Bane for Glory

O Lord of plunder, ask thy self,
Why thou was once divine.
Once a hero now a lie,
And your land now withered dry.

In every promise, justify;
While the land and seas divide.
Left your sons to writhe and die.
Damned their souls to cry.

My Lusty king, what have you done?
Thy kingdom’s babies born with guns.
Innocence, a child of yesterday.

The weight of the crown, you’ll see,
Bury your land in greed.
The weight of the crown you’ll see,
Will crush you underneath.

A Blackened charm for the blood red lips,
Trapped forever from the serpent’s kiss.
Like falling deep into a dark abyss…

A shot in the heart and I feel,
The wicked punch of the steel.
And down to the ground I fall
Never to rise again.

Crawling in myself and pray
Wishing for redemption day.
Wishing for salvation from within…

And Now I ask thy kingdom come,
To set us free and fly.
I lay there wondering what’s to come
I close my eyes and cry.

Oh my king I beg for answers,
Of this cause may people die.
While your crown lies heavy on your throne,
Thy face just gleams with pride.

As I lay under sorrowed skies,
Raining down with people’s lies,
Embrace my fate and alleviate
My soul from pain to a higher place,
Still wishing for Salvation from within…
Still wishing for redemption day...


And there goes the 50th strand of thought from this Gemini's Mind. I thank my few readers for their continued support :)
Keep Visiting.

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Chronicles of a Wayside Hero: Part VII

Chapter 7: The Other Side is always Greener

Year: Unknown. Day: Some days after Previous Day

Finally…

Yeah finally.

… Neo got his work terminal after a great struggle. He was a hero. Neo went home satisfied after securing a place, for the time being. None knew what happened to Smite as the pool was already flooded.

The next day Neo went off to work and from the office phone called all the people he ever knew and spread the good news about his heroic deeds.

Papra papra pam… papra pammmm…

Slangs like “Macha*! Mapla*! I got a project da!” was heard.

The Language Expert.

And to add to the good news, Neo was already put into a project. So he arranged a party for his friends and boozed the whole night off. The next day, a major hangover. Trying to shake it off, Neo reported to work and sat on his comfy chair expecting a peaceful day ahead.

Neo's Booze party and the drunken Dance

Sitting idle for some time, Neo slowly felt his eyes droopy. The telephone on the table began ringing.

“Hello?”

“Is it Neo?” said a lady in a slow voice.

“Yes it is. How may I help you?” Neo sounded courteous.

“I’m one of the people enjoying her vacation onsite. I’m here to give you a knowledge transfer on what you will be doing in the coming months”

“Right now!?”

“Starting this minute.” And the K.T. went on for hours. Neo felt his eyes drooping. He slowly transcended to a state of temporary coma.

The sound of a strange voice in a trance…

Neo… Wake up…

It was getting stronger by the second.

NEO…

NEO…

NEO

A Banshee?

I second the remark. Quite gladly too.

“ahhhh…” Neo woke up startled. “Awww... sheesh! What the…”

“NEO ARE YOU LISTENING?” said a firm and irritated voice.

“Yeah yeah…” he said sheepishly with a sad face while Smite walked by in and out with a burger in his hand.

“I should have belonged to the pool” he murmured knowing he has more wars to fight and win. This was just the beginning.

--fin--


* - local slang to address friends

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Chronicles of a Wayside Hero: Part VI

Chapter 6: The Common Truth
Year: Unknown. Day: Some days before Previous Day (managed to catch up… finally)

Sigh…

‘When will this end?’ asked Neo.

I know you’re frustrated Neo. And so are all the few readers here.

Neo reported to work as per the details given to him. When he was recruited, he had a notion that he was the chosen one. And the recruiters too gave him the idea. After entering, he saw a few thousands of people already in.

‘Aren’t I the chosen one?’ asked Neo.

No answer. Amidst all the commotion, none could hear him. People were just buzzing around and almost walked through him like he did not exist.

‘AREN’T I THE CHOSEN ONE!?!?’ he yelled.

A standstill. Neo thought his power had brought the world to a pause. He felt like a hero. A dunce cap on a shy and naked donkey was the others’ perspective. Neo stood still wondering what to do. Stupid.

Then came MorphGuy out of the crowd.

‘We’ve been waiting for you Neo’

‘Despite this recession?’

‘Yes, we have, Neo’

What a blunt, White Lie.

