"YAaah!" Adhi yawned. He rubbed away the blood from his face and said, "You are late." 

He was speaking to Eve. 

"Better late than never," Eve replied. 

Keerthy, who was with her, began to scrutinise Adhi. He almost looked like a different person to her. His aura was completely different to what she had known. 

"That's true," Adhi spoke.

"So, care to explain what happened here?" 

"Only if you can give me the carcass of the mutant boar." Adhi walked closer to Eve and said. 

"We can arrange for that. But before that, you should take a bath." Eve pinched her nose and replied. 

The smell coming off Adhi was beyond disgusting. The combination of blood, intestinal juice, and the fishy odour of the snake was making it unbreakable for those around him.

Adhi, however, was unbothered by it. The intense battle gave him no time to think about it, and once the battle ended, he had already gotten used to it.

But when Eve reminded him, he realised how filthy he was. Looking down at his body, he realised that he indeed needed a bath more than anything right now. 

"I don't think I can go home like this."

"You shouldn't," Eve said. 

After their short conversation, Eve reported their current situation to HQ. The fact that there were hundreds of mutants roaming around the area made the superiors panic. It was an unprecedented situation. If the public knows, they have no reasonable way for them to explain it. 

So, they ordered Eve to eradicate the mutants immediately. 

The superiors were more interested in hiding the matter from the public eye rather than solving the issue. They still didn't understand the seriousness of Eve's report. 

What it meant for dozens of mutants to appear in a region was beyond their scope of thought.

As usual, her superiors were quick to give orders without thinking deeply about the situation. 

It was up to Eve to decide how to eliminate the mutant creatures in the region. But seeing the corpses of mutant snakes that were piled nearby, she began to second guess the success of her new mission. 

Adhi, Keerthy and the members of Team 2 patiently waited until her conversation with the superiors ended. 

"What did they say?" Mr Crow was the first to speak up. He was curious to know what changes the appearance of mutant pythons had in their mission directive.

"It's as you expected. Your stay here is extended until we solve this problem."

"Any backup?"

"No, our forces are spread thin across the country. They are not able to deploy any additional superhumans for support."

"What are they thinking?" Mr Crow showed his displeasure by kicking away a piece of wood.

"I don't know," Eve replied.

Eve was a handler who worked with different teams of guardians to facilitate the smooth operation of their missions. She was superior to the field agents in standing but was similarly not involved in the decision-making. 

The best she could do was give suggestions to her superiors. 

'It seems like The guardians are not that great.' Adhi thought as he observed from the sidelines. 

"Do you really think we can kill all the mutant creatures and hide their existence from the public?" 

"With the current manpower, it would be difficult if my assumptions were correct," Eve replied. 

Usually, there would have been only a couple of mutants appearing at the crash site of an alien spacecraft. However, in Iritty, they came across hundreds. It was beyond any reason. 

There was never a time in history when more than a couple of mutants appeared in a location. 

Alien spaceships crashing was itself a rare phenomenon, and mutants appearing was even rarer. 

But last month, a fleet of alien ships breached Earth's atmosphere and crashed all across the globe. Something was different about this time. A nagging thought emerged in Eve's mind, reminding her to be careful.

Just the number of mutants Adhi killed was making her consider the possibility that there might be more. 

"That is correct. Let's assume that there are more mutants in this region. There is no need to assume. We know for a fact that at least two mutant boars are roaming this place. But just assume for a second that there are more mutant creatures.

"If there are more, it is not unfeasible that they can reproduce and multiply.

"Look at the case of the mutant python. We can be sure that the smaller ones are the hatchlings of the larger ones. There are two possibilities for there to be hatchlings. One is that the larger one mated with another mutant snake. The second possibility is that the python was carrying fertilised eggs when it became a mutant. 

"The same could be valid for the boars. 

"And the growth rate of mutants when there is enough food is exponentially greater than that of normal animals. 

"So, it would be surprising not to find more mutants.

"If we can't eliminate all of them fast enough, we will have a mutant epidemic on our hands.

"Once they go beyond a population we can control, there is no turning back. We will be putting the entire population of Iritty at risk. Many will die. 

"So, what the heck was wrong with your superiors when they didn't allocate more resources to eradicating the mutant creatures? Can't they even grasp the consequences?"

Mr Crow went on a rant trying to convince Eve and make her reconsider the decision. He was ready to complete the mission of eradicating the mutants, but he wanted The Guardians to be more involved in it by sending additional manpower.

Or else, according to him, it would be a lost cause. 

"There are limits to what I can do. I understand what you are saying, and I did warn them of this possibility. Still, they are unwilling to allocate more superhumans."

"Try once more. Maybe you can convince someone from the HQ." Mr Crow suggested. 

"I will. But I can't say for sure if I will be successful." Eve replied and took a pause. She looked around for a moment before asking, "Does someone else have any other suggestions." 

Team 2 remained silent.

Keerthy suggested using the help of the police. That was something within Eve's control. 

Meanwhile, Adhi thought deeply. 

"If there are no," 

"I have an idea." Just as Eve was about to end her sentence, Adhi interjected. 

"What?" Eve was curious to know Adhi's opinion. More than anyone here, she knew how shrewd, scheming, and clever Adhi could be. His idea might be helpful, she thought. 

"We need a way to decrease public interference while we kill the mutant creatures, right?" 

"Yeah. And also more manpower." Mr Crow replied. 

"And a reason, huh?" Adhi thought for a moment. "Have you heard about the virus? The one that's been in the news lately?" 

"Yes. But what does it have to do with the mutants?" Keerthy asked.

"Nothing, but we can use it as a reason," Adhi replied.

A light bulb went off in Eve's head. An uncontrollable thought sparked her mind, forcing her to think seriously. Finally, she concluded. 

'This kid is a genius.'

If Adhi could hear her thought, he would have scoffed at it. He was not a genius. He was a person from the future; he was ten times better. 

 

 

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