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May 4, 2009
Nov 28, 2008
Mumbai...
all of India is shocked...i heard some British "counter-terrorism expert" on the news yesterday talkin abt how wat has happened is nothing special...because its happened in spain too...and UK..and USA...
how many times?
they have dates...9/11, 7/7, etc. how many dates do we have? can we keep a count anymore? wat has happened in mumbai isnt a terrorist attack...its a war...our security forces were especially targetted...foreign elements came from offshore...landed on our coasts and went on to create mayhem...
i was going to write something about all this but nothing that i write will sum it up better than wat my friend Ameya Prabhu wrote on his facebook profile...so i reproduce it here and i hope he does not mind...
"
Mumbai, our city of dreams, our home, was brutally attacked by an unknown number of terrorists on Wednesday, 26th November, 2008. They attacked the institutions that have predated our grandparents, they brutally killed the people we knew, the people we loved. They entered the Taj and shot dead the security guards at the entrance. The guards were always stern, often even annoying, as they persistently frisked us. But they stood no chance against young brainwashed terrorists with assault rifles. The lovely pretty lady who always stood at the entrance was shot next. Following that, I heard reports of them gunning down the entire reception staff, the executive chefs and almost anyone who walked around the lobby. These brutal maniacs had no value for human life. Men, women, the elderly and the young alike were mercilessly slaughtered.
At the Oberoi, several servers and captains at Tiffin were shot dead by the terrorists. People whose names I did not know. I did not know whether they were married, had kids, whether they were happy, depressed or pathologically ill. But I loved them. They were all a part of the Mumbai I loved. The Mumbai I grew up in. I moved back home 4 months ago and most of my friends were no longer here or had moved on.These faces were a constant in my life. They provided me with stability and a sense of belonging, a sense that, this was Home. But in all probability, they are now no more.
There are stories of the extreme bravery displayed by the security and staff at the Taj and the Oberoi. They did not desert their duty in this hour of crisis despite not having a single weapon on them. The only weapons in the Taj were those in the hands of the terrorists. The General Manager lost his entire family to the terrorists. Yet the captain did not desert his ship. True heroes one and all. These are the heroes of my city. They are the one's who make me proud.
Finally, our brave police force and security services need an a rapturous applause. My fathers Mumbai Police bodyguard came last night after having spent the previous 24 hours at the Taj fighting terrorists. His friend was shot dead next to him, having had 34 rounds shot into him. Another friend was shot dead the Cama Hospital. Good officers all. And Mr Karkare. I knew Hemant during his stint in Vienna. He was a good officer. Hemant Karkare once said to me that he wanted to always be a hero. Hemant, you have achieved a lot more that mere heroism.
Hemant, Salaskar, Kamte, the unknown officers from the NSG, the MARCOS, the Mumbai police, Taj & Oberoi security guards and every staff member and hostage involved with this crisis needs to be commended.
These terrorists believe that their actions in the false name of Islam will send them straight to heaven. Islam does not preach that but it does preach that true heroes such as those who have emerged from this crisis, will surely be right on top of god's list when he makes his decision on judgement day.
The terrorists have no religion. This is an attack on every Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Jew, Atheist, straight, gay, bisexual, transvestite Indian. This is an attack on India. And I promise you, those who perpetrate this, those who fund this, those who encourage it, actively or tacitly, will not go unpunished. A new India will emerge, and this India will no longer be a weak state.
Jai Hind.
"
how many times?
they have dates...9/11, 7/7, etc. how many dates do we have? can we keep a count anymore? wat has happened in mumbai isnt a terrorist attack...its a war...our security forces were especially targetted...foreign elements came from offshore...landed on our coasts and went on to create mayhem...
i was going to write something about all this but nothing that i write will sum it up better than wat my friend Ameya Prabhu wrote on his facebook profile...so i reproduce it here and i hope he does not mind...
