Miss Sarah Zen had been working in her cabin, which was also her bedroom. The walls in her bedroom were completely covered in screens.
The one facing the bed displayed the details of all the companies that she owned, which is a lot considering that they owned close to fifty. She could inspect the work-stations, give commands, take decisions, and authorize others to do the work for her using that single screen.
She would get so tired seeing through so much footage that she rarely checked the footage of her house which was displayed on the screen behind the bed.
There was a beep and the screen behind her displayed a notification from ‘ Roxy Roy’ who was the supervisor of playtime.
‘Madam, your son has not been interacting with his playmates at all. Does he not know how to interact or is he unable to cope up?’
Unable to cope up!? Who was she kidding? Mrs. Zen was confident that her son was brighter than all the other children. There must be some other problem. She decided to investigate immediately. She signaled Cuppy Cake to put on the video chat but there was no response.
This was a first. Cuppy Cake was programmed to follow all her instructions without fail. It had been designed by her company exclusively for her. She worried that there was a security breach. So, she activated the intruder alert.
She was about to check through the footage of Zuben’s room but she received a notification that Rocky was bringing Zuben. As a result, she got busy studying financial statements.
“Momma….” she heard her son’s sweet voice behind her. Right at that moment, a wrong tally caught her attention. She had to get to the bottom of the mismatch immediately or they would face heavy losses.
“Zubie…Why have you not been interacting with your playmates? Mommy is very angry! Promise me you will chat with your playmates.” She said without turning back.
When there was no response for a long time she prompted in a stern voice, “ What did momma say?”
“Okay….momma, Zubie promise.” Sarah was relieved when she heard his promise. Though he sounded reluctant she knew that he will chat with his friends. He always did what he promised.
“Good boy! Rocky takes him back to his room and see what is wrong with Cuppy cake. I have work to do. Put me on DND mode.” She said and started scrolling through the data in an attempt to figure out what had gone wrong.
“Momma…. Zubie wants a huggie first.” He said stretching his arms towards her.
“Not now, Zuben. Momma will come to meet you in your room in a while. She has to sort out a problem first.”
“But…….”
“ Rocky take him to his room, now!” Sarah said in a bland voice.
Zuben’s little heart was shattered to bits. He had been waiting eagerly for his mother to hug him but she didn’t even look at him. Tears rolled down his cheeks and his body shook as he started sobbing loudly but by now Rocky had already carried him out of Sarah’s earshot. So, she never found out.
She was busy trying to get to the root of the problem with full concentration. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong even though she used up all her brainpower and tactics.
When she couldn’t see any option she sent a call request to her husband, Arnold Zen in brain wave mode. It was always much easier and quicker to communicate through brain ways. She also felt that they could connect better if they communicated in brainwave mode.
He would be mad at her but she had to tell him. She was unsurprised when he declined it and called her manual mode. She often wondered if he didn’t trust her but she never got the opportunity to question him. She picked it up quickly lest she angered him.
“I am in an important meeting….so this better be an urgent matter.” He said in clipped tones.
She got flustered and blurted out, “ The revenues of Zuben Limited are mismatched…..”
Before she could continue further he said, “Mole spotted and weeded out. Wrong details planted.” Then he disconnected the call without waiting for her reply. As usual, he had sorted out the problem even before she came to know about it.
Her pupils turned black as her heart filled with despair. It stung each time he talked to her as if she wasn’t worth anything.
She sighed as she tapped an icon on her watch to change the scene to their wedding pictures. The people all over the mainland had logged in to view their marriage but Arnold had appeared in the video conference for only five minutes.
He hadn’t even bothered to look at her once. He had made an announcement placed his digital signatures and left the meeting without waiting for her to sign. Loud cheers erupted when she placed her digital signatures on the document, thus legalizing their marriage.
But, she knew that none of them were truly happy for her. She had snatched a great opportunity from many eligible women.
She knew that this was a part and parcel of being the wife of an Inspy (A social rank which consisted of the people who were just below the rank that had attained immortality). Hadn’t she greed to their marriage only in the hope of going one step higher on the social ladder?
