13. Can Singer upset the Apple Cart?

When they returned to the palace in Mycenae they found the palace completely abandoned. However a scroll lying at the entrance caught Harvi’s eye. He picked it up and unfurled it. A weird pattern was inscribed on it. Harvi had seen this somewhere. Suddenly it came to him. It looked like those QR codes he had heard about. He quickly installed the Bar code scanner application and scanned the scroll. It said ‘Seek the apple of innovation and you shall find your planet’s salvation’

He had no clue how to go about this. Google search also did not yield anything tangible. So he decided to try twitter. Soon a viral started on twitter spreading seeking information on the apple of innovation. After running into quite a few blind alleys, finally he had a promising lead – a hacker with handle @nereus. He began to track this person closely and finally cornered him one day. He was willing to reveal information about the apple of innovation if Harvi defeated him in a game of counter strike. Harvi’s heart leapt up. The only worthwhile thing he had done at college was winning the counter strike championship. But this guy turned out to be real good. Harvi had to play out of his skin and still managed to beat him only by a whisker. But what mattered was he had won and now he could get the information he sought.

“I discovered about the apple of innovation when I hacked into some of the Apple servers. It is some kind of an alien artifact. It is rumored to be the original apple whose replicas don every Apple device. It is kept in a high security area somewhere. There is just one man who knows its location: Julian Assange.”

Julian Asange was currently in prison in UK. If they expected his assistance, they would have to get him out of prison somehow. Harvi and Eros formulated a plan. The first stop was Sweden where lived the two women who had filed charges against Julian Assange. Eros used his love arrows to make them fall madly in love with Assange. The lovelorn women withdrew their charges against him and he was out of jail in the next few days. Eros and Harvi waited outside prison in UK to receive him.

“Thanks a lot, guys. I really appreciate what you have done for me. I do have files on Apple’s secret base where this device is held. It is a remote island in the Pacific. But the security is so tight even the entire US army can’t breach it. However there is one person who has free access to the base, a privilege given to him for his close association with late Apple founder Steve Jobs: Bill Gates. If somehow you can enlist his help, your task will be accomplished. Best of luck for your quests! I have my own set of quests to attend to now. So I am off.”

Soon the muck fortress was flying to the Microsoft headquarters at Redmond. They had to get through the tight security to reach the one man who could help them: Bill Gates. They still had an ace up their sleeve to help them breach the security, a security expert himself: Cerberus. The aliens had not been there to take him. So he was still very much with them. So they sent the hell hound ahead to raise hell and spread chaos to create a distraction. Meantime they slipped in unnoticed.

Bill Gates patiently listened to their story and was willing to help. But if he was away from work for one day, Microsoft's losses would run into millions. So if someone could take the burden of running the company for a day, he would gladly go and get the apple of innovation for them. Harvi had always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur and at last he had his chance albeit for a day. So he was only too happy take on the responsibility.

One day passed. Two days passed. A whole week passed. Still no sign of Bill Gates! Harvi had by now begun to realize how difficult running a company can be. He had always thought CEO s had fun playing golf and attending parties while the junior executives slogged their asses off. Now he was realizing that on the contrary, a CEO’s life was much tougher. This job was totally sucking his life and vitality away. He was about to let out his hair and start singing when Bill Gates finally arrived looking completely refreshed and probably 10 years younger.

“I had so much fun without the pressures of running a company. I really enjoyed the last 10 days. Why don’t you continue being the CEO of Microsoft while I go and hand over the apple of innovation to the aliens and save the world?”

Harvi did not know what to say. No way he could continue this even for a minute. “That is an excellent idea, Bill! But I still need to finish my MBA. Can I take over after I complete my MBA?”

“What is there in a MBA? I myself am a college dropout. They are not going to teach you anything useful at B-School. B-Schools are only good for producing losers and charlatans. Only the temperature and pressure of the forge of the big bad world of business produces true winners.”

“That is true, Bill. Give me 3-4 days to formally complete the drop out formalities so that the college authorities do not raise a missing complaint about me at the local police station.”

Bill Gates agreed and once again took over the running of the company. Harvi decided to make hay while the sun shone and took the apple of innovation and bolted. He had learnt one thing clearly. Being a CEO was not his cup of tea. Probably he should consider some other career options, a management Guru for instance.

Soon the muck castle was in flight again. They had hardly flown a few minutes when Eros and Cerberus came up to him.

“You can now hand over the apple to me,” said Eros with a smile.

Harvi wondered what his new game was. But he did not have to wait too long to discover for in next few moments both Eros as well as Cerberus began to melt away and in their place stood two reptilian aliens.

Concluding Part of the Story : Singer's Swan Song
Previous Part of the Story     : Singer shows dogged determination
First Part of the Story           : The Singer on the Roof 

Picture credit : Golden Apple Picture