Chapter 17

  Life Worth Remembering

  Part Two

  “Vega,” Yajvan said, “I want you to explain receiving the title of the blue rank to her.”

  ‘After the Pre-Initiation Day,’ the calm and beautiful ocean turned ferocious. ‘The king summons all rank holders, blue and above, to officialise their ranks.’

  As he took a step forward, his intense gaze pierced through her.

  “Will you, Manya Sahaj,” Yajvan said. “Pledge your unwavering loyalty to Sevavann and the people of this realm?” It was the first time she had heard her full name from someone other than Atharv. Adrenaline pulsed through her, more powerful than ever before. “Will you stand as the protector of our lands, the shield against the encroaching darkness that threatens our frontier?”

  What darkness? Whoever she was, she couldn’t be less than royalty, or maybe the last survivor of a powerful clan. Wait—is MS named after me? Her lips curved upward. Shouldn’t gerix the so-called confidence liquid prevented her from overthinking?

  Yajvan extended his hand, and a shimmering layer of gold hovered just above his palm. To join the world that always felt more familiar to her than the previous one. It would really piss him off if I rejected the offer, isn’t it? She placed her hand on the layer. “I will.” A sharp, low surge of static energy passed through her hand to her brain… and heart.

  With a blue warm layer wrapping itself sophistically over the surface of her attire, an enormous amount of information stressed her eyes. It was the same as when she wore the Soul Layer for the first time, but the contents were greater than a mere body metrics and possible enemy scans. Revealing hundreds of planets and galaxies, each with its own complex infrastructure and distinct alien inhabitants.

  “Damn, she’s more beautiful up close!” A voice reached her ears.

  “I would do anything for her to ride me to a date.”

  The two whales a few metres away diverted Manya’s attention, aiming to charm her with their playful winks and cute expressions. “Why’s this world suddenly going from science to magic?”

  “It’s always science. It’s just the knowledge they have on Earth about substances and their fusions is still lacking,” Yajvan said. “But, they’ll breakthrough their limits at the right time,” he smiled, “And I would love to see that. Vega.”

  ‘Yes, my lord. After officially assigning the rank, the king himself will assign the holder of esteemed rank their first mission. For them to carve their name as the prominent figure in the history of Sevavann.’

  “Thank you, Vega.” he said. Vega went back inside the car. Holding back her excitement.

  “Didn’t you want a photo with him?” Manya said.

  With a giggle, Vega turned the car’s windscreen black.

  “She already got one,” Yajvan said. “When you were busy leering at the information.”

  “… I still can’t swallow the title I have received. I mean, every information that I received in mere seconds tells me one thing. That I became an entity closer to a small God. There are ways to revive the dead and destroying the entire planet with a snap.”

  “Like this,” he snapped his finger. To her surprise, nothing happened. He was probably teasing me, right? She glanced around twice, her eyes darting in every direction to ensure her surroundings were safe.

  “I used to like those snaps, as it caused cool things around me, but now I get a sharp stroke of fear in my heart when I learned the chaos it could cause.”

  With a sound signalling an emergency, she shifted her attention to Vega. “What is it?

  “It’s a signal,” Yajvan said.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Of what?”

  “The end of our conversation.”

  ***

  In a hurry, Vega approached them with a concerned look.

  “What’s wrong?” Manya said. Vega locked her gaze on Yajvan, who was staring at the sunrise. “Vega?”

  “Speak,” Yajvan said.

  What is she, his pet?

  ‘My lord, there’s been an intrusion in the castle. A fugitive has taken over the control of Sevavann’s defence system, and is trying to create a passage for the angles.’

  Vega handed Manya a screen, revealing the figure in her bedroom, lying on the bed with only a semi-transparent white veil. Ira? It’s not our old apartment! To her relief, the veil was at least covering what’s important. “Wait—there are cameras in my bedroom?”

  “At least she’s comfortable,” Yajvan said, ignoring Manya’s words. His gaze fixated on the footage. There was a possibility of him knowing about their relationship and the escape plan she was eager to execute. Even blurred naked, Ira wasn’t sparkling his eyes. He’s definitely gay.

  “She’s my friend and would do nothing to harm me.”

  “Manya, never trust these beings. Start by finding out why systems refer to you by her name.”

  “That’s because it was her who started the C10 to help me out of the chaos.”

