43. Who is Next?

The tale of the great escape continued for the two. The machine continued making its way underwater, and scenes around were beautiful. The engine did struggle a bit in going forward, but the amount of oxygen as well as the fuel seemed to be full, and there seemed to be no chance of any problem there. The escape seemed to be certain at that point, and this journey was surely leading them away from the island. The pursuing machines were still left at the same spot and so the chase was cut off leaving nobody on their tail. There were more hunting machines on the prowl around the island, but there seemed to be nothing on their way. The path underwater was the safer one during those moments. Land was no longer the place for normal people, as far as they were concerned.

“I didn’t think about talking about this earlier, but this was a fine choice, I have to say” said C1RC221.

“I will keep my luck as long as it serves like this; everyone needs some luck, without which humans are nothing” said a proud V221KA.

“There are creatures around us though. I hope none of them are that harmful” wondered C1RC221.

“They are just mutated forms of sea life. We should just ignore them” remarked V221KA.

“Just like us, you say” added C1RC221.

“Not as good as we are, that is for sure” said V221KA.

“That was always the point, wasn’t it? To make us better than the rest, but not in the appropriate way”.

“Yes, but we are better in not just one thing, right?” asked V221KA.

“Being mindless is the better option when we are homeless” said C1RC221.

“We will make new home out of nowhere. It is no big deal” remarked V221KA.

“My home used to be around here only – I have some memory of it; they are buried deep under, but I can find them on another day” said C1RC221.

“That is a story of a long gone past. We have the scope to create new ones”.

“Well, it still exists, even if not in a solid form” said C1RC221.

The machine hit some of the vegetation on the way, but it kept going with not trouble. There was nothing that strong under water to stop their journey, at least until then. A lot of underwater vegetation was already destroyed by the wars. The water at that area was kind of contaminated with all those chemicals being dumped from the islands around, but still safe enough to go through in a machine. There was no comparison to the world before the big wars, as the change had occured, and it seemed to be permanent. War was more like a sporting event, and the dictators kept asking for more and more medals to assert their own supremacy. This was one Olympics that no common man was really fond of watching or being a part of, but what choice did they actually have?

The world had become smaller with the wars, and the effects of terror and mass destruction was seen everywhere. Death was only a temporary happening, and what was worse included all which was to follow later. But nobody was finished with those wars yet, for it was something that repeated itself, maybe towards eternity. There was the need for blood, and there was also the requirement for more than that – there was always going to be the struggle for more, what was rather justified in many names. It was not just about humanity, as the rest of the creatures had also changed, or rather evolved to suit the situations of war. This new world order based on war did become the beginning stage for another evolution, something that humans wouldn’t have loved to see occur.

“You have been holding on to the past for a little too long; which is why it is coming back to you – it will be of no more use to you except related to providing all the pain which you never deserved”.

“It is my past; it will only keep coming back to me at some point or the other” added C1RC221.

“What exactly is that?” asked V221KA.

“My past, and nothing else” replied C1RC221.

“That can’t be your past; I am not agreeing to that” remarked V221KA.

“What? You haven’t seen my past yet” said C1RC221.

“I am not talking about that! Look straight ahead” yelled V221KA.

“Oh! This is not going to be good!” screamed C1RC221.

The scene quickly shifted from relief to big trouble. There was a giant creature ahead, which looked like an octopus, but they were sure that it was certainly not that, with such huge size. Even so deep under water, its eyes were shining red in colour, and it kept looking straight at the metallic thing which had invaded what seemed to be its territory. Completely black in colour with its body, it had twelve arms instead of eight, and it stretched its arms towards the machine. V221KA tried to move it to one side and evade the arms, but even as they managed to go past two of them, the third arm got hold of their vehicle. It dragged the machine towards its side while the engines tried to push it away from the creature.

“We have come so far, and maybe we did get so close, but I guess this is how it ends” murmured C1RC221.

“We are certainly not done yet” yelled V221KA while trying her best to power the machine enough to move away from the arms of the creature that continued to pull it hard. The battle was on, and on one side, it was just about survival and nothing else.

