An Upgraded Soul

"So, how do you know about Hamsa and what is it about grandfather having her protected?" Aditya asked as he took out a needle case. One could see different kinds of needles with different thicknesses and lengths. He took out a needle and dipped it in ethanol (normal alcohol, it functions as a sterilizing agent to prevent unwanted infections). After thinking a little, he held the arm of the 'subject'.

Saira was more interested with what Aditya planned to do than having a conversation but still answered, "Well, it's Maahi who had explained the relationship between the both of you to your grandfather, saying that she might even become his granddaughter-in-law. After hearing what happened between the two of you, your grandfather became even more excited than before and took the initiative to have her protected. Though I think it is unnecessary, given the fright Reyansh was given by your grandfather, still, it's good to be safe just in case."

Aditya who was studying the path of nerves in the subject's hand while muttering words like 'radial nerve', 'median nerve' and 'Ulnar nerve'. The Ulnar nerve was the most unprotected nerve in the hand, hence the easiest to locate. When he heard elder sister Saira's words, his hands paused as he thought, 'It's elder sister Maahi again.'

Saira looked at Aditya who held the arm of the assassin and positioned himself as if he was going to pierce him with the needle and asked, "What are the needles for? Is it like acupuncture?"

"No elder sister," Aditya smiled as he explained, "these are just normal needles, not those which are used in acupuncture. Acupuncture needles are very thin, just three times thicker than a human hair. They are 0.27mm thick while my needles are at least 1.2 mm thick. I don't intend to treat him, rather damage his nerves a little."

Aditya's right hand which was holding the needle suddenly blurred as he pierced the assassin's right palm in five places in specific places. Small red spots could be seen on the palm which indicated the place but there was no blood flowing as Saira expected. A small clot could be seen forming already in these places.

Not taking the actual effect into account, just this dexterity at which Aditya handled the needle was enough to impress Saira. She felt like she was seeing an experienced surgeon with a set of steady hands as Aditya changed to a different needle which was longer than the previous one and dipped in ethanol, then he started piercing the forearm area of the same hand.

Saira was puzzled as the assassin was still unconscious. She asked, "should I wake him up, didn't you say you wanted to torture him?"

Aditya's hands did not pause as he said, "Let him be like that as he doesn't have to experience the unnecessary pain."

"..." Saira blinked when she heard these words. She was tempted to knock Aditya's head and ask, "Are you torturing him or treating him?"

"So, did you see Hamsa?" Aditya asked as he changed to a longer needle and started penetrating the upper arm.

"Yes, an innocent but a bright girl, she will definitely be bullied by you in the future. You have to know that such a girl is very rare in these times. You have to treasure her." Saira said as she observed Aditya's skilful hand movements as she felt that it was an art. She had known Aditya since he was a kid, so she could tell that Hamsa would be easily handled by this fellow who had such a high emotional intelligence while she was an honest girl who couldn't hide her feelings.

Aditya smiled awkwardly but nodded when he heard his elder sister's words. He took the longest needle in the stack as his next target was the spinal cord which is hidden and well protected by the spine (vertebral column).

He physically supported the person and changed his sitting position so that the person's back was exposed. He removed the person's shirt. Aditya's pupils shrunk a little when he noticed a lot of scars which indicated bullet wounds and knife scars on his b.a.r.e upper body which was quite a visual impact to him.

Aditya was once again reminded of his inadequacies by the reaction of his mind when he saw these things. Saira, on the other hand, did not even have a change in her breathing. It was clear that she had experienced similar things, maybe she herself had quite a few battle scars on her. He took a deep breath and bent the person forwards so that his spine would curve. In this position, the vertebrae in the spine would open up a little thus exposing the vulnerable spinal cord.

Aditya pierced the needle in a 45-degree angle into the upper spine and took it out. The assassin's body trembled involuntarily but Aditya had removed the needle by then. Piercing the spine was quite painful indeed but Aditya only targeted the nerve that came from the right arm accurately which was a medical feat all by itself.

