Beyond Salvage - A graphic novel

Dr L.Prakash

Cover of Tamil Translation of this novel!

A Tamil translation of this novel has been published in August 2009 and has sold 50,000 copies in its first print itself.

Part Three


He appears to be present at too many places at the same time.	Gok later told me that he almost lost consciousness.

He had to hold on to dear life to avoid falling from my pocket!	Faxigin had crept to my rear. The rest was totally predictable, at least to me!

I one single dramatic sweep, I swiveled around, yanked his arm to dislocate his shoulder and threw him away. The other two attackers hadn’t even realized what was happening.	My next step was a flying kick in which both my feet caught one target each. One broken thigh and another shattered jaw bone.

The screaming attackers fell in four directions. Activation in a modified man works something like this. The dual act of pressing the sub-cutaneous button and the recollection of the sixteen digit alphanumeric code, provided the trigger that released the numerous hormones and endorphins into my blood stream.	It was somewhat similar to a sportsperson taking steroids, only a thousand times more effective. Once activated, my body worked at eleven x speed. Thus each second for others would stretch for eleven full seconds for me. No wonder assailants were taken aback by total surprise and lay demolished even before they could take their hands to their weapons.

Of course the Android surgeon Auxumba had also done a modification that would be activated by a twenty eight digit code, but that would be reserved for special occasions.	I had only seriously damaged my attackers. I did not kill them. I could well explain my way out if the local cops came, but fortunately the street was a little out of the way with not cops in sight.

In one continuous movement, my hand went to the small of my back, pressed the button and deactivated.	Well sir! This activation is indeed magic. But sir, you were so incredibly fast that I almost fell out of your pocket.

I did not reply, for I was a little worried about my Gok. More suspicious than worried. If this fellow was as talented as he claimed to be, why did he not warn me of his ex-master Faxigin, lying in wait in this street? It appeared as if he had encouraged me to walk into a trap. " Master! Please don’t blame me. It all happened so very quickly. My thought reading process does not work in a way that you imagine."	"I simply can not get thoughts from all directions. I was fully concentrating on your mind. Of course I did catch Faxigin’s thought waves, albeit a little late. But then master, you acted so so quickly! All's well that ends well." I did not answer, I was too preoccupied, thinking about the warnings by my Androsurgeon Axumba647. Activation was not something that you could do to frequently. It was simply not good for the body.

“Once activated you should not reactivate for three hours. It is preferable to wait for six! And don’t activate too frequently. Twice or three times a week is the most that your body can tolerate. Any more and I shall not be responsible for the consequences.”	I had listened extremely carefully, because the android was the best in the illegal modification business. He continued to drone on in his mechanical voice “And sir, don’t press the twenty-eight digit code. I suggest that you reserve this for the very special occasion.

Even among the Galactic Security, this degree of modification is reserved for the very elite forces.” “What happens if I repeat it within three hours?” “Oh, once or twice in emergencies is all right, but a human body can only take so much. If you overdo it, your heart will burst. I have lost two subjects who have been reckless and foolish”	In any case, this time I had activated for three seconds, though I was allowed up to eleven seconds in each session. So all was not lost after all. Moreover, I was not expecting any danger in near future.

“I shall stay out of trouble. I shall not poke my nose into other peoples business. I shall not rush into hidden dangers. I shall not steal. I shall not crack bank codes.	I shall not rush to save damsels in distress unless . I shall not activate unless absolutely necessary.” My lips mumbled soundlessly as the commands were reinforced into my mind.

This was a part of self hypnosis technique, which I had learnt from the Neo Buddhist Siddarthamunirathnarama23x2r1c, to whom I had been referred by my andro-surgeon.	“Most people come to me for modification when they are running away from trouble. Best thing is not to fall into trouble in future. The Neo Buddhist will identify your trigger points and make sure that you will avoid trouble.”

During my session with Siddarthamunirathnarama23x2r1c he had first asked questions. He had promised a hundred percent confidentiality. You don’t lie to a doctor. But even so, I simply could not tell him the whole truth.	But I told him parts of the truth. How I was n efficient code writer for the Central Galactic Programming division.

How I lived alone and comfortable in my single room six hundred floor bachelor’s pad, enjoying my music and vidholograms.	How I had heard female screams, rushed in to save Minca and how I had fallen in love with her. This part of my narration was true. Nothing hidden, nothing exaggerated.

I was returning from office. Normally, my office gravohover would drop me on the rooftop of my flat complex, but on that day I felt like taking a walk.	The crowded streets, squalor, and humidity was occasionally needed to get back my sanity. I got down at the commercial hover port three kilometers from my flat and decided to walk the rest of the way.

It was already dark and I turned into a dark alley, which was a short-cut. I had taken just a few steps, when the first scream hit me!	I normally don’t interfere in other peoples business, and screaming females from dark alleys were commonplace occurrence anyway. But on that day, I was intrigued enough and decided to investigate. The scene of action was less than two hundred meters away.

The woman or girl was extremely pretty. The mutant was intent on raping her. It was surprising indeed to see a Cyborg intent of ravishing a human female.	A few more steps brought me close to the scene. I did not rush, but stood about six meters away.

I dipped my hand into my pocket. No no, I was not a spy or a detective to carry a licensed laser hand-gun. All I pulled out were a pair of ear-plugs.	It had indeed been my lucky day, because I had just completed my invention prototype. Ultra high frequency sound generator. I had planned to do some experiments in my flat and the console was still strapped to my wrist.

The UHSFSG (ultra high frequency sound generator) sent in sound waves just above human hearing levels. It produced different types of feelings in different persons. Fear, terror, repugnance, revulsion and shock. Yes! Each feeling was accompanied with shock, which would freeze the opponent.	The pretty damsel with torn clothes, exposed breasts, and fear on her face, the Cyborg, and the mutant remained glued to their spots. I was surprised that my device was working equally well on a Cyborg.

It was an easy matter to bind the two assailants back to back. I then walked to the girl.	I gave her a reassuring smile and switched off my sound generator.

The features of terror gradually faded from her face.	She now looked calm, composed and really pretty.

I pulled out my comm.-console. The next logical step would be to summon the cops and hand over the villains. “Please! Don’t call the planetary security forces”	I was surprised, but did as she requested. I stopped punching the buttons. I looked up to her, gave a smile of reassurance, and waited patiently.

She was hesitant. She has some difficulty in composing her thoughts and speak cogently. She appeared to be in a dilemma. At last she concluded that the best option was to speak the truth.	The truth did shock me. It was not attempted rape from which I had saved her. It was a trap. A properly laid trap.