Almost Defunct 2

Read this first: Almost Defunct 1

Back in the review room Nicky Anderson was looking at Marc in the laser projector screen. “He is a genius, I say, all he needs is a second chance.” “Stop this Nicky; I can’t stand the fact that you are supporting him every time there is a big mix up. Hope you know the consequence if someone comes to know of this project. Kat might just ruin it and Marc Wellington is not realizing the seriousness of it.”

“Dad, I work close with him. I know he is very serious about this! “

“Duh, I should have never let you date this geek! Look at you now!!! I just wish you don’t become a mad scientist like him.”

Derek Anderson is the chief in charge of the Classified American Robotics Corporation. His daughter Nicky is a beautiful woman in her late 20s. Nicky has always been in to mechanics and robotics ever since her childhood. When she graduated from Purdue University with a distinguishing gold medal, her father decided to take her in as a junior engineer for CARC. From then on, her world revolved only around CARC.

“This would fix you! Now let’s get ready for a test drive.” Marc unplugged a chord from Kat, with a satisfying smile on his face. “So, is she ready Doc?” Nicky closed the door and entered the lab in her silver suit. “Nicky, I am glad you are here. Just help me with checking her bracket system will you?”

“Marc, we need to talk.”

“Nicky, let me just finish this. You know this is priority right.”

“Yes, I do. I need to discuss about Kat. Let’s take this conversation outside.”

Nicky and Marc moved to the lush green, open terrace. The place Nicky seeks solace whenever she loses her cool. The terrace garden had a few randomly spread out, stone benches, a small fish pond, and a fountain. They stood near the fish pond and starred at the briskly swimming fish like robots. Nicky took a deep breath.

“Marc, I know you are working very hard on Kat-12 but dad is very worried that Kat would spill the beans with her unstable sonic radiations and her public stunts. You are aware of the fact that our foes are keeping an eye on us all the time right?”

“Honey, are you telling me to back up on this project?”

“No Marc, I know this is very important for you. I am just asking you to let me help you. You can’t do all this on your own, you need a support, and for the thousandth time I am asking you… let me give you a hand.”

For the past six months, Marc never let Nicky to help him because he knows that Kat is sort of unstable and any kind of accident might happen. He did not want to take any risks until Kat-12’s motor receptors are fine to go.

“Alright then, you can help me with the coding and formatting part, but never touch Kat without my presence.”

“Love you Marc!” As they exchanged a gentle mutual kiss, a sudden, screeching noise interrupts them. Krypton hurries to the terrace with his broken legs (wheels) echoing the painful noise.

“Krypton, why can’t you use your wheels for the time being? You are attracting too much of unnecessary attention.”

“Well, let me be the one attracting unnecessary attention but someone downstairs needs an emergency attention.”

Marc and Nicky, in one voice, “Oh no, Kat!!!”

Summer sans Rain, sans love

Summer, Rain, and Love (Contd.)

She woke up in the morning, still unsure of what happened the previous night. The alligatored porch showed no signs of seeped rainwater. “hmmm… I just hope I was not dreaming!” she thought to herself.

The air was still moist; the sun did not take everything away! She took her morning coffee in her favorite mug, sitting on a patch of grass in her verandah. Warm, shimmering rays from the sun gradually crept from her fingers to her face, but her eyes were fixed on two squirrels squabbling over nothing.

“Your cell phone is screaming, come and pick it!” her mom’s cry woke her from the blank thoughts she was sailing in.

“Yes ma… I got it!” she said calmly and moved inside her house.

“Hey, I wasn’t expecting your call so early in the morning! What’s up? ”

“I don’t know… I have been thinking of what happened last night. Just couldn’t sleep. Did you sleep well?”

“I slept well. Have I told you that you sometimes sound like someone who has jumped right out of a chick flick?”

“Ha ha… yes I know. That was the problem; I am spoilt by watching too many movies off late.”

“hmmm… are you alright? You sound different!”

“Yes… I am clear now. As in… I have been thinking about what happened last night, I think I have really rushed everything. I am really sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Yes, you have rushed it, but what are you sorry for?”

“Well… this is not going to work out!”

“hmmm”

“I am not ready for this yet, we can be good friends like before you know.”

“But…you can’t…You said… Never mind!”

