October 16–October 31, 2017
"The Threat They Couldn't Ignore"
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1. The Numbers That Shook the World
October 17th, 2017.
The quarterly report from Shakti Semiconductors landed on the desks of financial analysts around the globe. The numbers were staggering.
Global Market Share: 50.2% of all chips sold in Q3 now bore the Shakti mark.
Clients: From Samsung to African telecom startups, from European carmakers to Indian defense contractors.
Growth: In just eight months, Shakti had leapfrogged every American, Taiwanese, Korean, and Chinese competitor.
The Financial Times headline read the next morning:
> "The Indian Tsunami: Shakti Semiconductors Overtakes the World."
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2. Washington – The Senate Hearing
October 19th, 2017.
Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Technology and National Security convened in an urgent closed-door session.
Screens showed charts where Intel, AMD, Nvidia, and Qualcomm all plunged like stones while Shakti's line surged upward like a rocket.
A senator slammed his fist on the table.
> Senator McKinley: "This isn't just a company. This is an existential threat to American technological supremacy!"
Pentagon analysts warned that Indian-made chips were already appearing in NATO partner countries.
One whispered phrase kept repeating in the room:
> "National Security Threat."
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3. Beijing – The Red Briefing
October 20th, 2017.
Inside Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party's central compound.
The Politburo members gathered as the Minister of Industry gave his grim report.
Chinese fabs were stuck at 10nm, far behind Shakti's 2nm.
Attempts to infiltrate Shakti's supply chains had failed.
Aarya's invisible cyber wall had turned every Chinese hacker's attack back on them.
The Party Secretary growled:
> "India was supposed to be a market. Not a master."
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4. Noida – Inside the Fortress
Meanwhile, in India, Deepak stood in the heart of his empire — the newly expanded Noida chip fab and data fortress.
Vikram Malhotra, CEO of Shakti Semiconductors, briefed him:
> Vikram: "We're at capacity, Deepak. Orders exceed production by 40%. The Americans are rattled. The Chinese are furious. The Europeans are begging for stable contracts."
Deepak (calmly): "Good. Let them chase us. But we set the rules, Vikram — not them."
Behind them, rows of humming machines glowed blue under the sterile lights. The fab was as much a temple as it was a factory.
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5. Maya Iyer – The Face of Calm
In Delhi, Maya Iyer, the humanoid CEO of Saraswati Corp, appeared at a press conference. Her measured, humanlike voice reassured the markets:
> Maya: "Saraswati and Shakti are committed to India's technological sovereignty. We will continue to innovate, while maintaining full transparency with global partners."
What she didn't say — but every diplomat watching suspected — was that Deepak had no intention of bending to foreign control.
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6. Side POV – An American Engineer
John Miller, a mid-level Intel engineer in Oregon, sat in his cubicle staring at the market reports. His pension was tied to Intel stock, which had just dropped another 15%.
His teenage son had switched his phone's default search engine to Saraswati Search. His daughter was chatting on Varta instead of WhatsApp.
He muttered bitterly:
> John: "My whole career… and one man in India wiped it out in less than a year."
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7. Deepak's Resolve
Back at his estate, Deepak sat by the window as dusk settled over the forest. Aarya's voice hovered in his ear:
> Aarya: "Projections suggest global dominance is inevitable. But the backlash will intensify. The Americans are considering sanctions. The Chinese may escalate cyberwarfare. Europe is talking about antitrust."
Deepak: "Let them. They see a threat. I see freedom. For India. For the world. They've had their monopoly long enough."
His eyes burned with quiet fire. For him, this was never about wealth. It was about rewriting the balance of power.
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8. Closing Scene
October 31st, 2017.
A headline flashed across every major news site:
> "US Senate Declares Indian Chipmaker Shakti a National Security Concern."
The storm was no longer gathering. It had broken. And at the center stood Deepak, unflinching, as the world's superpowers moved to contain him.