NO. NO. NO.
Ram couldn't let Veera reach Em. God knows what he would do if he reached Em.
He glanced at Em, who clutched The Bead tighter in her hands. She looked into his eyes.
"This device is meant for you. I will protect it or at least I will try to delay him as long as I can. You have to take care of it once he gets the better of me. Ram, sorry for the troubles I had caused. Out of all the masters I had before, you are the one I like the most. I was close to Sandhya but she always treated me as an A.I., a thing that reminded her of her grandfather. But you, you are different. You are a good friend of mine, my only friend. Even though I hate to say this, I have to. Good bye Ram," she spoke inside his mind.
"No. Em! Stop!" Ram said.
She was not listening to him. She glared at Veera.
Who froze as he glanced at Em's hands.
"Finally, I've found it. It's my time to shine," Veera said stepping inside The White Room.
Ram shook his head.
He had to save Em. But how?
Ram then remembered how he took Veera with him, far away from this place twice earlier.
He did the same.
But only this time, it didn't work. Or rather, it didn't work on Veera inside the White Room.
He along with endless copies of Veera appeared far away from this place.
They were attacking Ram like they were mindless zombies.
Em's life was in danger and he can't get to save her if he were to take all of them down.
He glared at the copy of Veera in front of him and touched him. With a roar, Ram imagined fire flowing through his palms and into the copy of Veera.
The copy of Veera burned, letting out a sharp cry.
It disappeared.
But Ram didn't stop.
Ram didn't stop there.
He moved on to the next copy of Veera, and the next one, till he spread the fire to all the copies of Veera that were surrounding him, the fire rolling off from his hands in waves.
Ram didn't lingered to watch them disappear.
He thought about the White Room, about Em and appeared inside the White Room, right in between Veera and Em.
Veera was about to touch Em.
"I won't let you hurt her," Ram said, pointing his right hand at Veera, which was glowing with fire. Ram could see the air scorching in his flames.
Veera swallowed, raised both of his hands. He seemed scared of something. "I don't want her. Just The Bead. If you give it to me, I will let both of you go," Veera said.
"I don't think I can believe you anymore," Ram said and sent them towards Veera.
"Are you crazy? Do you know what you have summoned?" Veera asked.
Ram didn't care. He wanted to destroy Veera.
Once and for all.
Ram sent the flames towards Veera in a wave, which seemed more like a a snake moving on the ground.
Veera started to sweat, which immediately turned into steam.
Something was different about the flames that Ram summoned now. He didn't know what it was and didn't even care how crazy it was. As long as it scared the crap of Veera, Ram would do it.
Again and again.
Veera raised a thick sheet of water, that covered him.
When the flames met the sheet of water, they disappeared with a hiss.
Ram's ears were ringing with a sharp cry. It was so sharp that his head started to ache.
Ram ignored it.
He will not allow anyone to touch Em. There were only two he cared about in his life. One was Aunt El and another was Em. When his memories were altered and locked by his Aunt El and he met Em, she was his only friend. His only companion that had cheered for him, enjoyed spending time with him, consoled him, was angry at him and even rebelled against him.
While Aunt El was, in a way, his mother, Em was his best friend that Ram could die for or kill. He didn't care who it was, if they even had a thought of destroying her, he will destroy them.
And Veera did more than that.
Ram sent out another wave of flames, this time in continuous flow.
Veera screamed at him. "Where did you learn about the Soulfire and how to control it? Do you even know it could damage you forever if used incorrectly?" he asked, increasing the shield of water all around him.
Soulfire? Ram didn't care even a little bit about it.
"I don't care. As long as it could defeat you, I will gladly take as much damage as I can," he said.
Veera screamed at him. "This is simply suicide. To heck with The Bead. You can keep it for yourself," he said, then dropped the shield and was about to disappear.
Ram used the Soulfire like a whip and sent it towards Veera's ankles, which snaked around Veera's legs with a hiss.
Ram yanked Veera back into the room.
Veera glared at him. "I said I don't want The Bead anymore. Why are you still letting me leave?" he said.
"You have already did so much damage. To me as well as The Institute. You even had the intentions of harming Em. I will not let you go. Who knows you could come back and destroy her," Ram said.
Veera cursed. "I didn't intending to deal with her when I saw The Bead in her hands. After you used the Soulfire, I don't want anything to do with her. I promise to you with my life on it," he said.
