The Green Darkness- him (part 1)

“3 years, 56 days and 12 minutes.”

He took a deep, raspy breath.

“This was the amount of time I took to develop this app. This was the time when I grew out of 20’s, wafted through a dark stage in my life and, most essentially, lost dad.” Fury trumpeted out from his eyes.

He took a thick needle and stabbed it in the glittering metallic flesh of his laboratory’s wall.

 He had worn a silk green t-shirt and trousers. 

His face was- well, a secret. He would always be shadowed by an oddly cut mask, ripped from the sides. His hair, ah, they were like long textured waves of a panicle of leaf tendrils. A murky earth green color.

His nerdy assistant looked at him with eyes of an obedient and oblivious student.

“And for this long a time, I brought up Adaeae, nourishing it with programming codes, embroidering it with presentable designs, being its spinal cord in times of vagueness and vulnerability. Even though my insides chewed up into parched autumn leaves. I didn’t look back at that time. Never. But now what is the outcome ?”

James nodded his screw-less head. 

“Ask me.”

“What is the outcome, sir?”

“Oh, he tried to overrule me! That’s a blasphemy! He shattered all the love and trust I crusted him with. Joe, he became self aware, and, and do you know what that means?” He said rather impatiently.

“What sir?”

“Dear, it means that he won’t need me anymore. He can survive. And thrive in this world. All by himself!” He stated. Melodramatically.

James’ meek face was equivalent to condolences for death of his master’s half rulership.

“Isn’t there anything we can do to stop this?”

“Alas Joe, alas, betrayal cannot be stopped naturally.”

He creased his plastic forehead with tips of sweat-greased fingers.

“But, it can be dealt with. And that is, by backstabbing.”

Sunlight bounced from Mr. Cleph to James and hovered a dirty green haze of shock on his face.

“How long will Mr. Heckles take? Quick, call him!”

A shoe tap. A jingle. And then a lullaby with jitterbugging undertones started ringing in the laboratory’s corners. 

James went to open the door. The door was domed, it was stroked black and white, monotonously, like optical illusions.

A man in a long, breezy coat stepped in. Two plastic trumpets, at either sides of him, puffed a strong zephyr on him. Mr. Heckles’ wig skipped up in the air, exposing his bald head. He looked a bit taken aback. The wig kept on bungee jumping, being pulled up when he tried to pull it down. 

After a very short while, the wig plummeted on the floor.

Mr. Cleph said in between rushed bowls of laughter, “Oh Mr. Heckles, no not take this to your heart. It was just a little joke, likes the ones I usually tend to do.”

Mr. Heckles stepped ahead from insult to pride, without picking his wig. 

He didn’t need a wig. Not at all. Considering his face structure, you know. Think about Vin Diesel. Ouch, that face.

The only reason he wore it was for his work. Confidentiality purposes.

“Do not worry Mr. Cleph. Your work will be done, without heavy grudges. I mean, no grudges .” His rosy, damp face had softened.

He silently pressed a metallic button inside his pocket.

“So, beginning with what happened-“

“I know exactly why I have been called here.”

The man clad in green looked genuinely surprised.

-    -    -    

They both were seated on a chair opposite to one other. One black, one white, both fueled with green spots. 

“Bring Adaeae!” John was instructed. 

Encased inside a hard- glass box was Adaeae. It was blocks of black and grey, belted together like a mini robot. But from its essence, it was an app, with a physical form. 

Mr. Heckles held the box and examined it carefully. 

“Hm.” He said thoughtfully.

He took out a ceramic bottle labeled ‘virtual liquid’ and sprayed it on the front glass, inside which Adaeae’s square eyes twinkled. With a wooden stick he wrote on the liquified glass, ‘Hi’.

“Welcome to Virtual Jumanji.” The screen replied in the standard handwriting. “Please write your name to proceed.”

“Doctor, this game was programmed only to answer questions that were asked.” Mr.Cleph’s patience started to wear thin.

Mr. Heckles heard him but kept quiet.

“Yes, correct!” Adaeae spoke. “This game was initially driven by and limited to code commands, but now it has become self aware. Just like an Android!”

“Oh devil, why did he have to hear me. Now his blabbering will not come to an end!” He tried to be softer this time.

“Mr.Cleph, Adaeae can be send back; all examinations are accomplished.”

“James!” Mr.Cleph called out.

James came in and took the box away.

“So he can talk.”

“Yes, very much!”

“Hm, and looks like his role model is an ‘Android’ huh?”

“Yeah yeah, but I don’t care about that crap of metal. Not anymore. Once betrayed is a scar for lifetime. So doctor, tell me. Tell me how can his software be damaged?”

“Well mister, you wanted to reverse its self-awareness, didn’t you?”He asked suspiciously.

“Yes that is correct, but now I feel like the the software should be damaged completely, code by code. He deserves it!”

Mr. Heckles was shocked on this sudden flip, but kept going.

