AUTO

It was winter and Dr. Ameliya De Silva, the first Sri Lankan astronomer to step on the moon was passing the entry door of NASA. After the huge step, she was invited to work as an astronomer in the best Astronomical institution in the world. With no parents, she didn't want to leave her two younger sisters and her younger brother alone in Sri Lanka, but her siblings inspired her to go to NASA as it's the dream of her sister from her childhood. "Don't worry akki. We can take care of ourselves. We'll stay with our grandma, so you can stop worrying about us. You've done a lot for us and we can't let your dream go, just because you are worrying about us. So, please go and achieve your dream" they said to Ameliya and she decided to go to USA. She started working as a scientist at NASA and became a well - known character among all other crew members within two years and won the best astronomer award of the year which is an award given by NASA to the smartest member of it each year. But, as there are dark clouds in every sky, Ameliya too had a fake friend called Nethmi who pretended as if she is a good friend of hers. So, Ameliya too believed her and she couldn't see how jealous Nethmi is. Because of this, Nethmi always went to Ameliya's house which was in Sri Lanka and pretended as if she is taking care of Ameliya's siblings. After some time, Ameliya and her crew members started working on a project to find a solution to make the atmosphere on Mars suitable for sustaining life. This gaseous solution could increase the oxygen percentage, could decrease the carbon dioxide percentage in the atmosphere and could make the atmosphere thicker. They just had to add this solution to the Mars's atmosphere for a month so it could make Mars a planet that could sustain life. Ameliya and her crew members kept this as a secret because there were lots of robbers who wanted to know the formula of this project. But, unfortunately, a hacker team called Tech Beasts got the news about this project and started following Ameliya to get the formula. They wanted to know her weak point to blackmail her. 

After a time of one week, Ameliya and her crew members finished all the tests of the solution and they decided to go to Mars next month. Ameliya wanted to visit her siblings before going to Mars. So, she decided to visit them for two weeks and she went to Sri Lanka. She was the only one who knew the complete methods of making the solution and she didn't want to let this information go into wrong hands. So, she decided to take the laptop which had all the information about this project and the formula of the solution along with her to Sri Lanka. The Tech Beasts team too followed her and within the first week, they found that Ameliya loves her siblings a lot and she has a close fake friend. So, they came up with a plan to get the formula. They decided to get help from Nethmi to get information from her. They called Nethmi one night and said "Listen Nethmi. I know that you are so talented than Ameliya, but you never got a chance to prove it. Now she's working at NASA and you've owned nothing. I feel so sorry for you. But, you don't have to worry. I have something great for you. Ameliya is working on a project to find a solution to get immortality. If this project finishes, she'll be famous all around the world and will be the richest one in the world. But, if you help us to steal the formula of that solution, we'll make you a part of our project and you can tell to the world that you are the one who found this solution. Will you help us?". "Yaa.... Sure" Nethmi said. She thought that this will be a good chance for her to beat Ameliya and to be popular and rich, but she didn't think that she is going to cheat to the whole world. 

They planned to get the formula on Ameliya's returning day to USA. They found that Ameliya is going to use a night flight and this made their plan easier. They wanted Ameliya to use their auto - electric taxi to go to the airport and blackmail her by using her siblings. They told Nethmi to give some sleeping tablets to Ameliya's grandmother and her siblings. And then, she had to wear like a robber, get a fake gun, keep that gun on to Ameliya's siblings' heads and send them the photos. They wanted her to get the photos at the exact time that the hackers are blackmailing Ameliya as by that time, the technology had been improved to check the time in which photos have been taken and they knew that Ameliya is checking the CCTV footage of her house. 

