Block C

At the break of the midnight hour, the fire around the kitchen died down a bit.

In the distance, on the right, was a crowd of juvenile prisoners and prison guards haphazardly moving around the plane wreck. Vermont focused his ears on their hubbub, but couldn't hear a thing.

He sighed as he remembered the helplessness of being an unawakened human again.

'This is truly a nightmare.'

Not having even one-hundredth of his usual prowess, Vermont was slightly worried about the upcoming rave. This was going to be his first rave in two lives, and his preparations were laughable. It heightened his worries when he counted the number of prison guards around. There were forty of them.

'that is enough personnel to start a small-size pirate crew.'

He made a resolve to not mess with the guards unless absolutely necessary. Their strength reminded Vermont why in his last life it took him one decade to execute his revenge against the government of India.

In the kingdom of erstwhile Bharat - India, every government employee after five years of service can exchange their retirement benefits for a low-level Enhancer Serum. They would have to sign a service (slave) contract for the next 5 to 10 years, but in the eyes of most citizens, it was a necessary evil. The result, however, was that the government of India had an army of biohackers.

Vermont again looked at the crowd. There seemed to be some tensions between the prisoners and the guards. Although it was slightly odd, this wasn't totally strange given block C's status. He himself was visiting the block C for the first time, but he had heard of many secondhand stories about the infamous block.

Unlike the other two blocks, Block C only housed the nouveau riches of India. It was a prison dedicated to serving only the scion of rich masters who wanted to play gangsters. There were genuine criminals among those rich brats too, but it was also an open secret that block C was not a traditional prison.

**

Vermont grabbed Gou's tablet and scoured through his mailbox. More precisely, his subscriptions and newsletters.

Maya's services had already stopped working around 10 PM and archived emails were his only source of information right now.

'What in the world? Did you eat spams for breakfast?'

Surprised by the amount of "get rich schemes" on his mailbox, Vermont was flabbergasted.

He had no actual need to go through the latest news, but Vermont was doubtful whether the simulation was a replica of his past or it had a different timeline. It was in his traits to always be prepared. If possible, Vermont would never leave a possibility of failure unattended.

'woah! Really?'

He stumbled upon an email by HRIKSH- High Roundtable Of Indra Kash, Government of India's (GOI) space ministry.

[ AN: Both 'Hriksh' and 'Kash' mean Sky. Indra is a Vedic God of War, Weather, Rain, and Thunder ]

'I don't know how this will change your life, but I hope that you are at least half as good as this report card ~hehehe.'

His space pirate greed shone brilliantly in his eyes. Gou was an aspiring battleship pilot with a 90% score on his tests. It was no wonder that Vermont was feeling thrilled at saving his life.

'Its good that I left him a note. If he ends up joining HRIKSH, I should contact him after my release.'

**

"What-? Did you really think my status is equal to third-rate goons?"

"... My surname is Amrani? Did you get that? Um-flicking-Rani!!!"

The sudden noise startled Vermont.

A 16-year-old boy was wantonly threatening a bona fide 30-year-old biohacker guard. Nerves were popping out of the guard's forehead, and his hand was already on his baton. But the courageous teen's tongue was vicious and unrestrained.

Amrani(s) were not just rich, they were one of the top 5-10% that ruled Mumbai city.

'It must be him. He is exactly like I thought he would be: entitled and arrogant.'

Vermont was thankful to the scion of Amrani for declaring himself so loudly, but then a frown appeared on his face.

'I never thought about this before, but why would an heir of Amrani eat rodents during Rave? Did someone force him to?'

Damon Amrani was the grandson of Mukul Amrani, the fifth richest man in Mumbai and a multi-billionaire. The Amrani corporation was one of the largest producers of Ether - a highly sought-after fuel for intergalactic exploration, and they owned multiple battleship weapons manufacturing firms.

In the 31st Century, exploring space and gaining an understanding of the vast universe was one of the most lucrative professions, and many Alien races were currently fighting for resources in space. This was for the same reason Vermont thought of Gou as a good connection to have. After all, Gou was going to join HRIKSH, the most powerful space agency on Earth.

In his last life, Damon was amongst the first batch of Ravetts. He not only gained strength by undergoing a transformation in the rave, but the ability he gained made him amongst the most valuable Ravett in the history of humankind. And using his newfound powers, Damon not only increased his own strength but also propelled Amrani Space Agency's worth to outer space.