“C’mon, trash me all you want. I know it’s my bad. Just take it out of you.”

“hmmm… I guess I can’t, I still like you!”

“hmmm… I am sorry. Sorry is not the word but this is not going to work. I have moved on because I know it won’t work, it’s better to move on now than repent later. Moreover, you are 2 hrs elder to me!”

“Whaaaaat? 2 hours? Okay, so?”

“So, I don’t know… but nothing seems fine. It was better when we were friends.”

“Yes, you talk like someone else now! And it’s definitely not better now!” she wanted to scream but zipped it. “Okay… I will try to be friends with you.”

“We will be best friends forever ”

“hmmm… ok! If you say so! I got to go now, will talk to you later” She was not sure if she will ever talk to him after that. She was plainly hurt and nothing felt right, she gasped for air in the suddenly vacuum room.

“Whatever it is… it’s just a dream! Wake up…wake up…” she tried hard but could not wake up, it’s not a dream, she realized. “I did not ask for this! I know him only since a week! Why should I feel so heavy at heart? But…is this how things happen these days? Was I busy with myself so much that I did not notice the changing world and people?” A stream of lament escaped her eyes and dropped into the coffee.

“Are you still on the phone? You are getting late and your dad will arrive at the station anytime. I can’t referee another fight between you two. Get up and get ready.” Her mom shouted from the kitchen.

“This is reality”, she thought. “I was just sleeping for a whole week; I will forget this, this will pass... this will pass…” She got ready chanting just that. She felt bad that it’s over before it could even start, “But isn’t it good that it’s all over so quick?” she consoled herself and hurried to the railway station to pick her dad.

As said by a good friend, Love indeed, is misunderstood and lost in the seethes of life. Love is precious, it should be earned and yearned for, and it shouldn’t be given to anyone like a freebie! You are worth more than what you think you are and it’s time you realize it. Life goes on no matter what!

Summer, Rain, and Love

It was darker than usual; the only sound that filled the air was that of the playful crickets. The clouds veiled the moon completely and it was drizzling since evening. All of a sudden, sounds of laughter resonated in the distant darkness of the deserted road.

“I have never laf..laugh..ed…ed so loud” she managed to squeeze that sentence between her laughs.

“Same pinch!” he winked with a mysterious smile on his face.

“I keep distance from happiness for it marks only the beginning of the pain that trails behind. But the past few days are proving it wrong. I am happy and I am loving it, I love the way you make me feel. Thanks!”

“I will not lie to you, I feel the same! The past few days were some of the happiest days in my life.” He lit her face with his bright smile in the pith of darkness.

The drizzles transformed to small pearls of droplets and their laughter to silence. They could no longer hear the crickets or the tune composed by nature around them. Their hearts raced each other’s. He covered his chest with his palm hoping to stop his heart from jumping out of its cage. Unconsciously, the distance between them widened, yet they continued to walk.

“Don’t hate me for saying this, but I think I am falling for you. Can you catch me?”

She froze there instantly. “Did she really hear that? No, did he really say that?” Her mind clouded with too many questions. It did not feel real! “Maybe it’s too late in the night, maybe I am just dreaming!” she thought to herself.

“Hey, don’t be silent! Say something!”

“God! This is for real! Should I say he knows the answer better than I do? Should I laugh, cry, or should I say my arms are wide open my love?” she ran a thousand options in her mind and said…

“That was sweet! The best I have ever heard!”

He just smiled and turned around. “What did I say? Did he understand what I just said? Oh my god! What a bummer am I. I really suck at this” Just to reassure herself, she managed to blurt a few words “I am happy”

“So am I!”

“Is this really happening? Pinch me! :)”

“Sure this is happening! I can’t believe it either.:)”

“I never expected this from you! It was sweet!”

“My heart is still drumming! I just wanted to tell you what I felt. Keeping it to myself is a pain.”

“I am really happy that you took it out now!” They looked at each other with a content smile in their eyes and continued walking.

It was one dark, rainy night she will never forget for eternity. Whether it’s reality or not, doesn’t matter, she enjoyed that instant and she was happy for what happened that night. Sometimes reality is too good that you doubt whether you are living in a world of fantasy. It’s an ecstasy when summer, rain, and love nails you at the same time!

