Neeti got up to the sound of her phone ringing. She checked the time on the clock on her side table. It was 5 am. Who could be calling her at this god-forsaken hour? Everyone who knew her knew that she was not a morning person.

She got up from her sleep, ready to shout at the unlucky person, who had wakened her up from her sleep.

Checking the phone, she saw the call was from the Station Chief.

Neeti was a news reporter at Metro News. She was one of the main anchors, and she loved her job. She also prided on the fact that she was very good at her job.

Knowing full well the Chief wouldn’t call her unless it was urgent, she answered the call.

“Hi Chief, what’s up? What happened?”

“Neeti, you need to come in urgently. We have a serious situation on our hands.”

“Ok. How soon do you want me to be in?”

“As soon as you can. I’m already here.”

“Ok. I am up. I’ll be there in an hour depending on the traffic”.

“Ok”

She hung up the phone. The Chief was not a morning person either. So if he was already at the office, it could only mean that whatever happened was very serious.

She got ready and left for the office. Thankfully the traffic was not bad, considering it was so early in the day. As good as it can be in Chennai, that is.

She reached the office within the hour. Clearly, something big was happening as there were lot more people than usual in the office considering how early in the morning it was.

She went directly to the Chief s cabin. The Chief was already there waiting for her. The Chief s name was Satish. And he has been with the station for a very long time. He was a nice guy who commanded respect from everyone who worked with him. He was also excellent in his work and well known in the field.

Along with the Chief, Ajith was also in the room. Ajith was the Assistant Chief of the station. He has been with the Chief since the beginning. And considering how the Chief expects nothing short of excellent work from everyone around him spoke volumes about Ajith.

The situation seemed urgent as both Chief and Ajith were on calls.

Chief saw me near his cabin door. He gestured for me to come in and take a seat.

Once the Chief wrapped up his call, he looked towards me. He seemed very tired. How long has he been here already? And what was happening?

I couldn’t contain my curiosity anymore.

“Chief. What’s up? What’s happening?”

“Give me few minutes to get my thoughts organized. I need some time. I also have to get back to few more calls. Try talking with Ajith and see if he can get you up to speed.”

We might have to do a couple of urgent news broadcasts today.

Wow. That was never done. Unless something massive happens.

I just hope it is nothing too bad.

Soon the Chief s phone started ringing again, and he had to take another call.

I tried to check with Ajith to see if I can get more details from him about whatever the hell was going on.

Ajith was also juggling between multiple calls. He looked pretty different from his usual calm and composed self.

I tried to start a conversation with him.

“Look Neeti, as much as I would like to share all the details with you. I’m also tied up at the moment. Give me few more minutes to get things in order. Till I get free, why don’t you go through all the notes I have with me. It will make it easier for our discussion later.”

Ajith passed most of his notes to me so that I could start reading.

I started going through his notes. Whatever possible scenarios that I had considered, this was definitely none of them. This was so much that I had trouble believing what I was reading. My hands started trembling slightly the more I read.

“Is this really..?”

I couldn’t even speak out my question entirely. I was very shocked.

I looked between Ajith and Chief, unable to believe what I was reading to be true.

They could see the shock on my face. But looking at their expression, I didn’t need an answer anymore. Their expression said it all. This was actually happening.

I could now understand why the Chief wanted me in office so early. And why we will need those urgent broadcasts today.

Looking at how the Chief and Ajith were still taking down notes from their calls, it became clear that what I was looking at was only part of the information. The complete details were still emerging. I could only dread how much worse it would be once all the details were available. And I started to feel like crap to think that I would have to share this news with the world.