PRE-LOG – The Brave 1 (1)

Eighth of February, 2020… inside the dome around Bengaluru.

"The network is already out," a guy, fair skin, round face, says. A guy who clearly looks like he is in his twenties, but with the face of a baby. This guy holds his phone in desperation. "Just like you said."

I feel bad, and check my mobile. There still was network on my mobile. I switch on the hotspot, and remove the password on it.

"Mine does. Here, let me connect to mine instead," I say.

I grab his phone and quickly connect him to the hotspot.

This guy looks at me, with almost teary eyes, and grabs his phone, taking a deep breath.

"You know who it is," this guy who was close to tears, says in a serious tone. "Your favourite brother in the world, hope that is me. I know that it is me," and the tone changes back to a cartoon, in an instant, almost making me choke on air.

He had pressed the record button in a chatbox with the name 'Bother'. Spelling mistake or…?

"Jokes aside, the weather is… weirder… than usual. 'Typical Bengaluru weather' people complain, now we must wait for what they'd say," he continues speaking. "Hint: they can't. Not that they'll go dumb, tongue-wise. But the communication outage will occur, network outage I mean. So, I wanted to make sure you're alright. I know you won't be there now. But knowing you, you will come back on your own and listen to this."

The guy lets go, and the message gets sent. With an happy expression, he clicks record again.

"Unless you took your mobile to school, irrespectively of our parents telling you not to," he uses his body language, as if he were talking to his brother directly. "Well, the situation at hand is one thing we both always hoped for, aliens… most probably. The snow started from our school, your previous school, so hallelujah. The big playground actually, but just for your understanding I said so. Whatever is over there is searching for something which of course we don't know of. Please do not go there."

This message gets sent too. The guy gives a shook expression.

"Ah, just one last message please. I'll be quick. If I don't… then this person will really go," the guy tells me.

"Yes of course," I say.

The guy presses record again. "But if you do, then get a lot of information and tell me, let it not go to waste. I might just try going there myself, but can't because, too far away. And don't worry; we are alright, all of us. Just you be careful. The network outage will be soon, according to calculations. 'The Brave 1', signing out."

Well, there were two lies there. Sure, we were far, but not safe. And… according to MY calculations.

Alright, that was a lie too. It was someone else's tip.

"Thank you," The-Brave-1 says.

"Sure thing, The-Brave-1," I laugh.

"You sure we can't just…?" The-Brave-1 looks behind us, where a lot of snow had started falling.

"There are people out there. People who will save people," I say, nodding.

A roar resounds out. A roar which had joined me with this The-Brave-1, his family, and many others. A roar which we had escaped. The roar of…

"-Morph!" someone in a distance screams.

I signal everyone to run, and run alongside them, towards the edge of the dome, which was right in our sight.

"Please, just run right into it!" I say.

And we finally traverse out of the dome, with an icy splash on our face. Almost everyone, including me, fall down. The ones who don't, just keep running ahead.

I get up and look back at the dome. The-Brave-1 runs to me, and grabs me.

"Hey!" The-Brave-1 says, but I don't budge, and just sign him to stop.

About a twenty feet tall being stands inside the dome. And seemingly stares at us.

Morph.

Morph lets out another of its bloody shriek. But doesn't come out. It just slowly vanishes back into the dome.

"How did you know?" The-Brave-1 asks.

"A tip…" I say. "Myself Harsh, by the way."

"Better not tell anyone real names, man. Even I'll forget the name," The-Brave-1 says. "So, what's your name?"

"Hero," I say.

"Classic," The-Brave-1 nods. "I'm The-Brave-1."

We shake hands, and get up.

The people only made a mess saying we could be dangerous, after coming out of that place. There was no prompting of sending us back, not to that place. But we all were put into a quarantine.

The-Brave-1's parents looked like the ones who were bugged the most about the quarantine. The mother kept prompting the father and son to let the officials know about their other son being trapped inside. But… who'd want to go… there?

"We need to go there," The-Brave-1 says. Right, he'd. "You don't have to come with me… but just, could you just help me out a bit?"

It had been about two days after the escaping the icy-dome, and this quarantine. We had known by now that there was a pandemic occurring, for which everyone was so scared, and had made this quarantine happen.

"I don't know anyone else here…" The-Brave-1 says. "I really don't want you to come. Just… help me escape here."

"Let me be reasonable," I say. "Can you fight a twenty feet tall monster?"

"My brother can't."

"Then he'd be staying low."

"Yes. That is why I believe that he'd be alive…"

"Okay. But he is all the way in the centre? Even if that is about a dozen kilometres… that is a lot."

