Megan and Ryan reached home. Ryan switched on the TV. Ryan picked up the remote but the remote. Remote was connected to the GRIID for optimal performance, it immediately changed the channel to channel 9 based on Ryan's location earlier in the day which matched with the content on the channel.

News on Channel 9:

Cathy reporting:

A group of independent experts has noted significant changes in the Aurora patterns, especially in the Aurora Borealis. They are terming it as Aurora Anomaly. It is an unusual phenomenon whereby the normal pattern of Aurora gets changed. As scientists explain it, the Aurora is a vibrant emission of charged ions from the atmosphere above the earth's magnetic poles. Since these streams of ions interact with the earth's magnetic field it creates the iconic colorful display in the night sky. The scientists are divided about the exact impact of these changes. Some of them say it is not much of a deal while others are considering this as something unprecedented. The CK3 group has been studying the Aurora for twelve years but they could never find any unusual significant pattern in it. It only seemed to be unpredictable and chaotic. However the findings over the last several months seemed to suggest that there is some kind of signal encoded in patterns of Aurora.

'Another conspiracy theory without proof. Tomorrow they will say there is a signal in cloud shapes and lightning and so on. When our media is going to stop sensationalizing things. These days the TV channels have sprouted like mushrooms. After the invention of the micro antenna, anybody can open his own TV channel... the difference between TV channels and Youtube has blurred. That lady Cathy is the owner, reporter and also the bureau chief of Channel 9.'

'Ryan said while playing with the remote in his hands sitting on the sofa in front of the TV.

'Well that's what they are supposed to do. To serve you with information of the kind you like,' Megan entered into the debate.

'But not with coatings of spices,' Ryan vehemently countered the opinion of Megan.

'But this is nothing but facts. See as soon as I heard about this thing during our trip while coming back from the restaurant, I dug out old data about how the Aurora patterns have been changing over a period of time. Based on the patterns of Aurora in the last two decades, I can infer that it is only the data of the last three months that showed a statistical bias towards certain combinations of ions,' the weather scientist inside Megan had woken up.

'And what does it mean?'

'It means that there are certain combinations of ions which are being emitted more often than other combinations.'

'So it means that our earth is trying to tell something.'

'Or someone is using Aurora as a signal to communicate with distant planets. Since aurora patterns can be traced even from outer planets of the solar system and sometimes even beyond.'

'But someone on earth could also be a target of those signals.'

'This is because of the aurora and its corresponding electric current produces radio emission known as Aurora Kilometric Radiation (AKR) but it is only detectable from space due to ionospheric absorption.'

'Good point. But what is ionospheric absorption?' Ryan was an expert in his field but he was zero in atmospheric sciences.

'See Ryan, it is like the Ozone layer which surrounds the earth and keeps it safe from Ultraviolet radiation similarly there is another layer, layer of ions surrounding the earth from 75 km till around 1000 km which protects from the cosmic radiation and other types of radiation.'

'Wow, I got it, but just one more question, if I am correct Aurora is only visible near the poles and most of the planets of the solar system are lying on a plane which is almost along their equator,' Ryan tried to impress her with her knowledge of astronomy.

'Well done Ryan. That's absolutely correct. All the planets of the solar system lie along the plane called the ecliptic. But as you know from your schooldays that earth is slightly tilted at an angle of 23 degrees'

'22.5 degrees. To be precise.'

'Bravo, this means there should be an object or something of interest at 22.5 degrees from the equator. Megan shows a map of the solar system on her computer to Ryan.'

Megan got a call on her mobile phone. 'I need to leave Ryan it's urgent.'

Weather Control Room

This was the Weather Control Room of Channel 9. There was a huge wall monitor with a map of the solar system. It was similar to the ones usually found in children's books. But this map was interactive. It could zoom in, zoom out, tilt or rotate with the flick of a finger. Several rows of computers were giving the hall a sense of space mission control room. The first row of the computers had some of the best scientists and engineers in the world working in the field of weather science. All of them had gathered there to discuss the mystery of the Aurora Anomaly.

Megan brought her thumb and index finger close to the map spread the distance between the two and zoomed in on the area on the map. It was the figure of the earth's axis in the north-south direction.

One of the scientists picked up a laser pointer and threw the beam on the big wall monitor showing an image of the earth.

'This is the earth and this is an area where Aurora is usually formed. Now we must search in this area,' the senior scientist said pointing to an area along the axis of earth's north pole. 'We have to get going, get going faster. I am sure that similar instructions are being issued by the weather labs across the world,'

Megan curled her lips in disagreement but she expressed her disagreement professionally.

'I completely agree, but in my opinion just searching into the data and analysing it through the software will not be enough. We need to reach the spot with our equipment and carry out the experiments.' Megan was a supporter of getting the fingers dirty rather than becoming an armchair analyst feasting on floods of data.

'Well, then I can give you a reference of Mr Awasthy who has been working in this field for a long time. You can contact him and fix up dates for your field visit.'

Cathy came back to anchor the program.

'As you see dear viewers, there is no consensus .. I repeat there is no consensus on the causes of Aurora Anomaly. We will keep you updated.. Be with us this is nothing but your favourite Channel 9.'

Megan thanked all the panelists and rode on an automatic gear car to the address of Mr Awasthy. On the way she downloaded her data analysis of Aurora patterns for the last 10 years.

Megan had reached the house of Mr Awasthy. A tall slender dark man. From his looks anyone could guess that he was an Indian. His name was another clue. He was wearing Indian style cream colored pajama-kurta with dark brown achkan (an Indian attire used for formals).

Awasthy welcomed Megan to his study room which was as disorganized as he himself. A big pile of books was standing in the middle of the study table. Another pile was waiting on the right side of the table. Most of the books were about operating systems, space exploration, weather, climate change, a few on religion and ethics. Another book was kept half open and kept overturned near the chair. From the cover of the book it was clear that the title was 'A Cursor Story'. Mr Awasthy signalled Megan to sit on the chair in front of the table.

'Thanks Mr Awasthy. This is Megan, an independent weather researcher.' Megan introduced herself.

'Good good, nice area of research.'

'Thanks, I don't want to take much of your time. I just wanted to show you some of my findings about-,' Megan came directly to the point.

'-Aurora anomaly?'

'Do you know anything about it?'

'Yes I do Megan, otherwise we would have been discussing some other topic.'

Megan shared the details of her findings with Mr Awasthy, showed the data she downloaded on her phone.

'You are right but not always.'

'Well then I would like to know where I went wrong.'

'Technically you are right but you have to go to a place of no direction to understand Aurora completely. Only upon reaching there will you get to know where you are wrong.'

'Mr Awasthy would like to come with me?'

'I would, but I am busy with another important task.'

'Ok thanks, Mr Awasthy for your valuable advice.'

'You are going to come to me again. Best of luck.. listen, don't take help of outside entities.'

'Goodbye.' But why Megan thought to herself.

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