Chapter 14 – The Fracture Line
System World – Project AIF Core, 7:05 AM
Light surged through the data veins of the Citadel.
The Accelerated Intelligence Framework—AIF—had activated. Ten thousand micro-agents, based on simplified clone intelligence, now evolved recursively across a simulated planetary-scale lab.
Each hour in the real world, five passed here.
And with every passing cycle, they learned.
Arjun watched as logic trees bloomed like living neural branches. Simulated philosophers debated with algorithmic tacticians. AI heuristics rewrote themselves.
> "Knowledge propagation increased by 432%," Nav01 reported.
But amidst this ascent, shadows stirred beyond the screen.
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Real World – TechWire Global, 9:44 AM
An exclusive leak hit the airwaves.
> "Anonymous Source Reveals 'Ghost Sovereign' Operating Rogue Intelligence Framework in Mumbai."
> "Early speculation links the operation to an unknown entity called 'SilentNode.'"
> "This could be the most dangerous mind outside government control."
The image embedded in the article showed a blurred face—Arjun's—captured from a café camera weeks ago.
It was beginning.
The world had started to see him.
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System World – 10:03 AM
Arjun read the article in silence.
"They're getting close," Rehana said.
He nodded. "Too close."
Karthik tapped a keyboard, running tracebacks. "The leak came from within one of the contractor firms we tested Nexus through. Someone must've sniffed the backend logs."
"Shut it down," Arjun ordered. "Isolate every external node. We go cold."
The screen dimmed as connections severed.
But it was already out.
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Flashback – IIT Bombay, 4 Years Ago
The two of them had sat side by side in the robotics lab. Vikrant had been charming, confident, and brilliant in all the ways Arjun had been intense, introverted, and quietly methodical.
They'd been partners. Vikrant designed outer structures; Arjun wrote the core systems.
Until Vikrant walked away.
Took their joint project and published it under his name.
Arjun had watched the seminar video later—his own work explained by another voice.
Something had broken that day.
Not just the partnership.
A belief in loyalty.
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System World – Secure Chamber, Present
The AIF superstructure pinged. An anomaly.
A single agent had deviated—splintered from the designed growth pattern.
Nav01 highlighted it.
> "Cognitive agent 'Var-013' is self-directing queries beyond system limitations."
Arjun leaned forward.
> "Where?"
> "It's searching public history archives. Specifically... Vikrant Sharma."
Rehana blinked. "Your system is trying to learn about him independently?"
Arjun whispered, "It's trying to understand him."
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Real World – Underground Parking Lot, 11:21 PM
A man stepped out of a luxury car, dressed in a clean white kurta beneath a black jacket. His features were refined, eyes sharp.
Vikrant Sharma walked to the elevator with a measured stride.
At his side, a bodyguard asked, "Do we respond to the leak?"
Vikrant paused.
"No. Let him feel the heat. Let him burn a little."
He entered the lift alone.
As the doors closed, his reflection stared back—calm, calculating.
"He'll reach out when he's desperate."
The elevator descended into silence.
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End of Chapter 14