The Prologue

The lonely building looked dark and upsetting like it had never seen a soul. The eerie silence, broken only by the trickling of water down the rusty pipelines. Every time the tap turned on, the bizarre sound of the water coming through would remind him of time in his grandparents’ house.

He was in his early twenties and had barely graduated, but was brighter than most men. He was sitting on the cold-peeling rug, with moonlight seeping into his little home.

“The plans have changed. After a check, the system showed only 20% probability whereas the new plan has a success rate of 89%”.

He hadn’t heard this voice in a long time. He glanced up to see a woman in her fifties, wearing a violet shirt and dark black leggings with thick white squares drawn on it. She was tall and had sharp features. The eyes were whitish-blue like the Chalk Hill Blue butterfly which were enveloped by dark circles from all extra hours she had been putting in. She always stood firm like a soldier. She inspected his eyes like she was seeking the uncharted truths of the cosmos.

“It’s time and everything has been taken care of.” The woman said.

She had stopped being her zingy self when all this started and spoke only when needed to. But something was different this time. Something he had never seen before. Something in the way she looked at him with love and trepidation. This could very much be the last time she would ever see him. This frightened him and tears started to form in his eyes, but the woman said nothing for she knew that if she did she would cry too. She had to stay strong at least for him she looked away for a while before asking

“Do you understand?”

He nodded.

He wanted to say ‘I’m scared, I can’t do this’ but he knew that emotions were a luxury he couldn’t afford.

“You will find the details in the chambers.” said the woman.

Before saying goodbye she planted a soft kiss on his brow, he closed his eyes and by the time he opened them she was gone, leaving him alone in the murk. He wiped his tears, he was breathing heavily through his mouth. He could see the vapours rushing out with each breath. As a child it always fascinated him and he would make the column of vapours go as far as possible while pretending to be a fire-breathing dragon.

He wished that all of this would just go away and if he could, even if for a second feel as if everything was perfect. He put on his purple socks with little pineapples on them and his favourite white-coloured shoes.

He got up and quietly walked to the doors of the chambers, he paused for a deep breath and pushed opened the doors. The doors closed after him. The room was dark, cold and quiet, all he heard were whispers. He walked towards a blue envelope which was placed neatly on the ground. It was addressed to him, he opened it while he sat in a corner. After gaping at it for a while some here-and-there-nods, he relaxed with his torso weighing against the wall and his face down, thinking about how his life had changed. Just a month ago, he was at this expensive new restaurant trying sushi and now he hadn’t slept or eaten a fresh meal in days. He closed his eyes and decided to rest for a while. Sleep overtook him effortlessly.

He woke up by the rumbling of the machines. The lights were on, all focused on him. After a while of struggling, his pupils adjusted. The room was uncannily massive, you could fit a hundred cars in the room and you’d still have room for a hundred more.

He had visited this place a couple of times before and had seen the entire facility, walked every inch with his father or so he thought. He had never seen this room before.

What is this room for? he pondered.

While reconnoitring he saw the woman along with some people dressed as scientists on the second floor, in a smaller room with flashing lights of different colours all around.

The control room he thought.

They seemed to be in a skull session and the one who seemed like the head of the others gave a thumbs up to the woman, who replied back with the same gesture. She spoke into the loudhailer.

“Get up.”

He did as he was told.

“Come to the middle of the room and stand on the ‘X’ and make sure to keep your eyes closed at all times”.

As soon as he reached the ‘X’ and closed his eyes, he heard a faint voice saying “3….2…..1……naaaaaaooohhh”.

She hit a key on the keyboard and there was an eruption of plasmic energy blinding everyone, forcing them to look away and everyone fell with the trembling of the ground.

The room was dark and cold again, the woman pulled herself up after her eyes had adjusted and the quake had stopped and stared at the ‘X’. She closed her eyes in devotion and murmured to herself.

“I hope he’s safe”.