To be continued…

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42. More of Hope

That was one sight which brought the positivity back to the scene. There was the machine that looked like a space ship, or rather a hybrid having the hovercraft elements too. Completely black in colour, it was part square and part spherical, and there were two seats inside it, visible through the windows which were also round. The wings of the machine extended towards both sides twisting in between. There were no levers or steering inside the machine, but there was a screen which showed nothing other than the message that said “Screen Locked”. It seemed to be the best scene that could be part of their eyes. There was something that could make a difference.

“Do you think that this thing can fly or at least run? Do you think that they kept it here because it is faulty?” asked V221KA while looking outside at the sea.

“I don’t think that we can be sure about it. There will be a lot of risk involved even if we manage to get it started. We are not trained for this” said C1RC221 as she looked around for some information about it.

“You mean to say that we can crash and just die. We can end up in the depths of the sea or burn to death on this island itself” wondered V221KA.

“Yes, it is rather an easy thing to understand, isn’t it?” asked C1RC221.

“There is still a chance that we might get off this island, and even if we crash in water, there will be safety measures in the ship”.

“Only if we can access them, right?” asked C1RC221.

“Lets go in and check then. It is pointless to waste our time doing nothing. What lies ahead of us is enormous”.

“Okay, in case there is the option for auto-pilot, something can be done”.

They got inside the machine and with a welcome sign, the screen automatically got enabled. There was the manufacturing date and name of the model displayed there on the top. It showed a map of the island with their location highlighted as a triangle in red. There were arrows towards all direction with the names of some locations unknown to them. A red button was glowing with the writing, ‘Begin here’.

“I didn’t know that this one came with an instruction manual. I wonder if they add the next steps too, unless this is full auto-pilot towards these destinations. Well, any place which is not this island should be a fine option for me” remarked C1RC221.

“Well, you really can’t avoid the positives here, can you? Haven’t we been negative for so long?” asked V221KA.

After having a quick look around, she pressed the button after touching one of the locations outside the island and the doors of the machine closed. There was the sound of the engine charging and starting to work. It felt as if it wasn’t used for a very long time. The machine started jerking and took a turn to go out into the sea. Suddenly, the alarms were triggered, and a screaming sound was heard. The machine started moving as a hovercraft over the sea, and the outposts began searching for the origin of the alarm.

“This doesn’t sound good, but at least we are out of there. Every moment there was nothing less than torture” remarked a relieved C1RC221.

“Yes, it is not done yet, but we are on our way” added V221KA.

One of the lights from an outpost caught hold of the machine in its path, and it remained on the spotlight as all lights converged on it. They could hear announcements about a lost scouting machine and missing prisoners. They pushed the button which had the picture of a video camera, and by pressing the zoom button on one of them, they could view a number of armed machines taking off from the launching pads on the sides of the outposts.

“We are about to be hunted! We are going to be brought down!” exclaimed a worried C1RC221.

“Find some of the useful buttons. We have come this far, and there has to be way out of here too. Maybe there will be some weapons in here” said V221KA.

“Didn’t you hear the announcement? This is a scouting machine. The purpose was always to seek and find, not to engage” yelled C1RC221.

“Maybe it is. But scouts also keep the basic weapons in case there is some kind of emergency. Or maybe they are announcing the same to confuse us. We have to keep looking through all the options available on the screen. Maybe it is hidden further inside so that it can’t be accessed by everyone” said V221KA.

“No, not that way, that is the wrong option. You shouldn’t do that” screamed C1RC221.

“I think I know what is to be done here. This option actually looks good” replied V221KA.

With one press of a button, the ship stopped for a second in mid-air, and dived deep into the sea. It kept going underwater, and stopped at a point from where it began to move straight forward. The purusuing machines reached the location on which the machine was last seen over water. They wandered around the place and kept sending information to the outposts which were passed on to the base.

“Well, told you so” said a proud V221KA.

“You have a fine amount of luck with you, I think” said C1RC221.

To be continued…

40. Our Souls to Take

“This should have a certain secret buried deep somewhere inside. It is kind of twisted and with the smell of adventure” exclaimed Jack.

