Clawed

 

22.  

Shibu opened his palm and looked at the message he received. His eyes gleamed as he saw a complete palm print and a message that read "Good luck with Vyom's data and Ruka." 

       He took a run towards Vyom and entered through the already open gates. He stepped back, as he noticed a signal, he knew someone was coming. He figured out who it was. "Nevin and Rasheek" he gasped and took a run towards Ruka. 

       He examined Ruka, trying to figure out how to start it. He dabbled with a screen that was at the center of its handle. Even after minutes of toggling the buttons and touching it throughout its surface, he found no light or sound indicating its activation. He went up to the handle and rotated the accelerator, switched the gears, and still, nothing happened. 

       He opened his palm and copied the fingerprints that he received from Saira, onto his own. Now he repeated the entire examination, rotated the accelerator, and still, nothing happened. Just as he began to furiously dabble with all its parts, he noticed Nevin and Rasheek coming out of Vyom. He gasped "Oh no! come on Ruka!" and dropped his hand over the accelerator and it jerked forward. Surprised, he handled the accelerator, switched the gears, and drove off with lightning speed. 

       "Get him" Rasheek shouted as he noticed Shibu. Nevin ran after the speeding bike, while Rasik went up to Vyom's power system. He amplified the voltages and moved away. As he noticed sparks bursting in Vyom, he followed Nevin. The sparks caught up and in minutes a huge blow emerged, sending out tremors in the mountain. Nevin and Rasheek fell flat onto the ground. Shibu stopped Ruka, as he lost his balance. He looked up and saw a thick black smoke gushing up. 

       Rasheek and Nevin stood up, brushing themselves up. They instantly took a run towards Shibu. Shibu gathered himself and accelerated Ruka. It did not start. He frantically repeated everything that he did earlier, yet it did not move. He calmed himself down, trying to recall the exact sequence of things he did before it got started first. "It started after I spoke something, what did I say..." he said to himself. "Oh no, come on Ruka," he said again and placed his hand on the accelerator. It glided ahead. 

       Nevin raised his arm, pointing towards Shibu. A display appeared right ahead of his fingers. He zoomed into the circles that appeared, spotting Shibu. He stabilized his aim, at Shibu's back, right at the center of his shoulders. He touched on the spot that he aimed for. A beam of light passed out from his fingertips and landed right on Shibu's back. Shibu slowed down his acceleration with a jerk. As he struggled to reach his hand towards his back where he felt a prick, he suspected that he knew what it was. He stopped to take a look back; he scanned his gaze all over the place, looking out for Nevin and Rasheek. He made up his mind that they saw him and decided to speed up. 

       As Shibu raised the accelerator, Ruka stood still. "Damn it!" he said, examining the bike again. He recalled and repeated all the steps that he did. Nothing worked. "I think it is turning on to my voice instruction. What did I say..." he muttered to himself. "Oh no," he said and raised the accelerator. He thought for a while and recalled what he said. He wondered if it was the entire thing or parts of what he said. After multiple trials, he finally figured out how to start it. He opened his palm and made a note on his screen. "Say 'Ruka' and hold the accelerator with Aditya's fingerprint." He started it again and drove off. 

       Nevin pointed his palm towards the ground, projecting a map in which he followed his gaze with a moving dot. Rasheek reached Nevin asking "Is that Shibu?" "Yes," Nevin replied. "Excellent" Rasheek exclaimed and asked, "Where did you place the tab?" Nevin smiled "Don't worry, he won't be able to take off the GPS Tag. I have placed it right on his back, between his shoulders."