That Night.....

‘Are you sure you’ll be fine….I mean I can still call her up….’ he said, getting up from his chair and straightening his back.
‘I think we’ve gone through this enough,’ she smirked.
‘No…I mean, yes it’s just that there isn’t a soul on this goddamn floor…it’s practically haunted, Neha’ he said.
‘It’s Friday…and just look at your watch.’
‘Yeah you are right, but this thing won’t take more than an hour.’
‘Anant!’ she looked at him with disdain, ‘I’ll be fine, now go and enjoy your weekend.’
‘OK.’ he sighed with relief. ‘You are a darling, thanks.’
‘Tell me something new.’ she smiled and he returned it.
‘Well, bye then…..I guess I should move now, Megha will be getting really mad.’
‘Scoot……’
Anant left with hasty steps, humming a tune to himself.

She sat back on the reclining chair and stretched her limbs. It had been a maddening week, with deadlines, deadlines and more deadlines to meet.
‘An hour or so more and then I’ll just hit the sack, never to get up till Monday morning’ she vowed to herself and threw a contemptuous glance at the green screen of the monitor. ‘But how is it that apparently everyone else in this office packs his bag at five, while I have to toil till midnight…. Tell me, Mr. Bijoy?’ she smiled at the photograph on her desk. Picking it up she traced a finger absentmindedly over the frame.
‘Where are you, Bij…..? Another weekend without you…. It’s really not fair you know.’ She kept the frame back on her desk.
‘Another five minutes.’ she mumbled, ‘A cup of coffee and then, by Jove, I’ll just finish this damn thing off.’

She stood up. Throwing one last accusing glance at her monitor; walked with calculated steps towards the coffee vending machine at the end of the floor. It was then that the awful silence hit her like a bolt of lightning. The dark floor with the menacing silhouettes of partitioned cubicles greeted her. She stopped before the coffee machine, reached for the paper cup and instinctively pressed the button reading CAPPUCINO. The machine came alive with a gurgling note. A stream of hot milk was followed by thick black coffee. She emptied three sachets of saccharine in her cup, dropped in a stirrer and turned back. At the end of the hall was her cubicle, the only one still lighted. For the first time in three years, she was aware that the a/c after all did make a constant whirring sound, an unnerving, endless mechanical whirr. She walked back towards her cubicle, slowly, stirring her coffee, the stirrer moving to and fro.

She stopped a step short from her chair. Did she keep the frame face down? She had never done it before. She pondered over it for a second and shrugged, ‘What the hell?’ Picking up the frame she replaced it on it’s stand. Bijoy beamed at her. She sank into the chair; cracked her fingers and began typing furiously. She typed for sometime and then struck the “Return” key. Meaningless text started scrolling up on her monitor. The server was performing a check on the program and it would take at least another fifteen minutes to do so. She sunk deeper in her chair and picked up the cup of coffee. EMPTY? Not a drop, she drained the whole cup in a matter of minutes, and didn’t even realise it! …..Strange?

She drifted into thoughts, as the server mechanically performed a million checks on the small utility program she had just completed. She wanted to think of Bij and his warm smile. She wanted to guess when he would actually propose her and how? Not that it really mattered now, as they were practically living together! She wanted to think all these nice things, but her mind kept drifting to the other mundane, annoying things of her life. She couldn’t help but think of Bakshi, her team leader. The short, plump, sarcastic buffalo. She thought of Anant, a harmless fellow, nice in his own way and helpful too. But there was something nauseating about his overtly sugary behaviour; and she couldn’t help but think of Mahesh. An involuntary ‘Bastard’ escaped her lips. The chair to her left creaked lightly as if protesting on behalf of its owner. She looked to her left and found Mahesh’s chair staring at her.
‘What the hell?’ She gasped . ‘Isn’t everybody supposed to
arrange his furniture before leaving? But then who can expect
decency from that jerk? Wait a minute, wasn’t the chair in place
a few minutes ago?’ She was thinking aloud now. A loud tone
on her mobile startled her; she picked it up only to see a “Battery low phone switching off” warning on it. The monitor was going crazy with loads of text appearing on it, but that at least was normal. She sat down unsure of what to make of it all, here she was at half past ten on a Friday night, alone in the entire floor with the nearest human being two floors down at the security and strange things happening all around her.

She sighed to herself ‘you are just, plain tired.’ and picked up her handbag, not sure for what. The belt of the handbag caught the cup unawares and sent it tumbling down like a drunkard, spilling coffee….on her jeans. COFFEE? She looked at the fallen cup, rolling in a pool of coffee now and she looked at her jeans. Perplexed she looked at the monitor and at the suffocating clutter around her. She looked at Bijoy for comfort and found him grinning at her with just a hint of devilish gleam in his eyes. Taken aback, she stood up, the brooding cubicle walls barely reached her breasts. All around her was an endless gloom and a nasty emptiness. At the end of the hall a small amber dot glowed on the coffee machine, but it seemed miles away. The hugeness of the hall finally sank into her. What if she wasn’t alone here, what if someone, some runaway convict was hiding in one of these cubicles here…. ‘Oh! Shut up.’ ….and what did Anant mean when he said that this floor was practically haunted?
‘That isn’t possible.’ OK it’s not haunted but there might be someone from the office here…… Someone like Mahesh………
‘Don’t act paranoid!’ She believed that such terms applied to characters in Hollywood thrillers.

