THE HYDROSAVER

The day was 5th September 2051. It was a scorching hot day. The water supply had stopped, the tank was empty, and it was noon. I had ordered a can of water, but the water had not reached my home yet because of traffic. My tongue had dried up and I was relying on a bottle of water right now. I took small sips of water each minute and the bottle was already half empty. I slowly tried to limit the amount of water I drank until the water supply was back. I opened my phone and decided to read some stories. All I could see on my screen was "The End of our Planet", "The Doom of Mankind" and many more e-books that were just focused on our death. I missed those days where we read books all about adventure. Those were the days, weren't they?

Two hours had passed; the water had still not come. I decided to go to the WSS office (water supply storage) to check the problem. I wore my favourite hat, picked up my bike keys, and locked my house. I got on my bike and sped off. Hot air rushed into my face, which made me even more thirsty. The city was as usual, with its normally tall buildings. I could see very few people on the roads of Bangalore which was once crowded with people. After all, the population of Karnataka now is just over 10,00,000 people. It had been years since I had seen trees. The last tree in Karnataka was in my grandmother’s house…which also died due to acid rain 10 years ago, which made the soil of Karnataka contagious and acidic, such that it can burn humans alive. Known as "Milton rain", this rain is named after Tilak Milton, a scientist who performed extensive research on contagious mud and rain and found out its chemical properties and techniques to protect us from future acid rains. But one day, 5 years ago, his lab blasted due to a chemical reaction, and all his research burned to ashes. Milton’s body could not be found. So, he was declared dead. Some say that Milton died due to the radiation of contagious mud he researched.

Nobody can now walk on sand and mud, so cement is built on mud to avoid contact with mud. Agriculture was impossible. Farmers, unaware of the consequences of the rain, stepped on the now contagious soil and died instantly. Up to date, over 4 lakh farmers have died. Even the deserts are marked as dangerous and isolated areas. Millions died and many survived the day of the Milton rain. My parents died, but I survived, after staying for a year in an underground military hospital in Bangalore as I was a doctor, or more specifically, a space scientist. I loved space and did research on Earth and other planets. I had tried to warn all the people on earth, along with a few other scientists, about the destruction 10 years ago, but no one was ready to listen to me. They made fun of us.

Now, we are all facing the consequences. All the previous cabinet ministers resigned due to pressure from the public, and new ministers took charge. Anyways, back to the topic. This acid rain was the cause of this lack of water in the whole world. The world is surviving on "ARTIFICIAL WATER" made in the WSS offices. But you might be wondering, how do we breathe if there are no trees? Well, Bangalore is enclosed in a big bubble acting as a temporary atmosphere with a continuous supply of oxygen which is also made artificially by absorbing oxygen from other planets. A spaceship goes there every day to collect the existing small quantities of oxygen from the moon and Mars. We were actually going to move to Mars until we found out that the big billionaire who was supposed to take us there had also died due to contact with Milton Rain. The government also recently passed a law prohibiting extensive activities to save oxygen!

What is the world going to!?

I reached the WSS office, a huge factory where oxygen and hydrogen are fused to make water. I entered the reception and then went to the CEO, who was none other than my best friend, Kayanth.

He welcomed me warmly and gave me a glass of water. Finally, my thirst was quenched. I asked him the reason for the stopped water supply, and then Kayanth gave me a serious look and then replied, "Kishant, I am going to tell you something which is very top-secret information. Hope I can trust you." I replied yes and then he spoke in a stern manner, which totally creeped me out. The problem is that we have a scarcity of hydrogen in the atmosphere at the moment. "The Arya hydrogen vacuum," which costs a fortune, has sucked very little hydrogen out of our atmosphere (Now only filled with hydrogen), which indicates a shortage of hydrogen. Mr. Dev, who supplies us with hydrogen, himself contacted me and informed me of this. If we don't have enough of this hydrogen, we're doomed! We do not get water anymore to make artificial food or drink! People have not heard the news yet, if they do then protests will take place, leading to further chaos. This will result in a drastic decline of humanity, leading to the END OF THE WORLD."

This is a serious matter that needs to be addressed immediately. At the moment, I don't have any ideas...the government is also aware of this and is trying to do something", Kayanth said in a serious tone. "Why don’t we ask the Prime Minister and Mr. Dev himself?" I said it as a joke. Kayanth jumped in joy and exclaimed, "What a great idea! Come with me! We have to go to Delhi, " and then he had just realised how much oxygen he had wasted jumping. He sat down quickly and took very small breaths. We had to leave for Delhi as soon as possible.

Kayanth was good friends with the Prime Minister and he had booked an appointment with him as soon as possible by phone.

We could only travel by SuperSonic electric trains now since all public transportation services have been shut down. We took emergency seats to Delhi and arrived in a day or so. As soon as we arrived, we got in a "one of a kind" electric Rolls Royce car and headed to the PM’s office. We got down and entered the meeting room to find the whole ministry, including PM Ninad and Mr. Dev. I sat next to Mr. Dev. Kayanth introduced me to everyone. I was wondering whether this Government will do anything unlike the last one. Suddenly, the Environmental Minister, Sarath Kumar got up and pressed a button on a remote which displayed a presentation.

Mr. Sarath started talking "Hello everyone present in this room. As everyone knows, India and the world are in great danger. It has become difficult for us because hydrogen has become scarce, and this issue hasn't reached the public. We are currently providing stored water, which lasts only for a week. Therefore, I have devised a method to retrieve hydrogen. This is our only option and it is approved by Mr. Ninad personally.. So, we need to send two people to space, to get the hydrogen using the Hydroxygen Vacuum. Now, we are yet to select two people from the army, one who is physically fit and one who knows more about space and health sciences. Then suddenly, Mr. Dev interrupted and said, "I have designed a special spaceship which extracts hydrogen and has all the necessary supplies for humans." They will be going into that... Dr. Kishant, you have all the skills necessary. Would you like to join this mission? I was super excited and just agreed to it. During the mission, I was aware of all the risks, but I was prepared to do anything for the sake of the world. Now I need another army man who I recommend for this mission, which I will disclose tomorrow," Mr. Ninad said. "Kishant, we will send you to space prepared! "

                    

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