Vicky sat at his hostel desk staring at the Beacon device.Silent. Dead.Completely beyond him.
"Useless thing," he muttered. "I can't reverse-engineer this even if God personally explained it."
Kiran, lying on his bed eating puffed rice, didn't bother looking up."Da, you couldn't even fix the Wi-Fi last time. Forget alien box."
"Shut up."
Vicky tossed the Beacon into the drawer and slammed it shut.
He needed something better.Something he could control.A path to becoming actually… smart.
Not YouTube-smart.Not "motivation reel" smart.Actually useful smart.
He opened his notebook.
NEW GOAL: Build a real product.Something that can actually compete in Chennai's tech jungle.
"RTC platform… voice calls… live streaming… yeah, that could work," he whispered.
Chennai was full of IT giants — Zoho, Freshworks, TCS, CTS…Everybody needed real-time communication.If he could make a lightweight Agora alternative?Even a prototype?
He'd automatically become somebody.
Problem?He wasn't smart enough.Not yet.
He looked at his hands.He had a cheat code.A power nobody else had.
"Okay… let's not be stupid this time," he murmured."No diamonds. No chickens. No panic attacks.Just… something small.Anything in any game that boosts memory, intelligence, focus."
He leaned back and started thinking.
"What do games have…Brain potions?Memory pills?Skill books?XP scrolls?"
Kiran suddenly sat up."Bro, why you talking to yourself? Need doctor?"
"Go sleep."
He opened the Play Store.
Not to download a game — but to scan them.
Every RPG had a buff.Every survival game had boosters.Every MMO had experience items.
He started listing them:
Wisdom Elixir (from a medieval RPG)
Mind Focus Serum (from a sci-fi shooter)
Tome of Insight (from a fantasy MMO)
Memory Chip (from a cyberpunk game)
Brainwave Booster (from an idle simulation)
He tapped the second one.
A sci-fi shooter with a "+20% Intelligence Boost for 10 minutes."
"Sounds stupid enough to work."
He booted the game.Found the item in his inventory.A sleek metallic vial, glowing faint blue.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
Calm.No rushing.No greed.No madness.
A slow breath.
He pressed.
The chill crawled up his arm — sharp but controlled.The vial dropped into his real hand with a faint metallic tap.
Kiran stared.
"Bro… what is THAT?"
"Red Bull for geniuses," Vicky said.
He uncorked it and sniffed.No smell.Just a faint electric taste in the air.
Internal voice:If I die, at least my semester will be peaceful.
He drank one sip.
Nothing.
Then—
A sharp jolt behind his eyes.Like someone switched on a light bulb in his brain.
Not painful.Just… clarity.Thoughts aligned.Words sharper.Memory crisp.
He blinked.
"…holy shit."
Kiran frowned."What happened?"
"I think…," Vicky said slowly, "I can understand my data structures PDF now."
"That's worse than dying," Kiran said.
He sat with his laptop.
He opened a 200-page PDF on WebRTC.
Yesterday it looked like alien text.
Now?
He was reading it like a recipe.
"Ohhh… so THAT'S why signaling servers exist," he whispered."And this… this is actually simple. I can build this."
Kiran stared at him like he was possessed.
"Bro… you okay?"
"I'm better," Vicky said.For the first time since leaving Jaipur, he actually smiled with confidence.
The moment the Intelligence Booster settled in his system, Vicky felt a clarity he'd never experienced.Everything in his mind rearranged itself into neat rows.
He opened his notebook again.
"RTC… V-RTC… hmm."
He stared at the idea.Half a minute.Then he snorted.
"Stupid."
Kiran looked up from his phone. "Da? What happened now?"
Vicky tapped the page with his pen.
"RTC is not a product. It's a war zone. Agora, Jitsi, Dolby, Twilio… and every big IT company already has a private alternative. Why the hell would any dev pick mine? Why would any company take a risk?"
Kiran blinked. "So… idea over?"
"No," Vicky said sharply. "I was thinking like a student. Not like someone building a real company."
He opened his laptop and typed real-time AI infrastructure future India market.Dozens of articles emerged.
AI assistants.Predictive communication.Personal cloud servers.Neural inference on edge devices.
"What's this?" Kiran asked, leaning in.
"A real plan," Vicky murmured. "RTC is useless unless I attach something ten times bigger. Something people need before they realize they need it."
He wrote two words on the page:
RED QUEEN.(AI Supervisor + Communication Brain)
"If I build a distributed AI coordinator system," he said, "companies won't care about RTC. They'll care about the intelligence behind it."
Kiran scratched his head. "English please."
"It means — not just calls.Smart calls.Adaptive bandwidth.Real-time AI filters.Transcription.Prediction.Security.A system that learns in the background."
Kiran stared. "Bro… you're sounding like Google CEO."
"Good," Vicky muttered. "Finally."
But then the real problem hit him.
"Where the hell do I run this?" he whispered. "AI needs space. Power. Cooling. Connectivity. Big infrastructure."
His hostel room? Forget it.SRM servers? Impossible.Hostel Wi-Fi? A joke.
He needed an office.
He opened MagicBricks, CommercialGuru, OLX.Typed: Chennai tech park small office 2–5 seats monthly lease.
Listings popped up.
Athena Tech Corridor – 220 sq ft – ₹18,000/monthDunhill Cyber Park – 150 sq ft – ₹14,000/monthNova Techspaces – Starter Suite – ₹21,000/month
Vicky did quick mental math.
Kiran asked, "Adey, are you trying to buy a company?"
"No," Vicky said, "I'm trying to build one."
"But money?"
"I have some savings," he replied. "And…"He opened his bank app.Remaining college fees for next semesters sat untouched.
Kiran's eyes widened. "Bro… don't tell me you're thinking—"
"Yes."
"You'll die. Your father will kill you."
"Yes."
"So you're still doing it?"
"Yes."
The Intelligence Booster had made him colder.Sharper.Less scared.
He clicked the call button on one listing.
"Hello sir," a polished voice answered, "Athena Tech Corridor leasing office."
"Hi," Vicky said. "I'm looking to take a three-month micro-suite. 200 sq ft. Quiet floor. Good connectivity. Immediate possession."
The voice perked up. "Sir, can you come see today?"
"Yes. Send location."
Kiran stared at him like he was watching a madman evolve.
"Bro… what are you planning?"
"Simple," Vicky said, closing the laptop."I can't beat giants from a hostel room.I need space.A network.A place where Red Queen can operate without blowing my circuit box."
He grabbed his bag.
"Where are you going now?"
"To sign the lease."
"You're insane."
Vicky smirked."Finally something we agree on."