2 THE SIGN
“Wake up, son!” cried Amanda, for the umpteenth time.
“Waaaaaaaargh!” said Troy, in his sleep, turning around cozily in his bed.
“Do you know what day it is?” said Amanda, excitedly.
“Susie!” said the honey blond haired boy in his dream.
“WHO? Who’s Susie, Troy?” cried Amanda, shaking her son.
“Mum!” hollered Troy and woke up with a start.
“Who’s Susie, Troy?” asked Amanda, her face looking very serious.
“It’s no one, Mum!” replied Troy and wiped his drool with the edge of his pajama shirt.
His mother glared at him in return.
“If you have a girlfriend, let me know, son,” said Amanda softly.
Troy looked at his mother, doubtfully.
What is she trying to get at?
He maintained silence, not knowing what to do.
“You know you can trust me,” said Amanda reassuringly.
Troy started thinking. His mother wasn’t like the others. She was the most possessive mum anyone could have.
She neither liked him having any girlfriends nor had allowed anyone in their family to get close to him, whom she thought, would separate her son from her. She always seemed to have the fear of losing her son, whom she considered her only treasure in the whole universe. She hadn’t always been outrageously possessive like this. Only after a particular incident, Amanda had changed completely.
Is it okay to tell her? She seems to be fine with the whole “girlfriend” thing now, judging by the way she is speaking. Or is it a trap?
Troy, however, decided to tell Amanda,
“Well, Mum…..”
“Yes, son,” said Amanda and smiled at him.
Being reassured by his mum’s smile, Troy splattered out without having any second thoughts, “Well, Mum, it wasn’t much. It was just a kiss, I honestly don’t know what to do next. I mean I think I am in love with her. I mean she’s so gorgeous that no boy in his right mind would say no to her. Seriously, mum, can I bring her home to………….”
Troy looked up at Amanda, who now stood over like a towering giant over him, her nostrils flaring red.
“You, Troy Dylan Zander are in big, big trouble. You are grounded for the whole month!” said Amanda, stressing each word so hard.
“But, Mum, I thought you were being…..”
“I am your mother, for God’s sake, Troy. How do you expect me to deal with this? Get up from your bed and brush your teeth, right now,” commanded Amanda and walked out of Troy’s bedroom,
muttering that he was just like his father.
“Well, that went well,” muttered Troy.
“Good morning, Troy!” said Max, the Zander home’s AI, the voice booming off the in-built speakers in the walls.
“Good morning, Max,” replied Troy unenthusiastically.
“You seem unhappy, Troy,” said the young cheerful female voice.
“Now, did you get that from me being flushed red here?” scoffed Troy.
“I got that from your voice, it’s unnaturally low and sounds sad,” replied Max.
“Oh, go away, Max, if you only could change my mother, instead of proving to me how smart you really are!” said Troy and buried his head on the soft red jelly bed.
“As you wish, Troy, I’ll let your mother know how unhappy you really are.”
“Oh, don’t do that, Max!”
“I am sorry, Troy, your mother has requested every conversation that we have.”
“Since when did she say that?” cried Troy, in disbelief.
“On the way out from your room, Troy!” replied Max, irritatingly calm.
Troy suppressed all his anger and bit his red jelly pillow.
“Is there anything else, you need, Troy?”
“Nothing at all, Max, thank you!” replied Troy, clenching his teeth.
“Right then, Troy,” said Max.
Stupid machine, thought Troy, and Mum, totally unbelievable, she had asked Max to spy on me. I had no privacy, no life of my own. Damn it all.
Later, when Troy came downstairs into the living room, wearing a light blue tee, a button less shirt over it and dark brown pants. He looked around for his mother but there was no sign of his mom anywhere.
“Where’s Mum, Max?” asked Troy.
“She’s gone to the Federation Headquarters to meet Mr. Hugo Falcon, Troy.”
“What? I was supposed to go with her today, this was once in a lifetime chance to meet my hero!”
cried Troy.
“She did mention one thing, before leaving,” said Max.
“And what was that?” asked Troy, disgruntled.
“She told me to convey you the message that this was your punishment, Troy,” replied Max.
