Book-1

The sun is working itself towards its brink of self-destruction and only one scientist knows how to save it. There will
be ups and downs like people not believing in him or meeting up with a relative of his, whom he had not seen in a
long time. Will he be able to save the world despite all these obstacles? Will he save both the world and his family
from breaking apart? After all, gravity and love are the glue of the world!

Author-Sahana Rao
The Future. These two words are enough to make people erupt with their own opinions. One of the
biggest questions of the twenty-first century that lie unanswered. Flying cars, artificial intelligence, living
on Mars. People debate on this topic each day. “The world will die!”. This is what they used to scream
while running campaigns like “Save the trees” or “Team seas”. Now the rest of us sit and have a good
laugh as we can’t believe the things the past had to worry about. A global pandemic? We found the cure
of so many new diseases that were not even known until the twenty-fifth century. Dear reader, you must
be in shock. You must be thinking how we laugh at such massive problems and push them away as if it
was an annoying fly. Well, I don’t blame you as I have not given an introduction. I am from the future and
when I say future, I do not mean fifty or seventy years forward. I mean hundreds upon thousands of
decades. We discovered how to meet goals that might have been considered impossible at your age. We
discovered how to create oxygen and our food and are now not dependent on mere and weak plants as
a source of these things. We have far outgrown the stage of getting sick. We have a vaccine for every
sickness in the world and we also discovered a way to extend our life by 20 years by medicine that keeps
our organs super healthy and occasionally also provides 150 years of life!

But there are also a lot of downsides in the future. Our population has drastically decreased and has
become just 15 million people and we all live in the United Kingdoms, supposedly the most developed
country during your age. People are dying because of the sun. The sun is slowly expanding, and we can’t
afford to move to another planet. The red planet, Mars, was an option instead of the beautiful Earth,
until the fearsome volcano, Olympus Mons had erupted and completely ruined the terrain of Mars. Dear
reader, now you must be having an obvious question, “how is the sun expanding? “. This is a valid
question. You see, the core of the sun during your age used to be in the state of hot hydrogen. This goes
up to helium, lithium, beryllium and so on, or in other words the atoms slowly climb higher up the
periodic table. And now dear reader, on that happy note, let me take you to the present situation. Our
sun, very commonly known as the reason for our existence, is dying. As you know dear reader, the core
of the sun gets weaker by the day. The sun will die when the core reaches a state of pure iron which is to
say that the core will be made up of 100% iron. Right now, the core is at 10% manganese which is the
element that comes before iron, and iron is at 90%. As the centuries have gone by the changing of the
elements has sped up and now the experts say that we have barely half a year until the sun collapses
under its powerful gravity and the earth goes dark, our planet spins out of control and leaves its orbit.

The solution for this is still not found but we are trying very hard. We have found a way to travel next to
the sun and get closer to it than ever before but still, we have not been able to land on it. It looks like the
only option is to go to a different planet, isn’t it, dear reader? Perhaps it is but, according to me, there
might be hope for still living on earth. I never gave up on the Earth, our mother Earth. The planet that is
our home. How can we leave our home to be destroyed? Exactly dear reader, we can't! The earth can
survive. It must! I have found a way. I have invented the miraculous machine that will allow us to live on
earth. This machine has the same powers as the sun. It clouds over the earth just as the stratosphere
does and performs the same duties as the sun without giving out ultra-violet rays. It is a wonderful thing
you might think but with this great solution comes small, disagreeable problems. Most scientists don't
believe me. They say that the solution that I have created is one of a fool and they have scolded me and
told me many times to give up and let them do the work. Dear reader, you might wonder why I cannot
use my machine for a test before the scientist’s bad name, but truth be told, I can't. Once the machine is
in its place it cannot be switched off and it is completely stationary, but if the machine somehow
malfunctions then that would not be pretty. It would in turn make the sunburn harsher and it would end
us even before the core collapses. I am a wealthy and famous scientist, yet I could not convince people
to use my machine. The only people who believed in me were my workers or at least half of them. When
they found out about my project, they realized that they would not want to support a delusional man
such as me and left me to rot. The other half stayed back, in fear of me. Only two people truly stayed
back to help me, and they were Tim and Martha.

Tim was a helpful young man who had joined the project just for experience and fun but then had
adopted the project to be a part of his life. He was even more optimistic than me when it came to the
matters of the machine working. Martha was a close friend of mine. She had once moved into my
neighborhood, and we had become friends. We spoke daily, and I soon found out she was looking for a
job and I was looking for an employee of her status. I immediately gored her, and she became a crucial
part of the company. I know that she doesn't fully trust the project, but she was only by my side because
she trusted me.

