[Self-note: (///) 3 slashes means a scene change]

"...I came to this city just a few months ago… and I'm from... Rakvill."

Everyone gazed at Abhi with stunned expressions and a thick silence enveloped the room, making the atmosphere feel almost deafening. In a classroom full of dozens of students, there wasn't even the faintest sound; it was as if time itself had frozen.

Ms. Oxlong broke the eerie silence with a subtle smirk as she looked down at her table. Suddenly, she looked up and spoke, "Okie Dokie, so we are finally finished with the introductions. Let’s start with our history lecture. Today, I and all the other subject teachers will give you an overview of our respective curricula."

The students began to write down the teacher's instructions, but many still subtly observed Abhi like vultures eyeing their prey. His revelation of being from a place that was strictly off-limits was unforgettable. The class continued, but the gossip about Abhi didn’t cease. By the end of the fifth hour-long period, the chatter had calmed down but was still alive.

Ding! Tring! Tring!

The one-hour break began as the fifth period ended. Students were instructed to leave in an orderly cue rather than rush outside. All followed this rule—except for Veer, Kevin, and Dep. The same kids who had made a "triangle of disturbed faces" rushed outside as soon as the recess bell rang. Abhi, however, chose to adhere to the protocol and left the classroom in an organized manner.

As he walked towards the exit, Abhi was suddenly pushed and crashed against the blackboard, falling hard. A chubby kid had collided with him.

"Oh hey, didn’t see you there," said the fat kid with a subtle grin.

"It's alright," replied Abhi, extending his hand for help in getting up.

"Hmph." Instead of assisting Abhi, the fat kid snorted a condescending laugh and walked out, leaving Abhi's hand hanging in the air.

"Welp, it is what it is," Abhi said to himself as he got up on his own.

Reaching the hallway, Abhi stood still for a moment, losing his balance and shaking slightly. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with a sense of purpose. He turned left, walked past a few crossways, turned left again, and then finally turned right.

"I guess the washrooms are easy to find."

After finishing up in the washroom, Abhi easily found the school's kitchen and lunchroom—almost too easily. Kolar was a vast establishment; even the staff sometimes got lost in the maze of corridors, but that didn’t seem to be an issue for Abhi.

Kolar provided a free "Mid-Day Meal" to all its students. They didn’t need to bring their own food, but since Kolar catered to privileged kids, most brought their own. The free meals were delicious, and the Kolar students were enjoying them.

Abhi collected community plates and the Mid-Day Meal from the kitchen and then walked into the lunchroom. As he walked, other students placed their bags on empty chairs or shifted away if he approached their tables, trying to avoid sitting with him. The rumours had spread, and Abhi had become infamous for being from Rakvill—not just in his class, but throughout the entire school. Abhi, however, appeared oblivious and continued walking.

He was walking even though his legs were wobbly and he was moving in a way that lacked any resemblance of direction or balance and yet still his eyes displayed a sense of purpose almost as if he knew where he was going.

///

"Can you believe what just happened?!"

"Holy crap, I was so scared. I still can't believe it!"

"I know, right? I almost thought he was onto us for real," said Veer, Dep, and Kevin in turn. They were sitting under a large old tree with an elevated stone plateau, like a dais covering its roots. The plateau served as a bench for them to eat lunch on. This spot, on the outskirts of the HS Kolar campus, had become their secret meeting place.

"When out of nowhere the President said that, I almost shat my pants," Veer said in a frantic yet relieved tone.

"Yeah, and to top it all off, the camera zoomed in on his eyes. It felt like he was looking into my soul. I get chills just thinking about it," Dep added.

"I wasn't scared or anything, but I was surprised too," Kevin said, his tone sounding pretty unconvincing.

"Ha-ha, sure, buddy," Dep replied, laughing at his lack of conviction.

"Anyways, I don't think he was talking about us," Veer interjected.

"Ha-ha, if he really knew we were researching 'Incident 99' of Rakvill, we would've been in jail by now," Kevin countered.

"Yeah, but let's forget that and get serious. Dep, did you transcribe everything the President was saying?" Kevin asked.

"Sure did. As soon as the President finished greeting us, I immediately got to work," Dep replied, pulling out a sheet of paper with some scribbles on it.

"Great work. Let's analyze what that bozo had to say," Kevin said.

"Okay, but let's keep it down. Someone might hear us," Dep cautioned.

"Now, why in God's green earth would the president of the country share such a critical piece of information with a bunch of students?" Veer said while looking at the transcription paper. "Also, your handwriting is terrible, Dep."

