This is an example of what a bored mind can do... Written about four years ago, it was edited and edited till it didn't make you want to throw up after reading. Of the 8 people who have read it, only 3 interpreted it the way the author intended. Are you the fourth to join the assylum?

The Closure

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1 hour later  

Mike and the female got into the lab. It was deserted. The girl was flustered.

“It’s strange…Derek should be here…unless…”

“Quick”

“Won’t you let me have a moment of thought? I fear his safety”

“You are using your left hand” she was almost shouting.

“I am the one who has spent every day of my last few years here”

Thankfully, the bad guys had not gotten there. The brain was there. So was the canister. He carefully disengaged the complex electric connections. The canister was removed with consummate ease by the girl. Mike was trying to take out as many papers as possible.

“Now, I really mean it when I say time is not on our side”

The stern voice reminded him of Anne. There was a sudden vision of his defeated proposal and it seemed to weaken him.

He then regained composure and grabbed the bag full of papers.

“Good job”

They complimented each other and left the lab. He resealed the lab, but with his right hand. He returned a smile when the girl looked at him quizzically.

***

1¾ hours later  

Emanuel finally seemed to have understood the origin of the voices which had haunted him since childhood. It must have been the residual memory of OMEGA, he rightly assumed.
The three men were back to the place where Emanuel had tried to get rid of Wren. It was the same dimly lit room. Van Guerin’s lifeless body was there along with De Laury’s corpse.

“We cannot carry the whole body. Take the hand”

“Are you sure there is no retinal scanner there?”

The chauffeur let out a cold high pitched crackle.

“Leave no stone unturned”

“Hang on…How do we go to your time?” Emanuel was at a loss

“The vehicle I came in can go at any speed from 0 to several hundred thousand miles per second. After a flight of 6 calendar years and 150 light-years to and fro, we’d reach our destination.”

Emanuel sounded pleased with that explanation; he acknowledged his understanding with an enthusiastic reply.

“I don’t have a calculator. I accept your estimate. I believe our fuel source is…Cobalt???”

Wren, however, was not too happy.

“Listen, I’ll take this man to the lab. You bring the vessel to the lab.”

“Good idea. But the Lab is on the way. I’ll drop you guys there. Then I’ll get our cutie and then, Bang”

“Fine... Let us take the Limousine.”

“No. I’ve a taxi parked round the corner. We can avoid attracting attention with that.”

The men left to the lab in the cab with a look of delight in their faces.

 ***

2 hours later 

Mike and the girl were back at the bar. It was a lot less crowded. The barman gave them an unfriendly stare as they settled in a corner, far from the prying eyes of the others.

“What the hell do you think you did?”

“I sealed it with the wrong hand”

“So?” She did not understand.

“That is a security arrangement. They need to get past the security. They have not got me. But they might have Van Guerin which I presume to have happened. If he is alive and kicking, they would get in unharmed. If he had been harmed by them, they will regret not letting him live.”

“What would happen?”

“You will soon see”

***

2 ½ hours later

The three men reached the lab. Wren Hall had the hand and the chauffeur held the eyeball.

They saw the finger print detection pad.

“Too bad we had to disfigure him.”

“Thank God, we took the right hand.”

They enjoyed the pun which evoked a roar of laughter.

“Hang on, there are two pads”

Emanuel was happy to have the answer.

“Two guys work here. They surely come to work at different hours”

Emanuel was right. They had gotten past the barrier with the single hand.

“Good. All the best, mate… Get to the top of this building with the equipment.”

The chauffeur drove the taxi towards the place where he had hidden his shuttle which had been rendered invisible.

The door opened, the two men got in.

None of them noticed the small red light which started flickering frantically over the security pad.

***

2 ¾ hours later 

“Well done, Mike. Anne would be proud”

“When did I mention her name?”

“Oh, you kept muttering her name in your sleep. I assumed she was...”

“Yeah… I get it. Too bad I cannot get her take me serious. And you lied about apocalypse. Didn’t you?”

“Not entirely. Had he got escaped the past, it would have been curtains for my world.”

“I guess we just saved the present and the future”

He took a sip of the drink

“Hang on. You are from the future right? Make a prediction”

She was exasperated. She recovered a moment later.

“You follow football?”

“I love it”

“Right… This year, France will win the Euro with a golden Goal-that after Italy takes the lead and a French equalizer in virtually the last minute of normal time.”

 “How can I be…?”

“Make an entry in your diary”

He noted it. But she still seemed rather disconcerted.