As for Arnold he had agreed to this marriage as Sarah’s father had agreed to give all 50 of his enterprises to him. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that it was like any other business deal. There was no need to be emotionally vested in it.
When she married Arnold he had clarified that he wouldn’t be able to spend time chatting and engaging in video calls with her. He had worked very hard to set up his business empire and now that he was on the verge of acquiring enough power to join the immortals he wasn’t going to waste time on useless stuff.
He had promised that once he had garnered enough power he would treat her as if she is a queen. She had no option but to be patient.
Sarah felt drained after so much of contemplation. She went to the energy dispenser and her hands wavered only for a second before she pressed the double dose button. With such a high dose of energy flowing through her body, she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. But, maybe that was what she needed.
“I will prove to Arnold that I am an equal contributor in our quest to attain immortality.” She muttered and bit her lips.
Then, she got back to her task of managing her business empires with full focus.
Sarah Zen was jubilant today. It was maybe the fourth or fifth time that her husband, Arnold was sitting right in front of her. Moreover, he seemed in a wonderful mood which was so unlike his character.“ I am so proud of you Sarah! You acquired the ‘Network Jamming Chip’ for me. You are the best.”Sarah’s brows furrowed in confusion. How could she have helped him to acquire something when she didn’t even know what it was?
“How did a pin covered in plumbic cyanide reach my son’s hand? I want to know the answer as soon as possible!” Arnold roared at the group of detectives who had gathered for the video conference.He felt irritation and fury bubble within him as he looked at the faces of the useless detectives and security personnel. He wondered why he spent so much money on them if they couldn’t even guard his son! He picked up the transmuter on the table and threw it at the screen releasing some of his pent up fury. He felt that he would explode i
Arnold made Sarah sit comfortably on the bed and then taking her hand in his, he said, “ Sarah, Please talk to me. I know I am wrong. I was the one who was never there for you. What I did was wrong. I should never have accused you. I was never angry with you. I am angry with myself, with my incapacity to save my…our son.” When Sarah still didn’t respond Arnold felt disheartened and hopeless. He squeezed her hands and said in a pitiful voice, “Please…..”Sarah’s resolve broke when she saw her mighty husban
Sarah’s arms ached and she stretched herself to relieve some pain. Her hands landed on something soft and warm. This jolted her awake. She had slept alone most of her life. So, she sat up quickly to investigate the source. There lying in all glory was Arnold himself. Her cheeks reddened as she recalled their passion-filled lovemaking. A loud gasp escaped her mouth as the realization of what they had done, sank in. “Gosh!! What will we do now?” Sarah exclaimed loudly.
Sarah moved up and down the room like a caged tiger. Then she sat down but she kept shaking her legs and wringing her hands. Then she got up and started pacing again. She felt the knot in her stomach tighten as she waited for the clock to strike 10:00.The moment the clock struck ten she tapped the call button on her screen. “What was the verdict?” Sarah asked before Arnold could even say hello.
Arnold paced around his office deep in thought. He felt his blood boil at the thought of what Mr. Rendall did. “The nerve of him to mess with me! Did he think that making me dance to his tune is a child’s play? Just wait and watch as I turn tables on him.” Arnold muttered resolutely and tapped on the screen.He called an emergency video conference of all the detectives and security personnel under him via his private satellite that was designed for emergencies such as this. Within moments all were online.
When it was 5 in the evening Arnold signaled his trusted Assistant Roasty. He had designed the robot in such a way that it couldn’t be controlled by the others and it responded to the commands given only by him. If someone else tried to control Roasty it would shut down instantly.“Roasty, You have to keep a watch on, screen number five. You should be able to see me at all times. In case you see me in danger deploy Squadron Spice ( A team of robots that have varying capabilities just like spices) to rescue me. Is that clear.”
