Two Lives - Origins (Episode IX)

It wasn't just a dream. No. It was definitely a dream but I couldn't shake the feeling that it was real. After a little time passed by, I calmed down to my normal self. Noulin Ahmed, the doctor, was holding my shoulder with a glass of water in her hand.

I gulped down the contents of the glass and spilled half of it in the process. She handed me a pill and I swallowed that too.

"I'm sorry", I apologized to her, "I had a dream. A terrible one".

"Don't we all. It's okay. I gave you something to calm your nerves." She tried to comfort me. Even though the tablet has started working, I still felt off tracks.

"I didn't think anything could wake you up. You're a sound sleeper."

"Maybe you don't know me well." It felt rude the moment I said it.

"Actually, I do. You slept through yesterday. I tried to wake you up for dinner but you slept like stone." She had an unwavering smile on her face which calmed me better than the pill and then the fact hit me. I slept through a day.

I rushed for my communicator. I still felt pain in my right knee but it wasn't as strong as before. She was right. I had slept through the day. The moment my brain registered the thought, I felt hungry. I think she heard the noise my stomach made. The next moment she pulled a sandwich out of her bag and held it in front of my face, a couple inches from my nose.

"It's fine. I'll have something ordered." But she tilted her head to one side and looked at me. I guessed she wasn't going to take a 'No' for an answer. So I took it. The first bite freshened up my taste buds and turned my mouth watery. It felt good was an understatement. It felt incredible. It's interesting how much food you can stuff into your mouth at one go, when you are starving. There was no sandwich or pieces of it left after 4 bites. She handed over a bottle of water to me.

"Thanks. I guess I was a little hungry." She lifted her eyebrows. "Okay. I was starving", I conceded. As I kept the bottle on the table, she handed me another sandwich.

"No. That's OK. I'll order something. Thank you." I took my communicator.

She took out her communicator and I received a swipe message. It's a neat trick, many who use the communicator don't know. If you want to share your contact, you can simply swipe towards the receiver and they'll get a swipe message. If the receiver accepts the invite, either of their contacts will be saved on to the others device.

"Call me if you need anything. I'll be around till 4 in the evening." She said casually and left the room. Looking at her contact on my screen, I felt myself smile.

Two days later...

I felt no pain in my knee. I was able to move it without wincing every time. I got out of the bed and stretched a little. It felt good to be back on my feet. I walked around the bed, did some sit-ups. I started knocking down things around when I tried some kicks, at which point she entered the room. I had just kicked the tray off a small table at the foot of the bed and my leg was hanging midair. I looked at her a second and slowly brought down my leg. Oh God, this is awkward. Should've hit the gym when I had the chance. I looked at her again and she was still staring at me.

I knelt down and picked up the equipment and the bottle of water that fell down with the tray. She walked in slowly. I walked to the bed casually like nothing happened. She kept her bag at the side table and took out her communicator.

"I came to check on you, to see if you're fit. I guess my work here is done. You made it very easy. Thank you." She said it with a sarcastic tone.

"You're welcome?" I wasn't sure what to say. Instead, I looked at her sheepishly. She turned her head from her communicator and gave me a 'Seriously?!' look. I kept my mouth shut for the next two minutes and answered her questions.

"Did you feel any pain while moving your leg?"

"No."

She asked a couple more questions but they were all formal. Once she was done, she told me that I could leave. She also said that if I felt any pain, I should see her. I actually felt bad that she was being very formal with me. My communicator beeped a message. It was the commissioner. The message said that he'll be here in an hour. He'll have to wait. I needed to go somewhere.

I ran down to the security room and suited up. I checked my case and the gun was there intact. I thought it might be new until the serial number matched that of my old piece. It was the same one. If he broke my gun, how is it intact now? I'll just have to ask the same question to a person that knows about it. I took the gun and left the building.

It took half an hour to reach my destination. There are no public transports to the place I'm going now. So I had borrowed the keys to Catherine's bike. I did have access to the custom security car but I guessed I wouldn't be allowed. I wasn't totally sure if I would be welcome now but I had to try.

I could see the central dome from half a mile out. It would take another 20 seconds to reach the main entrance. In all the city, this is the only place that's completely covered in green. I don't know how they manage it. I couldn't and I had a single bonsai, before the heat got to it. The main entrance had thick hardened steel bars, thick enough to bring a speeding car to dead stop. Each bar was as wide as the length of my middle finger. There were no guards and the door was automated. The main entrance itself was at least 30 meters wide.

