WORD COUNT: ~3500
RATING: Safe! (Well, some profanity, so be advised)
Its been a year since Karthik came to US for his graduate studies. A star pupil, securing a position with a very reputed scientist, came to US with two goals: become a renowned scientist and get a girlfriend. He was all of 22, with no overbearing parents and a burning ambition. But the graduate experience had gently pressed its wet fingers on the wick of his ambition. Rejected by girls and unable to keep up with the requisites, both his goals at this point looked like stars - shining, beautiful but unreachable. A few days back he gave his qualifier examination - which decides whether he can continue his studies or get shipped back to India. Sitting in his rental car outside of Whole Foods Market with a grocery bag in the backseat, his mind was distracted with negative thoughts. He came to get groceries near closing hours, so it was getting pretty dark outside. However, he still did not budge from the parking lot - his mind too distracted to drive.
The door on the passenger side opened and a woman entered. He could not properly make out her face because his gaze was firmly attracted to the nozzle of the gun she was pointing at him. "Now, start the car and move", ordered the woman. Karthik frantically took out his keys, managed to place the key into ignition after fumbling with it for a while, started the engine, pressed the accelerator and slammed the car into the front wall.
"Are you kidding me?", the woman exclaimed, "Reverse! Reverse! Calm down and hear me!" and a after brief pause she reiterated, "Reverse!"
Karthik put the car in reverse and pressed the accelerator hard again and this time hit a car parked behind him. Usually the commotion by now would have caused people to look at what is happening but the parking lot was dead silent and there was nobody around.
"Just my luck, the one car I tried to hijack... And people say women drive badly!", she got out of the passenger seat, came from outside to the driver seat and signalled him with her gun to move to the passenger side and she herself sat in the driver seat.
She kept her gun pointed at Karthik as she started driving. And all the while Karthik kept curling into a ball and could not even raise his head to take a look at her face. After a while, he calmed and wondered who she was and who she was running from. His question was soon answered as he heard police siren gradually increasing in volume.
"God Dammit, looks like I was bugged." said the woman as she searched her pockets, then threw away her mobile phone and anything else she could find except a USB flash disk. "Look, we are being chased and I need two hands to drive better. I am going to put this gun on safety and place it near the seat. Don't try to take it, because I don't want you to accidentally shoot yourself or me, especially me. Do you understand what I am saying?" Karthik shook his head up and down. Indian headshakes are one of the most complicated head shakes in the world for many people to understand, so much so that Youtube videos have been created so that people can understand how Indian head shakes work. But at this point, the woman realized that he was acknowledging that he understood what she said.
Soon, she grabbed the steering wheel with two hands and began driving even faster weaving through the traffic like a race car driver. And like it happens in movies, she immediately moved onto the opposite lane and started driving the car in the direction opposite to the traffic. The police however did not give up and continued giving chase. After a while, she managed to lose them but accidentally drove into an alley coming to a dead end. It was over. Getting out of this narrow alley would take too much time. If she tried to ditch the car and make a run for it, one of the police cars might spot her soon enough. Even if she stayed in the alley, one of the patrol cars is bound to spot a car hanging around in the alley. Resting her head on the steering wheel, she turned to her hostage and told him, "Look, soon we will be caught by the police and when they ask you about the situation, simply tell them that I was holding you at gunpoint and I gave you no choice and that you had to comply with my demands. Do you understand?" Karthik shook his head in affirmation again. "Good." then she continued to stare at the blank wall in front of her.
For the first time, Karthik had calmed down and was getting a good look at his captor. The woman was probably in her early thirties, but she was gorgeous. Her grey eyes matched her auburn hair. She had a glowing visage and a body so graceful that her tight jeans accentuated it brilliantly. If he had to describe her, then to him, she looked like diamond eyed venus, if venus had auburn hair, wore tight black jeans and a blue tank top. And even before he realized, his body moved on its own and grabbed her hand and pulled her outside of the car.
"Hey, what are you doing? What do you want?", she almost screamed.
