Chapters 2009

Just 4 months ago, Dr. Kensington, a researcher from the Department of Defense had joined in the team. Mine was never keen to accept more people in . Kid wanted to have him because with him came in a dowry of millions of dollars, which was good for the company.

Government suggested that his inclusion as a 'team member', which everybody always read as 'an auditor', would 'speed up the experiment'. Speeding up the experiment is exactly what Mine and his team had already achieved, as demonstrated by their landmark experiment a week ago, and exactly what they had to work now to hide.

"Can't he be told that Dr. Debye just had a severe paralytic attack? ", suggested the young Indian tyro, who had been silent till now.Kid did not even so much as look at Rishi.

'...why is he asking for the bacteria today?... metal dots was a big leap after electrons!...does he suspect us?...' Suddenly, as if somebody had woken him up out of deep sleep, Kid jolted towards the center of the imaginary triangle formed by the three standing members of the team. Turning to Rishi, he ordered " Take Mine to your place. Be there till I call."

"So are we going to give a demo to Kensington today? " queried Sharon, in a tone that a receptionist uses when his boss asks her to work late, especially when she has had enough for a day.

Kid said, with a hint of a smile on his face."Edlie, put all the Uranium, except a little more than required for the demo, in a safe place. You know what can happen if all of that blows up today."

The rest of the ensemble watched on as Edlie seemingly communicated with Mine, giving them a thumbs up that all was fine. But it was not time for jubilation yet. Mine needed to be tested for any long term side-effects, any internal physical or mental instability. Dependable techniques for Mass Transformation was proving even more elusive than anyone had imagined.

"Are you still yourself? 53 years old, crazy lunatic, Mine Debye ?" shouted Kid over the intercom.

"You can't help the drama, can you? Yes I am myself. In senses. And you wish I was that old, my white mane is still more classy than yours." came a weak reply from the other side.

"Well, technically you died that time. Your whole body matter effectively vaporised and put back again. So even you can't properly say you're the same person." Kid smirked.

"That's a little too blunt don't you think? And well, even you sleep at times. Who's to say the person waking up is the same as the one who slept. What exactly is identity?"

Kid let a wave of satisfaction and relief sweep through him. His friend seemed normal on the surface at least.

It was Edlie, the only other woman in the team, who first noticed Mine's fingers move. She had seen them flex a while ago, but had rejected the idea , as wishful thinking. But this time it surely was for real. The first, second and third fingers rose and fall, one by one, forming a lively wave.

Edlie did not belong here, at least not because of her immaculate and slender appearance, the companies she kept and most of all because the way she hated science as a philosophy. The thing that kept her here was her addiction for numbers and her inability to refrain from the euphoric pleasure of thinking outside the box, especially in the domain of cutting edge technology. If she wouldn't be here, she would surely be an air hostress.

It was she , who had once talked about a ternary system rather than a binary system which would be the common language between humans and robots in the future. And just for fun had even developed a system and tried to teach it to everyone around. Only Mine was interested . It did not include fingers then.

"He wants us to know that he is ok", she said.

By the time she had finished saying it, she had also figured out that even if Mine could not hear right now, he would be surely able to sense a touch on the fingers. And as she paced towards the chassis, eyes fixated on the fingers, her mind was translating "hi Mine" into FING3RS.

"It was premature state for testing. He knew that, as well as the implications. The only thing he should be concerned about was how wrong his calculations were." Kid replied to the woman's question. At first sight, Kid appeared an arrogant snob, too critical of any slightest shortcomings in people. But at least those in the room, knew better. It was no chance or luck, by which Kid was selected as the youngest head of the research wing of the venerable Consortium for Technological Shift(CTS), a covert high level cartel of researchers, even the existence of which wasn't public news yet.

He was one of the star prodigies of CTS's hidden universe, his most famous - if not the most far reaching - achievement being the mind behind controlling the Drake fiasco for CTS five years prior, establishing himself as the prime contender for the position he now held.

In the 20 years of his working for CTS, Kid had observed various advances claimed, most of which proving boasted lab results, a handful actually having any substance, a few of which were even let out in the public. He wondered whether today was such a day. This was one of the few experiments he had his eye out for quite some time. The team was good, respectable, the claims cautious and ramifications extraordinary.

Misconceptions are every where.

