This is a story of an unsung hero, rising from the abyss of slums and poverty, leading his ways to the world and creating anew for everyone. Bringing peace and prosperity and ending all the wars mankind has waged over for power over the region.
"Yes, that's me! I am your hero. Thank You AI for making that voice note for me. But today, my fellow humans, there will be no more government, no more propaganda, and no senseless death over tiny disputes in global politics. I am announcing myself as the ruler of this world, your hero!! And I am about to nuke this entire world!!!!!!!"
"Did you get that?"
-17 Minutes Ago—
Burj Khalifa. Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
"I understand darling, daddy will come home as soon as your eyes will open tomorrow. So please go to sleep now."
I was talking to Rachel, my daughter of 4 who was very demanding, you know kids nowadays, all time Phone and iPads and nothing. But Rachel is different; she won't sleep until Daddy sings her stories of Heroes and Warriors. She is my princess, the most dear to me.
Looking down from the 88th Floor of Burj, Dubai seemed endless as deserts of course dwelling upon the horizon. But I was busy, saying goodbye to Rachel was hard, but now back to the business. My meeting was on the 53rd floor with the Sheik Al-Bin Sultan, the man of great power. He was interested in getting a Football club from London, though the price he is offering is not half bad but due to the reputation of that club, the owners seemed to be getting greedier taking notes with unlimited oil money.
I was in the lift, when suddenly the lights started to go out and some turbulence shivered the elevator. This is the first time something like this has happened. Burj had its name for being the most facilitated building in the world, so this was a rare phenomenon, but my days here have been countless, this was as if my second home. So why not experience a rare phenomenon for all that. I get out on the 29th floor.
"That's weird, I was sure I got out at 53rd Floor, but then why am I at 29th?"
"D—id yo—u g—et th—at?" On television the network seems hazy, wonder again, because there was no sandstorm that would cause this.
"Hello? Can you guys hear me?" The advertisement TV on the ceiling seemed to show an unusual ad, there was a man who painted his face all black and teeth blue. I could see the blue vividly through that smile he was doing. It was an awful and unsettling one to be frank. I pressed on the button once again, my meeting was nearing due, and I would not let this big of a deal slip through my hand at all.
"What do you mean I have to say all that again? It wasn't recorded? Oh give me a break, this is already the 15th time." The TV seemed to be running the same ad and for some reason again Burj premium lift was taking a lot of time to come, it usually comes within a few mins but now it was over five.
I stood long for the elevator, scrolling through today's news on twitter, and BlueMan was trending, weird, perhaps a new movie marketing?
There was a bang, a very loud one, as if someone had fired a gun and startled me. I was unsure if to walk towards it with many thoughts over my head for nearly a minute or two, but before I could take any decisive step…
"Okay, I'll make it short this time. I am bombing the Burj Khalifa, the tallest man made structure in the world!!!"
I spun to the TV immediately, what was it? A skit? For some reason that seemed very unlikely, but I got a very bad feeling about the whole situation. I saw a security guard and rushed to him. "Hey! What is happening?" I yelled, but there was terror on that man's face, an absolute terror, his breaths were heavy and he was sweating too much, he seemed old—it was a panic attack. "I am sorry…" He said in Arabic and fell to the ground and in an instant white fumes overflowed from his mouth and his teeth turned blue.
It was an extremely bad feeling.
Before I could understand, I ran with all my strength towards the fire exit, just to feel the building rumble as I went down the stairs. The lights intermittently went out as I rushed and skipping stairs.
29 Floors
They were too much for me to climb down and if the building collapsed before I reached the basement there would be too much rubble for anyone to take me out if I survive in the first place. My fingertips felt sensitive and I could hear the throbbing and smell the scent of debris. I had a rush of adrenaline.
The sudden Blackout.
Nothing could be seen, all but pitch black was before my sight, yet I continued running downstairs. Before I knew it, a huge quake shifted the entire ground beneath me.
I could feel everything being torn apart in the sheer of darkness and my body going underneath rubble. It was slow.
It was said that upon closing death everything suddenly becomes slow and life flashes before your eyes.
Everything I could feel was slow, I could sense that within a few seconds I was going to die, but oddly enough, not a single moment of my life flashed. I wished at least my brain showed me instances of Rachel, but it did not. I felt very dubious, was the saying a lie? And just then I realized, this is not the end.
