A Sew Through Time [Bandbudh And Budbak]

3: The secret of the seminar people

Hot black coffee swirled on the office desk. Spiralling into his thoughts, Rathi sir watched his reflection sucked inside the tornado. He did not feel like drinking it.

Ajay gestured him to sit on the comfortable sofa. Sailo found two spare plastic stools and sat on one. The Plati had denied him of his respect and reputation since her long gone.

"A time machine" Rathi sir said, "It was created by her?"

Ajay nodded, savouring the drizzling hot chocolate sauce over his icecream sundae.

It left Rathi befuddled: how could a person have this sweet of a tooth?

"Dr. Laxmi was our good friend" Sailo decided to narrate, "She was always interested in things beyond theory"

"She had talent, talent and talent" Ajay chuckled, "One day she yelled about cracking some old code gathering dust in our research log. We thought she was joking, but she immediately planned the follow up. I still remember the day the time machine was tested the first time; it feels like yesterday..."

"Control panel?'

"Steady!"

"Timeline data?"

"Nominal"

"You look excited!" Laxmi laughed at him, "What're you gonna throw there? That lousy cricket ball?"

"Imagine a cricket ball making history" Ajay laughed and juggled with it, "Laxmi we could had tested better if it carried a real person"

"Precautions first" she turned clicked some buttons, "Look ahead. See that baby screen over there?"

"A green line right there"

"That's our timeline. A representation of it"

"My job?"

"Throw that ball. If it went to the past, the green turns red at the base. If it goes to the future, the timeline turns red near the arrow"

"You know those movies where they kiss something for good luck?"

"There's stuff attached there Ajay! What if they find your DNA?" She mimicked, "CAUTION! Unknown alien lip skin found on celebrity cricketer's thirty third great grandson's cricket ball!"

They laughed heartily.

TMassive colours spiralled inside the time machine like wet paint drifting around. Lifting the ball in the air, Ajay took a step back and hurled it into it's threshold.

"We waited for weeks, forgetting of anything else in hope of the green line turning half red. If we could not prove its working, the money that had been invested would have been seized by the officials. It was wasted, that's what we thought"

"And Dr. Laxmi?" Rathi sir finished his coffee.

"All those years of spine breaking work forcing out such weak results was inacceptable to her" Ajay said, "She sneaked inside the testing room one day. An hour later she rushed into my presentation room and dragged me out"

"Wow, when did that happen?" Sailo smirked.

"S-she just came in, dragged me out and shoved me there!"

"Mr. Vellamaaaa~"

Ajay groaned.

"She must had set the time machine working" Rathi sir hoped.

"She did" he narrated, "It did turn on... but something was off"

"Off?"

"That screen showed something else; Little dots around the timeline. It was in that moment a fool like her did the unexpected"