Council Meeting: 223

The venue of the meeting was placed strategically. Hidden behind the temple wall was the entrance, which would apparently look like a continuation of the temple boundary. Only people with prior permission would see the hall. As Sweta and Lolita hurdled together, they caught glimpse of a few other youngsters making through the gate.

"Seems they were right about gathering the new recruits... you think they can be right about the other things too?" Lolita whispered as the girls moved closer to the entrance.

"If you dont want me to chop off your tongue... be silent ", how dumb this girl can be, Sweta thought as she dragged her along.

" FYI.... I am not dumb, I am just excited", Lolita protested.

Sweta stopped in track.

A FUCKING CRAZY MIND READER BITCH.

"Wah girl..... u read my thoughts"

" Yeah ... that's my thing... reading mind... not everything but anything hostile... I understand..."

"So back there you didn't sense hostility... or were they hostile?", it was now Sweta's turn to blurt out like a stupid.

"Tsk... tsk... look now who is acting dumb"

Lolita gave Sweta a friendly push as the girls made way through the door to the parallel world, sheathed to the human eyes.

*********************************

The sitting arrangement was informal, with carpets thrown randomly throughout the 30X30 ft. room. Youngersters were scattered here and there, some open to conversations and some keeping to themselves.

Sweta counted.... fourteen, fifteen and sixteen.

Quite a few people, she noted.

Hard to believe, so many of not so normal people under the same roof. Too crowded, Sweta grumbled mentally.

Right then, a tall woman appeared from apparently no where. By human standards, it would be considered magic. But for this lot it was just normal.

The lady was graceful and mesmerizing and she began her speech without any formalities.

" You all must have been impatient with the eight to ten weeks wait period. We apologize the delay but certain situations kept us busy for almost 3 months and this Council Meeting 223, Initialization of Recruits, had to wait.

So... I hope you all have started getting used to the human way of life because your mission will need you all to move freely amidst them. I know, most of you come from distinguished families and have always hoped that you will prove yourselves as great leaders for your Clans... .. But my dears, get one thing straight, in this council you are no one royal or exceptional.... you are but a soldier. And we expect you to keep that in mind while behaving with the fellow comrades.

A few of you are already under Council missions or have prior knowledge to the works of the Organization. But remember, old or new, your assogned mission will bridge your shortcomings and help you prove your potential as a leader/minister/advisor/etc. Even for individuals with no ambition right now, a mission completion acknowledgment will remain a proof of your worthiness and may come handy for future referrals. So, dont take your assigned tasks lightly and I expect each of you to be respectful to the partners you will be working with in future.

Here, in IMP, once a team is assigned, your individuality will not be acknowledged. So, if anyone thinks he or she will be working alone to complete the tenure of Service, then, ladies and gentlemen, kindly walk out right now.

WE HAVE NO PLACE FOR EGOTIST SELF CENTRED CREATURES HERE."

Sweta heard a faint murmur in the hall but it died down immediately. She herself was not really a team worker but this Service mattered for her eligibility to ascend to the throne and for that she wont mind tolerating a few morons.

The lady continued and Sweta brought her attention back on the content of her speech:

"All teams will be balanced and will be assigned such missions which explores the potential of the team members to the fullest. And no team will succeed unless all minds come together.

Today I wont announce the teams, but, get introduced to each other and open up your minds.

You all will be tackling various real demands of the world and there is no mercy for mistakes.

Anyways, I wont frighten you people further today. Let's begin the session by introducing Ankush... who unlike most of you, is pure human."

Curious glances and hushed voices were all around as a lanky boy of around Eighteen stood up to greet the crowd. He looked nervous and he gave everyone a quick wave before settling back to his corner.

" This guy and that girl over there, Reshma, will remain your important reference point as they both have best working knowledge of this society. Not that I dont trust you all to fit in, but, having someone from the race itself makes things easy."

The Reshma girl stood up to give everyone a nervous grin . As it was revealed, Ankush and Reshma were what people call mutants, who undergo genetic mutation. Post Bhopal Gas Tragedy, a few affected families gave birth to children with recessive genetic mutation. Ankush or Reshma were the children of such parents who carried the recessive mutation. In most cases the mutation gave rise to physical defects but a couple of such people were found eventually for whom it was beyond physical defect . New powers unleashed in the form of mutation. They were not exceptional like the celestial beings, but, they were different from normal humans.

Ankush was capable of creating invisible protective barrier for upto 8 people at a time and was working on improving his capability while Reshma was something similar to a Compeller.

She could make people do whatever she wanted them to do. Minus point? She was effective only on the lesser mortals. For the Immortals she was just a human who was uncontrollably charming. That's all.

Fourteen immortals then, thought Sweta absent mindedly. Too many cooks.... too many cooks.

Just then the spokeslady talked again.

"That means 14 of you are immortals from the lands beyond. Huh!!

But if you people think it's too many of you, then please note, we are not the only Branch of the Immortal Management Programme. As on date, 9 parallel branches across the world are conducting this mass recruitment drive and we are expecting that around 100 comrades will join us globally.

So, can anyone tell me when was IMP founded and how did the tradition of mass recruitment start?"