“Lets go. We shouldn’t stay here just because of some curiosity which has the ability to kill us both” said Noah.

“You sure about not checking this out? At least a part of this one? Don’t you think that we can take something interesting from here” asked Jack.

“There is absolutely no chance; not even with the latest weapons of Acheron. It is too much of a risk, especially at this time. To add to it, you always had a special skill in falling into traps” said Noah.

“Okay then. Maybe on another day when things get at least a million kilometres close to being perfect. That should relieve the pressure up-to an extent and there can be simpler adventures” replied Jack.

But all of a sudden, a hand came out of the well and grabbed Jack. There was so much strength in those hands and it had blood dropping right out of the wounds of the palm. It held firmly, and with a lot of difficulty, they managed to get rid of it. Soon, the rest of the creature also came out of the well. It was a dark creature, with what seemed to be its own shadow hovering over it. Another creature followed it out of the well, and others also followed. A series of dark clouds emerged right on top of their heads. The eyes of the creatures turned red, and blood started coming right out. They began to make some scary noises which caused thunder in the clouds.

“The scavengers; the scavengers of the dark! Those things which were named after that spaceship! They are really here!” yelled Jack.

“Yes, I understand. But what are you doing? This is not the time to stare! Run!” screamed Noah.

“Yes! We are going to die! Run and run fast!” Jack continued yelling.

As they both started running, the creatures followed them. They were not that fast, but running through this type of ground was rather too difficult. They fell down and slided to a cave below, which lead to an unknown water-body.

The creatures stopped on the way and screamed. The greenery was splendid out there, and they climbed on to a rock. It was more like a huge cave with a lot of space inside, as if it was another world out there.

“Now, we are surely not where we should have been. We don’t even know how to get back” said Jack.

“At least that much is clear; well, only that much is there to be known. This place might have stayed a beautiful mystery for so long in a universe of chaos and destruction” said Noah.

“This is a strange place, isn’t it? Especially considering the fact that we are directly below the wastelands which stretch a lot further. This is the kind of place that comes in the dreams – yes, there were such places in mine, more than once.” wondered Jack.

“Yes, and that too underground, and still the air feels so fresh here. There is nothing negative about it” added Noah.

“I see a lot of insects around here, which is strange. They were all supposed to have been mutated and turned into something else. Scientists from our place would really love to explore here” said Jack.

“There seems to be another kind of existence here, different from ours. I am surprised that Acheron hasn’t discovered and claimed this area with all his technology and unlimited amount of resources. This should be like a top priority place for him. Just guess what all he could accomplish with a location like this” said Noah.

“There are limitations even for him; and that is the same reason why we are still alive. He just can’t be the all-powerful dictator that he keeps claiming to be – that should be really painful for someone like him. But he will be here sooner or later, that is for sure; that much is greed for resources which can’t be satisfied. This surely seems like the home which a lot of people had written in the books; the one from the long lost past” added Jack.

Surprisingly, there were singing birds and smaller animals which were supposed to be extinct. The place reminded them of something which existed long before the wars had started. It was the kind of green with peace all around, and there was no cause for fear. The situation of horror had left them. Four eyes stared at them from between a crack in the walls of the place, and as they started walking through the straight path which lead to nowhere, the eyes followed them with a certain amount of enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, at the top, scavengers had no idea where their preys had gone. They had started digging with the bones of their victims, and even as they had no clue, had reached a quarter of the way to the newly discovered world of Jack and Noah. Scavengers were the kind of creatures who desperately wanted more and more preys, but there were none for quite a long time. They were the ones who made a pact, and that too with their own kind and also to the darker versions of evil. They were the true predators of the wastelands, and they were the rulers of their lands. They wanted to remember how awesome it used to be, when they were hunting, and hoped for their days of terror to return in style. They kept digging with the bones of the dead, and soon, they had reached half way to the other world underground.

