Tejas woke up slowly, the rhythmic beeping of a machine replacing the roar of fire in his ears. He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the soft light. He was in a hospital room, an IV drip attached to his arm. His body felt heavy, sore, and strangely distant. Memories of the lab, the thieves, the orange object, the explosion, and the fire came flooding back in confusing flashes.
He looked around. He wasn't alone. In the beds next to him were several of the scientists from the lab, also hooked up to monitors, looking groggy but stable. A nurse noticed he was awake and came over, checking his vitals with a kind smile.
"Welcome back," she said softly. "You gave everyone quite a scare. You're lucky to be alive. That fire..."
"The others?" Tejas asked, his voice hoarse. "Are they okay?"
"Smoke inhalation mostly, just like you," the nurse replied. "A few minor burns. Thanks to whoever pulled them out, they're all expected to make a full recovery. A real miracle."
"Pulled them out?" Tejas asked, confused.
"Yes," the nurse said, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "The firefighters found you all outside on the grass when they arrived. Someone pulled everyone out before the roof collapsed. But whoever it was, they vanished before anyone saw them. The police are calling it a mystery. Some are saying it was a... well, you know, one of those people." She nodded significantly, clearly referring to the growing whispers of super-powered individuals like Animal Boy or Panch Shakti, though this was Mumbai, far from their usual territories.
Tejas's mind raced. Vanished? He remembered the impossible feeling of speed, the dreamlike movement through the fire. Could it have been him? It seemed impossible. But then, how did they all get out?
Before he could process it further, a police officer entered the room, accompanied by a man in a sharp suit who looked like a government official. The officer approached Tejas's bed, his expression polite but firm.
"Mr. Tejas Joshi?" the officer asked. Tejas nodded. "We need to ask you a few questions about the incident at Futura Dynamics."
Tejas felt a surge of panic. He couldn't tell them the truth, not about the orange object, not about the explosion in his hand, and definitely not about the impossible speed he vaguely remembered. Something extraordinary had happened to him, and instinct told him to keep it secret until he understood it. He had to lie.
He took a deep breath and told the story he had quickly constructed in his mind. "I was walking home from college," he began, his voice sounding convincingly shaky. "I saw four masked men breaking into the lab through a side gate. I immediately called the police." He provided the exact time he made the call, which the officer confirmed. "I hid and watched them go inside. I waited, but... I was worried. After a few minutes, I heard a loud bang from inside, like an explosion. Then I saw smoke. I saw the fire."
He paused, letting the fear seem real. "I didn't know what to do. I thought maybe people were trapped inside. When I went inside through a broken window to see if I could help... the smoke was too thick. I couldn't breathe. The last thing I remember is choking, and then... I woke up here. I became unconscious."
It was a plausible story. He was the witness who called the police, a brave but foolish kid who got overwhelmed by the smoke. The officer asked a few more questions, about the thieves' appearance (he described them vaguely), about anything he might have seen inside before the smoke (he claimed he saw nothing clearly). Tejas stuck to his story, his intelligent mind keeping the details consistent. The officer seemed satisfied, making notes in his pad. The man in the suit just watched Tejas silently, his expression unreadable.
Just as the police were finishing, the door burst open and Eshwar and Komal Joshi rushed in, their faces masks of terror and relief.
"Tejas! Oh, thank God!" Komal cried, rushing to his bedside and enveloping him in a tight hug. Eshwar followed, his hand resting reassuringly on Tejas's shoulder, his eyes filled with worry.
"We came as soon as we heard," Eshwar said, his voice thick with emotion. "The police called us... they said there was a fire... that you were hurt..."
Tejas felt a pang of guilt for the worry he had caused them, but also a wave of warmth. This was his family. Seeing their love made his resolve to protect his secret even stronger. He had to figure this out, for their sake as much as his own.
After a few more hours of observation, the doctors declared Tejas fit for discharge. The smoke inhalation was minor, and miraculously, despite his vague memories of burning clothes, he had no serious burns. He went home with his parents, the strange events at the lab feeling like a distant, confusing nightmare.
That night, Tejas lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. The house was quiet, his parents finally asleep after fussing over him for hours. But his mind was wide awake, replaying the fire, the rescue. He knew he had been inside that burning building longer than his story suggested. He knew he had reached those scientists. How?
He vaguely remembered the feeling. Not running, exactly. More like... flowing. A frictionless movement, the world blurring past him. He remembered seeing his own sleeve on fire but feeling no heat, no pain, just a detached sense of urgency.
Could it be true? Could the explosion, the orange object disintegrating in his hand, have somehow... changed him? Given him powers? It sounded like something out of a comic book.
He had to know.
He slipped out of bed, his heart pounding. The room was small, barely enough space between his bed, his desk, and his bookshelf. He stood in the center, took a deep breath, and focused. He tried to recall that feeling, that effortless glide. He thought about moving from his bed to the door.
He pushed off, expecting to take a step.
Instead, the door was suddenly right in front of his face, his nose inches from the wood. He hadn't felt himself move. One moment he was in the center of the room, the next he was by the door. He gasped, stumbling back.
He tried again. This time, he focused on moving from the door to his desk. WHOOSH. He was there instantly, papers fluttering slightly on the desk from the displaced air.
It was real.
He looked down at his hands, then around his small room. A giddy, terrifying realization washed over him. The explosion hadn't just knocked him out. It had ignited something within him. The orange object, whatever it was, had given him a gift, or maybe a curse.
He had the power of speed.
The chapter ends with Tejas standing alone in his room, the secret knowledge of his impossible ability dawning upon him, his life irrevocably changed, his future an unknown blur stretching out before him.
[To be continued…]
Support me: vanshbosssrahate@oksbi (UPI ID)
Author: Vansh Rahate
Editor: Vansh Rahate
Story by: Vansh Rahate
Under: Alaukika Studios