Almost Defunct

Kat got up late from her bed like a resurrected mummy from its tomb. Waking up late is one of the worst habits that Kat could not change in her 20 years of incarceration in the big, busy city.

No alarm rung her mind to get her moving, all her brain could do was to command her eyes to open. She shuffled her feet down the hall, and stood half-asleep in front of the bathroom door.

“What?” she screamed; froze for a micro second, staring at the hands of the clock that stood one at nine and the other at ten. She ran in to the shower and had something close to a bath. Stuffed two breads in her mouth and let a glass of milk run through her throat, filtering through the stuffed breads. Ignited her bike with help of the “self-starter”

“Start dammit! Ah… doncha give up on me now!” as she screamed, a few people in the neighborhood turned their heads to see what’s happening, only to ignore whatever it is. Her bike started, she did not wait a second, she vroomed and zip-zoomed the narrow streets of her neighborhood and reached the highway.

“Here it goes, these damn traffic jams and jellies are a big pain and I am totally busted today!” she muffled to herself and squeezed her way through the narrow space between the gigantic cars and trucks. As soon as she reached the end of the jam, the traffic signal turned amber. “No way!” She screamed, and accelerated her bike. She drove so fast that she forgot to notice the truck that curved to make a turn. She applied the brakes, but lost her balance. The bike skidded under the truck, wheeled cross the road and disappeared in to a corner. She curled up, holding her head in pain. Everything blacked out. The last thing she remembered was the fading out image of a distant truck and the cracked surface of the cement road.

Kat struggled to open her eyes. Bright, fluorescent, lights blurred in and out. “Am I in a hospital? Or am I dead? Is this heaven?” she thought for herself. She slowly rose from the bed and realized that both her legs and an arm are completely gone! “Noooo…” She screamed in an unusual voice. Two men, clad in silver suit, rushed in to the room.

“What is happening? Where are my limbs? What is this place? Who are you?” A series of questions resonated the room. “And why the hell am I sounding like a… like a robot?” Before one of the men could answer her questions, Kat screamed again “What kind of an alien experiment are you doing with my body? Am I dead? ANNNSSSSWWEEERRRRR MEEEEE!” she screamed so loud that some of the weird equipment in the room started falling from their place.

One of the men hurried and pulled a cable out of a circuit that looked more like a giant, mobile phone charger. Kat fell on the bed dead. “This is one of the dumbest K-12 androids you have ever made Marc. Please get this thing working like what you have promised or let me crush it in the junk yard. The company just can’t afford these kinds of screaming tin cans.”

“Aggrrhh… Kat, why do you always let me down?” Marc pushed a pin into the open, metal head of Kat, and started typing something on the virtual keypad that displayed in the air.

“I analyzed her infra axis rays, as she tried to start me this morning, it was muddled, bleared and what not! Marc, I tried to stabilize her but she did not allow me. I am terribly sorry”

“That’s ok Krypto; you are doing me a great favor already. I am checking her electron diffuser and formatting certain parts of her E2PROM. She should be back in a few days I guess. I am wholly dependent on her for my promotion. I should make this K-12 look and work completely like a human. If only she doesn’t attract so much bugs via unclassified radiations!" Marc kept ranting with a big furrow on his forehead.

“You better fix it right doc! Being her transport is such a pain in my muff. Now, I am meeting Sarah to fix me up… I am hit quite badly too. See you around.” Marc waves a dead hand and continues typing…

~FINI~

(Or should I continue?!?!)

Tides of Time – Part 2

“Anu… Anu… We need to go get our instruments ready our contest starts in 5 minutes! Oh c’mon move your butt silly girl!”

“What? Oh yea that was awesome!”

“Anu, hope you din’t lose your mind cos we are moving on stage in 5 minutes and we all rely on you to win this time!”

“Chill Kiks! We are winning this time!”

The girls called their band AUREOLE and never missed a chance to do justice to their band’s name because every time they finish performing the audience galore will be filled with a charismatic aura. They have never lost any contest so far, for the variety and innovation they bring out. This time the band has planned to tune down the instruments further and give a soulful performance with Anu’s melancholic vocals. The stage was set, the two guitarists Kiks and Stacy fine tuned their guitar for one last time, and their time started ticking.

