The RatS Story

(Fiction, inspired by true story).

It all started a few months ago. We were a happy boring family, who watched TV, used Internet, read books and newspapers and did all other chores like a normal family does. But then came that dreaded day, when our house was attacked by the unwanted creatures called *Raterrorists* (or "RatS" if you will). Now I won't say that our lives changes forever after the incident, but it did have some impact on it.

It's not clear from the initial investigation but seeing their pattern of historical attacks, I speculate the raterrorists, first sent a missionary to do a recce of our home, finding out the critical points to go for a full blown attack, vulnerable points where we were bound to be hit the most. The rats then started to gain entry to the unauthorized area (our home) through trespassing (we have realised that the boundary of our home is porous which would have been very helpful).

There was no sign of them in the initial days, may be they were planning the attacks remaining underground. At first they sent only one or 2 raterrorists for the attack, their strategy was to first see our strength, home much the homeland security was prepared. On our part, we did notice an increased chatter but ignored it. The one or 2 times the rats were spotted, it wasn't thought to be a pressing issue to be dealt immediately or notified to the higher authorities at home. The rats spotted our weakness, they knew we weren't going to retaliate until a major crisis started looming on the head. These gave them an opportunity to attack with a very sophisticated plan. The attacks were far and few but periodic. 

Days passed and they brought home a few more rats (or home bred them in their bunkers, not clear).And by the time we got to know of the situation a very extensive damage was done. A lot of books, newspapers and magazines were rendered useless, wood substances were damaged, and aesthetics of the home was soiled. But the home ministry with its "chalta hai" attitude didn't take any quick action. The problem was that there weren't effective containment tools/weapons available and home economy wasn't allowing to spend any money on defense.

This gave the raterrorists a boost of confidence. They started attacking from the front rather than using the stealth strategy. And the final blow came when they attacked the home TV and crippled all the interior electronics. This was a huge blow to the home, and affected every citizen (family member). The rapid action force (me) was able to catch one of the raterrorists on the spot, while later investigation revealed that another raterrorists was found dead at the crime location (inside the TV cabinet). It is speculated that the raterrorists may have been trained to self destruct to cause maximum damage.

After recovering from the initial shock; it was decided enough is enough. The whole nation (family) was searing from the pain, but there was no time for candle light vigil. The damaged properties were sent for repairs (no need to mention it cost huge amount money, something that could have been saved if the attitude towards external danger wasn't lethargic). Immediate actions were taken to tackle and prevent any more attacks. Stringent measures were taken to ensure that no more trespasser gets entry and the defense mechanism was promptly upgraded. 

These measures showed result pretty soon. We were able to catch a number of suspicious non-state actors, but there weren't concrete evidence that they plotted the whole conspiracy. After extensive discussion it was decided that, we being of peaceful nature would give these 'people' another chance. They were left way outside of the home border on foreign soil with a stern warning.

After a few months of the horrific incident things are settling back to normal. We haven't had any further attacks since then. But the one time investment in defense has been kept in store to be used in case of another tragedy.

We have learnt our lesson that prevention is better than cure. Hope others learn from us too.