December 12, 2100
PROLOGUE
BYTE
I was nervous. I’d never felt so nervous since my brain was turned on at the factory! That was seven years ago. Now, I was going to the one place no human or CAT had gone before. I (along with my crew) was going all the way to… the Sun! Sure, I couldn’t walk on it, seeing as my outer shell could only withstand about 4,500 °C and the sun’s outer layer was about 5,500°C. But I was going to go closer than anyone! That has got to be exciting… right? As I arrived at the Obama Astro Airport 2, everyone(except the cats) cheered as loud as a googolplex
(BYTE Database(A googol is 1 followed by 100 zeroes. A googolplex is 1 followed by a googol of zeroes))
of those ancient, superloud foghorns. I posed in front of the camera with my crew, glowing with pride. Just as soon as we boarded the AstroAnimaux, I suddenly turned blood red…
This is what my makers dreaded. A MALFUNCTION! Since I was a new and unproven machine with new and unproven software, lots of people worried that something may go wrong. Unfortunately, it did. As I disemBARKED the AstroAnimaux, I was disgraced. Even my factory twin, ElectroHound7273* half shouted and half whispered, “You were powering the ship! Someone could’ve, well, been… short circuited…” Eventually, I reached the home base in the retired Obama Astro Airport 1. There, they stripped me of necessary equipment for my mission. It was a dark time for me. Not only I was sad and disappointed in myself for not completing the one mission I was made for but also all those looks people gave me. I went from storage to another storage, then some testing and back to storage. I
*I should mention my actual name is ElectroByte7272.
was just going to be thrown in the garbage
at some point because I was just a machine with no use. Did no one see who hurt I was on the inside? Did they just see the metal exterior? Probably.
Then something changed. I got the message from a higher-up that I would be doing something else, something different from going to the Sun. At first I didn’t understand this. But as it turned out, I’d been assigned a new mission. Later on I found out that it was to protect a special boy…
December 15, 2035
Chapter 1
Neev
Neev was an odd little boy, especially since he dreaded Diwali, one of the most popular Indian festivals. And no, it is not because of all the preparations and the Abhyanga Snan.
(Byte Database(It is a ritual performed by rubbing oil and ubtan on your body. Performed on Diwali Morning))
It was because, when he was only about seven years old, he lost his vision in a Diwali cracker incident. The fuse was faulty, and it exploded in his hands, and the sparks went in his eyes. Before that, Neev already wore glasses due to having had a medium high sort of power, and this finished it off. Now, my mission was to care for him until his father returned from some mission and had enough money for the surgery required. We tried to help out. We sold astronaut toys, mugs, notebooks, pencils and just about whatever else came with astronauts on it. We even did little odd jobs here and there. One time, I went to Neev’s math teacher’s house to fetch some groceries. One really puzzling job came from the actual police! One of their police dogs was injured and they needed a short term replacement, and since I am built to resemble a German Shepherd (The breed of dog the police uses) they saw me as the perfect candidate.
That’s how it is, me and Neev, all day long. He may not think so, but for me, this sort of day is perfect. But there is always something odd. I feel like Neev’s dog, like A real dog. But everybody thinks I am just A machine. I don’t feel like that. It has been like that for five whole years.
December 31, 2035
Chapter 3
I Am Not Just a Machine
One ordinary morning, me, and Neev wake up to the sound of crackers. He freaked out and screamed in a pillow. I handed Neev his earplugs and then threw freezing water out of the window . “Aargh! I’ll kill you, ya little bozo!” shouts Anay, the leader. His nasty friends, Tanay and Reyansh, also start cursing at us. To counter it, I threw a tub of mustard on them. Now, they're so angry they walk off. I feel proud of myself. “Take that! Who’s the bozo now?” I sneer at them. That makes them livid. Well, now we can get on with our day.