"I know that. I can't make it on foot."

"Then? Do you own a vehicle? Or will you steal one?"

"I don't know neither to steal, not to ride a vehicle."

I give a flabbergasted expression.

"Well, yeah, guy in twenties, blah-blah-blah. Anyways, I have a plan."

"All ears. And curious."

"It never snows in our country. I'm not saying about the obvious alien or whatever point and trying to prove it or something. But… in foreign countries, when it snows, do they just lose the network?"

"No…"

"Then that must have been something separate, which whoever caused… CAUSED, for other reasons. Something which would be hindering…"

"Yeah like… they don't want the people inside to survive and call for help? Or give intel?"

"Yes. That'd be the first thought. But why'd someone who caused snow, has a monster with them, and what not, just do that?"

"They'd want more victims. But slowly?"

"Again. Yes. MAYbe. BUT-"

"-can you not scream? You are raising your voice by the moment."

"Right. Sorry."

"Continue."

"What if… signals. Just… it… hinders something else which is under the plan of this… villain."

"Hmm… that… seems like it is possible."

"Yes. Thank you very much. And not boasting, and not much special but, I have completed three years in B. Tech., E.C.E., almost completed. And I can… make a distraction, to everything inside."

"That is pretty convenient," I say.

"Yes. Dots connect. I was made for this," The-Brave-1 forms a gauntlet in front of him, and fists it.

"But then, what frequency would you set it at? Even if we get to steal something, it'd take an etern-"

"They blocked the network of phones. What wide range does that have?"

Not only about the knowledge part, guy didn't lack at common sense. Despite of behaving like a kid for many other things.

It does not take long for us to escape the not-so-secure-as-needed quarantine. As we do, I don't find The-Brave-1 besides me, instead, I see him rushing towards the icy-dome. I follow too.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?!" I ask.

"Well," The-Brave-1 says, slowing down, and letting me catch up. And as I catch up, I grab him and we hide behind a nearby cover.

"You want to be eaten by Morph?"

"It only has been two days. There barely is anyone stopping me from going inside. And besides… Morph may just get weaker to the signals or something, who knows."

"Yes, who knows?"

"I don't care. One second I waste here, could take away his life."

The-Brave-1 just runs of to the dome, and I make my move the second he enters the dome. Even when some people spot me and try stop me, I go into the dome.

I spot the nearest cell tower, and make my way to it. I look up, and The-Brave-1 was already at the top of it. Being creeped out on staying at the bottom, I go above too.

There being a flat surface to stand at, like a balcony floor, I stand beside The-Brave-1 there.

"Are you able to do it?" I ask.

"I think I may need a minute."

I feel anxious with each passing moment, and a tick on my watch.

I look at The-Brave-1 and he seems kind of lost and confused.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.

"About what?" The-Brave-1 asks.

"Well, the problem at hand. I find it that people find it easier to solve things when they talk about the problem at hand."

"Ah well. Okay," The-Brave-1 says. "So it'd actually be worrisome if it were like an EMP. Then that could fry the circuits, but if not, then the system which switched off, would just come back online in a while."

"Yes. Like in the movies."

"Yes. But whoever did this, didn't want to destroy it. And destroying again would only be a chance, so they didn't want to take it. I think. So instead they changed some… stuff."

"Stuff like?"

"Well, for current to pass, one condition is the potential difference, right?"

"Yes."

"So usually in case of semi-conductors. You know, diodes and stuff, it is an anode and cathode. Different potential differences. Which can change according to temperature. And whatever caused the snow… changed temperature, yes. But to metals… it has gotten to an equal state of potential."

"And hence everything stops… then how do you stop it? Or start it?"

"By causing an actual, mild, EMP."

The-Brave-1 does something with his mobile, and a kind of low vibration passes the air, like a screech.

"Wait, you already had solution?" I ask.

"Pretty much what I did the last two days. Why else would I say that I can do it alone?"

I and The-Brave-1 get below the tower, as fast as we can. And we spot a few figures in a distance.

"Let's run," I say.

We run, and the people who are in a distance, only seem to come towards the tower, as we get out of sight. But still we stay away from their gaze.

"They just seem like normal people. Are they zombies? It is a thing now?" I ask.

"Likely…" The-Brave-1 says. "We need to get out, Morph may be next."

We run towards the dome, and many of these zombies come around us, but we make it out of their slow-paced tries.

From outside the dome, we watch as crowds of people march along, as if they were in some cult. The-Brave-1 just stares at this too, rather than prompting to run-away this time.

We go back to the quarantine zone, without any words exchanged.