Day 606

Sheetal watched Ash as he sulked off in a huff. Ghost grimaced at his retreating back and disappeared in a flash leaving her alone. Just when she had started wondering what to do next, needles popped into existence with a flash followed by the seven.

Needles rushed Sheetal and before she could act lifted her up in a hug “Sheetal. Are you okay? Where is Ash. Is he…”

Sheetal chuckled and responded “Its okay Needles. I am okay. Ash is okay too. He is angry at Ghost but everyones okay.”

“Faded gods, I was worried.” Needles lowered Sheetal to the ground and added “I couldn’t get your brainwaves and I thought…”

Sheetal grimaced “Needles, I messed up.”

“Yeah, we know. You, when you levelled up your shards exploded the dreamscape.” Needles nodded.

“Needles.” Sheetal looked at the others and then asked “Can we speak? In private?”

Needles gave Sheetal a searching look and nodded.

Theory cleared his throat “Umm… We are going to step out and keep watch.”

JJ looked from Sheetal to Needles and nodded “I’ll wait in our quarters.”

Sheetal looked at the harried woman in front of her and felt more guilty than ever about what she had almost done. In a small voice she grabbed Needles in a bubble of gravity and muttered “Come with me please.”

Sheetal landed both of them atop a hill and moved Away a few feet trying to create a sense of distance from Needles.

Needles caught on to the wordless communication and asked “What is it.”

Sheetal tried to get out her words and blurted everything out, even breaking down in tears in the middle. She finished while weeping “I didn’t know what I was doing. It just hurt so much. And its just kind of happened.”

Needles looked at Sheetal with a distant look in her eyes.

Sheetal flinched.

Needles focussed on Sheetal and smiled “I am not angry at you girl. I am angry at that man.”

“But… But… I am almost enslaved you.” Sheetal muttered.

“Sheetal.” Needles began and then stopped with a smile “Go ahead, bind me?”

“What!?” Sheetal asked.

“I trust you girl. Bind me.” Needles grinned.

“Are you sure.”

“Yes. Now do it. For science.” Needles chuckled

“Okay.” Sheetal shrugged and a small pulse went off her and towards Needles.

Needles raised her eyebrows “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Are you going to do it?”

“You didn’t see that?”

“No. And I don’t feel bound.”

“You are bound Needles.”

“Are you…”

“Raise your left hand.”

Needles hand shot up and she looked at it.

“See?” Sheetal’s voice cracked and she swished her hand diagonally.

Needles frowned “Okay that is insidious but what was that you did at the end.”

“Unbound you.” Sheetal wiped a tear.

“Huh? So, you can bind or unbind anything?”

“Pretty much.”

Needles paced up and down “And whatever you bind, living or physical, moves to your thoughts?”

Sheetal frowned but nodded.

Needles grinned “This is quite useful. Why get a medic team to carry a gurney when you can just think flat and get off the battlefield. And the combat potential, tell a group of charging enemies to stop and they would. Creating a pile-up on top of them.”

“You are not taking this seriously Needles.” Sheetal said in a frustrated tone.

“Do it again.” Needles stood in place.

“Again?”

“Yes. Come on girl.”

Sheetal sent out a pulse and looked at Needles “There you are bound again.”

“Gods, you don’t feel a thing.” Needles whispered and then closed her eyes. A moment later her pillar lit up and buzzed.

“What!?” Sheetal squeaked.

“What?” Needles asked.

“You broke it.” Sheetal said in an offended tone.

“That easily?” Needles asked.

“Yeah.” Sheetal felt a little stupid and that reflected in her tone.

Needles deflated “It’s a good ability but we need to strengthen it.”

“You want me to enslave people?”

“No Sheetal, I need you to stay safe and win.” Needles stressed and started again “Do you know how a battlefield medic fights? With poisoned projectiles. We are in a battlefield. We will use every advantage we have.”

“Fudge.”

“What?”

“I expected you to be… angry? Ashamed of me? Avoid me?” Sheetal looked at Needles in confusion.

“I am not the one who is going to avoid you.” Needles chuckled and looked up “The person who would do that would be Ghost. I understand why he blew up the dreamscape. He is practically an inanimate object with half his soul and his consciousness is in here with you. If you bound him right now, you would bind him to your will. And he won’t be able to break free. It must have scared him to the bone.”

Ghost didn’t appear but they all felt the sky harrumph.

Sheetal grimaced “Still, I don’t want to bind him either.”

“After all he has done.” Needles shook her head “Now tell me. Why is Ash angry?”

Sheetal sighed “Ash can’t get over the fact that Ghost keeps outmanoeuvring him. Ghost can’t get over the fact that Ash will do what he wants. This time he slotted another sense shard in his eye and Ghost lost it.”

“Did it make his eyes red?” Needles asked.

“No.” Sheetal replied with a chuckle.

“Oh, thank the Light. He would have been insufferable.”

“Yeah.”

Needles reached out and hugged Sheetal “Sheetal, we are friends. I trust you. You don’t need to worry so much.”

Sheetal nodded with teary eyes and sniffled “Thank you.”

“Now, I am tired, and I am going to sleep. I suggest you do that too before your bothers comes back and cuddles into you.”

Sheetal frowned and nodded “Good idea.”

“Good night warder.”

Day – 631

Ash stomped up a hill and looked down the other side. His eyes settle on Sheetal, Needles, and JJ. They were fighting the vetaal’s and nishachar with their enthralled. The same group of enemies they had been struggling against... He didn’t even know how long it had been.

“This sucks!”

“Boss?”

Ash jumped at Theory’s voice. Having eyes was proving to be difficult. Not having eyes was not that good either. What the hell was he thinking? Was Ghost reading his mind? Was he implanting thoughts? Could he implant thoughts?

“This sucks more.”

“Want to clue me in Ash?” Theory asked.

“How did you get up here?”

“I followed you?”

“How?”

“I ran.”

“Last time I checked Vetaal’s were after you.”

“T made us a distraction.”

“Where’s T?”

“Dead.”

T and Ghost popped into existence next to Theory.

“Seriously. alll of you?”

“I am only dead because you threw into the enemy.” T accused theory.

Theory shrugged “You made a good distraction.”

“Getting clawed hurts you know.” T growled.

