"He is not one of us; he is a cheat." A blinding light declared.
The moment Anish heard that voice, heat rose from inside his body. The entirety of him started burning, as if he had been dropped into the sun, but he didn't break down in that moment — he couldn't live, and he couldn't die. His mind was screaming at him to run, but he couldn't move any part of his body by his own will, maybe because of the burning sensation, or maybe for some other reason. His brain screamed, At least get up. He kept trying, but some force was pressing him from every direction.
Somewhere deep inside him, he thought it might be a nightmare. He tried to wake up, but there was no response. He also thought he would wake up at the accident spot — maybe that was the key that would bring him back. But he knew that was most likely not true.
Right then, he realized he had quickly drunk something ethereal. It hadn't felt like him doing it; it was almost as if he were living someone else's life. The substance slid down from his mouth to his throat. It felt almost alive — otherworldly, moving at its own pace, yet unimaginably beautiful. It was something he had never tasted before in his life. Before it was completely down his throat, he heard a spinning sound that nearly ripped his eardrums apart, and in an immeasurable instant, he saw everything flipping upside down and moving upward. Along with the burning sensation and sudden silence, he felt his neck being cut hundreds of millions of times, again and again. He tried to open his mouth to scream, but no amount of effort did anything. He heard two "thuds," one after another. His head rolled over, and he saw several blurry figures sitting in a row, blank and still. Every sensation stopped — but didn't.
Across the room, Viriya was sleeping. Makriva was talking to someone outside when he heard something drop in the room. He came back and saw Viriya sweating and moving restlessly — sometimes her hands clenched together, sometimes she was grasping at nothing. Her closed eyes were moving in uncontrollable ways.
Makriva slowly sat beside her and shook her gently a couple of times. "Viriya." Seeing it wasn't working, he shook her a little more firmly.
Anish's eyes snapped open. As he sat up, he saw it was the same room he had fallen asleep in. He held his neck, fearing it might fall off at any moment. He still had the urge to scream, to run away. Even though nothing was stopping him now, the feeling of having had no control over anything wouldn't let him scream. Not that he hadn't screamed at all — from the very start of the burning sensation, he had been screaming internally. A loud, silent scream.
That dream had been even more unreal than whatever was happening to him now. He tried to speak, but he still couldn't believe that he was in control.
Makriva sat beside Viriya with a worried expression, without touching her. After a while, Anish calmed down.
When Makriva got up, Anish noticed a metallic harmonica on him. Seeing it, Anish stared at it and suddenly screamed in unbearable terror. The scream was a mixture of what he had just witnessed in the dream and some unknown fear of the instrument.
Hearing the scream, some people from outside rushed in. Makriva went near Viriya to comfort her and check on her, but she seemed scared of him. Anish, half trying to say something and half crying, pointed at Makriva's harmonica. Makriva was confused, but he hid it under his clothes. Seeing Viriya feeling a little better, he went beside her and started gently patting her back.
Some people had already left. Makriva said something to the rest of them, and they also left the room.
Makriva sat beside her for a few hours until she calmed down again.
Seeing that, Makriva sighed in relief and stepped outside to talk to someone. Two men wearing short-sleeved kurtas and layered, slightly oversized full pants brought two plates and placed them on the ground. Makriva guided Viriya toward the plates.
Even though Anish hadn't eaten anything since the night before and it was almost evening, his only thought was, "After all that, what even is hunger."
They both sat down to eat. Anish started slowly, swallowing carefully, then gradually picked up the pace. The food was simple — rice, legumes, and vegetables all cooked together with mild spices. The side dish was something like mushrooms and other things fried together; Anish wasn't exactly sure what it was. It was quite tasty for such a simple dish.
While they were eating, a woman knocked on the door. She and Makriva talked for a little bit, then she came into the room and sat on the bed. She had a round, gentle, smiling face and was not as tall as the others there. Her left shoulder had white intricate patterns, and she was wearing a simple red-bordered white saree. Anish watched her for a moment, then continued eating.
After they were done eating, she called someone from outside. The same two men came back, took the plates, and said something. Makriva stood up and took Viriya's hand. They went outside, washed their hands, and came back in.
The lady said something to Makriva. From what Anish caught, the only word he recognized was "Viriya-Vira."
Makriva replied something and gestured toward Viriya. He shaped his hand like a mouth and mimicked talking — kept opening and closing it, then pointed at his own mouth. From what Anish understood, Makriva might be telling him to talk.
"What do I say, anything? I don't know. I am talking now — is this enough?" Anish said in Hindi, spreading his hands.
After staring at Viriya for a bit, the lady said in Hindi, "When did you learn this ancient language? Hmm? And yes, yes, that's enough."
Anish was somewhat relieved that he could talk to someone now, and also mortified that she was calling Hindi an ancient language.
"I — I didn't learn it, I mean I did learn it, when I was a child? And it's an ancient language — how?" Anish said, somewhat confused.
"First, come and sit here," she said, pointing at the bed. "Well, it went extinct a long time ago. And you learned it as a child? And never told me before?" she asked. "Learned it from your mother, I'm guessing? Yes, she might know the language." The lady said, smiling.
Anish walked toward the bed and said, "Okay, I think there are really big missing pieces here. I'll answer everything, but please tell me — what is this place? Earth?"
The lady said, "Yes, yes, yes, Vira, it is called Earth in that ancient language. What else could it be?"
"Some other universe? Another planet? I don't know," Anish said.
The lady seemed to want to say something but stopped herself.
"So I time traveled?
No — I didn't time travel, but my consciousness? My soul?
So what even is this place?
If it's future Earth, who destroyed it like this?
Did some politician do this to Earth?"