LIES AND DECEPTION.

The senator didn't have a moment of rest. Vanya was disturbing him so badly, about her mom. He was getting aggravated as her constant disturbance persisted. He really needed to do something to stop this torture.

'Vanya.' He looks at her. 'Your mom called with another number. She said she had to travel to Singapore for an urgent meeting.' He lies.

Vanya didn't believe her dad's story. It was not just balanced. Her mom left, late in the night. She glared at her dad with questioning look.

'She'll be back, tomorrow.' He says, firmly. He had to say something to stop the disturbance, and he did. So he must keep his words; tomorrow is it. Mrs. Theodore will be released, tomorrow, but not unharmed.

'I promise, your mom will come back home. It was a really urgent meeting, that is why she left that late; she thought you were asleep.' He lies convincingly. He hugs Vanya. 'Your mom will be back.'

What will I do to Mrs. Kate Theodore, that will silence her? He thinks hard. She is just a person, she has no evidence to back whatever she says to anyone, but I want to make sure that she is silenced. He jumps at an idea that came to his head.

'Oh yes!' He exclaims unconsciously. Vanya glances at him.

'It's just… um… It's just an alert.' He shows Vanya his phone. '… I was waiting eagerly for it.' He smiles sheepishly.

Vanya was not excited for anything; her mind was filled with her mom's issue. She kept mute, with a long face.

The next day, Oliver was in school, they were working on the project. The team explains everything to Oliver, and he was happy to join the team. But he was not happy that Vanya wasn't there. The project was coming to a success. The device could now be used as a tracker, therefore, they only had to add the magnet, and their project will done with.

'Nice team work, everybody,' Oliver says, excited.

'Thank you, Oliver,' Angel says. 'It's only because I'm the group leader, that's why we've gone this far… If Vanya was the group leader instead, we could have been unproductive.' Angel brags.

'Angel, we got the idea to make a tracker from Vanya, so don't speak too much; you did absolutely nothing – you just bossed us around.' Leonard says bluntly.

Angel wanted to react badly. She was so angry at Leonard.

'Angel, calm down. Y'all are irreplaceable. We couldn't have gone this far, if not for y'all.' Oliver speaks calmly. Soon, they added the magnet to the tracker.

'We're done!' Oliver says happily.

'Of course, we're.' Angel says.

They carefully kept their project, in a safe place. It was just two days to the deadline.

'Wow! Are you done?' Stanley asks Oliver.

'Yes, we're definitely done.'

'We are done with our project, too. We finished it yesterday.' Stanley smiles at Oliver.

Seeing Stanley talk to him, was exciting for Oliver. He was happy he had a brother, who loved him equally – It was amazing.

Maryam was having the worst time with her group members. They were obviously going to lose this group competition.

They were making a flashlight, and they were halfway done.

'Please, I quit. I'm no longer in this group. And I'm definitely not your leader anymore. Go find yourself a leader!' she yells. 'I quit!'

'Please Maryam, we need you.' One of the group member, a boy with a freckled face, says, almost in tears.

'I've tried my best. I've done all I can do to make you all smart, but look at our condition. You guys are so dumb.' Maryam says bluntly. 'I'm sorry if I upset you, but it's not my fault. I am really very, very tired of leading some coconut head that call themselves people. I don't even know how I landed amongst you; seriously, why did the teacher put us in one group?' She asks her sad groupmates. She noticed that they were really hurt by her words. Their faces were long, and their countenance was a sad one. They abandoned the project, and left, sad.

'I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. I didn't mean it.' Maryam apologizes. They didn't even hear her out, they walked out on her. Maryam was very sorry for all she said, but some of it was the truth. They were minor setbacks, but each person is unique in his own way. The submission date was just two days away. How difficult would the production of a torch be? Maryam decides to finish it on her own. She starts coupling the remaining parts. In no time, it was getting into shape. It was a big flashlight, so it required a big amount of energy to turn on.

'Wait, is this what I've been wasting all my time for?' Maryam looks at the flashlight with anger. She looks at her other classmates projects. It was amazing innovations, but hers was just a flashlight.

'Who even gave me this stupid idea? Oh God!' She collapses on the hand chair. 'I just want to quit. I've lost already.' She says feebly.

In Stanley's group, Stanley was really happy that Charlotte was on his team. He was mostly excited about her smartness.

'Hello, Charlotte. You're really amazing. You were the ideal group leader.' Stanley compliments.

'No, you're the better leader.' Charlotte replies. 'And thank you for the compliment.'

Stanley was lost into Charlotte's light brown eyes. Her ginger colored hair dazzled, as the fleck of sunshine radiated on it. He never saw her as a girl he would call beautiful. Although she was very pretty, he thought her to be less attractive, because of her height – she was short. But now, he saw her uniqueness.