“Oh, come on kid. It’s just for second and then Ghost pulls you out.” Theory dismissed.

“Enough. Are you going to take the training seriously? Or not?” Ghost growled.

“Nope.” Ash replied instantly.

Ghost looked at Ash for a moment and then sighed “Why?”

Ash’s cute little nose flared drawing grins from everyone.

“Stop that. I am trying to be difficult. Don’t laugh.”

People laughed.

Ash snarled “Ghost! You promised me something and I did my part.”

“Oh?” Theory sobered and looked at Ghost.

Ghost grimaced “I know. I didn’t expect the anathema to not to be effective. Maybe its too diluted. Maybe…”

“I don’t care.” Ash hissed.

“What are we talking about?” T asked.

“I am blind.” Ash announced with his hands on his hips.

T gave him a blank look.

“No, really T. I am blind. My body is blind. I can’t see.” Ash explained.

“Then how can you see right now?” T asked.

“What? This is not real.” Ash shrugged.

“That’s not how it works. The mind, body, and soul make a triangular feedback loop…”

“T, have you ever heard of a term called an idiot savant?” Ghost asked.

“Did you call me an…”

“He did mean it like that boss.” Theory cut in and explained “He meant it like your mind is strong enough to do what it wants because you are awesome.”

Theory gave Ghost a look that stopped him.

Ash blinked in thought “Yeah, I am awesome. Of course I am awesome.”

“Blind, High Councillor?” Theory asked in a casual tone even though his posture was one step away from violence.

“It’s not permanent.” Ghost sighed “He need anathema. Unadulterated and fresh. And then his eyes will start working.”

“And how are we supposed to do that? Throw the warders into a pit?” T asked sharply.

“Kid. Don’t.” Theory warned and in stern voice chided T “You are talking to the High Councillor.”

T flinched and pointed at Ash “Why does he get to be boss, and I can’t even talk back?”

“Because he is warder. And he is awesome.” Theory said as a matter of fact.

“I am awesome.” Ash grinned with a far way look in his eyes.

Everyone looked at him and the smiling Theory.

“Wait.” Ash snapped out of his thoughts “Why don’t I just go to the other side to get another bug, and then you can eat it, and give me anathema.”

“That…” Ghost looked around at the two other people and muttered “Won’t work.”

Ghost explained in a soft voice “When I ate the anathemic creature, what you got was the drippings. I was the one invading there. So, all you got was literally the stuff sticking to my body.”

“You did it.” Theory accused.

Ghost straightened and looked at Theory.

“You performed the Ritual of Light’s Service.” Theory said in a hushed voice.

“How do you know about that?” Ghost asked in a hushed voice.

“I am Theory. I headed the strategy for the fifth column. Do you seriously think I have never considered using that ritual?” Theory snorted.

“Ah…” Ghost grinned sheepishly.

“Excuse me? What are we talking about now?” T asked.

Ash rolled his eyes “T. Seriously man? Here, let me break it down for you. Ghost is a ripple now. She and I are Danavs. And I am blind. But you can’t tell anyone anything about this. Especially She. About the blind thing. Not the Danav or Ripple thing.”

T’s mouth flew open, and he took a small step away from Ghost.

“Wait, Sheetal doesn’t know?” Theory asked Ash

“No.” Ash replied in hushed voice.

“Aren’t you both linked?”

“Yeah.” Ash replied nonchalantly.

“How does she not know then?”

“I hid it from her.”

“How?” Theory looked at Ghost with a baffled expression.

“He is awesome.” Ghost responded sarcastically.

“I am awesome.” Ash nodded.

“Why are hiding this?” Theory asked Ash.

“Because She, will turn into a mother hen. She will worry about me. She will hover over me. And She… She cuddled back a couple of weeks ago. And even lifted me up and gave me a hug yesterday.”

“Lifted you up? With her powers?” T frowned.

“Oh, that’s normal T. There is nothing strange about that.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“It felt nice.” Ash grimaced “And it made me want not to be what I am.”

Ghost “Oh look T. Our friends are almost dead. Let’s go get them.”

Ghost and T disappeared leaving Theory and Ash behind.

“Am I supposed to say something profound here?” Theory asked Ash.

Ash cocked his head to the side “I think he wanted you to give be the big power - bigger responsibility speech.”

“I don’t know what that is, but I guess I will give it a shot.” Theory grumbled and asked “Who are you?”

“Ash.”

“And your sister likes Ash.”

“Yeah, because I am awesome.”

“Exactly.”

“But… Theory, I don’t feel things.”

“And she knows that.” Theory stated.

“Yeah, but it also makes me an excellent killer. And what happens when she finds out how many people I have killed?” Ash asked.

“And you are going to kill a lot of people boss. Do you think your sister won’t? You are warders. And look at her.” Theory pointed down the hill.

Sheetal was standing alone. A storm of pebbles and broken debris was whizzing all around her knocking and at time killing the enemies surrounding her.

“This training is desensitizing her. It is designed to do so. Believe me, when the topic comes up, she won’t care.” Theory sighed “What you should be really worried about is when she realises that you can’t kill an army to protect her.”

Ash snorted “I can kill an army. I am awesome.”

“Right sorry, forgot that I was speaking to you, boss.” Theory smiled.

Day – 657

Ash returned to their home just besides the meadow. He yawned and looked up to see Sheetal nursing a cup of coffee in her palms. She had a chair underneath her but like always she was hovering just over it.

“Where did you go?”

“Playing with glyphs and Ghost.” Ash yawned and then corrected himself “Ghost and I were playing with glyphs, I mean. Not each other.”

“Well, that was visual I did not need.” Sheetal grimaced.

“I know.” Ash grimaced back “It just popped in my head and…”

She looked at Ash making gagging noises.

There was something off about him. Was it his hair? His almost afro curls were gone. Now his hair was wavy and longer. They almost reached down to his lower back. And made him look like a wild little boy.

Although the thought kept popping into her head, she kept dismissing it. They bothe were going through a second round of changes. These ones were different and came from their training.

Every day, that they trained with the superb seven changed them slightly and she hadn’t noticed them until Needles had pointed out that her reflexes had improved. And then the way she moved changed. The way she floated around had gotten much smoother.

She could chalk that up to the understanding of physics, gravity and polar force, Ghost had imparted to her but then she had abs. Flipping abs. And she was fit too. Needles attributed it to her using her core to lift her legs in the air to avoid attacks and dodge obstacle.