"Elder sister, did you get any news about 'that' organization?" Aditya asked as he put away the needles and went towards a clean jar. He poured a little white powder and water used for injection and mixed them thoroughly.

"Even if I have any information, why would I tell you? I am warning you, stay away from 'those' people and concentrate on building a small influence for yourself to ensure your survival," Saira snapped as she rebuked Aditya. How could Aditya know the full extent of the terror that 'this' organization caused in the hearts of the world leaders? Any thought of fighting this organization was akin to a suicidal tendency in Saira's opinion. This was why she discouraged Aditya from even thinking about them.

Aditya was depressed when he heard Saira's words. It was better to try to get information from Uncle Ramu. His brows wrinkled slightly as he asked, "why do you want me to build a small influence if you don't want me to even talk about that organization? It doesn't make sense. Also, why are you, as a soldier of this country, encouraging anarchy by telling me to build influence when there is 'law and order' in this country?"

Saira struggled a little before making a decision as she said, "There might not be this law and order in the future."

The jar in Aditya's hand almost fell down as his hands shook when he heard his elder sister's words. Those words contained a terrifying suggestion which Aditya was able to perceive in its entirety. This was the reason that his heart trembled when he heard these words. 'No law and order' meant many things.

Aditya looked at his elder sister as he asked, "Can you elaborate, elder sister?"

"Adi, have you killed anyone yet?" Saira asked as she looked at Aditya calmly.

"No, why?" Aditya shook his head as he did not know why his elder sister was asking about it.

Saira did not answer but replied coldly, "Just remember my previous words and act accordingly. I don't want you asking about 'them' again."

Saira looked at the jar in Aditya's hand and asked, "what is this white powder and water for?"

Aditya gazed at his elder sister for a moment before shrugging and answering, "Elder sister, chilli peppers contain a chemical called capsaicin which is the main reason for the spicy taste. It can be extracted by using solvents like ethanol. Capsaicin can cause inflammation in our body tissues. This white powder is the capsaicin extract."

Aditya took a syringe and s.u.c.k.e.d this clear solution into the tube. All these medical equipment was bought by him when he studied medical knowledge in the past month. As for capsaicin, he had already prepared his own exclusive torture set containing many chemicals that he had procured, some even illegally. Capsaicin was the simplest compound he had as he did not want to reveal a lot in front of elder sister Saira.

Aditya began injecting this solution little by little into all the previous points where he had pierced with a needle. Even the syringe needle sizes changed according to the location of the body just like those normal needles. The amount injected was a very small amount and Aditya was sure it won't be effective for more than 15 minutes.

Aditya's plan was to artificially induce a condition called 'Allodynia' in this person. This was a condition where a person has an abnormally increased perception of pain. Normal things like touching do not cause pain but for these people, even a small wind breeze can be painful to bear. Aditya liked this concept when he studied about it and Tya had given some pointers about how to artificially create this condition in the human body.

First, Aditya targeted a nerve in the subject's hand and damaged it in multiple places all the way up to the spinal cord. Then he injected an inflammatory agent into the locations of nerve damage thus causing nerve inflammation which would make them hypers.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e.

Now, according to the theory, Aditya had to take a small needle and just prick on the subject's index finger to make him feel like he is been pierced by a thousand knives at once. Aditya and Tya both were quite confident in this theory. The advantage was that the inflammation was temporary and the nerve damage is repairable, for the most part. So the subject would not have any lasting injuries.

Aditya explained this to his elder sister, as he took a small needle in his hand with a confident expression on his face. He was ready to commence the bloodless, torturing session when the person woke up. He wanted to show to his elder sister that he was not a small kid anymore. Just as he was thinking about these things, a blood-curdling scream broke his thoughts.

AHHH!

