I'll Be There For You

ISHA

Year: 2342

Month: September

Date: 13

Destination: Sector Beta – Zeroa

Isha's life sucked. There was nothing in this world that would ever satisfy her thirst of something out of the ordinary. She wanted magic.

It was late in the day and the moon peered back at her in all its glory. Isha was sitting in her room waiting for her allotted guardian to show up. In the meantime, her gold eyes wandered around the place she had spent 95% of her life in. But not any more. She had turned 16 yesterday. It was time for her drafting.

Isha had spent a large chunk of her time studying Earthean relationships. They somewhat unsettled her. Over there, humans didn't have a system of guardianship unless the child has lost his or her parents. But here at Zeroa, kids didn't have parents in the first place. They were simply thought out of the mind of the one who wished for such a person to exist. So they did. Therefore, the one who brought them in life, automatically becomes their guardian. Though their responsibilities are somewhat different than human parents. A guardian is not obligated to love the Zeroan they bring to life. No. Their sole job is to train them till the age of 16 so they can get drafted to that specific section. Zeroan society worked on the principle 'To protect we fight, to serve we do and to cherish we be'. It was imprinted in the minds of every Zeroan alive or dead. Isha respected all this. But sometimes, she envied humans. They never thought that the idea of love was a waste of ones potential. They in fact celebrated it. Isha had formed a some what unhealthy obsession of this subject. She had studied hundreds of books and movies about romance and longed for someone with whom she could talk about all this. Certainly not with her brother.

The door opened at this exact moment and a guy strolled in. "Do you seriously read my mind or something?" Isha asked her brother, Ayaan.

It was a curious relationship here on Zeroa but not unheard of. Usually, guardians preferred to only have one kid under their wing. But sometimes, they had more. This was the case with Isha and Ayaan.

Isha and Ayaan. These were two beings whose names were always spoken together. They were twins born apart by 3 minutes. Or rather, thought of at a 3 minute interval.

"Huh? What are you talking about?", her brother, as oblivious as ever, inquired.

Isha sighed. "Never mind."

"So, I just saw Lil headed up our way and I thought I'd give you a heads up.", Ayaan announced as he slumped across from her on her bed.

The two of them lived in Beta Sector in a condo situated at the end of their lane. They had requested so. For... the things they did.

"Are you ready for the drafting?", Isha asked him very quietly.

As she predicted, her brother lighted up the moment the words left her mouth.

"Oh my God! Yes! So I was talking to Jake and Riya earlier and they say that even the flight simulating commanders are talking about me! They say that I have a shot to get to the high ranks! Isn't that sweet?", he rambled on.

"Yeah. Real sweet Ayaan.", Isha said with enough venom, that Ayaan stopped mid rant.

Isha despised the idea of drafting. No one, NO ONE had the right to strip them of their lives and push them into what you think will benefit the government. She longed to go to Earth. But that was unlikely. Not after what happened 90 years ago.

Humans finally designed the tech to return to the planet they discovered so they could stake their claim on it. Things didn't go as planned. Zeroa had long ago prepared for such a scenario. And they did not want outsiders. The second humans landed on their land, the controllers increased the level of atmosphere thickness and doubled it. They didn't survive for even three hours. The massive death toll of about 350 humans made the people of Zeroa realise that they were invincible. Even the creatures who found their home planet couldn't survive them. And so, Zeroa found an expertise. Warfare. They started recruitments. They realised that the stronger ones had a stronger grasp of their power. Their creations were stronger. And hence a cycle began. These powers the Zeroans possessed were given a name – Crysaltics. A government was established. How was it formed? Easy. Inter-sectoral games were held every 5 years. These were only based on ones capacity to use their crysaltics. The 7 who emerged on the top were named the Cabinet of Zeroa.

And this year, a new cabinet had to be selected. Isha had grown up listening about the deeds of the Zeroan Cabinet. They were ruthless, inconsiderate but did what they had to to strive has a dominant species. But that didn't mean she had to like this system.

Lil. That was their guardian. And she was the reason of Isha's obsession with Earth. Lil was unlike any of her friend's guardians. She actually cared about them. Sixteen years ago, Lil, head of the legal autonomy of Zeroa, brought Isha to existence, she had preferred her to be into combat. But peculiarly, that hadn't happen. From the very first simulation test to let the authorities see her potential, Isha had known she wasn't into violence. Her world was that of words. They fascinated her. She couldn't believe that 26 mere alphabets could create millions of stories.

This desire of hers first surfaced when she was nine. And there was no stopping her. At the age of ten, she had already published an article about Ayaan trying to jump off their building just so he could think up a pair of wings and taste the feel of flying. That hadn't ended well, and she had written an elaborate piece describing every little gory detail. It had gotten unexpected recognition. She was over the moon. Lil had seen this passion of hers. And she was worried. Isha had been welcomed to this world for her fighting calibre. Not her way with words. Zeroa had no place for such non-violent practises. But Lil was unlike anyone else. She had fought tooth and nail to bring justice to Isha's talent. They had finally given in. On one account. She couldn't give up her fight regiment. That was the entire reason she existed. And if she declined her destiny, she would seize to exist. So Isha did go to train with the rest of the Zeroans. But after coming home, she worked on her paper. Her one dream was for the Zeroans to accept that Earth was not the enemy. That they were considerate people with compassion that her people lacked.

"Hello? Isha? You there?", Ayaan was waving his hand in front of her. "Stop spacing out!"

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry.", she murmured.

Ayaan huffed a sigh and slouched further on her bed. Isha studied him. He shared his straight black hair with her. Only hers reached past her shoulders and his was settled looking unruly atop his head. Ayaan was 5 inches taller than her and he never forgot to remind her of this fact. Not that she minded. Perhaps her only solace in this place was her brother. He knew everything about her. Everything. And she knew everything about him. Isha tore her gaze from her brother and scanned her room. It was not small. But not big either. Pink wallpaper landscaped around her. Her bed had been pushed to the side and above it were photos and photos of Isha, Ayaan, Lil and some of their peers. All of them were courtesy of Ayaan. He adored photography almost as much as the sky. And she liked how he too had a knack for something which for once wasn't not peaceful.

There was a knock on the door and Lil strolled in. She was a tall lady with dark skin, dark hair and was unbelievably beautiful. Her golden eyes were somewhat different than the others. They had a strange sparkle to them. Ayaan had a crush on her. And Isha didn't let a moment go away without tormenting him.

"How're you two holding up? Sleep ok?", she had a husky voice and was always an octave or two louder than necessary.

"Fine." the two of them chorused back.

Lil smiled. She was aware of the fact that Isha had no interest in attending today's drafting. But she was also aware of that fact that they didn't have a choice.

She threw each of them a silver suitcase. Their uniforms. Suddenly, this all seemed too real.

"Suit up. It's time for us to head to the Crysaltic Centre.

***