Flashback Utopia (Part 10)
The Orbs were very clever; after all, they were the energies of scientists, so it was understandable.
The CCTV cameras could not record anything as they had been neutralized. Even then the Orbs were very careful and no one should be caught or heard.
Work at Town K had been accomplished and it was only 3.30 p.m. They had ample time to proceed to Town L straight away. After completing our work in Town L, they could all rest.
Zoya had expressed doubt as o whether there would be any prisoners as Town L was abandoned. Mono had replied that they needed to check, just in case. However, they would not stay there long and head back as soon as work was finished.
He further added that packed lunches were in the cars, and as they headed to the Town L they could satisfy their hunger. There are water bottles there too. If they wanted to use the washrooms they could do so at the exit/ arrival area of the cars.
"At present, we have only managed to finish off the machines at Town M, Town I, Town J and Town K freed the scientists of Town I, Town J and Town K only. We still have to take care of the Time Machine at Town L, and release the scientists of the other Town L and Town M and fully destroy the Time Machine and blue prints at Town M.
Soon they passed the Time Machine cave and went further to enter the tunnel for a 10 minutes walking distance to the exit of the tunnel which housed the launching Pads of the cars they needed to take to the next Town L. It was now almost 4.00 p.m. They had another 20 minutes to travel to reach their last Town L.
As they were preceded they were protected by the Orbs and now there were 150 of them. That is actually a lot of Orbs humming away as they glided through the air. When they hovered around everyone's heads they resembled a pearl necklace with huge light-emitting beads. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
Upon reaching the exit/arrival area of the cars, everyone made a beeline to the washrooms there. Thereafter, they assembled to go to the departure area for the cars leaving for Town L. The 3 attendants they had seen earlier when they had arrived here, could be still seen as frozen statues and in various poses or stages of doing work at their respective areas.
Mono had calculated that they would reach in 20 minutes another 10 minutes to get to the cave where the semi-destroyed Time Machine of Town L was and finishing it off releasing the Orbs and then going to the jails and releasing prisoners, if any, and jailing anyone else in the Administrator's office, etc. and return would take them about 4 hours. So by 8.00 p.m. they would have returned to the arrival area for Town K. If any delay it would be 9 p.m. then they would stay overnight at Town J's residential hostel for the scientists of Town J.
Mono had earlier explained to them that the direct link to Town M was only with Town I. The other towns were inter-connected via a hopping system of connectivity. They could not go directly to Town M, they all had to travel to Town I first even if they belonged to Town L. Town L no longer exists as a Town. It was abandoned and the reason for so doing was not known to the society. It had remained a mystery and no one lives there. But now they all knew the mystery of Town L.
Even they could not go to Town M after completing their task but had to travel from Town L to Town K then from Town K to Town J and then from Town J to Town I and then from Town I to Town M.
They took the four electric cars without wheels or a steering wheel. These cars moved through the travel tunnels at great speed to reach Town L in less than 20 minutes covering a distance of 80 km.
The Orbs kept them covered in spite of all persons having turned to statues and the CCTV cameras being stopped, they were not taking any chances.
They all ate their late Lunch while traveling through the long winding tunnel. The tunnel was a meandering one and seemed to go on and on. The sides of the tunnel had lights at regular intervals to ensure that the tunnel would not be in dark but there was nothing to see outside the cars.
They had reached the landing pad at the arrival tunnel of Town L within 20 minutes. The cars stopped at their respective slots and the doors opened. Everyone was surrounded by the Orbs emitting white light. The Orbs once directed, would always follow orders without questions unless the work assigned to them clashed with their conscience.
They all got out of the cars and started to follow Mono.
They saw three hazy statues in various stages of doing something. It was just like what they had seen when they had reached the departure tunnel at Town M, Town I, Town J and Town K. Town L was much nearer to Town M, but it was an abandoned Town. Maybe, it was the only town near to Town M but not at all on the visiting list. Hence, there were fewer people at the entry tunnel.
The 150 Orbs had surrounded Mono and the group of the trekkers. They were emitting white light. Mono seemed to carry a map of all the Towns as he was again carried a map with him, apparently of Town L. The 10 minutes' walk would take them to the inner cave which housed the Time Machine experiment of this town.
As they walked, all were a bit apprehensive about this town due to the cruel stories they had heard at Town K. To cover up their fear of the unknown, they started asking Mono questions.
The questions had ranged from the bottled water kept in the cars for them to drink, the packed lunch, the utensils as well as the green cold drink they had quenched their thirst with.