THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT TOMORROW Part Two: The Promise

THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT TOMORROW Part Two: The Promise For eleven seconds, nobody spoke. Then Tara laughed. It was the wrong kind of laugh. A small, nervous sound that belonged in a room where someone had just told a bad joke. “No.” She picked up the photograph. “No, this is fake.” Inspector Devika Rao didn't move. Tara held the picture closer to the light. The five people standing beside the machine were unmistakable. Arjun. Mira. Kabir. Nikhil. And herself. But they looked younger. Much younger. They couldn't have been more than seventeen. And behind them was the first version of NAYA. The machine was nothing like the sleek system they had built. It was a monstrous collection of servers, cables, monitors, and handwritten notes. A crude prototype. A machine that shouldn't have existed. Not eight years ago. Not ever. Tara turned the photograph over again. YOU ALREADY DIED. WELCOME BACK. Her hands began shaking. “Where did you get this?” Devika didn't answer. “Where?” “A warehouse.” “Whose?” “Yours.” Arjun looked at her. “Our office?” “No.” She pointed toward the photograph. “Your first laboratory.” “We never had one.” “You did.” Kabir stood. “Enough.” Devika looked at him. “You know something.” Kabir's jaw tightened. “No.” “You're lying.” “I'm not.” “You've been lying since I walked through the door.” Everyone looked at Kabir. Mira whispered: “Kabir?” He stared at the floor. “I remember something.” Arjun stepped toward him. “What?” Kabir closed his eyes. “A room.” Silence. “Underground,” he continued. “There were computers everywhere. I remember being afraid.” “When?” “I don't know.” “Who was there?” “You.” He looked at Arjun. “You were crying.” Arjun's face went pale. Kabir turned toward Mira. “You were holding my hand.” Mira's eyes filled with tears. “And Tara…” He looked at her. “You were screaming.” Tara dropped the photograph. Nikhil whispered: “What happened?” Kabir shook his head. “I don't remember.” Devika stepped forward. “You don't remember because someone made sure you wouldn't.” She took them to the warehouse that night. It stood on the outskirts of Delhi, hidden behind an abandoned textile factory. There were no signs. No security. No electricity. Just a steel door buried beneath overgrown weeds. Devika entered a code. The door opened. Cold air rushed out. The five friends descended a narrow staircase. Thirty steps. Forty. Fifty. The deeper they went, the quieter the world became. At the bottom was a corridor. Tara stopped. “I know this place.” Arjun looked at her. “You've never been here.” “Yes, I have.” She touched the wall. “There was a blue light here.” There was. A faint blue light flickered at the end of the corridor. Nobody had turned it on. They followed it. The corridor opened into a massive underground chamber. And there it was. The original NAYA. Thousands of wires. Old servers. Banks of monitors. A circular platform in the center. Five chairs. One for each of them. Mira stared. “This is impossible.” Devika shook her head. “No.” She pointed at the machine. “This is where you