Within that darkness, there was a hand trying to reach me, a palm of someone. Despite all pitch black, I could sense it coming towards me. Without a nudge of thought I grabbed that hand.
-17 Minutes Ago—
53rd Floor
A cabin named Sheik Al-Bin Sultan had him and his brother sitting on the opposite side of the table. They talked in Arabic and it was not a normal conversation the brothers have, rather they were arguing.
Zenith, a special soldier of a US private military, had been given the job to escort Sultan safely through the meeting. The brothers argued about a certain football club that seemed like a very insane investment. They had a lot of money but their oil field has dried up and now they need to keep the money flowing. While Sultan was a huge fan of football and seemed to know how to create money out of it, his younger brother wanted the money to be invested in government and industrial Bonds and also wanted a few resource mining factories in Africa. In simpler words, a safer bet.
Zenith has been listening to the Arabic yapping of brothers for over 30 minutes now.
Bored and tired with ears, she walks around the room. She could see the farthest of Dubai, desert mixed with infrastructure from the window. While there were more guards in the room, she was the only one allowed to roam around freely, of course due to her position. Before she knew it she stood in the Monitor room.
Burj was a different type of building from most. It had specialized everything for luxury. There were separate lifts, saunas, swimming pools each for different standards of people. The Sultan had deep connections in the Dubai royal family, so he could even have an elevator to himself for security reasons. Although not that elevator could not be used by resident living, but when needed, he can control it whenever he is in the building from his personal security room.
Zenith stands in the Monitor room gazing upon all the camera's motions on 20 screens before her. Of course she saw a man of interest in one of them, Adam Rift, the broker who was incharge of the deal between Sultan and the football club.
He was walking towards the elevator. Perhaps it was time.
"D—id yo—u g—et th—at?"
There was a little screen in the corner with a very shallow voice. It was supposedly there to broadcast news to securities but oddly enough the broadcast seemed to be very hazy and weird at the same time. She became dubious, there was no sandstorm causing this.
"Hello? Can you guys hear me?" The voice continued.
She walked to the screen, slowly and steadily, of course there was very little space to maneuver and the guards did not like her presence at all, she was aware of that, however that curiosity of hers just wanted to look properly at that screen.
"What do you mean I have to say all that again? It wasn't recorded? Oh give me a break, this is already the 15th time."
There was a man with his face painted black and his teeth painted blue. He seemed like a cartoon character, but it was far for her to understand the surroundings from that small monitor. Was it some advertisement? She was barely able to hear what they were talking about, and had to get just a few steps more.
Her hand lapped over the table.
"Miss…" A guard alerts her. To which she looks at her fingers, which have pressed an unwanted button. It was for the elevator. The lift was coming up to 53rd Floor but now has been sent to 29th Floor, and that lift carries the broker Adam Rift.
Zenith realized her mistake and with all those guards glaring at her she understood she was unwanted and was bothering their work and decided to leave.
"Okay, I'll make it short this time. I am bombing the Burj Khalifa, the tallest man made structure in the world!!!"
Before she could leave, she stood close enough to the screen to hear that. Her eyes spun to it immediately. No advertisement would allow such a skit if it even was one. She had her gun prepared and armed herself with body armor and specialized glasses. She sprinted towards Sultan, he was her priority.
There was a blast on the upper floors.
The entire room shivered and the windows broke, spreading glass everywhere. The day filled with smoke coming from upper floors and formed a mist of black. The fire alarms set in the room and water started to spread over the shattered window glass. It was not a video of fun anymore, but rather a terrorist attack. Both Sultan and his brother gazed at each other in sheer terror under the long table.
"Brother…" In Arabic they called each other.
Zenith reaches Sultan while all the remaining guards surround them with gun aim ready. Many of the guards flew out of the window on impact leaving only 5 of them including Zenith.
But it was very sudden and left all of them in sheer fear, all but Zenith. She knew she had to protect the Sultan but also had to form a plan.
She leaves them on the remaining soldiers for a moment and she rushes to the Monitor room once again.
The screen was still rolling with the help of generators plugged into the room that was placed incase of emergency.
