“You, my dear, aren’t just a Tekna. You’re the Tekna."
The words ring in Mia's head like some alien language. It feels as if her mind can't make a decision on how best to react and so it doesn't- she just stares ahead with a numb expression on her face.
Joseph means every word he's just said. Of that, Mia has no doubt; and the intense look in his eyes even then supports it, but not wanting to let herself be upended, she puts on her best mocking smile.
“Wow, Joseph!" she says. "That sounds an awful lot like admiration.”
“That’s because it is,” he returns.
Before Mia can fully vibe the situation though, Joseph suddenly pulls out a gun and points it squarely in her face. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you with me, Mia," he says, "even if you have to be in a cryogenic coffin for that to happen.”
Mia's expression takes on that vi
5 years laterParis, France. The lights in the condominium automatically switches on as Mia walks in through the front door. She shrugs off her snow-covered coat and places it on the hangar next to the door, removing her boots to walk barefooted across the brown fur rug to the kitchen cabinet just as the heater automatically comes on too. “Please, be careful not to get snow on my rug,” she says to Andrew who walks into the apartment after her. “It’s new and I’ll love to keep it that way”. “Gee, so protective.” He rolls his eyes exaggeratedly but complies anyway as he carefully removes his coat and places it on the hangar next to Mia’s. “I have to say that party was great,” Andrew says, depositing himself on the couch. “At least, it was until those two guys began dishing me more French than I could handle.” “Which was why you had me as your designated translator beforehand,” replies Mia wit
Somewhere in the middle of the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Two men stand completely oblivious to the thunderstorm and heavy rainfall raging on outside the sturdy bunker they are to admire the work they've just accomplished. "We finally did it," one of the men says, as if his mind hasn't yet fully grasped the fact that everything is successful. "After all these years, we succeeded." "Yes, we've changed the world," replies the other man, looking at his friend with nothing but love and admiration incomparable in his eyes, "and it was all thanks to your absolute genius, vision and tenacity too." And he means every word of that statement. Truth is, his friend really has crossed every boundary in existence- legal, moral, and religious- to accomplish what have been deemed a mission impossible by the rest of the world; and for that, he can never stop respecting him. Silence ensues between the two men again as the first m
16 years laterChicago, Illinois."I'm sorry Miss Gates but I have no choice but to give you a C-minus," says the bald man as he looks at the black girl in front of him with what many may term as sympathy, but anyone who knows Mr. Goldstein well will know that he doesn't do sympathy."But Mr. Goldstein, I worked on this with all my God-given energy," Mia repeats for what seems to be the gazillionth time that morning. "You and I know without a doubt that I deserve an A for this.""I will be honest, your essay was an A-plus material," he replies as he gets up from his seat to start searching through the books on his shelf for nothing in particular. Truth is, he just really wants to do something, anything to get away from the murderous stance Mia has assumed since she arrived in his office that morning. "However, the fact also remains that the instruction clearly stated that the assignment was to be completed
Dinner is one of the few times the family is able to get together during the weekdays and despite her loner personality, Mia savors every moment with her parents.Fosterparents, to be exact.It still sometimes gets hard for Mia to believe but she's actually the adopted daughter of Sam and Regina Gates. Okay, not that hard really if one is being critical. They're both fair-skinned and she's black; and to top it, Regina is allergic to macadamia nuts and Sam to peanuts but Mia just can't seem to have enough of those two.But whichever way it is, the Gates loves Mia like their own biological daughter and she doesn't hold any memory of having another parent or being in the orphanage.One of the perks of being adopted when you were just six months old, she always said to herself.At the table that night, Sam is droning on about his day at work as usual and Regina is listening to him; or pretending to, as the case may be.Sam wo
Tekna, thinks Mia as she stares intently at the laptop in front of her. The word has been hovering in her mind for hours now but she never seems to be able to make any sense of it; developing into some sort of enigma for her ever since she accidentally overheard it the previous night when her parents thought she was asleep.However, finally admitting that her mind is obviously not going to get her anyway, Mia turns to the one thing everyone does when they're confused: the internet. She puts her hands to the keyboard and is about to start typing when she realises that she doesn't even have the slightest idea how the word is spelled.Goddammit!She groans.After some minutes of ruminating over it, she finally decides on a speech-to-text search method instead.
Mia walks through the front door and her resolve to try as much as possible to get through the night normally crumbles.Who am I kidding?She groans within herself.It's obvious I don't have what it takes to accommodate these people all night long. Mia desperately wished in her heart of hearts after Dana left her house that time will just stop and everyone will get stuck on a day like Tuesday. To be honest, it's not that she loves school that much. In fact, she despises it as much as the next person. But at least in class, no one's trying to get her attention or cajoling her into something that's practically impossible for her to achieve. Unfortunately, Mia's no time controller and so, Friday rolls in just like every other day. "Don't look so gloom,
He taps his fingers rhythmically on the chestnut table and hums a tune along with it. Boredom; that's his problem, and there's really nothing more he can do to keep it at bay than what he's doing at that moment.There was a time when I was busy, he remembers,when I had a lot to do than my time could afford. But those days are long gone behind him now, remaining back in his youth when he still aspires to be more. Now, he has it all: fame, fortune, age, and of course, a lot more time than he can possibly do anything with.He finally stops the tapping but only to begin arranging and rearranging the contents on his table for no particular reason nor aim.Thing is, even till then, a lot of people still marvel at the way he seems to have everything that can be had in
"I swear I'll never do that again in my life," groans Mia as she wakes up to her head throbbing. The throbbing is accompanied by a really heavy headache, but compared to the assault that knocked her out, it's just a lovetap;and for that, she's thankful.She finally pries open her eyes to see that she's in her room, wearing her pajamas, and from the looks of things, quite comfortable in bed.How the hell did I get home?Mia asks herself. She remembers the party and how Andrew got on her nerves- she's still considering murdering him in retaliation for that- She also remembers her indiscriminate drinking, the pain that threatened to take her life, and finally, the merciful blackout that saved her from it all.But try as she can, she just can't seem to remember anything after