The Spirits (Ch-9; The Clues Counter-Question)

The Spirits And The Devastating War

Chapter-9

The Clues Counter-Question

This was a lunatic case. Peter had got no clues. The most basic step was to study the blood and Peter did the same. The blood from which the name was written was of group 'B positive' and that was not something worth it. Neither was it a rare blood group nor did it matter... One question that entangled his mind was a question of how much blood did that so-called 'Maniac' had. Everywhere where the sign was present, that blood was of Group 'B positive'. The questions counter-attacked each other oppressively. Every solution he thought had a counter-question and therefore the solution was not genuine and the question was not the solution for the next one.

He was just sitting thinking about the case about something that matched that could bring him a clue about who is this Maniac. Meanwhile, Ramesh and Harry entered the room to give him some succour...

"Do you think, we should waste time here solving this case or just move on for the next demeanour?", asked Ramesh...

"Not probably, Valencia was the name I saw there on the poster. Oliver knows who's my demeanour but I don't know why? Valencia was written there. I want to confirm if this is the same I am looking for. Also, if we solve this case the United Kingdom's relationship with Australia would increase exponentially", Harry remarked.

"Right! These numbers match so well. Four banks, four children. And in each bank, a new number comes up in terms of money stolen. Fascinating, isn't it?", Ramesh asserted.

After listening to this line, Peter didn't say anything but his pure reactions did say a lot. He came up with an idea like he always did. Solving cases was the only motive he lived for...

"Ramesh, you're brilliant and Harry I would really like to embrace your poetic line you told me when we were solving Rogers' case. 'The smaller you see, the bigger you reach'. See the numbers stolen", said Peter making his happiest face ever, "in the banks. First one- 11,000 AU$. The second one- 25,000 AU$. Third and fourth- 9,000 AU$. Have a clear look! They depict your name. The first letter of your name- 'H'. See, the position of 'H' in alphabet series in ascending order is 8 and from descending order, it’s 19. Subtract the bigger from smaller. What do you get?”

“11” 

“And what is the amount stolen?”

“In the first bank, 11,000 AU$”, exclaimed Harry.

“The same is with the second bank. The third and fourth. Together they make one name, 'HARR'. If another bank is stolen next month according to the series about 24,000 AU$ will be stolen."

"Why would that happen on my name?"

"Maybe Maniac is being grounded by Oliver. Just think the attack on the U.N. Meeting is so strange. There is someone who is deceiving us or maybe I am overthinking. I don't know the technology Cygnus has... But this is such a big coincidence. There may be a chance that someone is telling him our next steps. He's putting maniac into the problem so that we can divert. I am planning that if aren't able to find Maniac in the next seven days, we'll leave."

Harry stumbled to a halt and said, "Leave? What about the children? They'll hobble across the streets their whole lives, then."

"Australia's got police, Harry. We can't trust anyone here... If Maniac is a plan plotted by Oliver, why shall we give him a chance to defy us? We'll try our best. Tomorrow I am going to get the children's past and we'll see if it has some clue. The children kidnapped shall not have the blood group B positive but if it does, then I don't know what I will be up to. It fears me because if Maniac is a serial murderer, then those children are facing a hard time. Very hard time..."

"Torture, you mean?", Ramesh broke in after a long time. He, like always, was licking his pencil. He always said that it helped him to think.

"No...Severe torture..."

The day was tiring and so was the team's life. The cliche of madness and stress always made them think negative. But their team spirit kept them alive for each other. The same night, Harry was in his room, sleeping. He was seeing many dreams these days related to his past. Either everything he saw was real and he was gaining his memory back or maybe everything was just a piece of play that included hallucination and illusion played by his mind.

Today, he saw him sitting with his father, Ralph. He remembered his name and his mother's too. He was just a small kid. A small kid with brown hairs and eyes glittering with the excitement of his future. Everything seemed so saint-like. It seemed like the Utopian society Harry always thought to live in. But for five years, it was all just fabrication and the visualization of his mind. The small boy was asking his father many queries about dimensions and the Crown Of Powers. Ralph seemed to be very quiet and benign. He seemed to have the same looks Harry had. The small boy (Harry) started...

In The Dream

Harry just saw Ralph saying, "Ah! Harry! Welcome. I didn't expect you to be wandering around in this palace at night." and he didn't have any clue why was he wandering around.

"Never, father! I...Only", Harry noticed himself saying while stuttering, " I only wanted to ask about the dimensions. Their origin? I didn't see any science in here? Will you clear all my doubts?"

