The Rules Of Pursuit

48. The Eraser

Once the year rolled into February, the tension around the campus was palpable. Not only were our trimester examinations knocking at the door, but the dance face-off kept everyone on the edge too.

I had no idea that the face-off was this big. Mia hardly managed to have her meals properly, always seeming on the verge of a breakdown. It didn't help that their best performer had ditched them.

Olivia and Mia may have forgiven me, but with the dance face off drawing closer, I was on the receiving end of scowls and loathing looks. Even the Mentors were displeased with me.

"I didn't know it was this big." I said over our breakfast. Mia and Olivia were missing as usual.

"Wait till you see the soccer match." Zoravar chortled.

"Don't talk about it." Mandy shook his head closing his eyes. "I don't want to turn into a ticking time bomb like Mia." It was a day before the face off and, just a little more than a week before our examinations.

"Coming to think of it." Danish looked at Junaid taking a bite of his French fry, "You seem to be a little out of tune Naid."

"Ummm just the studies," Junaid tried to shove it away. "I will be back in shape by next month."

"You better be young man. Cause I will need you." Avinash said. Junaid nodded not looking up from his food. Mandy and I shared a glance, his eyes mirroring the same worry like mine.

We were all so busy in our relationships, that we hardly had time for M4 anymore. Junaid was the only one left alone.

"Something is up with Ju," I muttered to Mandy, as we walked into our Gadget Study class.

"I noticed it." Mandy muttered back, so that Avinash and Natasha who were accompanying us, wouldn't hear.

"Meet me at my room right after class." I whispered, before walking away, to sit with Avinash.

"Today you will be acquainted with the most used, yet secret gadget of spies." Mentor Rohit held up a digicam, "This is easily concealable and easily portable. But the difficulty arises in operating it."

He walked along the aisle between the seats holding the Digicam in his hand, as if it was a precious gem.

"Ever wondered what happened to all those other candidates who participated against you in the selection process? The ones who couldn't make it through Stage I, II and III?" Mentor Rohit asked.

Anwar's words from nearly a year back came flooding back. My hands shot up.

"Yes Ms. Banerjee?" Mentor Rohit looked a little surprised. He probably wouldn't have expected my handler to share such details with me.

"Their memories were deleted." I replied.

"Precisely!" Mentor Rohit beamed, "The advantages of having your roommate following a senior's syllabus." He smirked.

He thought Mia had told me this! I decided not to break his prejudice, replying with a nod instead.

"Though the ones used on your fellow competitors were hideously large, probably the size of an MRI machine. This is a more sophisticated version, which only a field agent is allowed to posses." The entire class listened with apt attention.

"This doesn't exactly erase the memory, rather suppresses it." Mentor Rohit as always managed to enthrall us, "What you have to ensure, is that the power is set correctly. If the power is set too high, then the recipient may turn vegetative, and if the power is set too low, then you wouldn't have suppressed even the slightest bit of his memory."