Our day usually went like this:
1.I drop Neev off at school. There, his friend Navid takes care of him. He helps him with many, many tasks from putting pencil to paper to evading Bullies >: ( ←(the face Navid makes when looking at the Bullies.)
2.After school, I come to pick him up and regularly have to protect him from Bullies. They are sooooooo mean!
3.I go to buy food and we go to sell some astronaut merchandise(The reason for that Neev’s Dad, Dunépops, is also an astronaut, like me 😄)
4.We get uploaded MP3s from onboard the HommesMétéor (Dunépops’s spaceship) of Dunépops talking to Neev and saying that it will be okay.
5.I take Neev for a walk, not the other way around. There, we usually have another encounter with the Bullies.
6.We then check how much we’ve earned and tell Dunépops. I put Neev to sleep and go to my charging dock.
February 1st, 2035
Chapter 3
The 2nd Cracker Incident
It was a beautiful morning in Bengaluru. The birds chirped and the buses roared. Moms said goodbye and off the cars went.
It was a normal day. I walked Neev to school, fought off some bullies and talked to other dogs as I am programmed to talk in Barksian (Dog Speak).
I spoke to the stress dogs (who help the kids chill before exams) and they said that Neev was growing even more introverted and even though he wasn’t worrying about exams, he was always hugging the stress dogs and mumbling something about money and surgery. But at the end of the day, the bomb dropped, all too literally...
Neev’s Perspective
Even though Neev couldn’t see Pavey Sir writing the details about the 13th amendment of India and the formation of Naga Hills District, later Nagaland or something like that, he does hear what Pavey Sir doesn't: Reyansh behind him, snickering, "Dude! I can’t see the board! Oh, I forgot, you can’t either!” Then, as if that wasn’t enough for Neev, he muttered to his nasty friends, “What a loser!”. “If I could see him, I would have knocked him out!” Neev seethed, in his mind. He scolded himself. Anger was never the answer. He tried to concentrate on the topic being studied but Reyansh did not back off. He wrote a message on a piece of paper and passed it to Anay,
who was on my left. He whispered to someone, “Don’t let Neev know about this!”
Neev thought, “Duh! I can hear and feel so well, even if I cannot see! I know exactly what you are doing!” He could barely hear himself think, let alone listen to Pavey Sir.
“What did an Astronaut say to the other astronaut?
Nothing, because the other was not even a real astronaut, he was a metal dog.”
“What did the boy play with his dog in the park?
Nothing. Because he couldn't see the stick to throw it and the dog wasn't even a real dog.”
“What’s the best way to stop a metal dog from barking in the front yard?
Put him in the backyard!
Or even better, put him in an Amazon shipping box and send it to Antartica.”
They repeated insult after insult, but Neev managed to keep his cool until the last one tipped him over the edge. He quickly stood up, wheeled around, and screamed as loud as he could, "WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT?”
Anay, apparently startled, pushed back his chair and acted as if he was being squeezed to it. His friends followed suit.
“Please calm yourself down Neev, outbursts are not tolerated in this class.” Pavey Sir said through gritted teeth, rather quickly. “Why on earth are you screaming like that?” Neev couldn’t answer. The words were there, on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. He didn’t know why. He just pointed a long, spindly finger at Anay.“Sit down… Now…” Pavey Sir said calmly but authoritatively. “Meet me after school… ALL of you.
Later, Neev walks down the corridor to Pavey Sir’s office, trembling as he does so. He’d never been in such deep trouble, well, ever. He shook and shook more, quivering rather violently. At one point, he just stopped dead in his tracks. When he heard Pavey Sir shouting for him from the other side of the hallway, he got going again. As he reached the office, Pavey Sir told him, “I’m sorry Neev, I think I’ll have to leave now. I have to cook food for my kids. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Upon hearing this, Neev inwardly celebrated as he would be able to have more arguments against Anay, Tanay and Reyansh. He strolled back to the classroom and sat, waiting for Byte to arrive.