The other things were what were troubling her. Like her face and body. Every living being was bio symmetrical. But slight imperfections like a nose twisted one way, an ear slightly longer the other, or even an eyebrow slightly off centre, was normal.

Sheetal knew that she wasn’t normal. And with just one look at the face of her brother standing in front of her, she knew Ash his features were as symmetrical as her if not more. It made them look unnaturally perfect. Except that their skin had a hint of blue to it which was getting deeper.

As looked at Sheetal wearily and took a step back “I am going to sleep.”

“Hold on. Why are you not coming to training?” Sheetal asked.

“What’s the point, She?”

“The point is we need to learn how to work with each other.”

“She, I am tired of this boring rocky training montage.”

Sheetal narrowed her eyes “Did you say Rocky?”

“Yeah.” Ash yawned.

She needed him to be off guard to catch him. “I thought you didn’t know that guy?” Sheetal asked.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“Hmmm…?” Ash who was moving towards the door stopped and asked “Yeah I didn’t. Then you kept thinking about this whole situation as a Rocky movie thing. Seriously that guy played a boxer? With all that muscle?” Ash snorted and continued “I just know him as the bomb guy from the movie with the hot bath scene with that Basic Instinct... Ahhh…”

Sheetal shot out a wave of binding magic and shot her hand out. She lifted Ash up restraining him in the air.

“She?”

“Hold on.”

“To what?”

Sheetal brought up her other hand and made a grabbing gesture. This world was not a world but an imitation. Still, she was a binder. And she had bound everything around her. And now the reality around her obeyed her will.

Sheetal flicked two of her fingers and the clothes on Ash’s body turned to wisps and disappeared.

Ash looked at her blankly.

Sheetal ignored him. She needed to know if she was going crazy or was Ash going through the same thing too. Sheetal mind raced. Cataloguing the changes to Ash’s body. His skin was turning blue too. However, unlike her, his changes were going in the opposite way.

Ash didn’t look anything like what he had looked like when they had first met. He was lean, muscular, and scarred. All that had changed when he had first levelled his density shard. He had literally burnt his skin and mass off. And the result was that he had looked emaciated. In the dreamscape he was shorter, effeminate, but he was still him. Now he didn’t look like anything like he was. Heck, he didn’t look like what he was a month ago.

He looked soft.

He wasn’t muscular. He wasn’t lean. He wasn’t athletic. And he should have been all that because he couldn’t help doing cartwheels, flips and rolls. And still he looked soft.

Sheetal who had raised herself to catch Ash lowered herself back to her chair with a thoughtful look.

“Hello?” Ash asked and struggle in the air.

“Why are you soft?”

Ash looked at Sheetal “Excuse me?”

Sheetal shook her head “Not like that you freak?”

“Hey nerd, you literally spread me like the renaissance man. And I am the freak?”

Sheetal flicked her finger and Ash dropped to the floor on soft feet.

“Renaissance man. You know classical art and I am the nerd.” Sheetal responded in mutter that was soft and has a hint of fear in it.

“She? What’s wrong?”

“We are danav, Ash.”

“I know.”

“Ash, the birthmarks on my hands and feet are gone. The one in between my toes is also missing.” Sheetal explained.

“Um…”

“He did it.” Sheetal continued in a small voice “Ghost said that he would change us. But… I didn’t think it would be so complete.”

Ash slowly walked to Sheetal. Clothes appearing on his body out of nowhere and sat down next to her.

“Danav, Ash. What does that even mean? Are we monsters now?” Sheetal asked and wiped her eyes. When Ash didn’t answer Sheetal gave him an irritated look “It wasn’t a rhetorical question, Ash.”

Ash sighed “A Danav is a half Deva and a half Daitya.”

“What does that mean?”

“A Daitya is an asura. A deva is deity. I think someone, somewhere got freaky and puff here we are.” Ash explained with a smile

“Will you be serious?”

“I am being serious, She.”

“Why do you even know this stuff?” Sheetal asked and added “Why did they teach you these things?”

“They?” Ash chuckled and continued “I had normal teachers, She. Sure, my schooling was more personalised. But it was done to win over a Hindu Nationalist crowd. I was supposed to be the black sheep of the family. The one who went to the other side of the political barrier. Appealed to the temple going crowd and won a seat from there. So that my mother could always have influence.”

“Like you brother?” Sheetal asked.

Ash gave Sheetal a pained smile “Yes. It didn’t work with me. My sexuality got in the way.”

“What happened?”

“My mother saw an opportunity. She told me to go and entertain westerners and convince them to sell us their weapon systems.”

Sheetal scowled “I hate you mother.”

“No, you don’t. You don’t even know her.”

“I know enough.”

“She. Kavita Stalin is good for India. There is a reason why people always defer to my family. We have sacrificed and led our people for two hundred years.”

“Yeah, but you are the one who is always sacrificing not your mother, and not your brother.”

Ash smiled “She, Kavita Stalin is no longer my mother. The only family I have is you.”

Sheetal looked up and smiled. She couldn’t help but gather Ash in hug. Sure, it required more use of her power and annoyed Ash, who struggled in her embrace.

“I love you too baby brother.”

“Baby?” Ash muffled voice came from her chest “Get those things out of my face.”

“They are called breast Ash.” Sheetal laughed.

Ash separated himself and grumbled “And I never said anything about love. You are mine She. That means you are only person I care about in this world.”

Sheetal ruffled Ash’s hair, taking care not to pull on his strands. They were sensitive. If touched normally they tickled, if handled roughly shot a spike of pain into their brain but when handled with care, turned him into a purring kitten.

Ash melted in Sheetal’s arms and when Sheetal chuckled, he changed the topic “Danav. Do you know why I don’t mind being one. And neither should you. Danavs were neither good nor bad. They were like humans. They could be good. They could be evil. But mostly they opposed overbearing deities.”

“Then why do we not have a good image of them in our myths?”

“Because they got their butt whooped. And history is written by the victors.” Ash began and when Sheetal hand stoke one of his strands gently sighed. It wasn’t just the sensation. That was pleasant. It was also the affection he could feel from their link.

Sheetal stopped. Ash raised his head with a conflicted look. He wanted to break away from Sheetal and at the same time wanted her to play with her hair.

