The KT OLLA Web Stories

HOW did you get him here, Peter? I hope it is not by force.” It was Carl who asked the lawyer this. And it was the same concern in his wife’s mind. Yes, June had used what is called the Electronic Nose as the sensor she trained on the odor that she produced with her formula. And then the scientist placed a miniature size of the eNose inside a drone modeled to look like a bee. With this, she was able to scan through Cannon. And then zoomed in on her very target, the man who owned the bicycle. Then afterward, she had handed the drone footage of Marcuz López to Pendulum Bros. And Peter Pedro had taken on the work from there. Peter had swept to action with his team members and stalked López all over the school. Pendulum spent half a day tailing the young chemist. They chose to make things quick, so they captured the man. No, they didn’t know what they brought on themselves, or they wouldn’t have tried. For their warfare must now go his way. So now, when Peter didn’t answer, Carl repeated h...

THE answer that came for Marcuz’s question was something else. When he asked his kidnapper who he was, he got a shocker. The masked man went closer. “There is a bike on the rooftop of Pure Chemistry, your department. Is that bicycle yours?” Marcuz stopped to read the situation. Then he spoke, putting up a front. “And what if it’s mine, what is that to you?” His questioner didn’t stop. “Then why did you leave it there?” Marcuz was flustered. “Who exactly are you? Who do you work for? “I need to know this much, at least, to tell you what you want!” The masked man was someone who talked like a civil worker, a professional of some sort. He asked questions as though he was an interrogator. And he didn’t he sound like he was a criminal. Now this was what had got Marcuz curious. He doubted that the man was Cannon’s. A small quiet passed between the two men. Then the masked young man clamped his hands firmly. It was to affirm his control over the situation. “You see that your hands and feet ar...

IT was another Saturday afternoon; Marcuz had just finished his class. This was the self-same week that June had her work wrapped up. And it was a cloudy afternoon that Saturday. Mr. Marcuz López climbed down the building that was his department, and reached the basement where he parked his ride. He’d just got another cycle since he returned from home. It wasn’t a bicycle this time, or something he could throw just anywhere around. This time, his precious bike was a power cycle. He’d drawn from the stockpile inherited from his parents. And treated himself to a steering pump ride. So he parked the motorcycle at the basement park, and went back there to ride home. But then, just while he stepped by the racing beast, he heard footsteps closing in on him. Then, just when he was turning to see who was there, a thick dark hood fell over him. He was capped with black from head down to neck. At that instant, a daze fell on him as his limbs gave way beneath him. For he breathed in some gas in t...

CARL was all smiles as he walked across his property to check on his wife where she did her analysis. It was about noon on this cloudy Thursday... And it had been about two weeks since June collected the test sample from the bicycle at Cannon. And had begun working on it. Yet again she couldn’t work in a walled laboratory – or any conventional construct of it. For she still felt traumatized by the regular sense of laboratory work. So Carl had put up a big tent for her in the backside of his large property. He’d got an air purifier and ventilator equipped in the work center. Made them ready for use, in case she ran out of fresh air. He knew she wasn’t fully well when he thought to provide all those. But now it was a different story. June had been working every other day through those few weeks. And she didn’t break down, or even need to use some first aid. She’d been covering a lot of ground with each work she did every day. So much her husband Carl couldn’t help blowing the horn... As ...

CARL stood and watched as his wife did work atop Cannon’s Pure Chemistry building. June had agreed to carry out her forensic experiment on that cycle on the building’s rooftop. She wanted to detect with her new reagent formula, some infinitesimal traces of sweat components (that is, the chemical compounds in sweat) on the bicycle. Then she would return home to analyze their concentration levels in the sample – which chemists would refer to as molar density... And which goes on to define the characteristic odor of the person. And then, June would go on to enhance the reactants, the chemicals reacting together to produce the odor. She’d increase their density, speed up their reaction with a catalyst; then by this she’d get to increase the smell. Now if her method was successful, June didn’t plan to use a dog to sniff out the smell around Cannon. It was out of place to make a dog roam the campus, after all. But then, she had something smarter in plan. A “science-tech” invention... Somethi...

VINCENT Macaulay had given a long talk already. And he could tell from his listeners’s demeanor that they’d gotten his point. But the man had concerns. He was concerned that his nephews might go the way of calculations again to follow what he’d just told them. So he decided to spell out his words clearly. He addressed the two young men. “Marcuz and Luca, listen. I believe you wouldn’t take my talks as some code, and start decoding and calculating. “I will tell you the weapon of your warfare in plain language.” “Okay sir,” the boys replied. Now he explained: “If Paul said that these weapons aren’t physical, then you wonder how you can fight if you can’t bank on your guts, your wits, and brains. “Well, I will show you how from the scriptures.” He asked for a copy of Bible, so Marcuz went in and brought his copy. It was the Good News Bible, Today’s English Version. Vincent told him he’d be reading Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians. Chapter 6 and verses 12 through 18. So Marcuz sat down and ...