He still did not have enough courage to speak out, so he simply pointed out the fire ladders at the top. She understood and followed him.
Karthik was gifted with advanced spatial memory abilities. He can visit places and can create a complete mental map of the area he visited and not just places but also patterns like traffic patterns and even patrolling patterns of police cars. In the one year, he has stayed in this city, he has spent several hours walking and driving around several places and has a mental map of the entire city. He knows how to best avoid getting spotted by the patrol cars.
Karthik took charge as they both weaved in and out of couple of buildings and they finally came out on the streets. She immediately wrapped her arms around his, so they looked like a couple walking along and did not garner attention. Karthik felt happy even if it would last only for few moments, but soon quietly remarked to himself, "my hormones are going to get me killed, aren't they?". Karthik finally stopped near a shop named "Couch Gaming". The proprietor gave Karthik keys to Room 11. The small room had a large TV, couple of console stations PS3 and XBox, a computer with a large screen monitor, a chair and a couch.
"What is this place?", woman enquired appearing quite intrigued.
"Oh, this is a gaming cafe. People come here, rent a room for a specified duration and play as many games as they want. They have many latest titles as well as the classics. So, everyone, young and old enjoys their time here."
"And you seem to be a regular customer here", the woman looked at him with a smirk. Karthik was visibly flustered at the comment. He admonished himself for rambling too long about games and was disappointed at the prospect of her thinking of him as a loser. The pause that continued afterwards only made him even more uncomfortable.
Ignoring his condition, she continued to look around and asked him, "Does the PC have an internet connection? And also does it have Journey of Endymion?"
Karthik was surprised. Journey of Endymion was an old MMORPG title, one of the classics which was partly based on Keat's book. It chronicles the journey of endymion through his phases of love for Diana upto his love for the Indian maiden and it is peppered with fictional quests and situations to make this journey realistic. The company that made the game however did not make much profit and went under. However, the game gained lot of cult following. The code of the game was soon open sourced and people started creating their own servers to play the game. Over the years, this game gained immense popularity among hard core gamers. However, before he quickly began losing himself in his own thoughts, Karthik gathered his wits and replied, "Yes, it has JoE".
"Sweet!" the woman sat on the computer, started JoE, logged into an account. Karthik, who was standing beside her and looking at the screen was startled that her game character had a level of 519, which was a very high level. Even his own game character which he has been nurturing over 4 years has only reached level 103 and he was struggling to proceed beyond that. However, instead of playing the game, she instead went to the in-game email program and sent an email.
"WLL B W8NG N CAFE"
Then, she logged onto a message board and went a very specific chat room called "Cafe Booty". As the chat room opened, the wall of the chat room was immediately filled with fanart images of various female characters from the game showing off their impressive derriere. And as if none of it bothered her, she simply folded her hands and stared at the computer.
"What are you doing?" Karthik asked perplexed.
She looked at him and replied, "I am waiting for someone in the chat room" and then she looked at the screen and then again at Karthik, "Are you into this stuff? I mean those buttocks look mighty impressive. My contact won't arrive for a while, so I can get out of the room, give you some privacy and you can do your business." There was a glint of mischievousness in her eyes. Karthik shook his head and glanced sideways, which she inferred as "No". "Wait. Do you mean? You want me to be here while you do it?", Karthik shook his head again with visible frustration indicating "No". "Oh! Do you bend the other way? I mean there is nothing wrong with that, I am just asking", she was clearly a getting a kick out of teasing him at this point.
Karthik wanted to ask her so many questions, starting with who she was and why she was running from police, but forget about explaining the situation, she is not even treating him as an adult.
"Do you want to know who I am and what is going on? Even if I tell you that knowing this information can get you in big trouble?"
Karthik wondered if she could read his mind.
"Now, come on. At least be a little courteous and introduce yourself first!"
He was taken aback and started to shuffle about as he introduced himself. "Ma.. My name is Karthik. I am a graduate student in CMU."
