The Deletion - 24th Hour

Michael took a while to come out.

Even when he did, he was inscrutable. I thought he looked dejected, but then, it was probably my imagination.

We went to the lobby and then to Level - 0.

'Why not Level - 1?', I asked Michael.

'We're going to travel.', replied Michael.

'Where?'

'Where do you think to, genius?'

'Uh... Earth?'

'You sure got that right', he said, snorting at his own joke.

The sarcasm was not lost on me. I pretended not to notice.

We met with Sarah Gene down at Level 0.

And man, was she pretty.

She had blue eyes, blonde hair. Spectacular looking woman.
What impressed me most was her style. She looked like an angel.

I realized a moment too late that she probably was one.

'Sarah. Shadow Angel Team AE34', she introduced herself.

I shook her extended hand.

'Michael', she nodded her head at him.
He returned the nod.

We went towards another room guarded by a guy.

He seemed uninterested in anything that was happening around him.
After a while and some paperwork later, we were standing in some sort of tunnel shaped device.

Above me was a huge circular device, some sort of controls at a corner of the room and a set of clothes that was to be worn.

'We need to find you a body.', Michael said suddenly.

'What happened to mine?', I asked.

Sarah looked at me like I was stupid.

'That's what we are trying to find.', Michael said through clenched teeth.

We found a suitable body for me from a database. Dude was supposed to Warp today. I felt sorry for him. But then, he probably had a good and healthy life. Hopefully. He was also around my age and from what it seemed like, was going to be in an accident.

Michael explained to me what was going to happen to me and what was happening.

The moment I reached Earth, my body would start counting down. After exactly 24 hours, I would be lost. My body will go berserk and I will have died. I could not exist without my genetic body.

Chief, Michael and Sarah will then Axe me. I will be put up for trial and if not found guilty, would be put up for rebirth.

It was a long process. Only the Elite were ever green lit for immediate Rebirth. Because they had important things to do.

I realized there's levels everywhere.
I was at the bottom.

Suddenly, the device above powered up. It took me apart piece by piece, molecule by molecule.

And I blanked out.


When I came about, I was in a hospital bed. There were beeping sounds nearby.

I could hear sounds of people rushing here and there.

I moved my hand up. Blood coated it.

Someone shined a light into my eyes.


'Who are you?', a female voice asked.

'Jo... John', I answered, my body responding automatically.

Soon, I was cleaned up.

The Doctors were amazed that I had healed so quickly. Except for the blood, they could not find any fault in me.

They called it a miracle of God. I was sure it was.
I was discharged, even though the Doctors wanted to keep me in observation.

They made me sign a couple of documents and I was on my way.


Outside, a car was waiting for me. It was a cab.

I saw that Sarah was driving the car.

'I suck at driving', Michael said, sheepish.

'So... where to now?', I asked.

'Where does your friend stay? The one who sent you the message?', Sarah asked.

'Close by to mine... you think he is related to this?'

'Well, it's a good enough place to start.', Sarah engaged the drive gear and we were off.

A clock was set in the middle of the car. It showed 24:00 and the moment she started driving the car, the clock started running.

23:59.

One minute less.

23:58

One more minute less

'Don't look at the clock Kid. It will not make you feel any better.'

'Then why is it there?'


'Standard feature of Issue. We cannot control or change it.'

23:57

This sucks.

'Go a bit faster then. I'm dying by the minute here.'

Sarah looked at me through the mirror. I looked away.
She signed and drove.


We pulled up to my friends home.

He was home. I could see the car in the parking outside.


I walked up to his home and was about to ring the bell when Michael stopped me.

'What are you doing?', he asked.

'Ringing the bell... people do that here.', I said, sarcasm in my voice.

'We have other methods.', Sarah said, smiling.

Taking hold of my hand, we walked through the door together. Michael followed behind.

Sarah started to look around the place.

'He's up.'

'Let's go... '

'Um... maybe in a few minutes'

'Why?'

'He's in a compromised position.'

'What?'

'He's jacking off Kid. Wait for a minute or so. He will finish now.'

I could feel my face turning red when she said it. I also felt a boner coming up.

'Dude. Keep it in your pants.', Michael warned me.

I smiled sheepishly. There went that one.

Sarah looked up again.

'Yeah. He's done. Let's go.'

We barraged into his room. His back was turned to us but he turned when he heard the sound.

'Who are you guys?', he asked, shocked.

