You're Not Alone

Future Friends

The next morning began with Chelsea, convincing Frisca to get dressed for work. It was obvious that Frisca was reluctant to work at the museum, but what irked her more was the dress code that had to be followed.“I’m not wearing that, it’s just not my type” she protested and ran away from Chelsea.

“This is the dress code. You have to stick to it, whether you like it or not,” Chelsea frowned and chased her around.

It was a bright sunny morning, the girls were arguing about the uniform that Chelsea had presented to her. Koru was having a good time, watching Chelsea run after her.  The uniform, in general, wasn’t that bad though, but neither were they appropriate as per Frisca’s standards. It was a white shirt, with a black vest and black pleated skirt, which according to her was way too short.

“Frisca, you’re just overreacting, stop making a fuss and put this one before we get late,” Chelsea got irritated and threw the clothes at her.

“Give me one good reason why I should be wearing this to work?” Frisca raised her brows and demanded an explanation as Chelsea brushed her hair.

“Don’t you see, it makes us looks more feminine. The museum is always bustling with kids, it excites them to interact with the staff if they appear approachable,” Chelsea explained innocently and felt assumed that she had convinced her.

“Excites them, Eh! You mean the kids’ fathers, right? Frisca passed a sarcastic remark and dropped the skirt aside.

“Rules are rules,” Chelsea said and shook her head. “If you have issues you can always speak to the manager,” she added and filled Koru’s bowl with milk

‘Fine! I’ll have a word with whoever your manager is, but for now, I’m just going to wear the shirt and vest on my jeans” Frisca made it clear to her and stuck to her words, while Chelsea sighed in defeat.

Checking if everything was in place, they both left the apartment and headed for the stop where the train halted. Frisca was amazed at how the trains raced on the road with other futuristic vehicles. The city indeed looked charismatic in broad daylight. It was still hard for our protagonist to accept that she had entered the future, it felt more like she was living in a sci-fi movie. When the train arrived, they rushed in and stood near the exit doors. Frisca leaned against the pole and gazed out the window.

“Can I ask you something?” she broke her silence and asked Chelsea.

“Yes! Go ahead,” Chelsea replied and looked at her curiously.

“Mind explaining what the sky is doing down here if this city is supposed to be underground?” she raised a quizzical brow and pointed out towards the window. Chelsea giggled and touched Frisca’s nose playfully.

“That’s because there is no sky, silly!” she answered with a grin on her face.

“Pardon me!” Frisca raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

Chelsea noticed the confused expression on her face and realised that Frisca wasn’t aware of the ways and life in the future. Hence twirling the ends of her hair, she smiled and began explaining the facts to her." The sky you see down here in Orion city is artificial. It’s like a virtual sky, a 3D hologram projection to be more specific,” she stated proudly and drew in a deep breath.

“Since it was always dark down here, people found it difficult to adjust to carrying on with their lives. Therefore our engineers came up with this technology of creating an artificial sky. Not to mention the artificial seasons that we experience,” She concluded with a wink before they got down at their destination.

“Wow, so this is how the future looks like,” she looked up and gasped in amazement as she felt the warmth of the sun.

“Uh…That one is the real sun you’re looking at,” Chelsea noticed the excitement in her face and explained. “The museum comes under that part of the Orion that isn’t underground,” she added and realised that she had confused Frisca terribly. “Oh never mind, I know it sounds crazy, but you’ll get used to our city,” She grabbed her arms and guided her towards the museum.

Frisca’s eyes darted across her surroundings as they walked in. The museum was open for visitors, unlike yesterday it was brimming with adults and kids. Frisca was amazed by the virtual boys and girls who were mere 3D projections which guided the visitors in and around the museum. Dressed in the same uniform as hers, they popped out f the screens on the walls and engaged the visitors who sought their assistance. Their hand gestures and prompt reply made them look lifelike.

 “So, aren’t you excited?” Chelsea asked Frisca and snapped her out of her daze.

“Yes! Working in a museum of the future was my all-time childhood ambition!” she replied sarcastically and drooped her shoulders sadness.

