Bitter Goodbyes
The two groups Purushottam mentored were very close. The group other than Aryaan's contained two human girls, on mixed breed girl and another human boy in total. Although Aryaan's team had a genius like him, the capabilities of the other team could not be underestimated. Ritziya, one of the human girls, was of a bulky build and was more like a heavy weight wrestler with a cute face, while Blancie the other girl had a stately and delicate demeanor. Marshalla the mixed breed one, was a mix between a human and Chimera ( A bat winged humanoid creature ), was the tallest among the three. At a first glance no one could determine her mixed origin, since her wings were retractable and no trace was to be found of it's existence. But she would end up being in a weird situation with her clothes, if the back of the same was not exposed, every time she unfurled her batty wings, the clothes at back would get torn. Thus all her tops and dresses were backless and guys would not stop drooling at her exposed back. Last but not the least was the wackiest guy in the lot! His behavior was worse than Rick. His name was Potter. Yes! Don't worry, he had an ancient series of books on Harry Potter, which he totally kept as his gospel in life. And was thus, influenced by it, he changed his birth name, Shunichi given to him by his parents, to this! Such level of idol worship!
All the kids gathered at Purushottam's luxurious apartment were having their first chance at adult drinks and snacks. The drinks mostly consisted of cereal brewed pale ale and stack of chips and other savory delights made of venison available in the lands and vegetables. The girls were chatting among themselves. Only exception was Nemo. He was welcome in the girly chatter although they did not accept any other boys in the circle. The boys likewise were drinking, some were discussing popular stuffs like the space race and other sports, while others were ogling Marshalla. Well, not really all the boys, but only Rick. He had a serious crush on Marshalla, but the other party never even noticed his presence. Soft music was playing in the background.
"Ahem." Purushottam cleared his voice to get everyone's attention. His sister and one of his best pals, who was also his brother-in-law, entered the room behind him and caught Rick's glances at Marshalla, which was in no way concealed ones. "Young ladies and young gentlemen! May I have your attention please? Aryaan! you are still not of age. Drop the pale ale and stick to your root beer you imbecile!", a frustrated tone could be heard from Purushottam.
"As you might have already guessed, this is the last night before all 8 of you embark on your 1 year compulsory internship. On the end of your internship, you have to report to the base station at Mangal graha! Then wait there for me to connect to you all." Purushottam said to the kids.
"Guruji! You are saying the words as if you won't guide us in this internship program! How are we to survive without any guidance?", the wackiest of the lot Potter was also the impatient type to have commented before Purushottam could complete what he was saying. Everyone looked at him with pity in their eyes!
"Potter! How many times have I told you to be patient? You all know Krittika and her husband Dasher! As per the norms during internship, one mentor can't have more than 3 people under their guidance. But we are going to use this internship for our later plans. So listen carefully. Krittika will take Nemo and Marshalla to the edges of Souryalaya. Dasher will go with Potter, Ritziya and Blancie to the Saturn where latest orbital space stations are being built. And I will take you three cousins along with me to Svarg Nagari. No one is allowed to mess up. Do you understand?". There was pin drop silence in the room as Purushottam completed his speech. Everyone knew he had great plans, and each of the kids were related to it because of their legacy. They were all orphaned at similar time, though for different reasons. Purushottam and his sister were close friends of each of the parents of the kids present in the room. He kept his investigation and was on the verge of finding the last whereabouts of his friends. The internship locations assigned to each of the kids were likewise related. But no one other than him, Krittika and Dasher knew what lay at the locations where they were heading to.
At the thought of separation from Marshalla both the girls Ritziya and Blancie started crying. Rick was likewise equally sad and was crying rivers. Len was ignoring Rick for his extreme behavior. After Purushottam said what he needed to, as a gracious host he served the dinner. Dinner became a very sad process. Nemo did not wanna leave his current teammates and was hanging onto Len. Altogether it was a total mess to see such big boys and girls crying. Specially Rick. He looked the most ridiculous with rivers streaming down his face. Marshalla had to drag Nemo along, while Len and Aryaan had to drag Rick from the dinner back to their place.