Chapter 3

"Dear students and the faculty members, welcome you all to today's conference. It's a prosperous moment when we get an opportunity to have him as our guest. I don't think that man needs an introduction. We all know very well about Dr. Hemanta Biswas, a shining jewel to our society. We all feel proud of him. He helps this world several times with his precious inventions. It's a privileged moment when we have a chance to speak with the hero of our nation, Dr. Hemanta Biswas. Today, he is here to talk about his latest research which he named as NISKARUM...an universal cure. So, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Dr. HEMANTA BISWAS,"

The auditorium was filled with the sound of clapping hands. Almost three hundred people were sitting inside. Most of them were students, the rest of them were apparently lecturers and professors or someone from his field of work.

There was a big banner hanging on the stage saying, 'Dr. Hemanta Biswas...guest of honor'.

Dr. Biswas entered the stage with a smile on his face and waving his hand. He was wearing a black color suit. His pointy shoes were shining like one could see it's the face on it.

He began saying, "Thank you all of you for your love and support. Without your love and support, it won't be possible for me to be standing here in front of you. So, without any farther delay, let's start our today's topic of discussion which is NISKARUM. Everyone may have heard of it. People, especially the media, are talking a lot about it recently. You may have hundreds of questions. I will try that when you will go out of this room today, you will go with all the answer you deserve to know,"

He paused for a moment and again got back to his speech," Virus, normally when we heard the word, something evil, something painful pops to our head. Isn't it? Pictures of People, dying in infections come to our minds, and that's not completely wrong, and not completely true either. As people of the modern scientific world, we know well that all the viruses do not cause harmful effects to a living cell. Some of the viruses are there, which are immensely helpful to our system. For example, you may have heard about vaccinia viruses. It belongs to a poxvirus family which is used to create the vaccine for smallpox,"

He removed the cap of the bottle and poured some water into his mouth. After making his throat wet, he got back to his speech.

"The world is a very mysterious system. After living thousands of years, we have failed to figure out what actually this blue colored ball is doing. For me, the lives on earth are like a jigsaw pattern. To survive here, we just need to match the pattern with each other. If nature built something that can kill us, it also built something that can save us too. We just need to be just smart enough to find it out, and that's what I try to do. While walking on this path, I found out about a virus that can be used to cure all the infection...a virus which is the answer to all the questions. Think of a virus that can cure all the diseases, a virus that is programmed to kill other viruses. As I said, nature created the virus that causes illness and pain, and I reprogrammed those viruses and found the solution which is going to end all suffering of humans."

He pressed a button of the tiny remote controller, and the projection screen started to show some round-shaped green organism. He started to explain what that thing was.

Everyone in the auditorium was sitting with a notebook and a pen or with a tab. They were writing the points whatever they think is necessary. The projectile, running on the screen, showing the points of Dr. Biswas' speech.

One student from the middle of the masses raised his hand.

"Yes, my friend," Dr. Biswas said, pointing to him.

"Have you successfully tested that cure on any human?" he asked.

"We have not tested it on the human body yet. There are some legal issues we were facing. The good news is now we are allowed to test it on humans. The trial will start next week. But we have tested on several species, and the result comes positive all the time. So, it would not be hard for us to test it on humans,"

"Anyone else wants to ask something?" he gazed over the crowd, holding his hand to his forehead, covering his eyes.

Another student raised her hand and asked," Good evening, sir. I just wanted to know if there are any side effect test subjects faced,"

"Well, minor side effects were seen on them. Like weakness, indigestion, vomiting, mood-swing. But nothing serious that can say that this cure is harmful. All those side effects were because of the introduction of a new compound to the system. With time, we can overcome all these side effects too."

"Any more question?" he waited to see a raising hand.

"Sir, suppose, you have succeeded to construct the medicine which you are talking about, what will it be the price? I mean will it be affordable to poor people, because I think they are in need of this medicine most," another one from the crowd asked.

"That's a very relevant question, my friend." Dr. Biswas chuckled.

"Pricing the medicine is not completely in my hand. A lot of things mater while we come to sell it. But I can assure you that from my part of the deal I will try my best to keep the price as low as possible. Because I don't want someone to suffer only because of the unaffordability,"

The question-answer session went for a long time. He was making smart, quick, and interesting answers to every question. They were having a good time talking with Dr. Biswas.

When everyone was enjoying the sweet juice of the modern and advanced scientific world, on the other side of the same world a few tribal people were struggling with a new problem, which was beyond their level of understanding.

Pradhan, with his three followers, reached near the river expecting to find the cause of last night’s terror. But, when they reached there, they found it hard to believe their own eyes.

“Are they seeing correct or is it some kind of magical illusion?” they asked themselves.

Their jaw was dropped after seeing the thing, standing in front of them.

It was a big black colored stone, almost five ft tall. They were standing at a distance from it. No one dared to go near it. It looked like a big black creature sitting with its arms closed. From where they were standing, the surface of it seemed very smooth, and the top of it had a round shape.

They stared to make noises with their mouth, and clapped their hands to see if that thing moved. But, it did not show any movements. Probably, those sounds made by them did not penetrated it’s ears, if it had something like that.

