Strange. For the people of the small town of Sallea, that word was synonymous with almost everything. Strange was the grey sky always littered with dark clouds. Strange was the fact that the world was covered by large metallic cities run on computers and the malignant hackers and viruses and chaos that ensued with it; and how they themselves lived small insignificant lives in small wooden houses. Strange was their belief of curing the world of its self-engulfed madness, by listening to nature.

Strange was an old mansion in their town. And strange was an old man that lived in it. But all the synonyms of ‘strange’ were redefined, when on a slow evening a stranger arrived, dressed in dark robes, riding his menacing black vehicle and intent on visiting the old man.

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Even though he didn’t show it, Akke was overjoyed at the sight of the small town of Sallea. He took out a small GPS navigator from his robe and scanned as to where exactly he was, but even the advanced device could not trace out Sallea.

What a place the old man has chosen to hide, Akke admired as he pressed hard on the accelerator of his bike. The wind was playing with his wavy black hair and his robes danced like a whip behind him. He was speeding towards the town.

Wooden houses? These people must really be ancient, he thought. Within seconds he had entered Sallea and expectedly, the curious faces of men, women and children began to show up. Akke rode on, noticing some withered remains of plants the people had tried to grow. Sunlight seldom visits this planet, he laughed. And these dumbasses don’t know that plants need that. But why would they want to grow them in the first place? Technology was handling all the oxygen and other problems. Akke shook his head. Ancient fools.

People and houses passed by in a blur; and then something caught his eye: there in the distance, standing erect and old, was a full grown tree. Akke applied the brakes and looked on in bewilderment.

‘How the hell..’ he muttered. These things were supposed to be extinct. In all his years of hacking and fighting and creating viruses, never had he seen a ‘tree’. The only thing he had learnt about it was that it was an alternative method of oxygen production. He never knew it could be so beautiful, so full of life and yet, could stand so silent. It was an old tree; how it could have lived all this time was a wonder.

Surrounding it in a circle to form some kind of an enclosure were finely marked red stones. Must be a sort of ritual, Akke shrugged.

Low murmurings and hushes broke his pondering. A crowd had gathered admiring his bike’s powerful thrusters and the bulky gleaming mass with the sprawling handles and brakes. He thought for a while of asking the townsfolk about the tree, but then looked up at the sky. It was getting darker and darker and night was approaching. Deciding he cared more about the old man than the tree and the stones, Akke sped onwards.

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The mansion stood out in the town like a black sheep. No trouble finding you, Akke said as he faced the double doors.

Maybe he was being too poetic, but Akke felt the mansion to be the complete opposite of the tree. It too stood silent, but this was deathly silence. It was emanating grimness and was creaking under its own old weight.

Akke slammed hard against the doors and they broke apart in an instant. He stepped inside the dark hall.

‘Trembling in the darkness, Shiler?’ Akke called out.

‘Not quite,’ a tired old voice responded from inside.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Akke looked around. The hall looked empty, but there were a few bookcases, some tables and chairs, a grandfather clock and an old man rocking in his chair.

Akke approached him.

‘So, Shiler, five years of hiding in this rat hole didn’t make you feel lonely? I guess you could live with that, especially given the intentions of people who want your company.’

Shiler’s face became visible. Wrinkles were wrought all over his face, he was bald in the middle and his rich white hair clung onto the sides.

‘And my friend here has other intentions?’ Shiler said.

‘Yeah, old timer. I am not here for company; I am here so that the other fellows cannot enjoy yours.’

He looked up at Akke from his chair with his half open eyes, and said,

‘So my assassin has arrived. Five years to find me. With dark hair, darker eyes, and that square jaw, how could anyone mistake you for someone else..’

Akke lost his cool. The old guy was mocking him for taking five years!

‘Five years?!’ Akke shot at him, ‘Five years of bloody effort into searching this…this.. place that forgot to change!’

Shiler smiled. ‘I see it the other way round. If one has to find change on this planet, they would have to come here.’

‘And as for the effort,’ Shiler continued, ‘I don’t think you would have found me without the information of someone who recently visited this place.’

Akke stared at him. So he knew about the tipoff. Big deal. He was going to die anyways.

Akke inspected a nearby table. Some old papers, a white flower and a photograph covered an otherwise empty table. He picked up the photograph; it was old and torn at the edges, and depicted a smiling young man holding a baby.