“For kissing a girl?” asked Troy, with his eyes popping out in disbelief.
“It’s most probable.”
Totally pissed off, Troy sank on the leather couch and let his mind wander, to distract himself from the sucky reality that he faced.
His mind hit on Hugo Falcon, more popularly known as The Falcon on his planet. He was the greatest adventurer, the Keplers had ever seen. Since, Kepler was essentially an ocean planet all of Falcon’s adventures had been underwater. His triumphs included facing the darkest and the most dangerous of all the sea creatures known as the mythical Osiris that lived only in the deepest pockets of the ocean.
The Osiris are described as demons, as almost the size of a medium sized space ship, with an armor that is impenetrable to all the Kepler guns and lasers and the worst part, was that they hunted in herds, not in ten or twenty but hundreds of large-sized monsters that came at you, giving you not even a fighting chance and before you realized anything, you would end up in the Osiris’ stomachs in pieces.
Falcon’s footage of his team being hounded by the Osiris pack and him successfully killing an Osiris, by shooting right though its eye, had become all the rage on Kepler and the most viewed video clip on Hooloo, the planet’s most famous video sharing website.
Troy had first heard of Hugo Falcon, from his father, who read him Falcon’s adventures at night, before tucking Troy into his bed. It seemed like a long time ago, when everything had been perfect and Troy missed him now. Just to think of the way, he had died was too horrible. Troy shifted his glistening eyes to look at his home. He tried to break his focus on his dad but the memories were just too painful and there had been someone else too. He turned around uncomfortably on the couch. As he turned, he felt the soft rich leather skin of the couch and remembered the other night with Susie, her soft skin and the taste of her lips. Troy smiled. He definitely wanted to meet her again. He didn’t want to miss out on a girl like that.
Somehow, he felt that the grounding was worth it. Troy put his hands beneath his head and turned to face the ceiling. Max was playing a romantic number “You shall always be mine!” by Barbara Swing.
Troy made a funny face, and wondered whether Max had started playing the song in reaction to reading his feelings. Troy was tempted to ask but decided not to, remembering his mom and his stomach. He was hungry.
“Max?”
“Yes! Troy!”
“Hungry!”
“One minute!”
In less than a minute, a tray full of food whizzed out of the kitchen and hovered in front of Troy, before settling down on the glass table.
Almost, everything in the Zander home was controlled by Max, as it was in all the other Kepler homes by other customized AIs. All these AIs were in turn connected to each other, kind of making a global network. Everything in the home was connected to the AI and controlled, and if needed, along with a propellant system.
“Fresh green salads, bread and mermaid egg frittata, Troy,” announced Max.
“I love mermaid eggs!” said Troy excitedly and launched onto the frittata. “Entertainment, Max!”
The white wall and the space in front of Troy suddenly came alive in response. A giant ten limbed blue lizard monster came running towards him being chased by men in spacesuits. With great ferocity, the monster lunged towards Troy, freezing his every nerve and letting the frittata fall from his mouth.
As he watched on, spellbound, a shower of rockets shot off the movie, blasting the monster into a thousand simmering pieces that disappeared on reaching within an inch of Troy’s eyes.
“This reality render tech never stops amazing me!” said Troy, gorging on his salad happily, referring to the technology that allowed him to watch his entertainment as if it were happening right before him.
“Troy!” said Max suddenly, in an alarmed tone.
“Not now, Max!” said Troy, actively filling his mouth with frittata.
“Bad news, Troy, You got to see this!” insisted Max.
“Oh! Shut up Max!” replied Troy. “I am trying to eat here!”
Max didn’t reply. Instead, she stopped playing the movie and started displaying another video where buildings were being blown apart without any apparent attackers.
“Why did you change the movie, Max?” asked Troy, irritated.
“Kepler is under attack, Troy, The capital is being demolished. This is a live feed.”
“Holy Mermaids! What’re you sayin’?” shrieked Troy, dropping his salad bowl onto the floor.
“The attack began about fifteen minutes ago,” said Max.
“Mum!” yelped Troy, jumping from the couch.
“She is safe for now, the Headquarters has been demolished. She has instructed you to stay here, until she comes.”
