Apocalyptic Journal #1 - Whispers from the future

It was the late end of autumn. Anita was as usual late for her night shift at the Credit Card Customer Care. Finally after defeating the local traffic to reach her destination, she went to report to her senior, Mr.Ramsay, who was looking a little tensed than usual. He has a grumpy personality as commonly seen in a manager.

After going through the usual apologies, Anita sat down at her table, and patiently waited for her next call, as it would change the fate of her career. She was expecting a call from one of the biggest companies of Europe and was set to finalize on the deal.

Ahmed, the local helper, as usual gave her the usual coffee and biscuits. Ahmed was by far the busiest man on the employee in the office as he was the only guy who survives both the morning and evening shifts without a break. So, the occasional slip ups are tolerable by everyone.

Anita's best friend and colleague, Raj, in the next cabin is going through a rough divorce with his estranged wife, and separation from his only son, Narain. Anita tries to console him, but in vain. These events would be correlated by a single spill and fall by Ahmed.

Ahmed as usual carries the coffee cups in the old, but reliable tray and starts his usual work. It was a special day for Mr.Ramsay as his little nephew accompanied him to his office. The little fellow, was full of life and is an expert prankster.

The little boy planted a few marbles under the carpet for his first victim of the day. Incidentally it was our Ahmed. What else? The big slip up caused him to spill hot coffee into Anita’s new headsets. Ahmed cleans them in a jiffy. A shocked Anita returns to see her new equipment damaged. But she knew she can’t blame Ahmed or the little boy as it was her mistake to leave it unnoticed.

Trying it on for the first time by connecting it to her cell phone, she turns on the radio. An old and unfamiliar voice which belonged to an almost 70-year old male spoke, “This is Saturn 132.23, today marks the 73rd Anniversary of the bomb-blast that took place at the Sentinel Bank Headquarters. This powerful bomb blast took the lives of over 69 employees along with the life of a young boy who was visiting the establishment along with his now deceased uncle and former unit manager, Mr.Ramsay. Needlessly to say, that it gave rise to the new anti-terrorism bill. Though, many lost their lives that day, the resultant bill saved many. We salute the lost lives year after year, and this year is no exception. So, over to Bill for today’s news.”

Anita was immediately taken back after hearing that announcement. What would anyone do, if they hear something like this on the radio? Report to her authorities? She went straight to the restroom to wash her face and her weird hallucination from the future. She came back, went to her cabin and turned the Radio once again. This time, “On queries and complaints about our show, please call 10xxxx5xxxx.” At once she removed the headset from the phone and called the number, which was rejected immediately citing it was a wrong number and it does not exist. She again came to a conclusion that the whole thing was a hoax and was her weirdest hallucination yet. Since it was her time-off, after wasting her work time worrying about the announcement, she once again connected the headsets and started listening to some of her favorite songs. Without wasting any time, she dozed off. Her phone started dialing on its own!

“Hello, and thank you for calling Saturn 132.23. Please hold until we dispatch your call to our proprietor, Mr. Raj”

“Wait, what?”

“Hello, this is Narain Raj, speaking. Can I know who’s on the other side of this line?”

“What year is that?”

“2073. What kind of question is this? Who’s this?”

“My name is Anita Sundar and I’m working at the Customer Care service center of Sentinel Bank Headquarters in Chennai”

“Is this some kind of sick joke? Everybody knows that she has been dead for decades!”

“Are you sure? When did they die?”

“Exactly on this day, 73 years ago. My father was one of the victims. I’m pretty sure. The Insurance money helped me to set up this establishment!”

“What did you say, your name was again?”

“Narain Raj”

“Oh my god. Narain, don’t you remember me? It’s me, Aunt Anita!”

“Aunt Anita has been dead for decades. If you don’t start telling the truth, I’ll have the authorities on your back”

“Your full name is Narendranath. Your parents were supposed to get divorced exactly a week from the bomb blast and you have a birth mark on your chin. Are you believing me or not?”

“How do you know all this?”

“As I said, I’m from the past, sweetie!”

“Oh my god!”

“Okay, you can start by telling what exactly happened on that day?”

“Some Jihadists triggered a very powerful bomb at the Headquarters that came along with the manager, Mr.Ramsay. He was blackmailed with his family and was forced to carry his nephew along with him.”

“Oh my god! No one survived?”

“Yes. No one survived to tell the tale. It was all for good”

“How do you justify mass murder?”

“The bomb blast is the reason that the future is secure from most terrorist organizations because of the new anti-terrorism bill. And moreover, the Bank was very unfair to its customers and blowing it up was the first step in achieving Economic Equilibrium! And most importantly, the insurance money that I got from my father’s death is the best thing that has ever happened to me!”

“You unworthy pigs! You cashed in on our cries and anguish! Sadists”

Anita hung the line and removed her headsets and tried to notify the authorities about the bomb and Mr.Ramsay’s family. But it was too late….

BOOM!

A timeline is like a white dwarf heading towards a black hole, it’s inevitable! The next generation may be a bunch of sadistic bastards. But they have no future, if something bad doesn’t happen in the present for them to rectify and solve.

KUDOS,

Karthik Sreeram Kannan.