“Hey, relax. I know you’re thinking of your home, but trust me this place isn’t that bad. Besides, being a gallery attendant is quite fun." Chelsea exclaimed and took her seat at the helpdesk counter.

 “Wait, I thought you were a gallery attendant too?” Frisca pouted and leaned over her desk.

“No! Silly, my work is to provide maps and help visitors with their queries. The last gallery attendant ran away a month ago. It’s mostly just the three of us in the museum, oh and there is this terrible female who..” she hadn’t finished her statement when Frisca interrupted with a start.

“Ran away? Whoa, wait so it’s just the three of y’all managing this huge museum, but why did he or she run away?” Frisca crunched her brows and tried to probe further into the details.

“Uhm…You mean nobody told you about it? Chelsea enquired cautiously and paused.

“Nobody told me what?” Frisca narrowed her eyes and stared into hers.

“Frisca, you are aware of what happens here right, I mean what we do?” Chelsea studied her face while she twirled the pen with her finger. As for Frisca, she just stared at her without portraying any emotions. Anxious to hear what she had to say, she raised an eyebrow and asked suspiciously, “And what do y’all do?”

Chelsea wrinkled her nose and avoided her intimidating gaze. She seemed more confused than her, for she wasn’t sure if Vlade and Magmus had revealed their secret to her. Frisca could notice the tension on her face, as she wiped her brows.  For some odd reason, Frisca felt as if she was wanted to tell her something, but wasn’t. too sure how to go about it. Chelsea kept shifting in her seat and darting here eyes over the desk before Frisca lost her patience.

“Chelsea….” She took her name in a hoarse whisper and brought her face closer to hers.

“Has Vlade told you anything?” Chelsea hesitantly questioned her again.

“Chelsea, will you stop throwing questions at me and just spit out the truth!" Frisca  hit she fist on the desk and frowned in frustration when all of a sudden a group of twenty children barged in screaming like a fish market.

“Dragons! Oh yeah!” They shouted in union and startled all the other visitors in the mail hall.

Frisca turned around to see the bubbly lot and frowned. These kindergarten kids were spread out everywhere like Santa’s little elves. The only difference was that these were more hyperactive. Their teacher looked all drained out. She signalled Frisca to come forward and help her, which made her wonder why the teacher had picked her in the first place.

“It’s your call, go ahead and do me proud!” Chelsea winked and let out a soft laugh before sending her away.

Frisca drifted her eyes over the toddlers and grimaced. It wasn’t like she disliked kids, but being surrounded by a large number made her feel nervous, especially when all looked naughty.  “God what have I got myself into!” she sighed and said a small prayer as she approached their teacher.

The teacher, however, looked more disturbed than what Frisca was. Her anxiety came into light when she hurriedly handed over the list of their names and turned to leave. “Hey, where are you going? Frisca called out to the lady in bewilderment but got no reply. Running away in frenzy, she looked like she had been waiting to get rid of the naughty lot herself. Having no other option, but to tend to the kids, Frisca sighed and turned around.

As she tried to get them assembled in a row, she met a little boy who reminded her of Tori. With a long face, he approached her and shared his worries “Ms. March left me alone, I’m scared,” he grabbed her hand and trembled in fear. Frisca’s heart melted when she heard his sweet voice. Caressing his hair, she smiled and told him to stay by her side till Ms. March returned. “Don’t worry, she’ll come back soon,” she blinked playfully and clapped her hands to grab everyone’s attention.

“So kids, welcome to Orion National Museum.” she greeted them, sounding very professional.

Pulling out the digital map of the museum, she studied and searched the galleries that would interest her little visitors. As she went through it, the kids got restless and began shouting once again.

“Dragons! Dragons!” they shouted in unison till Frisca agreed.

“Okay, we will start with dra-dragons..,” she paused and wondered how a mythical creature such as a dragon could exist in the future. Anxious to see one herself, she rolled the map and signalled the kindergarten brigade to follow her.

Frisca gave them a tour of the whole museum by visiting all the gallery and explaining each and everything that was kept n display.  She tried her best to entertain them with facts, but her audience was in their own world, screaming, running around, touching things that had  “Do not touch “signs on them. The museum had turned into a playground. Frisca paused to take a break, while they poked fun of nude statues, and ran hither thither.  Watching them reminded her about Tori and how he had once turned the whole house upside down when he had invited his friends for his birthday party.