The gate opened slowly. It opened just enough to let me in. As I passed through the gate, I felt something shot at the bike. I looked to the right and saw a circular disc, transparent with a central core, bigger than a coin but smaller than a cookie attached to the rear end of the bike. It powered up with yellow light glowing along the circumference like spokes in a wheel. When fully loaded, a female voice addressed me with my name. It read out Catherine's registration and asked me the reason for my visit. I asked if they have a rogue tech out in the black market. The voice assured me that they don't have one and also warned me that any false accusations might lead to litigations. Once it had made the point clear, the voice said with a pleasant tone, 'Please follow the trail, park your vehicle and await further instructions'. Sure enough, a yellow light trail from the device showed me the path, like runway lights.

I looked up towards the central dome and the huge alphabets mounted on the top read...

W.I.S.A.C.

Two Lives - Origins (Episode VIII)

General disclaimer: This is purely a work of active imagination of the author. That's me. All characters and incidents appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead or places, is purely coincidental.

"I think he's American."

The moment those words came out of my mouth, he started swearing. I knew that the thought seemed ludicrous.

"Are you F-ing crazy? Am I the only one you told this to? Please tell me you didn't tell any others. This is nuts, John. It's a good thing you told me after I left or I would've kicked your nuts in." It was the commissioner's turn to be angry.

"No, I didn't tell anyone. All I'm saying is that his accent was American. And I'm sure that he's a secret agent. Don't ask me how. It's just a gut feeling." I didn't know how else to put it.

"No, no, no. Just get some rest, recover and then we'll talk. Until then, no words off your mouth. I'll look into it if you keep your mouth shut. Understood?" I felt his fear which gripped me too.

"As you say. We'll talk once I'm on my feet." I disconnected the call and slid down the bed. The United States was the centre of this world for a very long time, until a time when they stopped involving in international politics. It's been four decades since the fallout in the year 2075. No one exactly knew what happened but the United States withdrew from world politics all of a sudden. There was no more Cold War and both Russia and the United States became best buddies. Many warring nations stopped their war. Allied nations of Russia and the US were against this but they soon turned one by one. Finally there was no more war in the world theater, except for one. The Indian border has a natural defense on the north and that was cause for this war. Around exactly the same time Russia and the US became friends, war broke out between India and Pakistan. After 2 long years on war, both Pakistan and India withdrew on one condition. Jammu & Kashmir became no man's land. One third of the Indian military were dead and half of Pakistan was destroyed. Now and there, there have been incursions by the Chinese army but they never attacked and left the way they came in.

The world was more organized than it ever was. No monarchy. People were given equal opportunity all around the globe except in India. Money ruled the nation still. People died for the cause of religion. The caste system flourished as ever. The country depended on imports for almost everything including food materials. One-Third of the population lived below the poverty line, if I'm to be honest. I hated the people that run the nation but I still loved my country. After all, I'm just one man.

Suddenly a thought popped into my mind out of the blue. Someone broke into our security and we don't know the tech he used. What if we knew the one who does? But I'd have to follow up on this one myself. My head felt light and I closed my eyes.

It felt like I slept through the year when I woke up. I pulled myself up and when I did, he was sitting in front of me. I went for my sidearm but then realized I was in a hospital bed. I tried to get up but my leg still hurt. "Who are you?" My lips weren't moving at all. It seemed like my mind was talking to his mind.

"The right question, John, is why I'm here." He smiled through his B... Ball... Ballistic mask. The words seemed to run up my mouth.

"Tell me. Why are you here?" It felt strange conversing with him like talking to a ghost.

He stood up. "Have you ever had the feeling that you haven't done enough for this world? For these people? Even after doing everything you can possibly and still feel that lingering thought of, Did that really matter?".

I couldn't help but he was right. Thinking about it actually calmed my mind. I was able to relate to him. Or to just what he said. So I said, "Always".

"I'm that thought manifested over time into a form that you can realize. I'm you. Only, more." His voice was distorted and broken unlike before, deep and clear.

"I am nothing like you. You break the law. I protect it. I am not you." I wanted to be angry but my throat was dry and I couldn't get the words out with enough force.

"Says the guy who nearly beat a man to death. Are you surprised? Don't be. Like I said, I am you."

I swallowed down air. He moved so smoothly towards me and rushed up so fast, I shouted.

