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Stop!!]

She walked back from the hanger into the lab. The temple could wait.

"Any progress Shan?" She asked worried.

"None M'am. The vaccine is the same across the coast. The microbes are the same too. The cells of the root seem to be malfunctioning. DNA testing does not show any mutation and yet the cell membrane walls are unable to perform osmosis. We have a call with Dr. Fisher from Sahara on the issue at nine."

[Walls closing in. No where to run. I will have to file for bankruptcy. Let go of the fields. Let go. Stop!]

The temple glowed in the numerous lamps. The light tumbling from the numerous strands of incense filling the room. Pandit Arya one of the best therapist hired by the company, one of the last few luxuries she could afford, looked calm and detatched from his surroundings. She had found succor for many years in his sessions, in opening up to the wise old man. Whats the use? Today she was too engrossed to notice the touch of sadness in his eyes. An hour and a half of meditation and dialog, and Maya was as detached as she was when she entered the temple. Flu was a pchychosomatic condition. Pandit Arya helped her talk out of it. Her rituals today, were, well, just that. Her heart was not in it. There were too many underlying currents inside her mind to open up to tackle flu.

[I will live with the flu damn it. Or better still die! STOP! ]

A heaviness settled around her shoulders as nine ‘O' clock approached. Dr. Fisher was the best in the agri-climate studies. She would meet him over conference and then retire. She was paying a bomb to get his report on the cane rot and something was wrong. He had kept her waiting. But as it struck twelve, Shan was almost near panic. He looked helplessly at her.

So this is how it ends. You have not heard anything yet. Everything ends. Stop.

The screen switched on with a slight click of static.

[So alone! I can even hear the static of the screen when it switches on! Stop. Brace now.]

"Hello Maya."

"Hello...Oh! Pandit Arya?! What are you doing here.. I mean at this hour.. I mean I have an important conference call right now."

"I know. I called you for that."

"I don't understand. Panditji – I am waiting for Dr. Fischer's report, is there a mistake? Is... Is everything alright?" A lot confused and borderline angry and increasingly alarmed Maya looked at Shan.

"Its alright Maya. We have to talk. Mr. Shan, it would be so kind of you to let us discuss this by ourselves, if you don't mind?" Pandit Arya, looked calm and smiled in the general direction of Shan who left flustered and confused.

Brace now.
The morning after was full of activity. Affidavits signed. Execution handed over. Commands given and next year's plans discussed once again. While leaving, Maya looked over the fields longingly. She would be back again.

"Thank you Pandit Arya". Dr. Fletcher's voice was happier this morning on the call than yesterday.

"My dear son, I must thank you. It was a while since I had diagnosed her deteriorating mental state. Her frequent illnesses were all because of the bouts of depression.