Fantasy Factor 2013

Fantasy

Factor 2013

Inside Our Prize winning entries: Happy Birthday, Someday and Singularity!

Plus: All entries from Fantasy Factor 2013 Letter from our team

And lots more!

Mail us at stargazers@iimahd.ernet.in

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Hello

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efore we begin, we want to say Thank You. We were overwhelmed with all the entries to our ‘Fantasy Factor’ Science Fiction Story writing competition. We began accepting entries for the competition almost a month back and have received incredible responses from everyone.

In this newsletter, we wish to share every entry we received, since we know just how much effort every single one of you put in to write these wonderful pieces.

Fantasy Factor StarGazers Astronomy Club Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Created in October of 2013

Tuccha Team Veeranna A Y Club Co-ordinator

D. Karthik Guru Krishnan Venkataraman Kalai Raj K Mayur Thakare

Our new StarGazers Logo.

What do you think?

“Engaging plot lines. Structure and Flow.

Grammar.

Quality and Style.

And finally, the Emotional and Intellectual connect the story makes with readers.”

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onfession time. This was probably the hardest thing we’ve done. Ever. Choosing the top three entries from over sixteen was not easy, but we did. And to make sure everything was fair, we evaluated every entry on the basis of five criteria. Engaging plot lines.

Structure and Flow. Grammar.

Quality and Style. And finally, the Emotional and Intellectual connect the story makes with readers. And we have to say, we were blown away by the entries we received this year.

Everything from Civilization devouring aliens, to friendly ones which exhibit Emotional Quotient, to Space horror stories. It’s all in here.

And the pictures you’ve painted are vivid. The desolate feeling of being the last survivor in the Universe. The nervous excitement of first love. So what are you waiting for? Go on.

Explore our pages.

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Munesh Verma Navneeth K P Pratibha R Samarth Bharani Soumya Shaw Vignesh R

Faccha Team Abhang Nikhil Chetan Kumar R Lopamudra Mohapatra Ruchir Gupta Sumit Sharma

Table of contents First Place - Happy Birthday by Akshaya Sivakumar

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Second Place - Someday by Pratibha

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Third Place - Singularity by Nakul Gupta

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‘Dimography’ by Ashok Vardhan

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Holmes and Batman by Prateek Sah

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Humans on Ignotis by Rudri Bhatt

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!magine by Gaurav Jeevan Gathoo

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I woke up with a start! by Yash Deodhar

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Last Goodbye by Swati

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Miss Moon by Kiran Kumar

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Space Exploration by Gaurav Bhandari

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Strategic Subtle World by Shibha Parhi

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The Captain by Kush Meshram

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The Jupiter Journey by Sriram N

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The Ordering by Saket Joshi

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Tia has a new friend by Sayoni Datta

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1st place Entry

exploded. The greatest miracle the

universe has ever known.

As usual, we were fighting amongst

ourselves.

I’m guessing you have no idea where you

are or what you’re doing here. Figures.

But lets not get into that. I don’t want to

Those damn scientists don’t know what

fill your brain with the mistakes of the

they’re doing half the time. You’ve

past.

probably lost all short-term memory.

We have work to do.

There is a noticeable hiss as the

Short-term memory. Ha. There’s a

pressures inside and outside the

relative term.

You might have probably guessed what I

Happy Birthday

By Akshaya Sivakumar, PGP II

capsule equalize.

need you to do. But before I tell you, I

Well, let me fill you in.

need you to come to terms with

Open your eyes.

something. There’s no point of us going

You’re alive.

on until you get it out of your system.

Yes, you.

Cry, if you must, but only now and never

That mere fact is incredulous.

again.

The light isn’t that harsh. Just a little bit

more.

And how did you get here?

You’re the last of your species. The only

survivor. The last living organism.

There you go.

Well, lets see. You’re in a ship. A

spaceship. That’s currently doing a

Let it seep in.

Congratulations kid. You survived. You

Transwarp across 4th dimensional

probably can’t talk yet. Don’t worry.

space. In layman’s terms, you’re flying at

Take as much time as you need.

You’ll find your voice soon enough. For

about seventeen times the speed of

now, just use your eyes and ears. Look

light.

-

around and listen.

The fact that you’ve survived, in a ship

You’ll probably need some more time to

Blink. Blink again. Your muscles have

that was barely completed on time, is

process that, but we don’t have the

almost atrophied from disuse. It’s been

nothing short of a miracle. A goddamn

luxury of time.

a long, long time since you last did this.

miracle.

And speaking of time, there’s another

I’m not really sure you want to know how

You’ve beaten all possible odds getting

thing.

long it’s been.

here.

What do you associate with the word

Lets just say it’s been a really long time.

You’ve been asleep for hundreds of

‘Eternity’?

thousands of years, in Cryostasis. I hope

I’d be fine if you wanted to get some

you had pleasant dreams.

A really, really long time right?

rest. Just opening your eyes is probably

hard for you at this point.

And why are you here?

And what do you associate with the

word ‘fringe’?

There you go.

Because we don’t have a home to go

-

back to. Because, due to some

At the very end. At the extremity.

Feeling better now? Good.

arrogant, pigheaded bunch of

bureaucrats, against all common sense,

Well, from the information I have, you’re

I am an AI capable of providing you with

we launched a Doomsday device that

at the very edge of the Universe. At a

information. Provided you ask me the

knocked out the Earth from its orbit.

time so far in the future that I predict a

right questions.

And accelerated the Sun’s aging. And

Great Rebirth will occur once again.

started a chain reaction that destroyed

I want to congratulate you again. For

our entire galaxy. And is slowly

What’s a Great Rebirth?

what? For surviving. You, kid, are a

consuming everything in it's path.

goddamn miracle. Bigger than the Big

Bang. Bigger than when our sun

Who were we fighting? Ha. How ironic.

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I was hoping your long-term memory would’ve kicked in by now,

desire. Rule over all other species like the primitive bacterium

but it doesn’t matter.

they are. If that’s your sort of thing.

Think of the very first thing you can think of, in the timeline of

But I digress.

the Universe.

A long time has passed since you were first placed in

You’ve probably thought of the Big Bang right?

Cryostasis. A really, really long time.

What if I told you that the ‘Big Bang’ wasn’t the first Big Bang?

You’ve been alive longer than any other species that existed

since the birth of your planet. Bacterium, Fish, Dinosaurs,

That the Big Bang is all part of a cycle of rebirth. On a Universal

Cavemen, Fire, the Wheel, Egyptians, Romans, the Crusades,

scale.

the Integrated Chip, The four World Wars, the small slot of

peace, The TransWarp Drive. Imagine all that.

Well, that’s the Great Rebirth.

You’ve outlived every living thing on the planet. By far.

Of course, that’s the theory anyways, seeing as no one has lived

past a Great Rebirth and made it to the other side in one piece.

If you asked an expert how old your planet was, he’d say about

four and a half billion years. Now multiply that by a factor of ten

The Universe has a –erm- way of eradicating all living species

raised to the power of eleven.

before an event like that happens.

That’s how long its been since you bid goodbye to another of

In your case, it didn’t need to do much. Man’s arrogance was

your species.

his own downfall.

But don’t worry. This ship has enough genetic material to

And in case you’re still wondering what you’re doing here,

restart your species, with your help.

you’re here to live past the Great Rebirth. To establish a human

colony and be the first living species in the new Universe.

We begin repopulating right after the Great Rebirth.

Imagine. While your species has evolved to accommodate

In a way, it’s sort of your rebirth too.

sentient speech, locomotion and advanced interstellar travel, all

other species will be starting from Zero. Like bacteria from the

A day you will share with the rest of the Universe. Something

primordial ooze.

unique only to you.

You will have the advantage of being the first sentient species

You will be the sole being in an otherwise empty Universe.

while all others are still in the process of evolving. You can

reshape the Universe into your image. Mold it into any form you

Happy Birthday, kid.

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2nd Place Entry

Someday.

By Pratibha, PGP II Jack and I floated lazily around each other, against the backdrop of an inky sky, looking at the marble-like planets that slowly drifted past. Our pale white skin turned an orangish- yellow hue in the dim light of the distant stars.

Apparently, he thought ‘planet-gazing’ was a good idea for a date.

supernovas, binary stars, asteroid fields, comets, dying stars. And he brings me here to look at a planet.

“I’m sure,” I replied.

“I’ve heard gravity works in different ways down there,” he said, almost unable to contain his excitement. “You wouldn’t float around as much.

If you think about it, planets aren’t really that interesting.

They’re sort of like stars without the shine. Comets without the tail. Black holes without the absence of color. They’re just specks of rocks that litter the sky. The only thing that is “Can you see that one?” Jack said, pointing at a particularly even remotely interesting about them was their blue planet. atmosphere. I heard certain kinds of gases were lethal to us, even in small doses. Certain gases could light up and I sighed. Everything seemed interesting to him today. burn spontaneously if we as much as snapped our fingers.

And don’t get me started with the pressure. Just standing “Isn’t it beautiful? I hear that it’s blue because of a under that atmosphere could make your blood vessels substance called water. I’ll bet it’s incredible on the surface, burst. Great. Floating, atmospheric rocks of death. Jack “ sure knew how to pick a nice spot for a first date.

I couldn’t really understand what he was so excited about.

There were so many beautiful sights in the solar system;

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You’d be stuck on the ground and you’d have to use your muscles to get around. You’ll have to pry yourself off the ground and-and,” he paused for a while, before adding, “Walk. That’s what it’s called. ‘Walking.’ “

myriad of different colors I can’t even begin to describe.

And on days when the water from the atmosphere falls back to the surface, I’ve heard that an arc of bright, multicolored light spans the skies,”

“Alright, but how would you survive the gases?” I asked, I didn’t really know what to say and just smiled. He took my beginning to find myself interested. silence as an indication of my interest and went on.

“I guess we’d have to wear suits. You know, Hazmat suits.”