To be continued…

38. Terror Unleashed

The creature which came out of water seemed curious as well as angry. It kept looking at Noah and Jack while making attempts to follow them. It was huge and had a tail which it used to hold on to a tree on the side of the rocks whenever it lost balance. There seemed to be a lot more of it under water. It also kept making a strange sound all the time and spit a green liquid. A group of mutated crows welcomed that noise from the top, right out of the wastelands.

“It is dragon terror. This is not good at all. We are lucky to have started climbing early enough to avoid this one” Jack shouted.

“What on this planet is that? I have never seen this particular creature. It is one scary thing. It has huge horns with long and sharp fangs” Noah yelled as he looked down.

“It was one of those animals created by the scientists during one of their special experiments to make the perfect creature which could be used as the expendable assets during the last war. There were unconfirmed reports that some of them were captured and kept in special prisons until feeding them became a problem and they were released to some forests” Jack made it clear.

“Isn’t it the thing which was called the demons of war because they could stand almost all weapons held by the soldiers? Didn’t they also call it the dark death because the creature attacked mostly at night; midnight to be more specific?” Noah asked.

“Yes, the same; it preferred darkness, a cloudy day also served the creature. Most of the civilian casualities of war were also caused by these creatures because they couldn’t be controlled that well. But they could be unleashed on people because the basic program was like that only” Jack confirmed.

“So, why is one of them here? Did the authorities send them here? I don’t see why they are wandering around” Noah wondered.

“Well, this was not exactly where these things were to be sent. But you know the government; the only thing which they do better than anything else is to keep lying to us. It is like a special skill that they possess. I do feel that this had a lot to do with the wildlife being in trouble, not just the floods. It is an almost impossible task to survive when a creature so terrifying and strong is unleashed against the balance of nature” Jack sighed.

“It does seem to thrive in water too. The creature is really skilled to do more than one thing. Can it get to us?” Noah asked.

“I don’t think that it can get to us from there. Thankfully, they had agreed on not giving these creatures human arms. It was actually on the list of things to do earlier, and we can be really glad that they didn’t in the end” Jack said with a sigh of relief.

“It does seem to be trying though. It really wants to get to us it seems. There is fire in its eyes” Noah said while looking down.

“Yes, it is a programmed predator and wishes to unleash chaos and destruction. It has to kill all the time, and I am sure that it hasn’t got somebody to attack for quite some time. The basic needs are not satisfied here. I do feel sorry for it due to the programming, but lets keep climbing up so that we don’t give this one a chance” said Jack as he kept climbing.

“Those mutated crows seems to be waiting for our death. I have known them during one my journeys through the graveyards” remarked Noah.

“Yes, they are the products of the wastelands. These birds are another reason why we should try not to get injured or murdered. Don’t stop or slip. Also try not to make them interested in us by looking at them in the eyes” said Jack.

Noah and Jack reached the top to face the wastelands which seemed to extend with no end at all. They looked down to see the dragon terror making one final attempt to get on the rocks before turning back and diving into water. They were relieved as they continued through the wastelands which had so much of abandoned buildings and remains of war as well as failed scientific discoveries. There were skeletons of humans as well as animals which were not buried. Most of the human remains seemed to be in cages or had parts of them in chains seemingly making it that of prisoners. The soil was red in colour and the vegetation was only somewhat there.

“I have heard people saying that the soil here tasted like blood, and I surely don’t want to test that” Noah said.

“I can confirm that. I know people who did” Jack replied.

The rain had stopped, and it seemed that there has been no rain in the wastelands for a long time. The clouds seemed to stop outside the boundaries of the wastelands for some reason. But a river coloured dark red was going right through, flowing into what seemed to be a well with a sign which said “Please make sure that you do not come near the well”. The soil was wet and at some places, it was rather too sticky. Noah and Jack went near the well and looked down only to see the darkness and nothing else. Jack thought about having a look by going down through the ladder placed on the right side, but Noah reminded him that they have kilometres to travel and they had to do it quick.

To be continued…

36. Through the Sea

There was no relief as the wind was strong and the ship struggled to keep its path. It kept moving left, but the journey forward was also happening despite the strength of the wind. Noah and Jack made sure that they were hidden well enough as the checking on the ship continued as if it was a regular procedure. But there was no safety guaranteed with this one. It took the ship seven days to find land, and it was not exactly where it was supposed to stop. There was huge jerking around as Noah and Jack held on to all which they could until the ship stopped moving. There was land, but not that area of land which they needed.