'It's me, Vin'

'John?'

He was quaking now.

Sarah pointed a gun at him.

'Speak.'

'Who's this?', he asked.

In one swift motion, Sarah slapped him.

'I know nothing. I got this message from an unknown number. I saw it and I had to forward it.It was me or someone else. I thought you would forward it to someone...', he started speaking in a frenzy.

'Then?', I asked.

'Then... today I heard you were missing.'

'Then?'

'Then you started disappearing.'

'I started doing what?'

'You started disappearing. Everyone is starting to forget who you are. That you existed. It started off with your farthest friends. It's reached up to our school and news channels.'

'So... I don't exist anymore?'

'I'm sure you do... just that you're not in their minds.'

I looked at Sarah and Michael.

They looked back at me, hopelessness in their eyes.

And, at that moment, I understood that I was truly and royally screwed.

The Deletion- 25th Hour

The chief was sitting behind a huge table.

He looked like the CEOs you see in business magazines.
Crisp suit, well dressed, wearing expensive things, looking ferocious.

Michael seemed to be afraid of him.

'Sit Down, Michael. And you too, Kid.'

Wow. He sure had a deep voice.

'Why does everyone call me Kid down here? I have a name you know.'

'That is your code name. And you're not down anywhere. You're up somewhere'

Chief sure seemed like the last person anyone would want to screw with.

'So tell me Michael. What is this about?'

'Well... This is ID Number AEA291193540.'

Chief typed that into his computer.

He kept on hmming as he read my file.

'So, No body found. Just disappeared off the world.'

'Yes.'

'What are his chances of being a partial?'

Michael looked at me before he answered.

'Right Now... 50 percent.'

'And?'

'Increasing with each passing hour'

'How is this different from the people before?'

'We were able to track their body. It was located at the exact place they had Warped.'

Warp? What are these guys talking about?

'So, what you're saying is, unless we find his body, he is sure to turn into a partial.'

Chief looked over to the right wall of his office.

It was filled with guns and assorted people killing things.

On it, was a framed picture. Someone holding the head of a being.

I stood up. Chief and Michael followed me with their eyes.

As I studied the pic, I realized the man was Chief. A much younger Chief. The head he was holding was that of a human, disfigured beyond recognition.

'That was Jack. Pretty famous. And my first kill of a partial.I believe you guys called him Jack the Ripper.'

The Chief had walked up to me silently.

'I do not want that to happen to you, Kid. You have a bright future ahead of you.'

Michael was standing next to him, nodding his head off.

'So, I am going to help you. I am assigning Michael here to help you find your body.'

Michael looked astounded.

'Another agent, Sarah will join you as well.'

Michael instantly brightened.

'Come with me Kid.'

Gesturing at the seat in front of me, he sat down in his chair.

'This is a dangerous game Kid. We do not know who is behind this. But we do know that they have upped their game. We do not want you to fall into their trap. A life saved is greater than creating another life.'

Seeing the skepticism rising on my face, Chief continued.

'You do not have much time. Truthfully. You have exactly 24 hours to go before you turn into a partial. And believe me, I shall be the first person who drives the Axe through your heart.'

I looked at Michael.

'Michael shall of be no help to you, Kid. He will join me. That is where his duty lies.'

Michael stood up to leave.

'Stay back Michael. Kid, you can wait outside.'

I got up and was escorted out. Michael watched me leave.

'You have 24 hours Kid. You have the choices before you. Choose them wisely.' Chief shouted at me, as the doors closed.

The Agreement

My phone lit up.

It was her. Anushka. My best buddy. We had known each other for 5 or 6 years, not too long. We met at college. We shared the same class. She was insanely pretty. And so clever.
Guess someone else saw it too and well, before the first semester was over, she was in a relationship, That lasted for four years. Insanely long in my P.O.V. We were good friends from start. Then she broke up and then she dated a few guys. And somewhere along the way, we became best buddies.

She would tell me about all these guys at her office and how hot they were. I would tell her about my struggles at home, work and all that stuff. We bonded. She was my coach in many ways. Kinda like a guiding light, you can say.
Then she got a new job in Dubai. She met this guy we knew, Rohith. He was in my same school, college, my senior by an year. And their relationship lasted for two years.

She broke up with him last week. She has been taking it surprisingly well, or so I thought, until I saw her message.

'Wanna get married?'

My mind went into overdrive.

'What?', I replied back, confused.