Sheetal snorted “We need to do something about our strands.”

Ash’s shoulders slumped and in a dejected voice he sighed “Yeah.”

Day 671

Ash walked past ghost and Sheetal’s picnic spot and asked “So, are you dead yet?”

He kept walking and for a brief second and Ash caught Ghost’s lips twitching down.

Ash grinned “Not cool when things don’t work out, isn’t it.”

“They will work out. I just need some time.”

Ash reached the end of the tree line and disappeared in a flash.

Ghost didn’t react and ignored Ash.

Instead, he looked at Sheetal. She was the warder who would listen. He couldn’t deny the fact that Ash had been his first choice to get what he wanted, and he still was, but Sheetal had earned his respect. She was a very intelligent young woman who was proving to be a genius. Her use of scientific calculations, natural physical forces alongside magic had made him reassess her potential, twice.

That last time he had to do that was when he had deployed a horde of elemental at her and the seven. In response he had expected her to use danav ability to bind a few of them. Instead, she had created a tornado using her shards and bound that to her will and decimated the elements. When everyone looked at her in the aftermath she had shrugged and just said.

“Heat rises guys.”

And now his admiration for her mental capacity and capability was at an all-time high. So, when she decided to converse about a theory or a new finding, he dropped everything and joined her. After all, who knew, he might learn a few things from her.

“So, potentiality has bands.” Sheetal instructed rather than asked “According to you that is because potentiality is light.”

“Yes.”

“And light has wavelength.”

“Exactly.”

“And our bodies store potentiality.”

“Hmm…mmm.”

“So why can’t we use a specific band of potentiality rather than all of it. It will make the energy last longer and empower the effect we are trying to achieve.”

Ghost sighed “Sheetal, why would you want to do that? Think about it. Why would you want to stand still and concentrate on one effect when you can use external tools to do it much faster?”

Sheetal far away eye focussed on Ghost.

Her feelings towards Ghost were complicated. Had he mistreated them. Yes. Had he forced them into becoming danavs. Yes. But Sheetal knew that all he wanted now was to prepare them for the Raks. And now he was scheming in their favour.

That alongside the font of knowledge he was turning out to be a swaying Sheetal in his favour. And almost two years into this relationship she could help but look forward to their conversation. No, she craved them.

Ash was nice and she loved him, but he was a brat. Ghost was the one she enjoyed interacting with.

Because everytime she began to theorise and brainstorm Ash ran away with words like “I can’t think so much. Leave me alone.”

And then he spent most of his time wandering around and scheming, and humming that obnoxious jingle. Somewhere along the way he had found a way to break the meadow. The first time he had done it and appeared on the opposite side of where he had disappeared with a baffled expression Ghost had chuckled.

“You are a breaker remember?”

Now her gods danged brother had made a game of walking in a straight line and disappearing.

“It doesn’t make sense.” Sheetal finally said. The effect of just using on bandwidth for a particular effect should act like a multiplier.”

Ghost shook his head and continued his explanation to Sheetal “Lady warder, you need to stop thinking of potentiality as an energy flowing through conduits. Instead, think of it as sound. It is everywhere. Even in darkness. It flows through everything. Some of it seeps into you, your shards and through those mediums into your soul. Limiting yourself to a band of light, is inadvisable.”

“What if my body likes one band of light more than others? What is I am allergic to a particular type of light?”

“That’s not how it works. We are creatures of light. And anyway, it is our souls that process potentiality and feed it to our body.”

“Explain the soul to me once again please.” Sheetal asked.

“A soul being a multi dimensional expression of you.”

“That’s what I don’t get. We live in three dimensional world. Everything we interact with is in a 3D world. Things you can touch, see and feel. If the soul is mutidimensional why can’t we interact with those dimensions.”

“And smell.” Ash yelled from a distance.

Ghost and Sheetal ignored Ash, Ghost continued “Sheetal have you ever lost yourself in work or entertainment. And hours later looked at the time and realised how fast time had passed.”

“Yeah, we call it being in the zone.”

“I call it having fun.” Ash yelled from the edge of the spot.

“Being in the zone. I like it.” Ghost nodded.

Sheetal shook her head “Yes, but that’s because I am doing something with three dimensional objects.”

“But is your mind absorbed in the task?” Ghost asked and explained “When you are in the zone, as you say, your sensory inputs fade into the background. You stop hearing peripheral sounds. Soon, even the feeling from the tactile objects like stylus or a pad do not register anymore. And then you lose yourself to work. That you compartmentalise sensory inputs and let your mind and your soul take charge leaving your body behind.”

Ash appeared on the other side and sighed loudly. He plopped down to the floor and pleaded “Stop ignoring me.”

Ghost continued “I saw you interacting with my bracelet.”

“I like that pretty thing.” Ash said offhandedly.

“Thank you.” Ghost smiled “It belonged to my wife.”

Sheetal saw Ghost’s smile become pained and his eyes reflect the pain he felt. Despite everything this man had done to her and Ash, the mutilation, the pain, the torture she couldn’t help but feel for the man. He had taught them more about this world with his words and actions than she could have learnt on her own.

“I am going to take from your cold dead hands.” Ash glared at Ghost.

Sheetal being so closely tied to Ash often forgot that her brother didn’t feel empathy for anyone but himself. And her. He was awesome. She was awesome and no one else mattered. The way his mind worked and was strange but comforting to her.

After two years of being linked with Ash, Sheetal had figured out how he worked. Lacking empathy, Ash worked on a simple philosophy. Whether someone was his or not. If you were his, he would kill everything that looked the wrong way at you. And if you weren’t then you didn’t matter. And Sheetal was firmly above the mine category. That both annoyed her and made him love Ash even more.

Ghost, did not enjoy the dubious pleasure of being in the mine list. Ash was open to it unlike when they had first got here. But whatever had happened in between them had made him elevate Ghost a tier or two. He didn’t tell the old man that. In fact, he was both annoyed and appreciative of Ghost. But whatever was going on in between the two men right now, needed to get sorted out if Ghost wanted to get on the list.

“We are ascended in a trial Ash. We turn to ash.” Ghost chuckled

“Fine.” Ash sighed “I will pick it up, dust it off, wash it and take it.”

