Riya barely remembered the ride to Old Delhi. Her legs moved on autopilot, breath sharp in her lungs, heart pounding to a rhythm even the city's chaos couldn't drown out. The transmission was still counting down—43 hours now 37.
She ducked inside a shuttered tailor shop she used to pass on her way to school. The walls were stitched with torn posters and the floor littered with yellowing receipts. She pulled the curtain to the back, plugged her brother's USB into her laptop, and prayed for a miracle.
The archive blinked back to life.
Only this time, something new was there:
"Trace log: last accessed by 'Operator G: FrameNode-13.'"
Location: Jamia Millia Islamia – Engineering Block.
That was Aarav's old university. And whoever this 'Operator G' was—they were inside what used to be her brother's world.
She couldn't run anymore. She had to go back in.
By mid-afternoon, she slipped through the dusty
gates of the campus dressed as a student—hood up, backpack slung low, fake ID clipped to her lanyard. The engineering block had changed. Cameras were newer. The security doors were biometric now—but Aarav must have expected this.
Taped beneath the USB: a thumbprint sticker.
Riya pressed it to the scanner.
Click.
Access granted.
Inside, every hallway whispered memory. She knew the lab upstairs with the broken vent. Knew the vending machine with a stuck "8" key. She also knew when someone was following her.
At the third floor, the man appeared.
Tall. Coat too clean for this dusty place. Face distorted on the security feed overhead—it flickered like the system couldn't recognize him.
"Riya Malhotra," he said, voice calm.
"You weren't supposed to make it this far."
"Operator G?" she asked.
He tilted his head. "Names aren't useful anymore. But Aarav left a contingency for you. It's why I'm not stopping you now."
He handed her a card. No writing—just a symbol she had seen before:
A tree with circuits for roots.
The Root.
"You'll find the Foundation's servers under the Yamuna bridge. They kept him alive longer than you think."
Riya froze. "Wait—you're saying Aarav's…"
But the man was already gone.
She turned to the hallway again. Empty.
Back outside, the sun was setting in a haze of gold and static. Riya held the card close to her chest, her breath steadier now.
She didn't know what she'd find beneath the river.
But the countdown ticked on.
42:51:12