MARCUZ and Luca had a puzzled gaze as they exchanged glances. Did the apostles win over Rome by fight? Did they fight with weapons, too. Like during the Crusades of  Dark Ages? But how did the Church conquer their persecutors? How did they outlive this world power? Those were the rising questions behind the glances the two brothers exchanged. Still their uncle didn’t let the confusion last any much longer. For he picked up just about then. “The Church had the right weapon for the battle. Because they knew that what they fight against weren’t those people or their war tactics. “It was the dark powers behind the high powers. The rulers of the world in dark high places. “So they never got themselves reeled into the physical fight from the start. And that is why Paul said: The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into capti...

THE instant when Marcuz stepped into the living room, and saw his uncle seated, he could tell that Luca had told him everything he’d got with Cannon... So he just sat there, and followed the talk. Vincent was about to address Luca’s concerns when the older boy stepped in. So he chose to address the main matter. He turned to the two kids. “You see, you are so brilliant, you boys, that I won’t have to explain some things to you. “Now you know at every point in time, there is always a government, a people, or at times a person, at the helm of affairs of the whole world.” The kids nodded. “Then again, I’m sure you’d have read something about the rise and fall of such powerful people. But that’s not where I’m going. “You see, the ancient Rome was once the ruling power in the world. Their soldiers were skilled in battles, and so they could bring down any army. “They were a major force to fear. “The Romans stationed their troops across the nations. They placed their elites as governors over c...

IT was early Sunday morning and Luca had risen along with the day. The young sportsman had thought to work out very early before it’d be time for church. It was a day he would normally just wake, freshen up, then leave for church. But he’d barely slept through the night. He was lead-heavy with bothers about his brother. Young Luca had always known what to do. He’d known that he would do sports while he was a kid. So he didn’t proceed to college after high school. As a sportsman, he was a disciplined chap. So when he watched his big brother do well in academics, he’d thought of what he could ace, too, aside badminton. So he’d read and thought himself logical reasoning, an aspect of philosophy. Yes, Luca had always got things well planned. Life itself was a game for him. A game where he didn’t just move his players, but moved his opponents too. Life was like badminton to the sportsman. Still it wasn’t one where he leapt around to save his side of the court. It was one where he drove the ...

IT was another Saturday afternoon at Cannon University. Marcuz had just ended his class and was hurrying to leave campus. It had been about a few weeks since the chemist launched his tutorial, Cannon Skies... Yet his departmental head, the Associate Professor Bembe, hadn’t stopped going there.  Now the younger man wasn’t running away, no. But then he really was, for the time being. He was fleeing to get help—to get backup. Yes, Marcuz had been quite uncomfortable seeing Bembe in his class. But then he couldn’t do much about it.  So the chemist had thought much about it. Asking why his HOD would keep pressuring him. No, he hadn’t quite heard about the Senate incident. Where the professor had claimed the win for his famous class. All of Basic Sciences were talking about Bembe’s stunt. Yet the only person who didn’t catch on was this young man. Only Marcuz didn’t hear the news. So then, he’d wondered what Bembe was thinking. Is he trying to read me? Or is he just supervising? Wai...

NOW Carl thought to ask June about trying her experiment again. Then under nature, too, as they watched the sunset together. So the gentleman asked her if she would try. And to this, June said yes. That she was willing to pick things up. And try to work with nature. So then, her husband told her about a bicycle washed by rain needing the analysis. He asked her if she’d want to take a look and start work with it. And again, June said yes. So, Carl told her the bicycle was at Cannon University. At the crime scene of their witness’s murder. Then, that the cycle was a likely link to a third party who witnessed the crime. But to this, June went quiet. Her face suddenly lost the glow, and her cuddle went limp. For silence joined the standing two, and the place felt stuffy. Moments dragged and passed like the tides, as the sun finally set. Then June found the words at last, so she tried to talk. “I don’t know things anymore. I really don’t know, my husband. “Strangely, I want to go there. As ...

IT was evening in Kingston; and the twilight glow shone against the Martinez couple, as they watched the sun from their balcony. It had been a few days since Carl went undercover with Peter to spy on Cannon… And he’d returned that same day, but hadn’t talked much on it. The couple stood in the terrace, leaning on the rail enclosing it. As June snitched her small frame under Carl’s broad shoulder. The yellowing sun had almost vanished out of sight when Carl thought to raise the talk about Cannon. He wanted to talk to June about doing forensics on the bicycle. The rooftop cycle. Carl remembered that June had been wanting to invent a thing around forensics. It was one of the three projects she abandoned during her Ph.D. Her idea was to model radiocarbon – which is the compound present in living things which makes carbon dating possible— To use the model to invent a novel formula for crime analysis. “Carl, you know what is dead is dead,” June had told him one day. “So if we use radiocarbon...

WHEN June was cajoled to leave practice for theory that year, Carl had just finished setting up her home laboratory. The laboratory structure he built behind their new home. He had just equipped the place. So while he was just ready to set her up again, he realized his wife had lost interest in the work. When Carl talked with her about it, he observed that June was always quoting a certain AT. She’d say the man’s lines as though it was her creed. She used his words and made his claims her principles. Carl saw what his wife was fast becoming. That she hardly had her own thoughts and did her own thing. That she was quickly turning a zombie before him. It suddenly dawned on him one day that June had been brainwashed... That she’d lost her self and had been given another. So before that week ran out, Mr. Martinez took a flight to Cannon University. He went to their chemistry department to report it. There, he saw that his wife’s incident was no accident. Everyone in the department knew the...

