The Experimental Cosmos

18. The Reality

I stare in shock and terror at the man standing infront of me.

Sohil Rai

The man who used to take me and my best friends to the park and get us ice cream. The man who is preparing a Truth Serum injection to draw that truth out of me that will probably end my friend's life. My mother's life.

My life.

He turns around to greet the person who has stepped in, and I expect him to be shocked and ashamed at finding me there. But my insides go cold when he just looks at me calmly and without stopping preparing his equipment, says,

"Come in Nebula. Sit down."

I think I might actually scream from terror, but then his voice breaks into my thoughts again-

"It would be a lot better for both of us if you were silent. No interrogator is supposed to know the initiates, you know."

The more I listen to him talk, the more my shock turns to anger, and finally, I manage to say, "Oh yeah?! Well what if Jay had walked in here? And aren't you supposed to be retired anyways??!"

He just coolly appraises me for a moment, then starts speaking slowly, like I have some kind of comprehension problem.

"Jay was not meant to walk in here. You were. I made sure it would happen that way. And about the retired part- with so many breakthroughs in the Faithful and Abstruse cases, the Central need some trusted hands back so that there won't be any chaos."

My anger is starting to turn to disgust, and just then he waves his hand to his chair, asking me to sit down. Without even thinking I am already moving towards it - the urge to please my friends' parents and have them like me is still very much there I guess.

"I don't believe this. Jay thinks you are remorseful about your actions. Guess he just wants to think good about people because he is good."

Sohil goes just goes about setting the equipment up, completely ignoring me.

"Why shouldn't I just scream right now huh? Tell me one good reason why I should not just bolt out of this room and report you RIGHT NOW!"

I say under my breath, teeth grinding against each other.

He sighs and takes a seat opposite me.

"Because.
One, that would probably result in my complete expulsion and I would no longer be able to help out your mother.
Two, if you were interviewed by anyone else besides me, your friend's secret would not survive the hour.

Every official here knows it, Nebula. We have trained for 10 years of our lives to become human lie detectors, and one of the main reasons the Abstruse are still so free is because there is no crime without proof, and many actually do manage to hide their secret.

This is also partly because almost none of us really want any human in the Futuristic.

So, you consider atleast one of that to be a good reason, right?
I am here to help Nebula, and I am afraid you are going to see that soon enough. "

My throat has almost closed listening to his little speech, and I somehow am able to regain enough alertness to nod.

He walks over to me and puts the syringe to my neck. Then he angles it so that it is just above my skin, and squirts the serum, which spurts out and flows down my back.

I look at him, surprised out of my wits, and then he chucks the syringe into the garbage bin and says, "So, shall we begin the interrogation?"

My mind is saying that maybe he really IS here to help, but I can't be too sure yet, so I decide to tread lightly and see if I can get anything out of him.

"Why are you here, Mr. Rai?" I ask him, careful to mask the tremble in my voice.

"Do you know why the Reticence was formed, Nebula?" he asks in the voice I am so familiar with, and I give him the answer that has been imprinted on my brain-

"As an experiment to understand the human brain."

He chuckles and sighs, and then says,

"No. That is what you have been taught. The reality is something else.

Ever since the start of time, living beings have always feared change. The ones different from the crowd have always been seen as a threat, and shunned.

Centuries ago some of the most brilliant minds out of these shunned people came up with the idea of a space which would be their own-

Where everyone would be different, and all diversity would be embraced.

So they gathered willing people from all parts of the world, and started this place called the Reticence-
The place of the quiet. It was thus named as a sign of peace, signalling that they meant no harm.

This place started growing like no one had ever imagined, and people began to notice that most of the humans inside were highly skilled in atleast one craft since birth, and also that most of them were introverted.

Thus this safe haven turned into a Grand Experiment.

But success in understanding some little parts got with it power, and power got with it its worst vice - the Fear of losing it.

It has always been the ones who are different that bring about the change, Nebula, and the Central started becoming so afraid of losing its power that it did the EXACT thing that this place was built to prevent-

It started searching for those who are different and torturing them in a desperate attempt to make everyone decodable machines.

A world which has lost its values is nearing its end, and though I don't quite think this is an apocalypse, I know that there are going to be some violent storms, and that I and the people I love are too involved to make it out unscathed. So I am here to try and protect them, protect us, as best as I can. "

My head is spinning from the revations I just heard, but I am almost convinced of Mr. Rai's honesty - not completely convinced yet.

He makes me promise I won't tell Jay he is here, and then he simply let's me walk out of the interrogation room.

Back in the hospital, I walk towards Astha's bed, who was declared out of danger some time ago.

We have all decided to keep guard turn by turn, and as I reach her I see Jay sitting on the floor beside the bed, back against the wall.

I walk to him and pull him to his feet with a smile.

He smirks and me and spins, so now my back is against the wall. I move my feet a step back, exactly where he was sitting, and am surprised by how warm the spot is.

Just then Kalani comes rushing towards us, LC close on her heels, and we stand on either side of Astha's bed as she leans towards us and says in a low voice,

"It's Louis - he is being investigated under suspicion of attacking Astha!!"

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