Miniverse

Rumors

RumorsThe two cells stood together in the loneliest corner of their compartment, debating, each as stubborn as the other. It was hard not to catch the attention of the other cells. They were stared at, the older cells muttering to themselves, and the younger ones trying to eavesdrop.

Somewhere Bicepa felt that she was wrong, and that there was some sense in Briana’s words. She had considered, for a moment, to listen to Briana. After all, Briana had been chosen as the head of logical thinking for a reason.

Yet she remained adamant to travel through the empire. It had been her dream to explore; she wasn’t very happy being restricted to just the biceps muscle.

Besides, she knew every nook and corner of it. At a very young age, she had begun exploring her home. She’d take the bus to the far-ends of the muscle every now-and-then, hoping to find something new. Even then, it was very unusual, but at least it wasn’t illegal. Eventually, her home muscle had run out of places to explore, and Bicepa had promised herself that she would explore the entire empire one day.

She felt nothing but extreme irritation when she heard Briana’s explanations for the hundredth time. She rolled her eyes so much; they might have popped out.

Briana was of the opinion that complying with the rules was a must, and that the law they were breaking was the most important. It was something that Bicepa was too adventurous to do.

“It’s easy for her to say it,” she thought, “the brain is full of new things and places to explore.”

Her train of thoughts was disturbed by her annoying companion, whom she had almost established as her enemy. Briana whispered, “I think they’re talking about us… They were talking about two missing cells.”

“Who?” Bicepa asked, a little too loudly. Briana gave her a look that clearly said ‘if you can’t whisper then better not talk at all’. She pointed at three big, white cells. They looked like the guards. Guessing from Bicepa’s expression that she didn’t know what they were, Briana whispered, “WBCs.”

Bicepa had learnt a lot about WBCs at school. But they looked heftier and more deadly up-front. Bicepa tried to withdraw from them, but Briana nudged her forwards.

As they moved closer to the WBCs, they heard one of them say, “Well, one of them is a brain cell and the other, a biceps muscle cell.” The WBC was cladded with gold chains on his wrists and neck. He was well-built, and had a rifle hoisted upon his shoulder, which made Bicepa shudder. He wore a frown, and looked rather bored.

Bicepa went blank. She had never thought that the trip could go wrong. “How,” Bicepa thought, “could such a well-planned trip go wrong?” For one, fleeting moment, Bicepa placed her suspicions on Briana. Then she shook the thought off.

She fixed her eyes on her irritable companion, who looked like she would erupt right then and there. A ball of sweat trickled down Briana’s neck as she turned to face Bicepa.

Now that they were being tracked down, Briana knew that if she didn’t do something herself, they would surely be caught. Both Bicepa and Briana knew who was cleverer.

Briana held Bicepa’s hand and pulled her to the exit. The train halted just then and Briana pulled her to the platform. “All because of you,” she began, but then took a deep breath. “Follow me,” she said with all the patience she could muster, “Without question.” Her tone was challenging.

Bicepa had to jog to keep pace with Briana. She had considered that they would run as far as possible from the platform, but instead, they ran to its opposite side.

Cells swarmed up the platform with the arrival of a train. They pushed and kicked and struggled to get on board. Bicepa and Briana somehow reached its gate. They hopped on a nanosecond before it left. Some of the cells left behind stomped their foots, the others went back to their seats irritably.

The girls claimed the closest corner. No one, but them, seemed to linger in the corners. Bicepa guessed it was dirt that drove them away.

She looked around and immediately felt queasy. The train was so crowded there was hardly room for air. There was a lot of pushing and tripping and squabbling over space.

Then she glanced at Briana and immediately felt angry.

“Why are we here?” Bicepa demanded, trying to keep her cool.

Briana rolled her eyes. “Because none of your plans have worked,” she whispered, “so let me try one of mine.”

“What plan?” she snapped.

“Shush! Do you want to be caught? Now, see, they know we’d want to go through less crowded trains, so they’ll patrol more heavily there. That’s why, if we pick the most crowded compartments, we’ll be safer.”

Bicepa scowled. “I doubt this will work.”

Briana said, dangerously loud, “I wasn’t chosen head of logical thinking for no reason. You forced me into this. You should cooperate, you-” Briana stopped herself before she started cursing.

“But I don’t like crowds!” Bicepa started to protest. Briana flushed with rage, and glared at her with those eyes that bored into her soul. “Um, okay, I guess crowds are not so bad…”

As the train took them to their unknown destination, Bicepa realised that when a mere muscle cell gets lost, no one cares; but when an important brain cell is missing, that is the centre of attention. She instantly regretted getting Briana along.

She felt overwhelmed by the bustling, chattering masses, the noise they were making, and Briana’s presence.

It was supposed to be her adventure, and she didn’t like the way Briana meddled in decisions that should have been hers. But she couldn’t muster the courage to confront Briana. She also felt a twinge of guilt for dragging her along against her liking.

They stood there in silence, looking out the window through mobs of blood cells, until a familiar, blaring voice announced that they were nearing the heart.

The RBCs looked serious again. They had to deliver their CO2 to the lungs and get oxygen in return. Bicepa looked at them, as if she were the most jobless cell in the entire empire.

The younger RBCs started fighting again, pulling at each-others’ hair and clothes, trying to make their way to the exits. It was not long before their fight became less about the exit, and more about personal rivalry. They kicked and punched each other until they were a messy group of youngsters in a mass fist-fight. The bystander-cells had to intervene. They looked disappointed but not surprised, like these fights were an everyday thing.

They entered the heart through, what Briana called, the superior vena cava. Bicepa found the name quite odd.

Her attention diverted to the windows. This time, she was able to make out beautiful carvings on pillars that rose so high, Bicepa could hardly make out their tips.

She noticed a group of twenty blood cells marvelling the junction, led by a much older cell, whom Bicepa identified as their teacher. One of the cells waved at her, and Bicepa turned around just in time for the teacher to not notice her face.