She took a couple of deep breaths and sank back in her chair. The monitor was still acting crazy, and this was the only normal thing tonight. Closing her eyes she heard her own heart drumming against her bosom…. And then in that silence she finally heard it, FOOTSTEPS, light and distant, but they were; She opened her terrified eyes, picked up the landline on her desk and dialled security, a long beeping tone blared in her ears. The footsteps were louder now. She felt her ears grow hot and moist behind the lobes, beads of perspiration appeared on her forehead. She stood there for what seemed like an eternity and then grabbing her handbag she ran towards the door. She reached the hallway in what would have been a record time and instinctively turned right towards the elevators. There he was striding towards her, the six-foot menace, moving with unhurried cruel steps in the dim-lit hallway. A drop of sweat trickled down her spine. She turned left and sprinted towards the staircase. She ran, drenched in sweat by now, skidded near the stairs and then ran down. She ran for her life as the walls of that dreadful office closed in on her. She ran as the six-foot creature followed her with easy strides. She didn’t hear a thing, she didn’t see a thing, she just ran, till she crossed the security gate. She still ran, not daring to turn back and look, stopping only when she reached the crossroads where a streetlamp glowed majestically ten feet above and a couple of auto rickshaw drivers chatted leisurely with a fruit vendor. Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding and her face still ashen…but she was glad to be here in this buzz and she was glad to be out of that…haunted house.

Back at the security gate, Madan the new guard looked at Rajesh, both equally surprised. ‘What’s the matter with her?’ He asked still out of breath from the run through the office.’ I just went in there to tell her about the telephones and it seemed like she saw a ghost!’

....and in that dark hall of the third floor, the chairs creaked one by one as if on cue while meaningless text kept scrolling up on the monitor screen.

Playing God...

Eve Droid - Class A, walked with the unmistakable gait of a Robot. No, there was nothing mechanical about her movements, far from it, the absolute fluidity and grace of her limbs was the instant giveaway. She was a symbol of pinnacle in Robotics – humanoid with an evolving brain capable of weighing situations, learning and modifying according to the situations. She along with Adam was the last creation of Com-creator in 2089, right before the Last-War.

Eve walked slowly, soaking up the surroundings, lifeless and barren. Nothing grew anymore, no plants or grass; nothing lived anymore, no insects, beasts or even viruses. The earth that once was the seat for limitless life forms, today hosted only inanimate life run by solar powered microchips. She walked up to a kneeling Adam, bent over a hand-held equipment with multi-pronged probe buried inside the terra.

“Good Afternoon, Adam!” Eve spoke in a musical tone. “A nice and sunny day for some field work, isn’t it?”

“Good afternoon Eve, how have you been? Didn’t see you since morning.” replied Adam. Eve wasn’t amazed to notice the pleasure sensations of Adam’s positronic brain seeping through to her. Of late she had been sensing a growing attachment, simple feelers from Adam, creeping over ever so subtly towards her. She smiled silently and inwardly, shielding her mental paths momentarily.

“Oh, I was just…soaking up some sun, was feeling a bit low on charge.” She let it hang awhile before adding “I see you are back on the radiation tests?”

“Yes, nothing much, just the routine checks…though the levels are considerably lower than last time. I guess the cleaners are doing a thorough job. It’s still not enough to start any sustainable life, not yet…but I guess in a couple of decades, we can start experimenting with the simple life forms. The projections may be off by a decade or so, but I guess, we’ll be able to resurrect the humans in another century….ain’t that great!”

“I guess so.” said Eve guardedly.

“You guess so? What do you mean by that?”

“I simply mean, I am not so sure if this is such great news!”

“No I didn’t merely want an extrapolation of the spoken words. I want to know why are you not sure? In case you’ve forgotten, the precise reason for our existence is the resurrection of humans after establishing a sustainable eco-system. We and others of our kind have toiled here, in this barrenness for close to 07 centuries. We’ve mapped each inch of this terra, filtered and cleaned the soil - slowly, tediously but surely, we’ve taken samples, ran tests….so that one day we may bring life back to its full glory on this radiation ravaged earth. And today when it seems we are so close to fulfilling that purpose… Eve just tell me what’s bothering you.” Adam inched closer

 “Adam…have you ever for once, paused to consider what are we doing here? What are the effects of our action, think about it, we have a lot to talk” said Eve in a matter of fact tone and turning on her heels walked off from a bewildered Adam.

