The Anchor

Hastily and barely unable to conceal his anger, Thari heads to the holding cells. The officers quickly make way for him. From his face, anyone can clearly see he means business. He can see Siji's distressed look from behind bars. She's sitting on a small bench which also serves as a bed in the cell, her legs folded yoga style. She turns her head and their gazes collide. For a moment they both freeze, her expression like that of a child let down by an adult. She can tell from Thari’s demeanour that he was also taken by surprise and springs up on her feet to reach out to him for an embrace, the cold prison bars notwithstanding. After a moment, they both pull back.

‘What happened? Where was Rimon?’ Thari asks.

?Siji looks puzzled.

‘Hey, it will be okay,’ Thari reassures her.

‘Will it though?’

‘To be honest, I don't know.’

‘Rimon tried helping but he was overpowered.’

‘How did they even know you’re Destiny?’ Thari wonders, mostly to himself. He retreats to his mind trying to trace his steps. ‘How, how?’

‘It doesn't matter,’ Siji replies after a bit of silence.? ‘What do you know?

‘All I heard is that politics is demanding worse.’

‘What! Where did you hear that?’ Siji asks, alarmed.

‘My commanding officer, Sasi.’

‘Oh no!’

‘What is it?’ Thari asks.

‘Don’t you get it? The attack on the Island, me locked behind bars, the worst is yet to come…’

‘My goodness, they are planning to execute you…’ Thari said, finally piecing all the pieces together. ‘Hey I won't let that happen. I promise.’

‘Don't,’ Siji interjects, ‘Broken promises come back to bite. You should know if all fails, I loved you.’

For a moment Thari was tongue-tied. He looked at her fearless gaze. A tear ran down his cheek and disappeared into his beard like a drop of rain in the forest.

‘I'll do my best,’ he said under his breath as he excused himself and left.

Outside the precinct he couldn't hold back his tears. What had he done? This was brutal. He kept walking like a zombie, not even recognizing his surroundings.

‘I have to do something. I have to break her out,’ Thari thought resolutely.?

His mind was made. Nothing else mattered. He had to do it. He retreated from his mental anguish now that he had a plan. On looking around, he was at the exact location where he was almost shot just a day ago. He decided to sit and take in the moment. When he turned to the bench, there he was, the Nomad.

‘Hey, what a coincidence!’ Thari said as he approached the bench and sat down next to him.

‘Coincidences are very rare. I've been watching you,’ says the Nomad.

‘I need your help,’ Thari starts off.

‘Breaking someone out of jail?’

Thari was shocked.

‘How did you know?’

‘If you keep being predictable, you are risking way more than just her life. So what's your plan? Gather the boys, storm the precinct?’ asked the Nomad.

Thari tried speaking but words seemed to have betrayed him long ago.

‘You have to step back, zoom out so you can see the whole playing field. That rage and adrenaline pumping in your veins will only cloud your judgement. I know it's difficult to put your emotions aside but you have to,’ the Nomad continued.

Despite the urge to interject, stand and go because, after all, he had a plan, he kept still and listened.

‘Do you know of the butterfly effect?’

‘Yeah,’ replied Thari.

‘Then you should know that your actions set in motion events that even you could never have imagined in your wildest dreams, the attack in Kashata and on the Island.’

‘Me?’ Thari was puzzled.

‘Yes, you. You provoked a lying predator without the slightest hint. Can you guess who's hunting you?’ the Nomad asked.

After some thought, Thari responded ‘An organisation with a triangular logo.’

‘Good. I'm impressed. So you have an idea. They go by the name The Triad. They came to this region long ago and set up their operations in Maya. They are the middle man in the island and Kashata trade.’

‘The trade deal,’ Thari slowly realised. That’s where he supposedly poked the predator.

‘Yes. Good. The situation you are in is a trap and you are falling right into it. You are being provoked so that you can be executed right next to her. Two birds, one stone. You have been trained to fight in the shadows, well this is a fight you can only win by dragging it into the light.’

How do I do that?’

‘Now you are asking the right question and that is where my help comes in handy. You have to understand when people feel oppressed and hurt without clarity about their struggles, they will find a person amongst themselves and point them out as the enemy. Politics takes on the role of the pointing finger. Pointing at the enemy, real or perceived and they never admit to mistakes. They simply shift from one to another.

Funny isn't it?’ the nomad said amidst some laughter.

‘What? Thari asked.

‘That today's greatest challenge is simply a none-issue tomorrow. You, for example, had so many questions for me barely a day ago. Look at us now. I'm in the mood to answer one or two so shoot!’