“Still angry?” Ghost asked with a coy smile.

“Yes!”

“Anyway.” Ghost smiled “As I was saying, Sheetal. I saw you interacting with my bracelet. I presume, you come from a world where your technology is still based on touch?”

“Yes. And voice.”

“Huh. Well, that explains it. You are having a hard time understanding the concept of soul because you haven’t integrated your technology into your minds. Once you do that you will realise your body and sometimes even your mind are subsidiary organs for your soul. We all find that out when we install our first neurochip.”

“Like a neurolink?” Sheetal’s eye widened.

“A what?” Ash asked

“That thing Musk wants to put inside people’s brains.”

“Oh. That monitoring device the yanks use.” Ash scowled.

Sheetal and Ghost looked at Ash.

“Yeah, it exists. Why do you think Assange shut up?” Ash looked at Sheetal as if she was stupid.

“Our neuro chips were initially designed to collect data from all our senses and store them for later. They were created to transmit sensory data from the field to surveillance centres.” Ghost continued and explained “That is when we learned that sometimes our brains stop actively thinking. And that is when we have our greatest insights. Feelings like that of being watched, apprehension when you entered a dangerous place, getting goosebumps while turning around the corner, all didn’t register in data.”

Ghost grinned “Then we put the neuro chips in our scientists. Do you know what we found?

The eureka moments when an insight dawned registered nothing. The who chip went dead for a second. It didn’t even display the elapsed time. One other thing we found out. Every time a sentient is lost in those moments, when they come out, they all look at the time. We believed that it is a reflex action of the body and mind to make sure that they are in the three dimensions of its origin.”

“Skibiddi gyatt! I didn’t get a word of what you said.” Ash sang again and laughed “I am going to call it all the councillor tax.”

“Stop getting insecure Ash.” Sheetal huffed.

“Yes. It is a difficult explanation for everyone.” Ghost tried to lift the boy’s spirit.

“I am not insecure. I am awesome.” Ash harrumphed and asked “How did we get from punching to things with mister fantasy hands to whatever you both are talking about?”

“Mister fantastic arms, Ash.” Sheetal corrected.

“Nah, I like mine better. It is naughtier.”

“As I was saying…” Ghost continued “Your body stores potentiality by sucking it up from the air. And that how you use potentiality by pushing it into your shards to run fast or hover in your sister’s case. Similarly, ghost step, the first part of doom step, does the same thing in reverse. Projecting a punch, a kick or throwing magic with the help of a limb that’s not there all requires an understanding of soul.”

Ash’s eyes glazed over midway through the explanation “So, I can do it?”

Ghost sighed “Yes.” And after a pause added “With time and practice.”

“What is the point of all this blah blah.” Ash threw his hand up in the air “Just teach me. We are running out of time.”

Sheetal turned to look at Ash “What do you mean?”

“She. We are going to wake up soon. I just hope I remember this dream. I have plans you know.”

Sheetal turned sharply to look at Ghost.

“Oh. That.” Ghost grinned “Don’t worry. I am transferring all the data from your clone brains to your bodies. Soon your brain wave patterns will sync, and you won’t need the brains in breakers.”

“Aaa… What the fud?” Sheetal squeaked.

Ghost turned to Ash “You didn’t tell her?”

Ash groaned “Ghost. Why? Why?!”

“Does that mean you cloned us and killed us. And now we are duplicates of ourselves?” Sheetal asked in a rush and muttered “Oh my gods. We are dead, aren’t we?”

“Relax lady warder.” Ghost said in a calming tone.

“You relax you mad murderous mud brained freak!” Sheetal screamed.

“Mad murderous mud brained freak.” Ash mouthed in appreciation

“Lady warder.” Ghost said in sterner voice and continued “Do you remember what I told you when you got here? This is how we create augs? Not only do we create augs here, but this is also how we train augs them to accept their new bodies. They come here with biological bodies. Often those bodies are beyond repair. That includes their brains. So, we clone their brains and train them to think again and reuse their shards. It is a normal procedure.”

“Then why are we blue?” Sheetal spat out.

“Actually, you are not blue enough. Your brain is reconnecting to your soul. That is why you have started to see changes in yourselves. When your body starts to connect you will be able to control this reality as easily as Ash does. And on a wider scale.”

Ash grinned “And that’s what he is afraid of.”

“That doesn’t mean you will remember everything that happened here. Some parts, like the ones from the beginning when your soul’s grip on your bodies was tenuous, will be hazy.” Ghost continued.

Sheetal narrowed her eyes “What does that mean?”

“Okay, so like when you go on a date in your dreams.” Ash began to explain “You know the kind where you don’t remember what you said or what they said but clearly remember being used by a man, his woman and their trans friend while tied up? That what he means.” Ash smiled dreamily “Speaking of which, this is the worst dream I have ever had.”

Ghost looked at Sheetal and said “Thank you.”

Sheetal shook her head “Yeah, I had to put an end to that.”

Ash opened his mouth wide and looked at Sheetal “What does the murderous mud brained freak mean?”

“Ash nobody wants to see someone they care about like… Tied up like that!”

Ash worked his jaw and sulked “Not nice, She.”

“Ash, you were tied up with chains while people were doing things to you. I thought you were having a nightmare. Not fun.”

Ash sat up and looked at Sheetal sharply “What did you do?”

Sheetal hesitated.

“What did you do!?” Ash asked in a half shout.

“I sort of lost my temper and might have launched that thing I was working on at the people next to you. Next thing I know, the building, your dystopian city and you are gone. Then you appeared again. In a radioactive wasteland putting on a floral shirt hoping to get it ripped oof by three people.”

“You nuked me?”

“I thought…” Sheetal began sharply and with a sigh muttered “You know.”

“And you nuked me!”

“It was a… There was error in my calculation.”

“A moment Ash.” Ghost stopped Ash with a gesture and asked Sheetal “Could you elaborate on what you were trying to do and what you are doing now?”

“I am trying to create a torpedo. Full of hyper agitated energy molecules that would explode on impact and create a splash damage with its residue.”

“But it turned into a nuke. Are you compressing the matter?”

“And irradiating it.” Sheetal nodded.

“Sheetal when you are shooting out plasma it needs to have a magnetic delivery method. That is what will anchor it to the target.” Ghost grinned “Let me guess. Your containment field is failing before the matter turns into plasma.”

