The next morning, I saw no brilliant sun like I did in the previous days. Instead, there

was a depressing sheet of fog that eclipsed the entire Kit mansion, with a damp kind

of chill. The entire garden was white. The sky was white. The mansion was white. But

I was not white. I had the colour of hope.

The opening ceremony was at 10 a.m. Of course, nobody knew about it in both Left

and Right Arrow. They were gathering for some grand announcement on the

betterment of their future, including all the poor miscellaneous workers who would

also have felt they were part of this future. Unfortunately, this was not going to be

like that grand announcement in Cinderella, where the royal personnel stated every

eligible bachelorette was invited to the ball.

This time around, instead of me going to wake up Jeter, it was he who showed up at

my door. Right after, Nin followed and so did Harris. Nin had in her hand a blueberry

muffin, while Harris munched on a paratha roll. It seemed like Jeter had already had

some breakfast in his house.

‘So, we have a long, ambitious day ahead of us,’ Jeter said as we repeated all the

activities we had in store for us.

He gave me a small device that looked like his PAD, and told me to communicate

with him throughout our separation.

‘We’ll keep each other informed about the status of things,’ he said, to which I

nodded in agreement.

‘I hope Pervez Sahab doesn’t actually change you,’ Nin spoke worriedly, ‘I could

hardly sleep all night! It is perhaps the most depressing risk we are all taking.’

‘We should speak to your father, Jet,’ Harris uttered in an equally fretful tone, ‘I will

also speak to abu, but,’

‘That will do no good! Zeter and father are both so unshakable!’ Jeter bemoaned,

‘Nin ought to speak to her father! She should tell him that this “experimentation”

nonsense is disrupting her novel time.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Nin added nodding her head fervently, ‘I will have a talk with father

about this. Tonight!’

‘Let us all hope it is a normal day after what is about to happen,’ I said while

combing my hair, ‘but whatever happens, we stick to our efforts. And we do not get

disheartened.’

My friends and I walked towards the car that was going to take us to the main town

hall. I looked at the driver and his enthusiasm to serve, which made my stomach

perform somersaults. To think this was the day of the grand miscellaneous expungeathon.

Before we got in, Mr. Kit, his wife and their older son walked up to us.

‘Jeter, get in the car with us. It is a beautiful day, son!’ Mr. Kit said while looking

around at the most eerie looking day I ever saw – literally.

‘Nin and Harry your cars are right there,’ he continued, as both of them left without a

word to their parents. ‘Jeter?’

‘No thanks, father, I will be travelling with my friend here,’ Jeter replied while

eyeing the pavement.

‘I believe I did not make myself clear. Get in the car. Arantza, what has gotten into

him? Doesn’t he know this is an important day for me? For us?’

Zeter had a trembling smirk on his face, if such an expression exists at all. And the

whole family got into their jet black limousine. Mr. Kit told me I had an appointment

with Silverns’ psychiatrist the next day, which was very baffling to me. He said the

psychiatrist, Dr. Drez, wanted to see me for his research. Suddenly, it seemed as if I

had become this exotic commodity, the eliteratti wanted to study and examine. Jeter

gave me a quizzical look that matched mine; this meant we had to adjust our plans for

Left Arrow once more.

I was motioned to wait a little with the Kits’ domestic staff. While standing by, I

decided to make small talk with them.

‘What do you think is going to happen?’ I asked Catarina, the maid I recognised

from earlier on.

‘It coo’ be theh wannin ta give us more betterin’ equipment fer their betterin’

servicin!’ she said chirpily.

‘Or even like be some, some, buildin’ they wantin’ to unveil,’ their other personal

chauffeur said.

‘Right, so I have another question. Has anybody ever thought of life away from the

eliteratti? Is that even possible?’ the question ended with me trying to laugh it out. If

the informal Q and A session became too serious, I did not want them getting mad at

me. There were a lot of conflicting emotions.

They looked at me as if I had gone crazy.

‘City life make bettered earnin’ ya?’ the driver replied, ‘ain’t no nother way of

gettin’ by!’

It was a typical dynamic of city and village life – but with just a little more swerve.