‘Well, here I am and I also have a paper that contains a brief description of what I’m skilled at!’
‘It’s called a Resume Neo. And no need for that now.’

‘WHY!? I can do some things that other people can’t!’

‘Now you’ll have to do what everybody else does! That’s the beauty of the job Neo!’

‘awww… really!? I can’t do that I guess…’

MorphGuy lead Neo to a door.

‘I can only show you the door Neo. It’s you that has to open it’

‘MorphGuy… ahem…I think you’re showing me the exit door…’ gulp.

‘Indeed Neo.’

Neo had the little sense to revert back and say that he would rather slog like a slave so he wouldn’t lose the opportunity.

‘Very good Neo. So where do I allocate you..?’ MorphGuy keeps thinking when there’s a strong but steady knock on the door.

‘Come In’ said MorphGuy.

It was who Neo least expected to meet.

‘Ahhh… Smite! I’ve been expecting you…’

oh sheesh... Don’t you get sick of over using that dialogue??

‘Smite is also same as you Neo. He’s here for a job’ And MorphGuy introduced Smite and Neo to each other.

Opportunity knocks on the door. Sometimes a knock on the door spoils an opportunity.

‘So, guys if you’re up to it just wait outside and see if you can catch a seat. I’ll catch up with you in sometime…’

Neo and Smite went out into the bay to find a seat. None except one was unoccupied.

MorphGuy didn’t have the slightest idea what he had provoked. A fight for supremacy. A fight for righteousness. A fight for… a seat, to start with.

Neo and Smite ran towards the unoccupied seat. The sweat from exhaustion, from struggling trickled down from their forehead. Just as they reached it, it was slyly pushed and occupied by an employee returning from a restroom break.

Both of them knew that this would be the case daily and that they’d have to fight for it.

The war had begun.

After a miserable day, Neo reached home and hit the sack. Neo was a fool in the free pool.
In his dreams, the sound of a strange voice in a trance.

Neo…

NEO…

Continued in a fool in the free pool...

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Chronicles of a Wayside Hero: Part V

Chapter 5: The Call
Year: Unknown. Day: Lost Count…

After a thousand tries, one definitely has to succeed. Especially The Chosen One. Neo awoke startled when the phone near him started to ring ‘you’ve got Call’, the annoying ringtone on Sony Ericsson phones. Neo was only hopeful that the ringtone would act as a harbinger.

He answered it.

“Sir, you still have a couple of 1000 bucks due from your credit card that you spent on shopping. When do you intend to pay that?”

Darn. Trinity.

Neo hung up without saying a word. “You’ve got Call” the phone rang again. Reluctant, Neo picked up the phone. “Neo…” a slow but firm and base voice spoke. “What do you intend to do with your life?”

‘Sell my liver, kidney, eye, blood and get an Xbox 360’

‘As far as I know, it doesn’t come that cheap. Say what, I’ll help you get it’

‘Good idea. You want me to sell yours too??’

‘I’m neither that generous nor that stupid. I’m here to offer you a job’

I don’t know how that happened after Neo’s bright idea. His light bulb ought to have burst.

‘Job!? Wow! That’s… eh… that’s nice. Thanks. When do I report? Now?’

‘Tomorrow.’ and the caller hung up.

The following morning, Neo reported to the address the caller had given.

‘Welcome Neo…” said a voice. A tall, dark figure with a tonsured head stood in front of him.

‘Morphguy!?’

‘Indeed.’

‘Were you the one constantly haunting me by programming my dreams?’

‘The dreams are yours. The programs were mine. You happened to catch a glimpse of them sometime which haunted you throughout’

‘So, what now?’

‘Here. I offer you these. Take them’

And Morphguy handed Neo a couple of pills.

‘Wow! Is it like the matrix?? I get to choose to go to sleep again!! Yay!’

‘Wrong. One is for your headache that is to be caused and the other is for you to be routed to where you belong’

‘How do you know I’m gonna get a headache? The oracle??’

‘I do consult the oracle from time to time, Neo. But this could have been predicted by even a unicellular organism, or in other words, a bit.’

‘How so? O mighty Morphguy?’

‘Obviously. You’re in this story.’

Darn. I’m the story writer and these guys make fun of me. Thin Ice, Morphguy, thin Ice.

‘So, how does this exactly work? Why wasn’t I given a choice?’

