The air didn't move.Not like normal AC—but like the room itself was holding its breath.
Nivaan stared at Dr. Zareen, heart slamming against his ribs.
"The people looking for you… never stopped."
That sentence sat in the room like a live wire, sparking panic.
Kiyan was suddenly very interested in his own shoes.Avni's nails dug into her wrist, knuckles white.Zareen just watched, eyes too calm.
"Who?" Nivaan asked.
Zareen didn't blink."The ones you were running from."
"Cool, love the mystery," Nivaan said sharply, "but maybe try speaking like a human instead of a corporate chatbot?"
Kiyan snorted—then immediately looked guilty about it.
Zareen didn't react.He simply stood, his movements clean, surgical, like every gesture came with a procedure code.
"Let's take a walk."
No.Absolutely not.
Every cell in Nivaan wanted to stay put, anchored to this table.But something deeper—something instinctual—told him walking might answer questions talking never would.
So he followed.
Avni and Kiyan trailed behind like nervous interns hoping not to be chosen for layoffs.
The hallway beyond the glass room was silent.No employees.No footsteps.Nothing.
MindMesh was a huge company.There should've been people—moving, talking, existing.
Instead, it looked like the building had called in sick.
"Where is everyone?" Nivaan asked.
"Remote day," Kiyan answered.Too fast again.
Lie.Obvious lie.
Zareen didn't bother with excuses.He walked ahead, posture too rigid to be accidental.
The hallway lights adjusted as they moved—brightening before they arrived.Like they were being expected.
Or tracked.
Nivaan's skin prickled.
He paused at a mirror-like panel on the wall.His reflection stared back—one he barely recognized.
Dark circles.Jaw sharper than memory.Eyes… wrong.Like he'd broken and someone glued him back together incorrectly.
There was something etched faintly on the glass:
"If you remember, run."
He blinked—and it vanished.
A hallucination?Or… a message only he could see?
He touched the glass.It was warm.
Avni tugged his sleeve gently."Don't… stare at it too long."
"How do you know it's dangerous?"The question slipped out.
She hesitated."I don't. I just—I don't want you to disappear again."
Her voice cracked at the end, soft, scared.Real.
He opened his mouth—but Zareen called from ahead.
"Hurry."
The corporate tone somehow sounded like a threat.
They followed him around a corner, into an atrium.
Floor-to-ceiling windows.Rain streaked across the glass—only it wasn't raining.
The lights above flickered, matching some unseen pulse.
Zareen stopped.
"This is where you made your request."
"My what?"
"Memory lockdown."
Nivaan's head spun.
"I would never—"
He froze mid-sentence.
Because suddenly—he was here.
Not physically.Mentally.A flicker—a replay.
The atrium looked the same,but empty.Colder.
A version of himself stood in the center, silhouette blurry.He was speaking to someone unseen.
"If they find me, wipe me clean."
The voice in the vision was his—but harder.More desperate.
"And if I try to remember—stop me."
The vision collapsed.
Nivaan's knees almost did too.
Avni grabbed his arm, steadying him."Hey—hey, breathe—"
He pulled away, breath shaking.
"What did I do?" he whispered.
Zareen watched him like a scientist watching a rat learn it's in a cage.
"You protected yourself."
"From what?"Nivaan snapped.
Zareen gestured toward the far end of the atrium—where a massive door stood.
Black.Featureless.No handle.
It hummed, low and threatening.
"You insisted the danger was not outside," he said,"but inside MindMesh."
Every muscle in Nivaan's body tightened.
"So I trusted you," he said bitterly."And you wiped my memories."
Zareen's brows lifted."Not me. You signed the request. You authorized it.We only executed the protocol."
Corporate jargon for"That's on you, king."
Kiyan suddenly spoke."He begged us not to interfere. Said if he remembered, he'd… break."
"Break what?"Nivaan demanded.
Kiyan's throat worked."…himself."
Avni flinched.
Nivaan felt sick."I don't believe you."
Zareen nodded."Good. You shouldn't."
That surprised all three of them.
"Memory is unreliable," Zareen continued."We are not asking you to trust us.We are asking you to survive."
Corporate line?Yes.But something under it felt real.
Nivaan stepped toward the black door.
"What's behind it?"
Zareen answered immediately."Restricted neural records."
"So my past?"
Zareen nodded once.
"Open it," Nivaan said.
"No," Zareen replied.
"Why not?"
"Because you are unstable.If you see what's inside, you might trigger collapse."
"What kind of collapse?"Nivaan asked.
Zareen didn't sugarcoat."Cognitive.Or physical."
"And if I don't?"
"You will be hunted."
Damn.Love that for him.
So—option A: lose his mind.Option B: lose his life.
Peak corporate benefits package.
Nivaan exhaled slowly."Why does everyone else remember?Why only wipe me?"
Zareen's eyes flicked to Avni.Just a second—but too obvious.
Nivaan caught it.
He turned to her."What do you know?"
She froze.Her lips parted.Her breath trembled.
"I…"She swallowed."I remember the night you came to my apartment."
Kiyan's head snapped up."You WHAT?"
Avni ignored him.
"You were terrified.Not of dying—but of forgetting.You said if you disappeared… I should destroy everything connected to you."
"Did you?"Nivaan whispered.
Her eyes glistened.
"No.I kept it."
"It?"Kiyan echoed.
Avni nodded.
Nivaan stepped closer."What did I leave?"
She steadied herself."A key."
"To what?"
"To you."
Silence.
Zareen's jaw clenched.Not approval.Not anger.Worry.
"Avni," Zareen said quietly,"you shouldn't have told him."
Her eyes hardened."I'm done pretending."
Nivaan didn't breathe.
"Where is the key?" he asked.
Her voice barely made sound.
"With me."
Zareen took a step forward.Kiyan instinctively moved in front of Avni.
The air sharpened.
Zareen's tone shifted—not angry—but surgical.
"Give it to me."
"No," Avni said.
Nivaan's heart hammered."That key… it's mine."
Zareen's voice cooled to steel.
"You don't understand what you're asking for."
"I don't care," Nivaan snapped."I want it."
The lights flickered violently—like the building was reacting.
Zareen inhaled, slow."Then we proceed according to contingency protocol."
The floor under them vibrated.Panels slid open above—revealing small spherical drones dropping silently.
Avni grabbed Nivaan's wrist."Kiyan—run!"
For the first time,Nivaan didn't hesitate.
They sprinted.
The drones whirred awake—and gave chase.
And somewhere behind them,Zareen whispered,
"The hunt begins… again."