'Will you marry me?', she asked back.

'Are you crazy?'

'Well that bastard is getting married next year.'

'So?'

'I want to get married before him.'

'So you propose to me? You sure you have the right number?'

'Yes, Dumbass. I want to marry you. Well, Fake Marry you.'

Okay, this was turning into an interesting conversation.

'What?'

'Stop saying that so much.'

'Ok. What?'

'Man just meet me tomorrow at 5. Starbucks near your home.'

'Make it 6. I got work till 5.30'

'Allright'

She went offline after that.

And now I couldn't sleep. What did she mean by all this?

I mean sure, I had developed feelings for her while in college and then briefly during her relationship with Rohith. I had talked to her about it, we were cool. My mom teased me all the time about me falling for her and well, I had stopped catching that bait. That was just to ask me to get married.

I definitely did not want to get married. I valued my privacy and space more than anything.

So, I waited for it to become the next day. I could not sleep. I worked through the day, looking like a zombie. We were going to have to talk for a long time to clear this up.

I reached at 6, on time, another first for me when meeting anyone, at the Starbucks near my home.

She had already reached. And she looked like the bomb.
Cute knee length patterned white dress. White heels. Her usual handbag. So chic.

We went in together. I noticed a lot of people staring at her and then at me. And well, I think the first question that came into their head was,'What does she see in him?' 

Or maybe that was my inferiority complex speaking. I wasn't exactly John Abraham... more like Boman Irani.

We ordered cappuccinos, a cake and a croissant. We found a cozy spot and sat down.

Now, it was time to talk.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she said,'You know about my past. And how it was with Rohith.'

I stared at her blankly.

'I feel real lost now that he walked out of my life. And mom is pressuring at home, that my age is high, I need to get married soon and what not.'

She continued,' I really don't want to bring someone else into my life. I think, you might just be the right person to marry now.'

'But, I don't want to marry. Ever. I am not ready for that sort of commitment to anyone - I mean, it sure is nice when you meet someone for a couple of hours every week or once in a while, but what do you do with someone for a lifetime?'

'I wasn't done.', she said,'I do not want to actually marry you.'

I stared blankly at her. Here were those same words, again.

'Well, have you heard of fake marriages? Marriages that couples get done to avoid their parents and society sitting on their head?'

'I have read about it happening in China or something like that'

'Well, I propose the same thing. Think about this: You and I, in the same house. Separate rooms. We have our own space, like room mates. You don't need to share a bathroom. You have your life, I have mine - like an open marriage. In front of society and our families, we are married. But, deep down, we know, we are not.'

I sat, dumbfounded, for a while. My silence was clearly getting to get as she grew fidgety every passing minute. She kept fidgeting with her cake. It now lay in ruins.

'Do you want to live a life of lies in front of everyone?', I asked, finally speaking what had been in my mind for a while.

'Yes. Anything to get my parents to back off. I am 27 now dude. They are anxious.'

'I am 27 too. I know what you're talking about.'

'Not as much as me. And also, this is great for you too. Your mom is not going to pressure you into marrying if you already are.'

'What kind of logic is that', I asked, laughing.

'Think about it. I have. A lot.', she said.

I did not say anything back, eating my croissant in silence. 

She leaned over and wiped off a few crumbs that were stuck in my beard.

We talked for a while after that, but nothing about this.
While I was walking her back to her car, she said to me, 'Consider what I have said, will you?'

I just nodded.

I couldn't sleep that night either.

What was she proposing? A life of lies, acting in front of family, friends, relatives, colleagues and who else? What about children? What about my life? What about hers?

I was so confused. I looked at the clock. It was 2.

I called her.

'You up?'

'Yeah. What?'

'I wanna meet. Come down.'

I went over to her place and we drove to the beach nearby.

'Do you have any idea what you proposed to me today?'

'I do.'

'You do? Really?'

'Yes.'

'Why this. Why?'

'I...', she paused,'I cannot forget him da. I cannot. I think about him all the time. I am miserable. He is a nice guy too. But we are not- were not compatible. It was hell with him.'

'How do you make this lie believable? People are gonna start expecting kids and it's gonna be rough.'

'Well, we can always have kids without having sex, if that is what you are asking about.'

'Well...'