A couple of hands shot in the air and Sweta cursed mentally. Why didn't she bother to look into IMP? She absolutely loathed not knowing things.

As the so called teacher gestured to a guy of around 20, he stood confidently and spoke,

" IMP was Officially started in 1720 during the Black Death. With wars spreading due to colonization and the plague pandemic killing innocents, the first outcome came with Treaty of Hague. Although the concept started back in 1690, the formal structure of the Organization came into being only in 1720. However, majority of the founding members had to leave the Organization by the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and it was at that juncture the first mass recruitment drive of IMP took place with a whooping recruitment of 53 Comrades. All nine Branches decided that in every 10 to 20 years the process will be repeated as membership of INP is like a Degree Course and all members will eventually leave for assuming greater Regional and localized Office bearings. As a member of the Himalayan Branch, it's an honor to take forward the vision of our founding father Ananthaswamy, who played a big role in Anti Colonization of the Asian and SE Asian Countries for over 200 years and one of those self less warriors who didnt put his self interest over the Call of Greater Necessity."

Sweta almost choked.

Ananthaswamy!!!!!!

Damn it, hope it's not her nemesis.

"Thank you Alvan. And guys, that's Alvan for you all, from Afganistan. Born a demigod to the powerful Kinnaraland and earning his Immortality through his Social Works and Empathy, he may become your beacon of hope in the coming days. Although a contender to the post of Kings Supreme Advisory of the Kinnaraland, Alvan is well known for being humble and sensitive."

The guy nodded politely and took his seat and the teacher started introducing the others in the group:

Lolita was a 5th Level Fox Goddess from China and a warm personality. Her speciality was martial arts and Statesmanship. She seemed pretty confident and everyone liked her instantaneously.

Next was Lada.

She was from Russia and was a fellow Elf like Swetambhari. Not a princess, but a commoner with a mind boggling capability of creating magic with her words. As she introduced herself, the crowd remained mesmerized, lost in the melody of the sentences. What they found interesting was the fact that she had served IMP once before, some 70 years back, and at that stretch of human tenure she made quite a name of herself as an author. It was the Cold War Days and she played an important role in maintaining World Peace. This time, she volunteered when the Mass Recruitment news was spread.

Nobody realized the next guy, Kage, had a demonic origin until he introduced himself. The Japanese boy, who looked around 15 was a sight to behold. Kage was a cross breed of a demi Mother and Demonic royal blood, he called himself the son of Yomi ( Hades). Whispers spread but his smile silenced all.If demons were this delightful, divine was surely overrated.

Sweta was up next and even before she spoke, Alvan gave her a standing salute. " We expect good acts from you Sweta, Ananthaswamy is an old friend back from the human days and he speaks very highly of you."

Swallowing the vile emotions, Sweta gave a small introduction and sat back but she swore enmity with Alvan from that very moment.

PUNY DEMI ENCROACHERS she thought.

Geethan, the next recruit was also a Gandharva. A boy of Srilankan origin, Geethan didn't really detail his roots. He spoke about healing, music and Medical Sciences. There was an weird air of seriousness around his boy. He looked a bit senior to Sweta and when he said he just returned from a world tour with a Rock Band called THE EASTERN BEATS and was already on a mission, Sweta immediately wanted to know him more.

THE EASTERN BEATS was Yaman's band.

Slowly slowly the introductory session was over and Sweta gathered the other names too.

Bolin and Biyu were twins from China and the duo had Fairy( Kinnara) Origins.

Surya was the only other person with Indian Origin. He looked okay, but all he did in his introduction was to stand, wave and sit back. He was unsocial even by Sweta's standards.

When Asali stood up, it was difficult to say what she was. Just like Geethan, she too didn't go to her roots and Sweta knew instantaneously that she was neither a Gandharva, nor a Narshimha or a kinnara. The woman was from Pakistan and she barely gave any idea about herself. But her body language gave out one small detail. She was a Royal and she was here for completion of her Service tenor towards humanity, nothing more nothing less. Sweta just liked her. They were so alike.

The rest four were not really new recruits, they were like Lada, veterans volunteering for Social Services. Just like Geethan, these four were also preassigned with some mission and Sweta heard and forgot their names by the end of the session.

Overall, she absolutely loathed the super enthusiastic crowd of Immortals and the only two people she wanted to know more about were Geethan and Asali.

As the group dispersed for the day, someone tapped on Sweta's shoulder. It was Lolita again. Sweta put her mental guard up and gave the girl a fake smile. She was not at all interested to interact with a mind reading bitch.

"So, coffee?"

The cheeky girl smiled.

"May be next time Girl. I have some errand to run today ", with that Sweta waved a hasty bye and headed for the nearest Metro Station.

She badly wanted to get hold of Geethan.

But the guy simply vanished into the thin airs.

With a sigh she headed home, " May be next time " she muttered to herself. She needed to know more about Yaman. He was the key to rescue her brother.

As she boarded the train, she closed her eyes and lost herself in her childhood days. She missed her brother and now that she has found Yaman , she wont let the big guy escape ever again.

Unknowingly, the girl drifted to a peaceful nap, re living the sweet days with her elder brother.