Vol 2: Chapter 5: Impersonate

Ram failed to get even a little bit of crack on the transparent section of The Sphere. He tried to shift into sharpest weapon he could ever find, heaviest rock that he could manage among many other things.

Nothing worked.

He thought of asking Em and realized that she was still Shutdown.

Ram sighed.

Ram didn't know how long it was going to lost.

He wanted to get out of The Lab, but looking at the Merged Souls reminded him of Em and himself.

So he was pondering on what to do as he observed The Merged Souls when he heard three voices talking. He turned to find that they were Three Scientists belonged to various worlds.

The Scientist in the middle was a middle aged man, with orange hairs and his whole body was an orange flame that resembled close to a bear than a human being. Even though he was a bear, his way of speaking was very delicate and weak sounding. Almost as if it were coming from a female. But he was male. He was wearing boxers and a shirt with an emblem of C at the center.

The Scientist to the right has blue hairs that was more waterfall than strands of human hair. Her whole body was covered in armor with an emblem W at the center of her chest. But her armor resembled more like a space suit with face plate than he had seen on Diana and her gang. She seemed more enthusiastic.

The Scientist to the left seemed to be of Ram's age. He has spikes of metal for hair. His whole body looked like a steel statue and he has the armor similar to what he had seen on Diana. It has an emblem of M at the center of his chest.

"Sheila, I promised your father that I will not bring you to This Lab. The Merged Souls we are working on here were very dangerous," said the middle aged man with orange flames. He seemed to be from The Soul World.

Sheila, The Scientist with waterfall hairs winked at the middle aged man. "Dr. Manish, you owed me many favors. If you can't even fulfill my wish of watching an Inspection Officer, who was often praised by Chitra and my father, in action, then I am afraid I am going to reveal to my father of your illegal ways you are getting the Merged Souls," she said.

Dr. Manish, the middle aged man with orange flamed body scowled. "If only I had been careful, I wouldn't have been caught by you. It was all your fault, Dheeraj," he said, turning towards the young man with metallic spikes for hair.

Dheeraj gave him a sheepish smile. "Dr. Manish, you can't blame me. I would have already informed you of her following me. But she promised to kiss me, which she went back on," he said.

Sheila shook her head. "I did kiss you. On your cheek. You should be really lucky that I even agreed to do that. You know how I hate about relationships and all," she said.

Dheeraj leered at Sheila. "Why don't we explore to see if we are suited for each other or not?" Dheeraj asked.

Sheila glared at him. "Why is he here again? I wanted to see this Inspection Officer. Not this horny metal," she said.

"Come on, I am very good in bed," Dheeraj said.

Sheila was about to punch Dheeraj when they noticed Ram.

Ram snapped out of it. He should have escaped the moment he had heard them talking. But no.

He was so fascinated by seeing a Soul of Soul World, a being from metallic world and a being from Water World working together. They had to be. He could recognize it at least that much.

And the way Dheeraj was leering at Sheila and his suggestions about sex, Ram was uncomfortable wondered how it was even possible. For a moment, he thought if Sheila match Aunt El and discarded it.

Sheila was the first one to react. "Who are you?" she asked.

Dheeraj summoned sword arms and looked like was ready to take on Ram in a fight while Dr. Manish looked at Ram with confusion.

If they were to realize that Ram was a merged soul, he would never get out of here. He had seen how strong The Spheres were and he was sure they would lock him in one such Sphere. He remembered Sheila talking about Inspection Officer. With nothing else to do, he decided to impersonate The Inspection Officer.

"I am The Inspection Officer you were talking about. I am pleased to meet with you Dr. Manish. May I know if you are the one who was The Chief of this lab?" Ram asked.

Dr. Manish seemed suspicious. Dheeraj also followed the same trend while Sheila's eyes widened.

"Are you Chirag, The Famous Inspection officer that Chitra praised often about?" she asked.

Ram was about to agree, but stopped. The way Sheila spoke felt like it was a test. And Chirag wasn't seemed to be the real name of an Inspection Officer. Nor did it felt like Chitra praised The Officer. They probably had seen him observing The Merged Souls and spoke that way hoping he would fall into their trap.

Which he almost did.

"I have many names. But Chirag is not one amongst them. And also, I don't think Esteemed Chitra would praise me. If anything I know about her was true, she will be looking for me to make a mistake so that I could be sent off to become a Merged Soul, just like several others before me," he said.

Sheila gasped. Ram didn't know what to take her reaction was. But Dr. Manish visibly relaxed.

Though Dheera still glared at him.

"At ease, young man. I am not interested in Sheila. If anything, I want her to be with my aunt, if she prefers females," Ram said.

Dheeraj growled while Sheila seemed to be bewildered Ram's comment. "How could females be sexually interested in females?" she asked.

She seemed to be ignorant of many things just like him. That meant that she was raised very protectively just like him. While he was raised by Aunt El, she seemed to be raised by her father. He hoped that was the case. "I see that you are ignorant. It's no wonder your father is so protective of you," Ram said.

