I had passed out because of a heat stroke and woke up in Pervez Sahab’s laboratory.

‘Ah, butterfly. I am so glad to see that you have woken up all right,’ he said while

pouring a neon green chemical down a beaker of pink chemical that reacted into a

glowing yellow concoction.

After regaining full consciousness, I realised my body was immobile. No matter how

much I willed it to move, it stayed anchored. As I started to articulate my feelings in

muffled screams, Pervez Sahab poured the yellow chemical from earlier onto my

body. It made my skin glow a bright golden colour.

‘What is happening? Why can’t I move my body?’ I asked in a panic.

‘You have been given a numbing juice. Because if you moved when you were not

supposed to, this golden glow that you have, would become permanent,’ the scientist

replied calmly, and began humming a little tune.

I could move my limbs after an exact ten minutes, since there was a timer that had

been set for this duration. From there, I was pricked with a tiny pin that turned my

arm into jelly, and shot my body with an unbearable amount of pain. Needless to say,

I went ballistic.

‘What is the purpose behind all of this?’ I asked desperately.

‘I have to carry out a few more of these tests before attaching the chip to your back,

butterfly, so I can know the full extent of all the side effects. Do not worry, two tests

out of fifty have been completed so quickly!’ he said while sauntering off to his

equipment table and picking up a giant wedge hammer.

I was smacked on the leg at least four times.

‘PLEASE, stop!’ I cried, ‘this hurts!’

‘Now, now, you are strong!’ he went on saying, ‘this will save you from harm after

the chip has been configured.’

The horrendous activities carried on for hours, although they were admittedly less

painful than the first ones. Later, the scientist revealed to me something most

unexpected. He was deliberately causing me pain because the president had been

watching him from his secret camera. This he discovered last night while cleaning

through his old stack of inventions. Immediately he realised the intention of this

camera with the logo ‘EP’: Eliteratti President. Previously Mr. Kit, Judge Firdous and

the others had told him about funding his next big invention if he agreed to turn me

into a controlled robot, following a set of specific environments, with pain being a

prominent ingredient.

Flinging it with acid that he pretended was meant for me ‘accidentally’ destroyed the

camera. That was when he revealed the circumstances. What was more shocking was

how his secretary also emerged. It turned out she was hiding - the miscellaneous

evacuation programme was indeed in execution. Despite all that was divulged, the

scientist still refused to tell me what his great big invention was. But sensing

something that could potentially unite our aims, I looked forward to coming to his

laboratory the next day. But only after making sure I knew his intentions, would I

trust him with what Jeter, Nin, Harris and I really hoped to achieve.

After my ‘time was up’, I stood outside the building, waiting for Jeter to pick me up

as I had requested him. Heavily bruised, it was a big price to pay for a mere game of

pretend. There was certainly a lot to tell my friends.

I told Jeter as much as I could on the way back, since he had initiated a sound barrier

in the car, creating a force field between driver and customers.

‘Where did you get this from?’ I asked.

‘Custom made. Got delivered this morning from the orange building you just

survived.’

I shuddered.

As he told me about all the events that took place during their visit to Left Arrow,

Badriya performed a rehearsal of her play to great applause, and profusely thanked

me for such a career changing opportunity. The big show would be tomorrow, but

Jeter and the gang told her I had some meeting with the psychiatrist and so would not

be able to attend, no matter how badly I wanted to. She apparently sent something for

me, which Nin had back at the mansion.

‘Unfortunately, we ran out of time to ask about the whereabouts of your father. It

will be the first thing we do tomorrow. But Harris made the announcement of

Silverns’s situation at the rehearsal after telling Badriya,’ Jeter uttered, ‘everyone was

taken aback, with some even saying they received letters from their loved ones in

Right Arrow about weird computers being set up with commands that were

specifically theirs,’ he added while opening the car door as we had arrived at the

mansion, ‘word has really gotten out. I would say one more trip with you and we can

all be ready to take a stand. Anarchy against what my father so horribly

misunderstands.’

We went to my room where I just fell to pieces on my bed. Jeter came in for a brief

moment.

‘I have to run and finish my report on the importance of double checking in

insurance deals for tomorrow’s class, or else father will do a double check on my

double life. Good night!’ he said.

‘Good night, friend. And Harris?’ I asked.

‘Already in his bedroom, preparing for his MCAT. It’s in three days,’ he replied

while making a beeline towards his abode.

As I slumped back on my bed, Nin came into the room and handed me a bundle of

papers wrapped in a pink ribbon.

‘It’s from Badriya,’ she said, ‘since you will not be coming with us tomorrow once

more.’

I opened the ribbon and saw that it was the play’s script with a note at the end

saying, “Thank you! Enjoy! Badriya x”. That ought to have been dedicated to

Gregory than me. But it was touching.

‘She wanted you to envision her on stage performing it and felt you needed to relax

a little,’ Nin added before looking at my bruises.

‘Oh my goodness! What is all this?’ she asked in a state of high agitation, ‘who did

this? How?’

Before I could answer, she promptly tore off a bit of my bed sheet and tied it around

my leg.

‘Wait here,’ she said, going back to her mansion to retrieve a safety kit, with a deaf

ear to my protestations.

Even though I know I put her through a lot of trouble, I could not be more grateful to

her as I was that night. She left some bandages and an antiseptic serum by my bedside

so that I could reapply it in the morning. It was because of this swift treatment that I

felt my body was not aching or numb anymore. In a state of rejuvenation, I tilted the

bedside table light towards me, and opened up the script to unwind a little indeed,

before completely burning out the midnight lamp.