Chapter 11: 11 Rationalizing Death

“Should we dive right in?”

Tory asked Vik. He was tracing the surface of one of the Oasis pods with the palm of his hands as he asked.

Vik too was looking at the pods keenly. He had a determined expression on his face as he responded to his brother’s question.

“Tory, we weren’t supposed to get out of their trap at the facility. But we still did. After facing so much heat for them, we deserve our reward.”

Vik walked close to the Oasis pods before adding up.

“We will get inside. But we should load up these nutritional supplements in our respective pods first, just in case.”

Vik had found out there were plenty of nutritional supplements after getting back into the truck. They were kept in isolated cold storage systems located on one side of the truck.

They hadn’t checked the cold storage unit the last time. This was because they didn’t want to trip any backup sensor and send any proof of who the truck’s thieves were to the organization.

But this time, they knew that their identities had already been leaked. So they explored the truck thoroughly and found some items they could use.

Nutritional supplements were one such item. Using them right now was the most effective use of these stolen goods.

Tory got a holo-call just when the duo was about to enter the pods. It was from his aunt Avril.

He picked it up. Since only Vik was there with him, he picked the holo-call without setting it to private, allowing Vik to see what was going on with his friend’s aunt they had visited not a long ago.

A semi-transparent, 3D rendering of live moments was unfolding in front of Vik and Tory’s eyes. The MCP chip was in sync with the smart band Tory was wearing. Aunt Avril and her surroundings were projected in front of the duo.

Aunt Avril’s spectral self appeared to be in a panic. She started speaking as soon as the holo-call was picked up:

“Son, what did you do? The cops are asking us to let them in the middle of the night. Their intentions… don’t look good.”

Aunt Avril sounded stressed and fearful. She resumed after taking a long breath.

“Is Vik still with you? I hope you are not alone. You must hide for the time being. I’ll contact…”

Aunt Avril was about to finish her sentence when a loud bang was heard. She only looked behind and saw that her reinforced door had been breached and cops had gotten in.

Aunt Avril had kept the holo-call on. But it was set to private mode. So the cops that had barged into her room couldn’t see Vik and Tory that were on the other side of the holo-call.

Vik and Tory experienced aunt Avril’s current crisis with her. She was about to say something when the sound of a gunshot reverberated into the room.

Suddenly, the holo-call’s visual was cut off. The audio was still playing though.

Holo-calls worked on the MCP chip. If a person dies, it would affect the chip’s operation too.

A deafening silence was spread. Silence of death.

Tory tightened his fists. His eyes had gotten red. He looked like he was about to burst into a sprint and run his way to his aunt’s house.

But he held on and listened in:

“Sir, everything’s clear. There are no more survivors. Three confirmed hits.”

Vik and Tory heard an emotionless voice. They had already seen the team leader enter the room. The person who spoke just now must have been his underlining.

“Good. Our orders are total wipeout. We need to torch this place and say that it’s an arson setup by this dead lady to counter us.”

The team leader said to someone at the back before asking him to come forwards with the gesture of his index finger. A cold and calculating voice that belonged to the team leader was heard once more.

“George, I’ll let you handle the press release. Come up with whatever bullshit that you come up with and paint a pretty picture for all of us. Got it?”

The team leader said with unmasked authority in his voice. He took a small pause to look around before dishing out his order.

“Let’s go. We have many tasks lined up ahead.”

Vic and Tory heard the steps of withdrawal following that command. Soon, everything became silent.

Tory cut the holo-call off. He sat on the ground, hid his face behind his palms, and started crying.

There was a storm of emotions brewing inside Tory’s head at the time. It howled with blame directed at his soul.

It was his fault that Tia was dead. He would have never involved himself in this botched-up Op had he known it’d lead to this.

Vik sighed and walked up to Tory. He patted the guy’s shoulder before continuing.

“I know it’s difficult. But try to get hold of yourself, brother. Aunt Avril was a kind person. She helped a lot of people.

But she was never a rule follower.”

Vik said in a calming voice. He let his words get processed a bit by his friend and sighed before adding up.

“Her 50 years lifespan was about to run out. I don’t think she would have preferred what any city-state told her to do.”

Vik tried to make sense of Aunt Avril’s death to calm Tory down. But it seemed to have backfired.

“Vik, I know you mean well. But this time, shut the fu*k up.”

Tory said as he stared at Vik with red eyes. He spoke in a voice that was laced with sadness and anger.

“Aunt Avril’s death was not part of the Op. Do you understand?”

Vik was taken aback by Tory’s sudden burst of anger. But he didn’t say a word and let Tory express his emotions.

The latter took a long breath and controlled himself before speaking up.

“You don’t have to dissect the scene in your big brain.

Yes, her time was almost up. But I’m not crying because of her death. But because of how she died. And why she died.”

Tory got up and walked past Vik. His voice came from behind Vik this time.

“We are responsible for her death, Vik. We had signed her death warrant the moment we took this Op. The moment we decided to knock on her door.”

Tory got his emotions under control soon after. His calm voice was different from the tone he had used just now.

“Hermano, you need to stop rationalizing everything. It is not healthy. Will you rationalize my death when I die?

It may help you in the short run. But bottling up your emotions like that will corrode you from inside.”

Vik was about to say something when he heard Tory’s question directed at him. But the latter knew what he was thinking and continued speaking.

“I know what you are trying to say. I get that.

I’m not stupid enough to rush to aunt Avril’s place after hearing about her death. What’s done is done.

I just hope that it all ends with her death though.”

Tory had a grim premonition before he stopped talking. He proceeded to grab the booze they had stored.

Plans to enter and inspect the pods that they had were abandoned. Today, he didn’t feel like doing anything but drowning his sorrows away in the drink. Drinking till the nagging voices in his head calmed down and brought him some peace.

Vik didn’t stop him. The guy needed his alone time.

***

Aunt Avril’s death didn’t affect Vik that much. Sure, she had treated him well when he was under her roof from time to time. But Vik still felt like an alien in a family setting.

He would gel well with people. And his interactions with people would create the impression that he was the friendliest guy one could find in this time and age.

But only Vik knew how lonely he was in the crowd. And yet, somehow that loneliness would just disappear into thin air when he was with Tory.

Tory was opposite Vik. He would only hang out with a select group of people. But he was extremely close to those he spoke with.

Tory’s interactions were often boisterous. He would often create friction with people he knew including his girlfriends. And yet, those frictions would only end up bringing him closer to the people he fought with.

But Tory never fought with Vik. Opposites attract each other they say. It was like the guy knew Vik and could read him like an open book.

Vik had to admit, that Tory was right. He always tried to rationalize everything happening around him. Maybe it was a form of defense mechanism to keep the feelings of rage, regret, frustration, and every other form of misery at bay.

Maybe he was refusing to feel anything because it felt overwhelming to him.

‘Would I try to come up with reasons to justify Tory’s death too?’

As Vik stepped forward to join his brother in a sudden drinking competition, he had this thought. It was going to be a long night for both of them.

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