Chapter 9 9: Induced Reality: Dark Room
'Shit! Shit! Shit! Why is this happening?' The hidden DOVA Agent was in a state of fluster, feeling his brain power be consumed rapidly every time the Liger bit off the masked man's head and devoured it.
At this rate, he would fall unconscious within a minute. Wiping the tinge of blood leaking out of his nose, the hidden DOVA Agent stared at Rahu's seat, 'My masked man is getting clobbered. But it also means that I've tied down Rahu's Liger. He's defenceless now. I can jump him.'
He observed two air hostesses pushing a cart, serving food to the passengers one after another. They were slowly approaching Rahu's seat.
The Liger was ten metres away from Rahu. The hidden DOVA Agent thought after calculating their respective distances, 'I can make it on time.'
'It's not possible to fight. I barely have a second to execute it before the Liger jumps me.' He thought as he slowly got up, behaving like he was about to head to the restroom. 'Since the entire plane's control is with him, this is my only option. I have to murder him.'
"Sir, here's your food." The air hostess took out a tray and gave it to the passenger beside Rahu.
'Now!' Seeing the opportunity, the DOVA Agent accumulated muscular strength in his legs to the limit and intended to leap forth. His aim was Rahu's head, planning to break his neck using the collision.
Right as he planned to act, his head spun, for a moment in a daze when his masked man was shredded into bits in an instant. Enough amount of his brainpower had been consumed at that moment to make him dizzy.
Before he recovered, the hidden DOVA Agent watched to his dismay as the cabin interior turned black and white. Following that, all colours vanished as only a white outline was visible for all the objects. Another instant later, that too seemed to be erased, plunging his entire world into darkness.
'What is this? What's happening?' The hidden DOVA Agent intended to shout to express his fluster. But to his terror, he couldn't even open his mouth. His voice cords too failed to reverberate.
His limbs seemed stuck as a sense of vertigo enveloped him, only growing strong over time. He couldn't move, he couldn't see, and he couldn't even call for help, stuck in this cold, dark void.
He had no idea what was happening anymore. Fear gradually crept its way into his mind, terrorising him.
Induced Reality-Dark Room!
Rahu's uVR Earth blinked erratically as his eyes were slightly red, as if he had been staring at a computer screen for more than twelve hours straight. In his vision, the figure of the masked man vanished first. Only after did he sigh in relief and retract his Liger.
His sense of stress reduced a bit following that. Rahu turned his head around and stared at the seat where the DOVA Agent was seated, observing the latter in a state of unconsciousness. 'Thankfully, his body instinctively took a seat based on muscle memory.'
Had the DOVA Agent collapsed on the floor, it would have caused panic among the passengers. Rahu didn't wish to see that. So, he was relieved when all went well.
"Sir, here's your lunch." The air hostess gave him his food tray, smiling widely at him. It was strange that she smiled like that only at him, but considering how he was quite handsome, Rahu didn't find it weird.
He had received such smiles from women before.
The air hostess delivered food in sequence, eventually approaching the DOVA Agent's seat. Seeing his unconscious state, her eyes turned cold. Pierced through her hair, tied into a bun, was a hairpin, sharp enough to stab into his eyes and make him bleed to death.
"Sir, would you like anything?" She asked the DOVA Agent, acting like she intended to wake him up, but internally, she was shocked, 'He was defeated this quickly? I truly underestimated Rahu.'
Now that he was defeated, he could be interrogated for details regarding their organisation. So, disposing of him here was a necessity. But, the air hostess couldn't afford that, especially considering the mission allotted to her.
She couldn't risk everything to save a failed Agent, especially since she could feel Rahu's attention on her. The moment she tried anything to tamper with the suspect, she would be dealt with accordingly.
'It is what it is, huh.' She calmly served food to the other passengers and returned to her seat. Along her way, she did eye Rahu and smile at him once again, expressing interest in him.
'Do I use her as my next cover?' Rahu thought for a moment upon seeing the interest she showed in him, but a couple of seconds later, he sighed, 'Not now. I should just behave as if my previous breakup was hard on me. Let's use this excuse to not be in a relationship for at least a year.'
It was mentally draining to watch his every step. But, things were at stake due to his nature of work. One misstep from his side and many people would die.
The DOVA Agent remained within the dark room, unable to react, losing brain power rapidly the longer he remained within it. Thanks to it, he remained unconscious until the end of the flight.