*If everyone was the same, the world will be a boring place. Our difference makes us unique, which makes the world an interesting place for us all.

'Stanley…? Stanley…?' She snaps Stanley back to reality.

'You were totally lost in thoughts. What happened?' She asks.

'Nothing.' He replies. 'I'm really happy we are done with our project.'

'Yeah. I'm also excited.' Charlotte smiles, showing her cute dimples.

Mrs. Theodore was weak. She glared at two men's images as they sprouted from the entrance into the dark garage. It was senator Theodore and Scorpion X, with some medical personnel. One of the medical personnel brings out a syringe, and a phial filled with an unknown substance. He takes up the chemical with the syringe.

'This is an illegal substance that will alter her memory. It may prove very fatal to her – She may lose her life due to the effect.' The doctor warns Senator Theodore.

'If it will certainly wipe her memory, I don't mind.' The senator utters wickedly.

'After this injection, some of her memories will be gone, most of them. I still warn of the use of this chemical. If I inject this into her, her brain would be incorrigible. It may also cause part of her brain to malfunction, and a severe shock to the nervous system. Sign a document which states that I may not be responsible for any aftereffects, or even death of the patient.' The doctor gives The senator a document to sign, and he signs it.

'You may proceed.' The senator just stood by, watching the procedure.

The doctor cleans the poor woman's arm with a cotton wool, which was soaked in alcohol. Then he injects the chemical into Mrs. Theodore's arm.

At first, Mrs. Theodore stopped moving completely. Her arms were still, and she lay motionless. Her body temperature was reducing.

Then suddenly, she had severe convulsions. Her eyes were twitching – all white. Her hands were shivering. Her mouth was shaking without control. Mrs. Theodore felt the chemical climbing through her blood streams.

'She may die. I've not seen a patient react to this drugs like this. Her system is trying so hard to fight the chemical. She has a strong brain, but sooner or later, it will succumb to the chemical.' The doctor says calmly. She was still struggling, her eyes were strained, still white with red veins. Her memories faded away: memories of Vanya, her one sweet daughter; memories of her son who left home years ago. She couldn't stop the chemical's control over her mind. She clasped the hand chair with all her might. Her tears showed she was giving up fast. She was just weak and feeble. It was like as if she was moving fast on a time warp.

She saw when Vanya opened her eyes for the first time as a baby. She gurgled as she smiled. She clasped her mom's cheek.

'I love you, mom.' Says the little Vanya as she got older. Vanya was the only one, who she could think of. Her images went by as flashes. The chemical reaction was now uncontrollable. Then the struggle came to an end. Has she truly succumbed to the chemical. Of course; she had already given up. Her eyes twitched a little more. It was like there was an electric discharge in her eye that has failed.

'Did it work?' The senator asks.

'I can't tell now.' The doctor moves closer to Mrs. Theodore, who was motionless. He checks her pulse, she was still pulsating, and breathing.

'She's alive, but I'm not sure it worked.' The doctor observes. Tout de suite, Mrs. Theodore moves a little, then she opens her eyes. She couldn't recognize anyone, even The senator.

'How are you?' The doctor asks, but she just massaged her head. Her vision was blurry, she couldn't see clearly.

'Can you raise your hand?' The doctor asks. Mrs. Theodore looks at him feebly. She couldn't nor move.

'Can you raise your arm?' The doctor asks again. Mrs. Theodore raises her hand with little difficulty.

'Her mechanoreceptors are okay. Now, can you see my hand? How many fingers do you see?' The doctor shows her 3 fingers.

'3.' She says slowly.

'Her photoreceptors are okay.' He ticks on his note. He puts a fairly hot pin on her skin, and she flinches. 'Her thermoreceptors are fine. Her chemoreceptors will be checked later, but her brain seems to be in a fine. Major percentage of her memory had been erased, she may not know the difference between reality and dreams again.'

'Thank God, her memory is gone.' The senator utters. 'Now we can go home.' He gives the doctor, a warm handshake. 'I will add something massive to your payment, thanks.'

'Thank you, too.' The doctor says and leave the garage. Mrs. Theodore was weak, and she just looked restless. She couldn't remember a thing, again.

At the school, Mr. Albert, the technology teacher, inspected the project. His gaze was firm and he walked quite slowly, circumspectly inspecting the projects, that were already finished.

'Wow, what creativity!' He exclaims, as he surveys the project. He looks at Maryam with a little disappointment.

'I expected you to do better.' He says disappointedly.

'Sir, it's not my fault; I tried my best…' Maryam couldn't finish speaking, and she's interrupted by Mr. Albert.

'It's nice you tried your best, but you shouldn't blame anyone for you incompetence – It's a very irresponsible thing to do.' Mr. Albert says.

Maryam knew her project was a big fiasco, and it was partially her fault – If I had smart people in my team, it would have been less a failure. She said to herself.