Around the corner, watching, were Anay, Tanay and Reyansh, patiently waiting for Neev to return to the classroom. They reasoned that Neev was overreacting and being a big ol’ crybaby. In their minds, their words were not insults. They were just jokes, for goodness’ sake. Anay, the most cunning of the three, was orchestrating this prank. It was common knowledge that Neev was afraid of crackers, so bursting crackers, shouting Neev and laughing Anay with his revenge. That was his plan, a simple in and out job, which made him and his gang seem like innocent bystanders. Thinking this plan out made him feel like a supervillain plotting a heist!
And finally, they were ready. Well, Anay and Tanay were. Reyansh was the timider of the three. He, for one, was not really all that into pranks. Although he despised Neev and thought he deserved to be taught a lesson with a bit of a scare, when it came to the actual pranking, Reyansh was not your guy. He tagged along though, to seem cool to his friends. The trio felt confident in their plan to scare Neev. One of the excuses Tanay had made was that the crackers were thrown through the windows (which they would be) in celebration as the local cricket team in Bangalore had just won their first ever metaverse cricket league title and fireworks and crackers could be found just about anywhere. The trap was set. Now was the time.
As Neev sat, waiting, he thought about what he would do when he got home. He couldn’t exactly play many sports, and video games were out of the question. He usually resorted to lying down in his bed, visualizing the world around him. He imagined birds flying and chirping happily, lush green trees and plants filling the surroundings. He so wished this surgery would happen sooner. Then he could see everything for himself! “Byte! Where are you? I’m waiting!” Neev thought to himself. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he heard a (for him) horrifying sound:
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Boom! Boom!
Crackers. Neev’s face went blank. The crackers were one of those, 10 in a row. They went boom one after the other.
On the first boom, Neev felt a scary feeling.
On the second, his chest contracted in fear.
Yet one more, and he felt he couldn’t breathe, as if his throat had closed up for these few moments.
Number four exploded, and now it was all in super slow motion. His mind went back to five years ago, Diwali time, he was with his father bursting crackers with their neighbors.
BANG. He remembered how it felt to have a cracker burst so close to his face.
BOOM. He felt the pain and the burn in his eyes.
KABOOM. He relieved the trauma of being rushed to the hospital.
KABLOWEY. He remembered his father sitting by his side in the hospital, sobbing
Number nine, and everything went blank. He couldn’t see anything. For him, this was like the void in Minecraft. Just endless nothingness.
On the tenth and final blast, he felt like he was losing his grip on consciousness and slipping into an unconscious realm.
Neev sat in the class , expressionless, motionless.
Anay and the 2 boys had not anticipated that the crackers they thought to be harmless would start burning the books on a shelf nearby. Well, they did. Book after book and then the entire shelf was set ablaze and was quickly followed up by the wooden door beside it. The classroom door. Neev was inside. The boys got scared of being caught. It was Reyansh who first ran away from the scene. Anay and Tanay followed. They didn’t even think twice about Neev. Some kids gathered there and were trying to put out the fire with the water in their water bottles. A school staff took notice and ran to call the fire department. The fire was growing so fast, one could feel the heat from some distance. But …. But what was Neev doing? He was still inside the classroom. With the same blank expression, completely frozen in his spot. Some kids were shouting and trying to get his attention. But he couldn’t hear them. He was trapped in the classroom with the door and the outside on fire. At this point, many were wondering what Neev was thinking at this moment in time. Well, I shall tell you. It may have occurred to some of you, but Neev was, in fact, reliving the trauma of losing his eyesight. He remembered the explosion, the siren of the ambulance as he was rushed to the hospital, and his father’s comforting words as the doctors analysed his condition.