Now, dear reader, let us take a stroll to the meeting room. I have yet another meeting with a scientist
who might help me with this. as I walked inside, I could not believe the interior of the room. gold plated
table and chairs. a large screen television to project PowerPoints and a podium with a mic to speak into.
The room was as big as about half a football field and made me wonder how big the rest of the office
was. Surely this extremely rich man had enough money and had a high enough status to help me save
the world, right? "Well, we will find out soon" I muttered before I entered the room. "Pardon, please
repeat what you just said," said a man walking behind me. panic crept up to my mind. This was the
scientist. He was wearing a black coat and had blonde hair. He was at least two inches taller than me but
had fierce eyes which complimented his rugged face. "Nothing sir “I whispered. "Shall we get started
with this meeting then, doctor? I have absolutely no time to waste and since you are here, I would
assume you are here to waste my time on a petty affair?" he said while taking his seat. My fear was
replaced with newfound anger, and I told him “Sir if you believe the death of the sun and the planet are
petty affairs then I will leave you alone, or otherwise shall we get started with the meeting?".

His eyes widened when I spoke of the sun, and I knew I had caught him undivided attention. I told him
about the issue and then explained my machine to him. Tim and Martha chimed in every time I forgot to
mention something and then I started speaking of the great effects that the machine would have. He
seemed to be impressed until I started to speak about the downsides. He glared at me once I had
finished sleeping. "Why is he glaring at me, I just discovered the solution to our death. How
inconsiderate!" I thought. "Well, what a wonderful, spectacular, killing machine you have there!" he
exclaimed sarcastically. "There we go. This can save the world!" I bellowed with fury. "You dare shout at
me in my office? Get out this instant. Guards!" he screamed. So much for hope and good luck. We were
thrown out. I was mad. Crazy mad. People are not seeing the good side of this machine.

Dear reader, you might be wondering why I could not just launch the machine into space, but you see, I
cannot as I need at least five million dollars and a launchpad which can only be found in big companies.
No one was volunteering to allow me to use the launch pad as if my machine failed, the end of the earth
would be blamed on them. No one wanted that risk, so everyone rejected me. The probability of my
machine working was 50-50 which in the world of science, was as good as failing even before it was put
to work. The world was ending, and all these people cared about was reputation. My phone rang, a
notification from the lab, my lab. My machine, it is time for you to meet my machine, dear reader. Come
with me! I walked into my familiar lab. The scent of old explosions and potent chemicals made me feel at
home. I sighed contentedly and made my way to the large metal door. I opened it slowly and there it
was. A large metal net. Beautiful.

This was going to save the world. I was sure of it. If they would just let me try. At this depressing
moment, Tim ran into the room without knocking and approached me, almost knocking me over. He said
breathlessly "I think I found a way, it's illegal but it is a way". At that point I was prepared to do whatever
I had to, so I went ahead and listened to what he had to say. My mind changed as soon as I heard what
he said. “N to the O, Tim!" I spoke. What is he telling me! He knows that if we do this, we would be in so
much trouble, but a small rational part of my brain knew that this would be the only way. As much as I
hated the idea, I knew that this scientist, or should I say criminal, was the only way to save the world. I
went to my room and started to freak out because my mind started to consider this idea. I lay on my bed
and started thinking. How badly do I want the world to be saved? Is it bad enough to do this plan? To
help a criminal escape from prison and go to the world's oldest and most dangerous launchpad that
would probably crumble with one use. What a sticky situation to be stuck in.

Suddenly I got a call from Martha. I picked it up and she told me to rush to the lab. "I think something is
happening to the sun! She screamed fearfully over the phone. That was enough to get me on my toes. I
ran to the lab. The sun was expanding already but now, it is expanding faster. The size was gradually
increasing, and we realized we don't have much time. I made up my mind. I called Tim "Let to the plan".
All my instincts told me to not do this plan, but it was the only choice. I went back to bed, dreaming of
the horrors that I was about to face tomorrow. I had dreams, or nightmares if you please. Oh, the horrors
of what this brings! The closest person to me who is still alive, my brother. We are going to meet my
criminal brother, dear reader. Tim came and woke me up and I quickly had a bath and got dressed and
we then left for UK prison. I walked inside and I heard inspectors murmuring about top-secret cases,
rumors of criminals being spread around, two police officers trying to tame the criminals who are about
to start a fight, and then I saw the inspector's John. Sitting on his highchair, leaning back, and checking
case files on his phone. He saw me and immediately greeted me “come to see you brother I hope?”.
“Unfortunately, yes” I replied. “It is a time of dire need,” I said and subtly handed him a few hundred
dollars. “Is it now, I can’t seem to understand how dire?” he said. I handed him a few hundred more bills.
“You may speak with him for half an hour but please know, this is against the law. He is forbidden to talk
to anyone except higher officials ever since his incident” he said in a low voice. “Thank you, inspector,” I
said sarcastically.

