Sunday, June 20, 2001. 24 Hours before Inspection.
The unfinished Gurudeva PU College building stood like a red-brick skeleton against the grey monsoon sky. To an architect, it was a promising start. To a government safety inspector, it was a death trap.
There were no railings on the stairs. The wiring hung from the ceiling like jungle vines. The "Fire Exit" was just a hole in the wall on the second floor with a 20-foot drop to a pile of sand.
Surya stood in the center of the muddy ground floor, staring at the disaster.
"System," he muttered. "Show me the Safety Illusion Pack details."
[Item: The Maya Protocol (Safety Illusion Pack)]
* Cost: 500 KP.
* Duration: 24 Hours.
* Effect: Overlays a 'Perceptual Filter' on the building.
* Loose Wires -> Appear as conduit-shielded cabling.
* Unfinished Railings -> Feel solid to the touch (Force Field application).
* Missing Equipment -> Projects holographic 'Fire Extinguishers' and 'Sand Buckets' that register as real to the casual eye.
* Warning: Do not attempt to actually use the holographic fire extinguishers. They are made of light.
"Purchase," Surya said. It was a steep price—leaving him with only 100 KP—but the alternative was closure.
[Purchase Confirmed. Activating Maya Protocol...]
A shimmer passed over the building. To Surya's eyes, nothing changed. But when he reached out to touch the jagged edge of a brick pillar, his hand met smooth, cool plaster.
"It works on touch," Surya breathed. "It's a tactile hologram."
"Sir?"
Karthik walked in, carrying a broom. He stopped, staring at the pillar Surya was touching. "When did you plaster this pillar? It was brick five minutes ago."
Surya smiled. The filter worked on Karthik too.
"We work fast, Karthik. Now, go get Dr. Rao. I need him to look... respectable. No rum stains."
Monday, June 21, 2001. 10:00 AM.
The Inspection Team arrived in a white Government Jeep. This wasn't the local BDA officer; these were serious men from the central board.
Leading them was Mr. Thimmiah, a Fire Safety Officer known as "The Extinguisher" because he extinguished the hopes of college owners.
He was a short, stern man with a mustache that bristled with skepticism. Beside him was a Civil Engineer from the Public Works Department (PWD).
Surya met them at the entrance. He wore a crisp suit he had bought from a rental shop in Jayanagar.
"Welcome, gentlemen," Surya said, extending a hand. "Principal Surya Gowda."
Thimmiah ignored the hand. He looked at the building.
"It looks... fresh," Thimmiah noted suspiciously. "My report said this was a construction site two days ago."
"We use prefabricated modular technology," Surya lied, throwing out buzzwords. "Japanese technique. Very fast."
"We'll see," Thimmiah grunted. "Lead the way."
They stepped onto the ground floor.
The "classroom" where Dr. Rao was teaching yesterday now looked like a proper lecture hall. The System's illusion had rendered the plastic chairs into wooden benches. The rough floor looked like polished granite.
Thimmiah walked to the wall. He tapped a switchboard.
Click. Click.
The lights turned on.
"Wiring looks concealed," Thimmiah muttered, scribbling on his clipboard. He didn't know that the "conduit" he was looking at was just a glamour over a naked live wire.
"Fire safety?" Thimmiah barked.
"This way." Surya led them to the corridor.
Hanging on the wall, bright red and shiny, was a fire extinguisher.
Thimmiah walked up to it. He reached out.
Surya held his breath. If Thimmiah tried to lift it to check the weight, the illusion might hold, but if he tried to pull the pin...
Thimmiah touched the metal cylinder. It clanked under his ring. He checked the pressure gauge. The needle was in the green.
"Date of manufacture?" Thimmiah squinted at the label.
"Last week," Surya said quickly. "Brand new batch."
Thimmiah nodded and moved on.
They climbed the stairs. This was the dangerous part. The stairs had no real railing—just the System's force field that looked like a steel banister.
The PWD Engineer leaned heavily on the "railing" to look down at the atrium.
Surya's heart stopped. If the force field failed, the engineer would fall ten feet and crack his skull.
The engineer shook the railing. It didn't budge.
"Solid installation," the engineer approved. "Most colleges use cheap aluminum. This feels like iron."
"Only the best for my students," Surya smiled, wiping sweat from his forehead.
