Control room ke andar hawa tak heavy ho chuki thi.
Sabki nazar us metal door par tik gayi thi jiske neeche se black-gold energy dheere dheere andar seep kar rahi thi.
TAP.
TAP.
TAP.
Barefoot footsteps aur close aa rahe the.
Kabir ne slowly peeche step liya or kaha.. "Mujhe yeh banda bilkul pasand nahi aa raha…"
Meera ka grip Aarav ke arm par aur tight ho gaya.
👉 "Aarav…"
Par Aarav khud frozen tha.
Kyuki jo energy woh feel kar raha tha…
woh uski khud ki powers jaisi thi.
Bas..
infinite times stronger.
Andar Collapse completely silent ho gaya tha.
Aur jab Collapse silent hota tha…
tab usually situation bohot kharab hoti thi.
TAP.
Footsteps suddenly ruk gaye.
Complete silence.
Phir...
CRACK.
Metal door ke center par ek thin black line appear hui.
Jaise kisi ne sirf finger se steel cut kar diya ho.
Kabir slowly bola..
👉 "Nope."
Or agle second..
BOOOOM.
Poora metal door andar explode ho gaya.
Shockwave ne sabko peeche throw kar diya.
Smoke.
Dust.
Broken metal.
Aur us destruction ke beech..
ek silhouette khada tha.
Black hoodie.
Barefoot.
Hands pockets mein.
Golden glowing eyes.
Subject 0.
Silence.
Woh bilkul calm khada tha.
Jaise usne kuch effort hi na lagaya ho.
Meera ka saans slow ho gaya. "Yeh…"
Echo instantly defensive stance mein aa gaya.
Par uske face par fear clearly visible tha.
Subject 0 ne room observe kiya.
Slowly.
Jaise woh har cheez analyze kar raha ho.
Phir..
uski nazar Aarav par ruk gayi.
Aur woh smile kar diya.
👉 "Interesting…"
Uski awaaz calm thi.
Dangerously calm.
👉 "So this is the replacement."
Aarav ne teeth clench kiye. "Main koi replacement nahi hoon."
Subject 0 halka sa hasa.
👉 "Sab yahi bolte hain."
Room heavy ho gaya.
Watcher corner mein silently khada sab dekh raha tha.
Jaise usse interfere karne ki zarurat hi na ho.
Kabir ne slowly whisper kiya, "Mujhe iska confidence pasand nahi aa raha…"
Subject 0 dheere dheere Aarav ki taraf chalne laga.
Har step ke saath room distort ho raha tha.
Walls pe glitch ho rhe the.
Lights flicker ho rhi thi.
Or reality unstable ho gyi thi.
Origin instantly bola..
👉 "Usse close mat aane dena."
Aarav irritate ho gaya.
👉 "Tum log mujhe commands dena band karoge?!"
Subject 0 ruk gaya.
Aur phir...
woh genuinely hasa.
👉 "Good."
Aarav confused ho gaya.
👉 "Kya good?"
👉 "Resistance."
Subject 0 ki golden eyes aur bright glow hui.
👉 "Tum previous versions se better ho."
Silence.
Kabir ne slowly poocha..
👉 "Kitne versions the exactly…?"
Subject 0 casually bola..
👉 "Enough to break worlds."
Kabir instantly chup ho gaya.
Suddenly..
Zoya ka tablet glitch hua.
Screens automatically on ho gayi.
Aur har screen par same image flash hui..
different timelines.
Destroyed cities.
Dead worlds.
Burning skies.
Aur har image mein..
Subject 0.
Kabhi alone.
Kabhi throne par.
Kabhi reality tear karta hua.
Meera ne horrified tone mein poocha..
👉 "Tumne yeh sab kiya…?"
Subject 0 ne uski taraf dekha.
Aur pehli baar..
uska expression slightly dark hua.
👉 "I tried to save them."
Silence.
Echo instantly bola..
👉 "By controlling everything."
Subject 0 ne usse dekha.
👉 "You failed because you feared power."
Echo ka jaw tighten ho gaya.
Aarav instantly notice kar raha tha..
yeh dono ek dusre ko personally jaante hain.
👉 "Tum dono ka relation kya hai?" Aarav ne poocha.
Room silent.
Subject 0 ne slowly answer diya..
👉 "He was version 2."
Complete silence.
Kabir ka muh literally khul gaya.
👉 "WHAT?!"
Meera shock mein Echo ko dekhne lagi.
Echo ne aankhein band kar li.
Jaise woh yeh truth hide karte karte thak chuka ho.
Aarav ka dimaag race karne laga.
👉 "Matlab… tu bhi.."
👉 "Yes," Echo ne cold tone mein kaha.
👉 "Main bhi failed version hoon."
Room aur heavy ho gaya.
Suddenly..
Subject 0 ka expression change hua.
Usne slowly side mein dekha.
Empty corner ki taraf.
Aur dheere se bola..
👉 "You're hiding again."
Aarav confused tha.
👉 "Kisse baat kar raha hai?"
Next second..
Watcher finally move hua.
Darkness distort hui.
Aur woh slowly shadows se bahar aaya.
Subject 0 ki smile disappear ho gayi.
👉 "Ah…"
First time..
uski eyes serious hui.
👉 "The Watcher."
Watcher calmly bola..
👉 "Subject 0."
Silence.
Poore room ka pressure instantly double ho gaya.
Jaise do impossible entities ek dusre ke saamne khadi ho.
Kabir slowly peeche hata. "Mujhe lagta hai hum side characters ban chuke hain…"
Par kisi ne react nahi kiya.
Kyuki tension insane level par pahunch chuki thi.
Subject 0 ne dheere se poocha..
👉 "You finally came personally?"
Watcher ka distorted face slightly shift hua.
👉 "You are destabilizing too many timelines."
Subject 0 hasa.
👉 "And you're losing control."
Suddenly..
room ke andar black cracks spread hone lage.
Reality literally tear ho rahi thi.
Zoya panic mein boli, "Energy overload!"
Origin instantly tense hua.
👉 "Nahi…"
Aarav ne feel kiya..
kuch aur aa raha hai.
Kuch bohot zyada dangerous.
Aur phir..
ceiling ke upar ek giant crack open hui.
Pure black void.
Aur us void ke andar se..
hundreds of glowing white eyes slowly open hone lagi.
Complete silence.
Kabir ki awaaz halki shake hui..
👉 "…bhai."
Pause.
👉 "…ab yeh kya hai?"
Watcher ne slowly upar dekha.
Aur pehli baar..
uski emotionless voice mein urgency thi.
👉 "They found this timeline."
Subject 0 ka smile wapas aa gaya.
Aarav ka heart sink ho gaya.
Kyuki us moment..
usne clearly feel kiya.
jo bhi upar tha…
woh even First Collapse se bhi purana tha.
Aur woh…
sirf Aarav ko dekh raha tha.
To be continued...