Oil and Salt

[Self-note: (///) 3 slashes means a scene change]

"...I came to this city just a few months ago… and I'm from…"

Rakvill".

Everyone gazed at Abhi with a stunned look, which was continued by a period of absolute silence, making the atmosphere feel almost deafening. There was no sound inside a room full of dozens of people. Even then one could not even hear the ticks of a clock, because it seemed as if time itself had frozen over….

Ms. Oxlong expresses a subtle smirk, and suddenly speaks up and breaks the eerie silence.

"Okie Dokie, so we are finally finished with the introductions, so let's start with our history lecture, for today I and all other subject teachers will just give you the schematics of their respective subject's curriculum".

The class got to writing down the teacher's instructions, but all of them were still subtly observing Abhi like vultures eyeing their prey. The reveal of him being from the one place anyone was forbidden from entering or leaving was unforgettable. The class went through the day but the gossip about Abhi didn't stop. Near the end of the fifth hour-long period, the gossip had calmed down but wasn't dormant.

Ding! Tring! Tring!

A 1-hour break starts as the 5th period comes to an end. Students were told to leave in an orderly cue rather than rush outside of the class. All students followed this rule, well except Veer, Kevin, and Dep. The same kids who made the 'triangle of disturbed faces' rushed outside as soon as the recess bell rang. Unlike them, Abhi decided to follow the protocol and leave the class In an orderly manner.

While walking towards the exit, Abhi suddenly gets pushed and crashes against the blackboard and falls down hard. It looked like a fat kid pushed Abhi.

"Oh hey, didn't see you there." Said the fat kid with a subtle grin on his face.

"It's alright." Said Abhi as he moved forward his hand, so he could be assisted in getting up.

"Hmph." Instead of helping Abhi stand up, the fat kid just snorted a condescending laugh and went out the exit ignoring Abhi and leaving his hand hanging in the air.

"Welp, it is what it is." Said Abhi to himself while getting up on his own.

Abhi reached the hallway, and for a minute he just stood there, sometimes even losing his balance and shaking heavily; suddenly his eyes sparked with a sense of purpose. He then turned left, walked past a few crossways, turned left again, and then finally turned right.

"I guess the washrooms are easy to find". 

After Abhi was done with his business in the washroom. He found the school's kitchen and lunchroom as easily as he found the washroom…. Almost too easily. Kolar was a Giant establishment; sometimes even the people working there were lost in the maze of its corridors, but that didn't seem to be a problem for Abhi.

Kolar served a free "Mid-Day Meal" to all of its subjects. The students didn't have to bring their own food, but as Kolar was a school filled with privileged rich kids, most of them brought their own food. The free food was great, Kolar kids were tripping. Abhi collected the community plates and the Mid-day meal from the kitchen and walked into the lunchroom. As he was walking, other students placed their bags on empty chairs or shifted their chairs away if Abhi came near their table in an attempt to disprove his sitting with them. The rumors had spread, and Abhi was now not only infamous in his class but also in the entire school for being from Rakvill. Abhi didn't seem to notice this and kept walking. He was walking even though his legs were wobbly and he was moving in a way that lacked any resemblance of direction or balance and yet still his eyes displayed a sense of purpose almost as if he knew where he was going.

///

"Can you believe what just happened!?"

"Holy crap I was so scared."

"I know right, I almost thought he was onto us."

Said Veer, Dep, and Kevin respectively. They were sitting under a large old tree which had an elevated stone plateau covering its roots. The plateau acted as a bench for them to eat lunch at. This place was in an unpopular spot on the outskirts of the HS Kolar campus. The three of them had taken this spot as their secret meeting place.

"When out of nowhere the President said that. I almost shat my pants." Said Veer in a frantic yet relieved tone.

"Yeah, and to top it all the camera was zoomed to his eyes…. It felt like he was looking into my soul, I'm feeling chills just thinking about it." Said Dep.

"I wasn't scared or anything but I was surprised too yeah," said Kevin, in a pretty… unconvincing tone.

"Ha-ha, sure buddy," replied Dep while laughing at his unconvincing claim.

"Anyways, I don't think he was talking about us." Veer intervened. 

"Ha-ha, if he really knew about us researching the 'Incident 99' of Rakvill we would've been in Jail by now." Replied Kevin.

"Yeah, but forget that and get serious. Dep, did you transcribe everything the president was saying?" Said Kevin. 

"Sure did, as soon as the President was done greeting us, I immediately got to work." Replied Dep while she pulled out a sheet of paper from her school bag with some… scribbles. No writing, some writing on it... 

"Great work. Let's analyze what that bozo had to say." Said Kevin. 

"Ok but let's keep it down, someone might hear us," Dep told Kevin.

