A budding writer with a bunch of ingenious rebels risk their lives to try and overthrow an oppressive government to earn back their liberty of expression. They need to unify and put aside their differences, interests and pasts, and race against time...
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"So you mean to say this gadget can help me read minds and put thoughts into someone's head?" Alizeh put the little innocent hairband over her head.
"It receives the electroencephalographic waves that your brain makes when it's thinking and active. It decodes the signals and can send signals of your own to mix up or delete the original signals. Those signals will be put as thoughts and if you can send powerful enough waves, this device can make someone do your bidding," Mr Gear drawled in an excited monotone as if advertising his product.
"So, it is tested?"
"Yep!"
"At first it may cause headaches to you because it produces a constant buzz in your head of all the thoughts surrounding you. If you can focus, you'll be able to tune out the thoughts. And once you've started listening to one particular person for quite some time, those signals are caught faster and from a long distance away," Gear came near her, tapping a small concealed button.
Alizeh felt a whirr in her ears and sure enough, a deafening buzz sounded in her ear like static from an old radio. It was painfully loud.
"Damn!" she screamed, as the sounds seemed to be jarring her insides.
Someone had snatched up the device from her head. She realized she had collapsed to the floor with pain.
"Can't you see it's hurting her?" Jurian's voice was cold as ice.
"She needs to practice if she has to master the skills. No pain, no gain," Gear answered flatly.
"Jurian, thank you but return it to me, please. I need to know how to use this," Alizeh pleaded, still on the floor.
"This is all sick," he muttered under his breath before replacing the device.
Alizeh stood up again, bracing herself for the onslaught of the self-inflicted pain.
The groaning of the device started again. It seemed a little less this time. She could hear a cacophony of voices, some nearer, some further. One particular voice seemed to be trying to communicate with her. She opened her mind, letting the sound access her. It felt like opening a dam and swimming against the current to hold on to a stray piece of straw.
"I lowered...interference level...can you...hear...hear...me."
"Yes, I can hear you, Mr Gear," she said out aloud.
"Damn! What...Is...issss," the 'is' sounded like a hiss as the words got defocused again. Alizeh had no issues deciphering the voice that she loved.
"Is...he telling...her?" Jurian's mental voice was laced with uncertainty and mixed with a hint of jealousy.
"Technical stuff Jurian, you're being paranoid," Alizeh laughed.
"Shit!
She can hear me. I shouldn't think of kissing those delicious lips..."
And suddenly a scene appeared in her mind's eye. The view was faulty like an old television screen and it moved in and out of focus. But she saw herself, her eyes swollen and red, and her lips looking pink and plump. The view moved closer to her lips and Alizeh's mind blocked out that image. It was Jurian's daydreams about the day they first kissed.
"Umm, Mr Gear," she asked, taking off the device, "Can we see visions too with this device?"
"Well, yes, if the thoughts are too vivid, strong and imaginative, the visions can appear too. If you can see that it'll be an added advantage," Gear's eyes gleamed with pride and expectations. Alizeh dared a peek at Jurian, whose mouth had fallen open. She didn't want to make him more embarrassed, so she blew a flying kiss at him instead.
"Well, I guess you should practice these two things more before I show you our third vital invention. How far did you teleport yesterday?" Mr Gear was all business.
"Sixty Kilometers with Jurian and a hundred without him," she informed, looking at the watch, which Agent Wrench, the new intern at the laboratory had reformed the bit to add a location radar and a distance calculator. He promised to put location marker magnets on all their bases to help her navigate between them easily without getting lost in the grid. The magnets would attract another magnet on her watch and they would create a time passage between them, almost like a direct bridge.
"That's progress," Mr Gear clapped Jurian on the shoulders before leaving them both to practice.
"Well, help me then," Alizeh extended her hands to him.
"Why would I?" Jurian crossed his arms, his face puffing up like a sulking baby.
"Because then, I may make those inappropriate visions in your head, a reality tonight," Alizeh clasped her hands behind her back and gave him an inviting smile.
"You mean sex?" he came closer, the eagerness making his voice hoarse.
"Jurian no," Alizeh lowered her eyes, "I'm sorry. Call me old school but I believe in no sex before marriage. I've left everything. I only have my Indian traditions to hold on to. I can't..."
"It's okay, hey," he gently lifted her chin, "I respect your culture. I'd never push you for something you're not ready for yet."
Alizeh's eyes teared up. He gently took her face in his hands before planting a kiss on her lips. Then together, hand in hand, they teleported from there.
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