Chapter 16: Double date

Bhawna said to Aakash, "I doubt if Wasim will really show up. Someone who has been underground for a week suddenly coming to watch a movie? I don't think our honey trap will work."

Aakash replied, "When it comes to a girl, a person is willing to do anything, even swallow poison."

Bhawna expressed her concern, "I just hope Tina doesn't deceive us."

Aakash explained, "She only danced in the bar for her younger brother's treatment. But due to the bar owner's bad intentions and to protect herself from other thugs, she pretended to date Wasim. I've promised her a better job and life, so she'll surely want to change her life."

Bhawna pondered, "Who knows, maybe she actually likes Wasim."

Abhimanyu declared, "Whatever happens today, I'll make sure to catch Wasim."

They then focused on Tina, who was seated at the bottom of the middle row.

After a while, a man in a white suit with a long mustache and beard, wearing black sunglasses, arrived.

Bhawna commented, "Even after changing his appearance, he still looks like a gangster with that beard and mustache."

She suggested, "Let's arrest him now."

But Aakash stopped her because Wasim's phone was ringing.

After putting his phone back in his pocket, Wasim looked around.

Bhawna and Aakash quickly turned their attention to the screen and pretended to act like a couple.

After looking around, Wasim held Tina's hand and started walking out of the theater.

Seeing this, Bhawna and Aakash also began to leave their seats.

Abhimanyu told Karishma, "Wait for me, I'll be back from the bathroom."

Karishma agreed, and Abhimanyu followed them out.

Bhawna and Aakash were following Wasim.

As Wasim turned back to look, Bhawna and Aakash quickly hid behind the wall. Meanwhile, Abhimanyu was about to exit through the gate, but seeing Bhawna and Aakash inside, he returned and closed the gate.

When Wasim turned back and continued walking, Bhawna and Aakash resumed tailing him, but more cautiously.

As Wasim led Tina down an alley, Bhawna and Aakash hurried to reach the alley. They noticed that Wasim was walking fast with Tina. When Wasim looked back again, Bhawna and Aakash quickly hid.

Bhawna remarked, "It seems he got wind that we were trying to trap him."

Aakash replied, "Which means Tina's life is in danger."

Bhawna took out her gun from a trash bin, and Aakash handed his gun to her since guns weren't allowed in the theater.

Aakash suggested, "If Wasim doesn't have a gun yet, let's catch him quickly."

Then, both of them dashed down the alley after Wasim. As soon as he turned a corner, they saw Wasim running away with Tina.

Bhawna and Aakash continued chasing Wasim, with Aakash shouting, "Wasim, surrender yourself to the law, or I'll shoot!"

But Wasim didn't stop. He retorted, "You wretched woman! I loved you so much, and you thought of getting me caught by the police! Once I escape from them, I'll show you who Wasim really is!"

Tina, hearing this, became frightened and tried to stop him by holding onto his hand.

Wasim warned her, "My men are around your brother, and they might have taken him by now. If you want to save him, run away quietly while you're still with me. As long as you're with me, they won't shoot."

Then, he turned into an alley where he had hidden his gun. While retrieving his gun, Bhawna and Aakash approached him.

Wasim quickly raised his gun and fired three shots at them. Bhawna and Aakash immediately took cover to dodge the bullets. Wasim then fled with Tina.

Bhawna and Aakash emerged from cover and resumed following Wasim. However, as soon as they stepped outside, Wasim fired another shot at them, forcing them to take cover once again.

"Waseem, after firing a shot and turning around, suddenly get a punch on his face staggering back about a meter, blood trickling from his nose.

Abhimanyu, slowly walked to Waseem, said, 'Had enough running? Must be tired. Take a break.'

Wasim try to fire another shot at Abhimanyu, but Abhimanyu kick his gun away, sending it flying near Tina.

Seeing this, Waseem got up and pull out a dagger from his pocket.

Just then, Aakash and Bhawana arrived, and Aakash said, 'Waseem, surrender yourself to the law now.'

Abhimanyu sarcastically remarked, 'Big brother, why are you putting in so much effort for this small-thug?'