Dheeraj relaxed visibly at that. "Esteemed Officer, sorry to be rude. But you seemed awfully young to become an Inspection Officer. I would prefer if you don't fill her head with such thoughts. She will really go and experience what it meant to be in a relationship with females," he said.

Ram remembered Veera, who looked as young as Ram, but he had been older than even Elder of Water. He decided to use it to his advantage. "Young man. Looks can be deceiving. I have also mastered other abilities which made me who I am today. But you don't have to worry about me filling her head with such thoughts. If I learned anything in my long life, it's that attraction and love can't be forced. Instead of pestering her, why don't you give her own space. Maybe she would come to like you," Ram said.

Dheeraj was looking at Ram as if he were his savior. "Esteemed senior seemed to be speaking with experience," he said.

Ram remembered Sandhya, how he kissed her, how he pursued her despite knowing that she was engaged to Chandra and he sighed. "Yes. And it was a disaster. I don't think she will ever forgive me for kissing her without her consent. It still haunts me today," he said.

Dheeraj was disappointed. "Is there no way for me to get her to like me?" he asked.

Ram remembered The Soulmate thing. Even though he didn't want to believe in it, that doesn't mean he can't use it for convincing others. He should sound really, really confident. He remembered how Em had tried to convince him and did the same to Dheeraj. "Did you know that in many worlds that existed, there was a concept called Soulmates? It was simply pure love existing between two or more people. If you are destined, you would also find your Soulmate. If not in Soulworld, in other worlds. Don't lose hope. But that was not why I was here today. I am here to tell that you are much more lagging in your production of Merged Souls," Ram said, turning towards Dr. Manish.

Dr Manish sighed. "We are still looking for a way to make the merged souls stable. We have ran many experiments, but all of them ended up being unstable souls," he said.

Ram wanted to punch them for treating souls and merged souls as lab rats. But he controlled himself. Instead, Ram nodded. "I have seen a merged soul disintegrate itself just as I entered the lab," he said, then he thought of sprouting more bullshit with the concept of Soulmates merged together. "I believe I know the reason why you are failing, while some divisions, which are rare I might add, produced as close to a stable merged souls as they can get. Do you want to know?"

Dr. Manish raised his eyebrows. "I believe that you are trying to test me. There was no way that one would keep it a secret if they found the recipe for a stable merged soul," he said.

Ram shook his head. "If you are as connected and as experienced as me, you will find what I had found. And besides, you would be surprised at the simple reason you are failing. Also the reason for hiding that fact form others was also simple," he said.

"And what that is?" Dr. Manish asked.

Ram smiled. "It's simple. I said they were close to producing A Stable Merged Soul. It does not mean that they produced The Stable Merged Soul. And the reason they are not willing to share their finding was because they are just missing few steps, which others might have already perfected. If others were to find the secret and produces stable merged souls first, who are going to be rewarded?" he asked.

Dr. Manish's eyes widened. "You are more than you seemed, Esteemed Officer. I am totally blown away by your intelligence. If you don't mind…" he trailed off, glancing at Sheila and Dheeraj, who were listening to Ram as if he were their favorite lecturer speaking about the most important topic in the world.

Ram sighed. "Few moments ago you were not interested in learning about this secret. If I remember correctly, you were even suspecting me to be an enemy," he said.

Dr. Manish shrugged his shoulders. "You can't blame me for that. You have been extremely secretive and you have arrived much earlier than we have expected," he said.

Ram grinned at him. "Don't worry. I just dealt with a group of Explorers who tried to smuggle an almost Stable Merged Soul out of a Lab and I taught them a sweet lesson they will never forget in their lives, provided they have survived my punishment," he said.

Their eyes widened. "Are you talking The Explorers? I heard that they were powerful some powerful explorers, smuggling goods from one world to another. How have you dealt with them?" Sheila asked.

"It's a trade secret. I don't know whether I can reveal it to you or not. After all, only core members of Chitra know about it's existence," Ram said.

Dr. Manish gasped. "Are you talking about…" he trailed off.

"I am. But if you want me to tell that place to these youngsters, I will," Ram said.

Sheila and Dheeraj looked excited, but Dr. Manish shook his head. "No. They shouldn't know about this. But may I know which one you are talking about and the group that you dealt with recently," Dr. Manish asked.

Ram shrugged. "Diana and her group. And it was nearby. I think you know what I meant about it," he said.

Dr. Manish swore under his breath. "They have stolen so many of our merged souls that we have produced just so that they could go to other worlds. Are you sure you have dealt with them?" he asked.

Ram shook his head. "I just left them at that place. There were three of them. I killed one. Other two might have been dead. But I think Diana might have escaped. If you are lucky, you can get her traces," he said.

Dr. Manish gave terse orders through a device that resembled a smart phone from his world and waited for response. Soon, Dr. Manish received a message and he gasped. "You are really great, Mr. Siraj. They found the remains of Diana's group. But Diana escaped it seems," he said.

So, Siraj was The Inspection Officer's name. Ram filed it for later use. And when he thought about Diana escaping, he cursed under his breath. "She is really thick skinned. If you know what I mean," he said.