'Dude. This is a fake marriage. We get married so that everyone get's off our backs. We sign pre-nups so that in case any of us wants a divorce, neither of us has to pay the other anything. We want kids? We have IVF kids using a surrogate. We hire nannies to look after them. We have separate rooms and once the kids come, we can just make two rooms into one and share the room so that it looks like we stay together. You will have to adjust on the couch tho. I'm not letting you get into the bed with me. I can't imagine having to watch your morning wood poking through the sheets. We both work so that we can make a living. You don't have to get me anniversary presents, just birthday presents. Just think of all the freedom you get. Not a real wife, so not gonna poke my head into your business. And you, will also do the same for me.'

I just stared at her. She was an evil genius and she knew it.

And the truth was, I could see some sense in her plan.

I did not tell her that, just that I wanted a few more days to think it through.

I proposed to her in a few days. Things happened so quickly after that, it was all a blur.

Our parents had our stars checked out to see if they matched and everyone was relieved when it did.
Anu was really tensed that this was gonna throw a wrench in her plans.

Our friends, all of them, mutual and close were shocked when we announced our marriage. No one saw this coming.

And suddenly, I was looking at my wedding invitation.

"Anushka weds Sharan"

Wow. That was quick.

And in a month, I was married to my best buddy. It was huge. Our friends came. Our close friends came. Families. Relatives. Our Exes came. Imagine the look of jealousy on my Exes face when she saw Anu. Well, I did not have to imagine, because well, 1. Anu was glowing that day. She was so beautiful. 2. My last Ex did not take a photo with us. Her face was literally green with envy and purple with hate. So, I guess not exactly a good combination.

We met my family lawyer the week after we married. We signed Pre Nups. Even though they are supposed to be signed before the wedding. We thought, well, why not wait until the wedding is over to sign it.

And it was registered and wills were written.


A couple of days after that, we went on our honeymoon. I had always wanted to tour Europe and U.S.A, so that is where we went.
It was a beautiful trip. I acted as her wing-man and she as my wing-woman. We went everywhere as a couple, did a ton of couple activities. We specifically asked for two single beds in the rooms we went to, not that it mattered. Most of the places had been booked by a company that specialized in honeymoon packages and had been a gift from my sisters. They were, naturally, overjoyed that their only brother had finally caved in and accepted marriage after so long of fighting against it.

Things were usually smooth. We had our disagreements. Some days, she had this odd look on her face. I could never read it.

One day, we were hanging out at our hotel pool and she was in this beautiful one piece.
I stared at her and for some reason, my mind said, 'Damn Son. You are one lucky bastard. Look how fine your wife is.'

I caught myself thinking this and I was shocked.

We had agreed not to develop feelings for each other, even though we had agreed that we would tell each other if we did.

I took her aside and talked to her.

'Dude. I think we have a problem'

'What? Let me enjoy my swim.'

'Dude. I think I am developing feelings for you.'

'That's just the bikini working its magic on you. All the alcohol does not help either.', she said.

'Maybe.', I said. I did not want to look like a wimp in front of her.

'Look. You just need to get laid. Let's try hitting the bar tonight, try to find someone for some fun.'

And she went back to swimming.

We went to the bar as promised. Found a beautiful woman. Played the cards right and well, went back to my room with her. This was a separate room we had taken, just for romps like this.

I played all the cards right and while I was deep in her, I came to the realization that this is what my life is going to be like for a long time. I was going to be banging random women as my libido said so.I also realized that she had not had sex for a while either.

I came soon after that. She looked disappointed as she left.
I raced back to our room.

I barged in to find Anu in a robe, eating cake, drinking wine, watching TV and sobbing.

She jumped at my barging in.

'Dude! What the fuck?'

'Sorry. I just had to.'

'Over so soon?'

'It's been over an hour dude'

'Oh yeah. Guess you don't last very long'

'Well, beats eating cake and sobbing at the TV.'

'27 Dresses does that to you, Dumbass.'

'Oh.'

'So? How was it?'

'It was fine. Mind if I join you?'

'Just come here man. All this formality.'

I jumped onto our bed, grabbed the glass of wine she offered me and settled down.

And she snuggled close to me, I realized something.

Maybe, marriage wasn't so hard after all.

I looked down at her. Her hair smelled wonderful.
She was sobbing again. I patted her arm, trying to soothe her. She snuggled closer to me.

It felt amazing.

And then I decided. Tonight was going to be my last fling. My next goal was to make her fall in love with me. And that, was something I am going to do, no matter what happens. Damn the agreement we made. I couldn't care less about it now.