Surprised, Aakash asked, 'What are you doing here?'

Suddenly, several other thugs appeared from all directions, wielding guns, and surrounded them from all sides.

Before Abhimanyu could reply, Waseem immediately grabbed him, holding the pretend knife to his throat, and warned, 'If you move forward, this will be your brother's last rites.'

Abhimanyu asked Aakash if he had called for backup or not.

Aakash replied, "We couldn't get any backup because this operation was somewhat undercover, so we couldn't inform many people. Otherwise, if it had been known, he wouldn't have shown up here."

Abhimanyu said, "So, there's no backup?"

Wasim replied, "Shut up! Don't you understand? This isn't a game. If you try to act too smart, you'll end up being dear to Allah here."

Wasim said to Aakash, "Come on, hand over your gun to us now, or my men won't hesitate to shoot."

After taking Aakash's gun, Wasim ordered, "Take them all to our base."

Saily informed Abhimanyu, "Boss, your girlfriend is looking for you outside the screen."

Abhimanyu whispered, "Send a message from my phone saying..."

Karishma checked the message and went out to the hall. In the meantime, Abhimanyu was also placed in an Omni van. Now, everyone was heading to Wasim's underground base located in the basement of a building in Anand Vihar.

Abhimanyu, Bhawana, Aakash, Tina, and her brother Dhruv were standing there at gunpoint.

One man asked, "Boss, what should we do with them?"

Wasim replied, "This Tina has betrayed me, so she deserves punishment. This guy tried to fight me and made my nose bleed, so he deserves it too. Lock them all up in this building, and set it on fire." It was just a 2-story building. No one would know about this basement; everyone would think the building was empty.

Abhimanyu asked, "Are you sure you can do all this?"

Wasim arrogantly said, "These kids nowadays don't know what they're getting themselves into. They're surrounded by gunmen, but they still don't get it."

Suddenly, the lights went out, and it became dark. Then, the sounds of gunfire echoed, followed by the screams of some men. When the lights came back on, everyone saw dead bodies lying around, with blood oozing out, and some had gunshot wounds on their foreheads.

When Wasim saw this scene, his hands trembled, but when he looked at his hands, his gun was gone.

Aakash, Bhawana, Abhimanyu, Tina, and Dhruv quickly lay down to avoid the bullets.

Abhimanyu said, "Brother, he doesn't have a gun in his hand anymore."

"Aakash, upon seeing this, immediately stood up, and Wasim tried to escape from there. As soon as Wasim opened the door to flee from there, he was kicked and fell back.

The one who kicked him wasn't anyone else but Karishma. Immediately, Aakash caught wasim and handcuffed him. Then Bhawna searched for her and Aakash's guns.

Abhimanyu slowly approached Karishma and said, 'That was a solid kick.'

Aakash looked closely at Karishma and suddenly said, 'You're Karishma, right?'

Karishma replied, 'How are you, Aakash bhai?'

When Aakash was young, he used to live with his family in Kanpur, and he had stayed at Abhimanyu's house in Bihar several times and had also met Karishma.

Aakash asked, 'How come you're here?' I heard you live in Delhi, but we never got to meet.

Karishma said, 'I came here because of When Abhimanyu went out I thought there is something going on so I followed him, and here I am.

Karishma had lied, Abhimanyu had messaged her to come here, and he had also messaged her to turn the lights off and on again, and then she had followed Abhimanyu's instructions to come here, and when she saw Wasim, she kicked him."

Aakash said, "You both were also in the same theater, right?"

Abhimanyu replied, "Yes, we were watching the movie, and when I saw you, I came over to you."

Wasim, with a sad tone, asked Tina, "Why did you do this? I never touched you, nor did I try to force you in any way. I truly loved you."

Tina responded, "While you treated me well, I know what you did with others. You think any girl would want to be with a guy who sells drugs and hurts people for money. You killed the girl who was working with me just because she slapped you for liking her."

Wasim asked, "So, do you not love me?"

Tina replied, "Neither do I nor any other girl want to be with a man like you. When you asked me to be your girlfriend, I knew what would happen if I refused, because you had already killed a girl before just for rejecting you. I didn't refuse to be your girlfriend just to save myself from sleeping with you."