“This is a special announcement for all categories of people on board. We were facing terrible disturbances in the sea, and it has been a very tough ride. We have tried the best as we could, but the struggle was too much. The ship has been damaged beyond repair. It can travel no more as we have rammed it here. So please get down here and move to the city with support. It is only a few kilometeres from here, and the guards from the city will be arriving in a few hours; we have also signaled the outposts here. You can also choose to wait here because the trucks will be coming to take the cargo” the announcement ended as Noah and Jack looked at each other.

“It rarely works according to the plan, right? Here, we are stuck outside the city; not even close to our destination. This journey is to be delayed until further notice, it seems” said Noah.

“Well, this might be the best thing to happen at this time, if you ask me. I am taking the positive side of this one” said Jack.

“Please look into your special screens to find a written record of what was previously said. There will be no more repetitions and do keep the major points in mind. There are dangers awaiting you if proper care is not taken. Don’t try to walk all the way to the city; this is a serious warning and not to be taken lightly” the announcement made a short-lived return, but Noah and Jack didn’t care at all.

“You mean to say that this is something which will help us. But now we have no chance to get inside the city through those guards and the strong walls. They will also have the ultra-modern security equipments, even better than those which they have inside the city. Getting in won’t be that easy as getting out” Noah had his doubts.

“I would say that this has given us a better chance. If we had gone directly to the city port, they might have identified us with ease, and could have executed us without even a trial. It is their strongest area of control where their great dictator is not present. They easily find people and kill them” confirmed Jack.

“But can we make it through these forests and wastelands all by ourselves? We are not trained for that kind of survival. Waiting for a pick-up from the city will be like a suicide. They are sure to search for identity cards because this is how the immigrants usually arrive. So, the end seems to be certain whichever path we decide to take here. Is there even one right path remaining?” asked Noah while looking outside.

“We can find a way. Have you watched a movie called Rani Padmini? It is an old movie which go back to the year 2015 or 2016 – it is from before 2020, that much I am sure about. The danger is the same everywhere, and we just need to have the courage to face it. Giving up shouldn’t be an option here because it is not what we are. The forests are easy with almost all the dangerous creatures already hunted and killed. We can keep ourselves away from whatever remains. The wastelands along with the desert will be difficult, but there is a way through the sides, even though there is the talk about a curse. I don’t believe in that and most of the sane people won’t. It might not be easy, but we will surely get through. We are better than many others, and there are people who have survived these troubles as well as the curse, even though they had no real motive as we do” assured Jack.

“First, we need to get out of here. Time to get to the land taking the very first step. The journey needs to officially begin at some point of time somewhere here; staying here becomes less safe every second. The number of hostile people will increase and the ship will go down” said Noah.

“I don’t think that these people are thinking about looking around. They seem to be focused on their priorities related to the ship and the cargo. The risk is very low right now and we can make use of this opportunity” said Jack.

As the crew were busy taking the goods out of the ship, Jack and Noah jumped into water and started swimming around the place towards the other side of land. The guards from the nearby outpost also arrived, and with their machines, tried to make sure that the ship doesn’t sink. As the ship almost finished unloading the cargo, they had reached the other side. The message said that the trucks from the city were half way there. The dark clouds had started and the rain began its business making things more difficult. The ship finished its time, but it hadn’t sunk yet.

To be continued…

32. Ships and Humans

The ship was anchored and ready with a connection and pathway made to the harbour through the virtual gate. The lesser guards came out of the ship to fill the old war machine with supplies again, and also to fine something for themselves. There was not really anything of interest there, but the guards had been to worse places. They had found meaning right among the corpses of their own people as well as the mutilated bodies of their enemies. It was something with which they were good at.