"Hmm. A graduate student eh? Well, then you must have heard of conspiracy theories about Area 51, right? About how they research on aliens and alien technology in that area. Well, what if I tell you that it is all true and I have evidence for it?"
The woman gave a pause, so that the listener fully registers the impact of her statement.
"My name is Eliza Shapley. I am a military private. Well, they call me a private but all I do is run menial errands. But once, while I was delivering some documents, I overheard something I shouldn't have overheard. I, soon, began to seek out hard evidence."
"And how did you obtain it?"
"Seduction." Then, she looked at Karthik with alluring eyes that made him hot in the ears. Then, she continued, "Well, you see the research was partly contracted with a private company. I managed to make contact with a guy, a bit old, in his late forties, who was pretty high up in the ladder. A little bit of flirting and he opened up to me like can of tuna. Initially, he was a bit reserved to show me the data. So, I nudged him a little more and then just spending one night gave me access to his laptop and everything on it." She leaned forward and waved the USB disk at Karthik. "I have been on the run ever since. Cannot leak it on my own, has to be done by someone more proficient. So, do you believe me?"
"No." replied Karthik.
"Why?" Eliza asked curiously.
"The part about se.. seduction." and he bowed his head so low, that if he lowered it anymore, one would clearly see the back of his head from the front. After a brief pause, Eliza laughed and her laugh was boisterous. It was so loud that the neighbouring rooms began banging the wall indicating that Room 11 must lower its voice. She began controlling her laughter and she remarked while still chortling, "I am sorry, I haven't laughed like this in quite a while".
Karthik was deeply embarrassed, and just at that moment, a sharp bell ring came from the speakers. Dune522 had just IMed "I8N008S4BRKFST". That was Eliza's ID, read as "I ate noobs for breakfast". Karthik was now convinced that she was a natural bully. Eliza after exchanging few messages, turned to him and said, "Well, I have a new destination but I still have two hours before I leave, so let us talk about JoE". And for the next two hours, they both talked about JoE. She talked passionately about how much she had to work to get her character to level 519 and she also give him tips on how he can go beyond his current level. A honest and straight-forward conversation.
Two-hour limit was up, Eliza stood up and faced Karthik, "Sorry, I will be borrowing your car. I will return it to you somehow." Again impulsively grabbing her hand, he asked, "where is the destination?" Eliza felt his firm hand and replied with some hesitation, "Near Public Market".
Both left the cafe. Karthik carefully drove her to the Public Market while avoiding any detection. They stood near a square for few minutes when a hooded man approached the car and knocked on the window. Eliza exchanged her USB disk and hooded man left the way he came. Eliza, now got out of the car and asked Karthik to go back. Just then, a shot was fired and Eliza was bleeding through her stomach. Karthik, picked her up, placed her in the car and pushed the pedal hard to the nearest hospital. The cop who shot her, had already intimated others. However, Karthik reached hospital much faster, soon Eliza was admitted to surgery. The cops who reached the hospital left couple of officers to monitor Eliza and took Karthik into custody.
For the next 12 hours, Karthik was extensively interrogated. They soon got his background details, made him realize how precarious his situation is, being a non-US student. After several such hours, he finally broke and told the officers everything. The interrogating officer on hearing his testimony banged the table in disgust and shouted,
"ARE YOU FUCKIN' KIDDING ME?!"
Karthik shrunk back and cowered. Words tied up inside. The officer soon realized that he was telling the truth. "Let him go. This idiot does not know anything." said the officers to the guards. Karthik, then took a cab back to his dorm - his rental car impounded for investigation. Tired body, worried mind and a heavy dose of self loathing were a destructive combination. All he could do now was get some sleep.
In the next four days, he heard nothing from the police. He tried to meet Eliza, but the police kept a tight watch on her. Fifth day, he received an SMS from the University about the results of his qualifier exam. He had been so worried about Eliza that he almost forgot about this. However, right now, he didn't have the courage to look at the results. He plonked down on the sofa and turned on the TV.
