Story of Bob

24- Worthy or Not?

I was busy working myself off, hustling hard. My teammates were laser focused, determined to finish what was meant to be done. My current task was to create a reliable source of energy for the new beginning of the world.  I noticed through the statistics that fossil fuels were dwindling at a horrifically fast rate. Access to fuel had skyrocketed and all other negative effects needed to be solved.

As I was working, my concerns flooded in my mind. I was unsure on the worthiness of my antidote.

Will the antidote be strong enough to cure the variants of the raging virus?

Are there any effects to the medicine?

Are my efforts to redeem myself in vain?

I scratched my head, trying to clear my mind as I pressed on the keys of the desktop, typing with speed. My eyes were drained of energy, trying to sleep to take my worries away. Overthinking got the best out of me for the last six hours ever since that moment of me handing it over to my former assistant, Mary. Beads of sweat  trailed down my forehead due to the great heatwave outside.

I looked at the time at the bottom right of the monitor, realising that the workday was nearing its end.

                                                        Research Room

Mrs. Fritzerald, the leader  and her team members were testing the antidote on multiple test subjects which were infected with the disease. First they converted a sample of it into a tablet. Second, through a vaccine, the other through a cough syrup bottle.

The research team was thirty in total, so to make it effective the members were divided into ten each.

Diligently, they investigated on the effectiveness of the antidote created by Bob. Six hours passed and the workday was about to end so they ensured that the investigation was not affected in any way.

To do this, they assigned a pair of each group to continue the research as the next day was Saturday, the day which none worked.

When six o' clock approached, the institution was closed and all went to their homes for the weekend.

                                                   Mrs. Friztgerald's Sitting Room

                                           Friday Night, 19:30

Mrs. Fritzgerald was in her night gown, sitting on a leather sofa with a smartphone in hand.

'Do you remember what we mentioned before six?', she asked.

'Yes, Mrs. Fritzgerald', a deep voice replied.

'Francois, remember to monitor the progress along with the test subjects'

'All right. I will do so along with Jolene', Francois replied.

'I have things to do! Tomorrow, ', cried Jolene on the phone.

'This is mandatory', said, Mrs. Fritzgerald with a firm voice.

'That's the job for Group One of the Research Team. Now for Group Two: Kaien and Ali, what are you meant to do?', she continued.

'To record the results', Kaien answered. Ali said nothing, just listening and writing notes in her notebook

'Exactement', she said with a smile on her face.

As Mrs. Fritzgerald was on the phone, her daughter waddled towards her in her socks, nappy and pink vest as she was busy playing with her teddy.

Mrs. Fritzgerald lifted her baby and continued as the child lay her head on  her thighs.

'Group San, Gather the results and ensure that the antidote Bob made is effective and  worthy of human use', she instructed.

'No problem', Bingo replied, after that began laughing.

The call ended due to the leader getting annoyed with Bingo's crackling laugh. 

Kenneth, Mrs. Fritzgerald's husband walked out of the bedroom and joined his wife and child in the sitting room for a Friday night meal.

'Hi, honey, how was work?', asked Mary.

'Worth the work, I say', Kenneth replied with a grin on his face.

'What about it?', she asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity as her hand held a spoon, feeding the baby.

'I will let you know about it later', Kenneth replied, about to have another morsel of mashed potatoes, cheese and kale.

                                                               Bob's house

Worry was my ruler. My mind was the horse. My body: a slave.  

Nine thirty struck. I was prepared to have a well earned rest. I brushed my teeth, slipped out of my slippers and slid into bed with the lamp on, dreading that worry would slay me and death revel at my demise.

I was busy overthinking until a paragraph from Winston's book popped into my mind. the paragraph stated: 'Overthinking is the tyrant of mankind and the brother of Death. To conquer this tyrant you ought to look the brighter side of the darkest day and have the faith to believe.'

My mind calmed, my body slowly but surely waned the stress away.

Surely my time in prison was not in vain, I thought, as my closed my eyes to sleep.

                                              The Institution

                                          Saturday morning, 8:30

The six elite members of the Research team were in the researching lab, testing the worth of Bob's antidote. It turned out that Mrs. Mary Fritzgerald, Bob's former assistant showed up to supervise the whole research to prevent interference and sabotage from occurring during the investigation.

Hours passed by as the day went on.

The elites, determined to help the remaining population of the world be restored, tested Bob's antidote with great precision.

Mrs. Fritzgerald and her elite subordinates finished the testing of the antidote, made port papers and delivered them to the States for distribution by Monday morning.