Chapter 2: More Power

No one made a sound. They all turned towards me and waited for a reaction. I continued to stare at the now powerless turbine. It had failed. We should have been patient, perhaps we needed more power… A loud crack of thunder erupted and Alveera released a small scream which made the team burst out laughing. I should have been there next to her. Why did I want to protect her? It was a storm. The thunder just gave her a fright. Why did I feel guilty?

“The first run has failed. That’s unfortunate.” I responded after clearing my throat then added, “Alright then. You all have the rest of the day off, we shall discuss how to proceed tomorrow morning. Say around 10 am?”

“Yes sir.” Was the last thing I heard before I walked out of the room. I didn’t even pay attention to recognise whose voice that was.

My only chance was over. We needed the storm to decrease the surrounding air pressure and temperature. That storm was perfect. I guess we could try again when another storm is expected… but a storm with those specific qualities? The probability was close to 0. Even if the team could track it down, that wouldn’t occur any time soon. It would take months.

Clearly, the amount of power available wasn’t enough. I needed more. I can attract a lightning bolt to strike a generator. Such sophisticated equipment to even attract the lightning could take years to develop and construct. That also meant I needed a complex storage facility, one that can operate under a 300 million volt current. My timeframe would be a few microseconds to obtain the voltage. Don’t even get me started on the safety mechanisms, one mistake and this entire facility could be blown up.

Another crack of thunder erupted which startled me. I was so lost in thought I forgot to pay attention to my surroundings. She probably also got a fright. Alveera? I spun around but there was no one behind me. The empty hallway was all I saw. She didn’t follow me out?

Right. I walked away without even caring about her. My project was the only thing on my mind that I didn’t think twice about my assistant. I stared down the hallway and listened to the sound of her heels. The 0.8 s clicks were nowhere to be heard. The sound of the pouring rain, strong winds and thunder flooded the facility. They drowned out the sound of those powerful heels. I took three steps in the direction I last saw Alveera then stopped.

I’m so focused on my emotions, the way I feel about a … girl. Alveera Rose was a distraction. She wasn’t important. This project was. My life's work was. I have spent 7 years thinking about her. That’s 2555 days of my attention wasted on someone I can never be with. No wonder this test run had failed! I haven’t even been focusing on what’s important. If she never came into my life then it would have worked.

I spun around and cursed, “Fuck!” then ran to my apartment. I needed to get away from here, every part of this facility was stained by the memory of Alveera. They all tormented me as I ran past. My apartment was clean since she had never stepped foot in there.

“What is wrong with you?” I yelled as I slammed the door behind me and sunk to the floor.

It’s just a test run. I repeated over and over. I tried to calm down my breathing. “It’s just” I whispered and breathed in, “a test run.” Then breathed out. After a few minutes, it worked. I just felt angry now. I jumped up and walked over to my journals. They were full of all my research, experiments and formulas to improve the project. 12 years worth of work. I flipped open my newest journal to the last entry.

A message was written at the top of the next clean page.

“I’ve always believed in you.” Was written in pink ink with a smiley face, heart and dash followed by the letter A. Alveera.

“Why can’t you leave me alone?!” I screamed and ripped out the page. The visual aspect of seeing that page being ripped out was satisfying. The sound of that tear was so pleasing. It made me feel better. I laughed and proceeded to tear out more pages. Years of my life fell to the floor as the pages were thrown around my room. I had just finished journal 3 when I stopped.

“What am I doing?” I whispered and dropped the journal, “No, no, no. Please no. Stop.” I dropped to my knees and started to collect all the pages. In a frantic hurry, I picked up each page as if they were about to fade away. Pages had landed everywhere. On the bed, behind the cupboard, under the tables, even in the bathroom. I picked up 575 pages. Each journal was a book of 192 pages… which meant one page was missing.

I fell to my knees once again and searched under, behind and on top of everything. Nope. I gave up. The storm had now passed and dusk had fallen upon the facility. I felt drained. I grabbed hold of the pile of pages and hugged them close to my body as I lay on the floor. I felt ashamed for overreacting, it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t anyone's fault. Tanencha wasn’t ready to work, the project just needed more time to perfect.

“I’m sorry Alveera,” I whispered and turned my head to the side as one teardrop ran down my face. There it was, the last page. It had slid underneath my door. I noticed the corner of the white page peeking out from beneath the door and reached over to grab onto it.

It was the page she had written on. A wave of relief washed over me. I walked over to the desk in my room, sat down and started sorting out all the pages into their original order. None of them were numbered, so I had to read over the research and figure out which page came next. My photogenic memory served as an advantage in the situation.

I wasn’t even sure of the time when I finished. I then grabbed the clear tape from my draw and stuck all the pages back into their corresponding journals. It was around 11 when I finished, but my thoughts were racing. I needed to clear my head. I got up and decided to go sit by the pool, the cool air and stars would put my thoughts at ease. The water was warm so I took off my shoes and sat by the edge with my feet dangling into the pool. It was so quiet. I felt calm knowing that I was a small speck in this universe as I looked up and watched the stars shine through the darkness.

“Mr Nova?” A voice asked out of nowhere. It gave me a fright and I almost fell into the pool, but I stopped myself just in time. I looked up and saw Alveera. She was in a cute pair of pyjamas that had little pandas all over them. I looked down and saw she was in a pair of slippers. Why did I expect her to have heels on?

“Oh hello,” I replied and offered her a smile.

“How are you?” She inquired with a concerned expression. I laughed and looked back up at the stars. I felt her sit down next to me. Her warm hand brushed over mine but she didn’t pull it away. I interlocked her fingers in mine and pulled her hand up to my lips, placing a kiss on her delicate fingers.