As Ram was about to change himself into someone like Nonliving Soul and confront their attackers, he felt Em awake.
She took one moment to find out what had happened using their Merged Soul Connection and she cursed at him. "Who told you to sprout such nonsense to The Scientists? It's your good luck that your story coincide with what they had been waiting for. Otherwise, they would've realize you are a fraud and even I could not predict what they would have done with you," she said.
Ram shrugged. "What else I could have done? You were shutdown and I am discovered by them. Besides, you know I don't have much experience in such things. But if you really thought about it, you have to admit that I did perfectly alright," he said.
Em glared at him. "Where you almost made Sheila, a curious creature by nature, getting interested in your Aunt. If Aunt El were to find out the mess you have created for her, and by chance if they meet with each other, I believe Sheila will not stop until Aunt El relents. If it leads to Sheila somehow convince Aunt El to merge with each other — which is what going to happen as Aunt El was currently drowned in guilt and she would try to do anything she can to not make the same mistake as she did with Fathima again, the chances of them dying was more," she said.
Ram shook his head. "Don't you see that there was no way that they are going to meet with each other. Besides, Aunt El was more intelligent than you are giving credit for. There was no way that she was going to lose against Sheila," he said.
Em sighed. "I believe that will be start of their downfall. Aunt El was stubborn and caring to extreme, while Sheila was curious. She was even keeping her father under dark so that she could meet with The Inspection Officer. I also saw through your memories the way she reacted when you mentioned Aunt El was proof enough. Based on my experience, Sheila will not let it go that easily.
"On the top of that, you made it even worse with your theory of Stable Merged Souls. Don't you think what you said about trust and love must exist between the Souls to merge is too close to what happened between us? Don't you think there might be a chance that it was what they had been lacking for all these days?" she asked.
Ram grinned at her. "Don't worry. The only reason we are merged together was not only did we trust each other and love each other as friends, but The Crazy Twins inserted The Bead of The Institute along with god knows what into us. Once Dr. Manish and his colleagues failed in couple of experiments, they will stop with it. Even thought it saddened me to see so many Souls getting destroyed, I can't do anything about it. By that time they realized I have fooled them, I believe we will be long gone," he said.
Em shook her head. "I don't think you realize the severity of our situation. Not only did you put focus of Diana and The Scientists of Chitra, your little stint also ensured that Chitra would hunt us everywhere inside Nonliving Soul World. We can't stay here anymore. We have to escape, which we can't because the Gatekeeper who monitors the barrier between Nonliving and Living Soul World owes Chitra a favor and she would inform him first to look out for us," she said.
Ram stared at her. "I believe you will find a way for us to pass through the barrier," he said.
"If only it were that easy."
"Come on Em, what happened to you. Since when did you became so pessimistic like me?"
"Ram, I like the fact that you are trusting in me and my abilities so much. But remember that my existence depends on your Soulfire, which you are clearly lacking. To make matters worse, we were about to be attacked by the best fighters of Living Souls. Think of them like ninjas form your world. And from the initial scan that I did on them, the group had Bhumi and her friends, Manoj and Anu along with her. The Trio are famous for hunting Nonliving Souls and had created a havoc during the past few days," she said.
Ram gasped. "How did you know about all these details? You never left me during our stay here right? Or is it not the first time you have arrived here?" he asked.
Em glared at him. "While you were recovering Soulfire and sleeping, I had visited many information centers that exist. How else did you think I know about Hotel Pleasure and Privacy, it's owner and Chief, The Obsidian, The Soulva and The cave and much more? You can't even imagine how crazy and difficult it would be for us to survive the mess you have caused," she said.
Ram looked at his hands. Time and again, it was proved that he was the one who messed everything up. He brought problems to everyone around him.
And today was no exception.
"Sorry. What should we do now?" he asked.
Em shook her head. "Nothing. Let's change our appearance into an object and hope that they won't notice us. Once they are not looking at our way, let's get the hell away from here. If by any chance we get caught, let's find a way for both of us to save our lives. And remember. We shouldn't fight against them. We should try to solve this using my intelligence. And not yours," she said.
Ram nodded.
As they were about to turn themselves into a small sphere that held Merged Souls, they were discovered by a female and male.
They both wore their black ninja uniform that left their head uncovered. The female looked to be little bit plump, with pinched in nose, small eyes and mouth constantly set in scowl. The male looked to be fit and athletic, calm eyes and relaxed lower jaw.
They didn't talk. They launched their attack straight away.
Em tried to take control of Ram, but she couldn't.
Ram cursed under his breath and summoned orange shield in time to block both of their orange Spear.
