"Please…please…let me go…I have small children…please…this was a mistake…", Shanti muttered in panic.

A second later, her head flew off and her lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud.

"This is my brand of justice," Migai speaks solemnly wiping the blood off his blade.

(From Contradiction Part 2)

***

Migai stood at the top of the building, droplets of blood still dripping from the matte-black hexagonal sword. With a jolt of his wrist, the pendulic contracted and turned back into a baton. He calmly puts it back on his buckle, a feeling of uneasiness overwhelming him.

‘Why did the Society attack me?’ he thought. ‘How did they even come to know about my identity, a chain of thought flashed through his brain. In the next moment he stepped on the edge of the building, a hook from the gauntlet on his arm shot out and attached itself to the other end of the edge. Migai jumped down the building as if he was jumping down a flight of stairs. He slid down the wall of the building the hook-wire keeping him steady. Once he reached the ground the hook wire detached itself from the edge and rolled back into the gauntlet. While Migai was still in his chain of thoughts, Martin approached him.

“Sir…what…who are you?”, Martin hesitantly spoke.

Migai looked at him with a begrudged expression, he wanted to reveal his past to Martin but he knew how dangerous knowledge can be. He had just inflicted his cruelty upon others because of the knowledge they had possessed. Knowledge after all was the most dangerous thing in this world. It made you stronger and vulnerable. He had taught Martin for the last two years and genuinely cared for him. He didn’t want to drag him into a world that would only bring him despair. Migai turned his face away in the opposite direction. A look of slight remorse seemed to flash on his face.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions were heard nearby, Martin and Migai instinctively ran in the direction of explosions. Vrinda who was inside her house watching everything from the corner of the opening in the door which she had purposely left ajar was also surprised when she heard the explosions. When her composure kicked in, she stepped outside to thank her saviour again but both Migai and Martin were long gone.

***

The explosion had occurred two blocks from where Migai and Martin were, the sea of smoke spreading across the sky was a clear indicator. They reached their destination in about eight minutes, It was located in another by-lane like the one they were in with houses on both sides of the main street, which passed through the middle. The houses that were all constructed in such a manner that they stuck to each other and due to that had collapsed one after another.

The solar panels attached to all the building were exploding successively because of the fire. People were running out of their houses into the streets. There were many burnt bodies along the street and some bodies crushed under the debris of the collapsed structures. People were running to the end of the by-lane where Migai and Martin stood to escape the fire and the explosions. The infirmary and the police had already arrived. There were also various individuals wearing a white or grey outfit with an emblem stitched to it. They were political-party workers, the people in white represented the ‘ELAV’ and the ones in grey were ‘PASIO’. Both these parties were members of the alliance which forms the current government under the name ‘NSA’. ELAV and PASIO were the most powerful parties in Merram, while the current representative of the state was from ELAV, recently PASIO had been doing extremely well and they might be able to finally take the chair from ELAV in the next polls.

The faces of the people coming out from the lanes to the opening were filled with despair and fear. They came running in manically to where Migai and Martin stood amongst the party workers and policemen. This was truly a mark of terror, and the fact that something like this had happened in Merram made it worse.

While the capital of The Central States was ‘Dhilli’, Merram was the financial capital of the central states. It was the richest city in the country and the epicentre of all economic endeavours, but most importantly it was the city where the current ‘Adhizvara’ resided. While his predecessors resided in Dhilli, the current Adhizvara had declared Merram as his domain. The Adhizvara never takes part in the political or administrative matters of the state, that is the job of the Representative of the state, but the state’s protection is under the Adhizvara. Even the Freemen and the Independent states never dared to raise their eyes on Merram, it was often referred to as the safest place to stay in the country. Today, in front of all that destruction and death that title had been put to the test.

The Central states were labelled as a ‘Representative Democracy’ but along with that, it was also many other things. It was an alliance that practised socialism in the means to govern a quickly falling empire and even though it was a democracy, the Adhizvara had been assigned powers mirroring that of a Dictator. Irrespective of any decision passed by the ‘Council of states’ or the Military, the Adhizvara could always overturn it. His word was absolute.

Isolization and the Human-Kusokan conflict had forever divided the people, difference in religious views and practices cemented that divide. The National Civil war further built on those foundations and divided the people even further. The end of the twenty-two-year long war which had reduced the country’s population to half was supposed to have brought people closer given the consequences of war. But that did not happen, it only instilled more hatred and fear in the hearts of the people. The separation of the country into the Central and Independent states was a testament to that. The Central states had introduced the Tier-System and the new Kusokan-Laws to bring back society to its former glory. But that didn’t happen, lately, no matter what the leader and their government did, it only seemed to divide the people more and more.

