"CRAZY INDEED," Elder of Light said.
Ram was startled. She was able to read his mind, again?
"Oh, what I was doing now was one form of mind reading alright. But it was not like what you are imagining. It was not magic. It was achieved using scientific devices," she said.
Ram swallowed. They have all sorts of devices that could achieve anything they wanted indeed. "You could hear anything that I am thinking?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No. Not everything. The device was built to capture the waves that one emits and capture them, compare the waves with a sort of built-in dictionary that translates the waves into thoughts. Not all the thoughts whose waves were captured would get translated and it was still a work in progress," she said.
"And everyone were using this? If that were the case, then your identity might have already been revealed to them long ago. Why are you still keeping this as a secret?" he asked.
Elder of Light chuckled. "You are really the curious one aren't you. You don't have to worry about me. This device was still a work in progress and a pet-project of my own. And I don't intended to release it to mass-market. If I would do, then god knows how much chaos it was going to create. No. And besides, the complex nature of the experiment has many restrictions. Do you want to know more about this device?" she asked.
Ram nodded.
"Since it's a pet-project of mine and was still in it's infancy, and don't forget the fact that it has to be kept as a secret against others, I will explain it to you once we are inside our dining room," she said.
Ram scanned all around him and looked at her.
"I have already erected a movable barrier like the one present at the table around us. Not even Chandra and Sandhya could hear our conversation, though it has it's own limitations. It would be best if we discuss this topic once we are in a more secured environment," she said.
Ram nodded.
While they were walking, Ram came across a huge fountain in the middle of the hall, that has water filled with specks of glowing dust present here and there.
"What is that?" Ram asked.
"It's kind of an alcohol that would enable one to forget about their worries and enjoy themselves in a pleasant dinner," Elder of Light said. "Do you want a glass of it?"
Ram shook his head. If he were to do the same, then he would forget about why he had appeared here in the first place.
To get to know about the Elder of Light and know what her motives are.
They finally reached their private room, which was much bigger than Ram's previous house combined all together.
It has a single large glass wall that, during the sunset or during the night time like now would have the view of the amazing sky. Right now, it was filled with the dark-violet sky filled with tiny specks of stars that were spread all over as well as full moon that was so beautiful to look at that Ram was amazed by it.
If only he came here with his girlfriend, it would've been a beautiful date night. But alas, the Elder of Light in front of him has the appearance of an older man, with graying hair, wrinkled face and squinting eyes.
Ram really wasted his life. If only he had worked himself to be more confident and building on his charisma, he would've had this date with the most beautiful girl in his life.
If he wanted, he could've asked Elder of Light to be Emily Roxane.
Ram shook his head at the wishful thinking.
He felt a penetrating gaze and saw that it was the Elder of Light who was giving him a meaningful glance.
'Dummy, she could hear your thoughts. Did you already forgot about that?' Em asked.
'You should have reminded me,' Ram said. 'Did you know anything about this device.'
'No.'
Ram sighed. Em claimed have served many generations of Elder of Time, but her social circle seemed to be as pitiful as his.
'Come on, our kind stay inside you. We would be there where ever you go. We can't technically exist outside of you. Our projections would also be done from inside of your mind, with the help of gadgets that were equipped into you. And besides, all the Elders were secretive, even blocking their memories from us most of the time. When will I ever get to socialize?' Em said.
Ram shook his head.
"What about them?" Ram asked, turning towards Chandra and Sandhya.
"If you want, I could arrange a room for both of you. After all, this place is most romantic and very expensive as well," Elder of Light said and turned to them. "Why don't you take this chance to relax. Today must've been very taxing on both of you," she said.
"We are here to guard you. Not enjoy ourselves. Besides, I don't know why you have brought him to such a place," Sandhya said. "Don't tell me your prefer him."
Elder of Light chuckled. "You don't have to worry about him. He is not my type. Besides, he is so immature and I like girls of your type more. Young and mature. Want to switch your partner?" she asked.
Chandra growled.
Elder of Light frowned. "Relax. You don't know how to take a joke. I am just teasing you. You don't have to worry about my tastes or sexuality. I chose this environment because to I like the food they prepare here and the manager of this hotel was a friend of mine. I will get a huge discount," she said.
"We will wait outside, guarding the room. Once you finish with your meeting, let us know so that we could part ways," Chandra said.
Elder of Light nodded.
Once they were inside and closed the door, Ram, like a gentleman, pushed the chair back and offered it to her. She smiled and sat on it.
Ram took the chair opposite to hers.
"Don't they know that you are a female, the Elder of Light, in disguise?" Ram asked, then immediately scoffed at himself. "Of course, your identity is secret. How could they know about that. What I am interested about was whether you were interested in males or females."
"Oh! You want to know my sexual preference? What if I tell you that you were my type?" she asked.
Ram took the glass of water by his side and chugged it, spilling some on his shirt. At the same time, a waiter arrived.
Ram frowned and immediately, he clenched his gut and a power spread all around him. He didn't know how it happed or how that felt at that moment, but the Flow of Time reversed for him and stopped when he was about to put the water glass to his mouth.
This time though he drank from the glass sip by sip.
The waiter placed a tablet nearby Elder of Light, bowed to her and walked away. "Impressive," Elder of Light said. "Your ability to reverse the flow of time is really impressive."
"You are able to observe that?" Ram asked.
"Kind of. I know about it through your thoughts that were transmitted to mine just now," she said.
"How?" Ram asked.
"You see, this device, Let's call it Thought Reader, has two parts. Transmitter, which has been placed inside of you and Receiver, which I have with me. Every time you think about something, it will transmit them in the form of waves. If I am nearby, my Receiver will pick it up. Then go through the inbuilt dictionary and replicating the same thought inside my brain. It's amazing isn't it?" Elder of Light asked.
"Since when have you implanted the transmitter inside of me," Ram asked.
Elder of Light chuckled and said, "Since your birth."