Pradhan took a stake in his hand hit the ground hard several times.

But, the result was same. No sign of any behavior from that black monster like thing.

"What is this thing, Pradhan?" Romeng asked, making his eyeball bigger.

Pradhan was speechless too. He did not know what to tell to his people. His neck was dried.

"I don't know. I am seeing this for the first time in my life. It’s looks like a big stone to me. Only thing I can tell with absolute certainty is that this stone is the cause of last night's attack," he said coughing.

"How do you say that?" Gaurang questioned him.

"What else could be the reason? Anyway, look at the cracks. All of them are starting at the stone, and then moving towards our place." he bent down to the ground.

At the bottom part, where that thing was touching the ground, there were some cracks on the lands in zig –zag pattern spreading to a far distance. Those cracks were developed all around the stone.

Everyone nodded their head.

"But, how this thing came here? Someone can't carry such a big thing,"

"I think, it came by the river," Mrigang said, pointing the direction of the river.

"That's not possible. From the way, it is standing, it looks like someone put it there," Pradhan disagreed with him, shaking his head.

"Who could have done that?" his eyes were furious.

"I think someone from the other side of the river. They are always trying to take the water from us,"

"This thing is bigger than an elephant,"

They were petrified.

"Search the jungle and see if there is anyone around," Pradhan ordered them.

They moved to another side of the jungle and checked every possible place where anyone could hide.

"Something doesn't feel alright," Pradhan said indistinctively.

"Yeah, I think so too. There is not a single bird here. otherwise, those trees have a lot of birds," Mrigang said, looking at the trees.

"Someone cursed us. We all are going to die," Gaurang sounded panicked.

"That's not going to happen. We are here for a long time. This place belongs to us. No one can remove us from here. We will fight to our last breath for our place," Pradhan said heavily.

"But what about the stone. We don't know anything about it, and last night we all saw what it can do. We can not fight with such a thing,"

"We will destroy it. The mother goddess is with us," Pradhan said, raising his hands towards the sky.

After searching for a distance, they found nothing suspicious.

"Nobody is here. We should get back," Pradhan said.

"Get back, you mean to go to our home," Mrigang asked.

"No, fool, to the stone. We can not go home like this. We have to do something about it. Everyone is waiting for us to hear something good," he said with anger in his face.

They returned to the place where the stone was standing, scaring them.

"Don't get closer to it. We don't know what is hiding inside,"

They moved around the stone from a distance. It's a black colored stone, curved at many places. The surface of the stone was not smooth.

"Give me your bow and an arrow," Pradhan ordered Mrigang.

"What do you think of doing?" Romeng was startled by Pradhan's intention.

"We can not just walk round and round it. This makes no sense. let's see how strong it is,"

"So, you are going to shoot an arrow to it. You have lost your mind,"

"Do you have any other option except for shouting at me? If you do, tell me,"

"What if it becomes angry! You will make it worse,"

Mrigang was standing there, with his jaw touching his chest.

"What did I tell you? Give me your bow," he shouted.

Mrigang gave him his bow with an arrow, and took the spear, Pradhan was holding.

"Think one more time. That thing looks very powerful. It's impossible to destroy it with an arrow,"

"You can say that. Because people are not looking at you for help. The responsibility of their lives is upon me, not you," he said, clenching his teeth.

Pradhan made up his mind. No one can stop him if he once decided something to do. He fixed the arrow in the bow and pulled the string.

"Everyone, get back," he said, aiming it towards the black, magical stone.

Three of them took a few steps backward. Their hearts started to beat faster. Mrigang rubbed his hand to calm his goosebumps. Everyone thought that it was a mistake that Pradhan was going to do. But, no one was brave enough to stop him from doing that. He was the leader of the tribe, and all of them had to follow his orders.

He took a deep breath and released the string of the bow from his finger. The arrow was released. It moved towards the stone at its full speed. It's going and going, and when it about to strike the stone, suddenly it vanished within a blink of an eye. There was no sign of the arrow.

No one understood what just happened.

"You missed the target," Romeng was relieved that it did not hit the stone.

"That's not possible. I have never missed a target. I timed it perfectly this time. There is no chance of it," Pradhan said, squeezing his eyebrows.

"Then where did go? It did not hit the target. We would have seen it on the stone if it did that,"

"I think that stone ate it," Gaurang said slowly.

"What?" Romeng gave him a frown brow look.

"I think so too. I saw it, going towards the stone, and then vanished," Mrigang supported him.

"That's not a normal stone. It's a demon stone," his voice was terrorized.

"What are we going to do now, Pradhan? That thing is indestructible. It will be going to eat us all," Everyone's face was dried.

Pradhan was standing there like a statue looking at the stone. He was thinking about his people. How will he tell them that all are going to die? Those were his people. Looking towards him with the hope that he can protect them. But now, there was something ahead of them which was evil, stronger than they had ever seen.

"Pradhan?" Romeng waggled his shoulder.

"What are you thinking?" he asked again.

"I don't know. But I can not let them die. They trust me with their lives. I have to find a way," he released a deep sigh.