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Early morning, Mumbai.
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The city was just beginning to stir, lights flickering awake like sleepy eyes. But Yuvaan hadn’t slept. Not for days. Sleep had been replaced with suspicion… and shadows.
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He sat alone on his worn-out sofa, the dim light of the overhead bulb casting long, distorted shapes on the floor. In his hand, he clutched an old wristwatch—its ticking the only sound in the silence. With every second, his fury deepened.
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"Mr. Vaidya… RAW… the asylum… it’s all connected. Was I just a pawn? Or something else entirely?" he whispered to himself. But as always, silence answered.
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FLASHBACK
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A flicker—faint but sharp—ripped through his mind: the hologram. Vaidya’s voice echoing within it, revealing that someone else had tampered with his memories. A glimpse of Kiara flashed behind his eyes—those haunted eyes, as if hiding a secret behind every blink.
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"Why did you let me forget, Kiara? Was that butterfly tattoo on your hand… a signal? Or a warning?"
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Back to Present
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Yuvaan reached for an old folder lying under a heap of files. Its label was worn and barely legible. “Operation Sagam.”
His first mission.
The one nobody ever talked about.
The one even the system had tried to erase.
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Scene Shift – Abandoned Garage
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The same garage where he’d first met Vikrant.
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But this time, it wasn’t Vikrant waiting inside. A new face emerged from the shadows — lean, intense, fingers stained with solder burns and ink.
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“Kabeer.”
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Vikrant’s former hacker-in-arms. Now a freelance ghost for RAW.
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"This place doesn't just hide memories, bhai…" Kabeer said, handing Yuvaan a small encrypted chip, “…it hides truths too.”
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“This contains what RAW never wanted you to know — Kiara’s real identity. And the proof of Vaidya’s black ops.”
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Yuvaan didn’t speak. He just took the chip and left.
No rage. No tears.
Only purpose.
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Scene Cut – Mr. Vaidya’s Hidden Office
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A room drenched in stillness. Vaidya stood in front of a mirror, adjusting his tie.
No guilt in his eyes. Only foresight.
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“Yuvaan must’ve started to see through it all… but he doesn't know everything. If he activates that chip… it won't just expose Kiara. It’ll bring the entire system to its knees.”
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He reached into a drawer, pulling out a sleek, glowing shard — a backup memory key.
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Just in case.
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Back to Yuvaan
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He slid the chip into his secure decoder.
The screen blinked.
A virtual room materialized — data swirling around him. Classified documents. RAW operative names.
And above all… one phrase:
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“PROJECT PHOENIX”
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“What the hell is this…” Yuvaan muttered, eyes widening.
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A new name flashed.
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Kiara Fernandes – Subject #9, Project Phoenix.
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The shock hit like a fist to the chest.
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“Kiara… was an experiment?”
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He staggered back.
“Then… everything? Her love… her memories… was it all a lie?”
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The screen shifted. A voice message played.
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Kiara’s voice.
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"Yuvaan… if you’re hearing this, I’ve failed. But know this—I didn’t lie to you. I protected you. They created me… but you? You made me human."
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His eyes burned.
Not with anger. With pain.
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He shut the chip down slowly, whispering into the silence:
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"
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Kiara… I will find you."
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And for the first time in days, a single tear fell.
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[TO BE CONTINUED...]
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