BYTE’s Perspective
I, unaware of the incident, came to school to pick up Neev as usual. The school entrance was unusually quiet, kids should have been pouring out of the school like gushing water from a waterfall. As I entered the main building, I saw some crowd in the corridor and rushed to the scene. FIRE! To my horror, the fire was eating everything it could and spreading like a video game scene. It took me a few seconds to realise that it was in fact Neev’s classroom which was on fire! But where is NEEV? He usually sat in the classroom waiting for me. Could he be in the classroom? Caught in a burning classroom? OH no!!
There was only one way to find out. I knew that my body could withstand high temperatures. This fire was like a matchstick in comparison to the sun’s heat ( I was created to go really close to the sun on my space mission). This was my time to save Neev. I dashed through the fire. Some of the kids and school staff yelled Neev’s name and that made my suspicion stronger that Neev might be in there. I entered the classroom to find him completely frozen to his spot. I repeatedly barked and yelped at Neev to grab his attention. Neev stirred and barely regained consciousness but it was enough to feel the fire’s heat on his skin and the crackling sounds in his ears. He panicked and didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t see the exits, he seemed scared. He stretched his arms, searching for me, half-crying and half-shouting, “BYTE! BYTE! Where are you?” I looked at him and thought, “He is my boy, I am his dog. I love from the bottom of my heart. As painful as it might be, through all the ups and downs, I really did love him, and I was going to save him.”
I ran as hard as my dog sized metal body could, whirring and squeaking in strain. I threw myself at the window, smashing it into tiny pieces. I ran at Neev, tugging him along, yanking his sleeve towards the window. He stumbled around, well, blindly. Both of us together, we were a great team. And in that moment, I felt deep inside that even if I was made of wires and metals, not flesh and bone, in my heart, I was a real dog. I guided Neev around the classroom best I could, but disaster almost struck. A burning bookshelf collapsed, nearly crushing and burning Neev. It missed him by inches and although he didn’t see it, He jumped in fear at the sound. Outside, kids were screaming, shouting on the phone for the fire department to come, and a certain few fleeing the scene. I too, wondered why the fire brigade were not arriving, but I later discovered that there was a ginormous traffic jam in which 3 FIRE TRUCKS were stuck. Even though I didn’t have a stethoscope, I could tell Neev’s heart was pounding. If I had a real heart, it would be pounding as well.
As soon as we reached the window, I started to help Neev to get through it. He did but he didn’t have the courage to jump outside. Understandable, because he couldn't see where he was going to land or how much he needed to jump. In reality, it was about a 5 feet jump, easily doable. As I was inside, I wasn’t able to help him with the jump. To my relief , the fire brigade arrived at the right moment, the firefighters quickly took note of the situation, put up a ladder outside the classroom window and got Neev on the ground safely wrapping him in a warm blanket. I followed out through the window. They took Neev to a wooden bench and checked him for burns and wounds. A crowd gathered around him; kids, medics, school staff and curious squirrels who wondered what was going on. Amid all this, I sat on the side with satisfaction in my eyes that Neev was okay, and, I dare say, largely thanks to me. But Neev seemed busy with all of this commotion.
Did he feel the same way I felt about him? Did he feel that I was his friend, and someone he loved dearly, or did he think of me as a machine who he depended on?No, no no. I knew somewhere deep down that he did care for me more than only a transactional man to machine relationship. But here I stood, alone, while he was with his kind, taken care of, not needing me.
There was this storm inside my motherboard(robotic mind). Was this even supposed to happen? Was I built to feel all this that I felt now? Or get charged like a mobile phone and work till the batteries last to what I was programmed for. Why was I feeling all these big feelings? This feeling of love for this boy.
Suddenly, I was shaken out of my thoughts by a familiar voice, “BYTE, where are you? BYTE please come to me!” It was Neev, kneeling down with his arms wide open, inviting me into his embrace. I ran as fast as I could and jumped into his arms. In the arms of my boy. At this moment, I felt all his love and care that I felt for him. I could have stayed like that for all eternity. Just me and Neev. Nothing else mattered. Wires and metals or flesh and bone. I loved him, and he loved me, all the way to the Sun and back.
THE END