Mitron Dilliwala

by Kamalakkannan Durairaju

  There was a pause. “I want to look at the data and get on air live. Now Bangalore team connected the live feed and it seems that it can finish up a kilogram in a day.”

  “How many grams of the bacteria did you simulate the condition with?”

  Yashwant took his time to check the data and said, “A nanogram.”

  “It never had the memory or capability to break down plastic. It’s like it is. Mutating and learning on the go. The bacterium was supposed to die once they finish eating their feed. It’s like they are in limbo. It is happening to them at a cellular level.”, said Hasan

  “In fact, we have got calls from BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike) to take care of the trash problem that has been plaguing them.”

  “Wait. Wait. You didn’t test it on the ground, right? There may be complications.”

  “Okay, I am not going to deploy. I want you to return to Bangalore. This time you are releasing it.”

  “I need more time to run tests. We are not ready yet”, Hasan’s thoughts were miffed.

  “My God. We are getting calls from China, Philippines and almost every country to get their hands on our goldmine. Investors want to rake in money and our IPO has been approved. They are seeing this as a chance to make the most of it. I can’t hold them any longer. The official date is 10 days from Now. December 1, 2019”

  “It is going to be a mistake Yashwant. Things are not adding up. There is a chance of this spilling over.” Hasan was worried at the mention of IPO. Though he is not much into IPO and finances, it can get ugly when too many hands gain control of the remote.

  “Stop it. Stop it. You are fretting too much over a non-existent problem. We have provided you with much more than what you asked for. You have the dead buffer zone. Come over, man. We will discuss and this is a kind reminder for you”.

  Hasan sensed a tonal shift in him. The call was disconnected. Hasan was angry but something else concerned him.

  “What is altering the bacteria at a cellular level? If they are mutating, what is triggering them?”

  When he checked with his team on the ground they said, “The decomposed stubble was stolen by poor farmers to use as manure and..”

  “Why didn’t you inform me? Why weren’t the culprits apprehended?”, asked Hasan.

  “Sir, it’s just manure. What could go wrong?” asked Ravi

  Hasan stared at him for more than a minute that made him uncomfortable by the minute.

  “It would have been manure only if they were dead..”

  Chapter 12

  Majuli river Island, Assam

  The Brahmaputra River was calm. The area was restricted for One-Horned Rhinos to roam about. They were yawning. Massive guardrails were raised along the coast that hugged a small island.

  Dozens of men were watching over porters transferring cargo onto a truck. It had the name ColdX labelled to its side. The guards were a bit off as they expected nobody would dare raid them at this place and the time. But they were going to be proven wrong.

  Four pairs of eyes were watching the proceedings unfold.

  The lead man waved his hand towards the truck and said, “Go, Go, Go....”

  First, a boat rammed into the watchtower. The shots were fired by the man who fell the ground, waking up the guards who were resting. Four more boats were rammed. They did not have a pilot.

  As the guards were terrified about where the next boat would come from and ram them, they had a surprise. A boat was speeding towards their shore, the guards shot the boat. It slowed down. The moment they thought nothing was going to happen.

  Four men with automatic rifles, two from each side of the boat showed up and shot the men on the shore.

  A wheezing sound. Three more fell.

  There was no blood.

  Four men came on to the shore and one took the driver’s seat of the COLDX truck.

  The lead man was attacked by a bulky guy. When the attack started, he hid in the bush close by. He got hold of the guy and after a punch to his gut and face, the mask that the lead guy had was taken off.

  The bulky guy was put off by the man’s face for a moment. A creased face that would pass off as a 65-year old. The lead guy punched back and the bulky fell the ground.

  Others were subdued.

  The next day when the police would get to know that an old man, a tall south Indian and two Assamese crossed the bridge in a lorry nowhere to be seen. Disappeared without a trace.

  The guards were unconscious and doctors would find a strange mixture of chemicals that were extracted from Indian Ginseng and Garlic in their blood samples.

  Chapter 13

  Air Space over Dhaka

  2 months and 27 days after Mitron’s release

  Indian Prime Minister and his team of advisors, think tank and businessmen were heading to Dhaka to be part of the ASEAN summit and to work out a fruitful discussion with Bangladeshi Prime Minister to resolve differences over a dam construction along the Ganga River, illegal immigrants and much-debated enclaves, which were either a part of India or Bangladesh.

  The other important aspect was to talk to the Chinese Premier and gift him ‘Mitron’ and convince him to use it since it proved too successful in curbing Delhi’s problem.

  Kishore’s think tank thought it would be a massive boost to engage in a dialog about the border problems. Among the businessmen were Yashwant Hegde, Tinu Nariman and Johnny Tyrewala. It was speculated that Yashwant could easily make it to the list of elite billionaires as the stock has been oversubscribed by 20%.

  Karan Majumdar, National defense advisor was running through the events that should reach the PM, “Claims for Gorkaland at an all-time high.”

  He continued, “A zone is being created at Vindhya hills by private entities. Under the new Indian forest draft, Maharashtra, Jharkand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha have transferred huge tracts of land to private companies , they were brought in parcels. Since the beginning of this month, these guys have been doing it. They are stripping all living plants and animals from that zone. They have been warned and local police have been ordered.”

