One hot, humid summer morning, inside hall 57, Thiya finishes processing the data she downloaded from Aran's laptop. Seated by her desk, she lets out a girlish squeal of excitement, which soon turns into a deep sigh.

Seyon and the others are at Kavya's filming location. Her staying back finally led her to success and interesting facts to share.

"The data from Aran's laptop we collected during the early stage of our investigation. Here it is, after clearing layers and layers of encryption. I hope this proves useful."

She opens her notebook with a hint of pride and jots down quick notes so she can explain things better by the time her colleagues gather around her during lunch break.

"A killer website."

Mira's eyes widen at the additional facts coming to light. Soham's facial expression mirrors her surprise and agony. Seyon keeps his cool and barks the command in a clipped tone, eyes locked on Thiya's — "explain."

Thiya overlooks his bossy tone of in favour of a case that needs solving. "Okay. Here, a glimpse of Aran's web activity."

With a quick tapping of her several keys, she displays the end results of her analysis, pulling several screens on her desktop. Files, web links, web history, diagnostic statistics. She also prepared summary handouts.

"His computer files reveal he is a nerdy gamer. Simulation games are his to-go. Though there's nothing violent or twisted about it. His web activity is also pretty straightforward. Extensive access to university and astrophysics web portals. Limited contacts. Just one classmate and a professor named Arumugam. But just one thing stands out..."

Seyon and the group focus on Thiya as she shifts in her chair and opens up her spare laptop she used to decrypt the data. After hitting enter, she turns her laptop around to show the screen to everyone. The SIT has already formed a tight circle around her — Seyon on her immediate left, Soham on her right and Mira right across. Everyone, too terse to pull a chair and sit, choosing to remain standing.

"Here's a sketchy website he accessed multiple times. I have just revised my analysis. Aran is a co-admin. Not a client or user. And the contents of the website are all cryptic, like nomadic symbols. At first, I thought it was a pirate site."

"Is it even a website?" Seyon crinkles at the endless symbols comprising the text of the website. With no visual elements, the entire content resembles a document, albeit filled with hyperlinks. "What's that language, Korean?"

Thiya allows herself a smile, amused at Seyon's absurd phrasing. "Does it look like Hangul to you? It's a code language, one we must decipher, clearly."

Seyon scratches his chin. "So it's a code language."

Thiya nods. "Yes. Or rather, a projection. We need a code to view the true contents. Thankfully, Aran left a few codes handy for us."

Thiya inputs a code in a small rectangular box on the extreme left of the webpage and clicks on the arrow button below.

The teal webpage comes to life written purely in Tamil.

"Kill for revenge." Seyon does the literal translation of the title of the webpage written in block letters and lets out a wry chuckle. "Why, this is still a relief. At least this concerns the locals and our state. It wouldn't be entirely in Tamil otherwise."

"How's it a relief?" Soham murmurs, looking aghast. He's come out of the same shock Mira is still under. "Kill. Quench your thirst for revenge. Don't worry. We get the job done without your hands getting dirty. Man, this is... What's that a request box?"

Seyon and Mira grit their teeth and no one responds. Clients are urged to pitch in for revenge on this website. An online service for targeted killings. It's undeniable; the mood inside hall 57 has taken a grim turn.

"Nowhere is it mentioned that the price is money." Thiya navigates through the display by pressing various buttons and shakes her head.

"So, what's the cost and what are the payment methods?" Seyon gets thoughtful, uttering the words.

"Did you see the request form here? The request form too requires certain codes like the one I entered to access the site." Thiya scrolls to the bottom of the webpage and points to the request checkbox with a submit button. "Aran saves us by having codes on his laptop. The admins sure have other ways to share codes and discuss payments with clients. My guess is that the codes are given post a certain amount of payment and swearing confidentiality. The clients can then login and submit the request on the website."

"Quite an innovative way to operate. Probably they don't want to discuss the crime on the phone, but who can say?" Soham plops into his chair and shakes his head disapprovingly.

"Right. No difference than supari killing. Just more super secret with all the encryption and going digital. How fancy." Seyon clutches his temple. His brow is scrunched and his lips form a thin line. "Bastards."