They reached the second floor. The "Library" (which was actually empty space) was filled with holographic bookshelves.
Thimmiah walked to a window. "Where is the emergency exit?"
"There," Surya pointed to the hole in the wall, which now looked like a steel door with a push-bar.
Thimmiah walked towards it. "I need to check the external staircase stability."
Surya panicked. There was no external staircase. Just a drop to the sand pit. If Thimmiah opened that door, he would step into thin air.
"Sir!" Surya stepped in front of him. "The... uh... the paint is wet! On the handle! We just painted it 'Safety Red' this morning."
Thimmiah frowned. "I don't care about paint." He reached for the bar.
[System Warning: Physical Interaction Imminent. Illusion will fail if door is opened.]
Surya needed a distraction.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the floor below.
SMASH.
"What was that?" Thimmiah spun around.
"My Chemistry Lab!" Surya gasped, seizing the moment. "Volatile chemicals! Dr. Rao must have dropped a beaker!"
He ran down the stairs. The inspectors, alarmed by the potential chemical hazard, forgot the door and followed him.
On the ground floor, Dr. Rao was standing over a shattered glass jar of formalin. He looked confused.
"I... it just slipped," Rao stammered. "My hand... shook."
Surya looked at Rao's hands. They were trembling. The withdrawal symptoms were kicking in.
"It's okay, Doctor," Surya said, looking at Thimmiah. "Just a minor accident. But as you can see, we have active labs."
Thimmiah sniffed the air. The smell of formalin (preservative) was strong. It smelled like a real biology lab.
"Fine," Thimmiah closed his clipboard. "Structural stability seems okay. Fire safety is compliant. But..."
He looked at Surya.
"You have no toilets."
Surya froze. He had forgotten the toilets. The System blueprint had built the rooms, but he hadn't installed the commodes yet.
The "Illusion Pack" could create the image of a toilet, but if they tried to flush...
"The restrooms are in the annex block," Surya pointed to the dense grove of coconut trees outside. "Eco-friendly bio-toilets. Very modern."
Thimmiah stared at the trees. He looked at his watch. It was almost lunch time. He didn't want to trek through mud to check a bio-toilet.
"Fine," Thimmiah grunted. "I'll mark it as 'External Facilities'. But get them tiled before the next visit."
He stamped the paper.
[INSPECTION STATUS: CLEARED]
"You are lucky, Mr. Gowda," Thimmiah said, handing over the certificate. "Most new colleges fail the first round. Keep up the standards."
The jeep drove away.
As soon as they were out of sight, Surya slumped against the wall.
"System," he whispered. "Deactivate Maya Protocol."
Fzzzt.
The reality snapped back.
The steel railings vanished. The fire extinguishers dissolved into light. The "polished granite" floor turned back to rough cement.
Dr. Rao looked around, blinking. "Did... did I hallucinate the railings?"
"Yes, Doctor," Surya said, loosening his tie. "We all did."
[Quest Complete: The Paper Shield]
[Reward: Official PU College Status.]
[Karma Points: +150.]
Surya looked at his balance. 250 KP.
He had a license. He had a building (barely). He had a Biology teacher.
But as he looked at the timetable he had drafted for the 40 students, a new problem glared at him.
* Biology: Dr. Rao (Covered).
* Chemistry: Dr. Rao (Can manage basics).
* Mathematics: Surya (Covered).
* Physics: ...?
Physics was the killer. It was the subject that made students drop out of science. He needed a Physics teacher who was a visionary, someone who could make equations dance.
Surya couldn't teach Math and Physics while running the administration and fighting Vikram Seth.
"System," Surya asked. "Is there a Physics teacher nearby?"
[Scanning...]
[No High-Level Talent found in 10km radius.]
Surya frowned. "Widen the search. All of Bangalore."
[Scanning Bangalore...]
[Match Found.]
[Target: 'The Mad Mechanic'.]
[Location: Shivajinagar Auto Spare Parts Market.]
[Talent: Physics (Rank S) - Applied Mechanics Specialist.]
"A mechanic?" Surya rubbed his chin. "First a drunk doctor, now a mechanic. My staff meeting is going to look like a support group for misfits."
"Karthik!" Surya shouted. "Get the scooter. We are going to Shivajinagar."