They let out a surprise grunt as they watched Ram's orange shield and glared at him.
"Are you one of the Agents of Nonliving Souls?" the male asked.
Ram didn't know what that meant. Before he could reply though, the female grunted at him. "Why are you wasting time on a criminal. If he were here, it meant he was our enemy. Let's get this taken care of very quickly," she said.
Then she let go of her Spear and summoned a mace instead.
She raised it in the air and brought it back down, again and again.
The male also followed the suit and Ram had to increase the size of the Shield.
Just few exchanges with them depleted his Soulfire and he was left with 1/3rd of The Soulfire he had gotten from The Soulva.
Ram tried to talk with them, but they were relentless.
Ram couldn't take it anymore. He changed his shape into that of an arrow and tried to zip fast them.
They were momentarily surprised. But reacted out of instinct. The female caught The Arrow Ram in an instant and squeezed it.
Ram felt a sharp pain and he realized that they are using their Soulfire to pressurize him.
Ram couldn't take it anymore. He transformed himself into a heavy elephant.
As Elephant Ram was about to fall on top of them, they transformed themselves into smaller versions of themselves and zipped away from him.
Ram fall down and by the time he could revert back to himself, they already surrounded him. This time, they were even angrier than last time. Even more alert than last time.
Ram swallowed. "Please give me a chance to explain myself," he said.
The female shook her head while the male paused. "Anu, I think it would be better if we give him a chance. Don't you think that's what Bhumi would've done?" he asked.
He must be Manoj that Em spoke to him about.
Anu glared at Manoj. "You idiot. Why are you sprouting our real names at him?" she asked.
Manoj shook his head. "I don't think we should lie even if our lives depend on it," he said.
Anu cursed under her breath.
Ram was really blown away by Manoj. "I really respect you. Even telling the truth in front of your enemies. And don't mistake me to be one of your enemies. I am from your side. I am a spy to be exact. If you give me some time, I will explain why I am here," he said.
Anu turned her glare at Ram. "I don't think so. You are a Living Soul who does not belong to our group, who was lurking inside The Lab of Nonliving Souls. It meant that you are our enemy," she said.
Ram shook his head. "Don't you see that's where you are wrong? Did you think you are the only ones who wanted to take down Chitra and her gang?" he asked.
Anu glared harder while Manoj sighed. "I think we can believe him. He was telling the truth after all. We have seen many organizations with grudges against Chitra and her Nonliving Souls," Manoj said.
Anu shook her head. "Just because you are always telling the truth doesn't mean others were also the same as you. When will you learn that fact?" she asked.
Manoj sighed. "You see, you should stop jumping into conclusions. When will you change that fact about yourself?" he asked.
Before Anu could answer, another female voice replied. "I believe that's why both of you need me, your leader and more than that, your best friend," she said.
She must be Bhumi.
When Ram looked away from Anu and Manoj and in the direction of Bhumi, his heart skipped a beat.
She was beautiful.
She was also in a black ninja uniform and has her face uncovered. Her shoulder-length orange flame hairs were tied back in a ponytail. Her blue eyes, instead of orange eyes that he commonly seen from the souls of Soul World meant she might be a born to species of different worlds. That explains breeding between different worlds was possible. Her soft nose looked so cute that Ram wanted to rub his nose against hers. Her mouth… he just wanted to kiss her.
God damn it!
Upon seeing Bhumi, there was a strange sort of feeling emerging from the depths of his heart.
It was urging him to move towards her, to get closer to her and to never let go of her, protect her from all the problems that come at her way.
Ram was so shocked by his reaction that he hadn't realized Em was shouting at him.
Once he gotten his senses back, he saw that Bhumi also seemed to be in daze and looking at him.
She snapped back a moment later.
Em cursed at Ram using their merged soul connection. "Get your head right back to this moment. This was not the time for you to fall in love with first sight," she said.
Ram shook his head.
He did not fall in love with Bhumi at first sight. It was a stronger crush. Even stronger than what he had felt when he saw Sandhya for the first time. And his relationship with Sandhya turned into a disaster even before it could even start.
This time Ram vowed that he will not kiss Bhumi at any cost and repeat the same mistake as he did with Sandhya. Who knows whether she had a fiancée, or a Soulmate, as the Souls of The Soul World called?
Ram was the first one to speak. "I am not your enemy. If you can take back your people from harming me, I can explain myself," he said.
Bhumi glanced at Anu and Manoj and they stepped away form Ram reluctantly.
Bhumi then nodded at Ram.
Ram gave her a grateful smile. Which she didn't reciprocate. She kept a poker face.
