Inside the grand circular hall, around the black obsidian table, the leaders of the six continents are discussing something.
"I still don't think we should trust them; they are hiding a lot of things from us." Amitabh seems to be talking about someone.
Samia nodded her head, "I also think the same." Looks like she agrees with Amitabh.
"But, what can we do about it?" Luna asked.
"And let's not forget that even if we combine our strength, they can still defeat us without putting much effort into it." Peter, the oldest among them, remarked.
"You all are overthinking. This is a once in a life time opportunity, so we should grab it."
"And sir Peter is right, even if we didn't agreed willingly on that day, they might have forced us to their bidding, and then we might not get this chance of evolution."
Dimitri and Hong also shared their thoughts, respectively.
"We are getting this so-called chance of evolution by trading our Mother Earth. Can't you understand this?" Amitabh said in a raised voice.
Soversia and Huaxia's leaders seem not to like the tone of the Hindvarthya's leader, but they didn't express it.
KNOCK KNOCK
Before the discussion converted into an argument, a knocking sound was heard from the entrance gate. The hall fell into silence.
Every leader stood up, moving their heads towards the entrance.
"They've arrived," Amitabh said.
As if to prove his words true, the giant gates of the hall opened up, and standing in front of it was the same man who was escorting the 'guests'.
"Respected Leaders, the esteemed guests are here." The man announces the entry of newcomers in the hall as he moves sideways to give way for them.
The newcomers, three men and one woman, enter the hall. The expression on their faces varies for every single one of them.
The tall man cast an arrogant glance at everyone, as if those standing before him held no significance at all.
The shadowy figure didn't even glance at them and just followed the tall one into the hall.
The woman kept her expression neutral and determined, as if no matter what difficulty stands in her way, she will cross it, undaunted.
The fourth person was different from the other three; instead of being arrogant, impassive, or silent, he introduced himself with a smile.
"नमस्कार, मम मित्राणि! मम नाम नारद मुनि…"
Seeing the confused expressions of the five leaders and the surprised expression on Amitabh's face, Narad realises something and starts laughing.
"Ahh, haha, sorry-sorry, my mistake. I forgot that; now you people use a different language. Let me introduce myself again.
Hello, my friends! My name is Narad – you must have heard the name." (Naam toh suna hi hoga – SRK style)
Before anyone else could speak, Narad started up again.
"You all don't need to say anything; we already know everything about you. To not waste everyone's time, let me introduce my teammates," He points towards the tall man.
"This tall man's name is Philaeus, son of lord Philas, 22 years old. He may seem arrogant, but he is not a bad man, Hahaha."
Philaeus just glanced at them, as if even acknowledging their presence is below him.
"The silent one's name is Alexios; he is a great fighter." Alexios just stood beside Philaeus, silently as ever.
"This beautiful and elegant lady's name is Mandakini Manu, daughter of Uttvrata Manu, 21 years – cough, cough," Mandakini glared at him when he mentioned her age. "I mean, she is a very young and talented girl."
She gives a small nod to them, acknowledging their presence.
Though they all appeared like ordinary human beings, there was a distinctly powerful and intimidating aura emanating from all of them. This presence was silent, radiating an energy that stirred emotions and unsettled those around them without a single word.
As Narad finished introducing everyone, the entire hall fell into silence once again. Seeing the lack of response from their hosts, he couldn't hold himself back.
"What happened? Are you not going to welcome us?"
"Haha, where are our manners?"
Coming back to his senses, Amitabh Gandhi puts a small smile on his lips and politely, neither too subservient nor arrogant, welcomes the guests.
"I, Amitabh Gandhi, native of the planet Earth, welcome the esteemed guests on behalf of our people.
Welcome to EARTH, mighty 'Veeras'."
. . . . . .
The world outside the train window rushed past in a blur as the train was moving with an average speed of 350-400 km/h.
Snow-covered hills gave way to forests, then to plains. Hira sat by the window, still lost in his thoughts.
The afternoon sunlight glimmered in his eyes, bringing his attention towards his reflection, faintly visible against the glass.
His tired eyes stared at himself, his changed appearance.
Though a little dirty, he is still wearing the same red jacket he wore on the Vicyuta day. His body suit was replaced by the one given to him by the soldier.
He didn't know how long he had been staring, but his thoughts kept circling back – to the captain's words, to the changes in his body, to the mountains…
Around him, the coach or the whole train was empty. He is the only passenger in the train.
Seeing the light flashing from his bracelet, he reached toward it and gave it a tap. On tapping, a screen appeared in front of him.
On the screen, a square-shaped bot face can be seen, its eyes blink as if waking up from a long sleep.
Seeing Hira, the eyebrows of the bot on screen, shot up, like being surprised and shocked.
"Hira!!! Where were you? I missed you so much."
A mechanical but not-so-mechanical familiar voice came from the screen.
"I also missed you, Jarvy."
Jarvy is the name of Hira's personal A.I. that came with his omnione device. It is nothing like an old-gen AI, where they have no emotion at all. Jarvy can understand emotion and can even show it; it was like a friend to him.
Hearing the familiar voice after so much time puts a small smile on Hira's face.
But Jarvy's next word takes back that smile.
"I thought that you abandoned me for some new human-faced A.I. like Yash abandoned Koko."
Seeing his expression, Jarvy realises that something is wrong.
"What happened, Hira? And, where is Yash?"
SIGH
With a sigh and a heavy voice, he replied.
"When we were in a deep sleep, the whole world had gone upside down, Jarvy. This is the new world."
"What do you me -
As Jarvy was going to say something, out of nowhere it stopped, leaving Hira alone.
A.N. - This chapter marks the end of the first half of Volume 1.
Now Hira is returning to his home. It is time to introduce the Vedman family. I hope that you will like them.
-: title AGANTUKA means 'guests'.