Science fiction. The storm!

 

Science fiction. The storm!

Thunder storm had died completely, and everything appeared to stretch itself to regain its normal shape. Because the force of the storm had altered the shape of everything. And it included my umbrella as well. Its spokes had been twisted and there was no way it could be withdrawn inwards.

No matter how hard I tried, it got stuck in the middle, and if I would have tried any harder, it would have broken the twisted spokes. So I carried it with me without being able to do much about its physical deformities. And nobody looked at either of us. I had thought the umbrella would draw a lot of unnecessary attention, but everyone was stretching or straightening his or her own possession, and most of them their own selves. With this preoccupation they hardly had any time for others, and on that, an umbrella. And a man carrying a twisted umbrella. Impossible!

However, there were reasons for all of us to be happy as well, because the storm had ultimately died after 2 days and an intervening night. So, we all had many reasons to feel good about.

Sometimes, saying is one thing and doing it is a different universe of reality, where there are so many conditionals ascribed to every act, and moreso, when you are about to undertake something after two days of storm that was vindictive about everything and everyone. Yes, that will be the right way to put it.

Because right now, my only possession was my twisted and now useless umbrella. I had lost everything and everyone to the storm. Yet, I tried to straighten it and seek some peace from the surroundings that looked… Ah, what shall I say! I am unable to find the exact words that would define this post storm view of the surroundings or the area where it left behind devastation of unprecedented proportions.

Let me still try if I can explain it. To me it is like a young girl who has taken a bath and now she is out in the winter sun drying her open hair, under a tree. That is how the surroundings appear to me after the storm has died. 

Everything is wet, but tolerably wet, just like the girl’s hair. And her face and neck has drops of water glistening here and there, and this can be compared to the sun that with a strange shyness reveals itself from behind the clouds, as if it were feeling guilty about the fact that its absence caused so much damage and upheaval. And when finally it is out, slowly inching itself towards the clear blue sky. As its first arriving rays fall on the drops of water still hanging on the branches, twigs, leaves, tinned roof tops, almost everything, it creates a view where everything appears to be strewn with miniature diamonds. And finally when the girl turns from one side to another to expose herself to the sunshine, similarly everything in the surroundings where the storm has just ended, everything appears to turn and move like this girl, because the sun is assuming its complete round shape very slowly, as it moves away from the cloud, casting a brightness on the surfaces that is moving from dark to bright, and it is so until the sun appears as a complete round object in the sky. Then everything is locked in a single frame of brightness that is now very still. Just like the girl who has basked herself enough in the sun, and is now looking toward the sky without any worries with a decent smile spreading all over her sun kissed body.

That is how it was right now, and I was trying to locate the girl in these once familiar surroundings. Finally I realised she was everywhere and perhaps she was the only one strangely looking at my twisted umbrella. The imaginary girl I mean.

But the reality soon settles in my mind that I am being too romantic and I should find a place to stay, if I had to survive the inclement weather. Relying on government aid was not an option, because in 2075 these are common calamities that people across the globe are dealing with. Mostly caused due to global warming. As such, the incumbent government has a lot of other priorities to deal with, instead of helping us rebuild our shelters just within weeks. That is not a fair expectation and I tried to keep myself away from this false temptation!

Based on these facts the romantic within me turned passive and I headed for the area where my house stood once. Now, there was nothing, just few foundation stones, few windows with hinges hanging somehow, a crumbled wall, and about the roof I have no clue. Because it was not there. As for the humans who occupied it along with me, only I remain. What became of the rest of them, either the roof knows or the storm that blew the roof and them, knows for sure. 

And it is true, I had lost everything, but two things were still intact and hardy as ever. My underground garage and my will, that unlike the garage, was still on the surface of reality and willing to deal with the reality that always enters from the main gate, but right now there was no gate at all. So I was living within the reality. Where I had to deal with it or let it deal with me on its terms. And I decided to deal with it my way and no other way. So I went to my garage and everything there was perfectly fine.

Spending my night there was my only option and the garage too did not seem to have any objection to this idea. It was being a bit selfish, because it needed some attention and this was its only chance. And maybe it knew, other than the garage I had no other chance. 

And the garage had won, next day onwards I started paying extra attention to it and I tried to clean it as much as I could. Finally, after working for a week, it looked like a place where I could sleep and live, just like my old car. Right now, the car was luckier than me because it was used to living in the garage from my father’s time. When it came to permanent accommodation she was surely luckier, but when it came to privileges I was luckier. Because my garage had a small cabin where I used to keep my tools, and I decided to use it as a kitchen. 

Nature can be funny at times. The storm blew away everything, but somehow it had left the basement of the house intact, and I had enough grocery that would last me more than 2 months. 

It was late Saturday night. Let me guess, it must have been 08:00 pm when I heard something moving on the upper surface of the garage. From its sound it definitely was something very big and it was moving with an aggression that was rougher than the storm that had just passed away.

I quickly rolled up the shutters of the garage and rushed to take a look at this thing. When I saw it, I was surprised. I had never seen anything like it before. And this assured me it was not from this planet. It was from somewhere else. 

“But what was it doing here?” Was my immediate thought.

I must have spent a couple of minutes with this thought when it came to a halt and stood still. It stood there without any movement, and any sound at all. It was as if a young deer had seen a lion. Out of fear and surprise too, I moved behind the tree trunk that was still standing and I watched it carefully from a distance of 15 meters.

Now there was silence, distance and the tree trunk between us, but I still was unwilling to drop my guard. At least I did not intend to do so as long as I was not sure what or who was inside this flying machine.