"Surely, I will. It's all science behind, only the spell we use to travel in dimensions isn't. Let me come to the topic. To reveal what happened, we need to get back to the big bang singularity: the moment at which the universe started.", said Ralph, "Millions and Billions of years ago, at the big bang itself, the universe is thought to have zero size, and so to have been infinitely hot. But as the universe expanded, the temperature of the radiation decreased. One second after the big bang, it would have fallen to about ten thousand million degrees. The same continued and after every second, the temperature fell. But, the radiation was used to up to make surfaces of planets, like ours. The suspended particles in that small universe contracted to form the surface of the planet we live in. This way, many planets were formed and that is what you call dimensions in this world. Earth was formed millions of years after and therefore and had no heat on its surface. It is a good planet or so-called 'dimension'. It's not developed like ours but that's your challenge. I know you're goin' to win, Harry."

"I wanted to know if I am worthy to ask about the reality of the Crown of Powers?", said Harry indirectly.

"Surely you are. The heat which was stored on the surface of our planet is the reason of your powers. The red crystal in the Crown of Powers is not just for boasting. It stores and modifies that heat. Indeed, the Crown of Powers is a machine that exposes your veins to that heat. It takes the heat from the crystal and attacks your veins. It's because of the evolution of our ancestors that we are habitual to that heat. That's why you felt only some amounts of pain otherwise, any common person might have died."

"About the magical spell?"

"You've so many doubts! Well, it's really magical and was found by one of your great ancestors. It doesn't have any science behind!!!"

"Always remember!

The Earth is nothing but a race

This Life is nothing but a maze

Answers lie everywhere in that world

Everything is not straight but is swirled

The smaller you see, the bigger you reach

Somethings are there which aren't a breach

Everything Unexpected happens in life

The thing you're facing is surely not a rife"

Harry's father seemed to have a lot of affection for the small boy and did sing a poem to guide him. It was the same poem Peter was talking about.

"Yes, Father! Last question! Aren' we misusing the term dimension as it means something else?", said Harry.

"I was waiting for that one! NO, Harry, it's not the way you're thinking. The other planets don' know anything about dimensions. Earth is more than a thousand million light-years away from us. So, for reaching there, you need to pass through portals that carry you through many dimensions. Some are dark and some are very neat. In short, the Earth is not in our dimension. It lies in the dimension where superpowers are impossible in mythology but can be possible through the methods of science. Understand?"

"A bit, father!"

"And that's enough for today!!!"

Reality

This dream was not like a type of fiction. All the facts Ralph gave were obvious and matched Harry's observations, too. This dream was something Harry did not want to leave. The last dream he saw was disrupting. But in contrast, today, he was sleeping while hugging his pillow with the best power he could apply to it. He was just too relaxed and was prevaricating himself out of the world he was living in. Harry was just only enjoying while hugging his pillow while Peter came in to wake him up. It was forenoon now.

"Harry, come on wake up. You gotta see this. Leave that disparaged pillow", said Peter vibrantly.

"Oh, man. It's not a pillow. It's my Dad. He is back.", Harry talked in his sleep and thought that reality was too a dream.

"Wake Up. The reports have come. The children's past. Their blood group is B positive. All of them have the same blood group"

Harry was astounded. He forgot his dream and just stood in a second.

"Don't say that."

"I have to. Their past. Either of their parents worked in any of the banks stolen. They all have something connected. This Maniac is just a serial killer"

"Then what about my name? The money that was stolen has such large co-incidences."

"That's the matter, Harry. Maniac had kidnapped the children just before the banks were stolen. Then, what about your co-incidence with money stolen? The clues I am getting are just counter-attacking themselves and are eliminating the solution I am getting to a question. If it is Oliver, then why did he steal the money or children. If it is just a serial killer, then what is the co-incidence about the banks? This is something more than I thought.", said Peter anxiously.

"I think we are confusing ourselves by connecting it to Oliver, aren' we?"

"Yeah!!! But think the Blood Group has been matched. Maybe that blood on the wall is of those children. Those children might be in a lot of pain. We gotta start somewhere! Where does your mind ramble the place you wish to start from?"

"Wait a minute", said Harry, "Basics are the base of big brain-teasing brain-twisters. So let's start from the first kid. His history and all. Agree? And also I need to identify Valencia. I want to know if she is made to do something different. I tested her once in the UN Meeting attack but that wasn' enough. I, even, tested Ramesh two times. I cannot risk the Observatory Chalice Of Demeanours because the flame and the incantation rises only once."

"Agree. Well, that was a cool tongue twister. 'Basics are the base of the brain-teasing brain-twisters'. Leaving this topic around, I am apprehended with the fear about these children..."

"Don't fear. Well, you missed 'big' word in the twister... Basics are the base of big brain-teasing brain-twisters...", said Harry while emphasizing the word 'big'.

"Let me try again...", Peter tried to say the twister five times but was unsuccessful

This was a very immeasurable thing these best friends have. Even in darker tones, they find some light to make the situation lighter. A piece of laughter make can bring up light even in the darkest times of life. 

These friends were just too good and even the world praised that. Their exhilarating demeanour was greater than any of the demeanour Harry desired.​​​​​​​

-To Be Continued

(Abhinav Srivastava)