BREAKING NEWS: In a story of incredible heroism, freelance journalist Alice Cooper has managed to obtain evidence for a secret deal between Citizen First firearms manufacturer and several rebel groups in Somalia. There are opinions among many experts, that this might be a factor for the rising violence in several regions of Africa. Miss Cooper (picture shown in the side) was almost shot by police officers while acquiring this evidence. A separate investigation has been convened for the alleged involvement of police in this matter. Miss Cooper who was shot is now recovering in St. Mary's Hospital. The surveillance on Miss Cooper has now been removed. More on this later, as we go for a break.
Karthik recognized the picture immediately and set off for the hospital. He grabbed a bouquet on his way and peeked inside her ward. He saw Eliza lying back on the bed, next to her was a tall gentleman who was holding her hand and she was looking at him with eyes so lovingly. Karthik retraced his steps and placed the bouquet in an empty vase near the reception and went back to her ward. He knocked on the door and entered.
"And there he is, my lucky charm.", exclaimed Eliza. "I was hoping you would come by and meet me." Then she went onto introduce the gentleman next to her, "This is Sam."
"Hi, my name is Samuel Beckett. Alice told me quite a lot about you. I almost felt that she might cheat on me.", said Sam as he shook Karthik's hand.
"Why not? He is young, cute, innocent. I can mould him into the man of my dreams. My own boy toy."
"Why did you lie?" came an angry voice. The dissenting voice could not face Eliza however, "I know you lied to protect me, I wish you hadn't though. I know I am being stupid and selfish here, but still ..." No, That was not what he wanted to say, "No, I am a coward. I gave you up. I am sorry, so sorry."
"Isn't he an adorable puppy dog?" Eliza to Sam.
"I see what you mean now." said Sam in an agreeing tone.
"I would like to feed and pet him." Eliza being querulous. "Ah! I know, forget about your graduate studies. Join me as my personal lucky charm assistant!" Eliza cheerfully looked at Karthik.
However, this attempt to lighten the mood did not have the desired impact. They looked at each other and Sam nodded as a sign that she should face him more honestly.
Eliza looked at Karthik and began, "As a child, I was a crybaby. Children used to tease me. My parents got me a small puppy dog, named turbo. He was timid and would hide behind me when anyone approached. One day, the children teased me and I began to cry as usual. Turbo, who was hiding behind my back, came to the front and growled at the other kids. He was still a puppy though. They pelted stones at him, and he began to bleed but he did not move. Then, the children simply left. I picked up turbo and ran to my mother. He was severely injured but he survived. Turbo and I, then, spent 16 happy years together and I felt lucky to be with him."
"When you drove me from Cafe to Market, your eyes were fierce and determined. You reminded me of turbo. And you were my lucky charm." There was a deep caring smile in her face as she said that. Then, sheepishly looking away, "And yes, I know I put you through a lot and I lied to you, but you know .. its past, water under the bridge and all that, right?" Eliza extended a hand to Karthik. Karthik looked from her face to her hand repeatedly.
"Take it Karthik, that is the closest you will get to 'I am sorry' from her." Eliza glared at Sam for saying that, to which he simply shrugged his shoulders. She then felt a tug at her hand. Karthik shook it, all the while keeping his head low. Then he took his leave. Sam followed him out and called out,
"She is tough, but she needs support. I am glad you were there. You saved her in more ways than one. We owe you for that. If you need our help at anytime, don't hesitate to call on us." he presented two cards as he said this. "And yes, she has written down her JoE ID at the back of her card and she wants to play JoE with you as a group, if you are interested." He took Karthik's hand, firmly held it and then went back in. Karthik looked through the glass to see Sam leaning in to kiss Eliza's forehead and he gently clasped her palms between his. Karthik turned around, and placed the visiting cards into his pocket. Then he picked up his phone and checked his results:
QUALIFIER EXAM: CLEARED. CONGRATULATIONS!
"Water under the bridge," mumbled Karthik to himself.
---
CARD 1
Alice Cooper
Freelance Journalist
CARD 2
Dr. Samuel Beckett
Medicins sans Frontiers
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