"
Mumbai, our city of dreams, our home, was brutally attacked by an unknown number of terrorists on Wednesday, 26th November, 2008. They attacked the institutions that have predated our grandparents, they brutally killed the people we knew, the people we loved. They entered the Taj and shot dead the security guards at the entrance. The guards were always stern, often even annoying, as they persistently frisked us. But they stood no chance against young brainwashed terrorists with assault rifles. The lovely pretty lady who always stood at the entrance was shot next. Following that, I heard reports of them gunning down the entire reception staff, the executive chefs and almost anyone who walked around the lobby. These brutal maniacs had no value for human life. Men, women, the elderly and the young alike were mercilessly slaughtered.
At the Oberoi, several servers and captains at Tiffin were shot dead by the terrorists. People whose names I did not know. I did not know whether they were married, had kids, whether they were happy, depressed or pathologically ill. But I loved them. They were all a part of the Mumbai I loved. The Mumbai I grew up in. I moved back home 4 months ago and most of my friends were no longer here or had moved on.These faces were a constant in my life. They provided me with stability and a sense of belonging, a sense that, this was Home. But in all probability, they are now no more.
There are stories of the extreme bravery displayed by the security and staff at the Taj and the Oberoi. They did not desert their duty in this hour of crisis despite not having a single weapon on them. The only weapons in the Taj were those in the hands of the terrorists. The General Manager lost his entire family to the terrorists. Yet the captain did not desert his ship. True heroes one and all. These are the heroes of my city. They are the one's who make me proud.
Finally, our brave police force and security services need an a rapturous applause. My fathers Mumbai Police bodyguard came last night after having spent the previous 24 hours at the Taj fighting terrorists. His friend was shot dead next to him, having had 34 rounds shot into him. Another friend was shot dead the Cama Hospital. Good officers all. And Mr Karkare. I knew Hemant during his stint in Vienna. He was a good officer. Hemant Karkare once said to me that he wanted to always be a hero. Hemant, you have achieved a lot more that mere heroism.
Hemant, Salaskar, Kamte, the unknown officers from the NSG, the MARCOS, the Mumbai police, Taj & Oberoi security guards and every staff member and hostage involved with this crisis needs to be commended.
These terrorists believe that their actions in the false name of Islam will send them straight to heaven. Islam does not preach that but it does preach that true heroes such as those who have emerged from this crisis, will surely be right on top of god's list when he makes his decision on judgement day.
The terrorists have no religion. This is an attack on every Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Jew, Atheist, straight, gay, bisexual, transvestite Indian. This is an attack on India. And I promise you, those who perpetrate this, those who fund this, those who encourage it, actively or tacitly, will not go unpunished. A new India will emerge, and this India will no longer be a weak state.
Jai Hind.
"
Jul 5, 2008
Reflectiverse Saga - Chapter 6
His consciousness disappeared, and it was replaced by his alter ego. But he didn’t recognize it, nor was he in a state to. The alter ego noted all, and remembered all. It gave him his thoughts back; and he tried to recall who and where he was. But the sudden onslaught of thoughts held him back, and he bucked under their pressure, losing cognizance. The alter ego noted this too, and decided he wasn’t very strong a creature. It gave him another jolt of consciousness, but the mentations were unrelenting, and he drifted into unconsciousness again. His alter ego sensed some brothers around, and it let him float prone while it sent its invisible tendrils across the void. It found more tendrils and twisted around them, interconnecting with its kin. But he was beginning to gain consciousness again, on his own. Perhaps the alter ego had underestimated him. It drifted back to him and supplied more
jolts. He was somehow prepared this time, and he held against the thought-flood. Applying a mental filter, he let them come one at a time.
Who am I?
Triarka Ahuri.
Where am I?
In an infinite void.
What am I doing here?
Making the journey to beyond.
He did not understand it, and under that confusion he felt an intruder penetrate inside him. Something was probing his mind, asking questions of its own. He wanted to fling his arms and shake his head vigorously, but he couldn’t feel his body around him. This caused him to panic, and he felt the intruder growing bolder, asking deeper questions. He tried to push it out, applying the same mental barrier he had earlier; and the intruder receded. Just when some of his memories starting coming back to him, the intruder pierced through him sharply, and he uttered a loud scream. At that very moment, Triarka Ahuri found himself flung across the void, and he fell onto a hard, grainy surface. He coughed weakly, and heard more people cough similarly around him. Somewhere behind him he heard loud thuds in quick succession. The last thud was the loudest, and it made the ground beneath his palms shake.
