Ilm was reading a daily, perhaps just watching on his tablet. He moved to the science and technology section and found an article about programming for AI. He downloaded the file.
"Rov!" He called his little brother.
"What is it, Dada?"
"Bring that connector wire with you."
Rov picked up a black connector wire from the work table. Ilm instructed Rov to connect the tablet and his back-neck port point with the connector.
"Take this tablet. And follow my instructions. I have no time to read this whole article, better to install it in my brain," Ilm said.
Kuro noticed their work, so he quickly came to them and said, "Young master, may I help you? Little master is still a kid. I'm afraid he may make a mistake that can harm you."
"No Kuro, I don't need you now. Rov should learn these things. Moreover, I'm here to watch him," Ilm said.
"Kuro, don't think little of me. I am Dada's greatest helper," Rov proclaimed proudly. Then they all started to laugh… a sweet warm surroundings.
Pema was helping another robot with household work in her room just opposite the kids' room. She smiled over her sons' playfulness.
The white robot, she was helping, was a little bigger and different model than Kuro. He had a single ball at the bottom rather than wheels and a square-type head which included a display screen as the face. He was a more advanced model, Judo-977-h-002. Like Kuro, he also had a home name, Shiro. Yes, Kuro for black, Shiro for white.
"Lady Pema, Old Master asked you to meet him after dinner," Shiro said.
"Is it urgent?" Pema asked, a little worriedly.
The bell was ringed.
"Kuro! Go, open the door. Maybe, it is Shakhai. Shiro is helping me, he can't go," Pema ordered.
Kuro went downstairs to open the main door. And she was right. It's Shakhai. He came up. He was looking pale. Two days away from home is enough to make a man crazy-looking.
"Were you fasting?" Pema frowned at him.
"I was missing all homemade dishes, cooked by my sweet wife," Shakhai smirked. However, his words had no effect.
"Hahaha, very cute," well her tone didn't match her words. It was a little sarcastic.
"Can you people stop flirting?" Ilm said from behind. "Baba, first of all, what have you brought for us?" Everyone waits for their chance always and so do these little kids.
"Zhondousi. It's a popular board game in Masad." He opened his bag and brought out a packaged box. Ilm and Rov snatched that box and went to their room to open it.
It was a square disk. Ilm pressed a button on their playing table and a narrow place was opened. He inserted the disk there. Again pressed another switch. The virtual model was generated.
After dinner, the kids wanted to play with their newly got game, but the mother was a mother. No more games, early to bed. So, they had to go to the bed. Shakhai was still processing what happened in these two days. He was on the balcony which was fully made with glasses. Unlike the day, the night was calm on Earth. People who didn't have shielding suits, could at last go out. No radiation would harm. His eyes were wandering somewhere. Silently. He sighed. Sighed over his helplessness and powerlessness. His despair clouded over his face.
"Are you okay?" Pema broke his silence.
"There is something, I need to tell you," Shakhai recalled everything that happened on Masad. He told her. At last. He shared his pain with someone. Someone who was promised.
"So, when will we go?" Pema asked.
"In two days. I just need to inform them and they will come to take us."
"What will you say to Ilm?"
"I don't know!" Shakhai shouted. Then he remembered the kids were sleeping. He apologised to Pema. "Can you convince Ilm for me?" he requested. It's a request for sourful consequences.
"I will," Pema softly smiled.
He embraced her. Rubbed her cheek with his.
"Ahh!" Pema pushed Shakhai. "But at first, clean this small pricky beard."
Then they laughed together. Together.
Pema went down. Bharatas' villa was a two-story house. On the upper floor, there were rooms for kids, Shakhai and Pema, Bhagavat, robots, and three for guests. While down there was a grand hall which was used for parties and celebrations. Adjacent to it, were a playing room, kitchen, dining hall, and Bhagavat's giant library.
Pema knew her father was a night owl. No sleep till sunrise, sleep till midday. Lunch was his breakfast, evening food was his lunch, and he avoided dinner until midnight. He spent more time in his library than in his room.
She opened the door of the library and found Bhagavat at his place. Bhagavat smiled.
"Shakhai has returned?" He asked. He was wearing his speech-clearer this time. A tiny mic-type gadget at his mouth.
"Yeah."
"Why did the government want to meet him?" This concern is normal. Especially for Bhagavat.
She told what she was told by Shakhai. "So, we need to move in two days."
"You go. But I won't." This statement was not just a statement but rather a determinate decision. Pema didn't ask anything. She could understand.
"Okay, as you wish. But I want to carry that sword with us."
Bhagavat stared at her silently. He asked patiently, "Why?"
"For Ilm. He is an extremely fast learner. He is not just a prodigy but something beyond that. We don't know how many days we are going to spend. That's why I want to take the sword. My feeling is saying that Ilm will soon be an exceptional warrior."
"Do not cloud your judgment." A simple sentence was enough to offend anyone. And so was Pema.
"Baba! Have you ever carefully noticed your grandsons? Oh, forget grandsons… why am I even talking about them? HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED YOUR OWN DAUGHTER? You haven't forgotten the bankruptcy, the fall of the company, all the despair yet." She's filled with tears. "Look at yourself. You had been completely changed."
Then she wiped her tears and said with a determinate tone, "Urjan Bharata made prophesies. He stated that one day from his blood a warrior will rise. He prophesied this warrior will hold his sword, the warrior who will be the one. I believe… no, I KNOW this warrior is no one but Ilm. Urjan Bharata saw that a thousand years after, a great war would happen, and that would be the end of the old era, and the dawn of a new."
"You are exaggerating. Do not believe in something so absolutely," he looked at her face. She was ready with a counter-argument. But he was done with debates. "But you can take the sword."
"Really?" Even Pema couldn't believe her ears. How can she win the argument so easily? Perhaps, it was Bhagavat's age. "One more thing. I want those books for myself."
"Books? Oh listen Pema, I actually called you for those books. I thought you were ready. But the behaviour, you've just shown proves me wrong. You wanted the sword for Ilm, take it. No one can properly understand the power of that sword. If Ilm… as you are saying… is an exception, he may find any clue. But you're not. You are just a Govaḍis. You're yet to learn many things."
The last three sentences made Pema feel disgraceful. But she remained silent. Bhagavat brought out a long big box from the lowest row of his bookshelf behind. The box looked heavy, but the weight was nothing for this sixty-year-old man.
Pema simply snatched the box of the sword and went on the way back. And she stumped the door close. Bhagavat sighed.