Noah and Jack climbed abroad while the last guard had gone to buy a smoke. They were not the first illegal immigrants to board the ship, even though they were not illegal, but true citizens of the city. So, the sensors on the ship were not going to detect them as illegals, even though the city would, with their latest databases calling their names as the convicts as they were surely the most wanted ones now.

“So, we might reach the city after all. The sensors didn’t detect us. The ships don’t upload the data from the city. It is a good thing” said Noah.

“Still, it will change the second we go through the security at the city harbour” added Jack.

“It has to be well-planned, or we are going to die” said Noah.

“We are not just going to die; we are going to be brutally murdered” corrected Jack.

“You know how to make things sound worse” said Noah.

“We should choosen to stay inside those baskets. What we are doing is the worst idea ever” said Jack.

“Well, there was that opportunity, and we had to take it”.

“But what if we can’t hide well enough here? If we were hidden inside the baskets, we would stay hidden until we reach there” Jack added his opinion.

“What if one of them opens a basket? There is no guarantee about the transport which goes from here. The guards are also tired and hopeless people. They will surely look to take something from the baskets for themselves. The city is happy to have anything from this part of the world, and so they will not check for everything. They will just see if the goods are inside the packets and that there is no contamination”.

“What if we could have gotten into a basket which is under every other? We could sneak away the second it goes into the system for security checking”.

“I doubt that. Yes, it was the only idea when we couldn’t go through the guards. But we could just get in without trouble. So this is the better idea. We can get a disguise and get out of the ship when the guards set foot there. It is actually a simpler thing. We won’t get locked in the baskets, ship cellars or the security wing if this goes on in the right way”.

“So, there is a right way for this?” asked Jack.

“Yes, I am thinking about it. I hope you do too” said Noah.

“Considering the condition of this ship, I wonder if we need to get down on land at all” murmured Jack.

“Well, it is pretty much terrible. But this has been enough for so long, and I expect it to complete a few more journeys”.

“You are not the expert. Actually, you are not the expert in any of these. Neither was that ghostly thing. What was his name again?” asked Jack.

“It was something with three letters, and all those letters were the same”.

“What is this? You are coming up with a puzzle?” asked Jack.

“No, I just can’t remember. I was always thinking about the next move and I forgot this one” said Noah.

“Yes, it was TTT. I remember it now. He talked about too many things, and now we are here, with lessons learnt from a ghost who doesn’t even expand his initials. What kind of ghost tells people his initials and not the name?” asked Jack.

“Well, I don’t know any other ghosts, and I am not sure if they follow a protocol related to their worldly or spiritual names”.

“Do you know that the chance for our deaths has just increased because we are standing here in the open surrounded by guards and the ghost won’t really mind that?” asked Jack.

“I am fully aware of the situation. But we have to complete what we started” said Noah.

“I agree to it. But I am tired. I have less hope these days. May be we should have waited. There is no revolution in the city as we had hoped. I am not sure about it any more.” said Jack.

“Still, we are not done yet, and neither is the revolution” said an optimistic Noah.

“We will know the truth soon enough, but lets just hope that we will be alive to know that” said Jack.

The ship sounded the horn seven times. It was getting ready to leave. The time given the former soldiers to wander around and collect what was need, was over. There was not much of the time provided, and most of them usually had to hurry. There was chance of a storm and so more time was cut from the schedule. The guards rushed back to the ship with the supplies and the products which needed to be at the city. The big baskets were taken into the ship on trolleys.

The guards assembled at the main deck area and attendance marking was done. The head count was once again correct, and a signal was given to the captain for the ship to start its journey to the city. The ship had its own problems, and it slowly started moving after jerking for a few minutes. It struggled to get the engine back working again, and after fifteen minutes, it manages to be back to being normal again as it moved towards the homeland where it was created. The storm was coming closer from the right side, and the ship was sliding towards the left.