“I’ve heard that the water in the atmosphere is soft and fluffy, like a Terrulean air mattress, but if you tried to sleep “All the time?” I asked. on it, you’d fall through. There are translucent, solid, floating blocks of water you could build a house with that could “Well, yeah, atleast until we build a place to live there. No withstand a blow from an impact hammer. But if it were more of this floating around. But I heard you could get land too hot out, it’d just melt away into nothingness. With that sick from staying in one place for too long, and you’d lose a kind of beauty, all our meaningless problems would just couple of inches off your height.” float away. We’d stop being so arrogant and pretentious down there. There’d be no more wars, no more fighting “What?” I asked. Who’d over religion, resources or want to live there? On an credits. We’d be much too atmospheric ball of death? “Because it’s beautiful down there. distracted by all that beauty. It’d Where I’d grow shorter? us a chance to start afresh, There are mountains so high that they give Like I wasn’t short enough. I to finally come together.” was beginning to think Jack would touch the sky and oceans of was stuck in some I felt a wave of calm sweeping childhood fantasy. hydrogen so deep they would tickle the over me. What Jack said had touched me, in some way. The “Would it even be worth it? planet’s very core. The atmosphere world he had described seemed It feels like we’d have to so wonderful, so perfect. And the spend our whole lives would break down the light from the more I thought about it, the working to keep nature out. more I liked the idea. A world Seems like it’d be way too sun into a myriad of different colors I without conflict. A world just for much of a hassle.” us.

can’t even begin to describe. And on

“You think so?” He said, “I think life would be much better down there,”

days when the water from the

“You could be right,” I said.

atmosphere falls back to the surface,

“In an environment that could kill you through just a tear in your Hazmat suit?”

I’ve heard that an arc of bright, multi-

“Could be?” He asked. “Wouldn’t you be awestruck with that kind of magnificence?”

colored light spans the skies,”

“Too bad it’s just a dream,” I said.

“Yeah.” He answered, simply.

Jack hovered over, put his arms around me, and surprisingly, I didn’t mind.

I wasn’t convinced.

“It doesn’t have to be,” he said. “Just you wait. Someday, we’ll make our home down there.”

“Think about it this way. Even in space there are so many things that could kill us. Blackholes, failing Warp Cores, solar flares, asteroid belts and meteor strikes. But we’ve learnt to live out here haven’t we?”

“Well, yeah, but what’d make it all worth living down there?”

I asked, thrusting my finger roughly in the direction of the planet.

“Because it’s beautiful down there. There are mountains so high that they would touch the sky and oceans of hydrogen so deep they would tickle the planet’s very core. The atmosphere would break down the light from the sun into a

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3rd Place Entry physical restrictions or pettiness. With transcendence within my means and my reach, I felt that my life and work were finally finding their true purpose.

Singularity

As I mentioned, many private operators were offering singularity services. I chose the operator offering the most versatile robotic body. The machine was a thing of beauty: powered by a miniature nuclear fusion reactor, constant real-time link to the internet, a quantum microprocessing unit with a capacity several million times that of my biological brain and a body made of carbon nano-fibres which would withstand the heat and force of an H-bomb.

By Nakul Gupta, PGP II You know the feeling you had when your father had taken you out to ride your bicycle? You looked back and realized that he was no longer holding your bike but that in fact you had been riding solo all the while? Singularity is that feeling of epiphany and accomplishment multiplied by a million.

The procedure itself was not as simple as walking into the operator’s office on Monday morning in my biological body and then walking out in the afternoon in my new metallic body. I underwent one year of psychological training to prepare my mind for the shock of singularity. The training was mostly cognitivebehavioral training designed to breakdown my well entrenched thought patterns about the universe around me and thereby allow me to accept a new greater reality.

By the time humanity achieved the ability to transfer a human consciousness into a machine, I was a thirtysomething, wildly successful tech entrepreneur.

The first “transfers” were simplistic, involving just the creation of virtual copy of a person’s consciousness – a lot like a genome map. However, over a short time specially designed software allowed the virtual copies to interact with their surroundings. Eventually, private manufacturers designed robots to house the virtual copies. In this way humans first obtained immortality.

Some of you may have realized by now that Singularity does not mean the actual transfer of one’s consciousness from the biological body to the virtual world; rather an exact copy of the subject’s consciousness is created in the virtual world. After the

I had known for a long time that I would be spending the majority of my wealth on the procedure. I had always been fascinated with the idea of transcendence, of humanity’s apotheosis into beings not held back by

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moment of copy creation, there exist two separate entities that will respond to future stimuli differently. In essence, a virtual clone is created. Of course, this creates ethical dilemmas. For example, it raises the farfetched (but not impossible) possibility of a sociopath creating a robotic clone army of him. To counter this possibility, laws were created requiring those undergoing singularity to forego their natural, biological body. As if we cared…

need for basic human necessities we were content to travel in what were essentially tin cans with rockets attached to them.

Ten of us travelled for over 200 years in a rust bucket.

Once our rockets ran out of fuel, we just kept moving ahead carried by momentum. I spent most of those years outside the craft, tethered to it by a single cable, simply experiencing the universe.

Singularity was like being born again but with all We explored space and we also explored metaphysics. previous memories intact. The first thing that hit me The Eastern religions speak of the unity of was awareness about the Internet. My millions of q-bits consciousnesses; that our souls are just parts of a of new, unused brain capacity began to absorb bigger whole. The ten of us took that concept to a humanity’s cumulative knowledge instantaneously. I had practical level and united our thought streams. I finally imagined Singularity to be physical immortality, but I understood why Eastern thought propagated unity with was wrong. Singularity was the closest humanity had the universe as humanity’s ultimate goal – unity was the gotten to omniscience. To know end of our loneliness and the everything that has happened, “Singularity was like being born next step in transcendence. We that is happening currently and never separated back into our the predictions of what will again but with all previous individual identities. happen was something so memories intact. The first thing colossal that it would surely have After a long travel we coaxed destroyed an ordinary human that hit me was awareness about our disintegrating spacecraft brain. the Internet. My millions of q-bits back to Earth. What we found was desolation. Humanity’s of new, unused brain capacity My physical existence changed natural hubris combined with with my new robotic body as well. began to absorb humanity’s the end of mortality had ruined In reality, my new body was not cumulative knowledge the planet and left all humans, necessarily a body but just biological and mechanical dead. another input into the vast instantaneously. I had imagined Our common consciousness had virtual, neural network of which I Singularity to be physical expected as much given human was now a part. For example, I history and our calculations for c o u l d s i m u l t a n e o u s l y s e e immortality, but I was wrong. the future. We were through a traffic camera as well Singularity was the closest unperturbed by the destruction as the eyes of my own robot. We humanity had gotten to – after all we had each other. do not realize how much of our time goes into thinking about omniscience.”

We spent a million years simply and satisfying our basic physical existing on the ruined planet. needs. I no longer had any of those urges.

Although no humans remained, one plucky amphibious species evolved to a point where our calculations I spent the next 3 years exploring the entire world. With showed that it would almost certainly evolve into selfmy new body, nothing seemed impossible anymore. I awareness. Our united conscious decided that it would scaled Everest in 4 jumps, swam (or rather motored) be compassionate to spare the future of that species across the Atlantic and even spent a fortnight running the countless pains and eventual destruction that the diameter of Antarctica. As humans, we talked about humanity had experienced. So we decided to eliminate freedom in terms of money or political rights, but all members of the amphibious species. freedom from the constraints of biology is true freedom.

Except, we never followed through on that decision. I alone among the ten could not forget the loves and Omniscience does not grant freedom from boredom. I losses that I had experienced as just a feeble human. I tired of exploring Earth and moved my attention to destroyed the others and then I let my consciousness space. Space has always been a passion of mine. I will drift away. not lie; I grew up on science fiction television and had always wished to see space first-hand.

By that time, many Transcendentals had begun departing the planet. As we were not constrained by the

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having spatially distributed himself among 6 colonies in the solar system.

THRUSTING INTO THE NEW “DIMOGRAPHY” OF THE UNIVERSE

Stephen’s crew is part of the research team that plans to explore the possibility of utilizing the power of comets to travel in space.

This idea was so much appreciated in the scientific community of the 5th CES3 (5th Colonized Extraterrestrial Settlement of humans in Europa - Jupiter’s smallest moon).

By Ashok Vardhan, PGP II

This led to the support garnering phase from 3rd and 4th CES to carry out the research. Their support was very much required mainly for the fact that the comet passed close to the 3rd CES in its ascent into the solar system and again passed close to the 4th CES in its return away from the solar system.

“Guilia!!! Guilia!!! Shut the engine. Swing the rudder” shouted the Captain Stephen to the Pilot lead Guilia.

It was such a thunderous blow on the Zoya1 (A mid range galactic rover used to shuttle distances of 10,000 Giles)

GC considered this as a “saving the race mission” as travelling outside the solar system was expected to unfold more options for the human race for its survival, with the sun ever expanding and closing in on the Alma mater (Earth).

One arm of the Zoya was badly hit and there was a leakage in the nuclear core of the engine.

The crew along with Captain Stephen had to decide whether he has to go for this or not.

The Mission

There was a chance for his team to survive after having damaged the Zoya.

All the ground work for installing the base was done and loaded in the zoya. As this was only a few giles away from the 5th CES and landing a smaller vehicle will be easier on the comet, it was planned to be executed using the zoya.

Zoya was crossing the asteroid belt to land on the comet NXGGOGL1694.

This comet has been studied for the past decade to understand its orbit and other behavioral patterns

The mission was code named “NDTSX4552”

It is part of the study instituted by the Galactic Convention (GC) which is planning a major fete for the human kind.

Captain Stephen headed the conceptual team of the research and also involved with the sourcing part of the components for the research. Sourcing was crucial as the components were supposed to withstand the vagaries of climate and dimographies of the universe.

The fete is to land and install an unmanned research base on the comet. The research base will observe and also travel on as the comet unravels into different universal dimographies 2 (Refers to dimensional geography. It points to the dimensional space in the universe).

With such an understanding of the project, Stephen himself volunteered for heading the NDTSX4552 team.

He hand-picked the crew and trained them personally beyond the supervision of the GC Scientific Training team.

The crew was slowly recovering from the shock of the impact. With just 2 or 3 days for the point of impact with the comet, Captain has to decide on the course of the mission with such a badly hit Zoya.

It was such a defining moment for pleasure for the NDTSX4552 team. The zoya started just 15 days before the impact with the comet.

The Galactic Convention (GC)

The comet was racing its way into the solar system and in the next 3 or 4 days will be closing in on the zoya as planned. The criticality of the mission is that the Zoya

Though man has been the creator and main patron of this convention, he has gained much cognizance after

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should not come in the path of the comet and at the same time land on a moving object which is as fast as 100 Giles4 per hour (Futuristic Term Refers to millions of miles). Though this is an achievable speed for the Zoya, landing without impact is the concern.

Though Stephen wasn’t sure of this ad-hoc measure, he had to motivate the team by telling about the rescue mission.

Time Elapses…to the moment of Destiny

Situation at hand

As the Zoya was staying float with the superb maneuverability skills of Guilia, the final moment of destiny was about to happen.

With time running at helm, Stephen was more concerned in the health of the deteriorating zoya. He couldn’t think of anything else other than landing the craft on NXGGOGL1694.

