As the summer of 1914 approached, the Codex's [Historical Database] began to flash increasingly urgent warnings. Dates, names, and events associated with future atrocities, specifically the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, became prominent in Adav's Mind's Eye display. He knew these events were a decade away in his timeline, but the seeds of unrest were already being sown. The British, emboldened by their perceived invincibility, would eventually pass repressive laws to quell dissent, leading to a brutal and unforgettable tragedy.
Adav, now fifteen, could not allow the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to happen. It was not just a historical tragedy; it was a profound "design flaw" in the future structure of the nation, a scar that would fester for decades. It would breed cycles of violence and resentment that were counterproductive to his vision of a strong, unified, economically powerful India. He needed to show the British the cost of their arrogance, but without bloodshed, without martyrs.
He began to orchestrate his preemptive strike. Working through Bose's burgeoning network, now silently funded by Bharat Corporation, he initiated a widespread, yet carefully controlled, campaign of awareness. Not about political freedom, but about economic rights, about the exploitation of Indian labor, about the drain of Indian resources. His goal was to unite people not under a political banner, but under a common economic grievance.
The plan was audacious: a massive, disciplined, and peaceful week-long industrial shutdown across Punjab and Bengal, the very regions that would later become flashpoints. Bose's activists, now subtly trained by Adav in logistical organization and crowd control (lessons adapted from future protest management techniques), began to prepare the ground. This wouldn't be a riot; it would be a calculated demonstration of economic power, a precise strike at the very heart of British colonial control. The British would be shown, unequivocally, the immense economic cost of provoking Indian sentiment. The stage was set, not for a massacre, but for a meticulously choreographed display of Indian will.