‘This is strange indeed.’ Rahu frowned in distaste as he took a seat on the plane. Thankfully, he had a window seat, which allowed him to calm down a little. Clouds did have a magical charm to them, one that healed the nervous wreck that was humanity.
‘What…are those fuckers planning now?’ He thought, alert as he stared at the passengers, keeping note of those with an uVR Earth attached to their heads.
He had enough trust in airport security to ensure none with a conventional means of causing chaos in an aeroplane had boarded it. Well, trust was a lie. He had personally tapped into the TSA and looked through the belongings of people.
It was a breach of privacy, but he didn’t care. If someone with malicious intent got on board to target Rahu, the rest of the passengers too would be implicated. So, it was also for their safety.
The reason he arrived at the airport well in advance was just for this reason. Therefore, Rahu could rule out the possibility of a threat through traditional means.
Now, all that was left was the threat due to uVR Earth. It was considered impossible to pry into them, for they were built to be failsafe.
There were a total of seven uVR Earth types. The shapes of all looked the exact same, with the only means of differentiation being the colour of the circuit lines on them. The most common was a civilian-use uVR Earth, coloured Blue.
All the other uVR Earth types had their respective colours: Red, Violet, Green, Black, and Yellow. That was unchangeable, as the emitted colour was naturally thanks to the respective uVR Earth’s internal build and the material used.
But the sole exception to this norm was a DOVA Agent’s uVR Earth. It was Jade in colour, but was capable of changing colours, for it could emulate the properties of every uVR Earth. Meaning, a DOVA Agent could disguise himself as someone with a civilian uVR Earth.
And that’s the type of enemy he was guarded against. His enemies equipped with any other uVR Earths could be easily guarded against thanks to their colour code.
‘Would anyone seriously dispatch someone that valuable?’ He thought. The possibility was unlikely, but it was better to be careful.
Once the air hostesses finished their routine demonstration, the plane took off. Rahu stared out the window, observing the buildings turn into ants. At this time, he saw a masked man wearing a bean sack calmly walking past the people.
None seemed affected by his odd appearance. Moreover, as he walked, his large bean sack phased through the people and seats.
The moment Rahu stared at the entity, he tensed up, ‘They seriously dispatched a DOVA Agent? Fuck!’
The masked man wearing a bean sack lifted a hammer and calmly walked towards Rahu, speaking with a muffled tone. “Good evening.”
A voice modulator was attached to his mouth, masking his original voice. His entire body was covered by the bean sack, drooping due to its weight, seemingly carrying a lot of tools.
Even though he was just a virtual projection, he had been created using a real person as a model. Therefore, if his identity were to be revealed, it would be easy to trace the DOVA Agent employing the model.
After all, it costs an astronomical sum to train even a single such model for a DOVA Agent to employ.
The masked man arrived within striking range of Rahu as he slowly lifted his hammer-wielding hand, intending to pummel Rahu’s head.
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Induced Reality!
The sole means through which something virtual could become real. The moment the hammer strikes his head, Rahu’s brain would be influenced to believe this happened for real.
As a result, he would develop a concussion, not in reality, but his brain would react as if that had happened. And if the momentum behind the strike was strong enough, it would fool his brain into thinking that his head had been smashed in. Rahu would truly die in that case.
And the problem with attacks through Induced Reality was that they couldn’t be guarded against. Even if Rahu were to bring his Liger out, nothing would change.
It was called Induced Reality for a reason. Unless he induces the source behind the masked man to believe his Liger is real, his Liger wouldn’t be able to touch the masked man.
After all, from the perspective of the individual—that created the masked man—observing the situation, there was just the masked man. Their brain too believed that the only entity manifested through Induced Reality was the masked man.
Therefore, as they couldn’t even see the Liger, the masked man wouldn’t be affected by the Liger.
Only if Rahu were to affect the hidden DOVA Agent’s brain through Induced Reality would his Liger be able to pounce upon the masked man. These virtual projections didn’t exist in reality but were induced into the brains of the targets, making the target brain assume it was real.
That was the core principle through which the concept of Induced Reality operated.
‘So, that’s your game.’ Thinking as such, Rahu adjusted the cap he was wearing. When he didn’t wish to reveal his identity as a DOVA Agent while using his powers, he hid his uVR Earth with a cap.
