StarGaze

Noah In The Ark

"Wh...You actually traveled back in time?!" Thomas asked, astonished.

"Yes, and only I could go back because I was no human. I was more than human and less than 'them'." Raghav answered.

"So what did it feel like in that machine...or thing, whatever it was," Thomas asked.

"Well..." Raghav said.

“Why do they all look like people I know?” I ask when I pass through the fog. We pass many people on the way who are looking right at me with emotionless faces. It was like a scene from a horror movie. My companion smiles, who looks like Mandeep, smiles.

“To ease your nerves. Human hearts are known to be weak. But you look calmer and attentive than any of them.” He says.

“Only on the outside. You don’t want to know what’s going on inside my mind. Why is this place so foggy?”

“You cannot see our world if you're not one of us. Right this way, let me take you to the drift chamber.”

“What is a drift chamber?”

“It is a sealed chamber filled with a liquid. You will be dropped in the chamber and transferred to the past as soon as it happens.”

“As soon as what happens?”

“Your death.”

“My death? If I am dead, then how will I go to the past?”

“Only your consciousness is transferred, your body stays here. After the body dies, the brain thrives to survive longer and in doing so, attempts to open a passage into time. But it is very weak. The liquid in which you would be dipped will act as a catalyst and enhances your brain capacity. This opens a gateway for a brief moment and your consciousness navigates through the passage to occupy your body from the past. The chamber confines the gateway. If it wasn’t for the chamber, the time rupture would be uncontrollable, resulting in a black hole, which will bring the end to the universe as we know it.”

“Has this ever happened before?”

“Yes, but in other timelines.”

He suddenly stops. I notice that the path is blocked by a wall or a gate of some kind. It is also made of the same stone like the ones before. Mandeep walks to the gate and puts his right hand in the middle of it. strange ripples diverge from his hand to the gate. The gate opens without a voice and an enormous amount of white gas flows out of it, covering our bodies. After the gas clears, he signals me to come inside. The room has a transparent box-like chamber in the middle. The chamber is connected with several pipes which look like veins. The walls are covered with these pipes.

“Lay down in that chamber,” Mandeep says, pointing to the box in the middle of the room.

I walk up to the box and wonder how to open it. when I place my hand on the box, the upper transparent layer disappears with a hissing sound. Wow! They have some cool technology. The box increases in size and starts changing its shape. When it finally stops, I notice a shape inside which is about my height and matches my dimensions.

“Lay down on the outline,” Mandeep says.

“Whatever you say, boss,” I say and lie down on the shape in the chamber. I’m guessing that the box had analyzed me from my hand and made the cavity in the shape of my body. I fit in exactly and the transparent barrier forms again.

“Now, listen to me very carefully. After we fill the chamber, you will not be able to breathe. Don’t struggle, just let go. As soon as your body goes limp and your mind starts the flashes from your past, focus on the day where you want to go. Remember what happened that day. Keep in mind, your only enemy in there is you. Your mind will set you on different paths, but you must overcome the urge. If you try to go before that day or die before focusing on the exact moment, your mind will be stranded in the fifth dimension and you will never be able to go there or come back here. So focus, and focus well. You understand?”

“Yes. Will I see you back there?”

“You will. But we will not be your friends. Time travel generates anomalies in the region. We will pick up the anomalies and try to kill you. So look out for shapeshifters. May time be with you.”

Soon after that, the veins on the walls become blue. I always wanted my life to be just a bad dream. I hoped I would wake up and everything would be all right. My real parents would rush to me and tell me it’s okay. That I have nothing to fear and that they will always protect me. But I don’t regret anything now. I was something higher than other humans, so I should have a bigger aim- the aim to save humanity from the ultimate doom.