Preconceived ideas, prejudices and biases lead us to them. For instance many people around the world who haven't been to , suppose that people in India still travel on elephants. In turn many people in India believe that people in London still live in palaces. The whole world shares this image for African forests - the tribes paint their faces weird, catch a prey and do the weird habuda habuda dance around the feather crowned king.

Even the men of science, are not very misconception-proof . Having seen star wars and star trek and having read innumerable science fiction novels, they believe that teleporters, if possible would be as easy as press a button and whoosh!.

Of the many thoughts that crossed Mine's mind, none was even remotely close to " Could I have been a guinea pig for a teleportation project,which assumed that I would teleport from point init to point fin (which were located in the same laboratory room )in a fraction of a second." "But the predictions got all wrong and it took an hour instead.This in turn left me in the jungles of Africa. In the absence of the receiving team to stabilize me , I could have fallen into coma, and now I may be dying."

It was Kid, who, even though never yet wrong, had not become complacent. He had remembered to put the tag right in Mine's brain before the teleporting .

They were happy that they found Mine, but afraid because they found him almost dead.

"He is awakening" went an ignored whisper in the small observation room. Humorous it was, to call the shabby facility an 'observation room', but given the short amount of time and uncongenial locale, everyone for thankful for whatever they had. It was the Kid's idea to call it that, and the name struck.

Anyway, what was far more pressing, and more fascinating, lay on the other side of the glass separating the observers and the observee. There, on a typical clinical berth, in the centre of a sealed enclosure, lay a human form, silent and unmoving. State-of-the-art medical apparatus monitored his vitals.

The ECG had just started showing blips now-and-then. The half a dozen or so attendees were all breathing deeply, no-one daring to hazard any guesses as to the outcome of the next hour, or the next century.

"What do we tell him once he's up?", braved a woman's voice, breaking the heavy silence. The question uttered as though open, but no-one was in doubt as they all waited upon the person in-charge, the Kid.

The sudden flash of light surprised the darkness, and made it skip a beat and die for a fleeting moment. I could not make out whether the flash was within or without me. It was a picture .That is all I could make out. Was it even for real or I just imagined it?
...anyways where can I be? could I have been...meditating! I could have been meditating hard and entered this place...or time or whatever it is?

No not meditation, I don't feel the spiritual vibe... don't feel anything...am I dead? What is being dead? I can think, even speak maybe! I can't be dead? Can anyone be?

It is flashing again. This time it is staying longer. And as it fades away again,I can see a T-shirt with something written on it. Why is it so nerdy? All mathematical symbols or is it in the greek alphabet? I could retain the them at the end, but nothing before that.

Can I be one of those mad scientists?
Wait! If I don't have any memory, how am I even thinking these things? Its like I have a dictionary but I have no stories to read? I have results of my experiences stored in a part of my brain, but no experiences to think back upon.

...Here it is
"Don't give it to them".

It flashed brighter and longer this time and as if something was just waiting for me to read it, suddenly I can see a ray of light breaking in at a distance.

I think I am moving towards it. I can't gauge the speed but I feel I am moving fast.Or maybe its because I want to. I have started feeling cold, as I am nearing the ...tunnel..wow! its a tunnel, like a wormhole.

So, what am i going to get out of?
A time machine, having just had a time travel for the first time? A coma, in a hospital bed? Out of my daily sleep, where i won't remember any of this when I wake up? or out of my new mother's womb?
Anything will do.

I am falling, falling into blackness. Is this a dream? There's no feelings here. No sense of touch, neither light, nor sound. I lurch, hoping to grasp something, knowing beforehand the futility of the effort. But am I even moving? I cannot say. I try to remember the last thing I did, the last place I was, but as I try to graze my memory buds, I find the darkness engulfing me. It is complete, omnipresent, omnipotent. I (cannot)see any past, nor think about the future. It is just me, the evanescent present, and my conscience.

But I am thinking, ain't I? I still have the power of speech! What else? I can move my body. The semantic and procedural memories seem to be fine. What is happening to me? Wait...why do I know this kind of classifications? I feel so tired....

How long have I been like this? How old am I?
Are these even valid questions?.....
Is this whole creation just my mind? What am I?

My brain seems to be in overdrive...it being stripped of its responsibilities. No sensory input, no episodic data, no worries, no pain. Everything is too peaceful, too bland. It can't always have been like this.