"Watch out!" The warning came too late, I wrapped my arms around myself in fear as multiple bikes sped past my paralyzed self like a shoal of fish around a shark. I stayed still even after fifteen seconds of the calamity's departure. For an hour I had been wandering around aimlessly, following the course of Bhima river. My stomach rumbled, I had eaten nothing since morning.

There were multiple options, a little too many I would say. The shop had a couple more customers other than me, it might be surprising for outsiders but that's how the city runs on Sunday noons, it's the night that brings the crowd. I checked my eWallet and internet for good measure and ordered a Shahi Bhel. While my phone scanned the QR code, the dude in charge of making the bhel glared at me, his eyes never left me, even as he tossed the ingredients in his plastic container.

I picked up the 'use and throw' plate swiftly and found myself an empty table, which wasn't hard to find. I placed my phone beside the bhel and tried pretending to be busy, but his gaze still bore into the back of my neck. Sure I picked the cheapest option, but living in a city is not cheap. And anyway, my money was indirectly contributing to his part-time salary.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" A polite voice broke my chain of thoughts. I looked away from the phone to discover the source, which turned out to be a girl with square glasses. Peacock shaped earrings adorned her ears, they were intricately detailed, I could make out the design of the plume even from the relatively large distance. She was shielding her eyes from the direct sunlight with one hand while the other held a plate of bhel similar to mine. I wanted my privacy, and most of the seats were empty but seeing she was standing in an uncomfortable position, "go ahead."

She dragged the chair back with quite a lot of unnecessary noise and sat. "Hey, you forgot to take your spoon."

"Oh, thanks," she held out a plastic spoon to me, usually you have to take your own from the stash at the counter, but I was engrossed in avoiding Mr. Parttimer's line of sight, so it slipped out of my mind. I dug into the pile and shoved a hefty spoonful of the spicy, soggy delicious mix of different textures into my mouth. 

"Which college are you from?" The girl directed the question to me with an amicable smile.

Lady, can you please let me eat in peace. I groaned internally, she was probably just looking for company, some extroverts are like that or maybe she was trying to hit on me... no way in a hundred years is that possible. What's attractive about a lanky, spectacled nerd with crumpled clothes and messy hair?

"I am one of those coaching class folks, I am enrolled in a dummy school, it's careless but I don't know its name."

"Oh, you must be really smart then, I am sorry, but I find you guys kinda scary," she bonked her head with her spoon, making me cringe internally.

"No offense taken, and yes I am quite smart." This time she only giggled in response to my straightforward answer.

I would be lying if I say that it didn't irk me a little, "do you have a habit of laughing, every time a person says the truth."

"I am sorry, you just gave off the vibes of a humble person. And you don't have to be so rude?"

Well, no doubt I was being rude, but I hated pesky strangers, plus my mood wasn't the sunniest of all times. "Let's just say, I know the difference between being humble and trampling my own pride. Also, if you don't like me you can just seat somewhere else."

An awkward silence drenched us as she didn't reply. She chewed on her nails, sporadically casting nervous looks towards her right. "Um... I am sorry for bothering you, I just want to avoid that person," she slightly tilted her head to indicate that person's general direction.

I massaged my forehead as I quickly took a look. A couple of tables away I spotted a boy sitting alone, he was surprisingly young, wearing a college blazer. He slowly sipped tea from a saucer, like an old man. I didn't stare long enough to be detected but I was sure he was looking directly at us. Now that's weird, I had been in situations similar to this at school. Well, nothing wrong with helping a person in need.

"Oh, sorry, stay here as long as you want."

Her smile returned, "I am sorry too, I should have told you earlier. Your ring is quite pretty by the way."

"Is it? I got it for free, so I am not complaining." I retracted my hand and placed it on my thigh under the table, strangely I had just noticed my overgrown nails laced with dirt and filth.

"Hey, do you know Ruby by any chance?" I was in a semi biting position when that question made me halt. With a half-open mouth, I slowly took a good look at the girl. But her smile didn't wither, in fact, it only became wider. The 'creep' stranger set his cup on the ceramic saucer with an audible clink.

"Hello, you still there?" "Um... yes. No, I do... I mean I am looking for someone with that name, but I don't know if that's the same person you know. I mean it's a city of nearly six million, there can be multiple Rubies." I tried to make light out of it, but my instincts were sending warnings in floods. I had an instant urge to flee.

"You say, you don't know her, even though you hold one of her Artefacts. Care to explain that." Her fake polite extrovert persona was beginning to shed. The part-timer who made my Bhel had left his counter and was standing with arms folded six feet behind the girl.