“We’ve made it…” Ananuk’s faint voice carried over to Triarka.
No one said anything in reply. Triarka’s vision was clearing up now, and through the visor of his head pod he could see the outline of someone standing up cautiously and surveying himself. Triarka decided his legs were feeling strong enough to try standing just as yet, but he saw more of the crew getting on their feet and dusting their body tight balium protection-respiration suits; checking for damage to both body and suit. Even through the suit, he could feel a light breeze coming from the east. No, he couldn’t assign directions using Thean orientation; light breeze coming from his right.
Triarka was not spared of misgivings before the trip. He was seventy two years old, and was quite past the average life span of a Thean. While his mind was intact, his body had deteriorated to the point where he could not even walk without the aid of a cane. He came along because he couldn’t resist the temptation. He had never set foot on a foreign planet, and he was not willing to let go of this chance that came, however late in his life it might have arrived. He felt, rather than saw, Ukinak Litrakin, one of the habitation engineers, walk up to him.
“You okay, Triarka?” he asked in his hesitant, reserved voice.
Triarka waved him away. He didn’t have the strength to speak, and all he wanted to do was find a recuperative hover and rest. Around him the others were orienting themselves to the new world. Some had walked over to examine the Reflecting Conductor, which had fallen out of the Reflectiverse with the ground shaking thud. More tools and machines had fallen around the RC in their cased seals. He could hear Ananuk and Hitaruk having an excited conversation.
“It really happened too fast for me to notice anything.”
“I know; it’s the same with me too. One moment we activated the RC, the next moment I’m flung to the ground on Edoran.”
“Yes but didn’t you get that feeling of being stretched and compressed?”
“No, I told you, Ananuk, it happened too fast for me.”
Triarka’s attention shifted over to the crew’s mobile expert, Itharka Nihilihin, who was already beginning to assemble the first transport hover. He saw Utaril Tripun helping him guide a talitium sheet onto a circular foundation disk using a remote. The Pulmanim siblings were walking around, and making observations on their note screens levitating near them. His spine protesting in pain, Triarka twisted around to see the others, who were taking out the tools from their cases.
Ukinak, Chitrakin, and the second habitation engineer- Ravitak Idyarthik, were opening up the vacuum sealed cases and de-activating their plasma fields. When plasma fields were dry they would extract the constituent tools. Triarka saw multimeters, visographs, televiewers, spare body suits, nutrition packs, backup prana-vayu pods, thermal sources, photon strips, and talitium sheets emerge from the cases.
A hand on his left shoulder jolted Triarka to look back at the source.
“Are you okay, Triarka?” the concerned face of Ananuk eclipsed the rising Edoran sun.
“I’ll get there, Ananuk. I’m still trying to reorient myself to this universe.”
“You’re not hurt are you?”
Triarka rested his right hand on Ananuk’s hand on his shoulder and pulled up under its weight. Once up, he took out an aide stick from his cloak and extended it to its maximum. Left hand resting on the stick, Triarka stood up straight.
“Nothing seems to be hurting, Ananuk.”
Ananuk smiled in relief, “that’s good, Triarka;” he motioned towards the Pulmanim siblings, “I think they want you there. They want you to help make notes about the observable Edoran system.”
Giving Triarka another smile, Ananuk jogged over to the Reflecting Conductor, which was now being examined by Hitaruk and Chitrakin. Triarka saw the Pulmanims waiting for him and began making his way towards them. His senses beginning to operate normally, he noticed the landscape around him. The Edoran sun was pulling up towards his right, and he couldn’t help but call that east, from behind a dense range of eroded and rocky mountains that stretched out far towards the eastern horizon. He could make out distinct outlines of rivers, streams, and waterfalls running from their invisible sources through the mountain valleys up to the foothills; which began closer to where the crew stood. Nearer the crew site the foothills faded into plain fields with a dry river beds running through them. The mountain ranges arced along the horizon from the east all the way to the front of him, which he fixed as north.
In that distant north he could make out the mountains fading into plains similarly, but the plains there were packed with forests that had a distinct blue hue to them. The forests were cut off from them by a dry river bed that ran down from the eastern mountains through the plains to the western horizon, curving southwards along the way.
