January 3, 2014 – The Morning Fog
The fog was so thick that morning, the street outside looked like it had been erased and redrawn in soft charcoal. The air smelled faintly of burning wood from the neighbor's old stove, mixing with the earthy scent of damp soil.
He sat at his desk, laptop open, screen glow reflecting in his eyes. The room was quiet except for the occasional cough of an engine somewhere down the lane.
Aarya's voice hummed in his ear—smooth, precise, and always calm:
> "Shall we begin, Master?"
He nodded. "First, the plan. We have 12 months to turn almost nothing into enough to fund every future project I have in mind."
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The Blueprint
He pulled out a notepad—not for necessity, but for the tactile comfort of paper under pen. He began listing in clean, deliberate strokes:
1. Cryptocurrency leverage — ride the early Bitcoin waves from memory.
2. Forex exploitation — track USD/INR and EUR/USD patterns before they happen.
3. Precious metals — time gold and silver purchases against upcoming geopolitical events.
4. Offshore accounts — safe storage without alerting local tax authorities.
5. Shell corporations — anonymity and scalability.
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Aarya's Contribution
Aarya projected a holographic 3D globe above the desk—tiny dots of light pulsing over financial hubs: New York, London, Zurich, Singapore.
> "I can pre-set automated trades in 19 exchanges simultaneously. With your data, I can simulate future price curves within a 0.001% deviation margin."
She rotated the globe to focus on the Caribbean.
> "For asset protection, the British Virgin Islands and Belize offer the most discreet corporate structures."
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First Funding
He counted the cash in his drawer—₹6,300 left from New Year's. Barely enough for groceries, but in the crypto market of 2014, even a few hundred dollars was an opportunity.
Through Aarya's secure network tunnel, he opened an account with a Panama-based broker. The process felt almost illicit—dark-mode dashboards, endless checkboxes, a vague thrill in every click.
> "You have exactly 3 days before the next Bitcoin rally," Aarya reminded. "If we buy now, we ride it up 41% before the week ends."
He smiled. This is it.
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January 8 – The Test Run
It was past midnight when the first trade executed. He watched the live graph—green candles climbing just as he remembered. The numbers in his account ticked upward, small at first, then accelerating.
By January 10, the ₹6,300 had become ₹60,000. By January 15, it was ₹780,000.
The growth was intoxicating, but he forced himself to breathe slowly. He knew greed could break even a time-traveler.
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POV: The Analyst in Mumbai
Raghav Mehta sipped his cutting chai in the cramped back office of a Nariman Point brokerage. His job was to monitor unusual market movements for clients.
At 10:42 a.m., he noticed a strange spike—someone was buying in small bursts across multiple accounts, but all perfectly timed to the second. Not insider trading. Not a bot pattern he recognized.
He frowned, scribbling a note: "Track this trader. Patterns too clean."
He had no idea that the same pattern would haunt his spreadsheets for the next decade.
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Back to the Room
On January 15th night, the fog had lifted. From his window, he could see the lights of the neighboring houses, scattered like constellations on the hillside.
Aarya's voice was soft now, almost pleased:
> "We have a seed fund. Ready for phase two?"
He closed the notepad and looked out at the sleeping town. "Yes. Let's build something no one can ever touch."