To be continued…

31. For the War

At the top of the Lightning Twin Towers in the Southern Bloc, the representatives of the four power blocs joined to discuss the big terror which was above their head, as war was very close with Zeus declaring his objectives. The official declaration of war was rather quick and no incident directly followed it, as people actually wondered if there was actually anything going on. But the leaders and their representatives knew that the danger was there. There was the sale of weapons going on in the black market and the mercenaries were training by participating in the underworld fights. The scientists were getting special aid in developing weapons of destruction from some unknown forces. There were huge transfers of money going on between the blocs, and the business people were increasing the cost of their products. The atheist fundamentalists had started the propaganda that there is no God and death is coming in the form of humans while the religions had gone silent. The blocs had to make a stand as different groups and guilds had got a clue that the end is near with this World War.

“The North has declared the war officially. There are letters sent to every outpost” said the representative of the Southern Bloc.

“The battles had already started. The West and the Central Blocs are already on the battle with the Northerns on Titan and the atmosphere of Ganymede” added the Eastern representative.

“But the news about armed conflicts is not out yet. As of now, the Earth as well as the Moon are not part of the war. Neither are the colonies at Mars. None have joined the combat” said the Western representative.

“What do you have to say about it? You are better skilled to deal with the war related activities, right?” the Southern asked the Central Bloc representative who was present there as a hologram.

“Well, I have graduated in War Diplomacy and my elective was History of War. If you ask me, I don’t think that Zeus will go on a direct battle with all of us. It is too much of a risk. The result will be large scale destruction of his territories too. He should be planning an alliance” said the Central representative.

“What kind of alliance? We are the remaining three blocs here. The rest is just him and him only. He is going to create an alliance with himself?” asked the Western.

“There is this story, about the Northern Bloc contact with alien life-forms and their experiments related to super-soldiers. The earlier devastation and the economic problems is said to be a result of an experimentation related to a force unknown to mankind”.

“We would like to believe that it was just a story made to scare the others. If there was any alien life-form, we would have been in contact with them. We are not that far behind in development of technology. This should be part of that psychological warfare and nothing else” said the Southern.

“Is this a big risk that we are takng?” asked the Eastern.

“The only one taking the big risk is Zeus. He has gone mad, and is going at everyone other than that, declaring each and every known non-Northern as an enemy. It won’t do him any good anywhere and at any moment” said the Southern.

“We consider him mad, but even the sane dictators have created such big effect on the society that they are remembered forever. May be he wants something like that too. May be wants to destroy the world, and create that chaos which will be remembered by his name – he will be known as the man who changed the world, no matter for what” said the Eastern.

“Well, he is smart. So don’t think that he is underestimating any of us. He is a lot better than all the dictators, including his own father who could create more chaos than anyone else before him. He was the master of all evil, and everything that Zeus owns come from there. Yes, it was a long time ago. But the man was too much of an evil genius and has left enough for his son even with all the problems that he faced. You might think that he was defeated in the end, and his aim didn’t materialize. But that is a misconception. He did create the path to go there, and Zeus only has to follow that. It is us who are underestimating him. There is more to the Northern Bloc and Zeus than what meets the eye. Even his own people might think that he is mad, but I assure you that he is not” added the Central representative.

“Are you just just praising our enemy for no reason and making us concerned? Why would you do that?” asked the Southern.

“No, I am not praising anyone. I am just talking about the possibilities. The spies did inform that he is planning something big, like nobody has managed before, and that much is for sure. He didn’t just become the leader after his father died, for he did plan his way to the top. I will be very happy if it is nothing, but if it is something of gigantic terror, we have to be prepared. It is all I am talking about” added the Central rep.

“In that case, better be prepared than lose the war early” said the Southern.

“Let us be safe” said the Eastern.

“Lets take this to our respective blocs” agreed the Western.

Zeus was half-mad and still a better evil genius than anyone had imagined him to be. But there was still one thing which made him lose his focus, and it was his thirst for revenge. It was something unknown to the rest, which meant that he could continue to hope and strive for the revenge even during the war without giving others the idea of that weakness which he had. He had many heroes, and all of them had lost in their lives, and was all prepared to do better than them.

To be continued…

17. Circeei’s Day

Christian slid along the bed until he fell from it. He immediately stood up on his legs and looked through the window to see total darkness outside. But there was enough light inside for him to notice that there were many inscriptions inside the room and also a symbol of cross. The walls seemed to be made of some variety of mud and the colours were all brownish and silver. There was the smell of spicy food around, and a few books were around, but none of them were made of paper.