After a long moment, I opened my eyes. I was still in the hospital. Someone was shaking my arm. I couldn't bring her name up but I knew it was the doctor from before. Some... Ahmed.

My mind was racing. I was unable to focus on a single thought. I felt like I was hit by a bus. What he said in the dream, scared me. Or is it just my mind playing games, I couldn't be sure.

Thank God. It was just a dream. Or was it?

Two Lives - Origins (Episode VII)

"They vanished into a shimmering wall? I'm not sure if I'm hearing it right." The Commissioner was walking slowly along my bedside. "You're saying that they teleported themselves using a cylindrical device? Or maybe you hit your head pretty hard when you fell down?"

"It's not funny, man. You must've seen a disc with a central shaft on the rooftop when you came. The disc is slightly bigger than my palm. It could easily be mistaken for a cutter blade."

"We did find something that matches your description but we're in a deadlock since we can't unlock it's mechanism. It doesn't have any prints on it. Catherine is working on it right now. She's NDT-ing it metallurgically to see if we can do anything."

I tried to move my leg and winced at the pain that shot through my leg to my thigh and hip. I wanted to strangle myself for what happened and it's all my fault. But then I thought of what he said.

"Before taking her, he said to me that he's not going to hurt her and that he'll bring her back to me. He said he wanted some answers from her." I looked at the commissioner who looked at me indifferently.

"He might have been lying for all we know and we must prepare for the worst case scenario. Even if we assume that he's not going to kill her right away, he might have plans for her later. If what you say is true, we need to know what he wants to know. I've already alerted the border patrol, bus stations, railways and airlines. I also took liberty and pulled her genome from her room to give us an edge. We'll get a ping the moment they get a hit. She's not leaving the city."

"You don't have the rights to enter her room without my permission. What the hell were you thinking, pulling up her genome and sending it to everyone? You personally remove that info from everyone." I was angry at him. I didn't know he was stupid.

"Whoa whoa. Take it down a notch big guy. I may not have control inside this building but you are down and this place is a crime scene which puts it under MY control until you are fit for duty. So don't go hard ass on me. FYI, I never said anything about sending it to everyone."

He stormed out of the room. Only when he was out of the room, I realized that he was right. He never said he sent it everyone. Oh, shit. I just assumed he did. He must've given it to Catherine to monitor all biometric doorways in the city. I'll have to apologize to him later. I laid back on the bed and started replaying the incident, looking for any small things that I may have missed.

First off, how the hell did he drug me? I didn't remember that he ever touched me in the first place. He was standing in front of me dead in my face, when I jumped and fired the first shot. Then he moved his left leg towards me, made a 180 sweep move until his right leg was close to me and his left hand holding my gun. Then he moved his left leg to my right and held my gun's bottom with the trigger, using his right hand. I still can't believe he broke my gun with his bare hands. Then he hit me on my nose with the barrel of the gun.

Wait a second. If the barrel of the gun hit me; my hands moved to my nose involuntarily. So it wasn't the barrel but his hand that hit my nose. I felt the punch but I didn't feel any piercing effect of sorts. Maybe it's an aerosol and I breathed it from his gloves. But the kick still made me feel sick. The force of the kick was near intolerable and precise, like he had done it a hundred times.

I remembered every word he said, every move he made and I came to one conclusion. Either he is a professional hitman or he belongs to a secret service, could be a good one or a bad one. I sincerely prayed he belonged to the former.

I made a small calculation of time for the events that happened today morning. When I thought I saw someone on the TeCorp building, he must've been there. Somehow, he got over to our building, flying comes to my mind but that's ridiculous. Maybe not as ridiculous as the shimmering wall sounds. Anyway, he took out the rooftop patrol, which should be the time when Ram was on TeCorp's rooftop. There's a great chance he didn't see anything. I was in surveillance for some time, gave orders for the day's patrol and that's when the alarm went off. He had a lot of time in between and I think he disabled all the traps and set one of his own, the wall mount explosive. I still can't believe how he got past the biometric doorway, which brings me to my initial findings; he belongs to a secret service.

I took my communicator and dialed for the Commissioner. He picked it up and said, "Yes, John".

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking clearly. I shouldn't have behaved like that."

"I can't hear you, John. I'm losing network. Come again."

I couldn't help but smile. "You heard me and I'm not saying that again. Listen. I wanted to tell you something. The guy who abducted her... He had an accent. It was clearly foreign and I believe he's an agent of sorts."

"Anything specific on your mind." I had intrigued his mind.

"I think he's American."