NOW the man called AT had continued to check on June during her laboratory work at Cannon. The doctorate candidate equally began to develop some level of trust in him. She came to rely on him more, as he continued to tell her things she didn’t know. So, seeing that he’d gained the woman’s trust, the Cannon don took the next move on the game. He wanted June doubting herself. So he began pointing faults that weren’t there.  June had been quite confident. She’d been really certain about her work... But when the corrections began to pour – a thing now, another point later; one thing here, another one there... No, June began to see ‘faults’ everywhere she looked. She began to doubt her processes altogether. She began to doubt herself, too. For those faults were pointed out by someone she had trusted. And who had scored her high. Things continued this way and June broke a splinter at a time... A piece of bone here, a pound of flesh there. Till she was a pile of mess. Like her shattered b...

NOW Cannon didn’t turn a dangerous ground for June in a day. The prestigious university didn’t feel like Hades in a single day. When Cannon opened their laboratory to her then, the woman had liked the gesture. She’d jumped to work immediately, with ideas competing for space in her head. And then, as she was known to do, she set up a few separate experiments for study. And started to run them together. She was going to be the first person to run several distinct projects for one Ph.D. Still, Cannon let her feel at home. Now the brilliant chemist got her theses started (for they were three studies in all), and made laboratory experiments her method. She wasn’t so interested in the doctorate, as she was enjoying her peculiar process. She was there just for her. So, Cannon watched her and noted the progress she made... For apart from her supervisor, the professors sent one of theirs to monitor her work. That person was the best of their kind to clamp her wings. He belonged to their league,...

PETER and Carl weren’t the only ones trying to know the bicycle owner. The Cannon don of that murder night was, too. The sudden sound of the falling bicycle had alerted him that night. He felt someone came there. But his men had found nobody around when they searched. Yet he didn’t rule out the possibility that someone went there.  The learned fellow thought that the person might have been the cycle owner. So he installed a spy camera to see whoever came for the ride. Now his camera captured Peter and Carl roaming there for the same cause. ◘◘◘ Peter observed how his close friend was trying to fathom things. His own last words still lingered in the air like an echo. We will get the boy. We will get him. He spoke up now. “Hey, Carl. I’ve got a way!” The reaction was fast. “What is it? You mean it’s possible? Tell me about it.” Peter turned the matter around. For the way he’d found was June. So, he just went asking about her instead. “How is your wife? How is she doing? Has she starte...

CARL and Peter had got into Cannon that Saturday morning, and were on the rooftop of Marcuz’s department. The same ground where Lucius Barnabas had died. The two men had joined the throng of media people entering the school that morning. So they got to smuggle themselves in. There on the rooftop, Carl and Peter took on a casual air to avoid drawing attention. They chatted like friends and laughed freely. As though that ground wasn’t the murder spot. They were looking for clues about Lucius’s death. They doubted the credibility of his autopsy which Cannon lawyers had tendered in court. It had nullified the young man’s statement which previously levied psychomicide attempts against Cannon. Now they felt pretty sure that the witness’s death wasn’t a reckless one. They felt it was homicide and Cannon was the murderer. They had come on Cannon’s ground to dig that out. But Cannon had seen its first rain as an isle on the Caribbean Sea. So every remaining print of identity there should have b...

MARCUZ was getting dressed that Saturday morning when his cellphone rang. He was preparing to leave the house and was running late. So he picked the call while grabbing his handbag at the same time. The caller sounded stern. He said a few words and stopped. “You know you are running late already if you’re still home?” Marcuz looked at his phone to see who it was, but the caller was not saved on his contact. So he got curious and went back to answer. “Please who is this? Who am I speaking with?” “It is Bembe, your HOD. The one who gave you permission to air Cannon Skies!” At that point Marcuz froze as a chill went through him. He found no words. So he just stood there, flustered. “Wait, are you shocked right now?” The voice came back.  “Is this our first time talking this year? No, young man... “At least, we’ve talked and I handed you letter granting you my permission. Don’t you remember?” “Uhm, uhm...” Marcuz just stammered through the words, feeling embarrassed. Bembe wrapped up. ...

JUNE sat in the living room now. She was back to the house as she was done with the lab. She stared at an open note in front of her. Its leaves contained unfinished workings on acid concentrations. There were also one or two gaseous reactions represented by equations. But her formulas had no hope of being balanced. She knew there were several things amiss, but she couldn’t tell. For she was forming impossible compounds. Now the 28-year-old thought to return to theory since getting back to practice didn’t work for her. So she picked a pen and went for the equations on gas compounds. She started from the top and kept trying till she lost the guts to. This was what Cannon University took away from her. It was her guts to practice. Now as the woman stopped and dropped the pen, frustrated... just then, her phone beeped beside her with a new message. She tapped to read and it was Carl. So she left all work and went to chat. Carl told her that he’d suddenly decided to fly to Cannon University...