Evening hit the city like a held breath.
Gaurav exits a building, his steps hurried. His attention on his phone pressed to his ear. Five bodyguards this time. Usually two. Tonight, five. He'd added them just as extra measurement.
"I don't care what Roy told you," he hissed, staring at the stopped car in front of him, which he entered without looking his bodyguards following first.
"When he asks about that masked guy—no Samir. Nothing about Samir asking questions. Nothing connects back to me. Or him. You don't need to lie, just… don't mention it. Got it? We never enquired about that mask LED guy do you understand?"
Silence. Then a yes.
He cut the call and exhaled hard. Eyes tired, rubbing them for comfort. He looked up, opening his eyes.
And froze.
Someone was sitting opposite him. He noticed.
Helmet first thing he noticed. Matte black, thin red LEDs pulsing like a heartbeat. A red scarf flowed around the man's neck, it was the very being of his conversation.
It was DJ. He just didn't know it yet.
Gaurav's breath stuttered. His eyes darted around.
The bodyguards—slumped. Heads tilted at wrong angles. One's mouth hung open slightly, like he'd fallen asleep mid-yawn.
The car kept moving. Smooth. Obedient.
Auto-drive. Sometimes he hated this feature.
The two of them stared at each other. No words. Just the hum of the engine and the soft blink of LEDs.
Gaurav's hand twitched toward the door.
"Don't try it," a mechanical voice said.
Not DJ's.
Rony's voice. Filtered. Coming through him.
Gaurav swallowed, slow, painful. "Listen, I—"
DJ leaned forward.
Fast.
A sharp pinch hit Gaurav's neck. He gasped, hands flying up, fingers scraping uselessly.
"What did you do?" His voice cracked. "What did you inject me with?"
"Relax," DJ said calmly. Too calmly.
" It's a neurotoxin based on pufferfish and bluebelly frog. My favorite frog after Gamabunta . Fifteen minutes. You have fifteen minutes before you drop dead."
Dj held up a small, bright candy between his fingers. Wrapped. Cheerfully.
"Antidote. Strawberry ice cream. If you cooperate, you get to keep enjoying… My least favorite ice cream and...." He gestured vaguely at the car. "Life."
" This is only kindness I can show right now."
Behind the mask, DJ added, almost impressed, "Gotta admit, Rony. This plan's kinda cool. And where did you got those lines." And Rony who was reading his lines trough Chat CPT, Rony didn't blink, didn't replied, just waited.
Gaurav started sweating immediately. "Okay.
Okay. Fine."
His words tripped over each other. "There's a warehouse. Suburban side. We store the elixir there, it's in a—"
"What are you talking about?" Rony cut in, sharp. "What elixir?"
Gaurav blinked, confused, scared.
"Clearfield… the thing you stole from Samir. That's what this is about, isn't it?"
Rony paused. Just a second too long.
"You mean Pullwater?"
"I don't know what you call it," Gaurav said quickly. "But yes. That thing. It's in a warehouse near the city."
DJ leaned back, unimpressed. "Not that. Why would I need that?"
Gaurav wiped his forehead with his sleeve.
"Then—it must be the money. The hundred million francs. That was fake news. A test. A test to find out loopholes. There isn't that much cash."
Something clicked, he seemed to understand something, Rony leaned in, so did Dj.
Rony's modular voice went cold. "You're lying."
"I'm not—"
DJ's hand moved again.
Another injection.
Faster. Harder.
Gaurav screamed, body jerking. "Seven minutes," Rony said through DJ. "Your lie just made your life seven minutes shorter."
"I didn't lie!" Gaurav pressed a shaking hand to his neck.
DJ pointed the injector at him, then leaned back like this was a casual chat.
"The Pullwater. The elixir. Whatever name helps you sleep." His voice dropped. "It's not in a warehouse."
Gaurav stiffen minutely.
"It's underground," DJ continued. "Disaster Zone. Crater area. Near that nuclear-sized hole everyone pretends not to see."