“Brother…..” Rendall said clapping Arnold’s back.“When I decided to invite you here, the only thing on my mind was to persuade you…….persuade you to withdraw your application. So that my path to becoming an immortal is clear.But, now that you are all trussed up and helpless, I feel that this is a wonderful opportunity to weed you out forever! What say, brother? Ha…ha….ha…” His evil laughter boomed in the room.
Ron managed to convince the Council that the best place to set up a secret inventory and development wing was the Sentinel island. Sia handed over the Zen Enterprises to Jay and moved back to the island with Ron. They lived together with Wrick and Myra. During the day they would work like the normal residents but at night they visited the underground tunnel created by the Viridian which was now their research station. Viperous cliff remained Sia’s favorite spot from where she watched the sunsets with Ron.
“Do we really need to do this, Sia…” Ron said in a disgruntled tone. “Umm…hmmm… we owe this to our friends. Don’t forget they played an important role in bringing us together.” Sia lectured adjusting Ron’s tie. “Okay… fine… let us get over with this stupid reception. But, after that, I am going to keep you trapped in my arms forever. Sia blushed at the implied meaning. She turned to look into the mirror to avoid his gaze. Today she was
When Ron’s eyes fluttered open he was delighted to see Sia sitting beside him. She was staring at the space in front of her, lost in thoughts. A smile crept his lips as he recalled the time she was pointing the gun at him. She looked hot as hell and he had a hard time focusing. He was glad that she hadn’t arrived before he trapped the Viridian, else he would have found it difficult to capture him.Sensing Ron’s glare on her, Sia turned to him. She felt a jolt of electricity flow between them wh
Sia, Mr. Ben, and Jay were seated in the display room of the healthcare center. Their faces lit up when they saw Dr. Burming walking towards him. The gloating expression on his face indicated that he had been successful. “Mr. Ben, Sia, Jay…” He greeted them before taking a seat facing the three of them. Then he sat there staring into the space in front of him. When he didn’t speak anything for a long time, Mr. Ben prompted, “Did you figure out who the real Ron is doctor?” &l
“Don’t listen to him, Sia. The man that is standing in front of you is the Viridian. Think about this carefully. Would I have appreciated that you came to this lonely place alone?”Sia felt stunned by his statement. He had a point too. When Brown-eyes started walking towards Sia, she whipped out the laser gun from her pocket. “Don’t move or I will turn you to nothing in a moment,” Sia warned pointing the gun at him. Brown eyes raised his hands and said, “I don’t kn
Sia and Jay emerged in a large and deserted street. The sides of the street were piled with debris similar to what she had seen near the warehouse. It looked long abandoned; debris and ruins of old structures stretched on either sides as far as the eyes could see.Sia tapped on the PCID to track Ron's GPS. The red signal indicated that they were close to Ron’s CID. Sia walked in the direction of the signal cautiously. Jay followed behind keeping a watch on the surroundings.After searching for some time she found a CID on the ground. She looked around before picking it up warily.
Zen Digiola was decorated with ornate flowers. The Probots were busy moving around and touching up the decorations. After a lot of debate Ron and Sia had agreed to keep a grand wedding, just like it was shown in movies. The debate wasn’t whether they should have a physical wedding or a digital one. The controversy was regarding the setting of the wedding. Sia wanted to take her vows in an artificial garden setting while Ron wanted a castle setting. In the end, Ron decided to give in. He wanted to make the
Sia ran and grabbed Ron by the hand, forcing him to face her. She cupped his face in her hand and said, “These are tears of joy, Ron. I… have never felt so happy before…”“You are just trying to console me, aren’t you?” He asked, eyeing her suspiciously. “No, Ron… what you tried to do was outstanding… My heart is so full of joy that there is no place to hold it, so they are flowing down my cheeks as tears…” Sia said, giving him one of her dazzling smiles.
Two days later…Sia squealed in protest as Ron grabbed her from behind. The next moment darkness greeted her as something was placed on her eyes. “I have a surprise for you…” Ron whispered into her ears as he blindfolded her. “But… why are you covering my eyes? How will I see?” Sia whined.“Don’t worry… I will take off your blin