“God no! Max, where is she? Show me where she is, right now.”
“She is within a two mile radius from the Headquarters, Troy.”
“Get out the Warswagger now!”
“No way, Troy, the instructions are clear. You are to stay put, until she comes.”
“God, I hate arguing with you!”
“I am sorry, Troy.”
Troy didn’t reply and remained silent.
“You are up to something, aren’t you?” asked Max, suspiciously.
“Activate Whizzling Whizzler, the magic words being, shut up Max!” said Troy, to which Max shut down within a blink of an eye.
“I am sorry too, Max,” said Troy and ran out through the main door.
He went to the garage and pressed his password, followed by his whole body biometrics scan test.
He stood at the entrance and saw the garage roof descend to the ground, revealing the pride of his youth, the Warswagger, the most definitive space bike with balls, to put it in Troy’s own words.
The Warswagger was an eleven foot long bike convertible, made with reinforced iridium. The Warswagger could reach supersonic speeds and was bloody combat ready, with full AI support of Max’s, making it the most prized bike on Kepler.
Troy mounted the Warswagger, took something from a hidden compartment in the tank and placed it in a flash inside his pant pocket. Then, he switched the bike on.
“Whizzling Whizzler! Get me Max in the Chained mode!” said Troy.
A moment later, Troy heard Max’s dry emotionless voice.
“Troy.”
“I need your help, but don’t try anything to restraint me or else my virus will shut you down again,”
said Troy.
“Clever of you, really clever, I never thought you could make a virus as powerful as this.”
“No time for autographs, let’s go!” told Troy as he kicked in the gear, rolled the throttle and the Warswagger blasted out of the garage onto the lavender sky.
Within fifteen minutes, Troy started getting glimpses of the damage inflicted on Kepler by the unseen attackers.
“Talk to me, Max!” said Troy, his heart beating fervently. “Is it some sort of a coup or something?”
“No, Troy, Kepler intelligence thinks it’s an alien attack.”
“What? Aliens in this part of the galaxy, that’s impossible!”
“The Kepler Federation has kept this under wraps for the past few months but the Federation had been getting strange signals from outer space. They could neither decrypt the signals nor pinpoint the source of the signals.”
“How do you know all this?”
“It’s all over the news, Troy. I have located your mother. She’s due northwest, 1.25 miles out.”
“Thanks!”
Troy slowed the Warswagger, as he neared his mother’s location. He couldn’t see anything as he entered the epicenter of the attack.
“Max, I can’t see a thing!” said Troy, “Max!”
Max didn’t reply.
“MAX!” shouted Troy to no avail.
“Wait!” replied Max, in a hushed tone.
“What is it, Max?”
“Wait for my call!”
“Max!”
“Shut up!”
“Tsokay!” said Troy, which meant the same as okay in Standard Order English.
Troy waited with baited breath, sweating and then suddenly out of the blue, Max yelled, “GO!”
Troy, at once, rolled the bike out of the smoke forwards.
“TO YOUR RIGHT NOW!” yelled Max. “AND NOW CLIMB!”
Troy pulled the handlebar towards his chest, and the Warswagger shot up into the sky at ninety degrees to the ground, nearing supersonic speed.
“Unchain me from the Whizzler now, Troy,” said Max.
“Alright!” said Troy, out of fear. “Whizzler, deactivate!”
“Thank you!” said Max politely and rolled out two blasters, from the Warswagger’s rear and started pumping plasma shots.
“What was that?” cried Troy.
“We are being surrounded!”
“I don’t see anyone!” replied Troy, his heart beating even faster.
“That’s because they cannot be seen with your eyes! You should have never come out here, Troy!”
“What are they, Max!” cried Troy.
“I don’t know!”
“How do you someone’s here?”
“I am getting unusual signals from this place, that’s how.”
“Max! Learn all you can about this attack! I’ll look around for mother.”
“No, I am going to call for help, Troy.”
“Do as I say, Max!” said Troy while he turned the Warswagger around and looked down, the smoke was spreading fast around the epicenter and buildings were falling down as the smoke spread around them.