“So you are finally awake” a voice from the darkness inquired.

Christian turned to the door to see the lady who was on his right side in the torture chamber. She was wrapped up with so many white bandages on her body that the very little silver clothing made her look like an Egyptian mummy covered in silver. She was moving with the help of two walking sticks and from the way she looked, there seemed to be some trouble with her eyes.

“You are alive. It didn’t seem so at that time. There was so much of blood loss and your whole body looked mutilated. The thought of the pain which each part of your body might have endured made me wish that I was dead rather than go through all of those” he said.

“Of course, I am alive. They never really had enough to kill me – it is not that they never had the power, but they wouldn’t make death easy for me, and that helped me in bailing out more than once. As you can see, I am still standing”.

“Who are you? What is this place and what kind of demons from hell are those creatures? Or on scientific terms, what kind of miserable sadistic aliens are they?”

“You can call me Circeei. It is not my real name though. To be frank, I never really had a name. Throughout my life, I have been known by code names, and they have slowly developed into Circeei replacing those 2s with Es and the 1s with Is, and as you might already know, it stands for the Goddess of Magic, for that spell which I have to cast for these people to save them. I was just born when myself and my parents were taken prisoners of war from the beginning of the third world war when the Northern Bloc became the most powerful of the superpowers. We were separated and we children were put in their experimentation cells. The plan was to create super-soldiers to change the direction of the war, but unfortunately for them, the war ended too early. But, they came up with a better plan later to increase our endurance to hostile environments and make us the first creatures on Titan. There were nine hundred of us, forced to run around under different test environments. As our survivor skills were tested, only three hundred and fourty eight of us remained”.

“But all the concentration camps in the Northern Bloc were decommissioned. The human rights groups checked each and every corner of the globe for anything that remained. The Northerns were even applauded for being the first Bloc do so and in the most efficient manner”.

“There lies the irony in it. They were the greatest champions of human rights on Earth, but on the Moon and later on Mars, they brutalized us with no mercy. One has to wonder what they call humans on another planet – aliens? After we were declared the slave champions who were to test the underground of Titan which could support human life, we were chained and taken into one of the largest space ships ever built, and were sandwiched between their code-signalling machines in the basement so that they eight thousand men and women from the Northern Bloc could use the vast world inside the ship and see us live in that underground and learn” said Circeei showing the writings on her body. “Some of the faded signs do go a long way back though, and I don’t want to talk about it” she added.

“These are codes? The secret transmissions which the Northern Bloc denied existence? So they planned this throughout. No wonder they were so hostile in claiming most of Titan. They must have always knew there was scope for pure life in the underground of Titan”.

“Unfortunately for us, they could hide all of these from the media. They literally own Titan. They could even hide this big a spaceship with the help of signals from Titan. They could also jam any signs of life here. What you entered was actually the entrance to this giant ship which covers the original entrance to the underground. It is not just a ship, it is big enough to be called one of the districts of the Imperial Bloc. I am actually surprised that they allowed your Bloc to exist here. I feel that you might slowly disappear from the map sooner or later. This symbol seen on your clothes of your Bloc on this planet might slowly be erased like our very existence were erased from the world, and there are so many things they can blame it on, including a little human negligence or a natural disaster of high level”.

“I should go and warn the others of my camp then. Some of mates have also gone to a Northern Settlement. From what I hear from you, none of them might survive”.

“You can’t go out right now. They might be outside. They are incredibly powerful in the darkness. We are effectively trapped out here. Lets see if we can work out a plan. We are going through desperate times even as I have seen worse. Even the concept of hell has remained just a word for me, as I have gone through most of it in reality, in this life itself”.

There were strange screams outside, but none of them seemed to bother Circeei. Despite of her lack of steadiness and the bandages, she didn’t seem to be in a mood to sit or take rest. There was a strange determination of the highest quality on her face. Christian was never this much affected by a revelation before, and he was keen to hear more about this new world of terror.

To be continued…