A vicious expression took over her face. Her eyes looked at me with murderous intent. I wanted to run, but my legs were numb with fear. She placed both her elbows on the table and clasped her hands. "Do we look like idiots to you? You seriously thought you would walk into our turf, smelling like a fucking Outcast, eat our food and we wouldn't notice your dumb ass." Her cold, threatening words jabbed my heart.

"Where is your confidence now mister?" I stared down wordlessly, looking for a chance to escape.

"Guess what boys, we finally got some fresh blood."

I immediately tried to bolt but someone got hold of my collar from behind and shoved me right back into the chair. "Zain and Rohan tie him up."

Before I knew, the part-timer and the creep had grabbed one of my arms each and tied them up to the armrests with jute rope. The third dude whose face I still hadn't seen tried to cover my mouth to prevent me from shouting for help. I was waiting for this opportunity. I bit on his fingers and took off while he howled in pain. Sadly, I didn't realize I was tied to a chair, so running normally wasn't an option. I stumbled right after a couple of steps and fell flat on the face.

A kick to my ribs rolled me over so that I faced the clear sky. A figure which I can only describe as 'giant' towered above me, he pinned me down with a leg resembling a bundle of muscles. One of his big, beefy fingers dripped blood, and an angry scowl made his figure look even more imposing. I tried to shout for help but was silenced with a kick to my face.

The sharp metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I was probably tasting both mine and the giant's blood.

"Dumbfuck," the word was followed by an angry slap to the giant's face. "How many times do I have to tell you, I want my specimen in the best condition possible. Fucking intern." Tears welled up in his eyes, "s-sorry mam."

"Hmph, you better be. Get him to the lab, we don't have the entire day." The authoritative words made them hasten their pace and in the matter of a few minutes, my legs were tied to the chair and eyes blindfolded. I felt my feet leave solid ground. I wasn't exactly a heavyweight but still, no doubt the intern's strength was incredible.

I was settled down, back on the floor soon enough. I heard the sound of a metal door opening and shutting. Also, the boss lady gave out a couple of instructions to some people. Two distinct voices were picked by my ears, so there were at least two other people other than the four I already met. Welp, that's discouraging.

Finally, my blindfold was removed. It took me some time to adjust to the bright lights homing into my face, but I was able to make out a few details. Multiple desks lined the whitewashed walls, with an assortment of tools and equipment placed on them haphazardly. It looked like the place was shared by three people - a chemist, a mechanic, and a magician. Some were familiar like a screwdriver with an elongated handle or a test tube filled to the brim with a translucent blue liquid. In the center was what looked like an operating table you would find in any normal hospital, except multiple patterns resembling water waves rippled at its base. They would converge and reform for a moment, forming a massive whirlpool, and then break apart the next moment and form a mesh of rivers.

I was mesmerized by the display. What are you doing Robin? You don't have any time to waste. Yes, I had to escape, somehow. My will to live took over my fear. I calmed my nerves and tried to find clues about my whereabouts or something useful. The ceiling's leaking and the air's damp. A result of poor ventilation. No windows visible... what's that a syringe, can use that as a weapon. Wait, what is that refrigerator doing here.

"Hello, mister. Done looking around." I quickly averted my gaze to the dirty floor. She roughly cupped my face and tilted it upwards so that my eyes meet hers. "Think all you want but runts like you have no chances of escaping. So better be cooperative," she let my face go and patted my head, then she leaned in close enough that I could smell her synthetic Kasturi perfume, "and if you are a good boy, I will let you die painlessly okay." She stepped back flashed a poor imitation of a 'motherly' smile and headed to the refrigerator.

She donned the surgical gloves placed on top of it and dipped her hand into the freezer. After muttering to herself for a full minute she finally settled on what she exactly wanted and grabbed a vial. She slammed the door shut and picked one of the multiple syringes placed on the closest desk to her. Slowly but carefully she filled the syringe with the unknown liquid and also let out a couple of drops, to ensure there were no trapped air bubbles.

Only when she got closer did I realize how oddly long the syringe needle was. I braced myself for the pain and grit my teeth. "Are you ready boy?" Before I could answer she stabbed my thigh with the syringe. I screamed out loud with pain and surprise.

"Shush, good boys don't make noise."

I relaxed my tense body and closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to subside. I don't know what I can do right now? Well, there's still time. I need to conserve my energy and wait for the perfect opportunity. I realized that the situation wasn't something I could look at straightforwardly. Clearly, I am not the first one here, either she is good at bluffing or there have been multiple escape attempts.

A few minutes passed in silence. Occasional muttering or a curse offered some variation, but even that would make raise hair on my arms. Finally, I heard something normal. Two sharp raps on the door followed by "intern lay him on the Conduit."

"What are you looking at, he is knocked out."

Wait a minute I am still fully conscious.