A/n Hello all, thank you for joining me on this ride. This series is coming to a close, with probably one more chapter left. Hope you've been enjoying.
Ooh! I also have a beta now! Welcome iwantafarnsworth! And thank you for agreeing to do this for me. You're awesome :)
For the character of Dr. Akira Samar, I envisioned the actress Anushka Sharma, incase you need a visual. She's quite the sight to behold :)
Anyways, happy reading!
"Whoa! That was wicked cool, old lady! You should consider designing rides for Universal Studios theme parks!" Pete suggested excitedly as they got their footing and the blue glow faded.
"Yeah HG! I've done like every single theme park ride and this was by far the craziest!" Claudia beamed.
"Oh my God!" Vidya exclaimed, staring ahead. She saw that her own body was still strapped on to the device and there were several electrodes connected to her chest.
"Who the hell are you people and what are you doing on my set?!" Karan barked, approaching the trio.
"Karan, please, calm down," Vidya requested, approaching him slowly.
"Look lady, I don't know who you are, or how you know my name, but I would suggest you not move an inch closer." He warned.
"Karan, yaar, please. It's me, Vidya!" She pressed further.
"I'm no fool lady, you look nothing like Vidya, plus, I know exactly where Vidya is," he replied, his anger mounting now. How dare this strange woman come here and insist that she is Vidya? He thought. It was like throwing salt in an open wound, considering Vidya's current state.
"Karan, ask me anything that only you and I - I mean, Vidya - would know. Anything, Karan." Vidya persisted.
"Please, woman! Vidya is a famous person! Google could give you the answer to any question I could possibly ask you." He scoffed.
"I have a question," Dr. Samar spoke up now, peeking out from behind Karan.
"Akira… I didn't see you. What are you doing here?" Vidya asked, Myka's voice dropping a few octaves.
"Karan called me," the good doctor replied.
Dr. Samar looked down at the body of her unconscious friend and smiled sadly before approaching the woman claiming to be Vidya.
"We were both just out of uni when you got signed for Parineeta. That's when you parted ways with me. What did you say to me then?" Akira asked, standing directly in front of Myka's tall frame now, looking up into those forest green orbs.
"Aki, this is not the place to discuss that," Vidya whispered, looking around nervously at the others. The look on Helena's face didn't go unnoticed by her, it appeared to be a mixture of jealousy and restraint. She had to remind herself that she was in Helena's lover's body, not her own.
"Tell me. If you really are my Vidya, you'd know what you told me." Akira insisted.
"Aki, please," Vidya pleaded, extending Myka's hand to take the doctor's. In her peripheral view she could see Helena move towards her, but Pete put his hand on the woman's shoulder, stopping her movement. She nodded a silent 'thank you' in his direction and stepped into Akira's personal space.
Her voice barely audible now, she answered the doctor's question.
"Kehdiya tha ke," she began, Myka's voice coming out low and steady, "it was time for me to focus on my career and I couldn't continue being with you because if it ever got out, everything would be ruined for me…. I broke both our hearts and walked away from you that day." Myka's eyes were brimming with unshed tears now. She lifted her hand to cup Akira's face gently, the pad of her thumb brushing away the lone tear that escaped the doctor's welled-up eyes, "I never stopped loving you, though," she confessed. As she brought Myka's face closer to Akira's, a throat cleared and she broke eye contact with the doctor to determine the source of the sound. Pete was looking at her with insistent eyes, his knuckles turning white from the grip he had on Helena's shoulder. The woman looked enraged.
"I'm sorry, Helena. I got a little bit carried away there," she apologized, stepping back from Akira.
"Karan," Akira spoke up, turning away from the woman she loved to address the short man, "she really is Vidya. I don't know how, but Vidya seems to be inside this woman." She confirmed, her voice coming out soft and unsteady.
The director had not missed the exchange between the two women, but decided to leave it right there; they could talk about that later, after this whole mess was sorted out. He turned to the tall, curly haired woman now and addressed her, considerably calmer than before.
"Okay. So, you're Vidya, right? What happened? How did you get...there?" he asked, gesturing his hands to Myka's body.