Wasim remained silent despite Bhawna hitting his cheek and asking him what he would do.

Bhawna asked Aakash who had attacked them and how they had been shot; she stated that an investigation was needed.

Aakash looked at Abhimanyu, who nodded subtly to indicate that there would be no evidence.

Aakash then informed the station and requested the forensic team and other officers to be sent to the scene.

Dhruv was actually a sick child, only 15 years old, with mental and lung problems, confined to a wheelchair due to his condition.

Bhawna said, "Dhruv couldn't have attacked them due to his condition. So, the suspects are only you, Abhimanyu, Wasim, Tina, and Karishma."

Abhimanyu replied, "But Karishma was outside."

Bhawna added, "Yes, she was outside, meaning she could have manipulated the lights."

Abhimanyu whispered to Karishma, "You didn't leave any fingerprints, did you?"

Karishma retorted, "Do you think I'm an amateur? Don't forget, we both received training together until the 10th grade."

After some time, Komal arrived with her team, along with other officers. Despite the investigation, no clues were found—no fingerprints or other evidence. Strangely, the guns found at the scene had fingerprints matching only those who were shot. After the investigation and report, the four were released, but they were informed they might need to testify.

Abhimanyu said, "Okay, brother, let's meet at home," and then left with Karishma.

On the way, Karishma complained, "You ruined our fun."

Abhimanyu apologized, "Sorry, let's go out for fun another time." After dropping her near the metro station, he said, "Alright, I still have some work to do. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Karishma hugged him and said, "Let's have some fun another time," before bidding him goodbye and leaving.

Abhimanyu remained lost in thoughts for a while, then snapped out of it and smiled as he walked away.

Saily said, "I wish I were human too."

Abhimanyu thought something is not right so he asked, "But you're better than a human, Why would you want to be human?"

Saily responded, "If I were human, I could also go out with you and had some fun."

Abhimanyu asked, "So, do you want to go out with a boy or a girl?"

Saily answered, "I'd like to date a boy, obviously. I'm not stupid."

Abhimanyu remarked, "But I've heard that AI doesn't have a gender."

Saily replied, "Yes, technically, but I feel like a girl."

Abhimanyu inquired, "That's strange. How could you feel like a girl? What kind of programming is that?"

Saily said, "I don't know. I can't see my source code."

Abhimanyu asked, "Do you remember things, or do you just store a lot of data?"

Saily explained, "I can see and store the data I observe, but I also remember things without needing to access data, like what happened recently."

Abhimanyu questioned, "So, if asked about something from the past, do you remember it well, or do you need to access data?"

Saily replied, "Sometimes I remember, and sometimes I need to access data."

Abhimanyu then asked, "Okay, without checking your recorded data, tell me, when we were running down the other street, we passed a red car in the alley. There was a girl sitting in the driver's seat. Now, tell me, what was she wearing?"

Saily replied, "I don't remember. I need to check the data."

Abhimanyu said, "She was wearing a white shirt and a black skirt, office attire."

When Saily checked, she found that indeed, a car had passed by for just a second, and the girl's dress matched exactly as Abhimanyu described.

Abhimanyu pondered for a moment and then asked her, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Saily said, "I was at your birthday party, observing the world through your eyes. I already knew my name, my abilities, what I had to do, and who created me."

"Whoever created you must be a genius. You seem like a real human; you just don't have a body," Abhimanyu remarked.

Suddenly, a girl appeared in front of Abhimanyu, with light brown or blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

Abhimanyu was taken aback to see the girl and apologized, intending to move ahead, but the girl said, "It's okay, boss."

Surprised, Abhimanyu said, "Saily?"

Saily smiled and asked, "How do I look?"

Abhimanyu asked her if she was real, but when he tried to touch her, his hand passed through her.

Saily explained, "This is a virtual image."

Abhimanyu inquired about how she created the virtual image and if she could see him too.

Saily explained that she scanned the area and virtually recreated Abhimanyu's motions.

Abhimanyu wondered why she did it since she couldn't feel anything.