His uVR Earth shone with a jade colour as it unleashed a brainwave throughout the plane’s cabin. In an instant, he induced his power onto the passenger on the first seat. She suddenly felt the eyes of a predator on her.
Instinctively, the woman shuddered, a reflexive memory deep in her genes—for humans had feared predators for a significant portion of their history. But that was only for an instant. The effect switched to the second passenger and then the third. One after another, it changed in rapid succession.
Within a second, more than twenty passengers were affected by Induced Reality, shuddering as a result. All they felt was a chill; they stared at the AC vent as a coping mechanism, assuming it to be the cause.
While that happened, Rahu stared at the masked man and let out a pleasant smile, muttering when the masked man’s projection flickered for an instant. “Found you.”
As he influenced the passengers in order, the moment the projection flickered, he knew which seat had the DOVA Agent. The momentary projection of fear hindered their brain’s thought process, causing the masked man to glitch for an instant.
Just as the masked man’s hammer was about to slam into Rahu’s head, the Liger bit his arm off and chomped it. After a couple of bites, it swallowed the arm.
“What?” There was a startled shout from one of the passengers.
Rahu analysed the voice, ‘A male, probably a bit older than me.’
The moment his Liger bit off the masked man’s arm, it was apparent that Rahu had succeeded in influencing the hidden DOVA Agent.
‘Shit! How did he figure out my identity this quickly?’ The hidden DOVA Agent was alarmed. After all, to influence a target, it took a DOVA Agent a few minutes at the very least. After all, they have to first unleash brainwaves.
From the lowest possible frequency, they would have to raise it until the brainwave attains the frequency resonant with the target’s brain. Only after that was an induction possible. It was pretty taxing on the user’s brain.
If a normal person attempted to do this, they would straight up develop a severe nosebleed and fall into a coma. Their brain would be severely impaired as a result. Even if they were to recover, they would have to spend the rest of their lives at an asylum, facing a multitude of mental disorders.
A normal life was no more to such people.
It was why only those with brains the best of the literal best could become a DOVA Agent and attain the power of Induced Reality. But even among them, differences existed.
The hidden DOVA Agent had been focused on Rahu for the past hour, only able to influence his brain after this. That was how strong Rahu’s immunity towards Induced Reality was.
That was to be expected since Rahu was one of the best in the country. However, the hidden DOVA Agent had never expected Rahu to be able to compute the resonant brainwave frequency of over forty people in a second. His brain was robust enough for the AI embedded in his uVR Earth to rapidly process the data, analyse, compute, and execute it.
“M-Monster!” The hidden DOVA Agent muttered in shock.
The masked man jumped back and regenerated his severed arm. It was a 3D Model in the end, so it could be refreshed to an optimal state. But, this did consume some brain power.
The masked man pulled out a second hammer, holding one in each hand as he cautiously glared at the Liger, the beast whose height—on all fours—was on par with him.
With a bellow, he charged forth, targeting Rahu. The Liger intercepted his attack by slamming into him, causing the two to roll around.
Rahu projected the Liger onto the hidden DOVA Agent while the latter projected the masked man onto Rahu. As a result, the brains of both became aware of the two 3D Models, hence capable of being affected by them.
Muffled hammer hits resounded as the masked man targeted the Liger’s head, but the damage from the attacks healed in an instant. The Liger rolled to the top and used its forearms to pin down his hands.
It then opened its mouth and ripped apart the masked man’s mask, revealing his face. For a moment, it remained motionless as through its eyes, Rahu clicked pictures of the masked man.
The mask reappeared immediately after, but the data was already in Rahu’s possession. The masked man tried to move, but as their 3D models were based on existing entities, the related physics applied here too. Of course, only on each other.
Weighing at 480 kilograms, the Liger was damn heavy, almost five times the masked man. As a result, he couldn’t move when pinned down by it.
The only way to escape this situation was to deactivate Induced Reality. The masked man would vanish instantly. But doing so would put the hidden DOVA Agent at risk. For, it would take him more than an hour to influence Rahu’s brain once again.
Since his seated location had been revealed already, it was game over, as considering the capabilities Rahu displayed, he would be killed by the Liger.
A chill crept on his spine as he observed through the masked man’s eyes; the Liger’s jaws parted open as it chomped on the masked man’s head and violently ripped it apart, slurping on the spine following that.
“Aargh!”