“Miss, I’m getting bored. Can we move on to the science gallery?" A girl with thick glasses requested Frisca with a straight face. She looked quite firm and confident about what she wanted.

“Sure, as soon as I…..” Frisca was about to complete her statement when another kid interrupted her.

“Miss, he pulled my hair. A little girl came forward and complained. Frisca glanced at the boy whom she had complained about and reprimanded him gently. “That’s not good, apologise to her,” she said but the boy continued pulling her hair.

“Miss, can we move on?” the same girl with glasses tugged Frisca’s skirt and sighed in boredom.

“Wait a minute!” she bit her lower lip and ran towards the other kids who were scribbling the expensive portraits with their crayons. The task got tougher for her as she tried to control them single-handed, she pleaded, requested and forced them to listen, but it all went in vain as they ran berserk.

“Miss, can I...”

“Will you just shut up” Frisca lost her cool and screamed out her lungs.

Silence surged the air as all the kids stopped what they were doing. Breathing heavily, she closed her eyes in meditation and opened them after sensing that she had everything in control. The kids stood motionless in their respective positions as Frisca heaved a sigh of relief, but that relief didn’t last long. As science says, every action has a reaction. The boy on whom she had yelled earlier, had his moist eyes fixed on her.

“I just wanted to know where the bathroom was,” he choked and burst into tears. And as expected the chain reaction began. All the kids in the gallery started crying out loud and disturbing the other visitors. They stared at Frisca in anger and passed comments on how harsh she was with kids. Tried as much as she could, Frisca could not stop them from crying oceans.

“What happened?” Chelsea came in running to the gallery after hearing all the commotion.

“I cannot manage t-these t-these…” Frisca stammered in helplessness, While Chelsea calmly handled the situation like a pro and got all the kids to stop crying. Frisca felt insulted after noticing how the kids obeyed  Chelsea’s commands with ease. Believing that all were holding her responsible for whatever had happened a minute ago, she clenched her fist and decided to call it quits.

“I can’t handle this anymore!” she said and eventually left the gallery in haste.

She thought about the manager as she marched out in search of his office cabin. Talking to him was her first priority since she has gone mad after what had transpired down in the gallery. She had two reasons to meet the manager. One reason was the uniform, and the other was her duty as a gallery attendant, she hated both dearly. She prepared her lines and took the stairways that led to his office. Marching ahead with heavy footsteps, she stopped at the manager's office cabin and raised her hands to knock the door. However, she suddenly changed her mind and just walked in with rage.

“Excuse me Mr. Manager!” she called out to the concerned person and waited for a response as the door behind her closed. The office cabin was unusually dark with only a dim light that flickered from the computer screen on the desk. Frisca sensed the negativity around her and felt uncomfortable. Apart from the haunting darkness, there was something eerie about the place.

She gasped and skipped a beat when her anxious eyes fell on the manager. Seated across the work desk, he had his eyes fixed on Frisca from the edge of the computer screen. For a second she felt his eyes had turned into a shade of red, but that was just the reflection of the lights that flowed from the screen before him.  As she waited for his response, she noticed his hands lowering the screen. That’s when he turned on the lights and revealed his face to her.

“Oh, Freak! Is that you?” she widened her eyes, not believing that Vlade was actually the manager of the museum.

“What were you expecting? Mahatma Gandhi?” he said and stared at her in repulsion.

“So you’re the manager, huh? Sad you don’t look like one though,” she taunted and smirked cunningly.

“Go back and knock before you enter,” he commanded and shifted his gaze back on the computer screen.

“What! Excuse me,….” she paused and made a face, while he continued working on the computer.

“Do I have to repeat?” he said curtly and pulled the wrong strings.

“Listen Vlade! I have some issues here that need to be solved immediately,” she crossed her arms and stomped her foot to gain his attention.

“Manager!” he corrected her and narrowed his eyes. Though he maintained a calm face, it was evident that he was irritated by her very presence.