Two Lives - Origins (Episode VI)

It was hard to open my eyes. I could see a blinding light behind my corneas if that was even possible. When the floor felt soft, I realized that I wasn't on the rooftop anymore. I was lying on a bed with white sheets covering me. If I had to guess, I was in the medical wing located in the fourth floor. I tried to get up but I felt a piercing pain in my right leg. All of a sudden, everything came to me in a flash. I remembered the heart rate alarm going off, explosion in the twenty first floor, the rooftop fight and the shimmering wall they vanished into. I felt terrible. I didn't even stand a chance against him. It almost felt like he was never fighting me but here I am, with a broken leg. I tried to pull myself up and sat on the bed, my back to the pillow. There were no bandages on my right leg but I still felt pain whenever I tried to bend my knee.

I heard footsteps and saw a doctor coming into my room. She was tall, lean and fair with shoulder length black hair. Late twenties, I guessed. Ms. Noulin Ahmed, her tag read. She looked into her tablet and asked, "How are you feeling, John?"

"Okay, I guess. I feel pain when I bend my knee."

"And you are supposed to. Your tendons on your right leg are damaged. Nothing is broken though. In two or three days, you'll be up and running. Until then, stop moving your legs too much."

"So nothing's broken and I'm not hurt anywhere?" I asked her confused.

"If you want something broken, I might be able to help." She looked at me smiling. I looked at her with an empty face. She cleared her throat and said, "Well, no. You're not hurt anywhere".

"Then how did I faint?"

"Now that's complicated. We don't know. We only know that you were injected with a drug that put you to sleep."

"What was I injected with? You must've already run some tests."

"That's the problem. We don't know what drug it is. It's something I've never seen. My best guess is that it's a neural drug engineered to attack your brain cells. I've no idea how it works or how it affects since it wore off your system when it was done."

"How long have I been out?" I felt like I've lost a week.

"You've been here exactly", she looked at her watch, "three hours and thirty two minutes".

I felt relieved to hear that. I already felt terrible losing her when I had the chance. "Did I have any visitors?" I asked her.

"Yeah. The commissioner and the chief minister were here. I've already notified the commissioner when I heard the ping that you're up. He must be on his way now. Do you need anything to drink or eat?"

"No, thanks. I'm good." She left the room and I picked up my communicator from the table. It was switched off. I turned it on. I have received a few messages and a report. The report was from Ram, the guard I sent up to check TeCorp.

'I tried calling you but you didn't pickup. I just checked with TeCorp's security. They haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. I went through their thermal scans too. The rooftop was empty when I got there and I didn't see anyone or anything suspicious.'

Even though the message was clear, I felt that something was wrong. I dialed for the surveillance team and asked for today's security footage. I didn't get my hopes up since we had no security cams on the rooftop. But as I ran through the footage, I noticed that no one came in or went out. The explosive on the side of the wall was not there at one moment and then it was there, like it materialized out of thin air. I didn't even see her bring dragged out of the window. The only person I saw get out of that window was me. Either nothing happened or the cams were compromised. I chose the latter owing to the fact that I can't move my legs. It must be an inside job. I checked the footage access history to no avail. I was dealing with dead ends all around, I nearly threw my communicator away in frustration, when the commissioner walked in.

Sundar Ramanathan was one of the honest cops I've met in my life and he still is. We used to discuss a lot while I was working as a simple security guard for Mrs. Ramachandran. He was a tall and proud man with a heavy moustache and a perfect build, which are not common in this age. You could say we were friends in a way.

"You look like crap, John." The commissioner commented as he walked in.

"I feel like crap, to be honest."

"There's nothing on the security footage, no signs of a forced entry, the rooftop patrol and the other patrol doesn't remember anything. Except for a small explosion on the wall, there's nothing we can move on. Tell me you remember." I sensed his desperation.

"That's the worst part. I remember."

"Shouldn't it be great that you remember?" He looked at me perplexed.

"Doesn't feel that way."

"I remember when you helped me with my daughter. I actually felt sorry for the other guy when I saw you at work. No. No one can put you down easily. Don't be hard on yourself. You would've done everything possible." He sat near my right leg on the bed.

"I was put down today with one hit."

I started explaining the events from the moment of the alarm, the hallway bomb, the fire escape, rooftop fight and when I got to the cylindrical device, he looked at me intently but I knew he didn't believe me.

"I know you don't believe me but trust me. I know what I saw. He vanished with her into a shimmering wall."