Prisoners of VR

Deepika retired for the night as a couple of her subordinates took her place. It was almost dawn, so she needed to get some shut-eye to not collapse at work later.

Rohit was dead. His three friends were on life support too, but their parents didn't have enough influence to forward the case to Rahu's notice. So, Rahu didn't have to bother saving them.

They would remain on life support for the rest of their lives, a fitting end for bullies that had caused the deaths of students in the past. Yes, Neeraj was just their latest victim.

Some of their past victims were unable to endure and had committed suicide. It was why Rahu wiped out all the blackmail information-from their uVR Earths-they had collected. He didn't erase them though. Instead, he transferred them to a device in his DOVA Branch.

All DOVA Agents collected data regards to any task they engaged with and stored them in a secure device created exclusively for their use. It was created with the same technology as the uVR Earths and hence was unbreachable.

Of course, even though uVR Earths were claimed to be the same, Rahu was still able to invade them through Synchronised Brainwaves. But the reason these devices were said to be unbreachable was that Megasphere was involved in their defence.

Even a DOVA Agent's mind wasn't equipped to outclass the strongest AI bolstered by a supercomputer of unimaginable computing capabilities.

E-002 Cyber Data Storage or ECDS for short. That was what the storage device was called. And they were given only to DOVA Agents.

An ECDS was created in such a way that only a DOVA Agent's uVR Earth could form a connection with it. Rahu transferred the data of his fight with Manav to his ECDS and closed his eyes, sleeping immediately.

10th June 2048; Wednesday!

11:00 AM!

"I barely slept for a few hours," Rahu woke up at the sound of a notification, groaning as he noticed it was from Deepika, "What...the heck?"

[Sir, reporters are crowding the hospital entrance and demanding an explanation from you. Mahesh's family has arrived at the scene and is demanding justice for their son. So, all media attention is on you. W-News even went ahead and published a front-page article in today's newspaper.]

Mahesh was the youth using whose uVR Earth, Manav made an appearance.

"I see," Rahu was wide awake by now; he chatted through Augmented Reality, "Send me the forensic report first. I cannot plan anything without seeing it."

[Sir, I transferred the file to you.]

Ashok, the Deputy Head of Security messaged him, attaching a document of the forensic report. Rahu went through the report, muttering, "As I expected, a state of brain overdrive by the uVR Earth is announced as the cause of death."

Ashok also attached a video clip that was released by W-News. It was the scene of Rahu displaying an expression of despair as he kneeled before Mahesh's corpse.

W-News had censored the brain matter spill on their publication, but Ashok managed to obtain the original clip.

Upon staring at it, Rahu frowned, 'What do I do now? Exposing Manav's existence would cause too many problems. Pomegranate Corporation would dislike it if people become afraid to use uVR Earth because of the threat posed by Manav. Even I cannot handle their wrath.'

'Even though I've offended them plenty of times through my actions favouring the people more than their interests, I never touched their bottom line. But if I were to reveal Manav's existence, there's a good chance the news would blow up to become an international issue. uVR Earth sales might plummet or even stop.' He sighed in worry, 'That might incite Megasphere's ire.'

The Artificial Intelligence, Megasphere pretty much manned Pomegranate Corporation. It was built with two primary purposes: First was to manufacture uVR Earth and second was to equip all of humanity with uVR Earth one day.

So, if Rahu did anything to hinder that, then he was directly hindering Megasphere's purpose. Once that happens, Megasphere would cut him off from everything digital-related, especially since it had control access over the internet. If it so wished, every single electronic instrument in the world would move against him.

And that included drones and androids in the hands of the military.

Rahu previously boasted that a DOVA Agent was akin to a God of the Digital Era. But in comparison, Megasphere was the very heavens itself where Gods dwelled. And if myths proved anything, it was that Heaven's Will was absolute.

So, Rahu had to tread a fine line here. On one side was Manav, his genius older brother that was a fearsome opponent. On the other side was Megasphere. If he committed a mistake here, he would cause both parties to come at him with full strength.

Currently, he was a favoured individual of Megasphere. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been given a Synchro Code. Manav was after the Synchro Codes, but he had seven targets, so his schemes and attention were split evenly. As long as he wasn't completely focused on Rahu alone, he wasn't a serious threat.

Therefore, changing the status quo was foolish, especially since Rahu desired some free time to pursue his next step of growth. His Liger became a True Lifeform. Hence, he had to succeed before its lifespan runs out.

'It seems I only have one option.' He sighed, 'For now, I have to throw Mahesh under the bus. I'm not sure how he became involved with Manav, but it's for the best to exercise ignorance regarding this, lest I become the focused target of the group Manav had created.'

Mahesh displayed fanatic devotion towards Manav. So, there should be a cult operating behind the scenes, with Manav as its God or something. Fanatics were a troublesome bunch to deal with, especially since they didn't care about sacrificing lives for their cause, whether it be theirs or others.