Ram shook his head, stepped closer.
There was a snap and a thump.
Veera screamed, clutching the stump of his leg that Ram had been holding with the whip of Soulfire, hopping on his other leg. "Goddamn it! I wish I can use my powers of time over here. But this is Mind World. Damn you!" he screamed, looking up at the sky.
Ram didn't care whom Veera was cursing or for what. His mind was filled with endless rage.
If Veera can't use the Powers of Time inside the Mind World, it was well and good.
Veera started to disappear from him once again and Ram was right at his heals, chasing him.
Veera hurled curses all along the way.
Ram eventually caught up with him.
Em also followed them, she was looking at Ram with worry.
This was getting really really tiresome. He had to take care of Veera, once and for all.
"Em, take The Bead for yourself while I deal with him," he said to Em.
"No. I can't. It was meant to be taken by humans. I am an A.I.," she said.
Veera interrupted them. "You are really crazy to ask her to use The Bead. don't you know what you are losing?" he said.
Ram gritted his teeth. "You said you aren't interested in The Bead. I can ask her to take it, or use it for myself, or even throw it away for all that matters. You will not get The Bead," he said.
Veera glared at him, then his gaze landed on Em. "Em. I believe you can imagine what will happen if you take The Bead. You are an A.I. after all. You could run a simulation and verify it. It's also a waste to let it go to waste. If you don't want it, you can give it to me. Ram has already damaged himself by using so much Soulfire. If you give The Bead to me, I will let you know how you can save him," he said.
Ram glared at him. "Em. You said earlier that you are much closer to being a human being than I could ever know. I don't know what that meant. And I don't care. If this comes into the possession of a human being, it will corrupt them. I don't want anything so powerful to land in anybody's possession other than you. The very ability to control the time itself. You said that I am your only friend. You even value me more than Sandhya and you knew her longer than me. Why don't you trust me on this and integrate The Bead with yourself?" he asked.
Em shook her head.
Ram sighed. "Em. Do you trust me?"
"I do."
"Then take The Bead for yourself. I will explain later," Ram said.
Em still hesitated.
Veera growled. "Enough with all of this drama. You are already damaged and Em didn't want The Bead. I don't think both of you have enough left in you to take care of me. I will take The Bead for myself," he said and stalked towards them.
Ram grit his teeth. "Em, take it. I am ordering it as your master. Take it as my last order that I am ever going to give. I believe that I don't have much left. This Soulfire that I have been using damaging my mind, damaging my body. I can feel it. Take it and save yourself. I am setting you free," Ram said and blocked Veera.
"Are you crazy? You are letting her take The Bead for real?" Veera asked glaring at him. This had been the most angry Ram had ever seen him.
Ram didn't reply. He attacked Veera with everything he had got.
He was attacking Veera like a madman.
Veera made more copies of himself, their numbers growing at an alarming rate.
Ram increased the range of the Soulfire, ignored the ringing in his ears, ignored his blurry vision, and even the feeling of losing himself in the process.
Ram gathered everything that he got and packed it into one final wave of a gigantic Soulfire that covered the army of Veera.
Veera was looking at Ram in horror. "You are crazy," was the last words he said before pushing his copies in front of him, using them as a shield against Ram's raging Soulfire.
Ram's Soulfire destroyed most of the army of Veera, and was about to reach the Real Veera, but Veera disappeared from Ram's Mind World.
Ram's Soulfire destroyed the remaining army of Veera.
Even when none left, his Soulfire was still raging.
Ram couldn't control power he had sent and it started to attack Ram's Mind.
The Soulfire burned everything in Ram's Mind World, and he could feel that several areas of his mind and also his real body were melting.
He heard someone calling for him, crying for him.
There was a sharp cry, brief flash of light.
And crazy disorientation.
Ram's mind was hazy, his memories mashing up against one another, against new memories that he didn't have.
Before he lost consciousness, Ram felt a flash of green light against dark background, some crazy glowing symbols, a strong pain followed by static just like he had seen before Em showed signs of glitch.
***
"Ram, wake up."
Someone called for Ram.
Ram felt as if his whole mind was on fire. He could still remembering his mind melting from his Soulfire.
Ram wondered how he was still alive.
"Ram, wake up."
The voice came once again and this time, he recognized it.
It was Em.
She was calling for him.
Ram tried to get up, but he couldn't.