The tier system was supposed to be an instrument to encourage the people to climb the social ladder and thereby help the Central-states grow exponentially. If more people tried to be doctors, engineers and warriors society could be built back up to its former glory. The last few hundred years had reduced society to only a fragment of its former self. Therefore re-building it, was of prime importance but what was created as a tool to facilitate development became an instrument of exploitation. The status of the first and second tiers which was supposed to be achieved via merit became an exclusive club of sorts. The people who were already at the top didn’t want any more people to join the same echelon at which they were and if anyone did come up, they had to be someone they backed or approved of. The tiers which were flexible, merit-based assigned titles became a rigid birth-right. A sixth tier's offspring was condemned to be a sixth-tier forever irrespective of his/her brilliance while a first-tier’s offspring would always enjoy the titles of a first-tier irrespective of the merit they lacked. More importantly, the tier-system had assigned a grade to professions. While some job titles were put on a pedestal others were tagged as worthless. This led to a further rift in ideologies. Individuals who worked as carpenters or public sanitation workers were treated poorly. Even brilliant individuals pursuing subjects of their own choice were condemned.

‘Everyone is to work for the states, everything is for the states’

The slogan of the NSA, made it very clear to everyone that in this day and era individual identities didn’t matter anymore. Everybody is an ant, who has to work forever in service to the colony. What one individual desired didn’t matter, what the Central state wanted is what mattered.

The Kusokan-Laws prevented any aggressive acts of conflict between the kusokans and the humans but the differences between them were never resolved. While most young kusokans were drafted into the military, their families mostly lived in separate areas than the humans. Those areas along with the area where the humans resided were further divided based on the religion they practised. The disciples of the ‘Many Gods’ never got along with the followers of the ‘Jeruza’. The followers of the Many Gods and Jeruza were always in conflict with each other. The followers of ‘Adrega’ were neutral and preferred to stay away from the other religious groups.

Martin and Migai walked past the group of survivors, most of them had partial burns on their body. While some partial burns were very severe others were manageable, but these people were the ones who were lucky. The unlucky ones had severely burnt bodies to such an extent they didn’t even look human. While some of them immediately received treatment, the others were either abandoned or had to wait in line. Everything happened on the basis of your rank; even treatment. In this area, they were few who belonged to the third and fourth-tiers, given their position they were the ones who received treatment first. The majority of the population here was sixth tier or lower henceforth they could do nothing but endure the pain and wait for their chance. It was either that or to succumb to your wounds and die. Even among the third and fourth-tier who were getting treatment, there were preferences. The individuals who were granted the right to vote were naturally given the advantage. In the central states, the ‘Wise Council’ which comprised of ‘Mata’ and ‘Pita’ was the body responsible for deciding upon who would be given the right to vote. ’Mata’ and ‘Pita’ were also the chief advisors of the Adhizvara and were the ones who worked most closely with him. People who were given the right to vote were called, ‘Prolo’ while the one’s sans the right to vote were referred to as ‘Plebe’.

Migai walked past the crowd of people suffering, he didn’t want to look at them. The very sight of how the infirmary and the party workers prioritized their agendas in a situation of life and death, boiled his blood. Even someone who could parallel the strength of the gods was powerless. This was a direct result of the system and Migai was also a part of the system, he was an honoree first-tier. He couldn’t advocate against something that he himself was a part of. Migai hated the system but he was powerless because the truth was that the system also protected him.

They stopped before a temporary barricade made from rubber strips by the ‘Emergency workers’ camp, the emergency workers were slowly approaching one house at a time and dousing the fire which had gone berserk. It had been only about fifteen minutes since the fire started but the workers had not covered much ground. Migai respected these workers who belonged to the fifth-tier and even then they risk their life with such dedication to save others but he could not dismiss the thought that they were working unusually slow.

When Migai reached near the blockade where the rubber strips were placed, they were stopped by a group of people. This group of people were wearing a blue outfit that resembled a padded armor with a grey cloak wrapped around it. The emblem of Central States engraved on it. They were the ‘Atisi’, ‘What were they doing here?’ was the first thing that Migai thought of. The Atisi were a group that directly worked under the State’s Representative. They were enforcers of the laws and guardians of each Central State. While Martin was perplexed seeing the number of people from different spheres of life around him, Migai began to make his way across the periphery that had been put in place by the Atisi. Before he could even touch the rubber strip, he was stopped. Two officials of the Atisi immediately put their arm in front of Migai as a warning.

