Ramos Berrio Santiago, Death Is Dark As A Shadow

DEATH IS DARK AS A SHADOW

Written By Santiago Ramos Berrio

Kairos always said, “they say once you have conquered being alone, you are ready for the company of others, but those are just words, in real-life; everyone else life’s journey is separated from my own”.

A phrase that sooner or later would become his irreparable destiny, a thought that changed a lonely Friday midnight of November the third in the year 2035 at Fortune Valley. His life shifted forever, but his written destiny was chained to his empty shadow.

It all started three days, three hours and three minutes ago in Fortune Valley, specifically in Kairos time-travel laboratories, called Kaboratories, he would have never thought that this place, his most beloved one, will bring him his biggest disgrace. In Kaboratories the unthinkable was created, it was a huge glass building that could almost touch the sky, it was so modern that doors, lights, and computers turned on with the click of fingers, everything was made out of crystal, people couldn’t differentiate if there were inside or out of the building because of the optic illusion that the transparent crystal made to the eye, people were afraid of entering because of the sensation that they were going to fall through, due to the amazing transparency floor surfaces replaced with glass. Hence, most of the workers were programmed robots except for Akira, the only human being he trusted because she had signed a full Confidential Disclosure Agreement.

Fortune Valley, was a place were technological advances emerged, in this new era, robots replaced jobs considered unnecessary and devalued by society, the following were some ads that robot stores had at the time “40% of discount for the last housekeeper out in the market, she can cook, clean your floors, make your bed and even take care of your children. Don’t miss this opportunity! If you do, you will regret it” or “the Fixer, essential for whenever you need help to fix a lamp, your refrigerator, or your

washing machine! If you don’t have one. What are you doing in 2035?” Robots became so common, that you could see more robot stores than grocery markets in the neighborhood.

Everything became so artificial that trees consisted of green led light, children went to lakes not to refresh themselves as they once used to, but to make sandcastles with their aluminum nannies. Funny but true, these robotic nannies were so developed, made with such precision and adapted so well to real humans, that children loved them more than their real parents which appear to be more robotic than the nannies they bought. An era where human beings were a product of a dysfunctional world which wasn’t about the invention of robots, but about the robotization of humans, to the point that TV’s ads and propaganda said: “caring for others will lead to your ruin, being selfish and self-centered will add many more zeros to your bank accounts”.

Kairos was a 32 years old man, his hair was short and spiky and seemed like it was made out of a very dark carbon, very different from his blue crystal eyes, which were so clear that you could almost see his nonexistent soul if you look through them. A strange but desirable beauty exuded from his pores, which doctors, technology, and blood test will later epilogue a chain of mystery. As perfect as he seemed from the outside, as rotten as he was on the inside, Kairos, was a person to be far away from, his cruelty and supercilious mind were on another level, human people who worked with him except Akira, fear him.

Akira was Kairos’ right hand and his most trusted person. It could sound ironic because Kairos didn’t trust anyone. Akira was one of the most brilliant and valuable minds in the entire universe. She had a master’s in quantum physics and Astromechanical engineering, specialization in time alteration and

space fluctuation, and finally, a Ph.D. in time-travel engineering and physics applied to time-travel.

One day, November the third, in an alley called Ending Street in front of Kaboratories, Kairo’s eyes were wide open and a hurricane of emotions was running through his veins, he would have never had imagined that something like this would have happened in his life, nothing else mattered at this moment, even though fear became a monster who was eating every piece of his glacier soul. He felt as if time had been paused. A decision had to be made but it took him a while to make the final call. Before he would notice, he was stabbed by a knife, the body fell to the ground and an irreparable destiny was just unleashed.

Seventy-five hours and three minutes before, things hadn’t been going well for Kairo’s as it normally does at work in the mercurial Fortune Valley at Kaboratories because he was going to test his precious baby, and his most valuable and secret project, the tenth prototype of his time-travel machine, only himself and Akira knew about his experiment that was happening in the fifteen floors underground, in the basement where the machine was kept. Akira and Kairos had worked for this machine for the past nine years and every one of these years, they’ve created a new prototype but none of them had led to any success, but this tenth year, they were very confident, that with the outbreak of technological developments the time-travel machine would work for the first time. He was convinced that his hard work and passion will be shown to the world.