"This is a story of an unsung hero, rising from the abyss of slums and poverty, leading his ways to the world and creating anew for everyone. Bringing peace and prosperity and ending all the wars mankind has waged over for power over the region."
There was a very robotic sentence still playing with a bleak background in the back.
"Yes, that's me! I am your hero. Thank You AI for making that voice note for me."
He jumped into the frame from the left with a jumpscare. The man whose face was painted Black and teeth Blue held a remote with a singular red button on it.
"But today, my fellow humans, there will be no more government, no more propaganda, and no senseless death over tiny disputes in global politics. I am announcing myself as the ruler of this world, your hero!! And I am about to nuke this entire world!!!!!!!"
Zenith stood still and merely just tried to make sense out of his words. But for the first time ever, she has grown a fearful jaw…
Nuking the entire earth…
The smoke got into some cables…
And the signal started to become hazy,
"But let's give this world a piece of cake first…"
Just before him clicking on that red button the screen went off.
Her breaths were heavy, unable to understand anything. Her vision appeared blurry and her entire body shivered. What she just heard was not something she could bear. It was a sudden panic attack.
"Ma'am, what is our plan…!!? We can not wait here, the smoke is rapidly getting in and it is hard to breathe…!!!" She immediately spun to the guard that had awakened her. She stared at him and the entire room. Sultan and his brother were injured from glass and all of them merely looked at her as hope.
She ran.
Ran towards the window and jumped.
And in that same second, another blast took place, and then again, then again and so, more than 10 blasts took place with 100 times more magnitude.
It was so bright and so hot that while falling from the sky half of her face started to burn but she could see, from her right eye.
The Entire Burj Khalifa started to crumble.
She envisioned her life, without love, care and voice and now she was about to die when she just stood there minutes ago without any explanation. She wanted to scream but couldn't. She was a mute.
With immense burning pain and falling while spinning infinitely, she lost her vision.
But…
She suddenly stops.
-17 Minutes Ago—
"Hello Sulayman? You hear me!?" If you don't do the job and do things your way this time, I will surely fire you! Are you clear!!"
"Yes…sir…" Annoying. "At least talk to me with little respect, I am your goddamn boss…with your attitude no one would take you in but me…and you still act so arrogantly!!"
"Yes sir…"
I could hear a sigh from my boss on the other side of the phone. "Okay Mr. Fatim, I will not screw up this time…" He was a nice man and I could feel he was genuinely worried about me and the way I do things.
I sat in my Taxi with the tag Saya hanging on the mirror while the AC was not working. I was covered in sweat in this heat and might stink as well, I also let out a sigh "No wonder I am becoming bald at this young age…" For the first time I was making a delivery of some illegal blue diamonds. Despite how much Fatim hated me, he knew I was the only one trustful enough to do it. But not to lie, I like my job as Taxi Driver more than making some shady deal between 2 rich people. I exchanged my Identification Card and told a random room number to get a card that let me pass through.
I had a bag worth 35 Million Dirham of diamonds. Of course I was stopped at the security checkpoint, and had to open my bag but there was nothing on sight but beneath the cover. Though, Dubai was a city of names.
"I am here to meet Mr. Toufeeq Kharam!!" Upon hearing immediately a guard comes out of a cabin.
"Let him pass…" And so I was waiting for the lift to come.
"Do not make any brawl, Suleyman, you can do it." For the sake of Fatim and his father I took this job. Apparently they are in a very bad position, their company was making too much of a loss so they need to smuggle illegal substances for underground giants. They import many containers from China that also hide the illegal substances in their products, mostly in the gaps between plastic.
29th Floor…
Wait why do I feel like that was not where the office is located…? I mean I was roaming the floor and couldn't see any cabin named Toufeeq Kharam, which is often the case with Burj Khalifa that has a name along with a room number plate and I don't want to see through someone's privacy. It is weird.
Toufeeq Kharam.
Then I understood what kind of man he was.
He was a rich businessman, in news always mentioned only in good deeds, yet nobody liked his figure due to his bad reputation of assaults on women and having run massive corporations that use slave employees.
I stood before the room 97M44
He was there of course, so I knocked.
A man in black tuxedo opened the door and he had Guns underneath his suit.
