The
Daily Times News Station
Death
Valley, California.
6th
August, 2099
The earth witnessed a gruesome episode of
extreme heat over a year ago. It has settled down now, and shall hopefully
remain under control for a while.
John Adams, one of the survivors of the
twenty-five minute ordeal, is here to share his account.
28th May, 2098
Jane, my wife of
five years, Micheal, my four year old son, and I, a 32 year old pharmacologist,
lived in the ground floor of this squatty two-storied building in the North of
the city. Our house wasn’t that valuable. It had three rooms, a kitchen, and
two balconies. The disrupted drains made the bathrooms stink and the entire
house smelled of dead mice and cockroaches. No amount of room freshener could get
rid of that ridiculous smell. I found myself locked in the biggest room in the
house that time- the research lab. Mum had come home. Jane and Michael kept
her company, while I, the extremely devoted scientist in the family, chose to
spend those minutes with my work.
The city was
unusually hot that day. It was 04:45, a time when we’d usually be lying snug on
our beds, warm blankets protecting us from the cold. But that morning was
different. The heat was unbearable. Worse than the episode in 1913. It woke us
late risers up that early. To top it all, my mum was home. I couldn’t bear her
whining about how hot the place was. We all could feel it too, for God’s sake.
Once I got sick of her whines, I just got up, moved to my lab, and locked
myself in there.
04:50
Jane called me
from outside, and asked me to turn on the radio. I obliged, and turned on the
dusty old radio to listen to the dedicated reporters who were ready to do the
work in such a hot environment. “Temperatures have reached an all time high,
standing at 140°F as at 04:48 hours, and is expected to rise. Citizens are
requested not to get out of their houses until further information is received. You
are advised to keep your houses as cool as possible. If you happen to be
outside, kindly get to shelter as soon as possible.”
The world’s
end, I thought. Dr.Mackenzie said this would happen. It was all part of our
research. Temperatures were soaring that month, and this was the number one
item at every day’s discussion at the Absinthe Labs. The multi-national company
that aimed at developing newer and more efficient medicines had set up its base
in our city just over a year ago, and the timely transfer gave me the
opportunity to stand at the post of the Head of Pharmacology in the esteemed
institution. Dr.Mackenzie, my Boss and the Director of the company, had studied
meteorology, and was one of the best in his field. His prediction led to the
beginning of Project Sathewo, which aimed at developing a medicine in case the
inevitable, which was, the end of the world, was about to happen. And the
reporter on the radio that filled up the absence from the inability to fit a TV
in the room had just said that Dr.Mackenzie’s fear was about to come true.
But the medicine
was still a step away from getting ready to give humans the immunity against
the super high temperatures. We couldn’t give this to the people yet.
Just another
drop. One drop more and the medicine would be ready. All I’d have to do then
would be to spread it. I had 1000 vials ready. A machine that’d help me fill
in the required medicine that’d save my city. I was just one drop away from
being the Protector of my City. I was
just one drop away from being famous. We’d be so rich! I’d be able to give
Michael the home he wanted and a super big room in exchange for denying the
biggest room of the house we lived in.
I was just one
drop away.
Plop.
04:56
I held my breath.
I watched in anticipation as the classified chemical dropped down the burette
into the beaker. A short series of chemical reactions later, I found myself
testing the medicine with the super advanced tester my team had developed.
It worked.
My medicine
worked.
I was just one
step away from being famous.
04:59
“John?” Jane
called out to me.
“What?’
“Your mum says
she wants to speak with you. She says she’s getting this bad feeling.”
“Later, Jane. I’m
just a step away from saving our people. You’ll all be safe then, and we’ll
have all the time to spend with each other.”
“But...”
I looked at my
wristwatch. “I’ll be out in fifteen minutes. Then we’ll all go about saving the
city.”
A short pause.
“Okay.”
