That night, after the Beacon test, Vicky and Kiran returned to the hostel.
Kiran flopped onto his bed dramatically."Bro, my heart is still beating fast. That gadget of yours… it gives horror-movie vibes."
"It's not a gadget," Vicky said, pulling his bedsheet. "And nothing happened."
"Nothing? You made TCS Butterfly building blink on your mini-laptop-from-hell."
"It wasn't blinking," Vicky said. "It was… responding."
"I'm sleeping," Kiran declared. "If police knock tomorrow morning, I'll blame you."
Vicky rolled his eyes.They switched off the lights.
Midnight Activation
The room fell silent… until a soft tik echoed.
Then another.
On Vicky's study table, inside a half-zipped backpack, the Beacon lit up on its own.
A single bright green pulse —thumm.
Then orange —thrrmm.
Then… something new.A deep gold mixed with black, like molten metal.
vvvvmmmm—click.
Then it went completely dead.No hum. No glow.Like it had shut itself down out of fear… or exhaustion.
Vicky didn't wake.He just turned in his sleep, mumbling.
Kiran snored loudly.
Across Chennai — Someone Was Watching
In Redhills, inside a sleek two-floor modern villa, a girl barely 18 sat in front of a glowing homeserver tower.
Multiple monitors showed waves of network traffic, encrypted pings, interference patterns.
She narrowed her eyes.
"Hmm… interesting," she murmured.Her accent was pure Chennai Tamizh, soft but sharp.
"Signal strength… ridiculous. Who is broadcasting like this?"
She typed rapidly, isolating the Beacon pulse from earlier.
The algorithm matched nothing in her databases.
"No ID… no origin… no architecture."She leaned back."Tapicchikitaa…"
She clicked another button.The server lights blinked red.
She powered the entire system down.
Room went dark.
"Whoever you are… you're not supposed to exist here."
Next Morning
Vicky sat in the hostel mess, staring at his idly like it was a life puzzle.
Kiran sat opposite him, poking his vada."You look like you saw ghost yesterday."
Vicky frowned."I didn't."
"Then why your face is like failed 12th Board?"
"I was thinking…" Vicky started, lowering his voice, "…how to enter TCS Butterfly."
Kiran choked on sambar."WHAT? Bro are you insane? That place is like a fortress. Why will they let you in?"
"I don't know. But I need to check it out."
"For what reason?"
Vicky hesitated."…research."
"Research for what?"
"…projects."
"Projects about what?"
"…stuff."
Kiran smacked his forehead."Da, speak properly!"
Vicky sighed."I just need to go there, okay?"
But before Kiran could complain more, their WhatsApp college group pinged.
Freshers Field Visit — TCS BUTTERFLY CAMPUSToday afternoon, 1:00 PM.Attendance compulsory.
Vicky and Kiran stared at the screen.
Kiran looked up slowly."Bro… are you doing black magic?"
"No."
"Then how come the place you want to break into suddenly becomes a college trip?"
"I don't know."
Kiran leaned close, whispering dramatically:"Bro… if something happens today… I'm telling my mother your name first."
Vicky smirked nervously.
Inside him, his heart was beating faster.
Today… he was going exactly where the Beacon saw the two pings.
Where something — or someone — had responded.
And he didn't need to sneak in.
He just needed to show up.