He looked back at Shiler. ‘How touching..this freak master of technology once had a family.’

Shiler’s smile faded. He turned his gaze away and looked out of a nearby window.

‘Aww..don’t want to share private life?’ Akke said. ‘As for my family, it’s nothing much. Just me and my master, who was released yesterday from prison. And what better way to greet him than to inform him of your demise?’

‘I am happy for your master.’ Shiler said. ‘I know him well. Expect the reunion to take place in some isolated place like..um..scapfield sector, maybe.’

Silence followed. Akke looked out of the window. The tree was visible, standing alone in the distance.

‘Beautiful.. yet intriguing’ Shiler muttered, as if talking to himself, ‘The tree of life. But how.. that will remain a mystery.. like the people here.’

‘I want to know something,’ Akke finally said. ‘No, not about the tree. I want to know about Abeo. Your creation. You could have used it yourself. But you shunned it away.. why?’

Shiler turned his gaze back at Akke. He took one long deep breath and then shifted his gaze into the darkness, as if revisiting his past memories.

He spoke, ‘Change. This world was turning mad. It was destroying itself. I wanted to change all that. Change the way technology was suffocating this planet. But the sad truth of change is that to gain something, you have to lose first. I created it to perform that task. To eradicate all the artificial powers of man. To wipe out all the mother processes, the viruses, the bots, everything…Abeo was born. Abeo could have controlled everything on this planet, could have destroyed anything artificial.. it was too much of a power. I don’t know what happened.. my fear of not being able to control it.. my love for AI.. I couldn’t use it. But my colleagues were more than willing to do so. I couldn’t destroy it either. To destroy something so powerful would take years of saved energy. And so I decided to shun it. Hide it. Abeo is sleeping away from the searching eyes of this world.’

Akke laughed again. ‘You really think it will be hidden away forever? Don’t you think you left traces when you were trying to hide it? Five years ago, my master and my friends sought out those ‘traces’, although my master got caught and was sent to prison. And now that he has finally been released by bribery and manipulation, we shall receive instructions on how to find Abeo! We don’t need you! And by killing you, we will make sure it will be the end of the road for the other rats who do! You have served your purpose, our purpose shall begin!!’

Shiler sighed. ‘My colleagues have created tools for finding Abeo,’ he said softly. ‘But I can rest assured that I have set three obstacles in the path to Abeo.’

‘Three obstacles, my ass.’ Akke spat. He removed his gun and pointed it square at Shiler’s feeble chest.

‘Last wishes?’ asked Akke.

‘Just the one.’

The old man took out a small glinting object from his shirt. He beckoned Akke forward, and placed it carefully in his hands. Akke observed it; it was spherical and small, like a marble, but was golden all over. There was a small hole in the sphere.

Shiler met Akke’s eyes. He said in a humble voice, ‘Please fulfill this. You may not understand the gibberish I am speaking, but you will understand everything when the time comes. You will be in anger, in confusion, in fear, in despair, but remember to think clearly and you will understand. You will give this away, when you will understand.’

His voice seemed to be echoing in Akke’s mind. Akke gave on more look at the sphere, and then pocketed it.

‘Hurry up,’ Shiler smiled and said, ‘The military might be heading this way courtesy information given by your own source. Who knows? And I have a hunch they want me alive.’

Loneliness has made him mad, Akke thought. How could someone tell his assassin to hurry up? And that too with a smile?

‘Goodbye, creator of Abeo.’

‘Goodbye. Remember, you are what you choose to be.’

Akke smiled. ‘Just for info, your last line on this planet was way too cheesy.’

Shiler laughed. His wrinkles seemed to disappear for a moment, and Akke felt that the young happy man from the photograph was sitting right in front of him. Then he pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot echoed through the empty of passages of the mansion.

Akke looked away. He didn’t like what he had just done, he felt too creepy. As he turned and moved towards the broken doors, he picked the white flower up.

‘I will take this as a souvenir.’

***************

Starting the engine, Akke looked back at the mansion. He had placed a Detonation right at the doors, meant for military scum that would enter and along with all the evidence of a man called Shiler, would blow up into smithereens. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt as though some part of his soul remained in the dark hall.

It was nighttime, the lanterns and torches of the town were painting a dim orange atmosphere.

Beep, Akke’s cellphone rang. He flicked it open to read a message:

2morro midnite reunion scrapfield sector

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