False trails were an art.
They required understanding not just of technology, but of ego.
Arjun mimicked arrogance deliberately. Sloppy comments in code. Overconfident timestamps. A digital accent that suggested youth and recklessness.
Cyber Crime analysts fell into familiar assumptions.
"Must be a kid."
"Foreign training."
"Too flashy to be local."
Arjun listened quietly as theories formed around him.
He felt a strange sadness.
These were intelligent people. Honest people. Trapped inside frameworks that refused to see beyond hierarchy.
When Karthik, the junior officer, bragged loudly about "cornering the hacker," Arjun nodded appreciatively.
Inside, he adjusted three variables.
That night, he rerouted suspicion completely.
Not to an innocent person. Never that.
To a myth.
(Easter egg: The fabricated hacker profile later becomes a real online legend, distracting global attention from Arjun's disappearance.)