Vidya turned to Helena, deferring to the woman who seemed to understand this much better than the rest of them.
"Karan, is it? Yes, well see, the device you acquired, god alone knows by what means, is actually a fully functional time travel machine, designed by HG Wells in the late 1800's." Helena explained, omitting the part about herself being HG Wells. These people didn't need to be privy to that bit of information. "Sh-He built it while writing his novel, The Time Machine."
"How do you know all of this?" Karan asked, still overwhelmed.
A confused expression crossed Myka's face before her eyes widened as the dots connected in her head. She looked over to the Englishwoman who, with a barely visible smile and a subtle nod of her head, confirmed what was going through Vidya's mind. Helena was HG Wells! Her dark eyes relayed the need for strict confidence to be kept regarding the matter. She turned to the man and answered his question.
"Research, Karan, I do extensive research on items left behind by famous people," the Brit responded, "This particular...model...happens to be my area of expertise," she continued, walking around the time machine and running her fingers affectionately over the top of the unoccupied armchair. She lingered there before looking up as the man continued his questioning.
"How do we stop it then? How do we get Vidya back in her body and whoever this is, back in hers?" he asked, gesturing to Myka's lean form again.
"Her name is Myka. The person your friend has displaced is Myka," Helena responded curtly, annoyance evident in her tone of voice. She shook her head before continuing, "We can't stop it. We can only wait for the time to run its course. What we can do is ensure that nothing goes wrong in that time. For the next," she checked the time dial, "nine hours and twenty eight minutes, we have to keep this machine juiced up. The more dips in power, the more unstable it becomes...the more unstable she becomes. Okay?" she warned, turning to look each of them in the eye, ensuring that they understood the gravity of the situation.
"Claudia, I need you to help me ensure that the power doesn't dip. Karan," she turned to the director, "which power company supplies electricity to this building?"
"Uh, TPC, Tata Power Company," he informed her.
"Brilliant. Claudia, can you access their system?" She asked the tech genius.
"Psh, can I tie my own laces?" The girl replied sarcastically.
"Claudia, I hardly think this is the time for you to be working on your shoe laces," Helena replied, the girl's sarcasm lost on her.
Claudia shook her head, "never mind, yes I can access their system."
"Good, see to it that there aren't any breaks in the power service to this building. Kill the lights in the city of you have to, but don't let the power go down at any time."
"On it," Claudia said, whipping her laptop out of her bag and settling down at the desk in the far corner of the set.
"Righty-ho then, Pete? I need you and Karan to go through the building and turn off every light switch, monitor, security camera; everything. Karan, I presume you would have the authority to override anyone who might try to intercept you?"
The man nodded his affirmation.
"Good, then. The doctor and I will monitor the machine and Vidya's vitals."
"What about me?" Vidya asked in Myka's voice.
"You just keep Myka safe, okay? You can tell us if you feel any changes. Anything that happens to the machine, even subtly, will affect you. We need you to tell us any little thing that seems odd ok?"
"Ok," Vidya nodded.
As everyone went off to their assigned duties, Vidya approached the doctor, not happy with the way things were left after their talk earlier.
"Suniye," she called out softly, the Hindi word sounding different, but pleasant in this woman's voice, "about earlier..."
"No, Vids, now is not the time. We have avoided talking about this for the past eight years. I won't entertain it now, while you're lying there in some kind of coma. No Vidya, get back into your body and then we'll talk." Akira spat out in pained bitterness.
Akira sighed, her eyes reflecting the same pain, "very well, then, we'll talk later, ok?"
The doctor nodded and moved back to Vidya's body to check her blood pressure again, needing to occupy herself with something.
Helena was peeved at the closeness between the two; she didn't like it one bit that Myka's body was reacting in this way to another woman, but she couldn't help herself enjoying the sound of the Hindi words and Indian accent tumbling from Myka's lips. It sounded delightfully musical in her voice. She tucked it away fondly in her memory and checked the machine's control centre one more time before heading in Claudia's direction.
A/n: thoughts? comments? right this way :)