I sat on a couch that seemed quite expensive to be honest. It was a luxurious penthouse with many rooms and it smelled very good. There was a 100 inch television in the room that was having a little bad signal, maybe on higher floors, signals became hazy? I didn't know that.
"So…where's the goods?"
A Man in a bathrobe that was red along with wine in his hand sat before me. I pushed the bag towards him. Immediately his guards and a few women started to tear the bag open and pull out many plastic bags full of blue diamonds. One of them brought a weighing scale and checked the weight of each packet while when done, another man had a loupe checking the authenticity of each packet. It was quite a show to be honest.
As they checked, I noticed something weird. "Hey girl, what's your age?" I spoke loud enough to attract everyone's attention.
There was a girl counting packets and had a bruise near her right eye. She seemed very young.
She gazed at me for a few seconds but then continued her work.
"I asked you something, lady…"
"Hey!!" A guard shouted. "Don't bother…she won't reply…" Toufeeq Kharam stopped me. "Do your job and leave. Don't forget your place…" He was sour of course.
"That's wrong…" But I had to intervene.
"Who are you to teach me what's right and what's wrong?? Who are you?"
"Sulayman Siddique..a Taxi Driver…"
Meanwhile on the TV the hazy vision started to become visible and for a moment distracted my attention.
"D—id yo—u g—et th—at?"
But I have to confront this man first. "I like your attitude. You have high morals, work for me, I will pay you well…" Oh, I guess I impressed Toufeeq Kharam. "How much…?" I had an urge to ask. Paying my bills was getting hard to be honest. But in reply he smiled as if I hurted his ego. "10,000 Dirham per month." My jaw dropped and eyes full of unbelief, and not just me, his guards as well, probably even they don't get to pay that high.
"I will… but let go of that young lady. What do you say? Deal?"
That young lady probably was the result of his human trafficking so her freedom was one demand I could ask for at least and it was not a bad deal, I was getting money that I needed and the lady would be free while Toufeeq would have someone like me in his arsenal.
"Chandra!" Toufeeq calls a name with a wry smile and a guard comes near me.
***
I shot Sulayman in the head with a shotgun as his head exploded into bits and the room filled with screams of women and awe in the gaze of men.
"Sorry man…"
'I had to kill him, forget about it, fast, I can not screw it all now!! I have to keep myself together. I am an agent for my country, no matter how many lives I take, it would be nothing compared to how many I will save.'
Toufeeq stood from his couch.
"You come to my home and commands me to let go of my wife!!! I was kind enough not to kill you then and even offered you a place under me and you still acted tough!!!" He screamed at Sulayman's dead body. "What are you looking at now? Clean this mess!!"
Few men and women rushed to his dead remains with a mop to clean while I could only see the sin I committed. "Thanks Chandra.." Toufeeq left and his young wife followed him.
"What do you mean I have to say all that again? It wasn't recorded? Oh give me a break, this is already the 15th time."
What is still running over the television? I hastily walked to it, to turn it off since it was making unwanted noise that Toufeeq does not like at all.
"Okay, I'll make it short this time. I am bombing the Burj Khalifa, the tallest man made structure in the world!!!"
"What??!!!"
There was a blast on upper floors
The entire room rumbled and men and women grew overwhelmed with terror.
Toufeeq rushed out of his room
"What is happening!!!??" Even he seemed terrified.
It was not a malfunction in the building maintenance but a terrorist attack there was no doubt about that.
"Chandra, pass me out of here fast, we need to leave this building!!!" Toufeeq screamed and grasped the hand of his wife tightly as they rushed towards the exit.
He had no qualms for the people and his staff but merely cared for his wife while running.
"I am sorry Mr. Kharam but I can not let you go!"
I had my shotgun behind his head as he was opening the door.
I could see cracks opening the ceiling. Within a few minutes the building was going to collapse and no one was going to make it out alive because of the giant structure of this building. I know I have to find Abdul Zakkir but after tainting my hands with innocent blood for no reason, at this point I just had a feeling killing him now won't change anything.
I shot him in the back of his head point blank before he could even say something and saw his wife fall on her knees. She got covered in his brain remains while blood all over her as she merely watched his headless body in silence.
The other guards gawk at me prepared with their gun aims. "Why did you do that!!!" They screamed amidst the confusion.