  “An attack on a private island in the Majuli river basin, attackers unidentified.”

  “Delhi Pollution levels are reducing, and this has increased his chances of Bipul Sharma’s re-election.”

  “It has been unusually silent along the Indo-Pak Border in the past few days.”

  At the mention of Bipul Sharma’s election, Amol’s face turned red and he saw Yashwant with vengeance that could rip a hole in space-time continuum.

  “Brief me more Indo-Pak border stuff”, said Kishore Mangat.

  “Usually, on any given day, the world’s most porous border is met with few shell bombs and bullets, it’s been 3 days since there any incidents.” , explained Karan

  He showed him the satellite info of truck movements from Pakistan border into Punjab.

  “That is good, right?”

  “I don’t think so, Sir.”

  “We have unconfirmed reports that a small group of separatists has taken control of the area. We have sent in a regiment with Major Bandopadhay. It happened today morning.”

  “We want you to declare Martial Law.”, said Amol.

  “Is that the only way?”, asked PM

  “Did we try to negotiate? Are there any demands? Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

  “We thought we would be able to figure it out before it got out of hand.”, said Karan.

  “Did the press get wind of it?”

  “No. Sir. We had to close the border between Punjab and other states since the incident.”

  “What’s the situation now?”

  “Unfortunately, there has been complete radio silence.”

  “What have you done? How did they manage to smuggle in weapons?”

  “We are searching for an answer, Sir... So far none of the news outlets reported it.

  “Should we cancel the summit and head back to Delhi?”, Kishore on the back of his mind wanted t
o go back.

  “Sir, we are almost in Dhaka, it would look bad if cancel the meet and return”, said one of the advisors.

  The plane landed and they were greeted by Bangladeshi Prime Minister and her team.

  Chapter 14

  Tamilnadu Secretariat, St. George Fort, Chennai

  2 months and 27 days since Mitron’s release

  The sea breeze could be heard in the middle of the night. It was 2 AM when Nalan received the call. He had to rush to a war room that had been secretly built from the prying eyes of Union government watchers. Monitors, phones, and people were arrayed across the room.

  The man who accompanied Nalan was yelling, “3...2...1.. On Air now.”

  Phones were ringing. Victor, Thamburan, Amravati, and Sekar were online.

  They were waiting for someone.

  Shehelawat was on one of the screens to the left corner.

  He did not know he was on air and he was abusing his staff for not doing so. His staff told him, “You are on.”

  Shehelawat brought himself together and said, “It’s true.”

  “Are you sure?”, came a collective gasp from all the CM’s.

  “Pakka!! Punjab and Haryana have been isolated. Buzz is that the army has got in. There were satellite images proving the same”

  Sekar said, “Thats not entirely true. Separatist movements are not active. It’s a cover for another bizarre story.“

  “It is true that the army has got in but there are no separatists.”, said Shehelawat. “And there are reports that it might be in some kind of sickness. People in and around Bhatinda were falling sick and hospitals were flooded with patients complaining about their digestion and illness.”

  “Did anyone die?” asked Victor.

  “It is unlikely that Martial law would be declared until PM arrives from Dhaka. If it is not culled, Martial law might be declared across India.” said Amravati.

  “Emergency 2020.” Shehelawat said

  “What are we going to do about this?”

  “I have got a credible source.” said Nalan.

  “Who is it?”. It was a collective question.

  “It’s Hasan Rameez. Perunkilli’s student.”

  “It’s not a disease. It’s the bacteria.”

  “Which bacteria?”

  The sharp answer came..

  “Mitron”

  Chapter 15

  Back in Bhatinda, Punjab

  “Sir, the rats are dead?”, said the hazmat guy.

  “What?”, Hasan was still yet to be awake and it was early in the morning

  “Their internal organs have been corroded.”

  “Ravi is your name, right?”

  “Which rats?”

  “Only the Bhatinda ones”, Ravi replied.

  He gave him a tablet which displayed CCTV footages of the lab.

  “The man who fed the rats forgot to put anything inside the Bhatinda rats’ compartment.”, Ravi said pointing it out.

  As the video was fast-forwarded, the rat died within the next 1 hour. “Did you check with the Bangalore lab?”

  “Yes. They are fine.”, came a curt reply.

  “What are we missing, Ravi?”, asked Hasan.

  One of the locals, a man in his late 50s, who was hired for managing the stubble Dump Yard came running into the tent to warn Hasan and Ravi.

  “Sir, the separatists have taken control of some areas, Dump Yard and a few villages. They have killed our people too. I managed to escape.” he said catching his breath.

  “The separatists?”

  “It seems so, Sir. We need to leave this place immediately”, Ravi said. There was an increased sense of urgency in his voice.

  As they were about to leave, something else caught his eye and he stopped in his tracks.

  They were able to hear the noise of a truck’s engine.

  The Dump Yard manager was confused with what were they talking about.

  “Sir. The separatists won’t spare you. I was there at Golden temple in ‘84, it was bad when it happened.