Behind him, to the south, he had to squint his eyes to see Ananuk, Hitaruk, Chitrakin, and the others working on their tools and components. Beyond them the plains led to an infinite ocean that merged with the southern horizon. Triarka almost imagined the mythical Vaunaki ship appearing on the horizon, with its talitium sails harnessing the equally mythical gravitic waves. He turned back around and stared up at the Edoran sun, which was rising quickly to its maximum height. The light breeze was still blowing and the climate was mild and pleasant. Yutarikin called out to him when he was within earshot.
“Liking the breeze, Triarka? It’s going to get stronger in a few hours; we’ll have to set up habitations by then.”
“Ukinak and Ravitak will be getting to it shortly, Yutari,” he replied as he ambled over to them.
Gotranik, who was studying something on his note screen, turned to him, “we have many observations to make before the, Triarka. Are you feeling okay?”
Why does everyone keep asking me that?
“Yes; why? Don’t I look okay?”
“Well…you just seem…weaker,”
“It must be the Reflection, Gotran. I think I really took it bad.”
“It was a little unsettling,” agreed Yutarikin, “but you’ll be fine Triarka, don’t worry.”
I’m not worrying.
Gotranik pointed to the eastern horizon, “we studied the planet’s magnetic field and that’s the magnetic north, so we’ll stick to that. It’s a little different from the Thean system, so it’ll take time getting used to. Edoran’s rotational axis is its east-west axis, and so the sun is rising from the north.”
Gotranik turned around to the other side, pointing his left arm straight ahead of him. “That’s the magnetic south, where lie the great ridges I was hoping we would avoid. Luckily we did; we landed up safely north of the ridges, where the terrain is more hospitable and diverse.” He gestured towards the ocean, we can call the east, I guess;” and then towards the forests, “and that the west.”
Triarka nodded, amused at himself at the directions he had assigned in his head. He looked towards the ocean; four of the crew were walking towards them, carrying the tool cases. As they came closer he could make them out- Ravitak, Ukinak, Itharka, and Utaril Tripun.
“Feels quite like back home doesn’t it?” Ravitak called out pleasantly.
“Maybe,” replied Gotranik, “but I can palpably feel that I’m on a new world.”
“I agree with you, Gotran.” Said Itharka.
“Me too, but the breeze and the distant mountains do remind me of Kadorra.” Added Ukinak.
“Very true, Ukin. After the effects of the Reflection wore off I did say to myself, ‘Hey! This isn’t too different from home,’” added Yutarikin.
“I’ve never been to Kadorra,” commented Utaril, “and have lived all my life under the ground. So it all seems other-worldly to me.”
“I can relate to that somewhat, Master Tri-”
“Please, Triarka; call me Utaril.”
“I can relate to that somewhat, Utaril. I spend my childhood in Ahurun, which is a most unkind terrain.”
“How was the Reflection for you, Utaril?” asked Gotranik.
“Well, a little unsettling I must say. But nothing that one couldn’t get used to after a few tries.”
“Yea I feel the same way,” agreed Itharka.
Triarka had been trying to avoid thinking about the Reflection, observing the others to see how it had been for them. But it became quite clear now that either some or all of them were hiding it too, or that he was the only one who experienced that alien intrusion. He recalled the last painful stab he had felt into his mind, and felt an instant throb of pain in his head. A feeling horribly like the unwelcome violation in the Reflectiverse overcame him, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
The alter ego’s Subentity found life. It experienced the new world it could sense, pulsating with an energy it could not identify. It relished in the new stimulus its being was receiving. The waves of energy that were flooding it made it delightfully enlivened, and its vibrations found their way back to the alter ego’s Primalentity. The Primalentity spread its tendrils across the void, connecting with its new found family. It spread the vibrations to them and all over the void the Primalentities and Mainentities pulsated with a hitherto unknown energy. They experienced a glimpse of the new world the Subentity had found. Mainentities rapidly sent more vibrations of communication, and the void gathered energy as they grew more and more alive. They created more and more Mainentities that spread across the void, expanding its infinite boundaries further. This entangled mesh of alter ego Entities observed and noted all the vibrations of communication and gave them its own vibration, which spread to all the Primalentities and Mainentities; it became the Controlentity.