Ram sighed. "I am a spy and I am here to find out who was really behind all of this. Who is making the brilliant minds of many worlds to produce Merged Souls and for what purpose," he said.
Anu glared at him. It seemed she seemed to be angry for her group while they are not. "Everyone in the Soul World know that it was Chitra who was behind everything. Bhumi, let's stop playing games with him. Let's kill him as soon as we can," she said.
Manoj sighed. "Anu, don't you think we should at least interrogate him and see whether he was telling the truth or not? If he was not, we can go back to taking him back with us and use proper techniques. Who knows, he could even lead us to their labs that we didn't know?" he said.
Anu shook her head. "What will you do if he leads others right back at our bases?" she asked.
Bhumi stepped in. "You are acting as if they didn't know where we are. Anu, stop being on edge and suspicious of everyone. I believe there might be truth to what he was saying. We will see what he has to say," she said.
"You are trusting his words? Are you smitten or what? And don't try to go against my words. I have observed you being in daze after you saw him. Don't tell me he is you—"
"Anu. Stop sprouting nonsense. If what he said was truth, then that explains why we are still not able to get rid of Nonliving Souls from the Soul World, even after we waged wars against them for so long," Bhumi said.
Manoj whistled. "I am really impressed by both of your interpretations. But let me handle this. I believe his arrival had rattled both of you and you are in no state to decide that for yourselves," he said.
Anu shook her head. "You are the easiest one amongst us to get fooled. No, I don't think we should leave him alive. Let's kill him," she said.
Ram couldn't take it any longer. "Look, I appreciate that you guys are discussing about my life and death in front of me as if I didn't exist. But let me tell you my stance. I am a spy deep under cover. I had impersonated as their officer, Siraj. I came much earlier, used Diana's incident that I had personally witnessed as my proof and sprouted a bunch of bullshit to made them believe me. I was this close to meeting with Chitra and eventually find out who was really behind all of this, but you ruined everything by attacking at the same time as me," he said.
Anu still didn't believe him. Manoj looked thoughtful. But it was Bhumi's reaction that surprised him. "I believe you. In case if you need any help from us, contact us through this," she said, giving Ram a small chip. " Use Your Soulfire and my contact information would get imprinted on your brain."
When Ram didn't immediately did as she asked, she continued to stare at him. He was getting uncomfortable.
"Get on with it," Em said, using their Merged Soul Connection.
Ram sighed and did as she was asked. He didn't immediately checed it though.
He nodded at them.
"Let's get the hell away from here," Bhumi said, turning towards her friends.
Anu protested, but eventually with enough coaxing form Bhumi and Manoj, they left the place.
Ram was bewildered by the strange way Bhumi reacted to him. Like how she had trusted him so easily.
Though that helped him save his life from her friends, but still she shouldn't be too trusting of strangers.
The way it looked, Sheila and Bhumi could get together.
Ram shook his head.
He should focus on the main task at hand.
To escape from here.
"I was waiting when you are going to realize that. Did you had a nice moment, falling in love with Bhumi at the first sight?" she asked.
Ram groaned. "Em, stop being cheeky with me. It's not love at first sight. It's just a crush. She was the most beautiful women I had seen other than Sandhya. I believe we are never going to meet each other again and my crush will disappear," he said.
"In your dreams," she said in a sing-song voice.
Ram shook his head. "Can we let go of that for a moment and focus on what we should be doing?" he asked.
Em looked reluctant, but she nodded. "Fine. We can't stay here as the Nonliving souls witnessed you talking with Bhumi and her friends," seh said.
Ram nodded. "And they probably had already informed Dr. Manoj and others of me being a spy and fraud. If we were to get caught, they will lock and interrogate us. And there might also be a chance of them finding out the truth about us," he said.
"Which would be dangerous for us, yes. Then why are we still waiting here? We don't have any other choice. We have to get away," she said.
Ram nodded. "But they have already seen me. No matter where we go inside Nonliving Soul World, they can hunt us," he said.
"Not only that, the way Anu reacted to you, they have Living Souls who were out in The Living Soul World, working for Nonliving Souls. We can't really stay anywhere inside Soul World. We have to get the hell away from here, probably return back to our world, where Aunt El and others exist. But the question is are you ready to face them?" she asked.
Ram shook his head. "I am not. But it doesn't matter. We have to get the hell out of Soul World as quickly as we can. Do you know a way?" he asked.
Em shook her head. "I don't. But we will figure something out. It's better than staying here," she said.
Ram agreed with her and decided to get the hell out of this lab first.