Sai's mind was heavy, caught in a relentless churn of thoughts as he walked the fading light of the Patel Bazar street's cracked pavement. Every footstep seemed to echo inside his skull, a constant reminder of the chaos unfolding both around and within him.
He couldn't stop thinking about the motorbike rider, distracted by his phone when the near-fatal accident almost happened.
How typical, and yet so chilling in the context of everything. Was it mere coincidence that the rider was caught looking at his screen at precisely the moment that Aman dashed onto the street? Or had the app manipulated events?
Or worse, orchestrated an accident just to remind him it was watching?
Sai wondered if his mind was betraying him–that paranoia creeping in was just the product of sleepless nights and stress. But with every vibration from his own phone, every cryptic message, it felt a little less like paranoia and more like clarity.
Was it normal, or even rational, to feel this constantly watched and to behave cautiously, second-guessing his own instincts? He struggled to hold onto what was real and what was fear.
After going back home, Sai had lunch with his mother, who was worried upon seeing his haggard state.
"What happened Sai, you couldn't sleep?" She asked.
"It's fine, Ma, I'll go sleep now. How's papa?" Sai answered, partly asking and partly diverting the question.
"Oh, you know. He has started eating now, but he's still licking himself up. I'm truly at my wit's end…"
Hearing his mother pouring out her worries, Sai was distracted from his relentless thoughts and consoled his mother wholeheartedly. After finishing his lunch, he went back to his room and crashed.
By the time he woke up, it was already evening.
As the sun set, Sai made his way to meet Veer and Rhea, keeping his phone off. They gathered in the shadows of a narrow alley in their neighborhood, voices low.
Sai sighed deeply and ran a hand through his damp hair, feeling the weight of recent events crushing down on him. "This app… it's messing with how I think, how I see everything," he said quietly, voice almost choking. "I can't tell if I'm just paranoid or if I'm finally awake."
Veer nodded grimly. "There's no normal with this. It's changing the rules. The way we think and act…it's all under its purview now."
Sai looked up, frustration and fear mingling in his eyes. "The man on the motorbike that I told you guys about, he was on his phone. Right before the accident. Was that a coincidence, or was it part of the app's design? Was the app setting up the accident just to remind me it's watching?" His voice trembled, "am I paranoid? Or is this what I should expect when someone's watching your every move?"
Rhea crossed her arms, her usually calm demeanor tinged with anger and disbelief. "Paranoia in a cage–that's what we have now. This is very suffocating. We're being watched constantly, but no one talks about what it does to your mind. It's like living in a pressure cooker where you're always on edge. I don't know if it's paranoia, Sai. Maybe it's the only sane response."
Veer glanced around the quiet street, then leaned in. "We have to be careful with what we follow, who we trust–even within ourselves. Sai, if you feel like you shouldn't tell us something, it would be better to keep it to yourself, just so that the app doesn't know."
As the three mulled over their fragile safety net and unclear enemy, footsteps shuffled nearby. A small figure appeared–a cheerful, jolly man with silver hair and a kind smile. He carried himself with the aura of a retired military officer, his gait steady and purposeful.
"Good luck, young ones!" the man called warmly, his eyes twinkling with a mysterious kindness.
Veer smiled politely. "Thank you, uncle. What's the good luck for?"
The man chuckled softly. "I installed that astrology app everyone's talking about. A notification popped up just now telling me to wish good luck to people around. Says it's for some cosmic balance or something like that."
The old man tipped his head kindly and headed down the lane, leaving the trio with sinking hearts under the distant glow of streetlamps. They knew the watchers had eyes everywhere–no place was true sanctity anymore.
Rhea's smile vanished when the old man left, replaced by a scowl. "Good luck? What good is that when they're watching and listening on every channel? Random kindness from an algorithm? It's useless. We need real action."
Sai's eyes darkened. "Our every move is recorded, our every word scanned. I feel like this was the app's way of telling us something like, 'good luck trying to achieve anything'. What do you think, Veer?"
Veer's face was scrunched up as well, "yeah, I agree. The app, or the people behind it are mocking us. As soon as we meet trying to discuss something about it, we're given a clear hint that it knows what we're doing. It's not just listening through our phones, it's eyes are everywhere…"
Sai exhaled slowly, his eyes glancing nervously from one shadowed street corner to the other. "You know, I was thinking today, is it even worth going against this app?" he asked, voice low and raw.
"It knows everything–what we say, where we go. It's like it's inside our heads."
Rhea's fingers tightened around the edge of her jacket. "It might be always watching. Cameras everywhere, our phones, the network–who knows what else? It picks up our whispers, reads our moves before we make them."
Veer nodded soberly. "The app seems to have eyes in every streetlight, every public corner, in apps and websites, maybe even in devices we don't even realize are connected."
"And what about the people?" Sai murmured. "Are they part of it? Or just puppets too?"
"Some probably don't know," Rhea said, "they carry on like normal. But I've seen strange looks sometimes–people avoiding your gaze, others standing a little too close, fingers twitching over phones like they're waiting for instructions."
Sai shuddered. "So if it's everywhere… then what chance do we have? How do you fight something that's watching before you even act?"
Veer looked into Sai's eyes and said quietly, "We need to learn where its eyes aren't. Find the blind spots. We adapt. Maybe that's all we can do."
Rhea spoke with fierce urgency. "We can't just hide or run. We need to outsmart it–find allies in the town, though it's risky. Some believe this is all coincidence or harmless, but they don't know. We have to be smarter and more careful."
Sai frustratedly ran a hand over his face. "I'm scared. I don't want to be watched all the time, to feel like every word can be used against me."
As the night deepened, the trio huddled closer, their whispered plans and shared fears weaving a fragile shield against the cold inevitability of being watched.