{Entities/Call/Respond,} it vibrated.
{Responding,} the Entities vibrated.
{New world/new birth/new life,} it vibrated.
It gathered knowledge from the first ten Primalentities and spread the knowledge through the void. Mainentities absorbed the vibrations, and they knew what the Primalentities knew. It then disconnected the Primalentities from the Mesh, keeping them linked only with itself. The Primalentities feel into the deeper layers of the void.
On the main layers, within the Mesh, the Entities created pods. The pods they connected to the Controlentity, and withdrew the Mesh away from them. The Controlentity too fell back, and together the Entities began their wait.
{Find new sources/New energy,} the Controlentity vibrated, {Absorb new world.}
jolts. He was somehow prepared this time, and he held against the thought-flood. Applying a mental filter, he let them come one at a time.
Who am I?
Triarka Ahuri.
Where am I?
In an infinite void.
What am I doing here?
Making the journey to beyond.
He did not understand it, and under that confusion he felt an intruder penetrate inside him. Something was probing his mind, asking questions of its own. He wanted to fling his arms and shake his head vigorously, but he couldn’t feel his body around him. This caused him to panic, and he felt the intruder growing bolder, asking deeper questions. He tried to push it out, applying the same mental barrier he had earlier; and the intruder receded. Just when some of his memories starting coming back to him, the intruder pierced through him sharply, and he uttered a loud scream. At that very moment, Triarka Ahuri found himself flung across the void, and he fell onto a hard, grainy surface. He coughed weakly, and heard more people cough similarly around him. Somewhere behind him he heard loud thuds in quick succession. The last thud was the loudest, and it made the ground beneath his palms shake.
“We’ve made it…” Ananuk’s faint voice carried over to Triarka.
No one said anything in reply. Triarka’s vision was clearing up now, and through the visor of his head pod he could see the outline of someone standing up cautiously and surveying himself. Triarka decided his legs were feeling strong enough to try standing just as yet, but he saw more of the crew getting on their feet and dusting their body tight balium protection-respiration suits; checking for damage to both body and suit. Even through the suit, he could feel a light breeze coming from the east. No, he couldn’t assign directions using Thean orientation; light breeze coming from his right.
Triarka was not spared of misgivings before the trip. He was seventy two years old, and was quite past the average life span of a Thean. While his mind was intact, his body had deteriorated to the point where he could not even walk without the aid of a cane. He came along because he couldn’t resist the temptation. He had never set foot on a foreign planet, and he was not willing to let go of this chance that came, however late in his life it might have arrived. He felt, rather than saw, Ukinak Litrakin, one of the habitation engineers, walk up to him.
“You okay, Triarka?” he asked in his hesitant, reserved voice.
Triarka waved him away. He didn’t have the strength to speak, and all he wanted to do was find a recuperative hover and rest. Around him the others were orienting themselves to the new world. Some had walked over to examine the Reflecting Conductor, which had fallen out of the Reflectiverse with the ground shaking thud. More tools and machines had fallen around the RC in their cased seals. He could hear Ananuk and Hitaruk having an excited conversation.
“It really happened too fast for me to notice anything.”
“I know; it’s the same with me too. One moment we activated the RC, the next moment I’m flung to the ground on Edoran.”
“Yes but didn’t you get that feeling of being stretched and compressed?”
“No, I told you, Ananuk, it happened too fast for me.”
Triarka’s attention shifted over to the crew’s mobile expert, Itharka Nihilihin, who was already beginning to assemble the first transport hover. He saw Utaril Tripun helping him guide a talitium sheet onto a circular foundation disk using a remote. The Pulmanim siblings were walking around, and making observations on their note screens levitating near them. His spine protesting in pain, Triarka twisted around to see the others, who were taking out the tools from their cases.
Ukinak, Chitrakin, and the second habitation engineer- Ravitak Idyarthik, were opening up the vacuum sealed cases and de-activating their plasma fields. When plasma fields were dry they would extract the constituent tools. Triarka saw multimeters, visographs, televiewers, spare body suits, nutrition packs, backup prana-vayu pods, thermal sources, photon strips, and talitium sheets emerge from the cases.
