Ram was once again at the single bed that he had been when he woke up after their battle with Chitra's Agents.
He had been alone at that time. But this time, he was with Em and Aunt Sheila to his left while Bhumi, Anu and Manoj to his right.
Bhumi seemed to be worried about him as she looked suspiciously at Rita and Nano.
Rita and Nano seemed to avoid her gaze, busing themselves looking through their holographic screen, which was masked from others.
Was it a built-in feature or did they do it to prevent them from actually learning the future information that they possibly might have possessed?
Ram's interest was piqued as he saw a blurred photo of three. He could easily identify Rita and Nano, even though their faces was blurred. But the image in the middle was completely black.
Who was it? Was it their Mentor, father or mother? Or was it someone else?
Ram was so interested about them, but they clearly were hiding it from him and others for their benefit.
He reluctantly turned his gaze away from the image and looked at Bhumi, Anu and Manoj.
Bhumi seemed to be on edge and Anu and Manoj stood behind Bhumi like they were used to standing like this for their whole lives. Bhumi focused on Rita and Nano, as if she was searching some mistake that they could make so that she could signal her friends. Anu looked as if she could sprang into action any moment. Manoj seemed calm and collected.
Ram shook his head. He already informed them of his decision to allow Rita and Nano to insert their second device inside of him. They were waiting for Rita and Nano to make necessary precautions.
Rita and Nano were reluctant to insert the device under their presence. But Ram was surprised by how easily others convinced them.
All it took was Aunt Sheila and Bhumi to raise their voices and stare at them angrily before making their argument and Rita and Nano agreed to their request.
Rita and Nano verified the information in the holographic screen again and again before they nodded at each other and cleared their throat.
Everyone looked at them. Nano trembled while Rita tried her best to appear nonchalant, but Ram could see that it affected her.
Despite the fact that they came from future and are brilliant, they still were teenagers who came from future to past to change Ram's present so that their future could also be changed for good.
The more Ram observed them, the more Ram felt that Rita and Nano could be related to anyone present inside the spherical room.
They were pretty confident and even manipulative with him. But in the presence of everyone other than him, they seemed to be worried about something.
It felt like they valued that person's opinion and wanted to impress him or her or them. But no matter how much Ram thought about it, he couldn't identify to whom Rita and Nano were related to.
He shook his head and observed The Twins as they produced a cube that was similar to the one he had seen them on their last visit.
It was just like Rubik Cube, but all the sides of it was single colored. It was of a color that Ram didn't recognize.
Ram squinted his eyes and he thought he saw some inscriptions on The Cube. They were too tiny for him to make out what it was, but he hoped Em could decipher it when they were alone.
Even though Rita and Nano didn't want to inform him about their future, he thought that the information revealed by the inscriptions will be of use to them. And he thought that Em was powerful enough to decipher from them.
Rita placed The Cube in front of them and Ram gasped as The Cube hovered in front of them with a hum, a white glow emanating the entirety of it.
Rita mainly focused on him as she started speaking, but he felt like she was addressing to everyone present. "Here's how the procedure will go. We have to make an tiny cut across his chest, insert the device and stitch up the cut that we made. We then power it up using our holographic screen.
"Once it's done, his whole body will be red and feverish for a while. But as his body adjusts to the device, it will enter sleep mode. It was rigged to a sensor and if it detects that Ram was ready to move to next stage, it will be activated. And this time, Ram, I am begging you to use the device for yourself. Not to an A.I.," Rita said.
Ram nodded.
She nodded and looked at Em who smiled back.
Rita seemed hesitant. "Please forgive me if I offended you by calling you as an A.I.," she said.
Em grinned at her. "Don't worry. I am not at all offended. Everyone around me treat me more like a person than an A.I. and I got bored of it," she said.
Rita nodded gratefully at her and was about to continue but was interrupted by Em.
Em looked serious. "I didn't want to use the device first time. I wanted Ram was the one to use it. I felt that the device was pretty powerful, but we were too deep in trouble back then. So I couldn't inspect it properly. When Ram's Mind World was invaded by Veera, Ram Ram was adamant that I should use the device as I had it in my possession. But I felt that Ram implied more than he let on at that time. It felt as if he knew what the device does, or at least it felt like he knew what was going to happen. It's as if he got a a glimpse of future with the help of device. Do you have any idea about it?" she said.
Rita frowned while Nano gasped. "Is she telling the truth?" he asked, turning towards Ram.
Ram frowned. He thought about how he was so sure that Em should take the first device while he was battling with Veera. He didn't know where he got that idea, but he was pretty confident about that. "I don't know. But I was so sure of my decision. All I was thinking was that I had to prevent Veera from getting his hands on it. Did you think my decision was influenced by your device or…" he trailed off.
Nano shook his head and looked at Rita.
Rita frowned. "I don't know. I think I will have to talk with my mentor when we go back. For now, it's best if you use the device for yourself. Not for others," she said.
Aunt Sheila cleared her throat. "Why don't you modify the device so that it could be triggered after your next visit?" she asked.