“Yes.” Sheetal nodded.

Ghost laughed “You need to keep the plasmatic matter in a different dimension to do that. Then all you have to do is deliver it.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Sheetal asked.

“With a dimension shard and magnetic shard.”

“Oh great, she is going to kill me.” Ash shook his head and glared at Ghost “You know she can’t aim, right?”

Ghost held up a hand to stop Ash and continued “But using a dimension shard is not as easy. You don’t just push potentiality into it. First you have to use potentiality to build a space slightly off resonance and then to keep it open. And that’s the easy part. Feeding it while you sleep, or unconscious is the hard bit. Ask E65 about that. He has one.”

Ghost turned to look at Ash “Now, Ash. I am not going to rebuke anyone if they don’t want to look at your deranged fantasy. In fact, I am going to thank them. Thank you, Sheetal.”

“You are welcome, Ghost.”

Ash pointed his finger at the two and opened his mouth “Weren’t you both fighting right now?”

Flash.

Needles appeared on the large lawn in front of the mansion and looked around.

“Neeeeeedles! Help. They are ganging up on me.” Ash pointed at the councillor and Sheetal.

Taran 45 couldn’t help but smile which he quickly covered up with his explanation “Sheetal one more thing, when you do acquire a dimension shard, which will be very hard to do, your control needs to be perfect with it. A feather here or there and you will risk cracking your shard.”

Sheetal grimaced “Yeah I don’t want that to happen again.”

“Let’s not talk about that now. I have repaired the damage but in future when you acquire a shard, I hope you will let me instruct you before you use it. And do not keep information like a broken or cracked shard from me anymore.”

“It’s healed now?”

Ghost closed his eyes “Shards are supposed to slowly crystallise in your soul and get absorbed. By cracking your shard you made it weaker. If I wasn’t transforming myself, and could see the issue, you would have hampered your growth. It is fixed now. And in complete balance with your other shards. But be careful in the future.”

Sheetal nodded and looked at Ash who was waving his hands about wildly complaining about all of his misery to an exasperated Needles.

“Why is it so important that our shards are balanced?”

“Because shards become a part of your soul.” Ghost looked at Sheetal as if all his instructions had gone to waste.

“Yes, I know, when you absorb your shards you level up and you want your shards to be perfect at that time. But, say, if I don’t want to focus on wind can’t I just keep it the way it is?”

“Still smarting about the fact that you can’t aim?”

“He is a flipping axe.” Sheetal stopped and tried to correct her words “I mean his is a… Ah!”

Ghost chuckled “I get what you were trying to say. You should concentrate on building a wide area effect. Why kill one elemental when you can crush three? Also, I am working on getting you magnetic and dimension shards. It won’t be easy, and you might have to go and get it for yourself. But then you won’t have to worry about not being able to aim so much.”

“See…?” Ash pointed at Sheetal and Ghost while dragging Needles by a hand.

Needles glared at Ghost.

“What is it specialist medic?”

“You have increased the cycles of the dreamscape and locked it from inside.” Needles stated in a flat tone.

“Yes.”

“I had to ask the system to let me in.”

“Were you stopped?”

“No. It said I had access because I was the warders physician.”

“There you go.”

Needles glare hardened and settled on the councillor “Why? What are you doing here?”

“Teaching.”

Needles cheek twitched in supressed anger “High councillor, they are my patients. If I am afraid of stepping inside a time dilated zone, I can’t attend to them.”

“I sped things up. Not slowed them down. You won’t lose anytime here.”

“It would have been helpful if I had known.”

“Needles.” Ghost smiled “I need to finish their training. Tell me, have my efforts hindered or helped the warders?”

Needles remained silent.

“With me speeding up the cycles on the dreamscape the med pods their mental reading were mapped faster than anathema could mutate their brains. Now the medpods know what to focus on and what to change.”

“You couldn’t have known…” Needles spat out.

“Of course I did.” Ghost cut Needles off and said “I orchestrated this plan.”

“You didn’t expect the ripple to show up.”

“No. But expected the Khara to do what they do. Meddle in mortal and immortal affairs.”

“Why?” Needles asked.

“We need to prepare them for what is coming Needless. They are still behind schedule. I need to stuff as much information I can in their minds before I send them out to fight. They are not ready yet.”

Sheetal looked in between Ghost and Needles. On one hand Needles had stood up for them against her whole organisation. On the other was Ghost. He had wronged them but, he had also helped them.

“I hate it when mom and dad fight don’t you, She?” Ash asked in a loud whisper.

“What do you know about having a dad? Didn’t your mother just bang someone to pop you out?” Sheetal asked with a raised eyebrow.

“That is… That is…” Ash paused and nodded appreciatively “That is a nice burn, She. I should have researched your family dynamics to shoot one back at you.”

Sheetal grinned.

Needles harsh look turned softer as she looked at Ash and Sheetal banter. She finally spoke “Warders. I hate to do this, but Councillor Ruby F would like to speak to you. Do I have you permission to bring her in?”

Sheetal looked at both Needles and Ghost and they could see the conflict on her face.

Ash grinned “Oh?”

Now that something new was happening Sheetal could feel the anticipation from him. So much so that for a moment that for a moment he had dropped humming that annoying jingle.

In that short moment Sheetal could feel a rapid series of thoughts shoot through his tiny brain only leaving one though behind. Finally, after almost two years he was seeing one of his pieces move. And was looking forward to finding out which one it was.

Ash quite literally rubbed his hands together and danced on the spot.

“Oh good. Good. Good. Good. Good.” Ash sang and when everyone looked at him he added “Umm… I just mean I get to speak to someone that will speak normally.”

Ghost sighed “We’ll get back to soul and its quantum capabilities later Sheetal. Ash, be careful. I don’t need to tell you that you are delving into politics.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Ash waved his hand impatiently and looked at Needles “Bring her in.”

Needles looked at Sheetal for her agreement.

Sheetal nodded “Go ahead Needles. Bring her in.”

Flash.

Captain Ruby F blinked her eyes rapidly and focussed them on the warders.

“Warders. I have a few questions.”

“Hello, captain of the starship Jean-Luc Kirk.”

Sheetal cringed and muttered “Enterprise Ash. Enterprise.”