I kept walking and reached a big gate. Tim and Martha briefly wished me luck and I walked inside. The
guards who were standing there seemed to have received orders to ignore me as they quickly walked in
the other direction as I made my way to the prison cell that held my darling brother. One guard
approached me and reminded me “half an hour starts now, sir”. I walked into the cell and heard the
doors behind me shut “bang!” Now I am stuck here. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkroom, I started
searching for him. I could not see him anywhere when I suddenly felt an arm on my shoulder “dear
brother, to what do I owe this pleasure of meeting you”. Under different circumstances, I would have
angrily pushed away his hand and slapped him but since I had a favor to ask from him, I just awkwardly
shrugged his hand off and cleared my throat. “Brother” the word sounded strange in my mouth “I am
here to ask you for a favor and supposedly break you out of jail yet again,” I said in a neutral tone. He
chuckled with amusement, but I sensed a bit of shock. “Never beat around to the bush do you, little
brother?” He slapped my back as if we were buddies and left his hand there. I took his wrist, twisted it,
and pinned him to the ground “stop laughing”. He put his legs between mine and turned his leg and
made me trip, now pinning me down he said, “grown strong haven’t you, don’t forget I am the one who
taught you these tricks”. I wanted to scream, kick him, and walk away but at the same time, I wanted to
hug him and cry, asking him why he did that. Why did he do that and why had he gone to jail and left me
back. But I could not. The project was more important than my emotions could ever be. I said, "sit down
brother, I have a proposition". “Then take a seat, brother and we shall talk business, the language of this
world” he replied, letting me go.

I told him about what was happening to our world and the sun. He heard my words and paid great
attention to them which was refreshing as most people who listened to my words fell asleep with
boredom. His face reflected shock and horror as he heard how soon the world was going to end. He
quickly masked up the look, thinking I would not have caught it. I continued and told him my solution.
“That’s my brother! Innovating the best solutions for the worst problems should become your hobby!”
he exclaimed gleefully. Just wait, I thought to myself. I then explained to him the risks and his smile
dropped. “This is why you came to meet me, isn’t it? You came to meet as no other scientist or CEO was
willing to take these risks” he said. I nodded and he seemed sad. “Who is this emotional man and what
has he done with my insensitive brother?” I thought to myself.” Then he proved me wrong by inquiring
“what is in it for me?”. There he was a dear reader. Please let me introduce you to my insensitive and
ignorant brother. I knew he would ask this, and I came prepared. “You would get a clean criminal record
and a job with a high salary,” I told him in a robot-like voice. “Say no more,” he grinned. “How are you
gonna break me out”? There were approximately fifteen minutes left and I checked my watch. The alert
from name1 came. All the guards were drugged, and the camera was hacked. “We need to leave now!” I
whispered urgently. We sneaked past the guards easily. I guess I would have to give most of the credit to
the drug, but I still did some amazing cartwheels which were not necessary. I looked over and
desperately tried to find the least crowded exit. There were none and my brother noticed the issue.
“Now where,” he asked while panting.

“What do you think about your prison cell?” said the inspector. I cursed. We were caught. I looked at my
brother, but he flashed a mischievous smile at me and turned towards the inspector. “I think not,” he
said. He slowly picked up a phone from his pocket and started playing videos of the inspector receiving
bribes for other people and permitting them to do things that were against the law. The inspector’s eyes
widened in shock. “How do you have a phone in jail?” he managed to ask in his dazed state. My brother
chuckled and said “magic, and now the exit please”. I smirked as the inspector pointed at a hidden door
beside the bookshelf and we ran. As we ran, I saw a white van approaching us and my brother asked,
“fight them?”. “No, they're mine,” I said with an air of importance. He sighed and we got into the van
before any policemen in the area could figure out that the once most wanted criminal had now escaped
from jail. Thinking this I made myself comfortable in the back of the van and he addressed Tim and
Martha who were driving the van in the front. “hello” he waved. They both knew of my history with him
and so they chose to stay quiet, and I chose to have a silent ride back so before he could start talking or
asking me any questions, I placed a wet cloth on his mouth, and he abruptly fell asleep.