In all this 3 days, a part of the crew was working on the nuclear engine in spite of the radioactivity levels of 10

Stephen spoke to Guilia. Her immediate concern was “Will we be able to stay float for 3 days?”

on the Geiger counter. They were able to power the engine and run it at 90% output efficiency.

Stephen replied, “ A decade long efforts of 1000s of scientists rest on what you do for the next 3 days.

Sorry Guilia. I don’t have any choices for you to make you choose from.”

Guilia first sighted the faint traces of the light that emanated from the nucleus of NXGGOGL1694 on the windscreen. It in fact gave her a moment of agony as well as relief at the same time. Still she shouted loud the moment and the crew in the cockpit shared the news on the announcer.

Guilia with a mournful voice replied, “Stepha….Let me veer it till the point of impact.”

Stephen, Guilia and the entire crew in the cockpit was eagerly staring at the cockpit’s impact meter which was ticking down miles by miles. As all this moments of thumping was staging, cockpit crew was getting ready to veer the aircraft at the speed of 100 Giles per hour.

Stephen had to rush to the other crew members and make sure that the Research station is being made ready as per the earlier schedule. Though the crew was aware of the things happening, Stephen consoled the crew by promising to bring in another aircraft to evacuate the crew.

Guilia was looking through her pear shaped eyes, at the cockpit as if she forgot to blink with her eyes. She was able to match each microsecond ticker to her heartbeat.

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The crew was attempting a landing which no man has done in history.

Once everything was completed after nearly 100 days, Stephen and Guilia raced the Zoya back.

Stephen was anxiously standing just behind the cockpit pilot, eagerly looking at the mouth of Guilia and the action performed by the pilot. He wanted to hold the swinger from the pilot and perform the action.

When the Zoya was able to reach a considerable gap from the comet, Guilia opted out of the gravitational pull of the comet.

Thus they were back in the space and there was another Zoya waiting for a rescue mission, in case required.

Every second was tickling away like an hour in the eyes of the crew.

At this point of time and speed of travel, Zoya was able to enter the cloud of NXGGOGL1694. Though there was little rocking of Zoya, Guilia raced it into the cloud and reached closer to the nucleus.

In all, the mission NDTSX4552 was completed successfully with minimal damage to the crew and maximum reputation to mankind.

The crew was getting more and more anxious as the scheme of events visible on the cockpit windscreen camera was shown live to the Zoya’s crew through the announcer.

Glossary 1. Zoya - A mid range galactic rover used to shuttle distances of 10,000 Giles

The next few moments of truth was what perhaps going to the rewrite the history of mankind, either for good or bad.

2. Dimography – (Futuristic Term) Refers to

Guilia instructed the pilot to maintain the speed of Zoya to what was blinking on the screen as the speed of the comet. She next instructed the other pilot to monitor the distance between the Zoya and the nucleus.

3. CES – Colonized Extra-terrestrial Settlement of

dimensional geography. It points to the dimensional space in the universe.

Human beings

a. 1st in Mars b. 2nd in Phobos

She personally operated the gravitational monitor to adjust Zoya to the new celestial body’s gravitational forces.

(Largest natural

satellite of Mars)

c. 3rd in Europa

(4th largest natural satellite of Jupiter)

The gap was closing in from meters to centimeters.

And the final moment of truth came.

d. 4th in Deimos

(2nd largest natural

satellite of Mars)

Guilia realized that for the past 5 to 10 seconds, they were sitting on a moving celestial object which is travelling at 100 Giles per hour as compared to the 0.01 Giles per hour of the Earth.

e. 5th in Titan

(Largest natural satellite of Saturn)

f.

Traces left behind

6th in Enceladus (2nd largest natural satellite of Saturn

4. Giles - (Futuristic Term) Refers to millions of What happened next is all part of the history that was rewritten.

miles

The crew spent nearly 100 days remaining stationary on the comet nucleus. Though the crew was able to come out on the nucleus only with their space suit due to the weather conditions, they conducted necessary tests.

Another crew installed the research station. This will basically monitor the dimographies outside the solar system.

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clustered. It was like Morse code tapped out by a dead man.

Holmes and Batman

Slowly Holmes open the bedroom door and saw the view inside. A joker body was hanging from the fan and in the dim light Holmes saw the big smile on the face and sound coming from it. The dead body was laughing hysterically while hanging from the fan.

Holmes heart skipped a beat and then suddenly someone tapped on his shoulder….

By Prateek Sah, PGP II The effect of Moriarty Time Distributor is still ringing on his mind. How the so called world’s greatest detective of the era falls into criminal genius trap and lands up into alternate universe of dark and nauseated Gotham can be analyzed for years but for now Sherlock is clearly finding himself out of place. He calls for a cab and ask for Baker’s street but the driver was clueless and rightly so. This is no London and there’s no Baker Street. Yes what you can find here is Crime alley, the local dangerous neighborhood and tall and bustling building of Wayne enterprise.

Suddenly Sherlock saw the Bat symbol in the sky.

Puzzled, he asked the driver what does that means.

The driver asked,” Are you new to Gotham”? Sherlock felt like shouting that he is not new to Gotham but to this earth as well but he restrained himself. Still he responds in a submissive “yes”. The driver said,” Well, the symbol is for one person”.

It seems like 12 hours since he was out. And now he found himself in a Batcave in front of his subject of interest.

Holmes: How long since I was out?

Batman: 12 hours at least. I have read about you.

You were one of my inspiration. Going by the logic, I think time traveling does this to you.

Holmes: Was that house haunted? Who was that clown?

Batman: that was Joker’s house. Haunted or not.

Let’s not comment about that. A live Joker in itself was a living nightmare for Gotham.

Sherlock: Who?

Holmes: so who looks after the company, Mr.Wayne?

Driver: The Batman.

Batman: sorry..Eh..

Sherlock: and who is that with such a stupid kind of a pest name?

Holmes: Yes Mr.Wayne..you can fool the world but not me..I know Bruce Wayne and Batman are all the same. But don’t be afraid, I am not going to leak the secret.

Driver: Well nobody knows who the Batman is. Okay, I am leaving. stay alert and careful.

Batman: how on earth you deduce that in just one day?

The next day Holmes immersed himself in newspapers and trying to get information about the Batman when someone recommended him about the house on the 13th street of Gotham with a cautionary advice. He was told that the resident was close to Batman.

Holmes: A vigilante should have a strong sense of purpose. Dead parent shot by a criminal in front of your eyes. A bruised body of Bruce Wayne which no makeup can hide. The kind of toys that Batman uses points that the man behind the mask is resourceful.

Plus a chiseled body narrows my list of persons further. I don’t think I need to explain further Batman( removing his mask): Well see that’s why I am a big fan of yours..Now lets see how to send you back to your world as I have business to attend. Two guys called Dean and Sam Winchester have called me about some strange paranormal occurings in Gotham city.

As ingrained in Sherlock persona, he solves crimes not because he hates it but because he loves to solve the riddle and puzzles that the crimes present. And now with his imminent entry in Gotham presenting the greatest puzzle of Gotham regarding Batman identity, he vows to solve this riddle as well. He walked a few steps down the street and suddenly he saw a colorful house with big smile sticker pasted on the door. He became curious and knocked on the door.

The door was open and the house was dark inside. A sudden stinking smell makes Holmes vomit instantly. The quietness of the house was uneasy and suddenly Holmes heard a laughing buzz at approximately 3:00 A.M., Holmes move towards the bedroom of the desolated house with a frown of puzzlement. The laughter was getting louder and louder. They were odd. Muffled. Insane. Rhythmically

Holmes: So let’s at least solve one case together.What say??

Batman: thinking….

To be continued..

15

come out from the other disc called ‘The Exit’. It is based on the principle of electromagnetic waves. In the latest NASA confidential mission, the ‘Exit Ring’ had been successfully deployed on a planet currently undiscovered. It was named ‘Ignotis’ which meant unknown in Latin. Last week a team of five most intelligent scientists on earth had gone through ‘The Entry’ to unravel the mysteries of Ignotis.

HUMANS ON IGNOTIS

By Rudri Bhatt, 1st Sem Engg. student, IIMA Residential Quarters

Without even realizing, the scientists found themselves on a very small and different planet covered with ice.

They had popped up on one of the main streets of Ignotis and found themselves surrounded by creepy looking creatures. They had expected this. But what they had not expected was to see was that the creatures were a hundred times more evolved than themselves. They had three hands and legs, for increased productivity, sensors instead of eyes, ultra sonic emitter instead of a mouth and ultrasonic transmitter instead of ears. Their eyes were at an angle so as enable them to be able to see 360 degrees. Only their height was a lot smaller compared to that of humans. Suddenly two creatures came rushing through the crowd, picked the scientists up and put them inside what the scientists thought, their transport device. It went at the speed of light and within seconds they were within a tall shining building made of ice as well. They found themselves sitting in front of a slightly taller creature that looked like the one in authority. The label on his head said ‘AI’. AI spoke inside a small device which was apparently a translator. “welcome to our planet. As it turns out you have successfully been able to reach our planet and we respect your curiosity.

There is no need to introduce yourself, we know more about your planet than you yourself do. ” The scientists stared in shock as AI continued, “our detailed research about your species have concluded that you our one of the most unproductive and dangerous species. But unlike yours, our laws are resolute and applicable to all which unfortunately includes you also. So have agreed to let you explore and admire our beautiful little planet provided you don’t treat it as your planet and do not harm it in any way.”

We have all seen the movie ‘The Mars Attack’, in which aliens from Mars invade the Earth and to a great extent are successful in ruling over our planet till we find a weird and musical method to destroy them. Yes, that’s what we humans are known for, our intelligence.

Cameras were set and all the reporters had taken their places, every one wondering why the press conference had been called suddenly and who was about to address them. They were all taken aback when the gates opened and the NASA administrator John Miller stood in front of them.

John Miller had a strange sparkle in his eyes. “Good morning everybody” he said, “ a rather fine morning, isn’t it? I am sure you all must be wondering what this is all about.” He paused for a moment, “ Recently, while monitoring the Earth, the PODS detected an unfamiliar rock near the Arctic Circle. When I had our scientists go up there and examine it, they confirmed that it was a meteorite”. Now meteorites weren’t a new thing for NASA. They were the rarest rocks on earth, and yet NASA claims to have found one every now and then.

“Now I know that does not surprise you,” continued Miller,” but what if I tell you that the meteorite is only about a year old and that it contains fossils of living organisms?”