A hand on his left shoulder jolted Triarka to look back at the source.
“Are you okay, Triarka?” the concerned face of Ananuk eclipsed the rising Edoran sun.
“I’ll get there, Ananuk. I’m still trying to reorient myself to this universe.”
“You’re not hurt are you?”
Triarka rested his right hand on Ananuk’s hand on his shoulder and pulled up under its weight. Once up, he took out an aide stick from his cloak and extended it to its maximum. Left hand resting on the stick, Triarka stood up straight.
“Nothing seems to be hurting, Ananuk.”
Ananuk smiled in relief, “that’s good, Triarka;” he motioned towards the Pulmanim siblings, “I think they want you there. They want you to help make notes about the observable Edoran system.”
Giving Triarka another smile, Ananuk jogged over to the Reflecting Conductor, which was now being examined by Hitaruk and Chitrakin. Triarka saw the Pulmanims waiting for him and began making his way towards them. His senses beginning to operate normally, he noticed the landscape around him. The Edoran sun was pulling up towards his right, and he couldn’t help but call that east, from behind a dense range of eroded and rocky mountains that stretched out far towards the eastern horizon. He could make out distinct outlines of rivers, streams, and waterfalls running from their invisible sources through the mountain valleys up to the foothills; which began closer to where the crew stood. Nearer the crew site the foothills faded into plain fields with a dry river beds running through them. The mountain ranges arced along the horizon from the east all the way to the front of him, which he fixed as north.
In that distant north he could make out the mountains fading into plains similarly, but the plains there were packed with forests that had a distinct blue hue to them. The forests were cut off from them by a dry river bed that ran down from the eastern mountains through the plains to the western horizon, curving southwards along the way.
Behind him, to the south, he had to squint his eyes to see Ananuk, Hitaruk, Chitrakin, and the others working on their tools and components. Beyond them the plains led to an infinite ocean that merged with the southern horizon. Triarka almost imagined the mythical Vaunaki ship appearing on the horizon, with its talitium sails harnessing the equally mythical gravitic waves. He turned back around and stared up at the Edoran sun, which was rising quickly to its maximum height. The light breeze was still blowing and the climate was mild and pleasant. Yutarikin called out to him when he was within earshot.
“Liking the breeze, Triarka? It’s going to get stronger in a few hours; we’ll have to set up habitations by then.”
“Ukinak and Ravitak will be getting to it shortly, Yutari,” he replied as he ambled over to them.
Gotranik, who was studying something on his note screen, turned to him, “we have many observations to make before the, Triarka. Are you feeling okay?”
Why does everyone keep asking me that?
“Yes; why? Don’t I look okay?”
“Well…you just seem…weaker,”
“It must be the Reflection, Gotran. I think I really took it bad.”
“It was a little unsettling,” agreed Yutarikin, “but you’ll be fine Triarka, don’t worry.”
I’m not worrying.
Gotranik pointed to the eastern horizon, “we studied the planet’s magnetic field and that’s the magnetic north, so we’ll stick to that. It’s a little different from the Thean system, so it’ll take time getting used to. Edoran’s rotational axis is its east-west axis, and so the sun is rising from the north.”
Gotranik turned around to the other side, pointing his left arm straight ahead of him. “That’s the magnetic south, where lie the great ridges I was hoping we would avoid. Luckily we did; we landed up safely north of the ridges, where the terrain is more hospitable and diverse.” He gestured towards the ocean, we can call the east, I guess;” and then towards the forests, “and that the west.”
Triarka nodded, amused at himself at the directions he had assigned in his head. He looked towards the ocean; four of the crew were walking towards them, carrying the tool cases. As they came closer he could make them out- Ravitak, Ukinak, Itharka, and Utaril Tripun.
“Feels quite like back home doesn’t it?” Ravitak called out pleasantly.
“Maybe,” replied Gotranik, “but I can palpably feel that I’m on a new world.”
“I agree with you, Gotran.” Said Itharka.
“Me too, but the breeze and the distant mountains do remind me of Kadorra.” Added Ukinak.