Then I found
myself starting my team’s invention. 1000 vials. The amount of medicine each
held was capable of saving more people than you could imagine. One bottle at a
time, the machine that still leaves me in awe, filled and sealed the vials with
the life-giving medicine. I was doing it all by myself. I could see it coming- John: The Creator of the Manna- they
could make a film about me, no?
The last fifteen
minutes.
05:00
Filling up the
bottles all by myself was harder than I expected. I should’ve called someone
from work. Paul lives just upstairs,
I thought. But I didn’t call him. Maybe I was too stuck up in doing this all by
my own that I had decided not to share the success with anyone else.
05:01
I had filled 25
vials. The machine was super fast, I must say. Michael called out to me. “Dada,
can you please come out for a sec? Gramma’s getting kind scared. We’re all
getting scared. Gramma really wants to talk to you.”
It’s just been 2 minutes, I
thought to myself.
“Dada?”
“I’ll be out in a
while, my boy. Dada’s in the middle of a super important job right now. This
thing can give you everything you want. I can even get you the biggest house
you want. Just give Dada some more time, he’ll be out.”
Michael
hesitated. “Okay.”
05:02
The radio was
still on. But the focus I had on the vials distracted me. I don’t know what,
but something suddenly shifted my focus to the voice on the radio.
“Dear people, I’m
really sorry to say this, but the temperature rise is going out of reason. We
fear the world’s going to burn out soon. A few houses in my side of the city
have already burst into flames. We request you all to spend as much time as you
can with the people who deserve you. We fear there’s not much time left.”
It was Dr.Mackenzie.
05:03
No, this couldn’t be happening.
The world
couldn’t burn out just like that! I mean, how bad could it be? It is really
hot, but hot enough to burn buildings? Dr.Mackenzie must be saying that to
ensure that way too adventurous people don’t take risks and walk out of their
houses.
I haven’t spoken
much about my Boss. Dr.Mackenzie was a super famous meteorologist. It seemed
rather out-of-place when he was chosen as the Director for a company that
manufactured drugs for diseases like common cold, but I realized his importance
when the temperature began rising. Project Sathewo needed him. He had this
immense love for the society, and would push all limits to ensure that the
people around him lived. He’d state unreasonable lies to save humanity. He’d
even commit the most heinous crime, if it would save his people.
This had to be one of those moments.
I stood in my
lab, doing nothing for an entire minute. I just stood, wondering about what
Dr.Mackenzie just said. “We fear there’s
not much time left.” What on earth was wrong with him?
05:05
I convinced my
mind that abandoning my work at that time was useless. I trusted Dr.Mackenzie
more than myself, but what he just said was outrageous. I resumed my work. Jane
pounded at the door asking me to come out. She shouted something. But all I
could make out was gibberish. I didn’t understand a word she said. And I
ignored her.
Useless woman doesn’t know how big her husband’s work
is.
05:07
The radio called
me again.
“Houses in the
South of the city have been catching fire due to the excessive heat. It is
getting close to impossible to capture a good enough reading of the
temperature. Incidents of burning residences are slowly spreading in all
directions. It looks like we’re nearing our doom.”
05:08
The lady on the radio is too much of a pessimist.
Dr.Mackenzie
seemed to have convinced everyone that the world was coming to its end. I
started hating the person I always considered my role model. His claims seemed
so negative. He never was like this.
I kept my focus
on filling up the vials. Surprisingly, I had filled up 150 vials by then,
surprisingly. As if my luck had it, Paul came over just then. I heard him
pounding on the door. Hearing his voice, I opened it and shut it as fast as I
could. I couldn’t have any more pessimists in the room.
Paul was this
brotherly character in my life. I never had any siblings, and Paul filled up
that void for me. He was to be married in a month. I don’t think I would’ve
been able to pass college if I didn’t have him. He was this supporting pillar
that held me when I almost fell to my doom. I never want to recall those times.
05:09
Paul got in, and
asked me to leave the room immediately.