From his demeanour, Thiya could sense he was about to swear, though he rarely does that. She's a split second late and here it is. "Seyon. Language."

Seyon sighs at the rebuke. "Ahem, so there are more admins?"

"More killers?" Mira finally joins the discussion after a long silence. "If this is the source website... These celebrity killings are random and not by the slasher?"

"It could be a mob," Soham is by her side, showing his support by clapping her on the shoulder. "A mob could be behind this website. An existing or new one. Our slasher can still be a member of this group. The same guy. Or multiple guys..."

"I believe the killer is alone," Seyon says with a shake of his head. "Let's go the flow and see where this takes us. But remember, we can't afford to lose track of this case. We're already trailing."

Just then, Thiya's phone beeps with an incoming message from Ulla. "She says everything is clear so far. Vyuh also works properly. Apparently, Kavya's shoot stopped because of planning issues. Aran has gone home for the day. Our dear Ulla is chilling with Kavya as we speak."

"We'll let Aran go. Monitoring him is a waste of our personnel resource," says Seyon, "Ulla is a lifesaver. I can't believe she's doing paperwork for her division and assisting us with our fieldwork as well. Pass along my thanks to her, Thiya."

Thiya jumps at her name, turning around in her seat, glaring at Seyon who's taken a seat next to her at his desk.

"You do that as the leader of the group. Ulla deserves it."

Seyon clicks his tongue. "I will, but if you have the chance to say it first, then you should. On behalf of our team."

Thiya turns off her laptop with a huff and doesn't respond, though a split second later, mutters something about someone acting like the boss guy.

Soham and Mira exchange glances. Seyon and Thiya may not realise, but they have been pitching against each other these days whenever they can. Or rather, it is one-sided. Thiya attacks. Seyon retaliates, but in moderation.

Poor Sey. He must find this exhausting. Soham thinks, he doesn't deserve this amidst the stress of the case. But thankfully Seyon is Seyon. He copes well, focusing on the important matters.

"Let's tackle this website while Ulla holds the fort for us!" Seyon says, moving on. Thiya nods.

"I'm already logged in as a client now."

"Go on." Seyon encourages her, crossing his arms across his chest and throwing her a look. "Use your fake ID and put in a request."

"You mean tell them I want to kill someone and see how it goes? I want to do that."

Thiya opens the request form on the webpage. "Oh, this is madness. There is also an option for the clients to kill themselves. The admins would do it at a discount rate. Dude, this is crazy!"

She shakes her head and mutters to herself. "I have to type entirely in Tamil. It's been many days. I was managing with Tanglish."

The smile on Seyon's form following the words brings relief to Soham. Seyon allows himself to smile some more, watching Thiya as she works, trying to keep aside his personal feelings and failing to do so. This part of her didn't change. She sometimes thinks out loud randomly, even while at work. Thank goodness, she doesn't do it on the field.

"What do I say? What request to put in?" Thiya mumbles, then decides on something. "I will tell them I want to kill my exboyfriend."

"Huh?" Seyon can't stop the strange noise leaking out of his throat. From the corner of his eye, he can see Soham and Mira are frozen near their desks, their expressions dismayed.

Thiya doesn't bat an eyelash. Seyon doesn't know what to think of it. Of course, the details she enters are false. When she said she wanted to kill her exboyfriend. Is it another underhanded jab? He lets it slide, putting on an official air, asking her to proceed but with caution.

"Things could get dangerous.  Tell me if they contact you."

"I'm sure they will." Thiya's response is overly cheerful though she named her ex-boyfriend 'Shanmugam' and herself Aamani. "My request is spot on with the crimes going on these days. Very much in sync with the trending crimes."

She keeps working, as if she's genuinely thrilled for the case. Soham and Mira return to their seats, wondering what to eat for lunch. Seyon clutches his temple again and heaves a heavy sigh. The case, Thiya... He doesn't know how it will all end. He only needs to be bothered about the case, so it's better if he doesn't know the latter.

***

AN: Short update again. The one I broke off... Well, I'm just gonna go with short chapters or breaking them like this... so I can update often... I will try to post the next part by Sunday. Thanks so much for reading! Please don't forget to vote and comment. That'll really motivate me to write further quickly or at least fill me with inspiration to think better about the upcoming plot.