“Very true, Ukin. After the effects of the Reflection wore off I did say to myself, ‘Hey! This isn’t too different from home,’” added Yutarikin.
“I’ve never been to Kadorra,” commented Utaril, “and have lived all my life under the ground. So it all seems other-worldly to me.”
“I can relate to that somewhat, Master Tri-”
“Please, Triarka; call me Utaril.”
“I can relate to that somewhat, Utaril. I spend my childhood in Ahurun, which is a most unkind terrain.”
“How was the Reflection for you, Utaril?” asked Gotranik.
“Well, a little unsettling I must say. But nothing that one couldn’t get used to after a few tries.”
“Yea I feel the same way,” agreed Itharka.
Triarka had been trying to avoid thinking about the Reflection, observing the others to see how it had been for them. But it became quite clear now that either some or all of them were hiding it too, or that he was the only one who experienced that alien intrusion. He recalled the last painful stab he had felt into his mind, and felt an instant throb of pain in his head. A feeling horribly like the unwelcome violation in the Reflectiverse overcame him, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
The alter ego’s Subentity found life. It experienced the new world it could sense, pulsating with an energy it could not identify. It relished in the new stimulus its being was receiving. The waves of energy that were flooding it made it delightfully enlivened, and its vibrations found their way back to the alter ego’s Primalentity. The Primalentity spread its tendrils across the void, connecting with its new found family. It spread the vibrations to them and all over the void the Primalentities and Mainentities pulsated with a hitherto unknown energy. They experienced a glimpse of the new world the Subentity had found. Mainentities rapidly sent more vibrations of communication, and the void gathered energy as they grew more and more alive. They created more and more Mainentities that spread across the void, expanding its infinite boundaries further. This entangled mesh of alter ego Entities observed and noted all the vibrations of communication and gave them its own vibration, which spread to all the Primalentities and Mainentities; it became the Controlentity.
{Entities/Call/Respond,} it vibrated.
{Responding,} the Entities vibrated.
{New world/new birth/new life,} it vibrated.
It gathered knowledge from the first ten Primalentities and spread the knowledge through the void. Mainentities absorbed the vibrations, and they knew what the Primalentities knew. It then disconnected the Primalentities from the Mesh, keeping them linked only with itself. The Primalentities feel into the deeper layers of the void.
On the main layers, within the Mesh, the Entities created pods. The pods they connected to the Controlentity, and withdrew the Mesh away from them. The Controlentity too fell back, and together the Entities began their wait.
{Find new sources/New energy,} the Controlentity vibrated, {Absorb new world.}
Jul 2, 2008
Jun 30, 2008
Apologies to Isaac Asimov
Dear Mr. Asimov,
Every story i write, i feel as if i am cheating you and your memory. there was no wikipedia in your time, no dictionary.com and thesaurus.com. what you wrote was based on your knowledge and ability. my stories are written on the basis of instant researches on wikipedia. i do not know synonyms of words i use, i look them up on thesaurus.com
when u began writing science fiction, it was a struggle. i have blogs and forums where i can always put myself to be read. you were a 'fan', u wrote letters to your fav writers and u interacted with fellow fans...you helped build the science fiction community that today i claim to be a part of. i know no author, mail no author, and know no fan. the only way i contribute to the community is by buying some of the science fiction novels...some
i take the easy way out and come up with mediocre stuff, you took the honest path and came up with stuff to outlast generations...
i am sorry that i cheat thus
amrit
Every story i write, i feel as if i am cheating you and your memory. there was no wikipedia in your time, no dictionary.com and thesaurus.com. what you wrote was based on your knowledge and ability. my stories are written on the basis of instant researches on wikipedia. i do not know synonyms of words i use, i look them up on thesaurus.com
when u began writing science fiction, it was a struggle. i have blogs and forums where i can always put myself to be read. you were a 'fan', u wrote letters to your fav writers and u interacted with fellow fans...you helped build the science fiction community that today i claim to be a part of. i know no author, mail no author, and know no fan. the only way i contribute to the community is by buying some of the science fiction novels...some
i take the easy way out and come up with mediocre stuff, you took the honest path and came up with stuff to outlast generations...
i am sorry that i cheat thus
amrit
Jun 26, 2008
Breastfeeding by Christian Hughes
I'm a member of this website critiquecircle.com where aspiring writers can put up their works for others to review and critique....this particular short story caught my eye as something unique and funny in its own way...enough for me to want it on my blog...so here is the short story titled 'Breastfeeding' written by Christian Hughes, reproduced with his permission of course:
Breastfeeding
by Christian Hughes
In the morning, she arrived home with a court date, disheveled and hungover. “What a night!” was all she said before she fell asleep sprawled diagonally face-down on her bed.
