The Finishing Line!

Characters

Beautifully bubbly Gloria Estefan;

Brutally Brilliant,Ted Berne;

Neurotically gregarious,Gerard;

One fine morning two persons set forth in their usual quest of making a living. For a while, they had both reveled upon the idea of a good life.In some ways, they were quite alike; fully focused and devout in their work. Every day, for the most part, they were glued to their undying routines. And, to say the least ,their habitual inurements were becoming a sort of second nature to 'em ; making 'em stick to their beliefs.

Day to day, their lives were ‘getting more and more centered around getting one job done, and then, moving to the next. And with each new task seemingly groaning as an ole hackneyed trite , it somehow, fetched them that utmost fervid pride. Perhaps, the two of them were so natural and so close to what propitiated them to have fully “arrived.”

By nature ,the young man, Ted Berne, could be seen as a simple modest guy, and the lady named Gloria Estefan, was recklessly bold and obstinate in her instincts.For a long time, at length, they were lost in their own practices, so much so, that they were almost surfeiting sentiments to a reclusive demure.

He was a doctor by profession and she a stage performer.  And there they were, as it seemed, a match made in heaven , yet born to be lured to the elegant guiles of the unforeseen.

And much so, an unimaginable thing happened one early sunny morn . The sun was rising bright thro' the crimson hues set afar at the oceanic bay . The horizon looked thrilled at the sight of every kindled ray. At that moment, Ted and Gloria came forth into the streets of NYC, and for what it appeared, they were both on an early morning jog -trot-retreat.

It was a sort of wayfarers way of taking in some fresh air in order to get that much needed rest and relief. Being an early Sunday morn ,there was hardly any rush in the streets. No traffic.Every sound of the workday week had gotten arrested in a bliss. No hustle-bustle of the passersby, no rattling of the vehicular screech !

"It is a land of opportunity,” pondered Gloria as she gathered her steps to sprint up to a steady speed. Up ahead, at a furlong distance, Ted was winding down to a slower pace after his long rigorous jogging fleet.

Ted was literally “beating retreat,” to his morning excursion as Gloria swiftly passed him by. Strolling along the street,he was now taking extra time to notice his surroundings a lil bit more intently. As he took his stride towards the bridge, he noticed Gloria gathering quite a pace ahead of him. He watched her slowly fade away but, somehow, his gaze stuck with her. But in all this, a fact was jarringly evident. Ted was getting weirdly restless after seeing Gloria. A feeling that he c’d neither resist nor overlook.

"Wow, “ he said. “ Who was the person who just passed me by. She surely exudes a verve quite different from the others. Her stamina and strength surpasses the ordinary,” Ted reflected. Then, in the next instance , he withdrew  his thoughts and tried swallowing those affixed notions.

For years, due to the nature of his activities, he was predisposed towards noticing the weaknesses and strengths in his patients. And now, he was,once more, turning towards reading and redeeming magnanimous virtues of some stranger in the street. “Why am I meddling with this constant obsession trying to act aright for the mankind ? When will I learn to overlook and stop overloading myself with the role of the “ultimate benefactor,” driving away the infirmities and frailties of others.

I am no god. Shouldn’t I steer away from these dastardly duties and open up to doing something else.” Thinking so, Ted continued on his riviera of exploring and spreading the arch of his wonderment..

A fiesta --along those city lines , or so it seemed, and though, it was strange and inappropriate to his usual demeanor, he continued to bulwark thro' it obstinately. In ways this was allowing him to seek —that much needed respite—not to mention—relief!

Night before , Gloria , had grabbed a role of a dainty French lady ,all casted in that finesse jewelry, but awkwardly sounding like a comical misery. Her script was  a thousand pages long, and she didn't seem to be fitting in with the role. Moreover, she lingered far too long deciphering the dialogues alongside the things she had to say. The script didn’t draw out her best. Instead, she was barfing out ,every word, with that distinct verbiage, readily undulating in a clumsy manner. Anyhow, she regurgitated it all out—in one go, and finally, ‘left the rehearsals—literally—at bay.

But that was the upper story. Unknowingly there was a decreed epiphany that Gloria was about to face. Soon she was to be subjected to an unfathomable change. It was like a “boom,” striking at her from nowhere. The most euphemistic way of putting that would be —“ a sleuth of fate,” launched and unicamerally hooked her to it. Unfortunately she was not aware of it coming. What she was about to experience ,shortly, was nothing less of another staged landing ; except that , it was of a different sort, with plot lines opening up to multitudinous fields. A mystery she was —yet to live, to believe!