I waited, and I waited a little longer, until it was 10:00 pm; and still there was no movement. As the moon shone and its light lit the interior of this flying machine, I could easily tell there was nobody inside. It was unoccupied. “Maybe it was auto piloted? But then why did it land on the roof of my garage?” These were the questions bothering me right now.

Somehow, I convinced myself there was no time for these speculations and I must act now before the flying machine develops a mind of its own. 

With baby steps, but with a lot of caution I walked towards it. When I reached near its window I tried to look inside and make sure there was nobody. And there definitely was nobody. It reminded me of deserted warplanes that crash into the enemy’s territory with pilots having ejected in midair. It shared several similarities with these ill fated warplanes.

But there was a slight difference, this flying machine, or whatever you might call it had not crashed. Because when it was still moving and its engines were throttling, it aligned itself with such accuracy that it clearly meant it had not crashed. And with nobody piloting it, the only reason it managed all these movements with such perfection could not be anything else other than this one. It was flying in auto pilot mode.

This realisation offered me some encouragement and I tried to open its right door. I carefully touched it, pressed the button that was located at its edge, and the door opened slowly, as if it knew I was standing next to it. I once again tried to make sure there was nobody or nothing inside. After examining every corner, I was sure it was totally unoccupied.

I stepped into it and sat on the brilliantly crafted leather chair. I looked at its screens, buttons, joysticks; and right over my head was a screen that had these words flashing on it, “Instructions to Fly manually” and “ If you want to Fly in autopilot mode, just press the green button and with your thoughts define the destination.”

Life in the garage was filled with routine, a lot of routine and I would say it was necessary and needed. Because sometimes the only thing a human being has to prove, is to survive anyhow. And my garage was my means of survival. Being outside the garage now, I wanted to fly. Fly a machine that did not seem to belong to the Earth.

There was slight confusion though. I was trying to make sure whether I wanted to fly it in auto pilot mode or manually. But if you ask me, the real pleasure of driving and flying lies in manual mode. So, I studied the instruction manual and pressed all buttons in exact sequences as instructed in the manual, and the flying machine took off.

I must have gained considerable height, when its autopilot mode took over and no matter what I did, it was not obeying any of my manually executed instructions to fly it based on my will. And jumping out of it was out of question because we were more than 1000 meters above the ground.

So it flew and I flew with it, whereas it should have been the other way around. But since the thunder storm, most of my things have not been around, so it does not matter whether they go around or they go other way around.

I was beginning to lose sight of the Earth, when the flying machine stood still and froze all manual systems. Now I was like a fish in water that is freezing from every side. And finally the fish is left with a bubble of air, whereas the rest of its surroundings are completely frozen. Right now I felt exactly like this fish, with just two differences, I was not a fish and I was in the sky. In every other sense, my situation was exactly the same.

Then it began losing its height and entered into a strange looking trail of cloud that spread like a never ending ribbon, and we entered into this ribbon of a cloud. We must have been there for 1 hour or so- I would not know the exact time because I was not wearing my wrist watch.

And yet again, it stopped and then gained height. Finally after sometime, the flying machine began descending and as the view of the surface became clearer, I could see the roof of my storm blown house stranded on the top of a canopy of mighty trees. It was a thick forest where a shy Sun had no chance of survival. The flying machine positioned itself over the roof of my house and as I stood there in the flying machine looking at the roof resting on the tree tops.Suddenly I heard this auto announcement, “It is the roof of your house that was blown away by the storm. For the ones you lost, they live in this forest now. If you choose to be with them press the yellow button. But here it is not a panacea, it is another side of the Earth where only the lucky few will get a chance to carry on with their lives and preserve the hopes of the human race. And you will have to live here for 100 years until order is restored in the part of Earth that we brought you from. Because that area will experience burning heat waves in the coming years and most of the population will be wiped out. But we have brought you here with a reason and you will know the reason once you have decided to stay here.

If you press any other button, we will understand you wish to return to your garage and the storm that has died for now, but it will only get worse in the coming years and more frequent.”

I was about to decide which button to press, and I would have pressed the yellow button, that the storm blew again and I could hear thundering again. So, I am not sure whether it was a dream or reality, but right now the garage is real, the storm is very real, and the loud thunder makes everything seem doubtlessly real.

The dream will be a reality in 2075 and the frequent thunderstorms too will be real in 2075, and there will be a new war that humanity will have to wage against every force that wants to crush humanity by destroying the foundation of human societies and value systems that sustain these societies. To know more about this new form of war that humans will be fighting in 2075, explore the science fiction novel titled, They Loved in 2075. 

Do not feel low or dejected, because this scifi is not only about war or super advanced technology. It is an intensely romantic science fiction where two lovers fight tougher battles at an emotional level. Because they are forced to feel like machines. All due to their excessive interaction with self aware machines that look like, and emote better than humans. It has led to loss of native human feelings and emotions. 

Therefore, it will be right to say, this science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075, is more about how humans will experience and express love in 2075, and if feelings like love shall even survive that long.

Feel the excitement of a truly romantic sci fi, They Loved in 2075. Where three civilisations are at war, where state of the art technology will leave you startled, where the evolution of humans at social, emotional and physical level will force you to think how will our children or grandchildren survive in 2075? 

This romance scifi offers hope, and for a reason, “Hope is the only good that is common to all men and women; those who have nothing else possess hope still.” 

And They loved in 2075, is this hope. It is the hope I found in the garage and you will find it in this scifi novel. I am sure!