“It would be advisable for you to head back”, one of the officials spoke up. Martin as if out of reflex immediately took a few steps back. The Atisi were not to be trifled with, they were the strongest factions under the council’s deployment, they might be protectors but their immense power could strike fear in the hearts of any living soul. What scared Martin more was the fact that Migai had not turned back, he stood firmly in his place gazing back at the Atisi soldier.

Much to Martin’s pleasure, a strong voice diffused the situation, “Migai Swuro!”

“Haven’t seen you in a while”

When Martin looked to his right to identify the source of the voice, his momentary sense of relief turned into greater anguish than before. The man walking up to Migai was none other than the leader of the Atisi; Ozem Rizvi

The two Atisi soldiers who were standing guard immediately corrected their posture and stood in a respectful manner, Martin gave a strong salute but Migai just stared back at Ozem.

“How long has it been, six years?”

“Eight years”, Migai gave an instant reply.

“Man, I’d really love to sit and chat but as you can see we’re awfully busy”

“I’d like to pass through, this area is still under the civilian police jurisdiction”, Migai interrupted Ozem.

“You’re a police officer?” Ozem begins to laugh hysterically.

“Oh my and here I thought what you must and others must be up to”

“Let me pass, Ozem” Migai spoke with great emphasis on each word.

The soldiers instantly placed their hands on their buckle, surprised at how casually Migai was speaking to their leader.

“Calm down men”, Ozem orders with a strong voice, he takes a few steps towards Migai reaching to his ear and whispers, “I’m not arrogant enough to face you Migai, you can do as you please but remember this...Everything is for the states”

Then taking a few steps back Ozem orders his men, “Let them pass”

Right at the moment, a shriek came from one of the ablaze buildings, it was the voice of a man. Migai didn’t waste another moment and head into the fire, before Martin would follow him he turns and tells him to stay and then continues his dash. He passes through the burning buildings, the entire area filled with smoke and debris. There were countless bodies of people who had either burned to death or were crushed under the debris. Migai carefully checked for their vital signs before moving on to the next area. The deeper he ventured, to his surprise he found that the intensity of the fire was less, right at that moment Migai spotted a man standing in front of him, his body shrouded because of the smoke.

Migai calls out to the man, “Hey! Are you okay?”

He begins to walk towards the man, “It's fine, I’ll help you”

The smoke shrouding the man’s appearance begins to give way, revealing his face. The man was an old man with scanty white hair, he was extremely skinny and was not wearing any clothes on his torso. His upper body and face were covered in blood which was clearly not his. He was shuddering and letting out gasps while looking at Migai. The old man opensed his mouth and instantly blood started pouring out of it, there were no teeth in his mouth or tongue, the wound of the tongue was a fresh one. Blood dripped from his mouth and noises of “Umm” and “Ahh” were the only decipherable piece of words that could be understood. Migai Swuro was no ordinary man, he was a war veteran but even to him, this man’s ghastly appearance was a shock.

Something making a swoosh sound passes through the air and pierces the old man’s skull from the right, the metal shard was now better visible once it was stuck on the old man’s skull, blood dripped from the holes it had made on the skull. From the force of the shard, the old man fell to right with a thud, his body completely motionless.

The smoke starts to give away and another humanoid figure appears from the smoke. The humanoid figure was a woman with long black hair, wearing blue padded armour and a grey robe. She was an ‘Atisi’. Not paying much attention to Migai she walks up to the old, put her foot on his skull and then bends to pull out the shard from his skull. Once out, blood spurts out from the end, where the shard had penetrated the skull, wiping it she attaches it back into her gauntlet.

A strong cold wind blows, causing the woman’s hair to flutter beautifully while also pushing the smoke away. With much of the smoke cleared, the surroundings were better visible. There were a few more Atisi soldiers standing guard behind the woman, at a distance. On the ground next to them, there were bodies of old men all piled up one after another. They must have all been seventy to eighty years old, their bodies lay on the ground, blood still flowing out from their weak bodies.

The soldiers spotted Migai wondering who he was, they would have immediately attacked but for some reason, their captain who was right in front of the man had not given the order. She was calmly staring at the man in a manner as if asking, ‘What brings him here’

The dead old man and the bodies of the other elderly men caused in Migai a sensation he had not felt in a very long time. His face showed an expression of sadness and nostalgia, this was a familiar scene for him in the past. But he was also carrying a tinge of worry on his look.

‘Why…Why couldn’t I sense the shard when it was fired’, Migai thought to himself.

Story By: Four Eighty One

Updates Every Friday.