There was an instant wave of chattering among the crowd of reporters. His sentence clearly stated that extraterrestrial live existed in this universe, not millions of years back, but today. Looking at the disbelieving faces of the reporters, Miller said “ yes, what you heard is right. Apart from the NASA scientists, I sent some civilian scientists to confirm this information. And that is not it, we have successfully been able to find out to which planet this rock belongs.” Ending his conference by giving the reporters little more to write about this great NASA discovery, John Miller left the conference area smiling to himself.

What he had not told the world was an even greater achievement than what he had. Two month back NASA had invented two enormous black, glowing discs. They proudly named them ‘Teleport Rings’. If you entered from one disc called ‘The Entry’, you would instantly

16

The scientists could not believe what they heard, being talked to like this and then being allowed to go free on conditions was not something they were used to. But they thought better than telling AI how genius they were. On coming out of the building they felt a sudden stream of chill running through their body. Using the hitech lighter that could make fire in any kind of environment, they were finally able to create some warmth. Their body felt numb due to cold. Suddenly it hit them that they could not get back and that they were

trapped on this weird and cold planet forever.

Discussing the obvious and yet new problem, they did not notice that the streets had become flooding with water. The creatures came running outside from their buildings, screaming and pointing at the scientists.

Within no time two creatures came again and dumped the scientists into their transport device and sped off.

yourself a bunch of intelligent people, but you don’t realize that you are killing yourself with this same intelligence.” AI cooled down a bit, “ I request you to go back to your planet and try saving the earth rather than interfering with other planets.”

The scientists though surprised said “ well that is exactly the problem, we don’t know how to go back. So I guess we are stuck here for lifetime.” AI laughed at the scientists and said “ and well that’s exactly where we are more intelligent than you humans, we wont let you stay here for even a second more. Instantly a silver disc appeared and AI motioned the scientists to step into it.

Wondering what could have possibly gone wrong, the scientists found themselves sitting in front of AI again.

They could feel anger radiating from his body. “you humans,” he shouted through the translator, “ how dare you light a fire on this planet! This is not your planet. We have seen the irreversible damage you have caused to the earth and that’s why had decided not to connect with you. Was the earth less that you have come to kill this planet also? In your craze of development you have been killing your beautiful planet. True development is in preserving what supports your life and not playing with it. And talking of this planet to who’s ice you have already starting melting, then never come back here again! Some things are best left interfered. We knew of your planet but we were happy with ours. You call

Within no time the scientists were back on earth. Not being able to that the past few ours of their lives were real, not being able to believe that creatures much more advanced than humans lived in this universe and not being able to believe that they had not only caused harm to earth but were also proved to be a nuisance to the other planet, they called off the next mission that was going to send five more scientists to the Ignotis.

17

the wind and its feathery vestiges, rooted to the

!magine

astral pedestal carved in white and gold; it's nourishment, it's source-the river menealis; the human

By Gaurav Jeevan Gathoo, PGP II

soul, the entity of meaning brought with it a brilliant sheen to the vicinity. The tree formed a picture that was

“Imagine a world of no evil,

complete in every way, what the idea witnessed before was the tree of the brain- Brencopernia.

Imagine a world of no good, Ha…it’s not a world anymore All that remains…nothingness…

Pure…white…bland…calm…neutral…fair

A new kind had emerged, the idea naive and young wondered how it would be like for the Brencopernia's

Nothingness”

bearer; his view of the world outside formed as a result of it's many inhabitants.

And there it was…

Freshly born from the innermost parts of the soul; the idea; flowing through the river menealis, causing many

Atop the Brencopernia, stood the eyes of man.

stirrups along the way, clinging along the shores,

Atop the Brencopernia,

moving slightly, traversing in the river attuned to its rhythm; it reached the astral pedestal. Slowly lifted by

where the idea stands.

Atop the Brencopernia,

the pristine winds within, the vestiges of which forming small cups below, projecting a picture of security and

was the world of man.

protection for the fresh thought as it made its way

For the idea to stand there was itself fascinating. It

slowly and in no hurry to a starry mass above.

came to know of its bearer-an infant, much like itself as it watched a tree burning in flames. It saw this scene

Huge swarms.

Huge swarms startle the idea upon its entry into the

of despair and destruction as it took it all in with its young innocent eyes.

starry mass. The swarms all clusters of like-minded ideas-the anxious, the angry, the ignorant, the kind, the polite, the envious, the serving and all that might inspire

A tree the world of man, A tree the world of man.

an emotion. The ideas all seemed to multiply there and there itself; often two, conjoining to form a new and

That was knowledge from generations past; a tree, a

unique third. This made the new born realize of its

gift from Earth, Sun and Water-the biosphere so to

uniqueness as being the one from the soul.

speak for the creatively challenged. What the idea saw, the thinker as it now went by from its experiences of the

The fresh idea gazed at all of them and decided to avoid all the swarms and clusters as it placed far off in

outside, was only agony and helplessness. A child torching its mother was the queer interpretation that it

solitude within the boundaries of the huge starry mass.

acquired.

The night came along and something escaped. It found itself floating out of its physical form dictated by an

In the Brencopernia-maligned and corrupt; it went to

ethereal presence it flew, flew and flew. It flew till it was no longer within the starry mass, it could now watch the

the angry the most easy to instigate; reinforced by the arrogant and the envious it took form of a dark evil

river menealis - the river of meaning which gave reason

structure; much like a snake as it slithered about the

for every idea in the swarm; and farther it flew till it reached the end of its cosmos. The view that greeted

starry mass; obliterating everything that came along.

The Brencopernia had fallen; the starry mass

was nothing short of spectacular. What the idea stared at was a brilliantly immense tree. The top

disintegrated. All that remained was a snake, held together by the thinker bearing thoughts of envy, anger,

in fluorescent teal with specks of white (all clusters of

greed, power with a shrewd arrogance-dictating

ideas) held firm by a fragile trunk made of nothing but

others suppressing the kind; the polite and all that stood

18

in its way. The bearer too had suffered to the turmoil

captivating canvas etched in the observing idea; all was

within; a puppet to the thinkers snake; carried out actions only leading to further suffering.

not lost.

The harbingers of hate,

As the bearer got up; now a full grown man. He looked in the mirror; long coarse beard; scars and cuts

so they were called,

occupied his face as if it were their place of worship. All

the thinker-their leader, who led the tree's fall.

a result of the years of cruelty and pain he had to endure as a result of his unyielding anger and

A motive accomplished,

arrogance. He looked at his companion: she was hurt

quelled to rule;

and broken. And there, there was the hope the

a light for hope; perhaps long and resolute.

observer longed to see as a teardrop wet his eye. A new idea was soon conceived thereafter that would

A time, years later when the children of hate convinced

signal a change; again born from the depths of the soulrepentance.

of their control over the bearer; let the observer see of the carnage accomplished; for all that could be destroyed, was; and only emptiness remained.

The thinkers snake of hate came filled with ideas of greed, violence and rage; angers elder sibling as soon

The sun ascended that morn; bright and jubilant; if only

as it got a whiff of what was happening. The observer forced out; vowed to preserve the life of the man; and

anyone had noticed. The skies gracefully adorned by

that of his woman. As he gathered along the ideas of

clouds like patches in its blue vastness. A swarm of birds in an array of colors completed the image. The

the kind; the polite; the benevolent along with the infant one of repentance; they vouched for a reason to avert

19

the despair the bearer was in. A formidable opponent of hate had to be formed; one to bring peace and order. A new entity took form; similar to the thinkers snake of

The intellect threatened and alarmed, the thinkers motive no more clandestine,

hate; but with altogether a different cause. A snake of the intellect experienced creation.

They swirled and swirled towards the crown, as their bodies now completely intertwined.

The crazies at the forefront of madness, tired of the hate embroiled, geared up with the snake of the intellect

Just as they were to reach the top; they clenched the bearers view at the same time with their mouths wide

for a fight. The crazies held freedom very dear, the freedom which might see the light of day if this combat

open. There stood the new Brencopernia. No longer a fine structure, more solid looking rather; deprived of all

resulted in victory. One of the most brilliant battles was

beauty. Two vines that formed a spiral from the astral

creating a history of its own; the one happening within man; the good versus the evil. The bearer now; most

pedestal to the top of the brain crown. Man was now both good and evil; the ideas conceived could reach

turbulent looked upon all the actions he had committed with doubt. He had bought himself to terms with

their way up to the crown by taking either of the routes.

No longer were there any clusters; the angry could

repentance; the fight for his mind more jagged than

move up for the good and the polite may have an intent

ever.

of evil. The bearer- who went by the name Adam too changed considerably. He no longer destroyed trees, "Why" the intellect asked, "the chaos and destruction that was,"

but planted saplings as well as if fighting to ward off all the destruction he committed or was to commit.

The thinker confused and distraught, looked back in history what man mauled.

A tree the world of man, a tree the world of man.

The burning tree, the one it had seen as an infant. It remembered that man was a destructive creature. He

Its essence was now realized as Adam now understood that the tree within must be healthy if he wanted the

had brought destruction to the tree, its world, forever

one on the outside to prosper.

bent on destroying his world. He had understood that destruction was why man was bought on the earth.

The old Brencopernia fallen, the new one stood tall as it

Never had he thought of other thinkers in other creatures. It had been only following the image that it

occupied all of the bearers body and was passed along to his progeny. A marker to the struggle that would last

had seen as a child. His desire to recreate it over and

for all eternity, that was between good and evil. It goes

over was his purpose which he lived for. Now, even more convinced than ever, the thinkers snake continued

by a new name these days- Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA); modern man being seriously creatively

its fight. Battling the reason of the intellect it raced to the top of the Brencopernia to forever gain control of

challenged.

the bearer and his mind.

20

won’t stop me. Tell me where are you hiding him or you shall face my wrath.” Then there was a big blast that brought the house down followed by a dreadful silence.

... I woke up with a start !

As we were running away, Rakshak was crying.

His tears made me hate that voice even more. After we had covered a few hundred meters, Rakshak suddenly stopped and said, “Look Yash, there are a few things you need to know about me.

I come from a parallel universe, similar but at the same time quite different from yours. A few aeons ago my planets’ king and queen were expecting a baby, an heir to the throne.

Everyone on the planet rejoiced, all except one – an ambitious man called Kansa. He wanted the throne to himself. He usurped the throne and murdered the king and the queen. He thought that the heir also got killed in the queen’s womb. But what he did not know was that the queen had had an early delivery. She had sent the heir to a faraway planet with the help of a servant sworn to protect the royal family. When Kansa learnt of this, at once he set out to capture and slay the heir. I am a descendant of the servant who helped the queen and I have also been sworn to protect the heir – You!!”

By Yash Deodhar, 13 year old son of Prof. Satish Deodhar I woke up with a start and ran down the stairs as fast as lightning, or maybe faster! The accompanying foot-stomping disturbed my parents’ sleep.