“Good morning Robotina, hope everything is going as well as always” Kairos broke the astonishing silence in the workroom, like every morning.

“Everything is good, master. Marching as planned”, said Robotina, with her artificial and peculiar robotic voice.

“Is everything ready for today’s test?” Asked Kairos with his deep voice.

“Not really, master” answered Robotina. “Why do you say this Robotina?” He asked.

“Well master, is that Remy, the human that was going to be used as a guinea pig, died three hours and five minutes ago. So there is nobody else to do a trial with” said Robotina with her exact memorization of time.

“Are you for real? Why did he have to die precisely on the day of the trial?” Shouted Kairos at Robotina.

“The news only said that he died, the cause of death is unknown and as you know facts are facts and he is dead,” said the robot.

“This can’t be happening, you useless piece of garbage junk. Do I have to do everything so that things can work!” said Kairos so angry that he could eat someone alive.

“Well if you say so master, it shall be done,” said Robotina.

“Well I was going to say that it was a sarcastic comment, but thinking it well. Who will be better than me to be the first person in history to experience time travel? I’ll be the one sitting in that freaking machine, and you sad and incapable plebs will watch how I become the most important man in history” said Kairos with confidence and he added; “Let’s do it Akira.”

Akira shouted, from across the room; “Alright Kairos, I’ll go to prepare the machine so that everything can go as planned”

“Make it fast Akira, we’ve already lost a lot of time talking about silliness,” said Kairos with a calm shift in his voice.

“I’m doing it as fast as I can” answered Akira.

It took about five hours for the accurate preparation of the machine to be intact, all the fluids needed to be in their correct position, for the machine to be able to disintegrate matter, and conserved in nano cellular size, so it could travel

through time waves across history to the period desired. The machine was huge, the room where it was placed was about twenty-seven meters, by twenty-seven meters, which in total summed up to seven hundred, twenty-nine square meters, it was made out of copper, with a plastic cover over them so that energy was isolated and concentrated just in the nucleus of the machine because the proportions of the energy needed were previously established by Kairos and Akira in the central system of the machine.

“Everything is set right now Kairos,” said Akira in the middle of a hesitated breath because of the tedious work that takes preparing the machine.

“Alright Akira I’ll be there in a moment,” said Kairos, who immediately put his suit made especially for time travel and decedent fifteen floors to get to the lobby and another, fifteen floors to get to the basement. Where Akira was ready to start the trial.

“Kairos, are you a hundred percent sure that you are ready to do this?” asked Akira very nervous.

“I am a hundred and three percent sure Akira. Let’s shut up and begin the trial” said Kairos almost angry.

“Fine! but you don’t have to talk to me like that. I am just worried about the outcome of all this” said Akira.

“I know Akira, but this must be done, it’s our most important project and our entire reputation is on the line” exclaimed Kairos.

Therefore Kairos sat in the middle of the machine, and Akira made the usual count for the operation trial start and she said “operation starting in five, four, three, two, one” immediately Akira stopped the countdown Kairos fainted and passed out for three minutes and three seconds and while asleep, a voice in his head talked to him. When he woke up, he asked Akira;

“Did you talk to me?” said Kairos waking up dizzy from the trial.

“No Kairos, I didn’t. I am sorry to say this, but we failed again” said Akira in her sad tone.

“Another failure? What are we missing Akira?” said Kairos at the edge of madness.

After he said this, he broke the whole machine, leaving it like a pile of junk in a solitary basement. Thus, he left the building, with his black coal head smocking of anger, he arrived at his house around nine pm. He threw away his briefcase and went to sleep wishing that day have never exist.

“Kairos wake up, you’re late for work. Don’t give up on your dreams, or are you a failure?” said a soft mysterious voice that woke Kairos immediately in a cold late morning of November the first.

“Who the hell is this?” asked Kairos. “Look down to the floor,” said the voice.

When Kairos did this he saw that his shadow was talking to him, for Kairos this wasn’t normal, he firmly believed that he didn’t have any mental disease. The only logical explanation that he could give to this annoying voice was that he was having PTSD from the time-travel machine trial. To avoid what was happening, he took a bottle of sleeping pills and was knocked to the ground. But before doing this the shadow said.

