Prisoners of VR

"Can you kill those bastards for me?" Suraj spoke, churning all his hatred derived from the pain he felt from repeated abuse, both physically and mentally, "They aren\'t humans."

\'Damn!\' Rahu thought as he observed Suraj. He had seen plenty of situations, thereby accumulating a lot of experience. To a certain extent, he could understand what someone went through by observing their mental state.

And one thing he was sure about: Suraj had been through shit that a child his age ought to never experience.

"Tell me more," Rahu patted Suraj lightly and spoke with a soft but firm tone, "I\'ll definitely get you justice."

"Okay," Suraj inhaled a deep breath as he took some time to mentally firm himself. Finally, he began to speak, "It started in class one day."

"We had a PT Class. Once that had concluded, I was the first to return to my class. There was a book atop the teacher\'s desk." Suraj gritted his teeth, "I was curious about it and without suspecting anything, I opened it. In it were pictures of my classmates."

"They were...photoshopped, but it was messed up." He teared up, "It was a pornographic magazine. Some sicko had created it and they wanted to blame it on a naïve sucker."

"I was the one who fell for the trap," He began to wheeze by now, trembling as trauma surfaced from the memories. It took him a few minutes of sobbing before he gathered enough strength to speak, "Those bastards had been waiting there. When I opened the book, they recorded me with their uVR Earths."

"I understand," Rahu nodded, "So, they have been blackmailing you using that video, right?"

"Where\'s that book then?"

"It\'s with one of the bastards." Suraj felt weak as he continued, "Every day, using that video as blackmail, they tortured me."

"Literally."

Rahu was stunned as he listened to Suraj\'s recounts. He had indeed seen some messed up cases done through Virtual Reality. But this topped everything.

"You know how you can invite people to your Virtual Space, right?" Suraj shouted in frustration, "In my Virtual Space, one where I should have been at peace, became my hell."

"Calm down a little," Rahu patted him on the back and made eye contact, "Since I\'m here, you\'ll be fine."

"Let\'s talk in your Virtual Space."

At the mention of his Virtual Space, Suraj trembled like he had fits. Only after a round of counselling was he ready enough. With the invite given by Suraj, Rahu could enter his Virtual Space naturally, without having to use his Induced Reality prowess.

Rahu arrived at Suraj\'s Virtual Space, glaring in anger as he looked around. The place seemed no different from the default setting of all Virtual Spaces. But once he entered the house beside the river, it was a plunge into hell.

The walls within were stuck with photos of Suraj in all sorts of embarrassing situations. Naked, abused, eating crap, all forms that would pulverise one\'s mental sanity. They had purposefully been stuck there to remind Suraj of his place in this messed-up toxicity.

"Why...didn\'t you lodge a complaint with the police before?" Rahu asked, barely able to calm his anger.

"Because they have all this," Suraj collapsed to the ground, "My social life would be no more if this gets leaked. It would affect my family too. Besides, one of the parents of those bastards is my dad\'s boss. If I did anything against them, my dad would lose his job. My family wouldn\'t survive if that happens."

He stared helplessly and weakly extended his hand, grabbing the ends of Rahu\'s pants, "What...should I do? I\'m just helpless."

"It\'s good that you gathered enough courage to contact me." Rahu patted and consoled Suraj, "I\'ll help you get through this. Be assured about that. Thankfully, you were brave enough to find me."

"I...wasn\'t brave. I was just desperate," Suraj said as he lifted his head and stared at Rahu, despairing, "Those bastards...they...told me to bring my sister here tonight."

"That\'s something I would rather die than do."

"I understand," Rahu\'s eyes shone with killing intent as he hugged Suraj, "Tell me their identities."

"Yes," Following that, Suraj gave out all their information. It seemed he had indeed been collecting them beforehand just for this occasion. Hence, it made things simpler for Rahu.

"Did you install any CCTV cameras here?" Rahu asked, failing to sense any of them, "You could have gotten video proof if you had done so."

"I did, the first time." Suraj nodded, "But even in this Virtual Space, all the rules are a mirror of reality. So, the cameras need a power source, cables, and everything else necessary for one. Those bastards aren\'t stupid. So, every time they enter my Virtual Space, they use jammers and conduct a search first before torturing me. The only cameras are the ones they bring."

"I feel as much pain here as reality. So, getting tortured here is no different from reality. Worst of all, no traces are left behind here." Suraj let out an exhausted whimper, "At such times, I wonder why this technology was even created. It just makes the lives of such sickos easier and hell for people like me."

"Yeah, it does." Rahu sighed before staring with a firm gaze, "But fear not. For people like you, I exist. I have your back."