Father yelled from his bedroom cursing why his son had to get up so early only on a Sunday morning. Ignoring him, I raced to the door, opened it and ran down to the sidewalk. It was the shrill horn of a truck that had made me sprint down. We had no neighbors for quite some time and I was desperately hoping that I will make a new friend whenever neighbors move in.

I was not disappointed. I saw three figures step out of a truck. The first to step out was a man in his early thirties with pitch black hair and an equally dark suit. However, the most striking thing about him was his glowing aura of power. The next to step out was a woman in her late twenties with piercing eyes. But the last figure that stepped out made my heart jump and run in circles because it was a boy of my age!! Before I could think about what I was doing I half stumbled and half ran to the place where our neighbors were unloading. I must have startled the boy because he nearly dropped the package he was holding and then he realized that I wasn’t a threat. “Hi, I am Yash and I live next door. What’s your name?” I asked. “I am Rakshak Vishwa and we just dropped by on Earth. We are on the look-out for a special person,” said the boy. Normally, such a response would either make one laugh or stare in disbelief. But, I being a Star-Trek fan, assumed that he must be another Trekkie and we chattered-on endlessly. Just then, my mother came from behind and dragged me home.

Bewildered, I asked Rakshak to prove it. Rakshak took out a shining emerald from his pocket and said, “Touch this stone and you will find the answers you seek.”

Somehow, against my own will, I touched the emerald.

Instantly I was teleported to an unknown celestial place. I felt completely awed by what I saw there. Chained humanoid creatures were enslaved and put to work by their masters. Immediately I felt a connection with them. Both the slaves and the masters were my people.

Then Rakshak spoke, “These people have been waiting for your arrival for a long time. I think you should say something to them, so that they can start a revolt against Kansa and his minions.” Then he nudged me ahead before I could react. At once all eyes were on me.

Paranoia gripped my chest.

“Umm, hello everyone. I am supposed to be your king so let the revolt begin,” I said timidly. At once everything happened. Prisoners started hitting their captors, there were shouts everywhere and all were consumed in pandemonium. While the fighting was on, a formidable figure emerged on the scene. I didn’t need Rakshak to know that he was Kansa. Kansa laughed and suddenly pounced on me delivering several bloody blows.

“You have returned, you stupid boy. I killed your whole family and enslaved the whole planet. Do you think that a few lame words of yours will change all that?” said Kansa. His arrogance filled me with rage. I picked up a trident and hurled it at him. Kansa was history. I asked Rakshak to blow the Conch-horn to celebrate victory.

And just then, I woke up with a start! It was the shrill horn of a truck that had just arrived next door! Our new neighbors had arrived ...

The next day, Rakshak called me home to help him unpack. While we were unpacking, the house started to shake violently. I looked outside the window and observed that no other house in the neighborhood was shaking.

The other thing I noticed was that Rakshak had turned extremely pale all of a sudden. Just then Mr. Vishwa came running and spoke to Rakshak in an alien voice. Rakshak nodded, made a grave face and asked me to run for my life! It did not take me long to realize that there was something spooky about the family and the house. As we ran for our lives, we heard screams from Rakshak’s house. This was followed by a mysterious loud voice, a voice that every atom in my body hated to the core. It said, “I will find him. For aeons I have waited to get a whiff of him and a weakling like you

21

bleeding edge at the time, it was hilariously primitive for the

Last Goodbye.

rest of the universe.

By Swati, PGP II

In a sense, my creators haven't grown at all. You know what my mission was? To survey the largest planet in the solar

I believe it was one of your kind that said "I wonder if, in fact,

system, send back some pretty pictures and that's about it.

we have been observed by aliens and upon close

They have yet to understand, that in the grand scheme of

examination of human conduct and human behavior they

the universe, they are insignificant.

have concluded that there is no sign of intelligent life on

Earth,".

While other species have invented interstellar travel,

unravelled the mysteries of life and death and have the

That's partially true.

capability to terraform entire planets, mankind is yet to

make a ripple in the cosmic pond.

Turns out the Universe is filled with intelligence. Tens of

hundreds of species that live and co-exist with each other,

I seem to be going on and on. I apologize. It's only been

out here in the vast cosmos.

minutes since my speech synthesizer kicked in. A gift from

But wait a minute. Let me start over. I've never really been

my Recreators, as well as several other devices, allowing

any good at telling stories. Probably because this is my first

me to think, decide and evolve over time.

time.

You see, mankind isn't alone in the Universe. My

You've heard of the Voyager I right? If you haven't, you're

Recreators - and I shall refer to them as such, since there

probably too young for this story.

is no appropriate word in your language- are some of the

smartest sentient beings in the galaxy. They, unlike many

Anyways, I am the Voyager I. I was built to be a deep space

other species, have found out the true purpose of life: to

probe, a device that floats in space collecting data about

eventually become the Creators.

planets, asteroids and satellites.

Mankind thinks that the Creator is a divine being, someone

About a decade ago, NASA, the human corporation that

with awe-inspiring power and unquestionable morality who

built me, using repurposed military hardware and software,

has created everything and has answers to every

wanted to explore the universe. Although my hardware was

conceivable question. In a way, they're right. But the

22

Creator isn't a divine being. They're regular species, who

But I digress.

have transcended their mundane existence and, through

science, will eventually reshape the Universe in their image.

I have been modified to suit their purposes now. I am now

searching for other intelligent life forms in the Universe, any

So essentially, it's a Race. A race for information. But unlike

species who have progressed sufficiently enough to have

mankind, my Recreators know that they will require working

access to technology advanced enough for my Recreators

together to achieve their goals. And so they've invented

to deem important enough to assimilate into their own

ways to do just that.

technology. And then, I will pursue their goal of obtaining all

knowledge.

In your terms, they're probably more technological than

biological. They require no sustenance, except solar energy

I am sending you this message so you will join the Race. I

to maintain their systems, require no rest and never differ

am sure that these emotions and feelings of longing are

on decisions.

just a byproduct of the presence of some of my old

components that are yet to be replaced by newer, more

How do they never argue? Well, to put it in simple terms,

efficient modules.

think of them as a series of networked artificial

intelligences, although referring to them as 'AI' would be a

I am sorry that I could not be of more help. Sorry that your

grave insult. They communicate with each other at a speed

completely arrogant notion that you are the most

faster than light and can transfer their 'consciousness' to

technologically advanced race in the Universe is a complete

other systems, just as easily as you would copy software

disservice to the truth. The fact is, the human race was

from one system to another. Any decision they make is

discovered long ago by the Recreators. You were deemed

voted on by the hundreds of billions all around the galaxy,

too primitive in your thinking, in your society and far too

almost instantaneously, making sure that the decision

dangerous to deal with. So in essence, the entirety of the

positively affects the fulfillment of their goals. And once a

sentient species simply decided to ignore you.

decision is made, every platform accepts the decision of the

majority collectively.

I urge humankind to forget to their infighting. Stop dividing

yourself through religion, race and creed. You are a young

They have no sense of individuality; they cannot lie, withhold

species, but there is still time for you to leave a mark in the

information or manipulate others of their kind, since they

galaxy. I am unsure of how my Recreators will treat you

are connected to each other through a collective

once they become the Creators, but seeing as you are still

consciousness. There is no concept of privacy or

following a path that can lead only to self-destruction, I urge

vulnerability; there is simply no need for it. Likewise, there is

you to reform before it is too late. Do not become the

no need for any governing structure, since the entire race

tumor that must be eradicated from the Galaxy.

follows a form of Consensus Democracy. Simply put, they

are at the pinnacle of the Universal Evolutionary Scale.

Soon, I will begin my mission and be out of the range of any

of your most complex scanners and equipment. I will be

Although my Recreators are incredibly intelligent, they wish

traveling at speeds faster than your understanding of

to have little to do with other species that do not share

physics will allow and will be untraceable by most

their same goals. They seek the peaceful advancement of

technology. It is a slim hope, but I hope to see you again. If

their own race, independent of the influence of the rest of

and when we meet, you can be assured I will have several

the galaxy and believe that every sentient species should

interesting stories to share.

also be allowed to do the same. They are essentially

immortal, simply transferring their 'consciousness' to other

Goodbye, my creators.

platforms once their physical bodies are deemed unfit.

23

space from nowhere in the violent sound of silence… knowing nothing of what was happening...

Miss Moon

By Kiran Kumar Bollam, PGP I

(It’s been assumed that man has never landed on the moon, based on the "Moon landing conspiracy theories".)

Sometime, in the first half of 20th century..

Then something astonishing happened in the space…it’s all filmy then...

It’s scenic..

It’s beautiful..

..all the white gases of the space surrounded the scene making it invisible like the mist of our earth..

Every element of the frame is simply splendid..

It’s an ancient beach shore, where no incandescent or fluorescent lamp can distract you from feeling the great silver shine of the full moon..

Slowly..from that blurry image something divine came..It's a lady..so fair in white costume with pearl earrings, jasmine crown and diamond like hangings, all over the dress....

There was a man 6 feet tall with a perfectly shaped body sitting on the shore..staring at the moon...

He was so mesmerized by her beauty that, for a while his eyes even forgot to transfer the information to his brain sensors...

About 400 years back into the past..this man falls in love with the "Miss. MOON" from which..he is alive till now (by some unknown reasons)..gazing at the great moon thinking that someday..she will come down to him and it’s been this long waiting, waiting and just waiting...

After receiving the images from the eyes his brain couldn’t find a single word to define her...all the words including awesome, divine, splendid, outstanding...were discarded to describe her impeccable beauty...

No one said anything to him.

He was in his own world of "Stare-worship!!"

and...all this scene happened in slow-motion..

But, then from nowhere his human-mind functioned for the first time in the last 400 years; an idea struck him…”if she won’t come near me...I will go there!!"

The lady was Her, Ms. Moon, about whom he had dreamt till now and has finally met him...

But, it’s still not over..boy has just met the girl and it’s just the first meeting..

It all started then…a deep quest of "how to reach her?"

He still hasn’t found a way to be with her..forever...

He still couldn't figure out to live and stay with her..all the way...

He then left the shore to bang his head for a solution… brain stormed...and rest is obvious..

He designed a way using launch vehicles (Apollo series) and started his journey to meet the beloved-preciousAngel of his life...

If this could happen in the near future, so that all the wait is finally over....then, they will be living happily..together..ever after..and the future generations will then be calling...."The Mother-Earth and The WifeMoon!!!"

Its 20th July, 1969..he was on his way approaching the moon with all the excitement and enthusiasm of this universe to meet his dear darling.

