Crimson Fangs Hideout – 08:42 HRS
The girl was still unconscious.
Hooked up to what little medical equipment we had—IV drip, ECG monitor, and an improvised sedative Danny patched together with scraps and soldier-grade instincts.
No name.
No ID.
Just scars across her neck and numbers tattooed behind her ear: B-17.
Meena had run every database.
Nothing.
Like she didn't exist.
And yet… she did.
Lying in our infirmary like a breathing question mark.
---
09:31 HRS
I was in the briefing room, staring at the map again.
Agnidwar.
The ring we'd pierced… was only the first layer.
There were coordinates hidden within the AI logs we extracted from the underground chamber. Buried under junk code. Meena cracked part of it.
What we found?
Dozens of names.
Not gang members.
Not dealers.
Civilians.
Teachers. Journalists. Civil engineers.
All marked with symbols.
And beside each one?
Status: Converted / Inactive / Awaiting Reset
I felt the weight in my chest tighten.
"This isn't a gang," I muttered. "This is indoctrination."
---
Meena's Terminal – 10:15 HRS
Meena hadn't moved in four hours.
Eyes wide. Lips dry. Fingers flying over keys.
"You should sleep," I said.
She snorted. "You should shut up."
She dragged a cable from the server rack and pointed to the biometric imprint from the girl's wrist.
"It's not just a code. It's a passkey."
"For what?"
She didn't answer immediately. Just turned the screen.
A 3D model lit up.
Agnidwar wasn't just a zone.
It was layered. Tunnels, sub-chambers, vaults.
The part we raided? That was only surface level.
What lay below… hadn't even been breached.
And at the very bottom?
A blinking symbol marked only as:
"PROJECT PRALAY – PHASE II ACCESS – CLASSIFIED"
I whispered, "What the hell are they building?"
Meena looked at me.
"I don't think it's just tech. I think it's belief."
---
Crimson Van – 13:05 HRS
Danny was under the chassis again, tightening bolts like they owed him money.
I slid beside him, handed him water.
"Van held up good," I said.
He grunted.
"You held up better."
He wiped grease on his jeans. "I don't like guns. Or blood. Never did. But… that girl? She looked like she hadn't seen sunlight in years."
I stayed silent.
Then he said something I didn't expect.
"Do you think we're the bad guys in someone else's story?"
I blinked.
He looked up.
"Every time we win, someone loses. And what if… what if they started just like us? Fighting monsters. Until they became one."
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know.
---
Training Bay – 15:11 HRS
Yash was training blindfolded again.
No music.
No distractions.
Just a dull thud each time his blade struck wood.
I watched him for a while.
Then finally asked, "You okay?"
He kept striking.
"Okay doesn't exist anymore."
Strike.
"I saw a kid die when I was twelve. He had a slingshot. The shooter thought it was a pistol."
Strike.
"No one asked questions. The world just moved on."
He turned toward me.
"So I stopped waiting for answers. Started cutting problems at the root."
His voice was flat. Controlled.
"But this woman… the one with the white shawl… she scares me."
I nodded.
"She should."
---
Rooftop – 18:42 HRS
Vijay was sitting alone again. No cigarette this time. No crowbar. Just wind and silence.
I sat next to him.
He looked different now.
Not weaker.
Not colder.
Just… heavier.
"I keep seeing her," he said. "In my dreams. Diya. Laughing like she never died."
I stayed quiet.
"She tells me to stop."
"Stop what?" I asked.
"Becoming them."
He looked at me.
"And every day… it gets harder to listen."
I nodded slowly.
Because I knew exactly what he meant.
---
UNKNOWN LOCATION – TIME UNKNOWN
The woman stood before a data wall.
A spiral of glyphs, faces, frequencies.
Raaka stood beside her. Silent.
"The infiltration team failed," he said. "But we got what we needed. Partial mapping of the Fangs' network. Weak links identified."
The woman didn't move.
Just pressed her palm to a screen, unlocking a vault.
Inside?
A row of sealed folders.
Each marked with a name.
She pulled out one.
Flipped it open.
Raaka leaned over.
His eyes narrowed.
"Amit?"
The woman smiled faintly.
"Not yet."
She placed the folder back.
Then opened another.
Inside: a photograph.
Grainy. But unmistakable.
Amit. Fifteen. In uniform.
Beside him?
Her.
Younger.
Laughing.
But the eyes… were already cold.
She whispered:
"He forgot me."
Raaka said nothing.
She closed the folder.
"Let's remind him."
---
Back at the Hideout – 22:30 HRS
I stared at the old photograph Meena dug out of an encrypted Serpent file.
It wasn't the same one.
But it was close.
Fifteen-year-old me.
School blazer. Bag slung wrong. Half a smirk.
Next to me?
The face was blurred.
But something about it twisted my gut.
A scar at the base of the neck.
A silver chain.
A uniform badge.
I didn't remember her name.
I didn't remember her at all.
But something in me… did.
Yash walked in.
"You good?"
"No."
I stared at the screen.
"But I think I'm about to remember."
---
TO BE CONTINUED
---