The safehouse in Lalbaug was a damp basement underneath an old printing press. Rohan lay on a metal table, his leg bandaged, his face pale and sweating from the shadow-frost infection.
Rahul was applying a warm compress, while Rhea stared at a laptop screen, connected to Mr. Desai via an encrypted voice link.
"The Lalbaug Mill transmitter is different," Mr. Desai's voice came through the speaker. "It has a triple-redundant feedback loop. If you touch the primary conduit, it will trigger a localized electromagnetic pulse that will fry your nervous system."
"How do you know this, Mr. Desai?" Vikram asked, standing over Rhea's shoulder. "These schematics are highly encrypted Malhotra proprietary designs. Even Rhea took hours to crack the outer firewall."
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. The rain dripped rhythmically from a pipe in the corner.
"I... I have kept tabs on Malhotra's research for a long time, Vikram," Desai said, his voice unusually strained. "I was an engineer before I became a teacher. I know how Devendra thinks."
Vikram narrowed his eyes. "You don't just know how he thinks. You knew the exact model number of the stabilizers before we even found them."
"Vikram, please," Rhea intervened, looking up. "Mr. Desai is trying to help us. Rohan needs medical attention, and we have one more transmitter to destroy."
"Rhea's right," Rohan gasped from the table, his eyes bloodshot. "Don't fight among ourselves. Let's finish this."
Vikram stared at the laptop speaker for a moment longer. "Fine. Mr. Desai, tell us how to disable the loop."