"Now, why in God's Green Earth would the goddamn president of the country tell such a critical piece of information to a bunch of students. Also, your handwriting sucks ass Dep." Said Veer while looking at the transcription paper.

"Shut up! Or you can become the transcriber." Said Dep while scrunching her eyes and looking at Veer.

"Shhh! You are the one who told us to keep it quiet. Anyways he really tried to say that the freaking government needs help from a bunch of teenagers to "collect information". Who the hell is going to buy that." Said Kevin. 

"I know right, it seems so fishy, like why was this video so well made? It came with all the well-researched graphics and visuals one could find, wasn't this supposed to be some kind of emergency message? It's so obvious that it's propaganda." Said Veer while laughing in an irritated and smug manner. 

 "Let's be honest, most of them are still going to blindly believe in the president and try to unironically act like some kind of agents doing research to save the country. Said Dep while grimacing.

"Ha-ha what a bunch of NPCs." Said Veer.

"Wait, isn't that exactly what we are doing though?" Said Kevin.

"Well, now that you say it like that…. Didn't we start our research by calling ourselves the 'Agents of Information abduction'." Said Dep while laughing at herself upon seeing the irony.

"Ha-ha. Let's just not think about that… Anyways, let's go through the transcription chronologically to research clearly. Also, give me some of that Paneer Tikka Veer." Said Kevin while licking his lips like it was his first time seeing food.

All 3 of them were sitting in a triangle on top of the bench with the Tree in the middle, their tiffins were in the middle. They were sharing each other's meals and enjoying each other's snacks while talking.

"Alright, so to start off he tells everyone the war with Pakistan is not truly over or at least the danger isn't over, and that we are still in danger of getting attacked by freaking terrorists." Dep Narrates the transcription while paraphrasing it.

"Why would you risk instilling fear in some teenage students like this, there has to be a special reason behind the president telling us about this." Said Kevin.

"Agreed, I have a theory that this whole video was made TO instill fear. Fear wasn't a negative byproduct but the desired outcome. I don't have anything to base it off of as it's just a hunch, but a strong hunch I'll tell you that much." Replied Veer while chomping down some of his Paneer Tikka.

"Also, if we take the president's claims that this is being revealed for that "task of collecting information" seriously, why would he tell all the details to a bunch of 11th graders? Kolar has branched into being a university as well, wouldn't it be a far better idea to only let the students over 18 hear this? Why would he involve us minors?" Said Dep while also chomping down some of Veer's Paneer Tikka.

"Also, the forces of both Pakistan and India tried their best to push Incident 99 under the rug. Seems weird for the two countries going at all-out war to stop and cooperate to cover up something and then just a few months later the president tells a bunch of students that the war really isn't over yet... what the hell?" Said Kevin while also chomping down some of Veer's Paneer Tikka.

"For real, this has some deeper agenda behind it. Also, what do you guys think about the agents spread over the entire city? That seems like a good excuse to make his claim about us being in danger sound more genuine. AND LEAVE SOME PANEER FOR ME!" Said Veer while snatching back his food before its devoured.

"It's also a good way to keep an eye on us… It's going to be far harder to conduct our research now isn't it." Said Kevin. Come on one more bite 

"Whatever the agenda might be, it has been well planned out. Nixtom being near the western border, and having a weak military would be sufficient precursors to warrant a safety measure for a terrorist attack." Said Dep.

"Yes, the precursors are valid, but I still don't think we are really in danger of getting attacked anytime soon." Said Veer.

"I agree, it sounds like another attempt at brainwashing. A well-planned attempt though, because I can't even tell what the goal of all this is. Regardless, there is realistically no reason for us to believe that we are truly in danger of a terrorist attack." Said Kevin.

"Fair, so Dep, what else can you see in that transcribed paper." Said Veer. I can't read that 'handscribbling' on my own 

"Let me see…Wow! I didn't realize this while hearing it, but now that it's put in front of my eyes on a paper, did you guys see just HOW much our school and the students are being complimented…,". Said Dep 

"We can't read that; it seems to be written in an obscure ancient language." Said Kevin while giving a smug look to Dep.

"Shut up, my handwriting is not that bad… Also, the President is even calling us the 'future of the nation', 'some of the most educated people in this nation'. Even saying stuff like 'HS Kolar will triumph over any task', etc."

Said Dep while pointing at the transcription paper.

"Seems like an attempt at convincing the students that they are capable of handling a task such as this." Said Kevin...

Veer said to Kevin:

"No… Okay, maybe to some extent that was the intended outcome. But I feel like the president would have kept the compliments much lower and far vaguer if that's the only thing he wanted to achieve. I believe his goal with those compliments was something bigger, something more, sinister" ...

///

"Did the plan succeed?" 

