The Revelation

Chapter 2

“Hey guys, I have to leave now,” I say to my friends as I pack up my stuff.

       They were too busy chatting but some of them looked at me briefly and waved ‘see ya’s’  while others were still deeply immersed in their conversation. I figured that I wouldn’t be missed anyways so I picked up my bag and made my way out.

      My house is only a stone throw’s away so I began walking. As I made my way home I wondered what the emergency could be. We are generally briefed about our missions beforehand. But the greater pressing issue was whether I could do the right thing if the need arose. I was good at what I did. Moreover, I was living a comfortable life too…so why put everything at risk?

      I paused in front of my house, taking a deep breath and readying myself for all the inevitable questions that would be raised. The house was a duplexed one. The entire block was a residential unit. It was a part of the new city project which accommodated all amenities within a single block. There were rows of individual duplexed houses on either side of the road. This was the living block. The next street was like a jigsaw with shops, entertainment facilities, parks and other amenities spread across a wide area unevenly.

    I knocked on the door. After a few seconds, my mom answered the door. At first she looked cheerful but on seeing me she became worried.

     “Are you feeling all right? Why did you skip college?” she asked when I let myself in.

      “Yeah mom, I’m fine… just feeling a bit of a temperature coming along. I’ll just lie down for a little while,” I replied, not meeting her eyes.

      “Ash…do you—”

      “No mom…I’ll just get myself a paracetamol and rest for a while,” I said, cutting her short. I don’t want to be coddled right now.

       “What’s wrong, Ash? Is something bothering you?” she asked.

       “Mom…” I began but stopped. What should I say? Another lie? But I am tired of lying…and from the way she had framed her question it sounded dangerously close to the fact that she knew the truth and had inkling about the true answer to that question. But that wasn’t possible, was it? Finally I ended up saying, “It’s nothing, really.”

       I made my way towards the stairs. As I climbed, I could feel her eyes on me—following me up the steps. Ignoring her, I entered my room and shut the door behind me. Ignoring the mess of my room, I made my way to the wardrobe which stood next to my bed.

       Opening it, I pushed her clothes aside and slowly removed the Batman poster that was stuck at the back. From behind it I pulled out the Windows phone which was placed in a jagged hole, hidden by the poster. I had carved in that space (compartment, more like) herself using a knife which was probably not a good idea because sometimes splinters scratched my fingers when I retrieved the phone. But for all it was worth, it was a secret location.

     I switched on my phone and entered in the password. The phone vibrated to life.

     3 missed calls! Man, these people were really desperate to get to me. I dialed back. The phone rang a few times before the line was connected.

   Silence.

   “This is A—Two—Five—Zero—Nine,” I said clearly.

   More silence.

       Other people would have thought that the line was dead but I knew the procedure. My voice would be recorded and compared with the original voice by some sort of voice recognition software and only after confirming my voice and id I would be answered. I could see an obvious flaw in this method…but they probably knew what they were doing. Maybe they would note the fear in one’s voice if someone was coerced into speaking to get through the security or some other difference if it was a recorded voice.