The Three Scorpions

Everyone was on a terrace of a 2-floor building, holding hands, which was 1 kilometer away from the red room. Everyone had a determined look in their eyes. A few of them were very scared and were praying loudly. Amulya bent a bit and peeked down the building, saying, "That robot is just below us."

Everyone was very scared; a few people were sweating. They were afraid of breaking the chain. To avoid breaking the chain, they just wrapped their hands with solid iron chains. But everyone had a very serious look on their faces. Amulya shouted, "Then let's do this!" and she jumped.

A few hours before

Leo heard that girl say these things and laughed. Amulya looked at Vikram and asked, "Hey...Here, everyone had different stories, and a few of them were told. But you're the most interesting person here, Vikram. Why don't you tell us your story?"

Vikram, while feeding everyone ice cream, said, "You saved Casey and Rohit. They are my only family. You gave me hope that we can get out of this place. Thanks for that."

Amulya shouted in embarrassment, "Ohh...Haha...It's nothing, bro. Heh, but I want to know about you. You're a very interesting person."

Vikram started telling his story, "I'm Vikram Rosham, age 24. My blood type is Ab-. I was born on November 15, 1999. I didn't go to any school. I like cooking, and I want to cook good warm food for Casey and Rohit. My parents died when I was 10 years old, and Rohit is my younger brother."

Amulya asked, "So...Is Casey also your sister, Hatsu Katsu?"

Casey blushed and shouted, "NO!"

Vikram smiled and said, "Casey used to live in our neighborhood, but since childhood, she has been our friend. We always hung out a lot. When I was 10, my parents died, and since then, we lived with Casey's grandma. Even Casey lost her folks. She was actually found as a baby in a basket in front of her grandma's house. She never saw her parents; her grandma told us, 'Her parents died.'

When I was 14 years old, Casey's grandma died, and her pension was cut off. We didn't get any money since then, so I had to earn money in some dirty ways. I was 14 years old, and I wanted Casey and Rohit to have a nice future, so I joined a gang.

This gang was a very systematic place where we never saw the leader of this gang. It had ministers who used to look out for drug business all over India. It was said they have trafficked people too. Girls from slums were kidnapped and treated well until they grew old, and the first minister used to look after all of them.

This system's hierarchy was like this: 'Leader, 3 ministers, and 10 Knights of each minister, 50 Soldiers of 10 knights, and 2 delivery guys of 50 soldiers.' I was one of the delivery guys.

Amulya asked him, 'So, how much did you earn from being the lowest in order?'

Vikram answered, saying, 'I worked there for 5 years from 2013-2018, and I have earned enough to buy 1000 medical seats. This gang had money flowing in and out. I was the lowest out there, and I have this much. Guess how big the business they are running.'

They have capitalized on people's lust:

Women Drugs Liquor

They supplied liquor to shops, cooked drugs, and sold women. It was unlimited money. I heard that to establish this empire of this caliber, they had done some very dirty work. I had never seen the leader, but I was informed that the leader saw me and talked with me. I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard the leader of this organization was a very disciplined man.

The leader was feared by everyone. We heard he has killed 63 people with his own hands. The same goes for the ministers and knights; they don't have bodyguards because they can handle themselves fine. They recruited a few small-timers, gave money to other small-timers to step aside from their business, and killed those who refused. They had the whole of India's desires in their hands.

Amulya asked him, 'Why did you stop it? I mean, why only until 2018?'

Vikram replied, 'Let me finish the whole story. I had a partner who used to help in distribution and all. It turned out that the guy was a spy. This organization called Unlit was established by some private organization, some Halidiya organization, he told.

Noah shouted, 'What! You met Unlit? Wowww...I heard that this one person, a human with his own strength, has killed so many criminals. So he is real.'

Vikram explained, saying, 'Yeah, I saw him. He wore black clothes, and everything he was wearing was black, with a black mask. I guess he had a bulletproof vest and bulletproof pants. He was using a sword, most likely a katana, I guess.'

October 19, 2018.

Emma Smith explained, 'Isn't that the day when 59 people died? It was known as the "Amritsar train disaster." About 59 people were killed and about 100 injured when a train ran into a crowd of spectators who were standing on the tracks watching the Dusshera festival in Amritsar.'

Vikram replied to her, saying, 'Yeah, that's true. That day, this one guy called himself Unlit attacked the whole gang.

He was covered in blood from top to bottom, and not a single drop of that blood was his. He killed everyone and freed all the women and kids involved in that. He spared my life, but since then, I opened a gaming center with the money I had and now it's running successfully. At least, I was able to launder the money and use it for Rohit and Casey.'

Amulya shouted, 'Hell yeah! I knew it...You had an interesting story. I knew it. But you didn't tell us about the looping day. Why don't you tell us that?'

My looping day is not related to this story, but it was the origin of this story. 'It was November 15, 2009... My parents were very well-educated, and my brother Rohit and I had a very peaceful life. It was a planned life, where my dad used to go to work and my mother used to cook at home and feed us.

October 15 was the day I woke up. It was my 10th birthday, and I was so excited. Last night, I bought chocolates, and I wanted to give them to my friends at school. Then Casey came running towards me. She didn't hug or kiss, but she kept her hand forward and said, "Happy birthday."

I felt that warmth and excitement in her hands. I always remember that handshake, but then I heard a loud sound underneath my bed. I was scared, and then I saw a shadow crawling from below. Then a hand from below pulled my leg and shouted, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY." That was none other than Casey.

Cris quickly interrupted and asked Vikram, 'It was Casey? So you both were looping together, like for others, it was like "They were the only person, and the rest of the people had humanoid robots in the loop."'

Vikram calmly said, 'Yeah, the Casey in my loop was a robot. She wasn't real, and so was my mom.'

Then Vikram continued his story, saying, 'Then I saw Rohit. I went to school and came back early. Even my dad came back early that day to stay with me. I was really happy, but then suddenly we heard a loud sound near the gate, and I was so scared. My dad then closed my brother's eyes, and we saw a truck crashed into the wall. The truck's front part was inside our house, and the glass was broken, and the driver's head was cut into two pieces with the glass. But that was not the horrible part. Then the petrol in that truck broke, and petrol was all over the place.

Suddenly, the truck burst, and there were explosives in that truck. All the crackers and explosives burst at once. We flew and spread all over my house. The chain reaction continued, and a big atom boom fell near me. My mom covered it with her stomach, and it burst. The house was on fire, crackers were bursting, and my mother's intestine was visible, while my dad's skull was visible. They both protected us. The fire spread all over the house, everything was burning, the refrigerator burst, the bed was on fire, and all the money we had burned.

My mother's feet were covered in petrol, and even they caught fire. I was about to catch fire, but at that moment, my mom lifted me on her shoulders and walked straight outside the house. She walked with her intestines falling out, with her legs on fire and her long hair on fire. I think Rohit wasn't able to handle the heat and went unconscious.

That was my looping day..."

Emma Smith, who thought Rohit had some past with Casey, wanted to know about Casey as much as possible. So she asked Casey about herself, and with all her courage, she asked Rohit, 'Rohit, what about your story?'

To Be Continued...