19th August 2044.
A rainy evening in Birmingham. Arjun drove his BMW along Bristol Road. There was no traffic signal. But, all the vehicles stopped where they were, out of the blue. Arjun knew nothing about what's happening.
He looked into his mobile on his left hand. '06:37 p.m. ', read the time. A message from Draupadi. "Good Night, honey." "Midnight is not a bad time to go to sleep", Arjun consoled his other self who was angry about her putting their 3-year old second daughter to sleep after completing a late night movie-ritual.
Arjun and Draupadi are blessed with two daughters - Abhi and Subha. Arjun was undertaking a top-secret medical research project at the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital in Birmingham. That's why he had left his family with the only person in India he can trust, Raghav.
Suddenly, a middle aged man ran towards his car and started banging at his window. "Rage-bait maniacs", Arjun thought to himself as he started opening his window. Before he could open his window fully, that guy fell to the ground. Blood came out of his mouth, but with a brownish hue.
Arjun knew something was dangerously wrong. He immediately closed his window and turned off the air conditioner. He saw huge bunches of pedestrians falling to the ground. But to his horror, on his wrist near his thumb, there was a drop of rain that had entered the car when he opened the window. He started to feel itchiness all over his body. His skin started to deteriorate and a thin, shiny patch covered it. He felt irritation in his eyes. That was the last thing he felt. His head fell on the steering wheel, as he vomited all over it.
20th August 2044.
"Genes, it is, the death", Aditya mumbled to himself. Draupadi glanced at Raghav. "Arjun's not picking up my call!", Draupadi screamed. Raghav sat near her and held her hands. "Nothing would have happened. It's still very early in the morning for him.", consoled Raghav. Sankarshana shouted, "This is not the time for optimism and euphemism, Raghav. "
Raghav had installed a private air sphere, as many owning a house did. It was a protection from microplastics, but now it's for microorganisms.