“Even though you try to run away from me, I will come again, be careful Kairos. You’re much smarter than this” After hearing that; (Kairos fell asleep until the next day)

“I’m back Kairos,” said the shadow, which felt like a hurricane inside Kairo’s head.

“You again? This can not be freaking real” shouted Kairos.

“Well it is, and I am very real, you are going through the wrong path, you will be responsible. Remember this, you will

be responsible!” shouted the vociferous shadow, tearing up Kairos’ mind.

“You are not real and this is not happening, I’m sure that this might be a nightmare while I am asleep because of the pills I took,” said Kairos to the echoic room.

“Be sure I am. Remember this, you will be responsible” said the terrific voice. When he woke up the next day, Kairos tried to clear his mind phone which was a virtual screen attached to the palm of his hand, and he saw that Akira had called him about thirty-three times, she was worried because it wasn’t normal for Kairos to be missing to work for that long. Kairos ignored the thirty-three calls, drank a glass of water and went to bed to sleep again, his mind was tired not only because of the sleeping pills but because he had in his mind the voice constantly repeating “remember this, you will be responsible” which drove him crazy.

November the third, less than seventeen hours left, before the incident, Kairo was awoken again by the anonymous voice in his head.

“Wake up Kairos, don’t be lazy, you have to work at least, you piece of trash,” said the annoying shadow waking Karios again.

“I am tired of you. Who are you? What do you look like? I can’t understand what is happening” screamed Kairos to the empty air.

“Soon you’ll know. But remember this, you will be responsible” said the voice again.

That morning Kairos went to his work, as usual, pretending and trying to ignore the voice.

“Good morning Robotina” Kairos broke the astonishing silence in the workroom, as usual.

“Everything is a good master” replied Robotina.

“What a piece of garbage over there,” said Kairos’ shadow.

Kairos turned around and shouted, “shut up, leave me alone”

“Are you okay?” said Robotina and shouted Akira from across the room.

“Yes. Everything is fine” said Kairos calmly.

The day was alright and although the shadow teased Kairos constantly, he manages to keep with his day, until it was almost eleven pm in the night, which was the usual time Kairos left the office because he liked to close the building himself, the shadow said something that was the tip of the iceberg and it was. “You will never achieve time-travel in your life”

When he heard that, It broke Kairos into a billion pieces and yelled.

“Who in the name of physics are you? I’m tired of having to deal with this. I swear that I will stab my knife to your heart for driving me to the edge of craziness. If you don’t stop I will stop it myself.”

“Do you mean what you are saying?” asked the shadow with a peaceful voice.

“Yes I sure do” replied Kairos.

After this, the voice disappeared, so Kairos thought it was gone, he descended the fifteen floors to the lobby then he went out of the building for his car but he felt someone was following him, immediately he thought of the shadow, then he turned around and saw a shape very similar to his body. Kairos found himself standing still at Ending Street in front of his shadow, Kairos eyes were wide open and a hurricane of emotions was running through his veins, as he promised he was determined to kill the shadow, everything happened so fast that three minutes were enough to take out a small knife from his blazer inner pocket and stabbed the shadow in the

heart, and the shadow last words were: “you will always be responsible, because your destiny is bond...” before he could end, the shadow fell to the ground. Because of intrigue, Kairos tried to reach it but it was already gone.

Immediately after this night Kairos changed radically, he erased those three minutes immediately and the next day, he was kinder to everyone, he cared about others and had respect for everyone, a true change in Kairos was shown.

Three days have passed after the night he killed the shadow and Kairos was closer than ever to finding the key to time travel, but his destiny had already been unleashed and exactly the morning after the third day, Fortune Valley was flooded of news with this headline “Kairos, the billionaire entrepreneur, owner of Kaboratarios, and technological developments pioneer was found dead earlier this morning next to his car in front of his laboratories with a knife stabbed to his heart, forensics experts said it was a case of suicide and footage from the invisible cameras put in the building glass walls show he was shouting very mad to the empty air”. Because death is dark as a shadow.