"KHNDRUM YEM INDZ SPANEL"

Aditya was shocked at this unexpected outcome while Saira acted swiftly by stuffing a piece of cloth into the assassin's mouth. Even though the sound was muffled, the assassin's eyes became blood red as his body started thrashing around and his forehead started sweating profusely. Before long, his eyes rolled up as he fainted due to the pain. It was lucky that it already late in the night and the garage was in a commercial street where all the shops were closed at night and hardly anyone was around. Otherwise, people would have already crowded around his place.

Aditya was still standing like a statue as he continued to blink his eyes with a wide open mouth as the thrashing figure of the assassin still lingered in his mind.

Saira looked at the frozen Aditya's face and found it rather cute as she patted his shoulder to help him calm down, "nice move, little brother, rather skilful but seems like you have overdone it. Don't worry, I have always seen people who weren't able to achieve the required result in the first attempt but you have overachieved. Just remember that the subject has to be conscious next time."

Even with Saira's reserved mentality, she couldn't stop herself from smiling when he saw Aditya recover and put up an awkward expression. But she was happy to see Aditya's becoming more and more competent. Making a trained 'Apogee' class assassin beg to kill him (that was what the assassin cried out in his home tongue i.e. Armenian) was not something which is seen every day.

Saira ruffled his hair affectionately as he said, "Elder sister would not be always with you to take care of you. You have to take care of yourself. Maybe the next time I see you, you would change even more. I am glad to see that you are working hard but don't bother with 'that' organization. I know that I have no right from stopping you to try to save uncle and aunt. But still, I am trying to stop you because," Saira hugged Aditya as she said, "you are my only little brother and I do not want anything bad to happen to you."

Aditya also closed his eyes as he hugged Saira back as his heart calmed down. He knew his elder sister's thoughts but he also knew he couldn't follow her wishes. He released as he asked, "Is it time for you to leave the city?"

Saira nodded, "the last sleeper cell (terrorists who mingle in the society doing normal activities until activated by their parent organization upon which they create mayhem by indiscriminate killing.) has almost been discovered. At most, I will stay for a few more days before reporting back to my base."

Aditya nodded as he said, "Take care, elder sister." He knew that his elder sister would not stay with him for long as she first belonged to her nation.

Saira patted Aditya's shoulders as she grinned, "you might have to explain the noise if someone comes."

"Don't worry, I would just say that it was a malfunctioning sound system. How will you take this person away?" Aditya asked.

"My subordinates are already downstairs."

Both of them walked into the open area outside his penthouse as some men dressed in dark clothes carried the unconscious person away. Aditya felt a sliver of pity that he couldn't impress his elder sister unaware of the fact that his elder sister was pretty amazed already.

Aditya hesitated a little as he said, "Elder sister can I ask you something?"

Saira looked at Aditya's expression and knew that this was an expression he would usually have when he felt that she had to absolutely agree to his request.

"Speak,"

"I want a drop of your blood," Aditya gritted his teeth as he asked.

Saira was stunned a little when she heard this request but did not think too much about it as she thought about Aditya's medical prowess which he displayed just now. She teased, "have you become a vampire and now you want to drink your elder sister's blood?" but she held her index finger just the same.

Aditya shook his head as he looked earnestly into his elder sister's eyes. He pricked her finger with a sterilized needle and took a drop of blood onto a glass slide. Saira's doubts were confirmed when she saw the microscopic slide but she did not think too much about it.

Later, after a little talk, both brother and sister said goodbye to each other as Aditya watched the vehicle going away.

His hair moved, propelled by a tender breeze of the cold wind, as Aditya calmed his mind as he looked at the drop of blood on the slide. He had deliberately displayed the slide to divert his elder sister's attention. Aditya clenched his fist as what he was about to do made him feel weird. Aditya took a deep breath as held the slide near his mouth and licked the drop of blood with his tongue.

"Tya, analyse. I want to know what is wrong with my elder sister's body."