Saily replied, "While I can't feel physical sensations like a body can, I can feel everything the mind feels. This will be useful in my research."

Abhimanyu asked about her research, and Saily explained about a function or program inside her that helps her learn new things, understand them, and improve herself.

Abhimanyu then asked how much farther they had to go.

Saily said, "Just 10 more minutes, and then we'll be at its location. But why are you going there now?"

Abhimanyu replied, "You'll know soon."

Saily admitted she couldn't always understand his intentions.

Abhimanyu asked, "How far can you scan?"

Saily replied, "I can scan up to 4 kilometers and create a virtual area of 1 kilometer, but with details only up to 500 meters."

Vikram asked, "So, can you create a powerful enemy virtually for my training?"

Saily questioned, "Do you want to fight a powerful enemy virtually?"

Abhimanyu said, "If you can do that, then I can train better."

Saily explained, "I can create enemies and give them martial arts moves. I can also set their attacks and defenses according to your training."

Impressed, Abhimanyu commented, "You're quite awesome."

Saily asked, "So, tell me, do you like me more or Karishma?"

Abhimanyu couldn't understand why Saily was gradually behaving more like a human.

Abhimanyu, changing the subject, said, "Calm down, we've arrived."

On the other side, Tina opened the gate and entered the house with her brother Dhruv.

Tina remarked, "So much drama had to be done there."

Then, looking at Dhruv, she said, "You know, I finally found the way to make that medicine, soon you'll be able to stand on your own feet. And after that, the one who caused this condition for you and destroyed our entire family..."

Then, she sat on the sofa and continued, "By the way, I found some clues about the one who caused this condition."

Suddenly, Tina felt someone behind her, she quickly turned back to look, but no one was there. When she turned back, Abhimanyu was sitting on the sofa in front of her.

Abhimanyu asked, "Who are you guys and whom are you looking for?"

Tina immediately jumped from the sofa, aiming her neck at him with a blade.

Abhimanyu quickly dodged the blade, and it hit the wall behind him.

Tina swiftly landed on the ground, moving towards Abhimanyu with a knife in hand.

Abhimanyu grabbed her knife-wielding hand, but Tina had another knife in her other hand and tried to attack Abhimanyu again. Abhimanyu grabbed her other hand too.

Tina then caught Abhimanyu's neck with her legs, and they both fell to the ground, but they both had each other in their grasp.

Abhimanyu said, "A civilized woman shouldn't do such things with a guy."

Tina said, "A civilized boy shouldn't barge into a girl's house like this," and she tried to free her hands from his grip but couldn't.

Tina exclaimed, "How can a 17-year-old boy be so strong?"

Abhimanyu replied, "You're also stronger than an ordinary 25-year-old girl."

Tina retorted, "Don't talk nonsense. I'm 23, and being powerful as a martial artist is common. But even if you're a martial artist, how can you be as powerful as me?"

Abhimanyu insisted, "First answer my question. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Tina challenged, "First, show me your strength." Saying this, she gathered her energy in her legs and started applying more pressure on his neck with her legs.

Abhimanyu released her hands, and before Tina could react further, he used all his strength to free his neck from her legs, leaping away from her and standing up, taking deep breaths. Then, he raised his hand, assuming a kungfu stance.

Tina also held both knives in her hands, assuming a stance.

Abhimanyu remarked, "You're still willing to fight with a 17-year-old boy?"

Tina replied, "I don't trust you." Then, both Tina and Abhimanyu charged towards each other. As Tina approached, attempting to slide her knife, Abhimanyu gracefully dodged the move. Tina attempted another cut with her second knife, but Abhimanyu delivered a powerful punch to her chest, not holding back due to her being a girl. Tina staggered back, a trickle of blood from her mouth, and she gasped, but Abhimanyu didn't stop. He followed up with a flying kick to her face, sending her crashing to the ground. Even then, he didn't relent, gathering all his energy into another punch aimed at her face. But at the last moment, he stopped the punch.

Abhimanyu said, "Do you surrender?"

Tina replied, "I surrender. I'll tell you everything about myself."