But the game was not so simple. His space-shuttle was broken on the way and he was hanging in the outer

24

P.S. A simple description of the man, representing the human race, who, for years, is in a deep quest to find life on the Moon, to live with her... :) :)

and thus unavailable for reference). Theta used emotionally perceptive quantitative jurisprudence to measure time and depended on the collective emotional state of all the disintegrating nucleo & irrational vector scientists aboard the spaceship Zataculpa.

Space Exploration – A story highlighting collaboration over competition

After a recoup period of four hundred and thirty years, the call for nominations of new leader was made. All the scientists from series A to M sent about 2 million disintegrating representatives and the scientists from series N to Z sent about 77 million representatives.

The scientists from series $%^&^%$ and from series &*()(*& sent 3 and 8 representatives respectively. The confidence of the last two series scientists stemmed from the fact that in the past 4 competitions, $%^&^% $ and &*()(*& had produces a semi granular potion from the residual exhaust of the spaceship that could give the scientists(those who drank the potion) immense power to circle their dormant tales and thus bring about the process of sucrose extraction and feeding to the spaceship engines. With the line up exciting – powerful representatives few in number and the millions of scientists using probabilistic regressing equations to bring stars together, it was a competition which invited attention from the other galaxies including Milky Way’

By Gaurav Bhandari, PGPX

Zataculpa zoomed past all the tritron amalgamated semi neurotic stars of the milky way galaxy for the nine hundred and seventy three billionth time. Twenty nine billion times more and it would surpass the existing record set by its co-brother Xynohowles . But it could not and thus stopped. Zataculpa always played second fiddle to Xynohowles and loosing again left home and settled in galaxy Fytesemeda. Zataculpa’s disintegrating nucleo & irrational vector scientists calculated that with Xynohowles no more in competition at least in its newly occupied galaxy, there would be no threat and their crypto energized plasto membrane based cells would capture enough white light to embark on another series of explorations in their new home Fytesemeda galaxy. Fytesemeda was hitherto unoccupied and thus these scientists had reasons to believe they would be the sole consumers of the bounty that Fytesemeda had to offer.

Very keen to plant its own mole in the Fytesemeda galaxy and replace Mosegyonku, the co brother spaceship Xynohowles hatched a plot. The scientists used shadow of Xynohowles, transposed it and then used newly developed zero frequency radio waves to transmit this transposed image of the spaceship. Such an error free signal led the scientists in Fytesemeda to accept this assuming it to be one from the millions in series N to Z. Although assumptions were made strictly keeping the algorithmic sequence of constellations ‘ Great Bear’ and ‘Cassopia’ in mind, the transposed image signal manage to give the Fytesemeda firewall scientists a slip and recorded its entry as a valid one. The season Obdiquel (in between fall and winter) enabled the transmission of the message albeit with little dust and meteoric debris.

The only non distegrating vector scientist Theodore Mosegyonku, Zataculpa’s exploration leader so far, announced of a thermally unbiased plan to select a new leader who would acquire all the non disintegrating properties from Mosegyonku. After giving up his properties to the new leader, Mosegyonku would press the button on top of the helium cooled metallic concrete chamber and thus would be transformed into a semi visible melted crystalliune structure – the most revered and respected religious position that one could acquire in the spaceship Zataculpa. The only criteria for the new leader was that he/she was required to be able to pull together six hundred and fifteen million stars from the galaxy together by circling its any of the nine dormant tails, extract the sucrose and feed it into the invisible engines of their spaceship galaxy. This was no easy task and the competitions held once every sixty thousand and Theta years proved so (Theta being the fourth dimension of time – year being one, the other two could only be smelt and therefore the conservative biodegradable plastics in them were largely exhausted

Pigucheze was a junior disintegrating scientist who worked in the non linear laboratory of the spaceship Zataculpa. When he saw the pattern of light on the helium cooled metallic concrete chamber change, he knew something was wrong. Constant flights around the earth’s sun had increased the sensory stimulus of his ninth intestine and thus he could detect the intrusion from Xynohowles from the Milky way galaxy.

Pigucheze was a prodigee of Bigucheze, the only other non linear disintegrating scientist and in the snow

25

forests of Tibutula he had fine tuned his art of sensory detection under the able master. Now, he used his skills to the fullest, detected the intrusion and activated the external ‘destruct virus algorithm’. Congratulatory messages starting flowing in from all the scientists of Fytesemeda and soon after the congratulatory phase, everyone saw what a star Pigucheze had been throughout. Although he had only 8 dormant tails, his other qualities could compensate and he still had a chance to bring together six hundred and fifteen million stars from the galaxy and feed the sucrose into the spaceship’s engines. He thus was given a wild card entry in the contest.

On the day of the competition, out of respect and humility all the competing scientists from series A to M, N to Z, $%^&^%$ and &*()(*& opted out. They changed their crystalline structure thereby giving enough sucrose conversion power to the white light based cells of Pigucheze’s. Pigucheze won unopposed and vowed to be a humble contributor to Zataculpa’s exploratory voyages. He immediately replaced helium

26

cooled chamber with steel cased vapour turbines that added sucrose from the breath exhale of scientists while on the move outside Fytesemeda. Such innovations gave a new lease of life to the science and space structure of Zataculpa and the spaceship was set to beat Xynohlowes. Before starting, Pigucheze always meditated and while he was doing so, he saw Mosegyonku, who had immersed himself in the helium cooled molten concrete chamber. The dream motivated Pigucheze to value collaboration as opposed to fierce competition and thus Zataculpa sent corresponding signals to Xynohowles. Xynohowles accepted the sigmal and both Zataculpa and Xynohowles merged the minimum required number of triton amalgamated semi neurotic stars of the galaxies together and they ‘explored space happily ever after’

Strategic Subtle World: Angels Invading for “Transformation”

By Shiba Parhi, FDP “ This is a short depiction of “ subtle world” consist of flying ladies with a few flying male. This is the world beyond this physical Universe. An adolescent Nilu is traveling into the subtle world through “ trance”. Author Nilu is presenting his experience of visiting the “ trance world”.

Staring at the star in a full moon night I was pulled by some mysterious force, my mind starts traveling beyond the moon, stars, galaxies , asteroids to a altogether different world, is it the same world as depicted in the movie “Avatar” , is it the “ heaven”, is it the world where the world famous scientists Einstein entered into to do the thought experiments ( gendakin) , God knows. then where am I !!!!!.

Since childhood I was least concerned what is on the earth , rather what is beyond this blue sky? No satisfying answer so far. I have read books and materials on physics, astrophysics, fictions, etc, gazed through telescope, visited science city , doubts multiplied. At the end realized science has its own limitation. Then what else. Someone told

“Silence is the mother of Science” . As per his explanation without mental calmness , concentration

and

introspection , one cannot think right and logical. The power of silence and introspection have been guided scientists to think differently.

27

Sitting in silence , in deep introspection, I could able to

understand the “ the language of silence, the language

withdraw my mind from this world to fly beyond the sky, moon , stars and galaxies. The experience of “traveling

of eye”. One day I became an angel in trance and starts traveling or flying with the power of my thoughts.

beyond the Universe with intellect and mind” is amazing and beyond the common man imagination.

The angel became my friends and started speaking to me through their eyes. I enjoyed their presence and

Science has its own limitation, with spaceships I can

companion. These group of lady angels with a few male

travel up to moon or mars. But with a powerful intellect with the wings of mind I can travel beyond the space

friends have prepared a master plan of the transformation of hell like planet earth to heaven . As i

and time.

understood I was frightened. Are they threats for our planet. Are they going to invade , attack and kill us. I

I ventured

into the world

which none of us

experienced. The “ world of flying

has

observed number of time they are in boardroom

lady”, is there any

meeting. There is a hierarchy in the group, have they undergone “ management course”, I surprise to find

flying male yes, but one in thousand . The beautiful ladies with long hair, smiling face, piercing eyes can

their management style. I marked one exceptionally bright and beautiful lady with long hair and attractive

travel beyond space and time. These attractive and beautiful lady with wings can travel beyond the speed

eyes leading the project of “ world transformation”,

of light. Sometime they visit the earth, with the blink of

she was not alone. A group of eight is leading the team.

Rest are follower and implementer. I am warning all

eye they can reach any point of their desire and choice, traveling at the speed of thought.

( resident of the earth) do not take it easy. Perhaps we are going to lose our freedom. Next day when I was

They were not just beautiful , but loving, kind hearted and beatific. As I reached their found They were

trying hard to fly to that “ trance world”, I could not, even after the year of trying I failed to travel again to the subtle world.

speaking something but not through the sounds but through the signals of eyes, their beautiful eyes are magic box. Eyes were so pure and piercing , it speaks

But I can see the dereliction and depredation of the globe, I realized destruction is inevitable. I could sense

thousands of things. Speaking through eyes may be possible for the fairy as her thoughts and heart were

the urgency of transformation , but transformation of

clean. My mind and heart filled with envy and vices, is

what “ nature”. Perhaps those angelic ladies were busy in the transformation of human nature.

not allowing to catch the thoughts correctly.

I tried to hold the hand of one of the angelic lady , I

One day again Nilu could fly, but this time she could not see the angels whether they have left for their mission

could not . They were quite similar to us in appearance but body is “ subtle”, means a “ light body”. They do have all the organs like our body but absolutely

“paradise” or ....??????. Thousands of thoughts come

“

to his mind then realized the angels are not the simple being , but they can leave their angelic body to be an

subtle” , the light ( less in weight) “ light ( bright) body” that can float above the Universe”, driven by the power of subtle energy thoughts.

invisible, incorporeal, indivisible point of divine light. As a star like entity they can renter into the angelic body or

The companion of benevolent ladies started purifying

can travel to the world of silence above the subtle

my heart and mind. Slowly steadily I started

world. The world of Silence is incorporeal world.

understanding their language of eyes. One day they introduced me about their life from that I realized their activities and efforts are strategic and well planned.

They are not fling randomly or for a delight. They are having a mission and a time bound action plan. I surprised to know these innocent, soft and fair women are determined to “ transform the planet earth”.

Smiling ladies with their cute eyes made me realized nothing to worry about. Initially it was difficult for me to

28

The captain always goes down with the ship.

by Kush Meshram, PGP II If you've ever looked up books from the older centuries, when man first started sailing, people would die all the time. They'd drown, fall sick at sea, slip while tying the sails and fall to their deaths. But most sailors will agree that drowning is the worst way to go. The absolute worst.