The last he wanted at present was to deal with suicide bombers en masse. 'I need to buy time until I complete my preparations.'

[Ashok, bring Gopi to my ward. I'll give the interview now.]

[Yes sir, we'll be there in two minutes.]

Exactly two minutes later, Ashok entered the ward, accompanied by Gopi. The reporter introduced himself, "Sir, I'm Reporter Gopi from W-News. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Keep your questions smart, and with substance." Rahu calmly stared at Gopi and motioned for him to be seated, "I'll cancel the interview if you make accusations in the name of questions."

'Damn, which reporter offended him in the past? He has a horrible image of us.' Gopi gulped instinctively as he took a seat and asked, "Sir, I'll be direct. This is being broadcasted live on W-News. Can you tell us what happened to Mahesh? The nation wants to know."

"Have you seen the forensic report?" Rahu asked, seeing Gopi nod. In Augmented Reality, Rahu pulled up a window of W-News, observing the channel display the forensic report as the news anchor commented about it to the viewers.

'That's pretty efficient of them.' Thinking as such, he snapped his finger, causing his Liger to appear beside him.

Since the broadcast was whatever Gopi captured through his sight, when the figure of the Liger was registered in his brain and as a result displayed in his sight, it was also picked up by his uVR Earth and relayed to the broadcasting station.

All the viewers saw the scene of Gopi shrieking in shock upon seeing the Liger.

"W-What is that?" Gopi stammered in fear, feeling a cold breath up close. His body was petrified by fear as he soiled his pants.

"I'm sorry to have frightened you," Rahu retracted the Liger and said, "But I believe showing this would have made my explanation easier to understand."

As Gopi hurriedly draped a kerchief over his pant, Rahu began to speak, "I'm the DOVA Agent ranked sixth in our country, titled the Liger. The reason is as you can see, I can manifest a realistic Liger. Facing it is no different from encountering one in reality."

"If it slaps you in the face, you'll feel the pain." Rahu said, "Every DOVA Agent can manifest the creature indicated by their title. But you see, to unleash such a creature, one needs to possess a stellar brain on par with a DOVA Agent. Anyone with the necessary qualification is being trained by the country to become a DOVA Agent or is already one."

"What does that have to do with Mahesh?" Gopi regained his calm and voiced his doubt, "Since you said I can feel the pain if attacked by your Liger, then did Mahesh die because of it?"

"Didn't I warn you against putting forth accusations?" Rahu glared, causing Gopi to tremble in fright instinctively. Even though Rahu didn't bring out the Liger, he was emitting the bloodlust of one.

A second later, he retracted the bloodlust and spoke once Gopi shut up, "I was shocked when that happened. The information I relayed isn't a secret. Those that had interacted with a DOVA Agent know this. I'm not sure how Mahesh learned of this information, but it seems he attempted it."

"Attempted...what?" Gopi asked hesitantly.

"Induced Reality," Rahu announced solemnly, "It's a power exclusive to DOVA Agents. You being able to feel my Liger is a result of that. Mahesh attempted Induced Reality. As a result of the sheer brain power needed to unleash it, his brain clocked into overdrive, overheated, and caused the fluid in the brain to evaporate."

Rahu patted his head, "Pressure built up here in him and when it reached a certain level, it caused his head to explode. That was what had happened."

"A civilian uVR Earth is incapable of supporting Induced Reality in the first place. So, it was a suicide attempt. DOVA will be investigating the source of whatever Mahesh got his hands on to attempt this. We'll cooperate with the forensic department to find out more." Saying so, Rahu nodded, signalling the end of his explanation.

"Then sir, why were you there at the scene?" A message appeared in Gopi's Augmented Reality. It was a question from W-News that he read aloud, "Why did Mahesh attempt it before you?"

"I got a lead regarding his attempt when I was investigating another mission." Rahu slowly got up and signalled the end of the interview, "I rushed there as quickly as possible, but alas, I was too late. He had already initiated the attempt to unleash Induced Reality."

"That will be all." Saying so, Rahu left the ward. Gopi intended to chase after him and present more questions that he received from W-News, but Rahu's security team prevented him from approaching Rahu.

[Sir, I have finished the discharge procedures already. We have a vehicle ready at all exits.]

Deepika messaged him promptly as she accompanied him.

[No need, we'll leave through the front exit. Otherwise, it'll seem like I'm running away from taking responsibility for this issue. Tell the security team to make a path.]

Rahu arrived at the hospital's entrance, sighing as he tilted his head to the side, watching an egg fly past. He then stared at the crowd of people accompanying the reporters, forming a mob. For an instant, the Liger took over his body and sensed killing intent from some people mixed in the crowd.

Recalling Manav's words, Rahu stared at the crowd in seriousness, 'It seems your plans to torture me haven't ended yet, brother.'