I love poison which I use on a lot of my victims. Not strong enough to kill but it can knock you out. I also
kidnapped a lot of people because that is how business works because they were people who tried to
ruin my work. I had to threaten them somehow. I also had to kill them when they refused to keep my
company secrets, but I was a master at covering up and always made it look like I had not done the crime
and it was another person. My brother had gone to jail for killing 5 people right in front of my office but
that was not even the reason that I was mad at him. done crimes but the crime he did was the greatest.
I blamed him entirely for what happened to our family.

Once upon a time, as to how all cliché stories start, there was a happy family. Then we both were dear
brothers who were always there for each other because our parents were always out and working. He
taught me all I know; all my books and street smartness are from his teachings. Then he killed 5 people
in front of my company. He left us and went away. He did not even tell me or anyone why he had killed
the men and so I thought that he had killed the men just to leave me and deprive me of any successful
happiness. I had never been happy ever again ever since he went to jail and now looking at his face again
made me feel mixed feelings but most importantly one question kept bothering my curious mind. Why
had he killed the men in the first place? Thinking these thoughts, I fell asleep dreaming of an Earth that
had no sadness and problems, and everyone was content.

Then I woke up to the harsh reality. The van was still driving. We still had a long journey and by then I
know that the inspector would have alerted all the other policemen. By now we were the most wanted
people, and our faces would be plastered on the front page of every news article website. I looked
outside the window and saw people looking at my face and comparing it to a picture on their phones.
Yes, the entire population knows me now. I pulled a sheet over my window that acts like a very dark
black tint and continued to look outside. There was a long road and a couple of mechanical trees on the
way. There were people and they were all on their phones. That was not surprising. All our lives revolved
around our phones. Social media apps and texting and calling devices were the only important things
that mattered to humans. Kids who are just three years old had the latest versions of the iPhone and
knew exactly how to use them.
 I heard a groan behind me. “Where am I?”. It was my brother. He had woken up. He seemed to still be a
bit loopy from the chloroform, but he managed it well. I gave an exasperated and long sigh. “Happy to
see you as well” he smirked. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention towards Tim. “How much longer
until we get there?” I asked with a hint of kiddish curiosity. “Soon” chuckled Tim, hearing the excitement
in my voice. We pulled up in front of a very modern-looking factory. A long white fence that seemed to
be charged electrically ran around the perimeter of the majestic multi-story building. It was a white- grey
long building that seemed to have no end to it. It was a matter of great sorrow that one of the biggest
businesses and the fastest to become hugely successful had come to a state of old cobwebs in each
corner and dust lying everywhere. I had always admired my brother’s ability to design a place well. I
used to tease him and tell him to drop his job as a CEO of a multi-million business and instead become
an interior designer. We used to laugh for hours because of that joke. I really missed our times like that.

I remember a time when we both went to the river in a forest to do some fishing. All the water bodies in
the world had become dry but this one had survived. Little fishes swam in it and the reflection of the
sun, and the clouds were always seen on the surface of the lake. The last happy memory that we had
made together, or even the last time I genuinely smiled was there. We both were walking towards the
lake with our fishing rods ready. He told me he had to tell me something and I assumed that it would be
a fun surprise and was eagerly waiting for it. We played in the river and splashed water at each other. I
caught a fish and as usual he caught more than me, which is to say about four. We were having the time
of our lives and after enjoying the afternoon, we sat under the big umbrella. He sat with a frown on his
face and kept looking around, as if he was scared that someone would see us. I looked at him and figured
something was wrong and asked him if anything was wrong.