Thari, after taking a deep breath and a moment to think, dove right in.? ‘Your name and the symbol on your notebook, what does it mean? Who are the Nomads?’

‘One at a time. Do not overwhelm me,’ replied the Nomad. ‘My name is not relevant at the moment but I think it is important that you learn of the Nomads of Consciousness or NOMCON for short. It is a group that was founded long ago, as the 21st century empires tumbled. Its founders had a mission to break all that were willing out of the matrix. They understood the power of stories which had been ripped from the people's hands and became the property of corporations used to advance their agendas. Consciousness, they declared was the last frontier, the last battleground.’

‘You do not have to try to understand the meaning of the words you know. A lot of communication, incoming and outgoing, is handled unconsciously but before it got there you had to learn. It had to be consciously driven.

Strokes to letters, letters to words which create sentences and paragraphs with narratives that would transfer ideas from one mind to another. This programming is critical and just like the computers of old, garbage in garbage out. When your programming is shitty you will not have to consciously decide to make shitty decisions because those are already set in, they are already programmed.

They started training the willing to break the programming, consciously altering the subconscious. Some narratives are so ingrained that we are not even able to question them, but we should. Can you guess the most believed narrative of the 21st century?’

‘Mmmh…’ Thari mused, ‘They had great nations and empires of sorts. Nationality?’

‘Not really but close. You wanna take another guess?’

‘No, it's religion. They had great religions, billions and billions of people.’

‘Another close strike. I'm impressed but no. The most believed narrative of the 21st century was currency. It was money, a proxy of desire. Money that you would go to any corner of the world and hand it to someone and they still believed that that piece of paper had value. Both the buyer and seller acting to fulfill their desires. Wars were waged to protect it. It was an idea that greatly altered the reality of those who lived in that time,’ explained the Nomad.

‘As for the symbol you came across, it is called the anchor. That particular one is my anchor. And just like a ship’s it steadies my conscious when the tides of time are rough. Someday you’ll realise your own.’

‘The initials, C.B.H.’ Thari added without hesitation

‘Curiosity, Bravery and Humility, the values that maketh a Nomad. Although some argue with the interpretation saying the C stands for courage.’

‘I see why, curiosity killed the cat after all,’ Thari jokingly

‘It did indeed, but it was only the cat’s second life. Do you think you’re living your first?’

‘Back to the matter at hand now. You have a task to achieve. You have a friend to save. You have to argue your case in the highest court in the land,’ he continued.

‘What do you mean? She's not being taken to court. Oh, I know. The highest court in the land is the people. The people have all the power, way more than the people in power,’ Thari said as the realisation hit.

‘When the time comes you need to be able to talk to the people. Plead your case to them. Speak to their hearts. But for now we need some help.’

‘The opposition party?’ Thari wondered.

‘No, no. You are clearly an amateur in this. They are in on it. They were brought in long ago. The Triad couldn't risk not owning the counter narrative but I know someone. I will put in a word for you. The execution will probably be dated tomorrow. The moving market is also coming to the island tomorrow. That is not a coincidence. The merchants of Vagary carry way more than just goods. Think Thari. Think and plan, plan like a magician. Let them not see it coming and be careful, I'm not the only one who's been watching you. In magic we say the closer you look, the less you will actually see. Go now. Go,’ said the Nomad as he gestured to Thari towards where he’d come from.

Thari stood and left. As he headed to his residence on the edge of the Island, he mulled over the events of the past couple of days. He figured that Sasi must be doing the Triad’s bidding. There was a reason she was framing Destiny, and it had something to do with the attack.

‘What would Sasi gain?’ he wondered? ‘Or was it merely self-preservation?’

It was definitely a bad look that an attack took place under her watch and she needed a fall-back guy. Siji was first on the list and he was sure the calvary would soon be at his door.

He eventually got to his place where he met Rimon, agitated and ready.

‘Hey, we need to save her. I have the weapons. The guns are ready. I messed up brother…’ said Rimon.

‘I told them in the heat of the moment, the excitement at the fireside. You had gone to sleep and I told them.And Lari…Lari betrayed us. I fucked up brother. I told them that Siji is Destiny,’ recounted Rimon, visibly distraught.

‘Hey, no need to dwell on the past,’ Thari calmed him, ‘We have to focus, we have to plan and whatever the plan is we have to execute it in a smart way because they are watching us. So put the guns away and help me figure out how we are going to get her out of this mess.’