1 The Vanishing Crew

They say, live life like there's no tomorrow,

But a single misstep immerses you in sorrow,

The visible beings cling for invisible breath,

The One within flesh vanishes before Death

'Hundred Killed, More Injured in Mass Murder'

'Teenagers Kidnapped and Moulded for the Upcoming War'

'Calls for Peace and Understanding are Neglected'

The headlines were displayed in bold at the virtual board in the lab, no one else was looking at it, except for one bald man. He sighed, bringing back his focus to his exhausting work. The capsules were almost ready, some thought he was a manic to work on both at once, not to mention the three others who are willing to devote so much time into the dangerous experiment. Nay, some don't call it danger, but mere absurdity. But Dr. Alex is confident that his capsule will work, and his team will make Hyrax scientists proud. Government is nevertheless generous to fund their most beloved, highly confidential project.

'Doc, one more chip is missing.'

Alex checked the capsule, and grunted. The capsule was big enough for him and three of his members to work on it together. As confident as they might be, the teamwork was barely able to ameliorate the huge workload. One issue says goodbye, and another complication comes by. This time, it was a missing chip inside the capsule' activation switch.

Although he hated seeing their tired old faces, Alex had to approach the engineering team once again to obtain the chip. He quickened his pace to reach the engineering lab located on the floor above.

Contrary to the usual futuristic labs, the engineering lab was dark, gloomy and silent. No one was talking, each of them had their eyes fixed upon their dedicated tasks. The lab instruments were undeniably sophisticated, made with high precision by the best of minds. Geoffrey, the lead engineer who was working on the chips, is the only one who frequently meets and communicates with the scientists in other labs. He looked at the familiar figure approaching the door, and immediately stood up to greet him.

'Ahh Alex, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be unwaveringly engrossed in the execution of our cardinal operation?' Geoffrey asked with a straight face, the sarcasm in his tone was pronounced.

'That is a fair question, perhaps. Unfortunately, the operation cannot be successfully accomplished without the sheer brilliance of your technical abilities, as a chip is missing inside the activation panel of the capsule' Alex retorted.

'What the-? Didn't Hardy say that the switch only requires five? Each of them has enough processing grunt to launch the space shuttles to Mars, and we have made 10 nanochips for two freaking capsules at once! I wonder, is this supposed to be a grave mistake, or a deliberate error on your side? You wouldn't want to miscalculate anything on a precarious machine, Alex.'

'Damn Geoffrey, you are absolutely correct. We asked for ten, yes. But I think, only nine were provided to us though.' Alex replied coldly.

'Oh, I didn't…perhaps Ruby forgot to- never mind. I will get it for ya.'

'Thanks.'

Enclosed carefully inside a tight container, the chip was carefully carried in both hands by Alex, as though he was holding on to a new-born infant. His heart was racing. This is it! It's finally happening, he thought. He walked as fast as he could, almost a slight jog, but still held the chip as steadily as possible.

'Someone's in a rush, I see.'

Alex looked over his shoulder. It was Dr. Luxe, the genetics lab lead engineer, and one of Alex's closest friend, the few whom he trusts in this underground mission.

'Luxe! It's been a while! How have you been doing?' Alex greeted, without turning his back to face him.

'Quite well, I suppose. Even though we are all gonna die soon, or probably tortured by the enemies, I think these researches do give me a glimpse of hope. Of course, our dearest hope lies upon your prime project.' Luxe smiled faintly, his eyes fixed upon the shiny container held in Alex's palm.

'Well, yes. Thank you, I shall do my best. I think most of the major issues are solved for now, just need to tweak some things. The second capsule needs some major reworking though, but that's not our main concern. We need to get the first prototype working, then worry about the backup later.'

'Hmm, with your skills and talents, you could be working on a billion-dollar venture, instead of risking your lives for something that is extremely unpredictable. But what to do, a war is about to start between the Believers and the Unbelievers. Can you believe it? A war in a one-world government!' Luxe fumed. His hands were beginning to tremble. He was more anxious than angry.

'No point pondering over it, Luxe.' Alex assured him. 'We have both Believers and Unbelievers among us as well, though we pushed faith aside while working on our projects here. Mankind have been in war for thousands of years, for numerous beliefs and ideologies. It has become part of their nature.'