“What do we do if they get inside safely?” she was visibly worried.

 If Mike had got it wrong, there would be work to do though there won’t be as much damage as would have been had they got all what they came for.

“They’ll have nothing. I’ll have these two things deposited in a safe for the time being.”

“That means I might still have unfinished business?”

“I cannot promise anything. But I guess you would have issues to attend to”

“That is so typical of you…men”

“Who lied about Armageddon to save her time?”

“Nice one.”

“You won’t get the compliment you seek…or a compliment even otherwise”

 She opened her mouth to say something, but decided against that.

She merely said:

“I’ll let you have the last say, at least this time.”

He was about to start arguing. But at that very moment there was a loud bang.

***

Same time, nearby

He could not believe it. It had barely been minutes. He had hardly gone 500m. The lab was destroyed. And with it, his friends too were lost. How would he face the oracle?

Then it occurred to him. In all the frenzy associated with the events of the day which he thought would culminate in the revival of OMEGA, he had completely forgotten about the code. The cop, his ally was gone and with him the activation code.

There was no way he could go back. He was stuck in this world forever.

But he decided to wreck havoc. He would ponder over what he would do later that day. He had no money. He looked around. He had the taxi. He would try to earn a few dollars before deciding his future in the past.
He had to find something to eat for he had gone hours without eating.

But first, he decided, he must find someone to hire the taxi.

***

A little under 3 hours later 

No one missed the explosion. The lab was blown to smithereens. Mike and the girl came out of the bar to see the flame.

“Mission accomplished” Mike smiled at his accomplice.

Later, it was announced two men had died in the explosion. Mike confirmed that he was alive after several people called him.

She looked happy. That meant her job was done. They walked together to a nearby park.

“Before we part ways, why don’t you predict something else?”

“I don’t predict. I state facts.”

“Go on”

“Right... George Bush will win the elections this year.”

“That will strengthen our country’s security.

She gave a wry smile

 “Never mind… I’ll drop you in your apartment before bidding you good bye”

“You have a car?”

“No, I’ll hail a taxi”

Just then a taxi came across.

“I want you to take us to Mallory Walk.”

“Hop in. But I am new to this town. Give me the directions.”-the cabbie said.

A few minutes of silence passed before they got to Mike’s place.

She decided to send the taxi off.

“Are you sure you do not want the taxi to drop you at your place?”

“No. My place is not far from here.”

Mike turned towards the taxi driver.

“Here, thanks. By the way, where are you from?” Mike always found taxi drivers fascinating though he could not see this man’s face clearly.

“You won’t believe me if I said the truth.”

The taxi moved away leaving Mike slightly bemused. Mike checked his watch. It was over half past three.

“We should meet sometime later and I am sure Anne would love to meet you. She won’t be home now. Later you could tell her that it was indeed true…”

She turned to him and spoke in a whisper

“She won’t need any explanations”

He eyed her suspiciously for a second, the next moment his face lit up, as though he had understood a fact which had eluded him for quite some time. But before he could react, she said rather apologetically

“Now, I am really sorry about this”

“What?”-he thought he knew what was coming next.

There was a bright flash.

“I am sorry Mike.”

The work was done, almost. She would later contact the Colonel and then the news of her success would ensure relief through the government ranks. The fundamentalists who were ready to follow OMEGA’s lead would later learn of the failed mission and the end of their iconic leader.

Then, there was another important issue for her to attend to.

She had to prepare strawberry mousse for the man she loved most.

***

A little over 3 hours later

They would soon learn about him. The whole world would.

 He would unleash Panic and Confusion. At least he would have a sense of satisfaction.

He adjusted his rear view mirror. The couple had still not moved in. He waited to see if they kissed, for, the voyeur in him had woken up.

At that very moment, he saw a blinding flash in his rear view mirror.

Moments later, he was staring blankly at the mirror. It said:

Objects in the mirror are nearer than they appear

None of those symbols there made any sense to him.

In three hours’ time, he would be arrested on account of the lifeless man in the boot and later would be sent to a mental asylum. After realizing that the patient’s problems were too complex and inexplicable, the puzzled psychiatrist would bring Mike into the fray. 

Mike would study the amnesic man with little luck, without realizing he had been the only one to have hired the cabbie’s taxi.

Neither of them would ever know that it was the other who had made the 15th of May-a day neither of them remembered- what it was.

The murders would never be solved; the truths, never realized.

The dusk, still, keeps many in the dark over a few furtive facts

***
           (The End)

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