"Yes, it went even better than we could have anticipated. The information I got from my agents tells me that he is already being treated with indifference." Said Vishva Pratap Raghavan, The President of India residing in the Capital: Delhi.

The president was sitting behind his desk in a grand room filled with important articles such as government documents, photos of his party plastered all over the wall, a tricolor flag of India beside his desk, etc. Facing the president sat the only other man in the room.

This unknown man had bandages wrapped around his head masking his eyes and ears.

A symbol of a large and detailed eye was present on the frontal region of the bandages, exactly between the place his eyes should've been. The bandages didn't cover the top of his head and this opening showed a head full of stunning silvery white hair. The man spoke:

"You call that a success? How was the necessary information revealed to the students, did I not make myself clear when I said we are to reveal his background at a later date through rumors?"

"I apologize, but we weren't the ones who revealed this information." Said Vishva the president.

"What! Then who did?" 

"'It' did…. It revealed the information itself."

///

"Something more sinister? And what is that?" Said Kevin.

"I can't really put a finger on it, but it felt like the president was trying to invoke a sense of… patriotism? Or some form of mob mentality amongst the students, by praising our land and school." Replied Veer.

"Interesting, why do you think he would do that?" Asked Dep. 

"I thought so too, why would the president intentionally try to make everyone more patriotic for no reason?" Said Kevin.

"I'm not sure, it's also entirely possible that we are just over-analyzing this and the president did really only glaze our school and land to make us feel more capable of doing the given task.

There are some other possibilities though. At the start of the war, these types of over patriotic promotions were all over the media, we even saw some propaganda posters right outside our houses too." Said Veer.

"True, this over-patriotic propaganda also led to the spread of religious hatred, which actually worked out well for the government as more people started joining the military. For both the increased patriotism and the hatred for the other group." Said Kevin.

"So, are you trying to say that the president made the video as a catalyst of hate towards a group? Or maybe even an individual?" Said Dep.

"I see where this is going. We thought that the sudden talk about "Researching Rakvill being forbidden" was directed towards us as a warning to stop our research, but it wasn't.

What the president could have been doing is encouraging indifference towards someone specific, not us, but him..." Kevin said.

Dep intervened while nodding her head after coming to a realization. "You guys are talking about that kid from Rakvill aren't you."

///

"What do you mean 'it' revealed the information itself?"

"Apparently, the class was having an introduction session. And when it tried to introduce itself, it blurted out where it came from..."

"Interesting…" The Masked man lets out a sigh and starts to grimace ear to ear.

"Did I… did I say something wrong this time too." Said Vishva the president.

"No Vishva, you did not make a mistake this time. Maybe… Maybe it was me who did.

"I don't seem to understand."

"Our plan was to spread rumors about 'it' being from Rakvill, so it would be treated with indifference and hate by all which would've led to 'him' reaching the necessary 'Highs' or 'Peaks'."

"Has anything changed with the plans, with these turn of events I mean?"

"It has… if it were to hide about its previous 'home', and we were to spread rumors about him being from Rakvill it would have still been treated with indifference but along with that most people would've also not trust in it, but now that it has revealed such an important aspect about himself in pure nativity itself. It has created a potential for 'trust' and therefore by extension opened up a room of potential for acquaintances… Acquaintances who could be obstacles in reaching our desired 'Peaks'."

"So…. Has our plan failed?" Asked Vishva

"Not in the slightest. It has just become more… interesting."

"I am glad."

"But we may need to use that boy now"

"It would be my pleasure." ...

"Just a matter of time now, soon

we could use 'it' as a…

///

"Yup, I was flabbergasted when he said he is from Rakvill in front of the whole class. And bro was literally standing next to me, so it hit me way harder than it did for you guys." Veer said.

"Yep haha, I could totally guess because your face definitely showed the emotion you were feeling. Your mouth was wide open like comically WIDE! Open." Replied Dep while her and Kevin laughed. 

"Bruhhhhh"

"On a serious note, do you guys think he was telling the truth?" Asked Kevin.

"I mean why would he lie; it didn't seem like he was joking either." Answered Veer

"True, why would he tell a lie that would cover him in such bad stigma." Said Dep.

"Ok, so if he really was telling the truth, he would be of great help to us as a lead. Can we trust him to maybe join us?" Asked Kevin.

"No way man, just the thought of that scares me. You do realize we would be charged with treason if our research was leaked. I am not taking any risks with people I don't absolutely trust." Said Veer.

"Honestly I'm going to have to agree with Veer here, it's far too risky to let him join us, we don't even know for sure if he is from Rakvill or not." Said Dep.

"Alright maybe not join us but,

we could still use him as…

///

...as a key to unlock the

TRUTH!"" ....

///

Suddenly an unknown person appears behind Veer.

"Yo! Mind if I sit with you guys for lunch".

...…