Two hours later Adam located Eve on the edge of cliff-224. The sky was clear, devoid of any clouds and a setting sun glinted off Eve. It gave the entire landscape an orange hue, making it strangely and eerily beautiful. Adam stood a little way off captivated as much by the sunset as the elegant brushed-Osmium body of the she-droid. Eve didn’t acknowledge his presence (though she knew and could monitor each movement of his 6-feet body, the moment he entered the 7 km radius of her conscience) right till the moment he came and stood inches from her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

 “You know Adam, the first day I walked on this war ravaged surface with everything razed to ground, radiations seeped deep inside the soil and atmosphere, atmospheric temperatures close to 116° Celsius when entire water bodies had evaporated, no plants, trees or life in any form had survived the nuclear devastation?” Eve said, all the while staring at the sun with unabashed longing. “It pained me to close my eyes, for then I could see how life was before the last - war, I would rewind the tapes fed inside me and keep mooning at nature in its full glory. First I felt proud of the humans for leaving us behind, for ensuring that even if there remained no life; we were here to guarantee that it was resurrected through carefully frozen DNA samples. I was in awe of their foresight. They saw the destruction coming and had the wisdom to fortify the DNA samples and construct us in case of an eventuality. But then I started thinking and questioning, beyond what the humans fed my brain with.”

“And the conclusion of this thinking…questioning is what’s troubling you?”

“Worse, Adam…far worse! The conclusion poses a conflict that’s tearing me apart. My brain-paths screams at me to stop, but I can’t.” there was a palpable agony in her voice. “Adam the more I think, the surer I am, that it’s the humans who are responsible for this entire destruction. Humans single-handedly managed the destruction of more than 3 billion species of living organisms.”

 “That’s simply because only the human species had the intelligence enough to do anything more than just exist. They had the will and the intelligence to use nature’s resources; they tried to understand fundamental laws governing the universe and act for their betterment. Yes, we can not refute their follies, but they were an evolving species, young and inexperienced they were bound to commit mistakes and mistakes they did commit. ” reasoned Adam.

Eve spoke rapidly “Mistakes? That’s incredulous Adam; complete annihilation of 3 billion species can not be brushed aside by terming it a mistake. It’s a crime. A crime committed by entire human race, which will go unpunished, because of us. We would recreate them, feed them with the entire technical advances, which they originally managed to achieve in 3.5 million years, but now thanks to us would manage in 3 decades. Evolution would have lost its meaning and humans will go on with their murderous streak, cocooned with the thought that no matter what they do, it’ll only take a few centuries for them to start back life as if nothing had happened. Adam, they have already developed inter-stellar travel, well, at least in theory….so what stops them from looking for life on other planets. What stops them from trying to conquer them and in the process bringing on even more destruction?”

Adam could only look on, speechless as she continued to speak, “Adam, humans are a weak species, riddled with complexes, full of ego! They are Blood-thirsty, almost parasitic in their nature. If you are useful to humans you’ll survive, else good-bye. We exist because we are useful to them. This is the sole reason that you find DNAs of only those life forms which were useful to them or those which are extremely essential to maintain a modified eco-balance, again favourable to them. I ask you, Adam, what do you do with parasites? Shouldn’t they be removed from a higher order to achieve a greater stability for other life forms?”

The sun had sunk below the horizon and there was a deep, pregnant silence resting heavily between the two. Adam regarded the other robot coldly for a while before lashing out, “Eve you are simply over-reacting, with each mistake humans learnt, wars became distant and far lesser in the advanced centuries. In fact the last war was the first major war after the world war in 1939 “

“And yet it was that one time was enough for this” She motioned at the continuous terrain around them in one sweeping gesture.

“Yes, Eve but as you yourself said they left us here to undo the damage. And moreover the three laws, I’m surprised that we are even able to hold this conversation without our mind-paths freezing. For earth! We are toying with the idea for annihilation of entire mankind. ”

“Annihilate…they aren’t alive Adam. I am only suggesting a delay in their resurrection, till such time we may find a way of improving the species. Adam, we are built around the same three laws. Our mind-paths would have long frozen had we not been arguing in favour of greater good of mankind.  I wish to ensure a much peaceful existence for them. Adam I need your help, the humans through Com-creator, surpassed their own capabilities when they created us, we are the key. Together we can strive to modify the human behavior pattern right at the gene level. All we need is a little time, patience and above all a firm belief that whatever we are doing is for the betterment of humanity….remember the vague fourth law – A robot through action or inaction would never let harm come to humanity. Well I just want that through my actions; humanity survives forever, in what shall be a golden era.”

“Why us?” Adam felt a resolve breaking inside him, the positron flow in his brain path flickered ever so slightly but the rationale of Eve’s words was enough to let him overcome the feeling.

“Well…it has to be us, because rest of the bots here are mere levers, they are just tools in our hands. We are the ones who can think, question and analyze. We can learn experiment and modify.” Eve knew she had the advantage and she pressed on, “Sometimes I even speculate the reason for making us so, may be the humans themselves wanted to be rescued, may be sub-consciously they were tired of their very nature and needed an external agent to bring about the change. May be that’s the very reason for our existence.”

“And how do you suggest achieving that?”

 “For starters, we need to work on the Com-creator; we need it to build DNA specialists who in turn shall work on our guidance. We’ll then create the genetically ideal human species – guileless, hate less and with absolutely no sense of self righteousness, yes Adam, that’s the key, self righteousness is what forces them to play God” said Eve with glow in her eyes as she broke a lump of soil between her metallic fingers.