Rita shook her head. "No. It was hard-coded into the device so we can't modify it. It will be triggered automatically. My best guess was that it will happen during your battle with Chitra, which is what everything will lead to. There is no way to prevent that. The reason why we inserted the first device into Ram was for the same. To help him in his battle with Veera. Without the device's help, he would have died," she said.
Aunt Sheila stumbled back and Em helped her.
Bhumi growled.
Ram ignored her.
Ram thought about his fight with Veera and he shuddered. He them remembered another purpose of their visit at The Institute. "You took The Bead of The Institute during your earlier visit. What are you taking this time?" he asked.
Others looked at him enquiringly, but he ignored them. He already explained their visit to others, leaving the fact that they came from future. But it seemed like they still had some doubts. He had to explain when the time was right.
Rita sighed. "We are not taking anything from this world this time. I am not sure how much I could share, but I could at least promise to you that you will get answers to your questions during our next visit. I think my mentor's presence will help you a lot. I will do everything I can to bring my mentor along with us during next time. For now, you have to believe us. Can we proceed with the insertion?" she asked.
Aunt Sheila nodded reluctantly while Em seemed to be excited. She was eying the cube with interest.
Ram groaned, and activated their Merged Soul connection. "I will not share it with you this time," he said.
Em snorted. "I didn't want it last time and I don't want it now either. You were the one who forced me to use it last time. Back then, when you were disintegrating as you used more Soulfire than Your Well of Soulfire had, I used their device to save you instead. Don't paint me as a greedy one aiming for power," she said.
Ram shook his head. "I am not implying that you are greedy for power. You were awfully interested in The Cube. You were staring at it as if it was most delicious meal?" he asked.
Em grinned at him. "When will you stop thinking about food? I am interested in The Cube to see what new powers it will give to you. The First Device that they inserted gave me a body that can exist in any of the world that was present. It also helped me to save you from your disintegration during the battle with Veera. I can't wait to see what this second one would do to you," she said.
Ram groaned and turned away from her, only to see Bhumi staring suspiciously at Rita and Nano. Anu looked as if she were ready for battle while Manoj looked calm and collected.
Ram didn't know why Bhumi was so worried about him. She probably thought him as a friend just like Ram felt about Em.
But Ram and Em knew each other since he was a kid. After all, Aunt Sheila prepared her for him as his A.I. companion. But what can explain Bhumi's strange behavior towards him?
Ram didn't know.
He ignored them and looked at Rita and Nano, who were waiting for him.
Ram nodded at them. "Let's proceed," he said.
Rita nodded and pushed the holographic screen at Nano, who shook his head.
Rita sighed. "You promised me that you would believe me and do as I instructed," she said.
Nano nodded. "But this is complex and way over what I could do. Can't you handle this by yourself?" he asked.
Rita shook her head. "No. You have to learn how to do tasks such as these. And it is not as complex as you are thinking it is. Once you push through it, you can do it even with your eyes closed during your second time. In fact, you will joke about how silly you were after few days. Just trust me on this," she said.
Nano looked reluctant, but he nodded.
Rita smiled at her brother. "I knew that you are capable of handling this mission. Don't worry, if you are about to make any mistake, I will take over it immediately," she said, pointing at her belt.
Nano nodded, and he seemed more confident than earlier.
Rita tapped a button on Nano's holographic screen.
An identical copy emerged in front of her. She pinched in using her fingers and the screen shrunk. She pushed it over her head and the shrunken holographic screen hovered above her head.
Rita squeezed Nano's shoulders and clapped her hands together.
"Now we are about to start. But before that, since you used The First Device to Merge with each other, why don't you merge with Em?" she asked.
Ram frowned. "Is it necessary?" he asked.
Rita nodded.
Ram sighed. "Em, let's do it," he said.
Before Em could, Bhumi gasped. "Wait! Is this real? You are merging with Em, and you said she was an A.I?" she asked
Ram nodded.
"Merging with a soul produced so many unstable Souls and we are doing our best to take down Chitra to prevent many souls from being merged together. In fact, our scientists were scratching their heads on how to saved those Merged Souls. Yet here you are, about to merge with an A.I., what will you do if both of you die or even become something even more worse?" she asked.
Ram frowned. He was wondering why she was so worried about him when Bhumi turned towards Aunt Sheila.
Aunt Sheila looked uncomfortable. "I think we forgot to mention that they already became a merged soul when they used the first device. I thought you already knew about that?" she asked.
Bhumi growled while Anu summoned a weapon of her own.
A glowing orange spear.
Manoj chuckled nervously. "Bhumi and Anu, why don't both of you calm down. Even though the situation is more complex and weird than you have originally thought, you don't have to react so strongly to it. I think it will not interfere with you know…" he said.
Bhumi became even more furious.
Aunt Sheila tried to step in, but Anu pointed her spear at Aunt Sheila.
Nano was staring intently at his holographic screen while Rita sighed. "I think if you guys give it some time, it will be ok with it. You have to remember that Em has an body of her own now. A soul separate form Ram at the same time, one with him. I think…" she trailed off, frowned. Then shook her head. She cursed under her breath.