“Give me a dual infrared-sonar view, I am going in. Those busters are in the smoke,” told Troy, and blasted into the epicenter.
“I would advise against it, Troy.”
“They got my mother, Max, I don’t want to lose her too,” said Troy, fighting back tears.
“Yes, Troy, I understand but…” replied Max.
Troy vroomed in, avoiding Max’s reply, looking for his mother’s identity to pop up on the screen in front of him.
There were no signs of anybody out there.
“Where are all the people, Max?”
“They seem to be disappearing, Troy.”
“Are those attackers taking them? Do you still have a lock on Mum?”
“Yes, your Mum is still here, Troy.”
“Where?” shouted Troy, out of frustration.
“The readings are fussy, something seems to be interfering.”
“Max!”
“I am right here.”
“I have had enough, Max, I am going to go into Theta mode,” said Troy, referring to the Infiniti protocol.
“You are joking, right?” chuckled Max.
“No!” shouted Troy in return, unable to believe that Max was in a light mood now.
“You haven’t even cleared your beta levels, how can you ever-”
“Whizzler, take over!” said Troy, defiantly.
“No, Troy, I can’t let you do this!” pleaded Max.
“I am sorry, Max,” said Troy, as he jumped out of the Warswagger.
Troy ran blindly on the ground and started calling for his mother, trying to pick up on her scent. It was too weak for him to tell him, which direction to take.
“MUM!” he screamed, coughing in between because of the smoke.
His eyes watered and his throat burned but yet he persisted.
“MUM! MUM! WHERE ARE YOU?” he yelled at the top of his voice.
Suddenly, Troy heard a whizzing sound that settled behind him.
“Mum!” he called out, “Max, is that you?”
There was no answer.
Fear started making it way around Troy’s throat and his heart, slowly choking him. Troy shook himself free, closed his eyes and remembered the Theta mode protocol and he drew the injection, that he had earlier taken from the Warswagger, from his pant pocket and stabbed himself in the left arm.
He stood motionless, as he felt the stimulant travel throughout his body. Once he felt the effects kick in, a few moments later, he lunged in sideways to his right, picking his mother’s scent more confidently.
Due to his heightened sense of awareness, Troy could feel the presence of other people with him.
People, he could not see. They were moving along with him, parallel, drawing close to him by each passing moment. Troy spread his arms out, to strike them but he just struck the empty smoke-filled air and then he ran onto something solid in front of him that knocked him backwards. Troy got up, and then he was thrown out even farther by an unseen force. Troy landed on top of the Warswagger and rolled down onto the ground.
“Max, are you recording this?” cried Troy, tapping the little transmitter in his right ear.
“Yes, Troy, I am,” replied Max, quickly.
“Have you got anything?”
“I’m afraid not, Troy.”
Troy placed his hands on his face, in frustration and when he opened his eyes again, suddenly saw something like a sign in black, floating in the air right before him.
“What the heck?” Troy said, looking at the sign, which looked vaguely like a ‘J’ with three dots.
Troy blinked his eyes twice and looked at the symbol again. It just seemed like vapor rising in the air.
Troy extended his hand towards it and touched it, at which the symbol tied itself around Troy’s hand like a rope and pulled him down on the floor. As Troy fell, he felt something very cold, whiz right above him and almost closely shaving him.
“TROY!!!” cried Amanda, from behind Troy.
“MUM!” cried back Troy, as the weird sign disappeared and shot in the direction of his mother’s voice. He kept running but he couldn’t find her anywhere.
“She’s vanished, Troy,” reported Max.
“NO!” cried Troy, his eyes flooding with water and controllable rage surging through his veins.
“YOU BLOODY BAS-” swore Troy, as a huge explosion threw him away like a lifeless doll.
It was a massive explosion of light and of completely a different nature. It was difficult to tell the cause of the blast but it looked as if, the explosion of light had emerged from Troy.
As Troy flew away from the ground, Max guided the Warswagger to catch him midair, before crashing onto the ground.
“Troy!” called Max loudly.
There was no answer.
Max checked his vitals, he seemed to be fine but his brain was showing some unusual activity, otherwise he had been just knocked out cold.