  What is right for one person may not be right for all.

  They might come here next.”, the manager wanted to leave.

  “We need to evacuate our people at the hospital too,” said Hasan. He was not concerned about himself.

  “How do I check the area’s air quality?”

  “Sir?!”, Ravi was confused about how to check AQI being brought up now.

  “The Air quality index the chemicals in the air, parts per million.

  All this drama began for that right.

  I want to go through air samples ASAP.”

  As the villagers were making their way from the separatists, Yocon employees too started packing stuff.

  Ravi had to say an unwilling, “Yes!”

  ---

  Ravi headed towards the tent and Hasan called him by his name twice. “Ravi…Ravi.”

  “Bhatinda is infamous for its cancer express. Since the green revolution, Bhatinda has had more cancer patients than any other city or state.”

  “It’s the pesticides.”, shouted Hasan as if he had found the truth.

  Now he got it. Alarmed at the truth. “OMG! It’s the pesticides. The bacteria are powerful enough to break hydrocarbons. We had a lock on it but pesticides broke that lock, given it a free rein, it has mutated.”, said Hasan.

  “That’s impossible, Sir. We have been really careful about it and we spent a better part of our time scouring for any traces of the same strain. And our lab simulations did feature all kinds of pesticides. It’s impossible, Sir”

  “Did we test it with Endosulphine? DDT?”

  “Yes. Sir.”

  “Please check with our database”, said Hasan.

  Ravi scrambled and for the next 20 minutes, he went scores of research documents.

  “They have been banned since 2002, Sir. So our simulations or field tests did not feature any of that”

  “Ravi, Do you know that stains of pesticides may take hundred or more years to be removed completely” asked Hasan.

  “Sir, but, but banned pesticides were not available.”

  “It is and that is the reason behind the mutation”

  “Life finds its way, Ravi”.

  “There is solid proof already, come with me.” and both hurried. The manager was running behind them. Now it was time for them to head into the separatist’s area.

  The Local police were nowhere to be seen, the posts were abandoned.

  There was news that the army was coming. But it would be too late. They could destroy all equipment or set it on fire. Ravi couldn’t understand the reasoning behind Hasan’s decisions. In order to avoid being detected, they took the help of the old manager and went through the sugarcane field. They were tall enough to avoid being watched.

  The Dump Yard was located 20 minutes away by car. But they cycled a bit and walked.

  It was not going to be simple, but they had to do it.

  “The Bacteria is just waiting to break out Ravi. It needs to be stopped”

  They had to leap beyond the trench and the Dump yard was surprisingly unguarded and both sneaked in. The separatists were guarding the front entry. The manager went back in the direction he came from, as per Hasan’s instructions to ask for help despite Ravi’s plea not to let the old man back alone.

  Hasan said, “Only he can bring us help and inform them to dig trenches, if the bacteria breaks out. So let him go.”

  Dressed in their hazmat suits, they went to the stubble yard. The answer was already there.

  “We have taught these bacteria to breakdown organic stuff at a rate faster than any other species on earth. Remember, these are strong enough to break fibers.

  What will happen when you stop feeding your dog?”

  Ravi was sifting through data all the while stopping to listen what Hasan had to say.

  Ravi took a moment to understand the analogy. “Well, if it’s not fed, it will search for food and once it turns desperate, it will tu
rn on its owner.”

  The stubble flow has stopped, as the bacteria decomposed all supplies.

  “We did not find any mutation because we were feeding it with food all along. That was the breaking point.”, Ravi said, he finally understood the unruly relationship which Yocon dared to foresee.

  Hasan ran to the front portion of the tent. It was dangerously close to the separatists and he was searching for something.

  A truck rolled to a halt.

  Men were shouting. They were closing in. They were running out of time.

  If they were caught, they would be killed gruesomely.

  Ravi ran behind him and tried to help him.

  “Sir, what are you searching for?”

  “The plastic samples which were supposed to be fed to the bacteria.”

  He brought the carton and opened it. It was eerily empty. Ravi was puzzled.

  They thought that perhaps it should have been changed to another carton and searched for it. Hasan too was thinking about it, he picked up the carton and saw it. Small pieces of plastic rolling about the floor of the carton.

  “They are here. Sir” Hasan showed the boxes to him.

  “It is already out” Hasan said.

  They were still in their hazmat suits and did not bother to remove it.

  The yard was deserted. No one was around. The stubble in other sites was empty too.

  He tried using his phone to call Yashwant. But his line was busy.

  “We’ll have to inform the authorities about this. Yashwant is still unreachable.”

  “Sir, we need to get out.” Ravi was watching out for them. They could catch them at any given moment.

  Hasan went to a sugarcane field nearby and he saw it. The edges of the sugarcane leaf and stem were razed. At first, he thought it was blight disease. A moment later he realized it. “Sugarcane is not affected by blight only Banana is.”

  He dialed Perunkilli.

  “Listen to me, the bacteria have started feeding on live crops. It won’t take long before it mutates its way into human cells. I am afraid it has already got into humans. But it hasn’t turned deadly yet. Find a way to stop it.”