They pulled the triggers and rain of bullets blustered towards me.
I could feel the pain of countless bullets punchering my lungs, penetrating my stomach, crushing my bones and tearing my body into bits.
***
'The strongest man on earth…?' &*$#%@
I opened my eyes and stood on my foot. My head was burning hot and it itched so much that I wanted to tear my face off to be honest.
"Looks like I got one of the nine back…who could have thought it was this one…"
I was so happy to get it back, and wanted to celebrate with mutton biryani tonight. But suddenly what I saw before my eyes was something out of a movie. In slow motion I could see the security guard who fired at me was obliterated with bullets, his whole body was unrecognizable while behind him lay a headless body and that young girl beside it…
"ENOUGH!!!"
There was a young girl sitting terrified where they were shooting. I need to wake them up.
"H—how are you—-?!!!"
The guards and the staff men, women saw me with disbelief but I did not have enough time, because the guards aimed their guns at me and fired the remaining bullets.
"That's it, I am not listening to you guys anymore."
It hurts when you get shot by a bullet, quite much, and it hurts even more when the bullet pops back regenerating my wounds.
I punched one of them in the stomach and he flew out of the window, rushed towards the other one and smacked him in the face, his head went through the ceiling, while the third one. I grabbed his face with my fingers and gazed into his eyes.
"Take everyone and make a run, you have to protect all of these people."
"Screw you!!"
He pulled out a grenade without its pin, how do you even have that in the first place?
The ground quake and the ceiling cracks grew. Then occurred blasts, with 10 times more magnitude and shook the entire ground beneath me.
The entirety started to collapse.
And that grenade. It blasted.
And I screamed in pain as my face and chest regenerated from the burns while I held bodiless head when his body perished into dust as nothing.
My eyes followed the people gazing at each other without an ounce of hope.
I know who to call, the one who can change the ties and save everyone. It has to be it, the game changer, love of my life…
"SAYA!!!!!!!!"
I screamed from my lungs out. She has to listen. I know she will.
I heard it.
The honk.
Tearing the window apart and emerging from the sky, my Saya, my Taxi, she honked, I know you might be terrified, my love, but…
"Saya, help me take these people out of here!!!"
She replied with an agreeing honk.
1.71983 seconds
That's all she needed to get all the 4 people to fill her seats.
While I rushed to the young lady laying beside a headless body, it took me another second. But I noticed something, I didn't have my left arm with me. It might've been blown by that grenade…
The building was on the verge of collapse and so it didn't bother me as much as I had to save the young lady. I rushed, grabbed her from my right side and dashed back like never before to Saya, of course she waited. It will cost me too much stamina to regenerate my arm. Never tried this before so I don't know if it will work or not to be honest. I called Saya.
Then rested the young lady in the front seat.
It's time. I got in Car.
Spread my torn arm in the sky and imagined.
"Go."
5 Seconds
Within 5 seconds me and Saya have successfully have saved 5 people lives. I just have to get my arm back while we leave or I might faint regenerating it.
"Focus." I encourage myself.
Saya jumped from the building shredded in the flames and blasts.
I sense something coming towards me.
Perhaps my arm was coming towards me.
It was in the middle of the sky, beyond ground, just 1 second after we jumped from the building.
Woman from the sky fell into the car, breaking the windshields and finding me as cushion for her fall. Her face was burnt from one side.
But I was lost, gazing at her beauty, I wondered, what are the spectacles God has not shown me yet.
My arm came flying from the back window, and carried a man's body along.
He was holding my hand.
Now I truly wonder what the spectacles God has not shown me…
-3 Minutes Ago—
This is a story of an unsung hero, rising from the abyss of slums and poverty, leading his ways to the world and creating anew for everyone. Bringing peace and prosperity and ending all the wars mankind has waged over for power over the region.
"Yes, that's me! I am your hero. Thank You AI for making that voice note for me. But today, my fellow humans, there will be no more government, no more propaganda, and no senseless death over tiny disputes in global politics. I am announcing myself as the ruler of this world, your hero!! And I am about to nuke this entire world!!!!!!!"
"But let's give this world a piece of cake first…"
I clicked the red button with an evil laugh.
"Wait…this button's not working…"
"Oh come on now!!!"
…