"Who said that the speed of light is maximum? Just because we haven't observed anything faster than it, doesn't mean that we can conclude light to be the fastest.

Just because Tachyons (particles that travel faster than the speed of light) haven't been found yet, doesn't mean they don't exist. "

----

The night sky of Viṇveḷi islands was always calm. With stars shining and a moon to adorn the black canvas, it looked straight out of ancient times.

The people of Viṇveḷi were careful not to harm the nature. They avoided all kinds of pollution, including light pollution to their best. They believed nature was beautiful on its own and humans should not tinker with it.

Even the drones that flew over the islands were shaped as birds. They weren't the usual drones. They were super-intelligent AI robots used for survelliance who knew how to merge with the birds.

People wondered if the birds got any hint of the outsiders merging with them.

The residents of Viṇveḷi were all scientists. They knew better than to pollute their own home and despised wasting their time on something that couldn't earn them knowledge.

Everything they did, they wanted some knowledge in return. Be it how to fix a nail or the explanation of Hawking radiation.

One could say they were workaholic but they always described themselves as 'Knowledge seekers'.

But an exception always ruled out the theory. And the same happened there.

When Utkarsh Mehra was born, no one knew he would be this different. When other babies cried all the time, he used to smile. He was perfect for his name. 'Utkarsh' meaning 'happiness' in Hindi.

As he grew up, his parents tried to indulge him in knowledge seeking activities too. He did them with utter joy but one thing that Utkarsh understood and no one else on Viṇveḷi did was the importance of happiness.

He balanced the silence of Viṇveḷi. The 'bubble of mischiefs' was the nickname given to him. He tried his best to make people smile, even if it meant by making fun of himself.

His parents always tried to tame his dynamic personality but a shining star covered in blankets was never possible. It would simply burn the blanket.

So when Utkarsh was strictly instructed to sleep after performing the test of another set of AI birds, he was roaming around in the woods. He had completed his work long ago but the sleep couldn't grasp him in its claws.

Sitting at the river bank, he was staring at his reflection. The boy with jet black hair and dark brown eyes stared back at him with a light brown squirrel on his shoulder.

"Huh.... " he muttered and rolled his eyes. He picked the squirrel and started patting it on his lap.

"Don't you think Squi our life is so boring? I know you love cracking those nuts and I love cracking those equations. But we should do something besides cracking. Don't you agree? The life in Viṇveḷi is so boring. With white coats ruling it over, poor subjects like me have to suffer.  They don't understand the sensation of joy, all they understand is the rush of adrenaline. But I wonder if I would ever feel that?" He rambled.

The poor squirrel Squi looked up at its master and blinked. It knew the day was his Master's eighteenth birthday and he was dying of his routined life. So the squirrel looked up at the sky and wished for something to entertain its master.

Squi was gifted to Utkarsh on his third birthday. It was said that the whole Viṇveḷi population had worked hard to improve the intelligence of that squirrel. They made it smart like a human but failed at making it speak like one.

When they were working on the project, everyone realised that the boy had won all of their hearts but no one wanted to accept it. They were simply doing it because Dr. Mehra was a great man and the first one to have a baby in Viṇveḷi.

Utkarsh looked at the stars and calculated the time to be 2:10. He was still in the woods but utterly bored and ready to retire to his room when he felt a huge shock wave. He stumbled backwards and Squi fell on the ground.

He blinked twice and heard a bang that confirmed his suspicion of something hitting the ground. He picked up Squi quickly and started running towards the source.

Confused why his dad hadn't told him about this, he contacted him. Maybe he thought I'm sleeping now. Utkarsh reasoned.

When he reached the source of the waves, he was shocked. In front of him, a huge rock was there in a deep hole.

"Holy Cosmos! It's a meteorite Squi... " Utkarsh exclaimed and started walking towards it.

Usually when meteorites fall on the ground, they burn things in their vicinity. But this one didn't. The trees in its vicinity were still green and alive. And its crater seemed like a bed of green leaves.

Utkarsh was awed by the cosmic beauty and was pulled towards it like a moth to the flame.

He was about to jump straight into the crater when Squi started behaving strange. It peeked out of his coat and started tugging on it. Seeing that it made no difference, it jumped out and climbed on his shoulder. Squi started chewing his ears roughly, begging him to stop.

But Utkarsh was already mesmerised.

Squi's little heartbeat became faster and it looked with horror as Utkarsh raised his left leg take the leap.

Squi wanted to jump off his shoulders and run away from the calamity that would follow. But it didn't.

Coincidence that the meteorite fell when Squi wished for it and it was the first one to detect the danger ? Or is it just some animal senses?