'Well, decades ago, they had hundreds of beliefs and religions. I wonder how they coped up with it. It's a miracle that there is only a single faith now, The One. Most of us now are Unbelievers anyway, we have no concern for such nonsense.'

Alex cautioned him. 'Careful, Luxe. Some of them here might hear you.'

'So? Believers shouldn't be working on this project anyway. They should rely upon their faith to solve things.' Luxe snapped.

'These Believers here are not fanatics. The real devils are out there, forming an army to wage a nuclear war, thereby destroying the lives of basically everyone. Besides, half of the world's population are robots anyway. Once they managed to hack and control these mechanical beings, we are all doomed. Don't forget why Hyrax was started in the first place, Luxe.'

'Well, yea. I understand that. Does he know by the way?'

'What, who? Oh. No, he doesn't. I figured he isn't ready for it yet.'

'Perhaps. Frankly speaking, I do not know which is worst, to know or not to know. Hope he is doing well. Sorry for taking your time, Alex, you looked like you were in a rush or something. Better get going.' Luxe waved at Alex and went off to his genetics lab.

Alex was about to leave the floor, when suddenly he remembered something.

'Luxe! Just a moment.'

Luxe touched the sensor to open the door, but didn't enter the lab. He looked at Alex bewilderedly.

'What's up?'

'Those pills you were talking about. How is it going?' Alex's eyes were beaming with curiosity.

Luxe grinned. 'Didn't expect you to remember it! It's coming up perfectly well, the stomach acid pH level is optimum, but still need to work on the ghrelin regularization, and the nutrients balance ratio.'

'Well, nothing replaces real food.' Alex laughed. 'What if the pills alter someone's mind and get me killed? I don't plan on dying so soon.' Luxe shook his head, grinning widely while entering his lab.

Alex rushed back to his department. The five crew members who were busy fine-tuning the capsule, all stopped their work. They stared at Alex as he ran towards them as though it was a Eureka moment.

'Hardy! Here's the chip. No more major problems, I hope. Let's get this done with. We are nearly there.' Alex stood there with his chin high up, as though he has already accomplished something great. The others, tired and groggy as they were, had their spirits renewed with vigour by Alex's assurance. They brought back their unfaltering focus to the capsule.

Hardy quickly unscrewed the compartment inside the activation panel. Within the designated board, the chip was firmly seated with a satisfactory 'click'. Behind him, Alex's eyes were wide open, his heart was beating furiously, he couldn't wait to witness the marvel.

'Quick! Power up the generator now!' he exclaimed.

Hardy looked at him, with his mouth half-open. 'But…sir, isn't it dangerous? Shouldn't we thoroughly inspect the machine first?'

'Yes, yes, we will! But first, let's see whether the chip is working. I don't want to walk to that dead lab again. As long as we don't do anything to the activation switch, nothing's gonna happen. Now quick, power it up!'

The generator ramped with a sharp electric buzz., before it went silent. All of them waited with bated breath. Suddenly, the activation panel lit up with the brightest blue. The jolted scientists watched in awe and shock. Their legs were prepared to jump out of the capsule, their hands were ready to grab any nearest object in the lab. They waited. Nothing happened. Their heads turned towards Alex, waiting for his assurance that all was good.

'Nice. Now, all we need to do is to make sure the important tools are here. Don't forget the Commune. We need to tweak the landing gear, and set the timeline on the panel. Remember, every single setting must be accurate. Only then we call the rest of them to witness it. Okay, get back to work. Phil, no. Leave the generator on for now, we need to make sure it doesn't go haywire.' Alex dictated Phil, who hesitantly walked away from the generator.

Once more, all were engrossed in their work, with double the caution. Hardy was tightening the activation panel, carefully avoiding the red switch placed right in the middle, when a brown object flew into his left eye. Startled, he moved back, and noticed it was a moth. He brushed it off and continued his work. The screws were tight and steady. The welding was almost perfect. There was a slight gap on the bottom of the panel. Hardy picked up the welding tool once again, ready to perform the finishing touch on the panel. As his eyes was fixed on the panel, he felt something on his nose. He looked at the moth and pushed it away angrily, when his elbow clicked on something. Before he could turn, the capsule vibrated intensely. It all happened within a fraction of a second.

There was a thunderous boom and a blinding flash of light, and the four main scientists who were in the capsule, including Dr. Alex were nowhere to be seen. The whole capsule simply vanished into thin air. Where and which era they were in? Nobody knows.

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