Raat dheere dheere khatam ho rahi thi.
Sky halka sa light ho raha tha.
City normal lag rahi thi.
Par..
👉 jo log sach jaante the…
unke liye sab kuch badal chuka tha.
Aarav bhi wahi khada tha.
Jahan kuch der pehle..
👉 sab kuch khatam hone wala tha.
Ab wahan sirf silence tha.
Usne dheere se saans li.
👉 "Khatam ho gaya…"
Par uski awaaz mein certainty nahi thi.
Meera uske paas aayi.
Or usne kaha...
👉 "Tu theek hai na?"
Aarav ne uski taraf dekha.
Uski aankhon mein...
👉 thakaan
👉 aur kuch aur
👉 jo woh khud samajh nahi paa raha tha.
👉 "Haan…"
Usne dheere se kaha.
Par sach..
👉 "haan" nahi tha.
***
Control Room main... Few Minutes Later.
Sab wapas aa chuke the.
Kabir chair par gir gaya..
👉 "Yaar… main toh aaj officially retire hone wala tha…"
Meera halki si hasi..
👉 "Drama band kar.
Kabir..
👉 "Nahi seriously… woh sphere… woh blast… bhai main gaya hi tha…"
Zoya chup thi.
Uska focus Aarav par tha.
👉 "Tum stable nahi ho."
Jaise hi usne ye kaha..
Room silent ho gaya.
Kabir ne kaha...
👉 "Abe abhi toh jeet gaye..."
Zoya ne usse roka..
👉 "Main system ki baat nahi kar rahi."
👉 "Main Aarav ki baat kar rahi hoon."
Aarav ne uski taraf dekha.
Or kaha...
👉 "Main theek hoon."
Zoya ne kaha....
👉 "Nahi."
Silence.
👉 "Tumne apni power split ki…"
👉 "Simultaneous control use kiya…"
👉 "Aur bina break ke multiple layers handle ki…"
Kabir confused..
👉 "Toh? Woh toh good hai na?"
Zoya ne kaha...
👉 "Nahi…"
👉 "Woh dangerous hai."
Ye sunte hi...
Aarav ka expression tight ho gaya.
👉 "Explain."
Zoya dheere se boli..
👉 "System ke saath connect rehna ek cheez hai…"
👉 "Par system ban jaana…"
👉 "Woh alag cheez hai."
Silence.
Meera ne softly kaha..
👉 "Tum kehna kya chahti ho…"
Zoya ne kaha...
👉 "Woh jitna zyada use karega…"
👉 "utna zyada lose karega…"
Kabir...
👉 "Kya lose karega?"
Zoya ne seedha Aarav ki aankhon mein dekha..
👉 "Khud ko."
Room freeze ho gaya...
Aarav ne aankhein hata li.
👉 "Main control mein hoon."
Zoya ne kaha...
👉 "Abhi."
👉 "Par kab tak?"
Silence.
Meera ne beech mein kaha...
👉 "Bas karo…"
👉 "Abhi fight khatam hui hai…"
👉 "Hum baad mein discuss karenge."
Zoya chup ho gayi.
Par uski aankhon mein..
👉 doubt ab bhi tha.
Later... Rooftop
Aarav akela khada tha.
City neeche shine kar rahi thi.
Usne aankhein band ki.
👉 system ko feel kiya.
Sab stable.
Perfect.
Par..
👉 ek halka sa distortion.
Bahut deep.
👉 "Tumhe bhi feel hua?"
Woh ladka uske paas aa gaya.
Aarav..
👉 "Haan…"
👉 "Woh gaya nahi hai."
Woh ladka halka sa hasa..
👉 "Woh kabhi gaya hi nahi."
Aarav ne aankhein kholi.
👉 "Observer…"
👉 "Woh adapt kar raha hai."
Woh ladke na kaha...
👉 "Aur tu bhi."
Silence.
Usne apni baat main add karte hue kaha...
👉 "Farq bas itna hai…"
👉 "Tu slow hai."
Ye sunte hi aarav ka expression serious ho gaya.
👉 "Main slow nahi hoon…"
👉 "Main careful hoon."
Woh ladka dheere se bola..
👉 "Careful log survive karte hain…"
👉 "Par dominate nahi karte."
Silence.
Aarav ne kuch nahi bola.
Par uske andar...
👉 ek thought aaya.
👉 "Kya mujhe dominate karna chahiye?"
Aur yeh thought...
👉 dangerous tha.
Sudden Disturbance
Achanak...
👉 ek sharp signal.
Aarav freeze.
👉 "Yeh…"
Is baar...
👉 pehle jaisa nahi tha.
👉 yeh focused tha.
👉 targeted.
Location... Unknown Facility
Ek dark room.
Machines.
Screens.
Aur beech mein...
👉 ek insaan.
Woh connected tha system se.
Uski aankhein band thi.
Screens par data flow karne laga..
Aur ek naam blink hua..
👉 "AARAV"
***
Back to Aarav...
Aarav ka saans heavy ho gaya.
👉 "Yeh koi aur hai…"
Woh ladka dheere se bola..
👉 "Finally…"
👉 "Game interesting ho raha hai."
***
Control Room main.
Kabir panic ho gaya or usne kaha..
👉 "New signal!"
Meera ne pucha..
👉 "Kahan se?!"
Kabir ne uske answer main kaha..
👉 "Unknown source…"
Zoya ne screen dekhi.
Uska face serious ho gaya.
👉 "Yeh system ka part nahi hai…"
👉 "Yeh koi aur player hai."
***
Rooftop pe aarav..
Usne sky ki taraf dekha.
👉 "Toh ab…"
👉 "Sirf Observer nahi…"
👉 "Aur bhi hain."
Uski aankhon mein..
👉 excitement.
👉 danger.
👉 aur thodi si darkness.
👉 "Theek hai…"
👉 "Game aur bada karte hain."
Aur us moment pe..
👉 Aarav sirf react nahi kar raha tha…
👉 woh ready ho raha tha.
War ke liye.
Aur iss baar...
👉 enemy unknown tha.