Doing this, he could feel his head become light as tears streamed down his eyes.
Quite suicidal of me…
Taking the cup away from his face, Messimah was only just beginning to feel parts of his face turning numb due to the toxic stench from the radioactive water.
On another note, I am curious to find out what it is that is on the other side of death.
Shaking these distracting thoughts away from his mind and focusing on what was at hand, Messimah turned his sight from the cup in his hands to the Aqua Filtration Kit seated on the work desk.
Staring at the sleek, portable, and lightweight device.
Almost the length and width of a grown man's arm, starting from the elbow to the wrist, the Aqua Filtration Kit features a bypass mechanism for easy attachment to pipes, thin composite filters that remove radioactive particles and toxins, and a micro-turbine for power generation from water flow. Its compact, durable design could fit easily in a backpack, while a simple interface displayed water purity levels.
"Perfect for harsh environments, it's both efficient and user-friendly," Messimah whispered nonchalantly as he carefully poured the water from the cup into the input port, a small funnel-shaped opening designed to receive liquids.
As the water entered the kit, the internal mechanisms hummed to life.
A faint vibration passed through the desk, and the filtration chamber illuminated in soft pulses of blue. The device's display screen flickered for a moment, then stabilized, showing the water's initial toxicity level in a glowing red percentage.
Inside the kit, the filters engaged with a faint whir, and the micro-turbine spun faster, generating just enough power to sustain the process. From little openings on the filtration kit, clouds of steam began to flow out.
Seeing this, Messimah knew that it was the radioactive particles that were being expelled.
He watched as the red indicator on the interface began to drop steadily.
A low chime sounded—a soft, reassuring note—indicating the filtration process was complete.
The screen now displayed a bright green indicator, reading "Purity: 99.98%."
Messimah released a slow breath as a little smile appeared on his lips.
He turned the spout to let the filtered water flow into a clean beaker.
To his eyes, the water sparkled under the dim light, clearer than any consumable water he had ever seen.
Lifting the beaker, he tilted it to his lips and took a cautious sip.
The water was crisp and clean, devoid of any metallic taste or chemical bitterness. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he set the glass down.
Looking back at the kit, Messimah felt a surge of pride.
"Not just a machine," he murmured. "It is hope in a world that thought it lost… my new money maker."
Upon saying this, he began laughing to himself, feeling as though a lot of weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
A full minute had passed by the time Messimah stopped laughing, and he couldn't help but wonder what the time was.
Looking over to the holographic display of the time close to the entrance of his lab, he read softly; "5:43"
"It's still morning," He uttered as a wave of drowsiness hit him.
Stifling a yawn, Messimah got up from his chair and pushed it away before opening a small drawer to retrieve a small pillow from within it.
As though he had no care for what was happening outside of his lab, or any care for the fact that he had just accomplished something liberating to him, Messimah placed the pillow on the cold ground and laid on it, curling his body into a fetus position as he drifted into deep sleep.
In the blink of an eye, over 12 hours had gone by whilst Messimah was occupied with his sleep.
Midway through the thirteenth hour, Messimah's sleep was interrupted by the watch on his wrist. It vibrated and made little ringing tones that got him to move for the first time since he drifted into deep sleep.
"Ugh," Messimah grunted as he attempted to turn his body only to find out that the right part of his limbs had gone numb after sleeping on them for more than half a day.
"Who-" He began but held his piece when he looked at the screen of the device on his wrist.
It was a group call from Gola and Trumm.
Remembering that he told them not to contact him unless it was important, Messimah quickly assumed that something had gone wrong and his attention was needed.
Tapping on the screen, he picked up the call.
"Messimah," both Gola and Trumm chorused immediately.
"What is it?" Answering with a grumpy voice as he propped himself up with his hands.
An act that would normally be easy for him to accomplish, at the moment, was a bit difficult due to his numbed limb.
"We thought you were dead! Why didn't answer our texts?" Trumm shouted, sounding annoyed at Messimah.
Raising the device to his face, Messimah looked at his notification panel and realized that he had received over a hundred messages from both Gola and Trumm.
"I was busy," Messimah replied, not bothered by the tone Trumm was speaking to him with.
With another grunt, Messimah pushed himself off the ground, stumbling a bit and struggling to get a good footing on the ground.
"Busy sleeping?" Gola asked, sounding a lot calmer than Trumm.
"No, meditating," Messimah said softly, as his eyes blacked out for a few seconds. After a few seconds, and a round of sighs, Messimah spoke up; "Well go on with it, what's the emergency that caused you guys to disturb me?"
"Emergency? When did we say that there was any?" Trumm uttered innocently. "We just wanted to-"
Suddenly, the rest of Trumm's sentence failed to reach Messimah's ears as he had cut the call.
"The more time I spend around this boy, the more of a daredevil he becomes," Messimah whispered.
His mind was still taking its time to boot and while he was taking his time, another call came through again.
Checking to see who it was, Messimah sighed and answered the call. "Why did you cut the call?" Trumm asked.
"Because I wanted to."
"That's not how to treat a frie-"
"Get to the point Trumm, your voice is going to give me a headache. If you have nothing good or important to say then save me the trouble of having to listen to you asking me questions that I'm in no mood to answer."
"Simah, is the device ready?" Gola asked.
"The device?" Messimah repeated, just recalling that he had completed the first functioning prototype of the Aqua Filtration Kit.
Bursting into another fit of laughter, Messimah's mood suddenly changed into a joyful one.
"What the hell Simah, have you finally lost it?" Trumm shouted from the other side of the call.
"From the way you are laughing, I take it that you've completed it and it is somewhat successful," Gola said.
"Somewhat? Such little faith you have in me, Gola. It is fully functional and has already been tested personally by me."
After saying this, both Gola and Trumm went silent on the other side of the call. Only the background noise from the place they were could be heard through the line.
"You're not fucking with us, are you?" Trumm said softly.
Just like Messimah, the thought of becoming rich beyond their wildest dreams also filled Trumm and Messimah with euphoria. While it was one thing to feel giddy just by thinking about it, it was another feeling to realize this dream or at least feel that the dream was visible.
"You are of no interest to me, so no."
"Since when?" Gola questioned.
Messimah looked at the holographic projection of the clock in his lab and read inwardly, 19:13. "Some 13 hours ago." Messimah replied and yawned right after, still feeling like he had some sleep to catch up to.
"You freaking bastard, I love you!" Trumm screamed through the other side of the call.
Messimah scrunched his face in response to that. "Keep your emotions to yourself, Trumm,"
"This is perfect," Gola started. "Tonight is the start of the Storm Festival," he finished.
"In other words, live and jovial audiences, with some money in their pockets to squander..." Messimah smiled, understanding why the two of them chose to disturb him today.
It was indeed a good time to publicize and an even better time to make live demonstrations of how well his first prototype of the Aqua Filtration Kit worked and its efficiency.
"However, are we properly ready to publicize it yet?" Messimah asked.
Something of this nature wasn't a thing they could announce without proper planning and preparations, not only because of the possible requests and orders they could get from their future customers, but because of the powers that control the city.
They were certain that many people wouldn't like this invention of theirs and how much their lives could be in danger the moment they reveal it.