The Deletion - Prologue

I opened the WhatsApp message.

It was a GIF from a close friend. And it had some hairy dude screaming about deletion on it.

I was bemused. Sort of.

He had a crazy streak.

I asked him if he was crazy.

His only reply was,'I am Sorry.'

He went offline after that and did not reply to me at all.

I put the phone to charge, brushed my teeth, and got down to sleep.

Tomorrow was an important day, after-all.


I woke up to find myself surrounded by nothing.

I was not wearing any clothes, nor could I make out the things around me.

I was in a white room?

Yes. I was in a white room. There was some neatly folded clothes next to me.

I wore them.

A voice spoke from what seemed like the back of the room.


'Oh Good. You're Awake. Make sure to wear the clothes...' he trailed off.

'And you're wearing them.Pretty advanced, for a first timer. Walk with me', he said.


I walked up to him.

He was a tall fellow. His black hair slicked back, stubble on his cheeks. He was smoking a cigar it seemed, his darkened lips sucking on it. He had deep set eyes that were surrounded by dark circles. He sure seemed to be losing sleep a lot. And he seemed to love black clothes, wearing a black jacket, jeans, shoes, a white tshirt and a scarf of some sort around his neck.


As I opened my mouth to speak, he said,'If you have questions, wait till we are inside. This place has ears all around.'

None of that made sense to me. All I could see was a white corridor, that was far too wide for some reason.

He opened what seemed to be a door and let me in. He then walked in behind me and closed the door.


'Allright Kid. Sit down. And then tell me, what all you want to ask.'

I sat down on the seat. It was comfortable.


'Where am I? Who are you? What am I doing here? Why am I here?', I asked.

'Hmm. Only four. Off to a good start Kid.'

He was making no sense to me.

'So, coming to your questions. You are in my office. Which is located at Level 1, Block-C, Heaven Street. I am Michael. I am your Guardian Angel. Sorta. Regarding to what you are doing here, that is what we are going to find out now. And Why you are here is what is puzzling everyone.'

'You are not making any sense to me.'


'Well, the thing is, you're not supposed to be dead now.'


'I'm Dead?', I ask, incredulous.

'Well...', he paused.

'Answer me!', I shouted.

'Shut up. I am your Guardian Angel. Not the other way around.' Michael said.

'Sorry.' I said, feeling stupid.

'It's not your fault. I would react the same if I just found out I was dead.'

I smiled. He continued,' See, the thing is, according to your files, you're supposed to live on for longer. You are not supposed to be dead now. It's just confusing us that you have just vanished off Earth too.'

'What?'

'Yes. Your body has disappeared too. This never happens unless you are a high level operative of ours or you have been given special status.'

'Then what happened to me?'

'That is what we have to find out. Tell me what you did, without missing anything.'

I explained to him everything, even the last deletion message I received.
He was pacing around the room this entire time.

When he heard about the deletion message, he paused.

He went to his computer and showed me a GIF. The same GIF I received yesterday.

'Is this the same one you received?' he asked.


'Yes.'

He smiled.

'Man. I'm saved.'

Then his smiled stopped.


'We don't know where your body is'
He seemed to be shocked.

He took up his phone.


'Tom. Put me to John from Block- B. John Horn'

I sat there, looking dumb.

'John. We have another deletion case on our  hands. No. It's not as simple as we had hoped. The body is missing. If it is damaged, you know what happens. We cannot have another Partial around here.'

'What's a partial?'I asked

He gestured with his hand for me to keep quiet.

He just listened for a while. And then he put down the receiver.

'Come along Kid. We're going to see the Chief.'


We walked out his office and I could start seeing things. I could see silhouettes of desks and start hearing sounds of phone ringing and people typing.

We took the elevator to the Top Level of the Building.

It connected out into a lobby where a lot of lifts were there. Each where marked with a number and an alphabet.

I soon understood that each of them was from each block and each block had at the least three elevators.

It was madness.


We went and waited out in the front office. There was an attractive lady there. I could make out from her silhouette.

She was slowly clearing up for me and if I squinted hard enough, she became visible for a few seconds at a time.


She received a ring on her phone and she waved us in.


When I stood up, he looked at me.

'Where are you going?'

'She waved us in!', I said, indignantly.

'You can see her?' he asked, incredulous.

'Kinda.'

He just looked down at his hands. I could hear him muttering "This is Bad" under his breath.

'Let's go', he said, getting up.