The library was quite dark... 🌑
(As the gate creaked open, a faint gzzk sound echoed. Ishan quietly slipped inside.)
Ishan (locking the gate):
"Riya?"
Riya (sitting by the corner of the table near a laptop 💻):
"I'm here."
Ishan (walking straight to her):
"Is everything set?"
Riya (nodding slightly 🙆♀️):
"This is all we've got."
(On the table lay a laptop, some tools, a wire set, and an old rusty metal box 🧰.)
Ishan (pulling items out of his bag 🎒):
"Here… the backup analyzer toolkit... and take a look at this."
Riya (instantly startled seeing the device 😯):
"Wait! That's Aarav's circuit analyzer, right?"
Ishan:
"Yeah. He built it last year when he was working on that old military-grade radio system 📡.
It's not a normal reader – it's passive, dormant... and can even trace signals from encrypted hardware 🔐."
Riya:
"But how did you get your hands on it?"
Ishan (softly smiling 😊):
"He said... it might be useful in an emergency. I didn't understand back then...
But now I think... he gave it exactly for this day."
(They carefully take out both chips.
A tiny, sleek-designed, unknown chip — no brand marking, no serial number 🕵️♂️.)
Ishan (opening his laptop and launching the debuggers):
"Let's go." 💻
(As the chip gets connected, logs begin to scroll on the screen...)
---
Debugger (Screen):
⚙️ Attempting device handshake...
⛔ No response...
❓ Device unidentified...
🔁 Retrying...
⌛ Alternate port... timeout...
---
Riya (watching the screen 👀):
"Even the basic handshake is failing... no current draw, no data ping.
It's like... the system can't even detect it." 😓
Ishan (switching ports 🔌):
"Maybe it's a pin mismatch. Let's try injecting manual voltage."
(He sets the voltage regulator to 3.3V, then fixes it to 5V. Checks with the multimeter 🔍.)
Ishan (watching carefully):
"Zero current pull... completely non-responsive." 😟
Riya (inspecting the chip using a microscopic lens 🔬):
"The outer layer is super clean.
No coating, no sensor point visible. The design doesn't match any standard template." 🧩
Ishan (connecting Aarav's analyzer):
"If there's even a tiny signal in this... this will catch it." ⚠️
(The tool connects... silence for a few seconds...
then a faint ticking sound.
The device heats up 🔥... and suddenly, a fuse blows and a tiny smoke wisp escapes 😶🌫️.)
Riya (instinctively stepping back 😨):
"Sh*t?!"
Ishan:
"Maybe the tool fried... or the chip emitted some unexpected spike...
But that means... it's not dead." 😧
(They both sit silently for a while.
Only the sound of the ceiling fan and ticking clock echoes in the library. ⏱️)
Ishan (leaning over the table, eyes closed):
"I thought this chip was just encrypted...
But if Pax couldn't detect it with any system...
Why make something this complex?" 🤯
Riya (holding the chip thoughtfully 🤔):
"Maybe it was intentionally designed to be undetectable...
Or maybe... it's made of something completely different." 🌌
Ishan:
"Then we'll need a whole new level of analysis."
(Suddenly, for just a second — something strange happens —
Riya's phone 📱, lying face-up on the table, vibrates slightly.
The screen flashes white with static, then returns to normal. ⚡)
Riya (quickly grabbing her phone):
"Did you see that?! It was like a glitch or something!" 😳
Ishan:
"Did something get triggered through the phone?"
Riya:
"No app even opened. Just vibration and static flicker..." ⚪📴
Ishan (looking at the chip again):
"That means the chip is operational...
Our tools are just not capable of understanding it." 😐
Riya:
"Then it's simple — we'll have to let Kabir trace the signal.
And Aarav... he might be able to analyze this material too." 🧠
Ishan (slowly nodding):
"We have to contact them. This... is beyond our scope now." 📞
Riya:
"Then let's go... we regroup the team." 🧳
---
Chapter End...
The chip lay silently on the table — looking completely static,
almost... safe 🧊.
But both of them knew now...
It was anything but safe.
It was simply... unreadable. 🔒
It wasn't just undetectable...
It was intentionally invisible. 🫥
What technology was used to build it?
Who created it?
Everything was just... blank. ❓
And now, to fill in those blank spaces...
They had to go back —
To the very people Ishan had once turned his back on. 😶🌫️
The ones he had ignored...
Now, they would become the first answer to this growing mystery. 🔍
To be continued...