Out at last!

They walked through a long tunnel where the white walls, were covered in monitors up to a certain height. People were standing infront of them in monotone uniforms. Some were pressing their wrists on the screen, others pressed the dials, like the one Tejas received that day. He could repeatedly hear, 'Update Complete'. What were the people updating?

Ms Dheera had been power walking up until then. But she slowed down as if to whisper in his ear, "That device has my contact id. However, I must tell you that I'll most probably not be able to answer calls all the time. But," she walked away a little farther, "do send me text messages." She power walked again looking straight.

They reached a long and wide door, indicating the end of the tunnel. People stood infront of it in a straight queue.

"Now, remember your seat is B10. So," she took his hands and stopped where B10 was lit above. Tejas noticed that the other people in the queue too were standing under a number. But when he took a step to join the queue, he hit an invisible barrier.

"Don't be in such a hurry. You need to scan first. Here," she pointed on a rectangle which seemed to be floating in front of him.

Ms Dheera asked him to hand over his device. With two twists at each corner of the rectangle dial, it separated from the belt. "Take this over there," she pointed at the floating rectangle.

In no time, the rectangle turned green. But before Tejas could step in, he turned towards Ms Dheera.

"I'm scared, aunty mam," he hugged her very tight.

"Call me aunty. And don't worry, you'll receive lots of help, Tej."

Tejas didn't feel very assured but he nodded and let go of her nonetheless. "Even if I'm not there, I know so many people who'll be just as willing to help you. Besides, I am damn sure you'll get used to everything in no time."

There was no way of knowing if whatever she said was the truth, but considering all she had done for him, he wasn't in a situation to not trust her.

No announcements were made when a train had arrived. The passengers peacefully boarded the train but no one unboarded on their side.

When Tejas sat on his seat which was right next to the window. He knew aunty Dheera was still looking at him. But he didn't turn to look at her. What if she caught the fear in his eyes!

As soon as the train left the station, he looked out of the window to have a glimpse of her. But she was gone already. A little disappointed, he leaned his head on the window. He could feel the wind but only a few rays of sunshine touched his face. Shadows of trees fell on him and when he looked up, he saw that the train was actually moving through a forest. A really lush and dense forest. He wondered if these were the trees he could see from his previous room.

Even among the trees, there were many fast moving objects. They travelled on tracks on different levels, some even in the same level as their train. Only when one of them halted did he notice that they were trains as well. How were they operating so swiftly in that dense jungle?

There were also separate tracks where people walked and biked. Atleast those weird things they travelled on resembled a bicycle. But he thought he would never dare to travel alone, not unless he was quite sure he knew his way around.

He couldn't see more than the yellow and green leaves and branches of trees when he tried to look down. He had hoped to spot some animals but he couldn't see much more than that. However he did notice some birds and squirrels who never collided with the train at all.

He said to himself, "I might've remembered things worse than they actually were." He had a vivid mental image of an extremely hot day that even ice or water couldn't quench his thirst. Maybe it was just a bad dream.

He was seated in a very comfortable seat. Next to him, a woman in guard's uniform and a mask, glanced at him again and again. Atlast she removed her mask and met his eyes without wavering.

Tejas immediately recognized the mismatched eyes. "What--"

"--I'm not following you. I promise," Trish put her mask again. "Give me your dial."

Tejas tried to imitate aunty Dheera but he was a little shocked to see her. So Trish grabbed his wrist and took out the dial.

She checked the mode of the dial and then whispered loudly, "Hello Mr. Ghosh." The bunny appeared on the screen and hopped. "Open finger scanner."

The center of the screen lit. Trish placed her thumb there.

Immediately after, the screen unfolded into a larger screen and all her information along with her contact id were displayed.

Looking directly into the screen with eyes purposely widened, as if she was having them scanned as well, she said, "I'm giving you my contact id. Do not hesitate to ask for help."

Tejas looked at her with a loss of words. He suddenly blushed at some thought. "By any chance, were you my girlfriend?"

Trish took off her mask. She looked as if she had just squeezed some lemon juice in her mouth. "Please never say that to me."

The smile vanished from his face. He looked away and rested his head on his hand pouting a little.

"There used to be people who found you attractive. But I always thought of you as my brother," she tried to explain.

He didn't say anything to that.

"Don't feel bad Tej?"

"Why should I? I don't even know your name," he said trying to sound cool.

"Fair enough," she smiled. "It's strange though," she continued after leaning all the way back, "that you could remember your biological parents."

"Who could ever forget them?" he spoke with such disappointment and sadness. Suddenly his eyes watered at those remaining memories.

The train entered a dark tunnel and after some time, it halted. Trish handed him his dial and instructed, "Try putting it back yourself." She stood up, "When you reach your destination, don't leave from the door you entered."

She stood at the door at the opposite end and screamed, "Use this door."

No sooner had the door slid open than she disappeared. Infact all the other people who got down the train also couldn't be seen there. Where had they all gone?