She was about to activate device of time when Aunt Sheila glanced at it and stepped towards her, placing her hand on her device. "Is this what I think it is?" Aunt Sheila asked.
Rita's hand trembled as she shook her head. But the device slipped from her hands.
Aunt Sheila caught the device and inspected. "It seemed more advanced than the one that I made. How did you got your hands on it? Who are you really? Why are you really doing all of this?" she asked.
Rita chuckled nervously. When Aunt Sheila glared at her, Rita looked at Ram nervously. "I think it's better if you told her the truth," Ram said.
Rita shook her head but Nano interjected. "I think we should do. Otherwise, it seemed like before his Aunt could attack us, Bhumi would destroy us," he said, pointing towards Bhumi.
Bhumi looked distressed, her eyes brimmed with tears. She was trembling with rage and Ram didn't know when she summoned her spear. She clutched it tightly, glaring hatefully at Rita and Nano.
Ram swallowed.
Rita agreed reluctantly. "Since you know most of it, I will discuss with them separately," she said.
Ram wanted to protest, but she made the rest of them, including Em, Anu and Manoj move towards her. Rita erected a Sound Barrier as they are close enough, excluding him.
Ram thought that they were really hiding something, but he couldn't focus on it now. He wanted to gleam what he can from their actions.
Aunt Sheila and Em seemed convinced and excited.
Manoj looked even more excited than everyone present. Anu looked at them with disbelief, but Bhumi was on the edge of panic.
She was shaking her head and shouting at the top of her lungs and everyone stepped away from her.
But since they were inside a Sound Barrier, Ram was not able to hear a thing that they were discussing about.
When Bhumi became even more frantic, Rita shook her head and deactivated the Sound Barrier.
"It looks like she requires some time to process it. She is not accepting the fact that we came from future. We can understand why it was so hard to believe. But we can't stay in your timeline for much time. Why don't both of you take care of her, probably at her place, while we insert the device on Ram and Em?" Rita asked.
It was Anu who answered and Ram was surprised. "It is sure a hell lot to process, but I hope that you are right. That what you said was truth. If I came to know that you were lying to me, I will search all the worlds that existed and kill you for trying to traumatize my friend," she said, moving closer to Bhumi.
Rita nodded.
They took Bhumi, who was still trashing and they left.
Rita sighed.
Nano had been clenching his hands so tightly that his fingers were dipped inside of the screen. If it had been a real screen, then Ram was afraid that it would have broken. But Nano finally relaxed.
"Will she be alright?" Nano asked.
Rita shook her head, looked at Aunt Sheila.
She smiled at them. "Don't worry. If what you said was truth, she will eventually come around it," she said.
Em nodded.
"You shared more with them than you did with me right? Why are you doing this to me?" he asked.
Rita shrugged. "We will have to keep most of the future from you so that it will not influence your current decisions and actions. Don't worry. It was not something that you should worry about. Why don't you merge with Em so that we can proceed with the insertion?" she asked.
Ram frowned.
Em groaned. "Please tell me that you are hurt because we know many things while you are not?" she asked.
Ram hesitated.
Em shook her head and merged with him, taking the control of their body.
Half part of their body was Ram's glowing orange human form, while other half was Em's green body.
Ram tried to access Em's memories using their Merged Soul Connection and his mind was hit with complex information flitting too quickly for him to notice.
Soon, he became dizzy, and eventually lost consciousness.
When Ram gained his consciousness, he observed that they had already inserted their device in him.
Em looked at him excitedly while Aunt Sheila looked worriedly at him. "Are you alright?" she asked.
Ram inspected himself and nodded.
"You gave us a start when you lost consciousness," she said.
Ram glared at Em, who gave him a sheepish smile. "He tried to access our memories that we heard form Rita and Nano. You know he was not supposed to hear it. So…" she said.
Aunt Sheila shook her head while The Twins cleared their throats. "It's time for us to go back to future. We will assess the changes that caused due to our visit this time and discuss with our mentor and come back," Rita said.
She hugged Em and Aunt Sheila, before hugging Ram harder. Ram was surprised by their actions. he was even more surprised by Aunt Sheila and Em's actions. If he asked them the reason, they would probably sprout nonsense and try to hide the actual information from him. So, he ignored it for now.
Rita and Nano opened a portal much easier than Chitra did. Before Ram could see what was inside of it, they stepped into it and disappeared from their side.
As their portal winked out of existence, Ram thought he should at least try to get information about The Twins from Aunt Sheila and Em. "Can't you at least give me a hint as to who they actually are?" he asked.
Em grinned at him while Aunt Sheila chuckled, ruffling his hairs. "Don't worry. You just relax while I modify Em so that she could also taste and feel pain and touch sensation. I got huge help from Nano and Rita. Once it was finished, we can meet with Vama. This time, if we are lucky, you can even taunt Em about how amazing food was," she said.
Ram finally gave in to her and immersed himself into the storage room of his Mind World, poured his Soulfire and accessed the datapads that showed him how to master his Soulfire along with various fighting techniques.