For now, sublimely she felt her thoughts were reading—half and half, through the scripted soliloquy of the previous day ; reciting and making virtues of everything that was necessary while she peacefully jogged along the sideways. Then , abruptly, an intuition slow coached her instincts. But unconvinced, she skittishly kinked her imagination, as though, engulfing some hot and cold play, all at once. Gloria felt stiffly held up while fielding such fierce opposition of mind over matter. Reluctantly, her crotchety mind hinged upon stubborn lolligags ; bestowing a unique method in madness. Inadvertently she found herself,unconsciously correcting the dialogues that were impinging upon her . Yes she was groping unduly!

During her last rehearsal , her stint on stage, was an overcompensatory act , emerging irreproachably as a stunt, gnawing at her soul. She wanted to do better at her work.

This morning, however, her audacious spirit was rising and she was recalling her arguments with Gerard ( scriptwriter) from the previous day.

And then, a smirk appeared on Gloria’s face. A memory flashed across. She recalled the way she had corrected the playwright.

“ This script needs urgent edits,” she had implored.

Gloria’s urgency had rolled out as a command than request, and she felt vehemently pressed to say—“Hey, Gerald , these words sound offensive to ears polite. Could you please express this sentiment in another way.”

“Somebody stole my car while I was wandering around completing this script last night,” Gerard spoke indignantly.”

Right after that, he h’d jumped further to explain himself out.

Gloria recalled how Gerard bustled forward and remarked in that horrendous tone—“ A cop came and took me to jail. Some enquiries were being made. I ain’t had a chance to get the damn thing off my mind, least to mention, taking a look at this script. You always come through as a pinch, Gloria.”

To that , mumbling to herself Gloria had stepped away momentarily. She had stopped herself from correcting the errors in the script even though the entire narrative strangely swung between peddlers flash tongue and the queens speech. The recitation had felt very inappropriate to her but she had to put up with it. Strangled by words in that way, everything was failing to reach her senses. But leaning forward , she found herself disappearing into that florid rhetoric, which almost extended as an euphuist's essay .

Reckoning ahead and disappointed by the charging rants and ramblings of Gloria, Gerard too had blurted out repress less—“do that please, or else I will pull my hair. That’s my ink 🖋️ which dissolved in water and concealed that which you were so ardently wanting to express. Now please 🙏 stand clear of that snooty act and behave.” And such so, Gloria found herself screaming into that problematic prose, with Gerard running mad at every call of her smarts.

Apparently so, looking at them arguing, the rest of the people on the sets were giving them merry chuckles. Every other day , during rehearsals, the entire enactment turned into this pious recounting of amateur writings, incidentally inciting comic humor. In that sense, Gloria wasn't happy about her dialogue delivery but, the show had to go on as Christmas was drawing near. Perhaps, curtains had to be soon drawn up for public entertainment.

But surprisingly, this Sunday morn ,Gloria wasn’t feeling any of that frivolous fickleness riding over her head. It was her day off. The becalming breeze was soothing her senses and the air was brushing her face to place some sort of a special honor. She was glowing ! The lovely lady was rejoicing in her spirits and she continued to stride through. Then along the coast , stretching out into the bay , she sailed away, catching every bit of freshness there.

Meanwhile, Ted was prowling steadily towards her. His eyes were following along in a feverish excitement. He tried to locate her thro ' the visibility of the morning mist. . She ,on the other hand, was barging ahead with her ever-lengthening strides and quickly approached a slope down the lane. In a literal sense, now, the space between them was extending and they were almost at a disappearing point of sight . Ted’s attention got diverted by a procession of sea gulls passing by. These birds crackled amidst the soundscape ,as if, they were constantly chatting away.

Ted looked at the blue depths of the waters and wandered along the shore. Sooner than later, he got mesmerized by the beauty of the autumn trees lining the bay. The gushing winds stirred the leaves and a potpourri of  scents captured him spontaneously. Gently he put himself at ease and momentarily drifted away. A blissful peace surrounded him.

The magical view of the rising sun and the spectacular sea felt ,as perfect as, it could ever be. And in that one moment, he allowed himself to sink in, and a joyous feel exuded through this alluring scene.

And then, things changed. Evidently destiny was fabricating it’s own way through his thoughts. Somehow, automatically, his mind drew upon Gloria's subtle beauty, flashing across his mind--- ever so passionately.