Kiks started her strums and increased the intensity slowly… Anu closed her eyes and filled the arena with her heavenly phonations. The whole six minutes passed like a dream for many including the judges, and when they finished their piece, every one in the audience clapped and nodded in agreement to give away the prize right away but there were more teams to perform and AUREOLE has to wait.

“Anu that was awesome man! You did it… I just love you!”

“Not without you Kiks!”

“So let’s go find him now”

“Him? Who?”

“Ahh.. c’mon Anu, you think I did not notice your obvious admiration of that “Play Guy”? c’mon lets go find him.”

“Hey…hey… I was not admiring anyone particularly! I was just moved by the emotional performance of the actors in the play. Let’s move to the cafeteria my stomach is making all weird noises. I am glad that it was not loud enough to reach the mike”

Kiks gave a big smile and nodded her head disapprovingly. They both took a stroll towards the cafeteria, gazing at the remodeled college architecture and beautiful fountains that added beauty to the architecture. They reached the college cafeteria and filled their grumbling stomach with food of all strange names à la carte.

“Hey its time for the results, hurry up… let’s move”

“Anu, I am not done eating yet!”

“Hah… is that very important now Kiku? You have stuffed your stomach enough for 4 days. Now c’mon move it.”

“Alright… alright…” Kiks replied with an insignificant burp.

“Ewww Kiks don’t embarrass yourself here!”

They both ran as fast as they can and reached the huge arena. The Acoustics results were announced and AUREOLE doubtlessly came first! The AUREOLE girls from Alabama University jumped and rolled with joy but collected their trophies with elegance and dignity. The results were announced and the whole event came to an end.

Students were seen in groups, some were hurrying out of the college, some were taking strolls as couples, and some gathered together as groups to celebrate. Kiks and Anu decided to wait for their group of girls who were celebrating their victory.

“Kiks, do you have any idea who won the stage play?”

“Well… why do you even mind? Plays are boring for you right?!?!”

“I was wrong Kiks! Plays are very original, soulful, and very moving!” Anu blurted it out with a coy smile, exposing her lingering heart.

Kiks laughed so hard that she stopped only after a stomach cramp. Anu did not heed anything but was simply gazing at the empty water fountain in front of her when all of a sudden a familiar voice kicked her heart out.

“Hey there! You did really well!”

“What? Ummm… uggg… well... really? Thank you!” Anu chocked and managed to get a few words out of her throat

It was the same man who froze her time and plunged her in to the never before interesting genre of stage play. The same man whom she reckoned only as a dream. The same man whom she thought that she should never meet.

To be continued…

A Valentine’s Day Tribute – Tides of Time

“This is amazing! I really missed this fun last year wish we win something at least this year.” Anu shouted in to Kiki’s ears. Anu and kiki are the best of friends. They were doing their second year engineering in a reputed university in Alabama. The very instant Kiki met Anu she knew that they are going to be best friends forever but time had a different plan for them.

“This is amazing! I really missed this fun last year! I wish we win something at least this year. C’mon let’s do our final practice” Anu screamed in to Kiki's ears.

“In this cacophony? No way! I don’t want to risk my throat at the last moment. Let's just relax a bit and watch these stage plays” Kiki replied.

“You are out of your mind Kiks, plays are boring as hell, and definitely not my piece of cake. Now are you coming with me for a last minute brush up or not?”

“Well… ok if you say so!”

It was the annual cultural fest of their parent university. The campus was buzzing with students, some of them were in their best formals and some in their somber shorts but one thing that was common in the air was the electrifying music from the loud speakers that echoed all around the campus. Anu and kiks was excited that they are participating in one of the most sought after cultural event in the city. Anu is an excellent singer with a dewy voice that is capable of mesmerizing anyone. She is about to participate in the acoustics and is very sure of bagging the prize this time. Both Kik and Anu rose to leave the arena to practice their last bit to perfection.

They did not take more than two steps away from where they were seated; Anu heard a shrill scream from the direction of the stage. She turned her head in awe and saw a male performer crying on stage, Anu was shocked and stunned on hearing his voice, it was loud, filled with emotions, and kindled every nerve in her. She just turned around and watched the whole play without taking her eyes away from that one guy who stole her attention away. Kik stood beside her in surprise and Anu stood frozen and drawn deep in to the stage by that one person, the one person who stood out like a full moon to her eyes.

To be continued…