Chapter 6: The Council’s Verdict

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5

After passing through layers of security, we reached the core chamber.

Here sat all the core members of the Ability Association and Defence Team.

The room had a large oval table, old plastic chairs—one of them with a leg shorter than the rest, propped up by an outdated Economic Times.

I was placed in a strange spot:

The position usually reserved for the accused.

"Arjun, explain what happened last night."

A middle-aged man said arrogantly, adjusting his dupatta over his shoulder and tapping his pen against the table.

His name was Rajeev, president of the Ability Association.

Twenty-four years ago,

When the demons descended and destroyed one human city after another,

Rajeev was trapped under the rubble. I was the one who saved him.

I thought he had leadership potential, so I recommended him to the Association.

After years of struggle,

He finally became president.

Four years ago,

On the night he took office, he called to tell me I was the person he was most grateful to in his life.

But now, just four years later,

The man before me felt like a stranger.

He was no longer the Rajeev I once knew.

People change, Amma always said, especially when power is involved. I could see it in his eyes—a coldness, like the Delhi winter fog.

I cleared my throat and began, "Last night, one lakh demons invaded. I don’t know why, but I saw no reinforcements."

Before I could finish,

An angry shout cut me off.

Rajeev’s face was red with rage and embarrassment.

"Nonsense! Are you saying we couldn’t even detect one lakh demons?"

Kunal shot me a disdainful glance, cracking his knuckles under the table. "If you’re going to make things up, at least make it believable. Do you think we’re fools, or that the Defence Team and Ability Association are all incompetent?"

At this, everyone around erupted in anger.

Kunal’s words instantly inflamed the room.

"We want the truth!"

"Someone here is lying!"

A voice shouted.

Kunal curled his lips and signalled for the staff to pull up the CCTV footage.

Over a hundred screens lit up.

Most showed nothing but calm and quiet.

Only a few showed some low-level demons.

The flicker of the screens made the room glow an eerie blue, everyone’s faces tense and expectant.

"What do you have to say now?"

"Just because we’re not at the border doesn’t mean we know nothing!"

"Ten demons became one lakh in your story. Have you been exaggerating your achievements all these years?"

Kunal and Rajeev looked on with smug satisfaction.

I thought of an old saying:

Where there are people, there is politics; where there is politics, there is a world of intrigue.

Rajeev was no longer the Rajeev of the past.

The Ability Association was no longer what it once was.

After fighting alone for twenty-four years,

I suddenly felt very tired.

The weight of the years pressed on my shoulders. Outside, a crow cawed, as if echoing my mood.

I had a recording device with me,

But there was no point in taking it out.

They would never believe me.

Sometimes, even in India, truth is just another story people refuse to hear unless it suits them.