"Shut up! Or you can become the transcriber," Dep replied, scrunching her eyes at Veer.

"Shhh! You’re the one who told us to keep it quiet. Anyway, he really tried to say that the government needs help from a bunch of teenagers to 'collect information'. Who’s going to buy that?" Kevin added.

"I know, right? It seems so fishy. Why was this video so well made? It had all the well-researched graphics and visuals you could find. Wasn’t this supposed to be some kind of emergency message? It’s so obvious it’s propaganda," Veer said, laughing in an irritated and smug manner.

"Let’s be honest, most of them are going to blindly believe the president and act like some kind of agents trying to save the country," Dep grimaced.

"Ha-ha, what a bunch of NPCs," Veer laughed.

"Wait, isn't that exactly what we are doing, though?" Kevin asked.

"Well, now that you mention it… didn’t we start our research by calling ourselves the 'Agents of Information Abduction'?" Dep chuckled at the irony.

"Ha-ha. Let’s not think about that. Anyway, let’s go through the transcription chronologically for clarity. And pass me some of that Paneer Tikka, Veer," Kevin said, licking his lips as if it was his first time seeing food.

All three of them were sitting in a triangle on the bench with a tree in the middle, their tiffins spread out. They shared each other’s meals and enjoyed snacks while chatting.

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"Alright, so to start off, he said that the war with Tirop is not really over, and that we are still in danger of being attacked by terrorists," Dep narrated, paraphrasing the transcription.

"Why would you risk instilling fear in some teenage students like this? There must be a special reason for the president to tell us this," Kevin remarked.

"I agree. I have a theory that this whole video was made to instill fear. Fear wasn’t just a negative byproduct; it was the desired outcome. I don’t have anything to base it on, just a hunch—but a strong one, I’ll tell you that much," Veer replied, munching on his Paneer Tikka.

"Also, if we take the president's claims seriously about this being for the 'task of collecting information,' why would he share all the details with 11th graders? Kolar has branches that are universities now. Wouldn't it be better to only let students over 18 hear this? Why involve us minors?" Dep asked while enjoying some of Veer's Paneer Tikka.

"Exactly! Both Tirop and Bharat did their best to cover up Incident 99. It seems odd for two countries at war to cooperate in hiding something, and then just a few months later, the president tells a bunch of students that the war really isn't over. What the hell?" Kevin exclaimed, also taking some of Veer's Paneer Tikka.

"For real! There has to be a deeper agenda behind this. Also, what do you think about the agents spread across the city? That seems like a good excuse to make his claim about us being in danger more believable. AND LEAVE SOME PANEER FOR ME!" Veer shouted while snatching back his food before it was gone.

"It’s also a good way to keep an eye on us… It’s going to be much harder to conduct our research now, isn’t it?" Kevin added.

"Whatever the agenda might be, it has clearly been well-planned. Nixtom being near the western border, with a weak military, would be sufficient grounds for a terrorist attack safety measure," Dep said.

"Yes, the precautions are valid, but I still don’t think we are really in danger of being attacked anytime soon," Veer countered.

"I agree; it sounds like another attempt at brainwashing. A well-planned attempt, though, since I can't even tell what the goal of all this is. Regardless, there’s no real reason for us to believe we are genuinely in danger of a terrorist attack," Kevin added.

"Fair point. So, Dep, what else can you see in that transcript?" Veer asked. "I can't read that scribbling on my own."

"Let me check… Wow! I didn’t realize this while listening, but now that it’s in front of me on paper, did you guys notice just HOW much our school and the students are being praised?" Dep said.

"We can't read that; it seems to be written in some obscure ancient language," Kevin quipped, giving a smug look to Dep.

"Shut up, my handwriting isn’t that bad! Besides, the President is even calling us the 'future of the nation' and 'some of the most educated people in this country.' He’s saying things like 'HS Kolar will triumph over any task,' etc." said Dep, pointing at the transcription paper.

"Seems like an attempt to convince the students that they are capable of handling a task like this," Kevin remarked.

Veer turned to Kevin and replied, "No... Well, maybe to some extent that was the intended outcome. But I feel like the President would have kept the compliments much lower and vaguer if that were his only goal. I believe his intention with those compliments was something bigger, something more sinister."

///

Edhil, the capital of Bharat…

"Did the plan succeed?"

"Yes, it exceeded our expectations. The information I received from my agents indicates that he is already being treated with indifference," replied Vishva Pratap Raghavan, the National President of Bharat who was seated behind his desk in a grand room adorned with important articles, including government documents and numerous photos of his party on the walls. A tricolour flag of Bharat stood beside his desk.