Saying so, he disappeared, "Let them enter your Virtual Space as usual tonight. I\'ll deal with them once they arrive."

"What...will you do?" Suraj asked.

"Something worse than their deaths."

Rahu opened his eyes in reality as he put Suraj to sleep, got up, and exited the room. He stared at Suraj\'s father and motioned him toward the living room, "We need to talk."

"I have been briefed a little by Madam Deepika here." Suraj\'s father said in rage, "I thought those bastards were just his friends. I never knew they were such...Devils!"

"It\'s for the best you forget about that," Rahu said, watching the anger of Suraj\'s father spike in response.

"You want me to forget that?" He glared at Rahu, "Even after knowing what happened to him, you dare say that? Don\'t tell me there\'s some bullshit reason to suppress this..."

"Listen to me fully," Rahu motioned for the middle-aged man to stop speaking as he continued, "I\'m implying for your good. Just act like whatever happens next isn\'t related to you in any way."

"What do you mean by that?" Suraj\'s father asked in surprise.

"You see, Suraj is a good child." Rahu stared at the middle-aged man, "The reason he endured until now was to ensure his family isn\'t implicated. And I intend to honour that."

"So, let me take on your burden for revenge, alright?" He patted Suraj\'s father, "Besides, it\'s for the best you don\'t become aware of everything your son has gone through."

"Please act like you\'re oblivious of this around Suraj, for his sake, alright?"

"I\'m not an actor," The middle-aged man closed his eyes and sighed, "I get angry just thinking about what my son went through. I work for the father of one of those bastards. I don\'t think I\'ll be able to hold myself back if I were to see that ugly mug of his. I might kill him."

"Please don\'t be that foolish," Rahu stared calmly, controlling his seething anger, "Let me do it for you, alright?"

"Sir!" Deepika shouted in alarm, "A DOVA Agent must never use their powers to harm a civilian."

"A civilian? Who?" Rahu tilted his head and calmly stared at Deepika, "Who do you think is a civilian of this country?"

"Someone that strives to work for the betterment of the society or someone whose only contribution is destructive towards others?"

"But that doesn\'t give you the right to harm..." Deepika said when she shut up all of a sudden, staring at the Liger that appeared before her face, its feline eyes glaring at her. A bloody stench wafted into her senses, terrifying her, and almost causing her to pee herself.

"The laws are geared in favour of the perpetrators." Rahu retracted the Liger and stared at her terrified self, "The more these bastards are protected in the name of humanity, the more harm they cause to the genuine humans."

"But sir..." Deepika argued, gathering all her courage to do so, "Isn\'t it wrong to abuse your powers?"

"Well, who can stop me?" Rahu asked curtly, "You?"

Deepika had no answer to that. Their first interaction proved that she was no match to him, whether physically or in terms of their uVR Earth abilities. The moment she intended to stop him, he would gain control over her drone and use it against her. It was vexing on her part to go against him.

Seeing her state, he pointed at Suraj\'s father, "Do you want this guy to sacrifice his life just to kill one of the perpetrators?"

"What do you think happens next? He will be jailed. His family will have to survive without him. Is that justice?" He observed that Suraj\'s father had calmed down upon hearing his words, staring at him to talk, "Sir, your family hasn\'t done anything wrong. So, I assure you that your lives won\'t be implicated by this. Please continue living like a proud citizen of our country."

09:00 PM!

Suraj was seated in his bedroom, wrapped around by his bedsheet. His uVR Earth blinked blue twice, indicating he was getting a call. It was a request to meet in his Virtual Space. If he were to accept it, the caller would arrive at his Virtual Space. That was how Virtual Reality communications went.

Upon seeing the Caller ID, Suraj turned nervous as he stared at Rahu, "They called."

"Don\'t worry and go. Nothing will happen to you." Rahu said in confidence. Once Suraj accepted the call and fell asleep, he stared at him and focused on his uVR Earth.

Induced Reality-Synchronised Brainwave!

His brainwave signature gradually began to change as it became attuned to Suraj\'s. A few seconds later, his brainwave seemed no different from Suraj, allowing Suraj\'s uVR Earth to recognise him too as being part of the \'User\' that could control it.

Synchronised Brainwave was his unique creation, allowing him to take advantage of a loophole in the functioning of the uVR Earth, a product derived from the secret Megasphere granted him.

He stared at Suraj\'s uVR Earth, observing four electromagnetic streams descend onto the right horn. He extended his hand and gradually inched forth. Slowly, he touched the streams, causing them to fluctuate like a stream of water. Rahu\'s eyes turned cold as he muttered, "Some beasts aren\'t worth wasting oxygen upon."

Induced Reality-Dark Room!