Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 178 - Awake

“What data? I’m surprised you need my help, Brother Sandeep,” said Shehnaaz eagerly as she seated herself before Sandeep’s computer. She opened his folder and checked the contents.

“It’s all inside that folder. There’s just too much data for my usual software to process. Help me write a simple program that will be able to quickly retrieve and analyze the data. My main beef is with the ACCESS command, it’s just too slow for my needs.” Sandeep sighed and shook his head as he pointed out what he needed on the computer screen.

Shehnaaz quickly skimmed through the data, and came up
with an estimate for the size of the file, the amount of computing required, as well as the actual processing power available, amongst other things. She had to estimate all that to determine the best approach to the problem.
“Brother Deepak is the expert. Why don’t you ask him for help?
I’m just an amateur.” Shehnaaz’s slender fingers deftly flew over the keyboard as she typed out line after line of code.

Sandeep poured himself a cup of tea, and sipped it with a satisfied smile as he relaxed on the sofa. “He’s always busy with work as soon as he’s back from a mission. I don’t want to bother him.”

He wasn’t being entirely honest. In actual fact, he had turned to Shehnaaz for help because the data he was analyzing had come from her in the first place: the numbers were from her vital signs and DNA. The data was top-secret; no one else could see the numbers, not even Deepak.

Shehnaaz, on the other hand, was different. It was her data, after all. Besides, she was, as she had admitted herself, an amateur when it came to data analysis and programming. She did not completely understand what she
was doing, which in turn meant she did not have the necessary knowledge to process what she was seeing.

Sandeep wasn’t about to risk letting Deepak anywhere near the data.

Deepak’s computer was a beast, a state-of-the-art machine. He could easily make a copy of all the data without Sandeep knowing about it. If that happened, Sandeep would be in deep trouble, and he wouldn’t even know what had hit him…

For the next minute, Operating Room B was quiet, save for the brisk tap-tapping of Shehnaaz’s fingers on the keyboard.

Sandeep was just about to shut his eyes for a short nap when a siren began to wail.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Shehnaaz looked up from her computer screen in confusion. She froze.

She had a clear view of Rita’s operating chair.

The sleeping beauty who had been soundly asleep a moment ago had sat up, and was now watching Shehnaaz, unblinking, with her hauntingly beautiful eyes.

“B-Brother Sandeep…” Shehnaaz pointed at Rita with a trembling finger. “Didn’t you say she won’t be awake for a week?”

Sandeep had been caught off-guard by the alarm. He turned, and saw Rita sit up in her operating chair, looking lost and confused. He shouted, “Holy moly! Why is she awake? It’s only been three days!”

He shot across the room like an arrow loosed from a bow. Shehnaaz openly gaped at how swiftly he ran—who knew a
round, portly body like his could move so quickly?

Sandeep rushed to the operating chair and turned off the alarm, barely able to contain his excitement. He checked the data print-outs from the testing equipment, laughing like a madman the entire time.

Rita stopped looking at Shehnaaz, her attention now arrested by Sandeep’s maniacal dancing. She smiled and shook her head at his display of uncontrolled excitement.

Shehnaaz hastily typed out the rest of her program before walking over. “Mrs. Singhania, are you feeling better?”

Rita looked at Shehnaaz and said politely, “Hello. My husband’s surname is Shukla, actually, but you can call me Rita. Who are you?”