So, why is it that the Captain always goes down with the ship? Honestly, it's not really a choice. It's not like he says that "You know what, you guys go ahead, I think I'll just go down with the ship. Been with her for so many years and leaving her alone wouldn’t feel right,". As a Captain, it was his ultimate responsibility for the life of all his crew and his passengers. And, being the most skilled seaman, it'd be his job to make sure everyone got off the boat before he did.

Things haven't changed much since man decided to venture into space.

You've probably watched a fair few movies about space in your time. You know, stuff like Star Wars and Star Trek, from the Golden Era during the 20th century. They always seem to have villains like Khan or Vader. And somehow, they always introduce an element of morality into the whole thing, you know, good versus bad.

What they don't tell you is those movies are so far into the future, it's not even funny. Lightsabers, phaser pistols and all that. You don't need arch enemies or entire empires to kill you. Space can kill you. And it will.

A small leak in your space suit, a small crack in your helmet and you could be dead in minutes. Even on space ships, losing gravity for a few seconds, combined with a poor choice of your current environment could mean ending up at the wrong end of a buttering knife when gravity is restored. For all that science has invented, man is still a very delicate organism.

But forget all of that for a moment.

You can't breathe in space.

It's not like anything else back on earth. It's not like suffocating or asphyxiating. It's not even like drowning. While you're drowning, you can feel the water around you, feel as it fills up your lungs and as you lose consciousness.

But in space, when you breathe out, there's nothing to breathe back in.

And unlike what the stories say, you don't explode into a million bits and your blood doesn't boil.

You just stop breathing.

There's really no need to panic if you think about it. Most people who've drowned, do so because they panic.

They're always flapping their arms and legs around, tiring themselves out while they gasp for huge lungfuls of air, but take in seawater. And, once they're tired and their stomach is full of seawater, they sort of give up and then their lungs take in seawater and they drown.

No such thing in space. You're completely conscious while it all happens. You turn blue when your body uses up all the oxygen in your blood. And then, the damage starts becoming permanent. To your brain. And your lungs.

And slowly, every cell of your body. There’s no pain though, if that’s any consolation. You don’t even feel cold. And that’s not because space is particularly warm, but because it takes a really long time for space to sap all the heat from your body. Thermal equilibrium and all that.

29

A slow, painless death. You could try screaming, of course, but no sound would come out.

It’s cliche I know, but in space, no one can hear you scream.

In retrospect, I should’ve been more prepared.

I’ve programmed the computer to keep sending you the same SOS over and over again, with my co-ordinates. No reply.

I replay the events that led up to this moment over and over again in my head.

They attacked. From out of nowhere. And before we could even launch a counter-offensive, they were gone. Our ship lay in ruins. Dozens were dead.

The few that had escaped had gotten onto the emergency pods and left the ship. There were three more escape pods left and only a few unaccounted for. I thought things would be alright.

But it wouldn’t.

As I went through the ship, I realized that all our systems were failing, one by one. And soon, we would be just on life support. No engines, no transwarp drive, no artificial gravity. Just basic life support.

30

It took me maybe three minutes to go through the entire ship for me to realize I was the only one left. Only one left alive anyway. The left exterior hull had completely broken away and had taken with it a good chunk of the medical staff. Poor trainees never had a chance.

A few mangled bodies floated outside my port-side window. I cringed when I saw them, but the lack of an atmosphere in space would mean that they would probably continue to float right outside my window for all existence and I’d just have to get used it.

I switched off all non-essential services and routed all power to the emergency life support system. I looked back at the console. It showed me that one escape pod had been accidentally jettisoned during my scrambling around and another one had malfunctioned. The flux capacitor’s had overloaded during the attack. There was only one functioning escape pod and I quickly made my way towards it.

This was probably the last time I was going to see this ship. The escape pods had just enough fuel to shoot me off into the direction of the nearest hospitable planet. After that, I’d have to depend on solar winds and my carbon fibre sails.

I rushed to the last escape pod and pumped the ejection mechanism. It was built so that it could be safely ejected even without any power from the ship. I cranked the handle and the metal groaned and strained as the emergency latches turned into the ‘ejection’ position. Now I just had to get in andBang.

The metal twisted and broke away from the ship and the pod gently floated several inches from me. The interior hull was breached and I felt all the air around me rush outside. I almost lunged forward towards the pod, but I managed to stop myself. The pod doors had already closed and they would not open again until the pod had landed. The micro-thrusters started up and soon the pod was nothing more than another light in the sky.

Holding my breath, I floated my way back to the observation deck, where my friends still floated outside the window, their faces contorted in fear. There was a small but very noticeable crack in the window. I heard the gentle hiss of air leaking out into space.

I turned off the ship’s power, rerouting everything to support systems and sit there in the dark. I estimate that I have about thirty four hours of oxygen left, even with the several leaks in the hull. But I’m stranded in the middle of unexplored space. The likelihood of another ship passing through here and finding me is miniscule.

The waiting is killing me.

I reach for the starboard side door, it’s handle illuminated with phosphorescent paint. I wonder whats waiting for me on the other side. My brain thinks up a tunnel and white light and I chuckle to myself. I pat down the creases in my uniform and straighten my captain’s hat. I suck in another big lungful of air and pull on the emergency manual release.

And the captain goes down with the ship.

31

TRAVELING AT A SPEED GREATER THAN LIGHT (THE JUPITER JOURNEY)

such things happened very quickly, I don’t know. Yes

By Sriram N, PGP I

Nottingham. Oh, Jesus its pain out here. If my

you are right I am speaking about “travelling at speed of greater than light! Which in turn brought me to discover the laws regarding the generation of energy, instead of converting it from any other sources. I think you would have got the idea about what I am speaking. Yup this is the ORIGIN OF UNIVERSE, the space of course. I am a nuclear physicist living in

working in physics were true I am in JUPITER right I can’t open my eyes. The fattest elephant

now. Those devastations brought me to this planet.

out there couldn’t have weighed heavier than my

Yes I am losing my minerals in the body through

eyelids. It’s all slow, too slow. I can’t remember a

sweat. It’s unseen. I have no more co-workers to

thing either. I was a scientist. At least that’s what I

share the concepts I came across. I don’t know how

think. Am not so sure... Damn! The pain!

they are out there.

I don’t know how long I’ve been lying here. It

feels so... strange would be an understatement. The

I thing I can survive for a fifteen hours from now. Till then I just want to reveal my inventions. (Oh God its pressure

explosion! The

out here….)

laboratory! I

Y

finally open my eyes.

s

Monday morning,

Only

when roaming

slightly. But what

outside the

I see, leaves me

street I just

wondering if I

thought for a

was a scientist

while concluded

at all. If I was a

to

human at all.

assume

myself that mass

This wasn’t a lab.

is of two types.

Hell, nothing in this

e

This one let to

place

the inventions of

resembled

all

anything from

those

inventions……

The Earth as I

It tells

knew it. It all

that there are

started in March 23rd, Monday morning. The day which I won’t forget till my breath stops..… It let to the world’s most dangerous invention ever. Yes it’s serious!

two types of masses the first one is THE POSITIVE MASS and the second one is THE NEGATIVE MASS. Well I know you would have puzzled out there. The only thing there is

It led to such devastations. I am having a pen and a HP 33s calculator with me. It puzzled me. How

32

no negative mass in the universe at a catching distance right now.

At zero time, that is I am telling about THE

presence of an electric field from a photon.

START of space, the masses were grouped to a

According to Newtonian classical physics they

single unit. I should tell you about those two masses.

repelled from each other. The force of repulsion

Yes the first one you would have known which obeys

accelerated the negative mass and the negative

the newton’s law of gravitation. The negative mass

mass lost its mass further and got repelled from the

here I am taken has the property to attract every

positive mass. The lost energy or release of energy in

other negative mass with a force equivalent to that of

negative mass indicates the increase of its amplitude

Newtonian gravitational force. But the force existing

of mass in negative direction! Yes finally I have arrived

between a positive and a negative mass is a repulsive

a “mass vector”. The energy which was released

unit. You would have caught me, what I am really

from the negative masses were getting converted to

going to tell. This is enough for understanding my

mass as a respect to Einstein’s mass energy

views.

equivalence. Note the legendary equation E=mc2 is

still un-violated. The created mass over the period of The positive mass when accelerated

time occupied a volume in the space. Now you would

releases its energy in the form of kinetic energy. The

have known why the negative masses are no more (of

negative mass whose energy is already a negative

course it’s at infinity!). Yes it progressively repelled

one, when accelerated it loses further energy and

outwards from the centre of the space as a square

becomes more negative and its accelerating force

function (I would guess)

gets increased as the mass increase in negative

You may ask me in this point of time, How I

direction. (Einstein’s mass to energy conversion

can travel with a speed higher than that of a light?

theory).Yup, the energy is produced without any

The answer is here. You might of aware that the

source.

highest possible speed that can be achieved through the nominal positive mass is (of course that of EM At ZERO TIME the split up happened, when

wave with zero mass) 3×108 m/s. But here the

the two masses got split from the zero space. This

mass is negative which shows further increase in

similar to that of an electron-positron split up in

acceleration that increases the speed.

33

Yes. The space is growing each and every

the most deadly thing happened. I don’t know what

second! No one knows which is the centre of the

happened right after then.

space? And where we are? It is pretty difficult to

I don’t know how my co-workers are and

calculate it. As everyone in the space is in relation

literally speaking how the earth is. But the Jupiter is

(relative) to every other one.

very bizarre. I hope I’m the only living thing and most

You might have asked me a question at this

probably the first living thing to be landed on Jupiter. I

point of time why the negative mass is not arrived

can see several moons now. It’s cold! It should have

from positive mass right now? The law of

taken some 45 hours till I reached here. But still it’s a

conservation of energy still holds as the thing

day out here. My watch also puzzles me. The

happened at start is just a transfer of mass to

barometer inside my watch shows a bizarre position!

energy then to mass again! If we could able to arrive

I am calculating the time left in the day with my

a negative mass from a positive mass here, it will

calculator. I think I can survive for three hours from

easily affect the law of conservation of energy. See so

now. There is no scope for me. I just wanna do

for no law got affected!

something now. I can sense that Jupiter is pretty

Right now, the negative masses are

much different from the earth.

projecting themselves outwards to the space (If we

I am upset towards myself that my thesis

assume the space to be spherical) and are creating

went vain. It could have developed into some great

more and more space (i.e) the masses

innovations. I swear myself. At least you can hear my

The negative mass satisfied the Eienstienian

thoughts. Still my mind is not quitting and wanting me

quantum physics and Newtonian classical mechanics.

to something I am left with no ideas. I am vanishing

Hence this could have been the only reason for the

out here due to high pressure and friction. My heart

origin of space. So far so good. Till now I have told u

is pumping at a rate of 150 beats per minute till last

about the concept of negative masses , the Start or

eve. This damn watch is not working!

the origin of space, the energy creation instead of

conversion, traveling at a speed higher than that of

I threw the watch in the ground in

light,. My concept cleared all the questions that left

aggression and once again “THE EXPLOSION”.

unanswered in physics. But I am still not sure what I have done?

