HORIZON 1.1

Part-11

"Tell me, you come with nothing. If you discover anything, everything will change." Maya questioned Shiva as he entered the police conference room.

"Captain, don't you worry." Taking a seat, Shiva replied, "I'll try to keep my mouth shut."

Next, Macc and Jack came in together. Shiva gave Macc a dubious glance.

"Captain, did Paranormal start their nonsense?" Mayor came in with his companions.

"Mr. Mayor." With reluctance, Maya welcomed him.

The conference room was crowded.

Today, Paranormal will release its official public report. The murder's mystery will be revealed today.

The mystery that had terrified the city for weeks would finally be solved.

For a long time, the entire city, not just the mayor or the police, had been waiting for a response from Paranormal.

"We should first listen to Shiva. We should be informed of his findings." Cleverly, the mayor said.

"Paranormal, they started." Turning on the screen, Macc said.

One of the walls came to life in front of everyone.

Mandatory viewing: it was flashing everywhere on screen.

The paranormal head sat in the center, flanked by his secretary, Nick, and other higher-ranking Paranormal officials.

The president moved to the middle and took up the microphone.

"It's very sad that we lost two of our beloveds in such a horrible incident," the president began his remarks.

"It's an incident, he says. Incident! It's homicide." Upon hearing the president, Mayor let out a furious shout.

"Mr. Mayor, please be patient with me. After that, we'll get started." Maya interrupted him.

The president started: "The incident that occurred two weeks ago shocked the city. The city suffered as never before. Rumors spread. Reports of their murders began to surface.

This city is home to a murderer who is on the loose. I also heard that.

Some say that it was a synchronization error and that it can happen to anyone. Anyone can die at any time. This was also mentioned by some journalists. There were plenty of similar rumors that circulated online.

What was the result? The whole city panicked. People got scared and confined themselves to their homes. People cease going outside. Believe me, citizens, what we are discussing today could have been done before. But we held off until we found out the truth. The truth that I am about to tell you."

"I don't believe him," Mayor mumbled again.

"He is the head of Paranormal: the higher priest. People trust him," Maya stated.

"The truth is, Vaibhav, the victim, brought a serious yet unidentified infection from Horizon. Additionally, the infection was undetectable upon resynchronization, and his synchronization report was clear. Vaibhav and his fiancée, Angelina, then decided to start a family. This is also how her fiancé got the illness."

The president came to a halt and inhaled deeply before saying, "I apologize for coming to tell you this. We are going to get away from one of our customs. For the time being, we will not be visiting Horizon. At least not until our holy constellations decide otherwise. This should never have happened, and I can assure you that it will never happen again to us.

The good news is that radiation cannot penetrate Zone; Zone is perfectly safe as it always was."

"I'm actually going to lose this election because of him. They are not killed, according to that maniac. Just a radiation-induced infection. Now the opposition will have an opportunity to influence public opinion regarding surveillance issues," Mayor angrily declared, slamming his hands on the table. "It makes no sense at all."

"Maybe the president is correct." Maya said, "Paranormal was created specifically to solve this kind of unresolved myth. They have everything that is required in this investigation. The only people with access to Horizon are them."

"And none of you did anything." Mayor asked in a furious manner.

"Mr. Mayor, you are directly questioning the police department." Maya's angry red face was enough to calm Mayor.

"We have our own investigation, too. According to our investigation," Jack continued, "nobody was involved in their death in any way. One of their souls was found by us. The soul response has also been documented, leading to the conclusion that they died for an unknown reason."

"And you, Mr. Shiva, what do you think?" Mayor approached Shiva, who was sitting quietly and listening to everyone.

Shiva checked on Maya, who was signalling him to stay silent.

"Jules, I gave you five lacs, and you have nothing to say at all." Mayor reiterated.

"Do you believe in ghosts, Mr. Mayor?" Shiva inquired.

There was laughter throughout the conference room.

"I knew you all would laugh. Believe me, I looked everywhere and came up empty." Shiva didn't say much.

"In any case, we have to honour paranormal judgments." In a cunning move, Maya cut Shiva off by adding, "And I think it was necessary too. People can't be confined for very long. A month has passed, and no one in the city has experienced anything similar. The city is enjoying Paranormal decisions, and so we should."

Everyone knew the meeting was over when Maya sent a confirmation node.

Angry, Mayor stomped out of the building.

"You, Mr. Shiva, can we talk in my office?" Shiva, who was leaving with Mayor, was stopped by Maya.

"Why do you want to meet me in your office?" As Shiva walked into Maya's office, he asked.

"Siva, please have a seat. How long have we known each other?"

"More than decades, if I'm not mistaken."

"I know you well. This ghost story is not good enough for you."

"I was telling the truth."

"No, you were not interested in speaking. Tell me now what is going on. I gave you the chance to look into Resistance, and all you came up with was a ghost theory."

"This Resistance, this group—trust me, they exist. They are much more secretive than we can imagine." Shiva sat down in the chair and said, "All I can find about Vaibhav and his fiancé's murder is this ghost story."

"You still think this was murder."

"Yes, more than hundreds of people have gone missing from Zone in the past hundreds of years."

"Stop," Maya stopped Shiva. "A new story, this I can't take."

"Because you have no idea that this has taken place. None are aware. The murder of Vaibhav is not the first murder to take place. This has been going on in the Zone for over a century. The distinction is that, aside from Vaibhav and Angelina, all victims are Road-siders. I've seen a ton of proof."

"Seriously, I find it hard to believe." Maya expressed her disbelief at what Shiva had told her.

"Road-siders are not considered Zone citizens. Thus, there is a population difference between what is known to us and what is known to Paranormal. Since they will never report it, you are unable to locate any missing Road-siders. Every year, a Road-sider goes missing, and since we don't have any information about them, we don't know. And trust me, Captain—this will happen once more."

Shiva left Miya's office.