He then told me a story that you would think was a nightmare. Our family was getting torn apart. He told
me that he had killed five people in front of our company and the police, while searching for evidence
against our family, found out that our parents had run away after finding out that he had killed someone.
The company was left to me and at the time I was working on my company as well so now the burden of
two companies lied on my shoulders. I didn’t think of anything except how my brother ruined my family.
All the love in my heart from him suddenly vanished and I felt a hole of deceit and disappointment grow
in me. I became incomplete, my whole life was an illusion, a lie. Nothing seemed real, nothing was real. I
stared at him, speechless but as it turned out and did not need to say anything. My eyes glowered with
hatred for him and because of my intense look he flinched. We had taken the lives of some other people
before and even though I didn’t find much joy in it, my brother seemed to have. I put two in two
together and I saw the entire truth. My brother was a psychopathic killer and was so addicted to killing
that he murdered five men in broad daylight in front of the police just because of his urge to feel the
blood of other people on his hands.
 I was deep in these thoughts when someone snapped their finger right in front of me.” Earth to Mr.
Innovator” said Martha sarcastically. I gave her a dry laugh and then I looked around. There was much to
be done before the net was to be launched. The place had to be cleaned and more importantly the net’s
launcher had to be built. A machine even bigger than the net itself which had to be able to launch the
net directly around the earth at a certain point where it would block the sun and literally became a
blanket for the earth. We had a month before the earth was going to revolve and rotate around its axis
and orbit until it reached the perfect point from where we could shoot the net from, so we had a lot of
work and very little time on our hands. I looked at my brother, my mind still fuzzy from the memories
“where is the launch pad?”. Still extremely drowsy from the chloroform he replied, “go straight then left
the right then walk straight and then you will see a door”. I repeated the instructions in my head and
tossed him over to Tim. I sternly told them “Go to controls” sternly. They nodded and with a weak point
of his hand, my brother directed name1 to the control room while Martha and I went to the launch pad.
I reached and saw a large room, and when I say large room, I mean take whatever picture that comes to
your head when I saw “large room” and multiply it by ten, that was how large the room was. There were
six launch pads and after inspecting them thoroughly with Martha, we chose the third one. It was the
closest one to the north. “Good choice” we heard Tim’s voice over the speaker. They had gotten to the
control room. I smiled and gave a dramatic bow in front of a camera on the wall and the room echoed
with his laughter. “Should we join you there now” he asked, and I nodded. They came down and we all
grabbed some chairs. I looked at them all. We were the only ray of hope for the future. Without us the
earth was gone. “What’s up, boss?” asked Martha.

“Okay, here we go.” I thought. I told them “By exactly 711 hours from now we will have to launch the net
into space.” They looked at me, trying to find hope and flashed a bright smile at everyone except my
brother. “We must start with the launcher” I said in a hurried tone that implied that time was working
against us.” The workshop is behind the building” my brother said, standing up quickly. I rolled my eyes,
but he leaned forward and continued to speak. “The first thing we must do is build the base and then a
claw can be built to grip the net.”. I looked at him and then projected my phone on a large white wall
behind us. I used a pen and pointed to a large blueprint that I had created of the launcher. I explained to
them and then told them “We will start working tomorrow but for now get some sleep”. Both Tim and
Martha looked exhausted and immediately went to their rooms after asking my brother for directions
and I stayed back. I started to walk towards the warehouse and I noticed that my brother was following
me but I was not going to let him distract me and so I ignored him.

I reached the warehouse and looked around. Everything was present. I took a huge piece of metal and
marked it. I awkwardly held an oxy-fuel cutter and attempted to cut the metal when I heard my brother
say, “that’s wrong”. He then gripped my hands and directed it to cut the metal properly. After we had
finished cutting it, I looked at him to thank him and to my surprise I saw tears in his eyes. I looked at him
surprised and walked back a few steps, unable to understand what I was seeing. He noticed me nudging
 away and then he almost screamed “don’t go, please, I missed you so much!”. I looked at him, tears
starting to build in my eyes as well. The last time he cried was when he broke his bone when he was six.
After that a tear had never slidden down his face.

Then I remembered the bloodthirsty killer he was, and I glared at him “stop it, you have no feelings!”. He
looked at me, dejected and then he suddenly pulled me in for a hug. I felt his tears making my shirt wet
and I could not help it. I hugged him back tightly and then I pulled away from him. “I’m so sorry” he
stammered while crying. The men he had killed, our family that he had torn apart. I could not make my
rage disappear and the wounds tore open again and they painted more this time. I punched him and he
punched me back as a reflex action. I got knocked back but I rose up again and I screamed at the top of
my lungs ``this one’s for the men you killed” and slapped him.” This is for our family” a punch on his gut.
“And this has been hurting me for so many years” I screamed, and I pushed him with all my energy. He
fought back with me, but I was too angry. I quickly overpowered him and then he said, “you don’t even
know why I killed the men ''. “All I know is that you are a bloodthirsty killer,” I said. He looked shocked
and I slapped him again “is that what you think I am?” he asked with disbelief. “Yes, I do, you are a killer
who deserves no chances in life. You messed up everyone’s life. The men, our parents, our grandparents,
and everyone around you. You don’t deserve any chances' ' I said sorrowfully. He looked at me. Time
stood still. He looked hurt but not betrayed. He looked like he would go to the ends of the world to get
another chance after he had torn everything apart. He looked like he missed affection. The affection that
our parents gave us and our grandparents and most importantly the love we had for each other. He
missed life the way it was, and he would do anything to get another chance. He slowly whispered
“please, just One Last Chance”.

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