The day on which Ameliya has to return to USA finally arrived and she packed all her things and readied for her to return. When she was about to book a taxi, Nethmi came to her and said "Hey Ameliya! You are going, right? I'm so lonely without you and I wish that you could stay with us. Anyways, do you need any help from me?". "That's so sweet of you Nethmi. The only thing to do is to book a taxi. I can do it by myself. Thank you for asking" Ameliya said. Nethmi knew that this is the best chance for her to start her plan. So, she said "Oh! Really? I know a taxi - driving company which costs low amounts. I know that money is not a big deal for you. But, I recommend this company to you, not just because of this, but as they work very fast and I know that time is a very precious thing for you. So, if you like, I will hire a taxi from that company". "No, thanks Nethmi. I will hire a taxi for me" Ameliya said. "Yaa... I know. You don't need any help from a poor friend like me, right?" Nethmi said, pretending as if she is sad. Ameliya felt very sorry for her and said "No Nethmi. You are one of my best friends and I'm so happy to have a friend like you. So, yaa.... You can book me a taxi". Nethmi told this to the Tech Beasts and they said that the taxi will arrive an hour before the flying time. "One thing, their taxis don't have drivers. They are auto - electric cars. That's fine with you, right?" Nethmi asked. Ameliya didn't like to use auto vehicles as they can be hacked. She valued her privacy a lot, but she didn't want to upset Nethmi. So, she said that it's fine.

Sharp at 6 o'clock, the taxi arrived and Ameliya thought that she will have a quality ride as the company has worked on time. She departed from her family and told them to stay safe. She said goodbye to Nethmi as well, but she didn't know her nasty plan which could put her life in danger. She seated in the car and went to the airport. After some time, the car went on a narrow, dark road. There was no one around. Ameliya knew that this is not the correct path, so she tried to press the stop button of the car. When she was trying, the car suddenly stopped on a bridge and there was a very deep river full of large and sharp rocks under the bridge. At the same time, Ameliya heard a voice of a stranger. It was coming from the control panel of the car. "Dr. Ameliya De Silva, I know that you are carrying the information of a very important solution. All I need from you is the information. Don't ever think of informing the police about this or playing a trick. If you do so, we will kill your precious siblings" the stranger said. At that time, she received some photos from an unknown number. In those photos, she saw a person who is wearing a scary mask is pointing a gun towards her siblings while they are sleeping. Her mind filled with fear. She couldn't understand how a stranger entered to her house. "How did this person pass all the security of my house and come near to my siblings?" she thought. She neither wanted to lose her siblings nor give that formula into wrong hands. And, she knew that the

strangers won't let her go even after getting the information as the formula of the solution is in her mind. So, she decided to do a thing that would save her siblings and prevent the information from going into wrong hands. "Ok. I will give you the information. But first, you have to leave my siblings. You know that I can't escape from here. So, call that person and ask that person to leave my house. And, I want to confirm that your partner left my house. So, let me see the CCTV cameras of my house. After that, I will give you the information" Ameliya said. They agreed to it as they knew that she can't play any trick within their car as they have inserted an invisible system which could help them to see what's happening in the devices in the car and they have a fixed a lot of cameras all around the car. But, they didn't know that Ameliya had a tiny device in her watch which could help her to control the outer parts of the technical devices. It worked as a television controller by using laser rays. "Ok. You can watch the CCTV footage" the stranger said. He called Nethmi and told her to leave soon and when Ameliya watched her leaving, she found that she was Nethmi as she has worn the pair of high heels she gave her for her birthday. She felt very disappointed, but she knew that her siblings are safe as she knew that Nethmi don't have the knowledge or the strength to control a gun. "Oh! Nethmi is a fake friend, then. I never thought that she will do something like this to me. But, you have chosen a very bad partner for your mission. She doesn't even know what kind of shoes to wear. Oh! Poor soul" she said. They checked Ameliya's house's CCTV footage with the help of the invisible system and at the same time, Ameliya controlled the control panel of the car using her watch and the car fell to the deep river. The Tech Beasts couldn't do anything to save her or the formula and they realized that her choice to save her siblings and to prevent the formula from going into wrong hands is DEATH.