Scene: Shivajinagar. The Heart of Chaos.
Shivajinagar was the belly of the beast. It was a labyrinth of garages, meat markets, and tea stalls. The air smelled of grease and biryani.
Surya and Karthik walked past rows of dismantled motorbike engines.
"Sir, are you sure a physics teacher is here?" Karthik asked, covering his nose. "This looks like a chop shop."
"Physics is everywhere, Karthik," Surya said, checking the System marker.
They stopped in front of a small garage named "Newton Motors".
Inside, a man was arguing with a customer. The man was short, wearing oil-stained overalls, with wild curly hair. He held a wrench like a conductor's baton.
"I told you!" the mechanic shouted. "Your carburetor isn't broken! The air-fuel mixture is too lean because your intake manifold has a hairline crack! The stoichiometry is off!"
"Stoichi-what?" the customer yelled back. "Just change the plug!"
"I won't change a working plug!" the mechanic roared. "It violates the laws of efficiency! Get out of my shop!"
He chased the customer away with the wrench.
Surya stepped forward.
[Target: Moorthy 'Newton' Mani]
* Background: PhD in Astrophysics (Drop-out).
* Current Job: Scooter Mechanic.
* Reason for Drop-out: Punched a professor who stole his research paper on 'Fluid Dynamics in Zero Gravity'.
* Personality: Volatile / Perfectionist.
"Mr. Moorthy?" Surya asked.
Moorthy turned, wiping grease on a rag. "If you want an oil change, come back in an hour. I'm recalibrating a piston."
"I don't have a scooter," Surya said. "I have a question."
"I don't answer riddles."
"If a projectile is launched at 45 degrees in a vacuum," Surya began, "the range is maximum. But if you add air resistance proportional to velocity squared... what is the optimal angle?"
Moorthy froze. He looked at Surya. His eyes narrowed.
"Depends on the terminal velocity," Moorthy grunted. "And the shape of the projectile. If it's a sphere, it's around 38 to 40 degrees. If it's a teardrop, it's higher."
Surya smiled. "Correct."
"Who are you?" Moorthy asked, suspicious. "Another research thief?"
"I'm a Principal," Surya said. "And I need someone to teach Mechanics to forty kids who think Physics is boring."
Moorthy laughed. "Physics is boring. In classrooms. They teach friction by rubbing blocks of wood. Pathetic."
He pointed to a disassembled Yamaha RX100 engine on his bench.
"This," Moorthy patted the engine, "is friction. This is thermodynamics. This is torque. You want me to teach? Bring the kids here. I'll teach them how to strip an engine. That's real physics."
"I can't bring them here," Surya said. "But I can bring the engine to the college."
Moorthy paused. "You'll let me teach with engines? Inside a classroom?"
"I'll let you build a trebuchet if it helps them understand potential energy," Surya promised.
Moorthy's eyes lit up. A manic grin spread across his face.
"A trebuchet?" Moorthy whispered. "I've always wanted to build a trebuchet."
He threw the wrench into a toolbox.
"I'm in."
[System Notification]
[Staff Recruited: Moorthy 'Newton' Mani]
[Role: Head of Physics]
[Special Effect: 'The Wrench of Truth'. Students gain +40% interest in Mechanics.]
Surya sighed with relief. He had his Science Department.
* Biology: The Drunken Surgeon.
* Physics: The Mad Mechanic.
* Chemistry: (Still pending, but Rao and Moorthy could cover it for now).
* Math: The Reincarnated Professor (Surya).
It was a ragtag team. But it was his team.
"Come on, Moorthy," Surya said. "Pack your tools. We have a college to run."
As they walked out of Shivajinagar, Surya's phone buzzed.
It wasn't Lakshmi. It was a text message.
Sender: V. Seth.
Message: "Nice trick with the inspectors. But buildings need electricity. And I hear the transformer on Bannerghatta Road is notoriously... unstable."
Surya looked at the text.
"He's going to cut the power," Surya realized.
In 2001 Bangalore, power cuts were common. But a targeted sabotage? That could destroy his computer lab and the 'Sanctum of Clarity' field which required energy to anchor.
"Let him try," Surya muttered. "I just hired an astrophysicist who works as a mechanic. We'll build our own generator."