"I shall remember those looks ,even though, I wonder why our eyes met ," he mused silently to himself. And then , left alone in the wee hours of tranquil, Ted stepped up his pace in the direction where he had last seen Gloria. By then, she had caught up quite a distance.

Invariably, Ted wanted to catch a glimpse of her again. Once more,  he felt the urge to engross himself in silly nothings . Those natural organic seduction games were striking at him from nowhere. He had pledged never to go that route especially after his previous break up. Yet, in that moment, fate was taking its impish turn. It was playing its deceiving games of irony, and he was getting carried away.

Gloria,on the other end, was pursuing her way and continued to jog. Within no time she had turned the corner at the far end and started reverting back. In a short while, she was at a visible from Ted. He looked up and noticed her looking at him. This, of course , led him to pace up further.

"O! She's closer than I c’d have ever wished for. Not too far gone. " he exclaimed.

Gloria , meanwhile , was making the most of her way inwards , and was, advancing along the  narrow footpath by the sea wall ; unseen and concealed but, consciously determined to finish her jog and return to her apartment soon. She was a furlong away from her destination .

"Let me take a cut across the road! ,” said the young lady. But thereupon awaited a tragedy. Next moment, her breath fluttered as she seized it in a sigh. Ever determined to set forth on her last lap by the river side, she leaped. But, fleeting along, she heard the laments of her soul sinking into poetic verses . Unknowingly she started reciting this ominous poesy.

O! Live long, night and fondly day

coming along most in usurping pace

One hour after drawn in haste,

O there comes another as fleets of waves

Then unceasingly gone , begone, not to stay!

Yet until the last syllable of ever—that “ever-never,” fades

Yeah, far afar into that distant bay…

Oft upon saunters sleepless in face

And, in all this and more, where stillness doth stray;

Solemnly bidden to that committed pace

And Upon Oath as head shall answer ; unto faith as it pledges it's way

Hurray !  Hurray ! Hurray!

For now, I shall leap redoubling my pace, while thee may —

Gather those mysterious forays,

And from this day to that day ;

just in time,

Noticing -every other-ancient ray!

Yeah, holding that torchlight steadily upright

To unravel forever, in this heavenly space

And, in such lengthening strides my resolve shall ever ride, doubling itself, in it’s ever determined ways.

The next moment, suddenly a car sped out of the mist, and recklessly ran its arbitrary course with no stoppage. Seemingly, it’s breaks had failed!

Thrown out of gear, the vehicle shuffled its way over the curb and moved higgledy- piggledy towards Gloria. Impervious to her surroundings , she didn't notice the car in her pathways. Before she could realize anything, she got pitilessly pulled into the chaos.

A bit far in the distance, Ted , heard the noise of the loud screechy collision.

Within moments, an eerie calm vaulted itself in reverie, and everything turned topsy- turvy.

Gloria lay there in an accident with her body twisted under the rubble ..Blood oozed out of her body. In a reflex, she tried to move but found herself tragically tangled in the grips of enormous misery.

Then, her senses got shrouded into stillness ,and one by one, a lull faintness started engulfing her. Soon, every noise seemed muffled , as though, every imagery was dancing back in ebb.

Something let stupor agape into her face and slipped into further arrest. Subsequently ,her heartbeat lulled and she abruptly forged into silence.

For a moment, a strange creepiness spread in the air.

But somebody rushed up to the accident spot ,and immediately called for a cab ...With the headlights piercing through the glow of the dawn, the cab driver took Gloria to the nearby hospital.

All of a sudden, things had changed in a wink of an eye .

That’s how nature plays it's unexpected, hideous games.

The sight of the accident was gory and it was threateningly sucking the joy out of life.

Ted hastened towards the sight to catch a glimpse. The Imminent danger of what could have happened to Gloria gave him a shudder. A vacant stare and a look of terror coursed through his eyes. Shocked by what he had witnessed, Ted drew over his breath and mumbled to him — “Free! Her body and soul must be free! Beyond that bitter moment , he curbed himself from imagining anything else.

Massive flames 🔥 had erupted within seconds, and Gloria was gone. Or so it seemed.

The morning local news spoke about the incident briefly. The incident got crushed-hushed, amidst a world of other matters broadcasted.

For the next couple of days, Gloria’s entity remained unseen and none of her colleagues at the theatre had any clue about her whereabouts.