***

Just as Vermont predicted, after half an hour, the guard - tired of Damon's bullshit - thrashed him badly, leaving him on the verge of disability. It surprised Vermont to see this, but it was nothing of his concern as long as Damon wasn't dead.

'His strength should be around a 2★ Cadet, no need to worry, I guess.'

He took a quick glance at Damon and wondered. Having taken a high-level Enhancer and various other drugs since childhood, Damon's body could easily recover in a short time. The mild beating from 2 to 3★ Cadet-rank guards was nothing serious for Damon.

In fact, if he used his family's battle techniques, Damon could easily overpower the guard, but he was a slouch and had never trained in life.

Biohackers were the same as martial artists. With slight difference in power of a minor rank, the biohacker with lower rank and superior battle technique had a higher chance of victory.

Prison guards with their basic battle techniques would be no match for Damon if he knew how to fight using his family's battle technique. Battle techniques were the reason rich families like Amrani could contend against the GOI.

The families had superior battle techniques refined over generations, and the government had the superiority in numbers. Both forces were out of reach of the current Vermont without a Ravett's ability. He had no chance of competing against those superhumans.

'What a waste.'

A guard spat in anger as he moved away from the unconscious Damon. His anger was over-the-top, but it was justified because Damon was asking for a beating when he trampled on their dignity and called them inferior beings.

Guards like these had sacrificed more than just money to rise till 3★ Cadet Rank at 30, and yet Damon would easily rise to a Lieutenant Rank in the future.

Damon had everything that the people like Vermont - born at the bottom of the social pyramid - desired. Enhancers and Battle Techniques were the two most desired things in the world right now. Vermont had neither.

**

Time quickly passed by as the noise died down.

All the young wannabe gangsters were now being used as spot boys by the guards to save passengers from the plane crash and provide treatment. Damon's example sure worked as an excellent motivator for all of them to fall in line.

Some guards even tried to order Vermont around, but a good look at the pitiful Vermont and they decided against it.

Vermont was only a normal 15-year-old and not a biohacker like the rest of the prisoners and guards. Even most of the saved passengers turned out to be Biohackers. It wasn't surprising since they survived the horrendous plane crash.

Some nouveau riches looked at him in jealously, but he didn't respond and they quietly scurried to a corner. While most passengers who saw him either didn't care or pitied his circumstances.

Overall, everybody agreed he was as useless as a mirage in the desert and left him alone. It did not bother Vermont. He knew well that their pity would soon turn into greed once the Rave started.

**

(2 AM - couple of hours later)

The prisoners and guards saved 30 people working together, and the overall man count around the Kitchen quickly increased to 79. Forty guards, thirty crash survivors, eight spoilt brats from block C, and an unawakened boy. He quickly took a scan of all the people and a frown appeared on his face.

'Did the past change? I'm already unsure whether what is happening right now is a simulation, but now even the events are turning out different?'

Vermont was clearly unhappy. There was no way that the butterfly effect would change the events of the past so quickly; he knew he was missing something, but what, he didn't know.

He quietly waited, forcing himself to not think about his brother or the reason he was stuck in the simulation. Those thoughts would only depress him further. But as another hour passed, he worried.

'How did they invoke the Rave if they didn't have 100 people?'

Vermont was unsure. Although the situation was telling him something was different and maybe he was in the wrong location, he believed in his memory and waited.

And soon the time proved him right. Around 5 AM, a large group of people appeared on the horizon, pottering about the camp at block C.

It wasn't clear to others because of the darker dawn, but Vermont could see clearly. Despite not being a biohacker, his brain was powerful than an average human. It could look better, analyze more, and remember longer compared to normal awakeners.

He identified the group to be wearing prison uniforms. They were returning after not finding any ways to communicate with their gangs.

'They must have come here in hopes of food ~hehehe.'

Vile Marshlands was the name of the empty grasslands and swamps that stretched for 10s of kilometres around the Prison. It was an infertile land that already had poor cell reception, but after the cataclysm, even that had stopped working. So the prisoners had no choice but to look for food in the prison.

'Okay! We have all the people now.'

The headcount reached over a hundred and a delighted smile appeared on Vermont's face.