Raat ke 2 baje the. Aarav apne purane laptop par coding kar raha tha. Uski aankhon mein neend nahi thi, sirf sapne the — bada banne ke sapne.
"Kaash meri life bhi kisi movie jaisi hoti…" usne dheere se kaha.
Tabhi uski screen blink hui.
"System Activated: Shadow Protocol"
Aarav ka dil tez dhadakne laga.
"Yeh kya hai… virus?"
Screen par ek aur message aaya:
"Welcome, User. You have been selected."
Usne jaldi se internet check kiya — sab normal tha.
Par uska laptop… ab normal nahi tha.
Usne ek random government website open ki — aur sirf ek click mein… access mil gaya.
Aarav ka muh khula ka khula reh gaya.
"Yeh… impossible hai."
Par asli shock abhi baaki tha.
"Mission 1: Hack or Die."
Us raat, Aarav ki normal life khatam ho gayi…
Aur ek dangerous game shuru ho gaya.
Aarav ki saansein tez ho rahi thi.
"Hack… or die?" usne dheere se repeat kiya.
"Yeh koi mazaak hai kya?"
Par screen bilkul serious thi.
"Mission Timer: 10:00"
Countdown start ho chuka tha.
"10 minute…? Mujhe kya hack karna hai?" Aarav ne ghabra kar poocha.
Jaise system uski baat sun raha ho—
Screen par ek target flash hua:
"Target: Zenith Corporation Server"
Objective: Access Confidential File"
Aarav shock mein tha.
"Yeh company… itni secure hai. Main kaise—"
Phir uske laptop par ek naya interface open hua.
Black screen… green code… aur ek AI voice—
"System Assistance Enabled."
Aarav ki aankhen phat gayi.
"Yeh… automatic tools?"
Usne keyboard par haath rakha.
"Bas ek try karta hoon…"
Usne command type ki—
Enter dabaya.
Ek second…
Do second…
Phir—
ACCESS GRANTED
"WHAT?!" Aarav zor se chillaya.
Itna aasaan? Impossible.
Par ab dar badh raha tha.
"Yeh system mujhe use kar raha hai…"
Timer ab 02:15 dikha raha tha.
Achanak—
Screen par red alert flash hua.
"WARNING: TRACE DETECTED"
Aarav ka dil ruk sa gaya.
"Trace?! Matlab koi mujhe track kar raha hai?!"
Usne jaldi se system band karne ki koshish ki—
Par laptop freeze ho gaya.
"You cannot exit the mission."
"Yeh trap hai…" Aarav ne dheere se kaha.
Phir final command aayi—
"Complete the hack… or face consequences."
Room ki lights halki si blink hui.
Aarav ka chehra paseene se bhar gaya.
Ab yeh sirf ek game nahi tha.
Yeh uski life ka sawaal ban chuka tha.
Aur kahin na kahin…
Koi usse dekh raha tha.