The liquid starts filling the chamber. I feel it as it fills inside my ears. It is cold, thick, and sticky. In a situation like this, anyone would have taken a deep breath and tried to struggle as long as they could, hoping that someone might save them just in time. But that was not my case. The person who wanted to kill me was me. my heart rate skyrockets when the liquid gets inside my nose and over my eyes. I hold my breath and see the little blue crystals as they collide against each other. I am floating now.

Blackness. My heartbeat is slowing now. The crystals are fading away. My body does not respond to my commands. This is the end. But I’m not afraid. Someone once told me- ‘We have dodged death enough times that we don’t fear it anymore.’

Absolute silence and darkness. And then, the last light of hope. Flashes. Memories and tragedies. I’m drifting backward. Talks with Emily, the psychiatrist, Rishabh, Rakesh’s death. Meeting with the otriad on the railway station, my first boxing match, the first time I saw a street fight and when I ran from home. They all ravage me at the same time, trying to catch me. But I have made peace with my past.

Focus! Something tells me to focus. Time is slow inside the mind, so if I die in seconds in the real world, I have fifteen minutes in my mind. I urge my mind and finally stop the drift.  I navigate the memories to find that one perfect moment. As I walk through a ton of memories, I see Edward’s face. Red eyes, blood-filled mouth, and torn neck. His head has a knife in it, and I realize that I had just killed him. Emily and Hope came running to him and cry at the top of their voices. What have I done? I just killed a friend who came here to save my life. Am I hateful?

“Focus! You can’t get stuck on just one moment.” I remind myself, “This is the past, and you can’t do anything.”

But I can do something. I can go in that moment and tell Edward to not climb the truck. I have the chance to save my friend who risked his life for me. I owe him that much.

“You can’t throw away the fate of your people just to save one man. Even if you saved him,  the bonies will eventually kill all of you.” I say to myself.

Finally, I move forward. I stop again at a moment. It’s Naman. He frowns as if he can see me sneak up to him and slit his throat.

“Forgive me, old friend,” I whisper and move forward.

I suddenly realized how many people I have killed in the past year. I have slit throats, ripped legs, and decapitated innocent people who were just following their bloody instincts. My vision is getting blurry, my time must be close. I clear my mind and increase my speed. And just as I am about to get blind, I find it!

Oh yes! How could I forget this moment? This was the day I was supposed to fight the champion. In the third round, I found out his weakness and beat the pulp out of him. After that, I became the undisputable underground fighting champion. This is it!

“He’s overconfident. He thinks you're just some other rookie. That will be our advantage. Hey, are you listening?”

The light fades away and I see a face. This is a face I recognize. My headaches too much to gather what he is saying.

“I need to go home,” I say, struggling for words. He screams something and shakes my shoulders, bringing me to a jump start. I still can’t hear anything ad my brain is about to burst. He is pointing at a gate. I finally get irritated by his bullshit and walk to the gate.

It’s the arena. My first championship match. But I am too frustrated to think about any of that. I see a man in the ring waving at me to come and fight. The look on his face makes me angry. I dash towards the ring and slip inside. The man swings his hand and jabs my jaw, immediately breaking it. I was already irritated, this attack made me furious. I dodged his following punch and placed uppercuts after uppercuts until his vision became foggy. Then I ravaged his ribs and stomach. After about five minutes of constant punishment, the public rushed into the ring and saved him from my wrath. They announced me the champion and as I received my title, my head just couldn’t take anymore and everything became blurred. I passed out.

I woke up in a familiar place. I looked around the room, there were posters of boxers and martial artists. The room was shabby and there were bloodstains on the walls. This was my room!

The next morning, I got up and reached for my khukhree. It wasn’t there. In fact, the holster was missing too. It takes me some time to get used to the fact that the world is all right now. The ones with weapons are considered criminals instead of saviors. I am struggling with remembering two different realities at the same time. So I decided to rewrite my diary and describe things from the very start.

As I open the notebook, I hear a knock on my door. I don’t have my khukhree, so I grab the kitchen knife and wait for them to break the door. But they just keep knocking. Finally, I open the door.

