Base ke andar chaos phail chuka tha.
Har corridor mein alarms baj rahe the. Emergency lights red flashes ke saath poori building ko aur zyada dangerous bana rahi thi. Bahar se aati growls aur impacts continuously walls ko shake kar rahe the.
Aur un sab ke beech..
Aarav khada tha.
Uske saamne glowing structure.
Or uske andar fear.
Aur uske mind mein sirf ek question..
Origin darr kyun raha hai?
Room ke center mein khadi holographic figure ab bhi usse dekh rahi thi.
Still.
Silent.
Jaise woh wait kar rahi ho.
Meera slowly Aarav ke paas aayi. "Yeh… kya cheez hai?"
Aarav jawab deta usse pehle hi..
figure ne khud bola.
👉 "Authorization mismatch detected."
Room mein halki si vibration hui.
Aarav ka heart aur fast beat karne laga.
👉 "Matlab?" usne dheere se poocha.
Figure ki glowing eyes directly us par focus hui.
👉 "Carrier identified."
Pause.
👉 "But identity corrupted."
Silence.
Meera confused thi.
Aarav nahi.
Usse feel ho raha tha..
yeh baat directly Origin ke liye thi.
Andar Collapse hasa.
👉 "Oho… ab maza aayega."
👉 "Chup," Aarav ne teeth clench karte hue kaha.
Meera instantly uski taraf mudi. "Kya hua?"
👉 "Nothing…"
Par obviously sab kuch wrong tha.
Suddenly..
structure ke aas paas symbols rapidly rotate karne lage.
Golden light intense hoti gayi.
Aur phir..
Aarav ke dimaag mein images flash hone lage.
Fast.
Broken labs.
Screaming people.
Machines.
Dark energy.
Aur ek naam baar baar repeat ho raha tha..
👉 "Project Origin…"
Aarav ne apna sir pakad liya.
Usse pain ho rha tha...
Sharp.
👉 "AARAV!" Meera ne usse sambhala.
Figure ki awaaz phir aayi..
👉 "Memory fragments detected."
👉 "Restoration beginning."
Origin ne instantly react kiya.
👉"NO."
Poore room mein pressure explode hua.
Walls crack.
Floor vibrate.
Meera peeche gir gayi.
Aarav ki aankhon mein golden aur black energy ek saath flicker karne lagi.
Collapse excited tha.
👉"Finally truth aa raha hai."
Origin ki awaaz first time unstable thi.
👉 "Stop the process!"
Figure ne ignore kiya.
👉 "Restoration cannot be stopped."
Aur phir..
Aarav ne dekha.
Ek laboratory.
Huge.
Cold.
White walls.
Scientists.
Machines.
Aur center mein..
ek glass chamber.
Us chamber ke andar..
ek ladka.
Aarav.
Par younger.
Uske body ke around black aur golden energy continuously clash kar rahi thi.
👉 "Subject unstable…"
👉 "Energy levels rising…"
👉 "Origin synchronization failing…"
Voices echo ho rahi thi.
Aarav ka saans ek second ke liye ruk gaya.
👉 "Yeh…"
Meera usse pakde hue thi. "Kya dekh raha hai?!"
Par Aarav answer nahi de pa raha tha.
Kyuki images aur intense hoti ja rahi thi.
Ek scientist screen ki taraf dekhkar bola..
👉 "If this fails… reality collapse begin ho jayega."
Dusri awaaz..
👉 "Then remove the child."
Silence.
Phir..
ek aur awaaz.
Calm.
Dangerously calm.
👉 "No."
Room silent ho gaya.
Aur shadows mein se..
ek insaan saamne aaya.
Uska face clear nahi tha.
Par uski presence…
same thi.
Origin.
Aarav freeze ho gaya.
👉 "Nahi…"
Scientist ne nervous tone mein poocha..
👉 "Sir, synchronization impossible hai."
Origin ne chamber ke andar khade chote Aarav ko dekha.
👉 "Impossible things hi future change karti hain."
Aarav ka heartbeat loud ho gaya.
Future change?
Matlab..
yeh sab planned tha?
Suddenly..
memory distort hui.
Sirens.
Explosions.
People screaming.
Black energy poore lab mein spread ho rahi thi.
Aur center mein..
young Aarav scream kar raha tha.
Collapse energy uncontrollable ho gayi thi.
Scientists bhaag rahe the.
Machines explode ho rhi thi.
Reality literally tear ho rahi thi.
Aur us chaos ke beech..
Origin bas khada tha.
Observe kar raha tha.
Tabhi aarav chillaya..
👉 "STOP!"
Memory abruptly break ho gayi.
Woh wapas central chamber mein tha.
Uski breathing heavy ho gyi thi..
Sweat.
Pain.
Meera uske saamne kneel karke baithi thi. "Aarav please kya ho raha hai?!"
Aarav ne slowly uski taraf dekha.
Uski aankhon mein shock clearly visible tha.
👉 "Main…"
Pause.
👉 "…experiment tha."
Silence.
Meera ka face pale ho gaya.
Andar Collapse slowly bola..
👉 "Told you… hum normal nahi hain."
Aarav ka focus instantly andar gaya.
👉 "Origin…"
Silence.
👉 "ANSWER ME!"
Aur finally..
Origin bola.
Calm.
Par heavy.
👉 "Yes."
Room silent.
Aarav ka anger instantly explode hua.
👉 "Tu mujhe use kar raha tha?!"
👉 "No."
👉 "JHOOT!"
Poore chamber mein energy burst hui.
Golden symbols unstable hone lage.
Meera darr gayi. "Aarav control..!"
👉 "Main koi weapon nahi hoon!" Aarav chillaya.
Origin kuch seconds ke liye chup raha.
Phir dheere se bola..
👉 "You were never meant to be a weapon."
Aarav rage mein tha. "Then what am I?!"
Silence.
Aur phir..
Origin ne woh line boli jisne sab kuch change kar diya.
👉 "You were meant to replace me."
Complete silence.
Meera freeze.
Collapse bhi silent.
Aarav ka dimaag blank ho gya or usne kaha..
👉 "...kya?"
Origin ka tone disturbingly calm tha.
👉 "When I disappear… someone has to maintain balance."
Aarav slowly peeche hata.
👉 "Nahi…"
👉 "You were created to survive what destroyed every previous version."
Aarav ka heartbeat dangerously fast ho gaya.
Previous versions.
Echo.
Residue.
Sab suddenly connect hone laga.
Aur ussi waqt..
base violently shake hua.
BOOOOM.
Zoya ki awaaz comms par crackle hui..
👉 "AARAV WE HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM!"
Kabir ki awaaz bhi panic mein aayi..
👉 "BHAI WOH CHEEZ ANDAR AA GAYI!"
Aarav instantly alert hua.
👉 "Kya andar aa gaya?!"
Static.
Phir..
Kabir ki shaky awaaz..
👉 "Echo…"
Silence.
Aur next second..
central chamber ka giant metal door dheere dheere khulne laga.
Darkness ke andar.
ek shadow visible hui.
Uske hands pockets mein the.
Uska expression calm tha.
Aur woh familiar smile.
Echo.
Usne Aarav ko dekha…
phir chamber ke glowing structure ko.
Aur dheere se hasa.
👉 "Well…"
Pause.
👉 "…ab toh sabko sach pata chal gaya toh ab...."
To be continued...