For the greater good

Mondays are a little plaintive and a little dull. In my opinion Mondays are as bland and plain as good old vanilla. No surprise of chocolate chips or refreshingly cool minty treats. You can’t expect Mondays to have a bit of sweetness, a bit of tanginess on a single plate like lemon custard creams. Every Monday morning, your alarm goes off and you press the snooze button. Maybe because you were out with your friends having the time of your life, maybe because you strained your eyes till 3:00 in the morning to watch your favorite series; or if you are young and beautiful and drunk in love, it’s mostly because your boyfriend didn’t let you sleep. Whatever might be the spawn of your lateness; you flush your toilet, gulp your breakfast and get dressed like a tornado when you are finally awake. But those days are now gone; now you don’t grab your dress anymore. You just plug-in your laptop and sit at your desk.

I stifle a yank as I wait for my gmail account to load. I hate early morning sessions but I love my students, so I continue my job like a half-awake chicken. A message flashes on the top of my inbox ‘Chosen as world’s no. 1’. I make a face. What a waste of space, I muse. I select it but I can’t hit on the delete icon. It runs away like a loony little guy as soon as I point the cursor on it. Isn’t it supposed to stay put on the top of your inbox? I scroll the page up and down and reload it. I try again and again and again but something simply doesn’t work. Did my computer go bad? A little dubious, I read the message: Chosen as world’s no 1.

 It is with great pleasure we inform you that you have been monitored to be the best teacher teaching online and we would like to give away your prize money of $400. We would also like to offer you a teaching post and include you in our ‘Innovation First’ circle for the greater good. Kindly meet with Mr. K at Labella restaurant beside your home at 8:30 p.m. tonight. We will await your response there.

P.S. - This is real but your message will be deleted as soon as you finish reading it.

**

Unlike other days, I had completed my classes in a rush. Now dressed in a knee length polka dotted yellow dress, I was fidgeting with the fringes in the hem of my dress. How did they monitor? Could they see me now? How could they give me prize money for a competition in which I didn’t even participate? It seemed to me that my head would burst open with questions. The affair seemed rather fishy to me. But something like strings seemed to tug at my heart; the same string that pulls one towards the unknown, the unseen and the unheard things. The same strings that dared you to put your toe out of the line when you were little.I needed to know them and I needed my answers. The phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’ nudged at the back of my mind but I ignored it. Hands shaking I took out a sticky note and wrote-

29/09/2021

8 p.m.

Going out for dinner at Labella restaurant.

Michelle.

Carefully, I stuck the note on the refrigerator. It seemed like a fragile attempt to save myself. But sometimes the old and trendy can hoodwink the new. I slung my purse on my shoulder and went out the door.

**

At 8:20 I set out for a brisk walk along the sidewalk. At 8:25 I said hello to Mrs. Tyler and her kids. At 8:30 sharp I reached there, Mr. Turner’s eyes lit up and he showed I to a table on the terrace where a man in black was seated with his back turned to me.

‘Hello ma’am!’ Mr K stood and kissed my hand, a smile playing along his lips. Then he went round pulled out my chair. I had not expected this. I had expected a loony, graying man who did not speak more than two words.

‘Hello, Mr. K’ I replied stiffly.

‘Would you like to look at the menu or would you prefer the chef’s choice?’ he asked. I was rather impatient and had no mind to read the menu.

‘The chef’s choice sounds good.’ I replied. The waiter bowed and went out of the way.

‘So what’s the ‘Innovation First’ circle and what are you guys trying to do for the greater good?’ I asked right away unable to hold myself any longer. I stressed on the ‘greater good’ part tasting the words in my tongue.

He smiled ‘Innovation first is an organisation where scientists work together with AI and block chain techniques to make things easier and more secured for mankind. It will make calculations a million times faster and with any luck we will be able to know more about the Milky Way and beyond and put them to our use.’

My mind stopped working. Block chain techniques and AI? But I had specialized in psychology. Did they track me down in vain? ‘Mr. K, no offence but I think you have all made a mistake. I know nothing about these techniques and I can’t teach your students about them' I reply a little smug.

‘Apologies ma’am, but we did a little background search and we know that you have mastered in psychology. We would like to recruit you as a teacher so that the students can trust us.’

This was getting out of hand. Did Mr. Prim and Proper think I was going to teach a bunch of kids to trust anyone blindly? I sucked in a deep breath and said’ You will find that there is no such technique in human psychology, where you can make others trust you blindly.’

‘Ah! But Ms. Michelle you are mistaken. You will not teach humans, you will be teaching three machines with their own super brains to trust us.’

My mind was now whirling. Teach machines that had super brains? But how do you teach machines? This seemed downright crazy. The food arrived and I chewed on them mechanically. This seemed like a dangerous mission. Should I dare to become its part? But then I wouldn't know how. Perhaps someone was calling my name from a distant place. Then a hand waved in front of my eyes bringing me out of my pensive state.

'Are you alright?' he asked and then handed me a glass of water.

Mr K. was reassuring me. ‘Don’t be scared Miss. We have added it all up. If our mission is successful everyone will benefit tremendously. But we need the ‘machine humans’ to trust us. That’s why we need you so badly. We will not force you of course, if you don’t want to do this. The documents are here. It’s all official, madam. You will find about your students and the terms and conditions present here. You will also have a training period if you agree to sign up. Please read it thoroughly and consider the case.’

I gave him a slight nod.

**

I looked at the photos of my students. One was bright yellow as if she had been made out of banana peels. Another was ocean green and the last one was all black with little specks of white. If you didn’t spot the wires sticking at their backs, you would have assumed they were almost human. Their wide innocent gazes made you want to look out for them. The little strings tugged at my heart again, the same string that pulls one towards the unknown, the unseen and the unheard things. I took my pen and signed the document.

The document had been full of usual terms of service, except Clause 14(a). It went thus—

14(a) You are responsible to uphold the secrecy of the mission and is thus obligated to inject a medically approved medicine ‘Filius’ to make our mission a success.

I had researched all about the medicine. It was a precautionary medication so that you did not blab away anything secret conversationally. It made you rather reserved. It seemed prudent enough to me. So Wednesday afternoon, I was sitting in a hospital of the ‘Innovation first’ circle to be injected. Though I had been strong and decisive throughout, as a nurse approached me, I broke out in a cold sweat.

'Are you getting cold feet ma'am?' she asked and then she took my hand and made me lie on a bed and gave me a reassuring smile. I felt a pin prick my arm and the world went black.

There was strong tugging at my heart. As if I have always lived for them. As if I would do anything for them. As if my world revolved around them. Three innocent faces: one yellow, one sea green and another like a dark starry night. I would teach them everything. I had long waited for them to come to my world.