‘Here is how it works Neo.’ And Morphguy takes Neo through an extensive explanation that Neo thinks he had chosen a sleeping pill.

The Cycle

'So, what now?' asked Neo.

'You're recruited'

To be continued...

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Chronicles of a Wayside Hero: Part IV

Chapter 4: The Fall of a Neophyte
Year: Unknown. Day: One day before Many Many days before Previous Day.

Smite had been jobless for quite some time now. Frustrated, he started spamming inbox with his resume and also added in his proposal that he’d be happy to slog equivalent to two or more people so he directly contributed to cost cutting.

His wishes were answered when the Matrix, an equally stupid system decided to hire him. Smite was inducted into the Matrix so he could keep up his word on cost cutting. The Matrix faced problems of hanging often either because it had too many people in it. Hence the Creator would re run some select days seamlessly to shield the glitch while it was being fixed.

Déjà vu.

Having had enough of re running days, now the Creator planned to reduce the population either by replacing two resources with one or just kill them by telling them this story. The latter would be used when Smite failed. Well, Smite had time.

Trinity…

Trinity was a good worker. She had a style and splendor in whatever she did (The legendary slow-mo). Once, she failed to meet a deadline for a delivery because the matrix slow-mo delivered the product slowly a few days later. She was fired as fast as possible.

Neo was in the machine world. Slow-mos were just a dream. While Neo was slowly inching towards his workplace, he wondered about the sudden pandemonium in the industry. His wonderings came to an abrupt end when he found an envelope being handed out to him by a man on his seat. He wore a top class tuxedo unlike Neo, who was in rags like a stone age boo boo man.

‘This is for you, Neo’ said Smite.

Neo read the contents of the letter and was astounded. ‘What IS the meaning of this?’

‘Your work here is done Neo. They’ve forgotten you now. They need new resources’

A Major lay-off in the Machine World, I guess.

‘They can’t do this to me! ‘. The sky becomes dark, overcast and lightning strikes. ‘I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!’

Yeah. So?

‘Yeah… So?’

Ha ha. Killer reply.

‘Just checkin’… Well, what the hell am I supposed to do now?’

‘Register in some God forbidden job site and watch it spam your inbox.’

Neo, the goner.

While smirking, Puss pooped on Neo and took his place near Smite.

The world, ladies and gentlemen!

To be continued…

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Chronicles of a Wayside Hero: Part III

Chapter 3: The Past unfold, A Story (better) Untold
Year: Unknown. Day: Many Many days before Previous Day.

‘Hmmm…’ Neo got up from his seat after a long days work. He had been staring at the machines all day. ‘Time to go home…’

Yes. It is time.

Puss in Poops followed him like his tail and was proud that he was the chosen pet for the chosen one. His name was because of regular oil leakage due to a broken valve as a result of gluttony for lubricant cocktails.

Bad drunkard machine cat.

What Puss didn’t know was, after Neo was blinded before his final battle with the TronMaster, he adapted a strategy used by Hercules who used a ball of thread to find his way out of the maze after slaying Minotaur. The slight difference here being Puss and his poop trail. Neo was just being grateful.

Neo reached home in his awkward looking machineworld cab…

This name for the cab is better than “_Object_SquareOn4circles”.

…that looked more like a pile of a worthless dump. His house looked the same. He never knew cost cutting would take its toll to such an extent.

‘Curse this recession’ his daily grin had become permanent giving him more of the Mr. Hyde look, though his behavioral patterns hadn’t changed, yet. His bed looked cozy enough to give him the best of dreams.

Trinity…

Trinity... She was fired, Neo.

‘ahhhh!’ he woke up, startled. His daily ahhhhs became more like a friggin’ alarm clock for the drunken Puss. The cat would then wake up and have his share of curses in his meows and off they went for work. The day that had dawned was no different. No expectations. No hope. Just plain poop.

Neo slowly got up and carried out his daily routine. Brushing teeth looked more like a lethargic steam engine starting after a few years. Nevertheless, work called. At least he thought so.
Neo got into his dump and drove for work expecting a peaceful day ahead.

To be continued…

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Chronicles of a Wayside Hero: Part II

Chapter 2: The Battle of Credentials

Year: Unknown. Day: Next day to Previous Day.

Workstation. Neo reached just in time. His eyes scanned the area for any unusual activity. None, at least for the time being. He knew things were not going to be the same. He had his last drink last night. He knew he had to. It was time the battle was done with. All the what-if questions were going to be answered today.