Dr. Manish nodded. "Yeah. I am once again sorry for not trusting you from the start. You know how easy it was easy to impersonate others," he said.

Ram shook his head. "I believe you have never did our kind of work. I nearly lost my life many times while I tried to get the information that Chitra needed. But it was a story for other time," he said.

Dr. Manish nodded. "And if you don't mind, can you tell us the secret step where we were lacking in preparation of Merged Souls?" he asked.

Ram hesitated.

Dr. Manish was still waiting patiently. But Dheeraj clenched his hand as if he were controlling himself. Sheila was unable to control herself. He once again felt that Sheila really would be a right partner to his Aunt El. If they were to reunite with Aunt El and meet with Sheila once again, he will have to introduce both of them. "Come on. Don't keep us in suspense. Many lives depends on it," Sheila said.

Ram sighed. "You are really ignorant and impatient. I will have to advice your father when I get the chance," he said.

Dr. Manish gave him an apologetic smile. "You don't have to worry about that. Can you please tell us the secret?" he asked.

Ram sighed. "Affinity. For the two souls to merged together, it required that both of them should have affinity," he said.

Dr. Manish shook his head. "We have already tired that. We tried two merge two souls from same species. But it didn't work," he said.

Ram thought about himself and Em and he shook his head. "That's where you are wrong. By affinity between two souls, I meant that the two souls that you are merging together should have complete trust with each other. That trust might be friendship, love, mentor and student or even between family. As I have already said, they still were missing some other steps. But I believe you will work it out," he said.

Dr. Manish clutched his heart, while Dheera just opened his mouth in surprise.

As usual, Sheila's eyes glowed with excitement. "Are you saying that if I love your aunt, then there might be a chance for both of us to become merged souls?" she asked.

Ram staggered back. How did him sprouting bullshit made her include Aunt El into his conclusion? Moreover, he wanted the two of them to do dating and see whether it will work or not. He did not want the both of them to become merged souls. Now he get why Dheeraj did not want him to suggest Sheila dating other females.

Dheeraj growled. "Don't you see why I stopped you from giving her weird ideas?" he asked.

"I didn't expect her to be this weird. Sorry young man," he said to Dheeraj. He turned to Sheila. "To answer your question, it can or cannot happen. My aunt was loved by her best friend for so many years. When she didn't reciprocate her feelings, she betrayed my aunt. Right now, I don't think she will love you. And both of you cannot become merged souls. So please don't involve my Aunt into this," he said.

Sheila looked unconvinced. "We will see," she said.

Ram groaned. He wanted to protest, but a flame came flying towards them. "Enemy attack," it said and then went to other rooms to spread the world.

Dr. Manish looked at him gratefully. "Mr. Siraj, if what you said was true about Souls having to trust each other, then I will be forever indebted to you. But since we are under attack, I request you to help us one more time. I will speak with Esteemed Chitra by myself. I will even take the help of Shukla, Sheila's father, and make sure that Chitra's opinion of you would be changed," he said.

Ram swallowed.

Just who the heck was Chitra? Every one seemed to be scared of her. But he couldn't show his displeasure. He had to act the part. "I will help you anyway I can," he said.

Dr. Manish nodded at him gratefully. "Can you help us fight against The Living Souls?" he asked.

Ram stared at Dr. Manish in disbelief.

He was a fraud, with less Soulfire. The only reason he escaped from Diana was because of The Cave.

He should have kept his mouth shut. If Em were there, she would have made sure of that. But no. He had to sprout so much nonsense, made himself as if he were someone great, and now they are now asking for his help.

To make matters worse, Dr. Manish looked as if the nonsense Ram sprouted could work.

Ram shared his what he had with Em to them. They were friends. Trusted each other with life so much so that they are willing to sacrifice themselves.

What if that was the key thing they were missing and they would mass produce merged souls?

Ram didn't think so.

The Crazy Twins inserted The Bead of The Institute along with god knows what inside of him to make the merger happened.

So he was not worried about that.

But him helping them defend against Living Souls, who might be good guys and with a supply of abundant Soulfire?

On the top of that, today's event proved that where ever he went he seemed to bring problems to everyone aroudn him.

First it was Sandhya and Chandra. Then Aunt El. Then Elder of Air, Elder of Water and Fathima.

Now he was bringing problems to these crazy scientists. At least, they would be attacked by Living Souls, whom he believed to be the good guys.

But the problem was that he was truck in between them.

What should he do?

He couldn't abandon them. He was a Merged Soul and they are crazy scientists. Who knows if they had devices that could detect him being a Stable Merged Soul just like Diana and her gang did.

And after all the bullshit he sprouted to them, if he were to use this attack as a reason to escape, they would know he was a fraud.

But if he stayed here, they will discover that he was without power and would still realize that he was as a fraud.

He had to ask them hide first. Telling them that he would take care of their attackers alone. Then transform himself into something else and wait for an opportunity to escape from here.

It was a very risky move. The Nonliving Souls really seemed to be interested in merged souls.

If they were to realize that Ram was perfect merged soul with an A.I., god knows what his future would be.

But for now, he had to proceed with this crazy plan.