“So, for one, not a single problem will be solved, if Adaeae is to be damage physically. Fire might burn the metal blocks, trampling it under a heavy vehicle could flatten it, but by no means will the software disintegrate.” 

“Then what can be done to abolish its existence in all senses from this planet?!”

“Now if we see, rewiring the codes is not a possibility because it is difficult to grasp Adaeae and control him. You have to keep in mind that Adaeae is more powerful that you think he is.”

“Doctor I don’t want you to tell me what can’t be done and what I have to do. Just give me a solution.”

Mr Cleph was agitated. ‘It is not easy to find a solution to something this inhuman. It is your luck that I’m at least helping you.’ He said in his mind.

‘Ah, but there’s one solution.’ It suddenly clicked him.

 But, should he give it away to this person, even after such an insane behavior?

Before he could think further, Mr.Cleph burst out, “What is the solution?”

‘Oh damn, when did I say it aloud?’He thought.

Doctor looked at him. Mr.Cleph’s eyes held a deadly and dark stare that couldn’t be answered with excuses or lies.

“Okay, so here it is.” Mr.Heckles decided to give in. “Like how you made Adaeae smarter by interacting with him, in the direction of um, growth, now talk him, talk him- into destroying its own software.” Time seemed to stretch like chewing gum and move slowly and foggily, as he gave the secret away.

Mr.Cleph raised his hands in triumph and hopped into another room, with James slaving behind him.

Mr.Heckles lay on the sofa, slightly slumped, his heart pumping loudly and guiltily. ‘Was your action right- right?’ His conscience picked on him.

A whispering siren peeped in his ears. Gaining composure, Mr.Heckles pressed the same button in his pocket again.

“Hon, it’s me! Maria. Relax first of all. And listen to what I am saying calmly. Do you think this is going the way you wanted it to be? Like how ‘we’ wanted it to be? He is about to destroy a self-aware robot. That’s a sin! You were the one who gifted him the solution and so you can rightfully take it back too! C’mon think about it, the way he treated you all this time, your heart knows it all. My man, c’mon it’s time to flex that sexy brain today!”

The voice swept away. 

He thought quickly. ‘Well, she’s right! She’s actually right! Destroying the robot completely was never in our deal so I have to stop this!’

Mr. Heckles ran into the room where faint spell-like-verses and curses could be heard. The room was stained with green shards of light.

He could see Adaeae’s one hand broken. He was kneeling on one knee, the other straight up, on the verge of disintegration.

“Now,”Mr.Cleph instructed, “Scramble Jumanji’s procedures in a random manner. It should all be fuzzy in there, that’s all.” He said politely or rather, politically. “And-“

“Behold!” Mr.Heckles intervened. 

Mr.Cleph looked towards him, demanding a reasonable reason for his interruption.

“Do not damage yourself Adaeae! Note- he means damage to you. I repeat, protect yourself.” He said in a jiffy.

Mr.Cleph spat in disgust, “YOU ROGUE!”

Doctor continued, “Undo all commands given by him right now!”

“No, no! Do not do that! I warn you-” Their commands overlapped.

“Save yourself!” Mr.Heckles said intensely.

“Encrypt ‘The Virtual Jumanji’. I repeat, encrypt ‘The Virtual Jumanji’! Forever!” 

Adaeae was progressing towards repair.

“Yes hero. You can do it. Push yourself a bit more.” ‘And there it works on human praise psychology too!’ He mentally smirked.

Doctor looked around. Mr.Cleph was gone and so were the beads of green light. The room was a thick black shade, like freshly snapped Obsidian.

Edges of silvery gray restructuring and building up could be seen in the box.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut and bolted with a metallic thud. A sonorous chain clanged.

“Doctor, come let’s play doctor- doctor!” The voice said.

Mr.Heckles turned around shakily. A silhouette emerged. There was no green in the room this time.

The figure turned to face his front towards Mr.Heckles . 

The torso and legs materialized. 

He wore an orange tuxedo and red coat with a green shirt underneath.

Then his face was veiled, with the mask removed.

And stood in front of him was none other than, JOKER. He was ‘The Green Darkness’.

Mr.Heckles was appalled! 

“Joker’s here, haha!” James said in his high pitched, creepy voice.

Instinctively, Mr.Heckles switched off the button in his pocket.

“How dare you!” He said with a viscous smirk.

He dropped his hand in his pocket and flung it towards his doctor.

It was the thick needle. It penetrated between the legs of his eyebrows. And Mr. Heckles was thrown flat on the floor. Bloody hell.

“And you bastard,” Joker looked at Adaeae, “I wish you were a human.” He fidgeted with his needle. “I would have just stabbed you with this thing!”

“Ahhhh!” He screamed madly. 

He marched towards Adaeae and swung the glass box on the bloody floor. 

“I will take revenge from you!” He bellowed. “Doctor’s software has been destroyed and soon yours will too!”

He rampaged out of the room.