He waited. Like a tiger preying on an innocent flock. Only difference was, this time it was no flock. He was one of Neo’s own. In the meantime, he started readying his plethora of certificates for the battle to be used like gambits when needed. He knew they wouldn’t help much, still, on this rough road; every trick in the book was valuable.

Then it happened. The much suited opponent with an arsenal equal to or better arrived. Agent Smite. ‘So, we meet again, Neophyte, what’s up with you today?’ He said, in a slow but firm tone.
‘The same that’s up with you, Smite. I’m as jobless as you are.’

‘Then, I guess, you’re still waiting. And so Am I. That puts us in a delicate position as to whether to maintain decorum or …’ and he jumped to occupy the only remaining seat in the office. A mammoth of a jump that Neo didn’t expect. But Morphguy had run a small script in Neo’s reflex event so Neo could react and do the needful. But Neo stood still like a zombie devoid of the eyes of life.

Line 1: Compilation error in Line 351 .Sense Parameter expected.

Smite did the jump through 5 floors and fell off over the edge of the building breaking the glass. Stupid.

Line 1: Jump array index exceeded Upper bounds.

The machine was still unoccupied.

Neo restarted his system by banging his head on the wall 3 times and Smite knew better than to jump. He used the stairs.

Now the titans stood facing each other.

‘You wanna do it old school?’ asked Neo.

‘I’AM Old school, newbie punk. I’ve been jobless for eons.’

‘It’s your way then.’

Now came the time for the credentials. They needed a judge, for the two were said to be extremely knowledgeable or just two plain idiots.

‘huh!, I have certifications in any language you can expect’ said Neo, with a karate chop posture and a certificate in his hand.

The language expert.

‘They ain’t looking for interpreters for a bunch of nomadic Hmongs, rookie’ said Smite. ‘I have the supreme knowledge called “Why” so I can easily figure where things went wrong.’

Ah… The Business Analyst.

‘Smite, with you around, I think we all can.’

The Battle of Credentials

‘Shut up! Or I’ll have you both fired!’ came a voice. It was the Workforce Oracle.

‘Who called her??’ asked both of them to each other.

‘You did’ said the Oracle. ‘Don’t ask me when because I can’t say. But the choice was already made by you. Give me your certificates now and bring me two small bits of paper, would you dear Neo.?’

‘Paper for what?’

‘Lot!’

‘WHAT!?’ came in chorus. ‘What about our certificates then?!?’

‘Oh yes!!! Why don’t we use a bit of them for the lot? Eh??’

‘Was this choice too already made, O naughty Oracle?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so. And I even know who the winner is going to be’

And so can any other loser.

‘NNNOOOO!!!’ Smite faced an abnormal termination and was ported back to the pool.

Neo got his work terminal. Finally.

To be continued…

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Chronicles of a Wayside Hero: Part I

Chapter 1: The Fool in the Free Pool
Year: Unknown. Day: Previous Day.

The sound of a strange voice in a trance…

Neo… Wake up…

It was getting stronger by the second.

NEO… NEO… NEO

A Banshee…

‘Ahhh!!!’ he woke up, breathing heavily. It was just an alarm from his complicated clock that showed the coordinates of the intersection of his latitudinal position with his longitudinal position in the primary panel and the position of the sun in a secondary panel. The time was calculated from the two measurements which were then verified by a tertiary panel.

Machines made simple life much simpler…

He was still tired. He had been fighting for the machine all day. The fight was colossal and yet he’d been doing it day after day. The Hero, they’d call him.

Neo got up knowing it was the same drill today. He’d have to fight for the machine.

Sometimes, With Great Power comes Great Responsibility, and some other times, it is just brutally expected out of a poor Neophyte.

‘What the hell…’ he slouched and went on to finish off his daily routine and then do his job. He walked slowly for he knew he had precious time left to prepare. At least that’s what he thought. He was drunk the previous night. The hangover was predominant and it showed in his face like he had a ton weighing down from his eye bags.

‘Darn…, everyday… am I the only one chosen?’…

Hence the name The Chosen ONE, dud.

…No answers. He knew every day the result would be the same. The battle wasn’t won yet. He was still one from the Pool.

Next stop- Workstation. He had to get there in time because he knew what to expect.

To be continued…

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