Ruby F looked baffled for a second and realised her faux paus. She started again.

“Hello warder. We are sorry to disturb you, but would you mind answering a few questions for me?”

Ash shrugged “Hey we are your prisoners. Afraid of more pain. Go ahead. Ask and we will answer.”

Ruby F grimaced and shot a glare at the High Councillor “Very well. Tell me how you know the Asura, Kapas.”

“Who?” Sheetal asked.

At the same time Ash fist pumped “Nice!” He looked up at the sky and screamed “Finally, what kind of bear are you? How long did I have to dangle my butt in front of your face?”

Ruby F turned to Ash “Well, warders? How do you know him?”

Ash grinned “Oh we ran into him. Killed forty fifty of his people. Rescued your people. And made a lasting impression on our first date. In response, you all did this to us.”

Ruby F wasn’t surprised by the hostility she was facing but the rudeness was grating.

“What are we talking about?” Sheetal asked for clarification.

“The Goro looking guy, She.”

“Oh! Kapasura. Yeah, he wanted to be friends.”

“I know. I have been thinking of those thick fingers on those four arms. They were…”

“Ash!”

“Fine.” Ash relented.

Ruby F looked from one warder to another and sighed “Kapasura sent us a message. Actually, he sent you a message through us. May I play for you?”

The warders nodded and Ruby waved her hand forward.

Two brown hooded men stood opposite a man in armour. With a start they realised that it was an elemental. And it wasn’t made from one element. It was made of stone and fire. A magma elemental.

One of the two men opposing the elemental raised a clawed hand and twisted it. A spiralling drill of wind out of it. It impacted the rock man, and the flames winked out. The second man blurred into motion and cleaved with a large sword. The sword that had appeared out of nowhere shot out an arc of energy that split the towering man into too.

“Whooo… It’s like watching Bleach.” Ash whooped

“Wait, you know bleach?” Sheetal asked

“Yes.”

“But not, Star Wars or Star Trek?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“It’s good.”

“It’s in Japanese. Or did you watch the dubbed version?”

“Nah., I had to pirate it. Couldn’t leave a digital marker there. So, Japanese it was.”

“Why go through so much effort?

Ash made a weighing scale gesture with his hand “She. One side we have hot anime boys, small chested women, and hunky Byakuya. And on the other we have an old man and painted prop aliens. What do you think I will watch?”

Ruby F looked at Ghost who was sitting on a log silently chuckling. She turned to Needles. She was standing stone faced in front of her, but her eyes had an amused look to them. And there she was, a councillor of the continuum being totally ignore.

“Warders. Focus!” Ruby F scolded and played the paused recording.

The swordsman turned and lowered his hood revealing a familiar handsome face with an underbite. He smiled at whoever or whatever was recording the message. And then tuned to face the camera fully.

“Warders. Tired of the continuum yet? Have they locked you in a room somewhere and threatened you to do what they want? Or are they pampering you to turn you into their tools?” Kapasura asked in jovial tone “If so. Look we have elementals. I killed these one. But there are more. And there are mutated creatures that are going to come after you and your metal clad servants. I can’t kill them. Empire business you know. So, here is an advanced warning. You can thank me by coming to the spire on top of the sink hole. We must talk. I will bring the madera. You can bring the snacks.”

The video stopped at the bottle of rosy liquid dangling from two of Kapasura’s fingers.

Ruby F waved her hand and made the video go away.

“Warders, that is a very friendly tone from a Rak.” Ruby F said suspiciously.

“Yeah, what about it? You going to kill us for that now?” Sheetal narrowed her eyes and growled.

Ruby F gritted her teeth and glared at Sheetal. She wanted to threaten the girl, but she had no way of doing that. Instead, she scowled at Ghost “You know threatening someone really doesn’t work when they are not attached to a body, high councillor.”

Ghost grinned “Or with a ripple watching over them. All of this, Captain, is by design. My design. They are warders. I am not going to let you or anyone else control them.”

“I guess the only one who controls them is you?” Ruby F hissed “Then tell them what Raks do to world they conquer.”

Ghost casually turned to look at Ash “Ash. Sheetal. Raks are like locusts. They go to a world, eat everything on it. Leave a few people behind to reproduce and then go do it all over again.”

“So, they are, farmers?” Ash chuckled.

“There.” Ghost looked at Ruby F and gestured at Ash “I have told them.”

Ruby F glared at Ghost.

In the silence Ash tapped his foot and muttered “We should have gone with the four armed guy. For a farmer he is hot.”

“They are cannibals, Ash.” Sheetal reminded her brother.

“No, She, they are not even of our species. And by that definition, what is the continuum? Thankless kidnappers who are racists, speciest, amoral mutilators? What are we? We don’t even have bodies.”

Sheetal chuckled “We are ghosts with Ghost.”

Ash closed his eyes “Oh god. Please never do that again. You are not punny”

“Point taken.” Sheetal nodded

“I know you are worried about what happens next, but you need to come to terms with that, She.”

“But we have never been able to beat the raks, even in simulations. And we have never faced an asura.”

Ruby F looked at Ghost. He had a pensive look on his face. The specialist medic next to him was glaring holes into the High Councillor. She herself felt shamed by the warders words but she didn’t show it. Instead, she nodded curtly and said “Yes, you need come to terms with what the High Councillor has done and get to work.”

“Work?” Sheetal folded his hand and asked “Why would we want to work?”

“You are warders. You have a mission to protect us.”

“How would we even do that? We don’t even have bodies.” Ash grinned.

“You have bodies. Perfectly good ones. You just need to accept them.” Ruby F scowled.

Your body has mutated and changed.

Cause – Anathematic Mutation.

A race with 81% genetic match to your body has existed in the past.

Race Name – Danav

You may add a prefix to the race name with variations of New, Modern, etc.

This change will act as your acceptance to reintegrate with your body.

You may also continue with the old name of your new species.

Add a new name?

Yes or no?

“Oh, you mean this?” Sheetal pulled out the notification and displayed it. She hit yes and a box popped open.

“I would but, it not taking my response. Look” Sheetal pointed at the pop up “

“Human.” Sheetal tried.

The notifications box buzzed unhappily.

“Awesome.” Ash shouted with the same result.

“Manushya?” Sheetal tried a new one.

“More awesome?" Ash asked

“Woman.”