Facing the president was the only other man in the room.

This unknown man had bandages wrapped around his head, concealing a third of his face around the eyes and ears. A mysterious and intricate symbol of an 'eye' was present on the front of the bandages, placed exactly between where his eyes should have been. The top of his head remained uncovered, revealing a head full of stunning, long and silvery-white hair. He spoke:

"You consider this a success? How was the necessary information disclosed to the students? Did I not make it clear that we were to reveal his background later through rumours?"

"I understand, but we weren't the ones responsible for disclosing that information," said Vishva, the president.

"What! Then who did?"

"'It' did… It revealed the information itself."

///

"Something more sinister? what do you mean" Kevin asked.

"I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seemed like the president was trying to evoke a sense of patriotism or some form of mob mentality among the students by praising our country and our school," Veer replied.

"That's interesting. Why do you think he would want to do that?" Dep asked.

"I wondered the same thing. Why would the president deliberately try to make everyone more patriotic for no reason?" Kevin said.

"I'm not sure. It’s also possible that we’re overanalyzing this and the president simply wanted us to feel more capable of completing the task at hand. However, there are other possibilities. At the beginning of the war, these types of extreme patriotic promotions were pervasive in the media. We even saw propaganda posters right outside our homes," Veer added.

"That's true. This kind of over-the-top patriotic propaganda also fueled religious hatred, which benefited the government as more people enlisted in the military, driven by both increased patriotism and animosity toward the opposing group," Kevin noted.

"Are you suggesting that the president created the video as a catalyst for hate against a particular group? Or perhaps even an individual?" Dep asked.

"I see where this is going. We initially thought the mention of 'Researching Rakvill being forbidden' was a warning directed at us to cease our research. But what the president might actually be doing is encouraging indifference towards someone specific—not us, but him," Kevin said.

Dep nodded in realization. "You’re talking about that kid from Rakvill, aren’t you?"

///

"What do you mean 'it' revealed the information itself?"

"Apparently, the class was having an introduction session. And when it tried to introduce itself, it blurted out where it came from..."

"Interesting…" The masked man let out a sigh and began to grimace from ear to ear.

"Did I… did I say something wrong this time too?" asked Vishva, the president.

"No, Vishva, you did not make a mistake this time. Maybe… maybe it was me who did."

"I don't seem to understand."

"Our plan was to spread rumours about 'it' being from Rakvill, so it would be treated with indifference and hatred by everyone. This would have led to 'him' reaching the necessary 'Highs' or 'Peaks'."

"Has anything changed in our plans with these recent developments?"

"It has… if it were to hide its previous 'home,' and we spread rumours about it being from Rakvill, it would still be treated with indifference. However, most people would also distrust it. Now that it has revealed such an important aspect about itself in pure naivety, it has created a potential for 'trust' and, by extension, opened a room for potential acquaintances—acquaintances who could become obstacles in reaching our desired 'Peaks.'"

"So… has our plan failed?" Vishva asked.

"Not in the slightest. It has just become more… interesting."

"I am glad."

"But we may need to use that boy now."

"It would be my pleasure."

"Just a matter of time now; soon we could use 'it' as a…"

///

"Yup, I was flabbergasted when he said he is from Rakvill in front of the whole class. And bro was literally standing next to me, so it hit me way harder than it did for you guys." Veer said.

"Yeah, I could totally tell because your face revealed exactly how you felt. Your mouth was wide open—comically wide!" Dep replied, laughing along with Kevin.

"BRUHH!"

"On a serious note, do you think he was telling the truth?" Kevin asked.

"I mean, why would he lie? It didn’t seem like he was joking either," Veer answered.

"That’s true. Why would he make up a story that could tarnish his reputation?" Dep said.

"Okay, so if he really was telling the truth, he could be a valuable lead for us. Can we trust him to possibly join our efforts?" Kevin asked.

"No way, man! Just the thought of that scares me. We could be charged with treason if our research got leaked. I’m not taking any risks with people I don’t completely trust," Veer replied.

"I have to agree with Veer. It’s way too risky to let him join us; we don’t even know for sure if he’s really from Rakvill," Dep added.

"Alright maybe not join us but,

we could still use him as…

///

we could use 'it' as a…

///

""...as a key to unlock

The truth about the City of Gold! "" .... Two echoing voices, in two different places, spoken by two different people, but reverberating the same meaning.

///

Suddenly an unknown person appears behind Veer.

"Yo! Mind if I sit with you guys for lunch".

...…