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Let there be Light
“Finish all the food on your plate. If you waste it, god will get angry.” Every time his mother reprimanded him for being a fussy eater, with this classic line, that omnipresent three letter word never failed to kindle Palini’s curiosity. The ambiguous concept of a god, or many gods, as some religions would have us believe, had intrigued him since his 2-year old mind had been introduced to it. This idea puzzled all little children, with each creating his or her own fantasy of a being to be feared, revered or loved; till they grew up into adults with no desire to question the accepted. But Palini was different.
Throughout his childhood, he would sneak one of his family cars out of the holding and steer it clumsily through the clouds. The ignition booster on full throttle was his attempt to propel the vehicle into space, to Andromeda. Flying over the crystal domes of laboratories in the region with his heat analyzer on, he’d keep his eyes peeled for an abnormally intense heat source, indicating the presence of god somewhere. The rest of the time, little Palini could be found with his nose buried in books with actual paper and ink in the hope that his ancestors could shed some light on the subject. On the Mocaso family’s annual trips to other moons he’d teleport any interesting material he found to the secret stash of ‘clues’ he kept in his room. Such was the nature of Palini’s obsession with god.
Recently , some androids and other slightly delusional cyborgs of Palamanio had been making claims of becoming aware of the existence of certain particles which could control the environment, both physical and biological, around them. They could influence the creation of other things as well. These mysterious particles were supposed to be god. The almost adult Palini however had not paid much heed to these stories, being completely preoccupied with preparations for his school’s science fair. For years he’d been attempting to get the better of Carlaka, his once best friend, who sabotaged other’s projects, but Palini always ended up in second place. The morning after the fair, he would always complain to god, whatever that may be, of the unfairness of it all. But some people just don’t change.
For his birthday, Palini’s parents had gifted him his very own hovercraft with access to the best research facility in Cudgensville. It was the night before D-day and he had been pottering around the lab all day to synthesize his Platinum- Catamanum nanocrystals which he believed could function as nano-turbines more efficient than the present radioactive francium ones. But there seemes to be a critical flaw in the procedure he had designed; it wasn’t getting him anywhere. He didn’t want to consult with any of the resident robots either, for fear that they might tip Carlaka off. As it was nearing the time when the systems would shut down and he would have to call it a night, he was getting desparate. For the synthesis, he required a number of different materials he’d procured from around the globe. Bt he had realized his answer could not be found with the tried and tested. It was time to put his secret stash to use.
While he could go on for days without sleep, his worries had exhausted him. Disregarding previous calculations, he added his favorite materials in any random order, only controlling the physical conditions like temperature and pressure. But when he looked down at the set up from his perch on the ceiling something seemed different, odd. He glanced at his footwear and realized he had fallen asleep and lost track of time, when he noticed they had become a pale blue colour, indicating a level of inactivity only possible during his sleep. All of a sudden, the institute’s sun too, bailed on him. The temperature of his set up would rapidly fall, and the results could be catastrophic.
His mind drifted to drawings he had seen of something called lamps used by the ancients. As he traced it in the air, it was created before his eyes. Glancing around the illuminated chamber, in absolute amazement he realized that it was his apparatus which was giving out a mysterious chrome light and diffusing calm in the room. However, it seemed like there was nothing inside the container. But next to it, was a corked flask with the nanoparticles he had been trying to create. It seemed impossible to explain what had happened but his eyes had bore witness.
The results of the experiment were staring him in the face. His spine tingled ad he realized he had discovered the ‘God Particle’. Looking up and around the room he was in he suddenly realized that he had also seen God. Everything and every being in the vicinity were frozen in their position, all motion ceased; only the ‘hand of God’ could possibly exercise such supreme control. He continued to gawk as time restarted and all was restored to normal around him, for life would never be the same for him again. It was time to head home to a good night’s sleep. Palini knew the results of the fair next day would be in his favour. They had to be, this time God was on his side.
THE END