“Wowsome.” Ash pleaded

“Homosapien.”

Ash grinned and in suggestive tone wagged his eyebrows “Homo erotic.”

“Ewww.” Sheetal glared at Ash “And don’t make that face.”

Ruby F gritted her teeth and took a step forward “Warders!”

Needles stepped in front of the shorter woman “Councillor, I think it’s time for you to leave.” Needles said in a calm voice.

Ruby F snarled “Get out of my way, specialist medic.”

“Councillor, there is a ripple monitoring us. Please calm yourself and leave.”

Ruby F stopped took in a breath and glared at Sheetal. Her glare turned to Ghost who was barely holding his laughter at bay.

“High councillor, when are you planning to return from your absentia?”

“Ghost?” Ash looked at the man and added “I think it’s time to let go? Don’t you think it is time to let go?”

Ghost smiled “I guess it is.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby F asked.

Ghost closed his eyes and exhaled “There. It’s done.”

“So, you dead yet?”

Ghost’s body glitched. He suddenly held his midsection in pain and let out a slow steady breath.

Ash laughed “Oh, that looked.” He grimaced and asked “How did you hide the pain until now?”

“I was taught to ignore the pain remember?”

“What are you talking about!?” Ruby F screamed

“Ghost is dead. All hail the new Ghost” Ash announced in a dramatic voice and then turned to the medic “Needles. When his body turns to ash can you get his bracelet for me. I want that thing. And the doom step tokens too please.”

Needles turned to look at Ghost “High councillor?”

Ghost gave Needles a defeated look “Fine, you can have it. Just don’t break it, okay.”

“High councillor. I think you need to explain yourself.” Ruby F pressed.

“Captain, the ripple. It judged me. It said I had a life debt to the warders. It only gave me two options. Either I could serve the warders for the rest of my existence, or it would punish every continuum soul around us. I did all of this to save the continuum. So, I chose this.”

“Wow! Does that mean you are my… What are you of me, Ghost?” Ash asked in a taunting tone.

Sheetal floated to Ghost “Ash. Stop!” Sheetal reached for Ghost and rested a hand on his shoulder “Are you okay?”

Ghost nodded wordlessly.

Sheetal glared at her brother “Ash thinks the light twisted your insides?”

“More like untwisted my insides.”

Ash snapped his fingers “Your like Alexa. Or Google home. Or like ChatGPT? I don’t know. I have always wanted to have a digital assistant.”

“Shut your fool mouth.” Ruby F growled “You are talking about the High Councillor of the Continuum. Not some algorithm to do some simple tasks.”

Ash turned a cool look on Ruby F. His voice was level but sharp “No, I am talking about a manipulative freakazoid. Who held us in captivity and experimented on us. And now he can’t live up to his promises. So, now I am going to hold him as a hostage and… and…”

Ash voice grew in pitch as he snarled “And…, She here… She is going to experiment on him. Until he is a miserable pile of rotting meat under my feet.”

“Ash.” Sheetal said in a calming tone

Ash angry eyes turned to Sheetal “Don’t!”

“Ash.”

“You were crying.”

“It’s in the past.”

“He made you cry.” Ash pointed at Ghost “This weak old thing made you cry. Nothing is in the past.”

Sheetal folded her arms “I am not going to experiment on him.”

“Why!?” Ash shrieked, kicked a stone, and stomped the ground.

“Because that is wrong.”

Ash clawed the air in frustration “She, when people hurt you, you hurt them back. You hurt them back so hard that they never even think about meeting your eyes. That is how you set an example so that no one else messes with you. That’s how you remain safe.”

“Also, I am not going to experiment on him because he is not alive anymore. This is Ghost’s copy.”

“More like his soul?” Ash grumbled.

“I don’t believe in souls.”

Ash exhaled “You actually think, you are copy of a consciousness?”

“Yes!” Sheetal stressed “Look according to simulation theory we are all constructs. If light is what they say it is. Then it can be coded to take instructions. Then we are nothing but NPCs in grand game.”

Ash groaned “She… Why do you have such a hard time believing that you are awesome?”

“What?”

“You are special, She. And that comes from what is inside you.” Ash pointed at Sheetal’s chest.

Sheetal rolled her eyes “Okay, Ash. Fine.” She looked down at him with an affectionate smile “That is nice. But why do you believe in souls anyway? Weren’t you a raised as an atheist?”

Ash exhaled loudly “She atheist have nothing against souls. It’s god or gods, that is a problem. Honestly, it is not even that. It’s religion that they have a problem with. Because religious institutions gather power and flex it.”

Sheetal exhaled “You are cynical.”

“No, She, I am a realist who knows everything is always about power. As is everything. Like this one.” Ash pointed at Ruby F “She is wondering if Ghost is actually dead and if she could fill the power vacuum he left behind.”

Ash was deflecting the soul question, and Sheetal knew it “What are you hiding?”

Ash hesitated for a bit and then chuckled. He pointedly looked at Ghost and in a whimpering child like voice he answered “I see dead people.”

“What?” Sheetal asked.

“It’s from the fifth sense.”

“Sixth.” Sheetal corrected automatically and shook her head “What do you mean you see dead people?”

Ash sighed “Isn’t it obvious? I can see souls, She.”

“What? Wait. What? How? When? Where? How? What!?”

Ash groaned “And that’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“Wait a minute? What do they look like?” Sheetal asked zipping after a running Ash.

“Not answering your questions.” Ash ran.

Sheetal flew after him “Stop!”

“Leave me alone.”

While the warders argued and chased after each other and Ghost sat on his favourite log and laughed.

Needles and Ruby F looked at him and then opened their eyes in the large open hall with the med pods. They looked at JJ standing next to a chair with floating bags of liquid around it. They’re eyes drifted downwards at ash flowing down the seat. Along with ash and dust, the High Councillor’s twinkling shards fell. They zipped across the room and into the metal shell of the med pods. The ghost step tokens, favour coins and his belonging fell onto the seat and into the ash. The last thing to fall was a dainty little bracelet. It was the only thing that remained untouched by the ash and dust.

It made a soft sound clinking as it hit the ground which Needles heard like a thud.

“Gods!” Needles muttered under her breath.

“No, specialist medic. The light.” Ruby F whispered from besides her and added “It can be ruthless.”