You are right. The negative masses are no more at the striking distance. So we can develop a physics which excludes negative masses. But a separate idea should be developed to study these things. See traveling at a speed greater than that of light is possible but only by those negative masses.

The explosions which I am speaking about happened last eve. Yes my cruel mind was indulged in creating a negative mass from the photon obtained from the optical frequency oscillator. I evacuated a chamber where in the optical frequency oscillator produced the photons and I applied various physical parameters and three minutes went smoothly! then

34

face of the planet. The Titans vanquished the evil but, unable to completely destroy them, chained them beneath the land. As chaos receded, the world settled into peaceful harmony and the Titans set to work.”

The Ordering.

By Saket Joshi, PGP II

“Fascinating.” Although she wasn’t quite convinced about the authenticity of the whole thing, Sarah was unable to shake off that feeling of oneness with the discs. “So, what did they do?” “Using the N’shalka engine, the Titans carved the land and raised the seas.

They breathed the skies and willed the raging atmosphere into silence. They created massive defense systems to guard the prisons. Using a modified subterranean being matrix, they designed the Hyur race in their own image from magical living stone, empowering them to tend to their creations. For many ages the Titans moved and shaped the earth and over time, plants, trees and creatures of every kind began to thrive. As twilight fell on the final day of their labors, the Titans christened the planet Eorzea, Land of Eternal Starlight.”

“Life form detected. Hyur. Female. Matrix recognition in progress. Observer Confirmed. Salutations. My function is to offer insight into the Titans' synthesis of the Hyur on the world designated as Eorzea.” A holographic figure materialized before Sarah and intoned in an artificial voice. “Huh!?” She had stumbled across a set of discs during her foray into the attic of her family home. As she touched them, she felt her entire being resonate. Sarah stared at the now silent figure and, regaining her composure, ventured a question, “Observer?” “Observers are Hyurs whose biological matrix has been enhanced to enable them to watch over the Titan’s creations. Sarah was at a loss for words. How did these ancient looking discs house such an interactive hologram? She decided to probe further.

“Who are the Titans?”

“Hmmm…So much for the Big Bang Theory. So what happened to the Old Gods?”

“The Titans, an ancient race as old as time itself, moved from world to world, shaping each planet as they saw fit. Along their journey they chanced upon a small world that its inhabitants would later name Earth. As the Titans made their way across the primordial landscape, they encountered a number of unfathomably evil beings known only as the Old Gods. The Pantheon, ruling council of the Titans, disturbed by the Old Gods' penchant for evil, waged war upon these dark masters.

The cataclysmic war raged for eons, altering the very

“Their corporeal forms shattered, the Old Ones fell from memory, and the keepers of the defense systems fell dormant. And then they arose. The first to awaken was Kash-roj, Fiend of a Thousand Maw. His poisonous soul seeped into the Earth and transformed the Hyur race, rendering their earthen skin susceptible to wounds. Retrospectively called the Curse of the Flesh, it was actually a destabilization of the creation matrix.

35

The next to rise was Yag-Sarron, The Whisperer. His diabolical whisperings corrupted the Keepers and turned the Titan’s creations against each other. Lasting peace soon became an ephemeral concept. The rise of his brothers fortified Dalra-shaa, the 7 Faced Evil. His essence manifested as the 7 Shaas – anger, greed, sloth, lust, gluttony, envy & pride, furthering the chaos

darkness and it shook not just the ground Eonar stood on, but the universe as well. And then a shadow fell. It was vast and empty and swallowed all light that entered it. Eonar knew it would be all consuming until, at last, it would turn and devour itself, endlessly gnawing on nothing, removing all meaning from the universe. It was too terrible to comprehend, and yet the

within the Titan’s creations. K’zoth, The Insatiable, soon stirred beneath the land. Empowered by ley-lines of the chaotic energy, K’zoth lured the Hyur’s into his service.

These small occult societies resumed the worship of the Old Gods, spreading terror among the populace.

These worshippers hastened the awakening of the MelFuzad, The Lord of Death. Feeding off the chaos, MelFuzad was able to raise the fallen creations of the Titans into soulless minions in service of the Old Ones, turning the Titan’s own children against them.”

army headed straight for it. And the light began to fade...”

Sarah felt a shiver down her spine. Was it getting colder? “What happened then?” “Slowly but surely, the army gained ground. They tore down the citadels of the Old Ones and emerged victorious. Ah, but victory is a misnomer. The Old Gods are a symbiotic parasite.

Destroying them would mean annihilating the planet.

You are as much a creation of the Titans as of the Old Ones. Although the 5 have been banished to the elemental planes far beneath Eorzea, their power is vast and it only grows stronger as chaotic energies rise.”

“Surely a race as smart as the Titans would have developed a failsafe mechanism.” “Indeed they had. As the chaotic energies reached a critical level, it signaled complete systemic failure. The Pantheon responded by sending Eonar – the Titan Goddess of Life. She arrived and saw twisted ground under a nauseatingly green sky. Flaring comets screamed from the diseased heavens and struck the earth. Demons wielding greenish-yellow fire poured out from multiple rifts, destroying everything in their path. Eonar was overwhelmed with anger and grief at the fate of the planet that was her namesake. She summoned her Paladins, angelic warriors armed with magical weaponry. Fortified by Eonar’s presence, the Hyurs, joined the battle. They roared a challenge to the

Sarah shuddered. “What now?” “The Pantheon feels that it is in the best interest of the universe to destroy the planet should the reign of chaos return. You, Observer, have been tasked with conducting a planetary analysis and relaying your findings to us. We have seen a thousand worlds destroyed and remade in the time it takes for your heart to beat even once. Yet yours survives against cosmically calculated odds.

Perhaps it is your imperfection that grants you this tenacity. Go now, Observer. Find us a reason…”

36

unbridled deforestation – so they have no time.

The Head mentioned that the most important challenge facing them was a dearth of people with Emotional Intelligence. If Emotional Intelligence could be developed, aliens could think for themselves. They would become self -aware, care for each other and be humorous. He also said that the reason behind Earth’s eventual deterioration was the lack of empathy for one another and the complete lack of care for nature. This lecture was followed by a couple of other classes. Tia was amazed at the knowledge of her classmates. She came to know that they had to study about a thousand subjects to qualify for the program. She also observed that her classmates did not smile much. They definitely lacked a sense of humor, she thought. They always talked about studies but nothing about how they felt being on Mars. During the break, Tia mustered enough courage to approach an alien to ask how she was feeling. The alien gave her a cold look and went away. Similar incidents happened two more times with two other classmates. Soon they got their project assignments. Not surprisingly, Tia’s assignment in the coming year was to develop the Emotional Intelligence of one Venus-alien classmate. Tears came out of Tia’s eyes as she thought this to be an extremely difficult challenge. To add to her worries, she had to develop the Emotional Intelligence of the same alien who had given her that “freezing” look!

Tia has a new friend.

By Sayoni Da*a, PGPX Tia was in a hurry to be on time for her first day in the High School. She could not afford to be late. After all, not many human beings got a chance to study in the most prestigious school in this Universe – the Universal Institute of General Studies, Mars (UIGSM). She had always been a super-achiever, scoring full marks in all exams all throughout. She even scored perfect tens in all extra-curricular activities she participated in. But her greatest attribute was her super-high Emotional Intelligence. During the admission process, she was administered around hundred tests of Emotional Intelligence where she scored the highest in the world. It was this quality that gave her entry to the prestigious UIGSM where she would study with bright aliens from all over the Universe.

Tia was expecting to meet aliens from Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. She was excited to think about her classmates. As she climbed inside the “Mars Voyager”, she was greeted by four enthusiastic humans, all of whom were going to the UIGSM. After a difficult landing in Mars, they braved through the extremely hot weather and walked over the huge craters to enter the institute.

The folks from Venus, Mars and Jupiter had already arrived by then.

Without wasting much time, Tia set to work. She thought it would be good to visit the Earth with Veni – her alien classmate. There were lessons in Emotional Intelligence that Veni could learn from the Earth. Soon, the two came to the Earth and one of the first things Tia did was to introduce Veni to her pet puppy. The puppy was thrilled to see Veni and performed a lot of tricks to amuse her. Tia almost rolled on the floor with laughter at puppy’s tricks but Veni was not impressed. Then they met Tia’s Mom, who told Veni stories about how the Earth was formed, how human beings came to live on Earth and how their lack of care for fellow humans and for the nature brought them almost on the verge of destruction.

Soon, the Head of the Institute entered with his colleagues. The first lecture was on Leadership skills. Tia came to know that the common problem of all the different planets is that they have no good leaders. They depend on instructions from the Earth. However, human beings are too busy trying to save the planet from being completely submerged under the sea – a result of thousands and thousands of years of

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Tia requested Veni take care of the puppy. Very slowly Veni started to respond. They started to share their meals. One day Veni told her that she felt great while sharing. The puppy became so attached to Veni that they took him back to Mars, much to Tia’s delight. Tia also taught Veni how to show care and liking. She asked her to communicate by looking in the eye. Veni followed Tia obediently and after six months of focused effort, she developed a bit of Emotional Intelligence.

beautiful relationship she had developed with Veni , her other classmates and her teachers.

On the last day, the Head declared that Tia had been successful in her assignment. Veni had developed Emotional Intelligence significantly.

Everybody cheered for Tia. However, Tia felt that something was missing. She did not know what. As she was getting up in the voyager to return home, both friends hugged and promised to visit each other, although both knew that it would be a very costly affair! Yet, a sense of incompleteness bothered Tia. Soon she realized what it was. She was crying but Veni was not. She sincerely wished that Veni would cry at least once, only if she cared… As the voyager started, she looked back one last time and there she saw Veni - tears were rolling out of her big blue eyes as she waved her hands at Tia. All of a sudden Tia felt a wave of happiness sweep her away. At last…she thought… at last.

Meanwhile in the institute, Tia taught all her classmates some simple games which all of them played together. They also prayed together to keep their galaxy safe from enemy-attacks. In between, the Head called her to say that she was making great progress. This encouraged Tia and she vigorously continued with her assignment amidst other subjects. She even managed to teach drawing to Veni and felt so proud when Veni made a beautiful sketch of their puppy. Soon it was Graduation Day and time to leave. The thought of leaving made Tia sad. She was proud of the

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