On the fifth consecutive day , Gloria was found battling for life at the operation table of Mt.Sinai’s surgery room. The cab driver had dropped her off at the emergency room of this Mid-town hospital 🏥 and left. And between those stitch-up operations,things were not going well for Gloria. She was hearing sounds of groans in the deep recesses of her mind. It felt as though her soul was relighting a lamp that was flickering in the wind. She was assailing between life and death states. The doctors , on the other hand, were struggling to bring her back to life. Many times, the doctors almost lost her. But then, the their obstinate refusal to give up, held her up from dying. Weakened by her condition she continued to persist somehow.

At times, she remained motionless,even though, fate was calling on her to live.

Meanwhile at the other side of the city, Gerard ( script writer at the theatre 🎭) was unaware of the exact happenings with Gloria. Her sudden disappearance from rehearsals was creating a chaos and he was clenching his fist out of frustration. But it was all in vain. Everyone at the sets weren’t quite sure about her.

As one day stepped into the next, Gloria’s condition got worse. She slipped into coma. The hospital 🏥 shifted her to the long term care ward. No one came asking for her. She was an orphan who had made a long sea voyage to begin a new life, even though now her dreams were getting far thrown into unknown vagaries. The hospital authorities made queries about her family but nothing could be traced immediately. Her face had completely disfigured, covered in terrifying stitches, swirls of skin had clumped over the burnt areas. It was like a poisoned arrow had hit a rose 🌹, shriveling it to deathly arrests.

Nearly a year later Gloria was still in a vegetative state. Being an unusual case, doctors had to get around the medical treatment to try something new.

Essentially there was a research wing attached to the hospital that was experimenting with Chip implants and brain 🧠 activity simulations ( BAS ). Herein, signals were being sent to the brain through the electro-magnetic waves and applications. But, these technologies were failing.

Throughput doctors were all set to treat Gloria’s brain and gain a remedy for her coma. However the entire operation was turning extremely dangerous as things in her brain were going completely haywire. The fact that the signals in her brain 🧠 were crossing over to the other areas of the brain, and subsequently generating peculiar “actions and reactions,”was something that they had to deal with extreme caution. This was bothering many members of the research team. They were divided about the ethical issues emerging from those accruing uncertainties. Besides, strange kind of happenings were already being noticed. People subjected to those clinical trials, even for shorter durations, were exhibiting strange behaviors.

Not until twilight did Gloria awake out of her deep sleep in the ICU room. A strong wind was blowing in the streets outside her window 🪟. Dark clouds were appearing in the skies. The blinds over the windows rattled, and Gloria tried sitting up in her bed. She was quite unpracticed to get up on her own and struggled to control the direction of her limbs. It was a very slow movement. Then,from the corner of room, a nurse turned around to help Gloria maneuver her limbs.

“If only that unbearable hissing noise stops, thought 💭 Gloria to herself. The nurse was far from thinking anything like that. The nurse moved with the fixed idea of giving injection 💉 to Gloria. She assisted Gloria a bit,and then, got busy preparing for the injection. Maybe her preps were making more noise than the hissing Gloria was hearing. The nurse tilted one side of Gloria’s body and quickly jabbed in the injection. That instantly made Gloria swoon back in bed. The nurse left the room, closing the door behind her and then at last there was silence.

It was late at night when doctors in the adjacent hospital room went out in the common area. One could easily tell that they were awake monitoring Gloria’s progress. They ran through finer aspects of generating neural activities in her brain. From it’s inception the entire stimulus-response process was being traced, tracked and controlled externally by the doctors. But, in actuality, interruptions were making something else to unfold. The situation was getting grave as it was now cascading into chained reactions. Almost like a nuclear fusion-fission in the brain. Serious issues were emerging out of this and nobody c’d be mindfully observant because nothing was in their control.

“No one is going to visit her tonight,” said one of the doctors.

“At least not until morn,” said another one. Saying so they left the premises discussing how modern medicine and breakthroughs were raising questions about the importance of innovative brain research. Such discussions were completely futile in the present circumstance. It was coming off as a shadow talk. Sometimes out of weariness they were half listening to each other and half negligent about the conversation at core.

But they all had strong inclinations about the dangers involved in tinkering with the neural activities.

For now, nodding at each other eagerly and rejoicing at their thrifty unexpected foresight, was the only they could do. As amply as they could see or wish, the doctors were taking a long time to repeat themselves in explanations.