At that point, the guards motioned to me to get into the car that had just come. I had

a whole car to myself. Of course, the intention might have been a little different than

the importance I made look like it emanated. It would definitely have been so that the

Kit, Joyce and Rafi families had their own separate grand entrance, with me coming

along obscurely in a separate transportation.

Upon reaching the town hall, there were several posters that said, “It will continue

for us”.

It had become like the eliteratti’s slogan. There was a large stage, with the president

and prime minister seated on the right hand corner and the two engineer boys on the

left side with their laptops set up on the table in front of them. There was a blank

holographic screen that served as the stage’s backdrop. A green coloured microphone

was situated in the middle, with Mr. Kit standing next to it. I could see my friends and

their families seated right in front, with other elitist families forming what looked like

a honeycomb pattern. The entire hall was brightly lit up. Of course, that was a

superficial mechanism given the absence of the brilliant sun, even if the affair was

indoors.

Without wasting much time, the chattering audience simmered down immediately

after the ritualistic microphone screech and the subsequent sound check tapping that

echoed throughout the hall. Mr. Kit took the opportunity to introduce himself and then

invited the president to give a little speech, which contained the usual glorifying

national anthem for all eliterattis. Then Judge Firdous was invited on stage, who in

turn mirrored the president’s speech in words that had been changed here and there.

But the essence of it all was on repeat throughout.

The engineer boys played out the presentation from the previous day, with amplified

fanfare to suit the platform and occasion, to roaring applause. However, I could see a

few eliterattis who were confused and clapped their hands in a forceful manner. But

they were heavily outnumbered. Perhaps what was most surprising for me, as I was

sitting on the side, next to one of the emergency doors, was the look of surprise on Dr.

Rafi’s face. I could see his expression clearly since there was a large screen opposite

me, which depicted the faces of all the people that the automated camera was

zooming into. However, this look subsided rather quickly.

After the presentation, the prime minister came to say a few words – and few they

were! All he said was that in a matter of one week the computerised systems would be

operational and that the miscellaneous would be sent back to Left Arrow. The systems

had to be fixed into the homes and various buildings and cars.

‘The seeds have already been planted,’ he said finally, ‘now all that is required are

the nurturing elements.’

I could see Jeter lift up his eyebrow in complete disapproval of the prime minister’s

rather lurid attempt at philosophy. By ‘seeds’, it also struck me how I saw a large

computer being installed at Izhar Academy that day. They had been setting them up

all over the place.

The ceremony concluded right after. I waited for my friends to come towards the

exit but they left from the alternate side of the hall to avoid the slow dispersal of the

other eliteratti families. I went to search for them but it was like they disappeared.

Taking out my PAD, I messaged Jeter asking their location. Just as I pressed “send”, I

got a familiar, unfriendly tap on my shoulder.

It was Judge Firdous, telling me about how Pervez Sahab was waiting for me.

Unfortunately, this time, I had no car to take me there this time.

‘You better get used to it! Do you think a highly sophisticated automated car will

drive you around? Ha!’ she ejaculated in her usual callous manner, ‘and you better not

miss it, or your daddy clown can kiss all his law dreams goodbye!’

Instead of answering back or sticking around any longer, I immediately went to the

entrance of the hall and checked the PAD for any possible news from Jeter.

Fortunately, and to my great relief, he did in fact reply saying:

‘Sneaking 2 Left Arrow – the sitch is crazier than ever. Keep us posted when ur

done.’

After telling him I was on my way to the scientist’s, I began my long tread. To top

that off, the weather changed from cold, wet and misty to a hot, burning and blistering

sun. There was no shade anywhere on the street, and about five times I felt I was

going to just faint and fall. The only plus side of the fog disappearing was the ease in

recognising buildings, or I might have been walking myself to death in a directionless

circle of nothingness.

Finally after what seemed like an infinitely lengthy time, I finally entered that same

orange building. Collapsing onto the floor, but being stable enough to see that the

receptionist from yesterday was not there, I became incessantly fearful at how quickly

the evacuation was taking place. However, almost crawling towards the desk, I could

see no computer. Since I could see nothing operating the building, I wondered how

the underground portal would open, and take me to the laboratory. As I waited there

and began panting like a dog, there could be heard a very indistinct whooshing kind

of sound. Turning my head, I saw the scientist making his way towards me.

-- CHAPTER FOURTEEN --

Mean