Silence swallowed the car.
DJ wasn't done.
"And you're right about one thing. There isn't a hundred million francs there."
Gaurav's lips trembled, but he didn't said anything.
Rony answered, amused and dangerous. The premium Chat GPT is totally different.
"There's a hundred billion."
Gaurav stopped breathing for a second.
"You want to know how?" Rony said lightly.
"Or you want to answer the question that keeps your heart beating? Time shops for no one ."
Gaurav nodded frantically. "Ask. Just—ask."
DJ leaned forward again. This time, his own voice. Still filtered. Still heavy.
"What did you do to Sakshi Mehra?"
---
Sometime later. The disaster area, Elixir/Pullwater mine.
Blue light pooled at the bottom of the cavern, gentle and slow, like liquid glass. The elixir pond glowed softly, waves crawling over the rock walls. Machines hummed somewhere deeper, old and tired.
Gaurav stood near the edge, hands shaking.
Roy faced him. John stood a little off to the side, quiet, watching everything.
Gaurav finished talking. The mask. The car. The needle. The questions.
Silence followed.
Roy didn't react. Not really. He stared at the blue pond, his posture straight without any fluctuations. His eyes, though—something sharp moved there.
"How did he know about this place?" Roy asked.
"I don't know," Gaurav said quickly. "He had me by the neck. I wasn't exactly thinking straight."
Roy exhales, flicked his lighter, and lit a cigarette. The flame briefly fought the blue glow before dying into smoke.
John stepped in. "What about the factory vault? Where did he know about the money?"
Gaurav let out a breath. Talking to John felt easier. "If he found this," he gestured around, "how hard is it to find a factory we literally advertise on the black market?"
John nodded slowly. "And the girl. Why did he ask about her? It's seems irrelevant!"
Roy froze mid-drag.
"I—I don't know," Gaurav said. "Maybe he's trying to clean his name. You know who's behind her, don't you?"
John didn't look convinced. "You told him everything?"
"Yes," Gaurav snapped. "Everything he literally had me poisoned, and didn't I tell you—he caught me lying once. You know I'm terrible at it."
Roy snapped his fingers.
"No," he said.
Both of them stopped.
"What are you talking about?" Gaurav asked, uneasy.
Roy didn't turn. "Think carefully. Did you know him before this? Any contact? Any overlap?"
Gaurav swallowed. "…No."
Roy nodded slowly.
"And do you know what happens if this gets out?" he continued. "This place. And Sakshi Mehra."
Gaurav's voice climbed fast. "We can fix it, right? Say it was AI and stuff. It's his words against ours, we can do pr and stuff. Who would believe him?"
Roy nodded. "True it's hard to trust a thief and a liar."
Gaurav latched onto it. "Yes. Exactly. Nobody believes a liar."
Roy nodded again.
Then he snapped his fingers.
"Shoot him."
The mine went dead quiet.
Gaurav laughed, sharp and wrong. "Come on. That's—good one."
John didn't laugh. His hand moved toward his gun, making Gaurav panic.
"No," Roy said calmly.
John stopped.
Gaurav's eyes lit with hope.
Roy turned slightly. "Use the Project Drum gun."
Hope shattered.
Gaurav ran.
Boots slapped stone. His breath tore out of him. John moved fast, sliding to a table on the left, flipping open a reinforced panel.
Roy spoke, almost bored. "You're right, my friend. Nobody likes a liar."
John grabbed a thick barrel wired into the floor, metal scarred and heavy. He aimed it without rushing.
"Especially one who lies twice."
Roy flipped the switch.
An orange ripple burst out, low and violent, tearing through the air.
It hit Gaurav mid-step.
The light swallowed him. His body slammed into the ground, skidding across rock, the blue glow trembling as the ripple faded.
The mine went quiet again.
Only the pond kept glowing, casting a shadow behind Roy, who stood there watching.