After leaving the Chairman's office, my brother and I were overwhelmed with the weight of what we had just learned. We needed time to digest it all, so we decided to walk to our favorite ice cream parlor in the hopes of clearing our heads. As we sat there with our treats, I noticed Karun offering to swap scoops without his usual teasing. It was an unusual gesture, and I could tell his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of how to avoid the mission.
It's an undeniable fact that this mission is a matter of life and death, a reality that ordinary people like us could never have anticipated. As unsettling as it was, the die has been cast, and now it's up to us to decide how to proceed. We don't have the connections or resources of like in the movies like gangsters or some big backgroud connections who can call in favors; we're just an ordinary family who has worked hard to get where we are, and we've been content with our lives. But now, faced with this mission, there seems to be no way out. The survival rate the Chairman showed us is dismal, to say the least. Can we really make it out alive? What if we don't? What would happen to us—mom,dad and Priya?
I could tell that Karun was grappling with the same questions, lost in his own thoughts.
I needed to address the tension that hung between us, so I mustered up the courage to ask him, "Do you think we could make it out alive?"
Karun looked at me with a stupefied expression. "Wait, are you really—like, really thinking? You and me? Would go on this?" His tendency to repeat words in moments like this must be something we inherited from our dad. "Why? Do you have any plan out ??" I asked.
He almost shouted at me, "No, if not this job, we can find another one, Kathy, but if we go on this..." He struggled to find the right words, perhaps unwilling to even say the word "die." Finally, he managed, "It's risky." I nodded in agreement. "I know, I don't want to do this either, but we won't just lose our jobs. You heard the chairman, right? It's a secret that the world doesn't know, so do you think he will let us go if we just resign? What about Mom, Dad, and Priya?" As I mentioned his girlfriend, my brother flinched. She was his soulmate, his partner since high school, for twelve years at most.
I asked, "But do you think he is really capable of doing dark things?" Karun scoffed. "Well, it's silly of us to think he wouldn't involve himself in the dark side. I mean, who wouldn't be? After all, he was the chairman of the second-largest company in the whole country. Doesn't that mean it is a direct target that he needs to protect, both in the light and in the dark?" that made sense.
We sat discussing for some time before Mom called us, asking why we were late. We didn't tell her anything about our predicament yet, unsure of how she would react. What would be the point? It would surely be a straight "no" from them. "We'll be late," my brother said, ending the call. We continued discussing, arguing, drawing up escape plans, but each one seemed to fail, even at the hypothesis level. The best escape plan we could come up with was to run off somewhere far beyond his reach. But then, didn't he have branches in almost every country? He wouldn't leave us be, especially after revealing the secret of his illegal research . Just a single word from us could ruin his whole plan. An unknown dark fear invaded us every time we thought of Avikaranya Forest, but the fear for the well-being of our loved ones was equally daunting. My mind raced, grappling with the decision.
It dawned on us that there was no escape from this situation. We had to accept it, whether we liked it or not. So, we reluctantly agreed to go along with it. While a part of us found the idea of adventure appealing, thanks to our shared love for Marvel movies since childhood, there was also a sense of apprehension.Deep down, I had always yearned for something more than the monotonous routine of office work. Now, as we made the decision to embark on this mission, there was a mix of excitement and uncertainty coursing through me. The danger was palpable, but it only fueled our determination to face the challenge head-on.
As we contemplated our situation, Karun and I shared a knowing look, silently acknowledging the gravity of our decision. "Well, if we're diving into this, might as well start with our oath right?" I quipped, attempting to lighten the mood with a touch of humor. "So it has come to this?" Karun chuckled in agreement, understanding my intention. With a playful sense of bravado and uncertain fear gripping our hearts, we clasped hands and recited our childhood oath, our voices ringing out in the quiet parlor. "Until the rivers cease to flow, the sun dims its light, and as long as you and I draw breath, we pledge to emerge from this adventure unscathed!" every time the oath ends we were certain of it but this is somethign we weren't certain of. This is our hope and reassurance that we would be okay.Our laughter filled the air, a bond of camaraderie forming between us as we faced the uncertainty ahead.
We chose to keep our decision hidden from our parents; telling them would only cause unnecessary worry. Getting their permission was out of the question. We knew it would be met with a resounding "no."
we left the parlor, bracing ourselves for the scolding we would undoubtedly receive from Mom for being late.
When we returned home, we found Mom in tears, having seen a news report about an accident in the area we had just left. After comforting her, we sat down for dinner in silence. The weight of our impending decision hung heavy in the air, leaving us at a loss for words. Guilt and conscience gnawed at our hearts as we retired to bed, knowing that we were keeping a monumental secret from our parents for the first time.