THE SHADOW CONQUEROR - BHARAT CHAUHAN

He owned the world. He was young, strong and handsome and he owned the world. It had not been an easy task. He had to rise from the rank of a common soldier to a leader who defended his country. After many alliances in secret, he led his fellow men to conquer the world. It wasn’t for his personal benefits. No, not at all. It was for the greater good of everyone. He had to unite an entire world divided by anarchy under a single banner and lead them to peace.

… His eyes watered. The glare was too much. He took of his glasses and wiped his eyes. After blinking a few times, he put them back on…

Now what?

It was over. He had fulfilled his destiny. The prophesized Son had come and led everyone to freedom. What does a messiah do after he has saved the souls of his people and had taken his rightful throne? Where does a climber go after he has defeated the highest of the peaks? He asked himself, what’s next?

… He once again went through the checklist. Everything was marked in green. Done and over with. He thought he might restart something or the other…

He wondered if there is another world out there awaiting his arrival. He looked at the stars – maybe one of them had a planet he ought to visit. He looked down. People were not looking up at him anymore. They had idolized him as a god and then nothing. They would come cowering tohim everyday with the little trinkets they brought as presents. As if wealth mattered anymore, or sacrifices. It was over and done with. The war had been fought and won and now it was just plain boring sitting on this golden throne. The large halls that he had dreamed of now held no attraction for him. He guessed something is exciting only when you don’t have it. All the fascination and all the charm disappears the moment you get it. And worse, it is probably to get everything you wish for. What would one live for after that?
It really was over. He stared at the screen and all he saw was an animated version of his self sitting on a throne in a large hall, smiling stupidly at a large number of people who were coming and going with gifts and offerings. And in the bottom corner of the screen it was written in green letters – Game Over. Underneath was an option asking if he would like to start over again. He pressed ‘x’ on the keyboard and the game shut down and went on to show a blank computer screen. There was no way he was going to play this one over again. The fun of any game is only once. By the time you finish it, you know how to get around things, you know all the secret paths and if he was to start over it wouldn’t take him even two days to finish it. Hell, he even knew all the cheat codes by now. It would be extremely boring if he was to play it again now.

He thought he would buy a new one. Maybe one in which he could be an Elf Lord this time or even an Indian mythological character. Finally, they were coming out with some good Indian role playing games. He had seen the trailer for one on Youtube which allowed you to play as Kalki in a post-apocalyptic world and the mission was total annihilation. It sounded fun. The trailer had looked really promising. But it would cost some money and they had long since banned the torrents and the free hacked downloads, with a strict penalty. The free world of the net leecher had died an eventual death. He didn’t mind giving it a shot but he was out of a job right now and couldn’t really afford to pay the fines. But he had some savings he had made. Maybe he could pull out a little cash from there.

No. He told himself. His wife’s birthday was coming up next week and he would prefer to buy her a nice present that would cheer her up and lift her out of her state. He fished into one of the packets lying on the table. The chips were over. He cursed and lit a cigarette. He would definitely buy her a present this time and that too a damn nice one; but the idea of buying a new game never really left his head.

There was a knock on the door and his wife entered. She looked at him and then at the screen and then back at him. “What were you doing?”

“Nothing,” he replied, trying to evade her eyes.

“Weren’t you supposed to be working?”

“Yeah I was. Just took a break,’ he lied. He didn’t like where this was heading.

“A break? Come on, don’t lie to me. I know you. Why is the screen blank? You were playing, weren’t you?”

He couldn’t lie to her really. She knew what he had been up to and he didn’t really see a point in that.

“I just wanted to finish it up before I start on work,” he replied picking out another cigarette from the pack.

“You know I am sick of your games. That’s all you do all day long. You are a father of two kids and you don’t feel any fucking responsibility to feed them. You are out of a job and when you are supposed to be looking a new one you sit here lazily on your chair…’ He didn’t like the word lazy. It was back-breaking stuff – sitting on the comp for ten straight hours. “… and just play. “It’s all real to you. Isn’t it? And your family is just a fantasy that you can manage to throw away when you like?.” She was on the verge of shouting. And every time she got really angry, tears would come to her eyes. Tears that made him hate her in those moments. He switched her off..

“I told you, I’m getting a new job.” His tone was one of indifference. He couldn’t stand looking at her being angry and crying at the same time. He ignored her.

“When?” She demanded.

“Soon.” He stubbed the cigarette in the ash tray and held on to the action even after it was out and just black nicotine was staining his fingers. He thought of the smell of nicotine on his fingers after he had smoked. Mostly everyone found it disgusting but he liked it. The faint lingering smell of burnt tobacco made him smile. He had really stopped listening to her by now. She got the message that he didn’t want her around anymore.

“God! That’s what you have been telling me for the past one month. I have been working double shifts to keep this family alive while all you do is live off my hard work and blow it away on your virtual realities. You know I’ve had enough of this and if you don’t fix yourself anytime soon I’m going to leave.” She stormed out of the room.

He stared at the passage for a while. He wanted to feel remorse and sadness but that was too much of an effort. The computer had come to life by then and a file on the screen glimmered, it was named The Shadow Conqueror. He opened it. Two options blinked in front of him – one asking if he would like to start a new game and the other one saying if he would like to resume the old game. He clicked on ‘Resume Game’ and there he was back again in a large golden hall filled with people who bowed to him and were ready to lay their lives down for him at a word. He was undefeated. He ruled the world. Maybe he would finally buy a new game. Screw her. She didn’t deserve anything from him. If she wanted to leave then let her. Maybe this time he would buy the one in which he could be Kalki and spread total destruction. He would like that. He would like that a lot. The glare of the screen was reflected in his glasses and a thin smile stretched over his lips.
(end)