The next day, the White House press room was packed, a sea of cameras, microphones, and tense faces. Reporters from around the world crammed in, Supriya from Sunday morning, positioned front and center, her notebook ready, her expression focused amid the murmurs. Bigwigs senators, diplomats, and officials lined the walls, the air thick with anticipation.
Richard Flare stepped to the podium, his face composed but eyes hard. Supriya looked at him, he looked confident, getting his attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Flare began, his voice echoing through the room.
"We're here to address the Basra incident. As you know, the GJF's chemical bomb killed over two million, but new evidence shows it was no ordinary attack. Our teams have uncovered a tunnel network used by the terrorists to escape, complete with high-grade equipment. More importantly, we've located the remains of the fifteen US soldiers taken hostage." He paused as gasps rippled through the room, Supriya's eyes flickered, and she looked around to check, and say something to her cameraman.
" Thirteen are dead. But we have two survivors." The uproar was immediate—shouts, flashes, questions flying.
"How did this happen?"
"Were they executed?" Supriya leaned forward, her hand raised, waiting for more. Flare motioned for silence.
"Calm down," Flare said, his tone commanding.
"Let me introduce the survivors: Sergeant Mike Lawson and Corporal Emily Reyes. They've been debriefed and are here to share what they endured."
The two soldiers, bandaged and pale but resolute, stepped to the podium. Lawson, a tall man in his 40s with a bruised face, spoke first.
"We were captured during the patrol. The terrorists dragged us underground. They weren't just fighters—they were delusional. Kept ranting about a 'sacrifice for the lord' to summon a Savior ."
Reyes, a woman in her 30s with a sling on her arm, nodded.
"They said we were part of an experiment. They weren't trying to negotiate or hold the city….they wanted to kill everyone in Basra. It was a ritual to 'birth the second Savior ' who would kill the false God... Krish."
The room exploded again—reporters shouting, cameras whirring.
"A Savior ?"
"They targeted Krish?" Supriya called out,
"What kind of ritual? Was the bomb part of it?"
Flare raised a hand.
"Let me show you." He signaled, and a screen lit up with a grainy video recovered from the tunnel. It showed masked terrorists in a dimly lit chamber, chanting around a circle of symbols etched in the wall and floor.
"For the lord's return," one intoned with blood.
"We sacrifice the city to summon the true Savior , the true angel, He will slay the fake God, Krish, and purify the world." They performed a brief ceremony, pouring blood taken from fifteen soldiers, lighting candles.
" They drained our blood, and marked the whole basement with weird symbols." Lawson said, filling the curiosity.
The video ended, and the uproar intensified.
"This changes everything!" a reporter yelled.
"They wanted Krish dead?" Flare nodded solemnly.
"Their goal from the beginning was mass death—to 'birth' this Savior through sacrifice. The bomb was rigged to explode regardless. The hostages were bait. Our survivors escaped the blast by breaking free in the tunnel, but the others... didn't make it."
Questions flew:
"Who supplied them?"
"Is Krish a target now?"
And in the middle, Surpiya asked, silencing almost everyone.
"Does this mean Basra was a suicide mission aimed at provoking Krish?"
Flare held up a hand.
"We're investigating. But this reveals the GJF's fanaticism, they saw Krish as a false idol. The UN meeting in three days will address this. If Krish is the hero he claims, he'll show."
And the conference ended, and Supriya looked at the leaving figure of Richard and others.
Outside, Surpiya stood alone little further from hustle and bustle, and behind her, white House can be clearly seen. She took a deep breath holding the microphone and continued.
" Good morning India and the world. As you all may have already known, I'm in Washington DC in America near White House. UN judge committee president Mr Richard Flair and other White House representatives, released what could only be described as shocking and terrifying." And footage of the blood ceremony was shown with blurry images and clear words.
" As you can see those terrorists used the blood of those innocent soldiers to summon what they called A Savior or an angel, to fight what they called a false God." And she paused.
" A false God that they believe is blaspheme to their Lord. Blaspheme to their belief." And she paused again.