Once the flight landed, Rahu was the first to get up as he walked towards the DOVA Agent's seat, smiling at the two passengers seated beside him, "My friend is scared of flights, you see. So, he has taken sleeping pills. I'll help you come out."
Seated next to the Agent was an old couple. With Rahu's help, they walked out. The Agent was seated in the aisle seat.
"Sir, do you need any help?" The air hostess asked once everyone had left, staring at Rahu and the DOVA Agent that remained in their seats.
"Can you bring a wheelchair?" Rahu asked as he smiled wryly, "My friend has taken sleeping pills. He has yet to wake up."
'He's a professional liar. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed he was speaking the truth.' The air hostess thought as she brought out a wheelchair and watched Rahu push the DOVA Agent and walk out.
Rahu exited the plane and stared at the red carpet rolled out before him, leading to a car, one among a convoy.
"Sir Rahu," A woman approached him and performed a military salute, "I'm Deepika Rajendran, Head of Security and your assigned Secretary."
"I know," Rahu pushed the wheelchair to her as he asked, "Has my cycle arrived?"
"We have arranged transport for you," Deepika said in a hurry, for a moment confused about the man in the wheelchair, wondering why Rahu had brought him out, since the information she received entailed Rahu arriving alone.
"I don't do electronic transports, whether public or private." Rahu didn't board the car as he began to walk into the terminal just like the rest of the passengers.
"Sir please, I'll lose my job if I don't accommodate you through a comfortable journey." Deepika chased after him in a hurry, stopping when Rahu stared at her and calmly pointed at the man in the wheelchair.
"Are you sure you can take your eyes off him?" He said, admonishing her, "He's a DOVA Agent that tried to kill me during the flight. Keep him sedated and lock him up in my office."
"H-He's a DOVA Agent?" Deepika was shocked as she removed the DOVA Agent's cap and stared at the blinking jade light on his uVR Earth, "It's true."
Her uVR Earth's black light blinked once as she contacted the security team. From one of the cars in the convoy, a suited man rushed out with a medical kit, inspected the DOVA Agent's condition and injected sedatives into him.
He commented after observing the man, "He won't wake up for the time being."
"Good, keep him in such a state and bring him to the office." Deepika stared at her deputy, "You're in charge of this. Maintain absolute secrecy on this until sir takes up office tomorrow."
"On it, Ma'am." Her deputy nodded and took charge of the DOVA Agent. They loaded him on the convoy and transported him to the Chennai DOVA Branch.
In the meantime, Rahu had arrived at the baggage counter, patiently waiting as he observed people get their bags one after another. Soon, his luggage too arrived; he grabbed it and inspected its state, observing no signs of tampering.
He wasn't satisfied with just a visual observation though. He fixed the cap covering his uVR Earth and switched to its military version, causing the circuit lights to turn black. Following that, his uVR Earth emitted electromagnetic radiation through the luggage, failing to detect any electronic instruments inside, 'Good, nothing unusual has been slipped inside.'
"Sir, please wait!" Deepika arrived at a halt behind him and saluted, "Allow me to accompany you. It's my duty to keep you safe."
"Do as you see fit, but," He stared at the suitcase in her possession, "You won't be needing that."
"Sir I'm a certified expert in using combat drones. I can easily protect you..." Deepika was flustered by his comment, 'He's completely different from the previous Chief. He's young but seems scarily stuck up.'
"Really?" Rahu tilted his head as his uVR Earth unleashed electromagnetic radiation, instantly hacking into the drone within as he caused its rotor to whir into life, shocking Deepika when she heard whirring sounds from within the suitcase.
The suitcase vibrated and for a moment, she felt it difficult to hold onto it. Thankfully for her, the drone's rotor stopped before she dropped the suitcase and embarrassed herself.
Observing her disbelief, he approached Deepika and gazed at her, dead in the eyes, "0.7 seconds. That's how long I need to hack and gain control of your drone. A DOVA Agent that's a threat to me can achieve it at a similar time. All you'll be doing in that situation is give my opponent ammo to ambush me."
"But..." Deepika wished to argue, for she was denied the responsibility for which she had trained all along. It was damn frustrating.
Ignoring her emotional plight, Rahu walked away, "If you understand, find another way to execute your job."
"Secretary."