“Hello kid, want some breakfast?” coach Raman says, pushing the door.

“Stop right there. Are you bit?” I ask.

“Bit? Bit by what? There are no dogs here.”

“You think this is a joke. Take off your clothes!”

“What?”

“Do it now or I’ll crush your head with this toaster,” I scream.

“You might have had a concussion yesterday. I’ll leave you alone for now.” He says, calm but frightened. He leaves and leaves me confused.

“Yesterday? Yesterday. Yesterday! Oh no, I wasted a day.” I say to myself.

I take up the notebook again and start writing. I write the whole day without eating or drinking. I had lost track of time and even myself. The diary was completed at around 9 o’clock and I was feeling much better. I knew where I was and what I had to do. My head felt much better but my stomach was growling.

Back then, currency was used. So I took a few notes from my shelf and stuffed them in my purse. Then I came out of the building and went down to the street food vendor to eat pani-puri (Indian street food). I spent two hundred rupees in the next five minutes. I became attentive whenever anyone entered the alley. The vendor looked at me with a funny look.

Next, I went to the illegal gun seller and bought two six-round revolvers. Whenever I walked in the market and heard any loud voice, my old fear returned and I crouched on the road before realizing that it was all right. The people thought that I was stupid and asked me if I needed some help. The idiots didn’t know that they will be the ones begging for help in a few days. I just nodded and moved on. it took some time but things got back to normal.

28 days left

I didn’t smoke at that time, so the coach became sure that I was under the influence of a witch when I bought five packs of cigarettes. He tried his best to make me listen to him, but he was not important so I didn’t really care. I had a mission to complete. And I would have a bigger problem if I told him that he was going to kill his daughter and eat her before we burnt him alive along with his wife.

I searched social media for Rishabh. I think he would still be my protector. Surprisingly, I find him soon enough. After getting his address, I take my bike and ride to his house.

When I get there, I see a sight that makes my nervousness kick in again. It’s Ravi. He is playing with a paper plane in the garden. His parents are talking outside the house. I put my bike on the stand and walk up to them.

“Namaste, is Rishabh home?” I ask.

“Namaste beta. He is here, but who are you?” his mother asks.

“Think of me as a future friend. Can I see him?” I ask. She stares at me for a few seconds and then nods.

“Second door to the left.” She says, pointing at the entrance of the house.

“Thank you very much,” I say and walk towards the house. My legs are almost begging to fly to his room. After all this, a familiar person.

I enter his room. It’s empty. I turn back to get out but Rishabh stands at the entrance, staring at my face. This sudden confrontation surprises me and I fall.

“Who are you?” Rishabh asks.

“Don’t f**k with me. You're my protector and I need your help.” I said furiously.

“They said there was an anomaly in Jaipur. So that was you.” He said calmly.

“Yes. Now help me stop them.” I said.

“I’m sorry. The job of a protector is to protect, not to help.” He said and turned around to leave.

“The Rishabh I knew would never leave his friend alone,” I screamed.

“The Rishabh you knew is probably dead by now. I’m not him,” he said plainly and left.

“And one more thing. I can protect you from human threats, but I won’t be able to do anything when they come for you.” He said, turning again.

“I understand,” I said.

Rishabh is a lost cause. So who else can I trust to accompany me on this mission? The answer comes immediately. Yash!

Yash is my childhood friend. We went to the same school and were best friends once.  He would definitely help me.

"So did he help you?" Thomas asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, he did," Raghav answered plainly.

"But whenever our minds cross, I feel a strong rage and hate you have towards that particular name. I don't understand, why hate the people with your best friend's name?" Thomas asked.

"Because betrayal hurts the most, my friend," Raghav said and sighed.

"I know. What happened?" Thomas asked, trying to gather as much information as he could about the aliens from Enceladus. He had a plan in mind, but he wasn't sure if he should disclose it.

Raghav stared blankly at a dark corner of Thomas' mind.