He realized that he couldn't feel his body.
Ram started to worry.
"Don't panic. We are alright," she said.
It didn't help.
"Ram, listen to me. You have to keep an open mind and not judge me as I tell what had happened just now. What I had to do. You are my friend right? Please don't be angry at me after today," Em said.
That made Ram worry even more.
She did something that she shouldn't. Like giving Veera The Bead before he disappeared?
"No. I didn't give The Bead to him. In fact, we integrated The Bead successfully," she said.
"We?" Ram asked.
Em ignored him.
Ram sighed. "The Bead was integrated successfully right? Then what are you worried about? We stopped Veera. That was what that matters right?" he asked.
"Kind of. But there is a little bit of deviation at the integration part. I started to integrate it as you have ordered. But before I could even reach 20% of integration, I saw you destroying yourself with the Soulfire," Em said.
"And?" Ram asked.
"You are my only friend."
"Go on."
"And I can't let you disappear forever. I can't let you die. When you used your Soulfire, not only did it destroy your body, but also your soul," Em said.
Ram groaned. He didn't know what Soulfire was. But he was sure that he had died. didn't he? Then how come he was able to talk with Em?
"I did something to prevent you from completely disappearing," Em said.
"What did you do?" Ram asked.
"Imergedwithyou," Em said.
Ram couldn't understand what she said. "Em can you be more clear?" he asked.
"You promise that you will not blame me? That you won't be angry at me and that you won't leave me?" she said and paused. "Well, you can't leave me now even if you wanted to and… I am sorry. Look, can you promise that you won't be angry at me?"
Ram was becoming more confused. He had almost destroyed himself. Em didn't finish integrating with The Bead when that happened and she did something crazy, something that was supposed to make Ram angry.
But that saved both of them.
They didn't die.
That's a good thing right? Then why the heck was she still so worried about.
"Em, I promise to you that I don't hate you. I don't be angry at you and I won't leave you. Can you calm yourself down and explain to me what exactly did you do?" he asked.
Em sighed. "I sort of used the powers of The Bead to merge with you. To be precise, I merged with your soul, or whatever that was left of you," she said.
Ram was … he didn't know what he should be supposed to feel. He was human while she was an A.I. Though according her, she was as close to a human being an A.I. can ever get. "Is that even possible?" he asked.
"Kind of."
"But The Bead was supposed to give you powers of time right? Not merge with each other right?"
"I also agree with you," Em said.
That's it.
Ram really, really died.
This must be heaven.
Ram had been a good kid and Lord Indra, The Master of Heaven, must've felt sorry for Ram's death. He must've been so impressed by Ram's heroic sacrifice — of his choice to save Em, giving The Bead to an A.I., an assistant/friend of his — that he created an Em for Ram.
Was his Em alright? She can't exist outside of Ram. The device had helped her somehow right?
"Ram. I am telling you the truth. The device was responsible for our current situation. It somehow made the merger of us, a human soul that was mostly destroyed and a panicked A. I. And I think I know who made this freaky impossible merging, possible," she said.
"Who?" Ram asked.
"The Crazy Twins. They modified The Bead," she said.
"What the F…" he could feel Em's angry glare at him. "Sorry. What the heck. How the heck could they modify The Bead? How did they get their hands on The Bead in the first place. Who are they? What do you mean by both of us merged together and why can't I see a freaking thing?" Ram asked.
Em sighed. "That's where I am helpless. You see, being a top-grade and the oldest A.I's that ever existed, I was as close to a human as an A.I. can ever get. And I somehow merged with your soul. You kind of died. Even including me much later as I can't exist much longer without you. Our bodies disintegrated just as your Aunt El arrived with others. But you see, our souls were merged together and we are inside Soul World. And I believe we are inside the Non-Living part of the Soul World and we shouldn't be here," she said.
They had died? And not at the same time? Their bodies disintegrated from the real world and they appeared at Soul World? What the heck did that even meant? And why they shouldn't be there?
"Em, you are not at all making any sense. Can you start by telling me what do you mean by we shouldn't be here?" he asked.
Em swallowed, Ram could hear it somehow. "You see, we are the only living, only merged soul, the combination of an A.I and a human soul, present in the Non-Living Part of the Soul World. It was a part where dead souls gather. If they were to know about our existence, we can be devoured."
End of Volume 1: The Trials at The Institute.