Goodbye, Tivity - Third, Journey Genres

Full Counts
All Words: 649


"Connectivity closing down, Connectivity closing down."

Radhika placed her palms on her ears.She did not want to hear that robotic voice. Tivity was her home, had been for three months, how could it just close down?

A loud beep penetrated the barrier of her palms, went to her ears and finally reached her brain. A door banged open behind her. "Radhika, what the hell are you up to? You're holding things up."

She knew Venky's harsh manner hid his own feelings. He had been living on Tivity for a year-and-a-half, he had actually built most of the planet himself. "You're holding things up -- Connectivity needs your authorisation for this part of the closing operation."

Radhika turned to the beeping computer, keyed in her passwords and leaned back in her chair, eyes closed. The beeping stopped. The robotic voice started up again. "Connectivity is now closed. Connectivity is now closed."

The computer screen went blank. There was a sudden, ringing silence in the cabin. Radhika could feel Venky's presence -- his agitation disturbed the very air around him. She opened her eyes and swiveled her chair round to face him.

He was sweating, trembling slightly. He hadn't shaved in days -- the black beard looked awkward on him, like it had been glued on. His spectacles glinted blue in the reflected light of the artificial lamps, masking the colour of his own eyes. Radhika realised she had never seen him without his spectacles, she didn't know what colour his eyes were.

"We've closed Connectivity successfully," Radhika said, more to break the silence than to impart obvious information.

"Yes. Now no one else knows or cares whether we exist." Venky grimaced.

"You know ..." Radhika hesitated.

"What?"

"Never mind."

"WHAT, Radhika? Don't start saying something and then not say it."

Radhika took a deep breath. "This is affecting him far, far more than you," she reminded herself. "He is entitled to snap, today, with his beloved planet closing down."

"I just thought -- you know -- that if we had closed Subjectivity, we could have kept Connectivity open."

"You really think that hadn't occurred to me?" Venky sat down in the chair next to her. "I've spent so long building planet Tivity, you really think I haven't gone through every possibility?The thing is, Objectivity needs to replace Subjectivity, and Objectivity is in a black hole at this point in time. Not reachable."

"And now we've closed Connectivity ..."

"There's no possibility of Activity," Venky finished for her. He turned the chair to face the nearest computer screen and began pushing buttons. "Closing -- closing -- Activity closed down."

Around them, the lights on some unmanned computers blinked off, the screens went blank.

"Venky, yes, Connectivity and Activity are gone, but surely -- surely -- Creativity can stay? Creativity thrives on Subjectivity. You can't close Subjectivity, let Creativity balance it."

Venky sighed. He went around unplugging all the computers and haphazardly dismantling them. Soon, there was a bunch of keyboards, monitors and tangled wires at Radhika's feet. "I can't deal with it alone, Radhika, or even with your assistance. Creativity and Subjectivity together are very, very powerful. Can't risk unleashing the monster."

"But to CLOSE DOWN the planet ..."

"We've been through this, Radhika." Venky didn't seem to have the strength to move to a chair. He sank on to the floor, next to the heaped hardware. "Since we can't bring in Objectivity, we can't let Creativity and Subjectivity rule, no matter how attractive that might look to start with. Adaptivity is pretty low, and that leaves room for a lot of unchecked Relativity."

"But listen. There's Positivity You can't dispute Positivity."

"I can't ... but Negativity can, and Negativity is running amok, as you know."

"So you're determined to close down ..."

"I have no choice."

"So it's goodbye, Planet Tivity."

"Goodbye, Planet Tivity."

"Where will we go, Venky?"

"There's a new planet. Seems habitable.It's called Planet Ism. Goodbye, Planet Tivity. Hello, Planet Ism."

"Journey Through Genres - April 2019 Winners!" 
Third Place - "Goodbye, Tivity."