting you how?" He looked at me for a long second.

"I'm all out for fun, John. But if you mock me when I'm serious, I'll break you."

I shrugged. "Well, I'm a Scorpio. What do you expect?"

"And I'm a Capricorn. So suck it up."

He starting walking. This time, I was following him. We walked in silence again. He stopped at the next wishbone and took a left. I wasn't sure if he did that on purpose since I was planning to take this left. Instead of saying anything, I followed him.

After a minute, he slowed down in front of a park that was located exactly behind the Hall. My heart started racing again. He turned towards the Hall and looked upwards to the roof. Then he walked into the park till the end. His eyes swept across the park to and fro. And then he looked up again to the rooftop.

"This is a nice spot. Rahul was right." He sat down on a bench.

I don't know how I looked at him, but he laughed. "That there is a million dollar look." He chuckled again. I shook my head. I must've looked funny. Maybe he caught my jaw drop.

I walked straight up to him. "What do you know about Rahul? You purposely walked in to this park, didn't you? If you hurt him..."

"What? What would you do?" He interrupted me. I bit down my lip.

"Don't worry. He's not hurt. I promise." He looked serious.

"You think I'll trust your promise when I don't even trust you? You still haven't told me anything. I must protect her. I need to get her back. Tell me how."

"Don't you think you're going too fast?" He scrunched his eyes and looked at me.

"Fast? No. This isn't fast enough. He took her god knows where and doing god knows what to her, while I'm sitting here talking to some as..." I stopped short. His voice from before relayed in my head. "... to some aussider. Outsider." I corrected myself.

He smiled at me. "You are a fast learner. I'll give you that." Much to my chagrin, he had noticed what I was about to say. "Take a seat." He tapped the other side of the bench. I sat on the other side of the bench.

"I cannot participate directly in your search and when I say 'I', I mean me or any other in our organization. But... I can give you the tools to get to him."

"Do you mean you're going to make me move and fight like you do?" He had piqued my interest.

"Ha ha. You wish. No. That's not possible. It'd take years to train you. You won't understand anything I say. So I'll just let you know whatever you need to know from time to time."

"You said you're hunting him and yet you cannot be directly involved with me. Why is that?" The question seemed logical since our interests seemed aligned.

"Trying to catch up is a lot different than Hunting." He turned around and looked at me. "I'm sorry."

"Sometimes you don't have to be honest, you know. Just to let the others feel better. Try that sometime." He just smiled at my jab.

After almost a minute passed by, I tried to push my luck a little further. "So, tell me again, how exactly did he go rogue?"

"Let me tell you a story." He said.

Two Lives - Origins (Episode XVIII)

Now... Off to meet the devil.

As I walked towards him, I could feel my heartbeat racing. I literally wanted to kill him but he might have some answers to my questions. He was casually sitting on the bench, looking around the Hall, watching people come and go. He looked at me when I stood before him.

"Finally." He left a sigh of relief. "We need to talk."

"Let's take a walk." My voice sounded very different. Very neutral. Like Sharon from W.I.S.A.C.

He jumped up like a kid and said, "Where are we going?"

"Just... around. I don't feel comfortable talking to you here." Without a word he gestured me to lead the way.

I walked out of the Hall and he followed me. I wasn't sure where to take him. Around the Hall seemed like a good idea. Parking wouldn't be the right place. Then I remembered what Rahul once said. I instantly knew where to take him.

I walked straight, away from the Hall into the crowds of the busy street. I turned left and he followed. We walked slowly in silence for some time. The street was overflowing with people. It was difficult not to bump on someone for every few steps.

He said something. "What?" I didn't notice what he said.

"The city is falling." He repeated.

"What do you mean, the city is falling?" I was confused by his sudden statement.

"You know exactly what I mean. I know that you feel the same way too." I sensed a little anger in him.

"It's not a utopia but it's home. And I would prefer not to discuss it with an outsider."

"Let's not do sentiment here. Be logical and answer with your brain. Not your heart or your balls." I turned around quickly to look at him. "And before you think of punching me, there's general public around and let's be civil."

I really wasn't sure what he wanted. We walked in silence again. There was a 4-way crossing and I took left again.

I made up my mind and asked him, "Aren't you being a little pessimistic?"

"I'm a realist, John. I don't deal with maybes."

"What do I call you? I mean what's your name?" He murmured, 'Typical'.

"They call me 'Shield'. But if you really want to know my name, let's just say, Antony. But why would you believe anything I say."

"Who do you work for? What's the name of the organization?" The more he tried evading my questions, the more I wanted to know.

"Are you interviewing me or we're here to discuss the future of the state?" There was impatience in his voice.

"Alright. Who is the guy from the rooftop? I know you know him. So don't lie. Did you help him to get to Mrs. Ramachandran? Why would he take her in the first place?"

"Your first question. The guy from the rooftop. I... used to know him. Your second question. No, I didn't. And the third. I have a pretty good idea."

He felt uneasy admitting that he knew him. "You worked together. Didn't you?" I was confident but I wanted to confirm.

"Yes. We did. I thought I knew him but it seems that I don't. And now I'm hunting him." It seemed they had a friendly relationship.

"What happened? What'd he do?" My curiosity wanted to know more.

"He has gone rogue and wants to go to war with humanity. She was the key card to whatever he's planning. That's why he took her. And that's all you need to know."

I laughed out loud. "War with humanity? You're joking, right?"

He pulled me with just enough force to turn me towards him and pushed me away from the crowd. He pinned me against the wall with one hand and took my collar on the other. I tried to pry his hand away but I couldn't even nudge him as much. My legs started dangling as he pushed me up against the wall. A couple of people along the sidewalk looked at us, paused for a couple of seconds and then turned away, walking.

"Tell me, John Vedha. On the rooftop, did you look into his eyes? Did you sense the condescending smile on his face? You think you can stop him from doing whatever he wants? How did you feel when he just left you there helpless?"

He looked deep into my eyes. I couldn't stare away. It felt like he glimpsed into my soul. I swallowed my fear.

"Or maybe you think your silly sniper can save you. Trust me, when I say this. He's unstoppable and I'm your only option."

I felt my skin going white. He knew about Rahul.