“Good Lord, man,
what is WRONG with you?” I shouted at my best friend.
“Dude, can’t you
see it? We’re all gonna die! Spend your last moments with your mother! Think of
Michael! And Jane!”
He spotted the
vials I was filling. “Dude, seriously? This… thing is useless now!”
I couldn’t
believe he had just said that. Ignoring him, I went to the back of the room and handed him one of the protective suits. I
entrusted in him 25 vials.
“Go give this to
all the people you can reach.”
He gave me a look of disgust, then stormed outside the room.
05:10
Paul walked out
of the room. I assumed he had regained his senses and resumed my work, when,
about forty-five seconds later, I heard a crash outside in the hall.
He had smashed
the vials on the ground.
“PAUL! ARE YOU
OUT OF YOUR MIND?”
I barged out of
my room shouting those words. I still had some vials in my hand. I was fuming
at what Paul had just done. My best friend had ruined the very first steps that
would lead me to my fame.
05:11
But when I walked
out of the room, I stopped. I could see nothing. This blinding flash of light
instantaneously filled the room.
I figured out in
an instant it wasn’t there all this while. Dr.Mackenzie was right. The
temperature was rising way too fast.
My medicine could NOT save the people in such a situation.
I managed to
make out four weak silhouettes a few centimeters away from me.
The first one
was closer than the other. Paul was there. My family and his fiancée too.
05:12
Guilt overpowered
me. I had been such a jerk. I had chosen my work over the forces I needed the
most. When did I grow so evil and selfish and cruel? I couldn’t see a thing in
front of me, but ran anyway. I’d eventually run into someone. And I did. Paul
grabbed me just as I bumped into him.
“GET DOWN! YOU’LL
BE ABLE TO SEE BETTER!” He shouted.
I followed.
05:13
Five seconds
seemed like an eternity. I reached Jane. Michael and Mum were there too. Grubby
faces. Teary eyes. I normally hated those, but now they were the most relieving
sights.
“Dada, are we all
gonna die?”
“We’ll live, my
boy. You’ll get to live in your big room.”
Lies.
Mum squeezed my
shoulder. When I looked up at her, she gave me this smile, as if she were
saying, “I’m glad you came, my son.” But she was sad. And disappointed.
05:14
I caught I
glimpse of Jane.
“Do you smell
something burning?”
My house was on
fire.
We had
second-degree burns. Or maybe it was worse.
We were dying.
05:15
I don’t know what
happened, but a few seconds later, the flash grew brighter. Then I saw
everything in front of me go dim. It was unsettlingly silent. I didn’t feel any
pain anymore.
When I regained
consciousness, I found myself in this hospital that was in a luckily
well-protected location, about ten miles from my house. The place was not
immune to the heat, but it was undeniably better than the other places I had seen. The
nurse pointed out to the bed next to me and said there were only two survivors
from the fire in my building. It took me a while to identify that that face was Michael's. The four year old had survived with me, I’m happy for that.
The moment he saw me, he said, “Dada, I don’t want a big room. I just want you
to be with me.”
Mum, Jane, Paul
and his fiancée were gone. Heat stroke and suffocation chose them and spared the two of us.
I miss them so
much. And I couldn’t even say goodbye.
6th
August, 2099
“The Daily Times covers the story of a lot
of survivors of the ordeal. All of them just have one thing to say. They all
regret having been victims of mechanization. They all despise having being
blinded by luxuries.”
“Dr.Adams, do you have anything else to say
before we conclude?”
“Oh of course I do. You see, we’re all so
stuck up with keeping up. I’ve been
stuck up with getting famous. But at the end, nothing was worth it. You’ve
heard my story. It was the most harrowing experience ever. I hated it. I hope
none of you have to experience this. Remember, work is not the most important
thing in the world. It’s living with the people that love you that’s more
important. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Mr.Adams. It’s time to sign off
for the day. Mr.John Adams, everyone, and I’m Samantha Hedge."
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