"The GJF's ritual wasn't just an act of terror, it was a deliberate provocation aimed at Krish, the hero who stopped Dr. Arya's war last year,and has been saying lives ever since. Their goal was to destroy Basra—over two and half million, dead, in a twisted sacrifice to birth this 'Savior ' to kill Krish. The two surviving soldiers, Sergeant Mike Lawson and Corporal Emily Reyes, revealed a plot that goes beyond terrorism into fanaticism."
The screen flashed to a clip from the press conference: Lawson, bandaged but resolute, saying,
"They kept chanting about a new Savior rising from the ashes. They wanted Basra to burn to draw Krish out."
Supriya looked at the distance, and said.
"They called him a false God, and said their lord demanded his death." And she looked at the camera.
" This revelation now raises a question? Who was behind this, who was the mastermind who caused all these deaths, and what was his purpose, and most of all what he was trying to prove."
" Is there a false God? Or someone wants us to not believe in God." And the news ended.
And with Richard, he was surrounded by people, and military personnel, and in front of him on the presidential chair sat the current president of America.
The atmosphere was noisy, but by the time of the president's silence, it slowly became silent, and all eyes slowly fell in the direction, president was looking. It was Richard, who tried to look calm and composed and mostly succeeded.
" Now explain." And after hearing this, Richard's eyes flicker, maybe they were calculating or seeing the pros and cons.
He slowly reached for his bag, and took out a Tablet and handed it over to Mr President.
"This is everything we've got so far, sir. The tunnel network outside Basra, the mining machine, the bodies of the thirteen soldiers, and the survivors' accounts."
The President scrolled through the tablet, his expression unreadable yet normal.
" You told the press about this 'Saviour' ritual. You're stirring a hornet's nest, Richard. Why make it public?"
Richard straightened, his voice firm.
"The public's already rioting, New York, L.A., London, Tokyo. They're blaming us, sir, the new administration, that's you. Transparency buys us time, and room for manoeuvre. The GJF's goal wasn't just terror; they wanted to provoke Krish, frame him as a false God, and maybe even kill him, the whole setup was for Krish, his past record shows that he acted recklessly, first clearing the visible enemy, and then and saving people in need, and the largest number of them was in town hall, with the chemical bomb, The soldiers' blood, false God, and the city's destruction it was all just detraction, there so called summon their so-called savior or messiah is just a coax to kill him. We were just unlucky to fall into their trap."
An aide, a sharp-eyed woman named General Carter, leaned forward.
"And you think Krish already knew this? That's why he didn't act?"
Richard Flare's jaw tightened, and a small smile appeared on his face.
" He was at the outpost hours before. We can say he knows. He knew something, maybe not the ritual, but enough to walk away. I've called him to the UN in three days. If he's not guilty, he'll show."
The President set the tablet down, his eyes narrowing.
"You're playing a dangerous game, pointing fingers at Krish. He stopped Arya's. The public loves him, even if they're questioning him now. What if he doesn't come?"
" No one knows if he really had stopped Arya, we are giving him a chance to speak don't we? If he didn't come, then he's admitting guilt," Flare said, his tone a little cold.
"The survivors' story checks out, the images got from the military camp outside Basra say the same. Lawson and Reyes saw the GJF chanting about killing Krish. The video we showed the press, blurred for the public, shows symbols we're still decoding. This wasn't random. Someone supplied those terrorists with high-grade tech, and we need to know who."
General Carter interjected.
"The Pentagon traced the tunneling machine to a black-market dealer in Eastern Europe, but the trail's cold. You think this 'messiah' is real, or just fanatic nonsense?"
Flare hesitated.
"Real or not, they believed it. They sacrificed Two million lives to make it happen. If there's a mastermind, they're still out there."
The President leaned back, his voice icy.
"Find them, Richard. And handle Krish carefully. If he's targeted, we need him on our side, not against us. Dismissed."
Flare nodded, exiting with the weight of the room's eyes on him.
After exiting his happy mood vanished like a flood, and he looked really solemn and angry.His bodyguard flanked left and right, and when he saw that he said in a low voice.
And
" Let's, meet Dr Carl"