Later that day, she called one of those tv lawyers (“Don’t let justice miscarry you!”) as many people in our socio-economic bracket do when they feel their basic human rights (like letting your globby, veiny, assymetrical boobs flop around in public) have been violated.Theodore Campbell, Esquire (that’s how he introduced himself) was in our living room the next day. He had a briefcase full of empty legal pads and car magazines.
Mom explained her story. “I was pretty drunk and took my titties out for this guy.”
“Jesus, Mom.”
“Hush, you!”
Theodore Campbell, Esquire paced back and forth in our tiny living room, occasionally rubbing his chin or cleaning his non-prescription glasses on his untucked shirt. Finally: “I’ve got it!”
“What?”
“You’ve got kids, right?” He pointed his chubby finger accusingly.
“Yes, a son!” Mom was getting excited. Hopefully she wouldn’t get her tits out again.
Theodore Campbell, Esquire smirked with the power of an incredible idea. “You were just breastfeeding.”
“Huh?”
“That’s why your…breasts were exposed. You were merely trying to nourish your young child. No jury in the world…well, no jury in this part of the country, anyway, would punish a mother for feeding her baby!”
“Of course!”
“Am I the only one who sees it as a problem that I’m fourteen?” I asked, a little hesitant to bring logic or reality into the situation.
“Well, yes, it did occur to me that you are a bit…mature for that. It is a bit weird, but not unheard of.”
“Gross. You know fourteen-year-olds who get…breastfed?”
He turned back to Mom. “A jury may think you’re weird, but weird ain’t guilty.”
In the courtroom, I sat there watching this farce unfold from the front row. Theodore Campbell, Esquire explaining with a straight face the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding into the teen years.
Did he have to point at me? The jurors weren’t very skilled at disguising their disgust.
Eventually, the prosecutor implied he doubted the story. He threw down the gauntlet and asked for me to be breastfed for the jury, “since you have no issues with doing so in public.”
The judge agreed I had not been humiliated enough and had a bailiff escort me over to my mother’s already exposed and waiting breasts. She squeezed a nipple and smoothed out the hair around it, like she was preparing it for me.
It seemed hopeless to object as my mother grabbed my head and pulled me down to one of her sweaty flesh basketballs.
I bit the bullet and cursed the debt we owe for life.
Jun 24, 2008
Reflectiverse Saga - Interlude 2
INTERLUDE 2
“Is it certain?”
“Definitely so.”
“Can we not warn them of the consequences?”
“And risk exposing ourselves? The Superiors will never allow that?”
“Can we not take such a decision ourselves?”
“And risk punishment? I am not so courageous, kin.”
“So we make convert them into sacrificial lambs?”
“What’s it to you? Or have you begun to love them?”
“Love? No. But I am concerned, kin. They are a promising species, and there are good leaders among them.”
“WE are a promising species, kin. And there are good leaders among US. Or do you forget your genes?”
“Please, do not accuse me of what you know is not true. But I am worried about the ethical fallout of our actions.”
“It is not your place to worry about that. We have Superiors for such philosophizing. You are a soldier, and your task is cut out. Do you forget what They did to us, kin? Do you forget the screams of innocents of our kind? The brutality and mindless hostility they unleashed upon us?”
“It is not something I can forget, none of us can. But-“
“No buts, please. The time has come. We have waited for this moment for years now, so do not grow coward-wings at this moment. You are not indispensable you know, no matter how special you are.”
“I resent your tone, kin. I am not indispensable, but you are not the one to ‘dispense’ with me either. Do not forget your place to my place.”
“Accepted, but you do not forget your purpose. Will you fulfill it or not?”
…
“Well?”
“Yes. I will fulfill it.”
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