In certain spatial situations doctors were themselves finding it tough to man those neural networks. They were no longer sure about the neural firings coming about due to the electro-magnetic stimulations. Many humans were at the verge of getting “killed,” due to the psychic replacement of their beings.

One among the doctors treating Gloria was Dr. Ted Berne. Yes, the same guy who had found himself getting attracted to Gloria a few moons ago. He had stayed back in the BAS unit and decided to catch some leisure, slumping off in a chair. He felt exhausted for some reason and decided to nap in his consulting room. Stepping into his room he turned on the brain activity monitoring systems. He meant to access , monitor and control the neural activities of patients in the ward. Scrolling through screen he left the surveillance system on. And leaving it open ,as it is, he dozed off into deep sleep.

The weather outside his window was fierce. A snow storm was building up. Winds were blowing erratic. Visibility was very poor and everything was ominous. The Lights in the street flickered. On this side of the window, lying motionless was Ted. But then , he suddenly felt awake in his sleep. “ Is this a dream ,” his thoughts were reading his mind in sleep. No, He wasn’t awake. He was in REM sleep - half awake -half asleep. All of a sudden he noticed that a neural activity in his own brain was making him stare at the vastness of the vagaries. He had stepped into one of the simulated experiences himself. A radiation from nowhere as an epiphany had struck him in sleep and something weird started happening to him. The occurrences of the Sunday morning walk ,which he had overlooked , were coming back to him. Out of nowhere Gloria’s image flashed back in his mind. Nothing was making sense. “Why am I seeing this now, “ the awake part of his brain started reasoning.

There was something dramatic in the way his brain had started responding to Gloria’s image in the dream. The memory of Sunday morning walk came to him . He felt gawking at people in the street. Every bit of the scene flashed back in his mind. The same sudden thrill and excitement started increasing to complex levels of weirdness.

It was like the “cause and effect,”of some “instructive stimulations,” was taking it’s mysterious effects on his psyche now. This was a challenge that nobody knew how to solve. Then, abruptly another scene caught sight of his mind. He had flown away and slight attacks of breathlessness took over him. He was caught up unawares in the realms of “dark energy”or so, it could be seen. Hardly had his mind switched to another new imagery, he once again started losing considerable self control over “action-reaction,” schemes. Everything was appearing in his REM sleep. A strange kind of restlessness took over him. “Am I less sensitive to things now?! “ His brain started emptying itself and that was unthinkable. But everything started getting purged off ,as if, a new schema-script was replacing it. He wasn’t clear about the situation his mind was in and where it would lead him next.

His reasoning mind started battling those upsurges in his brain activities.

Subjected to electromagnetic fields, something conferred upon him to take an oath to kill mankind. Some dark matter was urging him to do the unimaginable. And that instant , he turned into monster. Right there, unforeseen problem unfolded; not sparing him any discretion, leading him into a disturbance.

Ted was indistinguishably blending with demonic forces. Violent action was taking over his brain. Yielding and not fighting , he got up from his chair and went into Gloria’s room. He grasped her neck and didn’t let it go. Her limbs dangled and she took her last breath.

“ Even in ☠️ death wherever you go, no matter how you live and whatever it takes , I shall seize you. Let your flesh fall off and I shall overpower you,” Ted screamed in a demonic state. He looked possessed. It was the effect of the electro-magnetic radiation coming through the BAS system. Nobody was realizing that machines were taking over mankind. Some energy from the machine was capturing the imagery and the taut syntax of the programmed instructions and biting into human action -reaction responses. It was crunching the brain 🧠, tumbling through the black holes of the eyes, moving thro’ the meningococcal fields and dismantling the human world by entering the neural networks.

It was like a deathly dark lord had met mankind unexpectedly.

And in all this actually —whodunnits—remains a mystery?!

In seeking answers to this question,

I ( MG,) the author ✍️ of this narrative, purport to adjudicate the limits /powers of human reason ,and why, we will need AI monitoring moral agents in the near future.

Glancing up to the technological advancements in the field of AI , I couldn’t help but gaze at it in 🧩 puzzlement .

Certainly this was not a derision.

P.S: Dear Reader, If you read this prosaic tumult this far, then please accept my sincere apologies….

As it is said—“Future is what we make of it…” I may be right or wrong in preempting it!

✨💫🧡🦢🦢🦢🧡 ✨💫

© ✍️ Madhu Goteti alias MG

December 31st, 2023 written when the clock 🕰️ struck 12:00 🕛