  His gaze softened with empathy as they met hers. He formed a device in thin air, which scanned Manya’s face. ‘Ira Wings,’ a male voice announced. A hand scanner appeared on the display. “Place your hand,” Yajvan said. Being hesitant, she placed her hand. ‘Ira Wings,’ the voice again announced.

  “But, how?”

  “No idea. Manya, not only here or Earth, but in the entire universe, your biometrics will refer to you as Ira. There is no existence of a human name—Manya Sahej in the cosmos.”

  “It… It can’t be Ira. She is my friend.”

  “Then why did she lead you to a critical island, instead of Aptitude Facility?”

  “It wasn’t her. It was your faulty technology.”

  “Your second mission was to gather intel, along with refugees on a dwarf planet against species far weaker than the ones you fought on Revivification land. Her goal was to enter Sevavann along with her slave,” he said. In the live feed, Karulsh walked to the bed from the balcony and kneeled next to Ira. Another screen appeared before her. A large fleet of angel’s ariots were approaching the planet. “When did you meet her?”

  Her eyes widened. “… When I was trying to find a way into MS.”

  “MS?”

  “There was a device in mamu’s office with its logo. I thought I’ll get closer to his whereabouts by inspecting it.” The veil around Ira turned to wings followed by a white patterned attire and sooner Ira gazed straight into the camera. “All this, just so they could enter this planet?”

  “Why else?”

  “But how could anyone get control over the security of such an advance planet?”

  “Vega,” Yajvan said. As Vega slowly tilted her head straight, her gaze locked with his, and in that instant, she collapsed and crumpled to the ground.

  “Vega! What happened?” Manya said. “He is handsome, but not faint worthy.” She tried various tactics to wake her up, but Vega looked as peaceful as someone who had just finished a long, exhausting day at trekking, with a contented smile on her face.

  Yajvan approached them and knelt down. As he grabbed Vega’s hand, her eyes shot open as if a surge of electricity jolted through her.

  “You alright?” Yajvan said. She nodded nervously. “Care to explain to her about a certain perk of high rankers?”

  Vega nodded again and turned to Manya, shocking her with the intimate tension between them.

  Manya shot a glare at Yajvan. “You touched her?”

  “Vega, ignore her.”

  ‘A blue ranker, holds the authority to alter the defence mechanism of Sevavann, as per her/his liking, without a formal discussion with the superiors.’

  Her eyes were still fixated on Vega’s hand. “… Why would you give so much power to a mere employee or a member?”

  ‘Achieving blue rank is near to impossible among the natives.’

  Manya doubted, unsure if her path towards MS was truly deserving of the prestigious blue rank. She questioned if her efforts were enough.

  “One should respect the stature they had received,” Yajvan said. “Either facing the torturing turmoil or by walking on a path easier than others, but I must tell, no path to this position is ever easier. And never doubt your abilities. Because it will only defame the ones who had deemed you worthy.”

  “Can you read mind?” Manya said. “And look at you two, trying to suppress a girl who’s on advance kind of drug.”

  “Now you are ready to hold your title,” Yajvan said. The countdown to the event he had announced appeared beside them, and was down to 2 minutes.

  “I totally forgot about it. You wanted to keep it a surprise for natives, but you could tell me, right?”

  He smirked. “Oh, yes, yes, sure. Manya your first event, sorry, slip of tongue, your first mission.”

  After officially attaining the blue rank title, she was presented with her first mission.

  Main Objectives: Protect Sevavann from the upcoming war and defeat or capture the fugitives. Ira and Karulsh.

  Side Objectives: Try to be fun and not die.

  “Are you serious? I know I became powerful, but an entire war?” Though she denied being up for the challenge, her mind was already strategizing the steps and weighing the risks involved.

  “I entrust my land to you, as I have my task to fulfil,” he said.

  “Are you leaving?” she rushed to him but blocked by a familiar partition. “What kind of king you are to leave your kingdom when it needs you?”

  “I can’t act against the will of God. If God wants you to fight. You fight.”

  “What if I don’t want to?”

  “Your choice, because now the entire planet knows about your mission, and nobody knows that I am with you. You can choose to not fight, it’s your right, but also be ready to endure the blame and guilt for eternity.”

  He hopped onto his shapeshifting boat.

  “How can you be so mean to your people? You know I won’t abandon them!” Manya said. Why it’s always hard to be nice? “At least answer one last thing!” He paused and faced her. “Am I a, AI?”