Frisca felt weird calling a nineteen-years-old guy, a manager! Her brain refused to register him as a manager. As per her analysis, everyone knew that a manager’s post required an experienced person with a qualification. Not a person like Vlade who possessed money and narcissist attitude. She assumed that he belonged to a wealthy and influential family since he had permission to manage the city museum on his own.

“Some people are so lucky” she grumbled and looked away. “Look here, I wanted to talk about my job role as a gallery attendant,” she explained n a calmer tone and requested him to change her job.

“That is not your job,” he suddenly said and startled her.

“Really, then what is my job?” she asked in astonishment as her pupils dilated.

“Housekeeping!” he replied casually and snubbed her with a straight face.

Frisca was taken aback by what he had said. She couldn’t believe that he expected her to clean his five-storey museum. “What do I look like? Some kind of housemaid? She wondered and grinded her teeth in anger.

Taking it as an insult, she asked him sarcastically: “Isn’t it funny, manager. You live in the year 2056, and still can’t afford a decent robot to clean this place,” she smirked and felt proud that she had put him down.

"That’s indeed funny, but you see Ms. Frisca, the robot never damaged anything in the first place. If you know what I mean,” he smirked back at her and folded his hands.

“As you wish, Mr. Manager,” She rolled her eyes and bowed before leaving his cabin as there was no point in arguing with a stubborn guy like him.

After cursing him and her luck, she searched the storeroom just as Chelsea had suggested and came out with an electronic mop and bucket in hand. When she turned around, she met typhoon the robot she had seen earlier vacuuming the floor. “I believe he got your from one of the garage sales,” She sighed and watched it vacuuming its head. With typhoon for company, she randomly started moping around the wooden floor in the main hall, while Chelsea looked at her in pity.

Frisca dedicatedly moved around from one gallery to another, mopping floors and forgetting all about her problems. It worked more like a stress buster for her. So engrossed was she in mopping that she failed to notice when she reached the 5th floor that had been closed for maintenance. Pausing to take a break, she stood straight and touched her lower back. All that cleaning had strained her poor back, for Frisca wasn’t used to cleaning huge space for hours, especially not a museum.

Realising that she was done for the day, she stopped mopping and walked towards the elevator. As she waited for it, she heard some strange voices echoing in the corridor. No sooner she turned back the voices stopped. At first she thought that she was imagining it and ignored it, but the voices resurfaced and were now even louder than before. It was a lady’s voice, she was humming a tune. Frisca turned around and stared at the far end of the corridor, surprisingly this time the humming didn’t stop. Curious to know who was humming at the far end, she tried following the voice cautiously. Though it was a restricted zone with yellow tapes stuck on every room on that floor, Frisca walked in trance and reached the other end.

  Down in Vlade's cabin, he and Magmus had a heavy discussion on Frisca, the girl who had come from the past. “I’ve borrowed these manuscripts from professor's library, there’re some interesting facts about time travelling in this one,” Magmus said and waved out the book in Vlade’s direction.

“And what does it say?” Vlade replied and fixed his eyes on the book.

“Ok let me read it out” Magmus put on his glasses and cleared his throat before reading aloud. “According to ancient legend, time portals are the gateways that connect two different time periods. The portals can exist in any form, solid, liquid, or anything living. The portals can lead one to the time period they desire deep inside them. It can be the past, present or future, provided they satisfy either of the following conditions.”

“ The first condition is that when one leave’s the present and enters the past, someone from the past is made to leave and enter the present, which is also known as future for that person.

                                               Or

  If the above condition is not satisfied, then the person can successfully cross the portal they possess an aura of all the five elements- Air, Water, Earth, Fire and Wood.” 

Magmus explained and paused to take a break.

“That’s enough,” Vlade stood up and signalled Magmus to stop reading further.

“I guess that grandfather clock is not a garden ornament after all,” Magmus commented as he removed his glasses.

“Hmm…Something is missing here,” Vlade ignored him and tried to jot the missing pieces in his mind. “If she came here, then who went out?” he added and crunched his brows in confusion.

After a brief moment of silence, both looked at each other and hoped that their answer wasn’t something that they had dreaded. “Damn it! I hope it wasn’t a demon,” Magmus exclaimed in tension and ran his fingers through his hair.