It started with a question.
“Will you deliver this envelope for me?”
A simple request from an old man on the bus. Wrinkled skin, shaky hands, eyes that seemed desperate—like they were carrying years of something too heavy to bear.
Rajiv, tired from college, earbuds in, almost ignored him. But something about the man’s voice tugged at his conscience.
He pulled out an earbud. “Sorry?”
“Please. Just hand this to the man in the red turban at the next stop. I... I can’t walk far.”
Rajiv looked down. An ordinary brown envelope. Light. No markings. No address.
He hesitated.
“Please,” the man whispered. “It’s very important.”
Something inside him, something he couldn’t name, said yes.
---
Stop One: The Envelope
At the next stop, a man in a red turban waited—just as described. Rajiv stepped off and handed it over.
The man opened it, glanced at the contents… and his expression changed.
Suddenly, he grabbed Rajiv’s arm.
“You need to come with me.”
“What? Why?”
But the man’s grip was firm, surprisingly strong. “You’ve seen it. That makes you a part of it now.”
Rajiv yanked back, startled. “I don’t even know what this is!”
“You’re not safe anymore.”
Before Rajiv could protest, two black SUVs screeched to a stop nearby. Men in black clothes poured out, scanning the crowd.
The man in the red turban cursed under his breath. “Too late.”
He shoved a small card into Rajiv’s hand. “If you want to live, go here. Midnight. Come alone.”
He vanished into the crowd as the men closed in.
---
Stop Two: The Chase
Rajiv turned to run. He didn’t know who these people were, or what was in the envelope—but they were coming for him.
He bolted through the metro station, ducking behind pillars, sliding past commuters, jumping turnstiles.
A hand nearly caught his backpack strap. He wriggled free, threw it off, and ran into a passing train just as the doors slid shut.
Breathless. Heart pounding. He checked the card in his hand.
A handwritten address: “Shakti Warehouse, Sector 47. Midnight.”
Nothing else.
No explanation.
But one thing was clear—he couldn’t go home.
---
Stop Three: The Warehouse
At midnight, curiosity outweighed fear.
Rajiv reached the warehouse. Rusted gates. Silence. Just the distant hum of streetlights and dogs barking in the distance.
He pushed open the side door.
Inside: nothing but crates. Until a voice called from the shadows.
“You came.”
It was the man in the red turban again—now wearing a black tactical vest. A scar down his cheek caught the moonlight.
“Why me?” Rajiv asked, his voice trembling.
“Because you said yes. And because they wouldn’t suspect a kid.”
“Suspect me of what?”
“Delivering a key to something very old. Something very dangerous. You didn’t just hand over an envelope.”
He pulled something from his pocket: the envelope Rajiv had given him. He opened it and revealed—
A small black chip. Glowing faintly blue. Almost... alive.
“It’s not from here,” he said quietly.
Rajiv stared. “You’re kidding.”
“We call it Project Echo. You’ve been dragged into a war, son. One you never knew existed. Because you said yes.”
Rajiv backed away. “I’m just a student. I don’t want any of this!”
The man nodded. “No one ever does. But now you have it.”
He held out a small device.
“They’ll come again. When they do, run to the roof. Press this button. Or you die.”
---
Stop Four: The Betrayal
Rajiv didn’t go home. He crashed at a friend’s place, told no one the truth.
But the next day, someone knocked on the door. A woman in a navy-blue suit.
“Rajiv Mehra?” she asked kindly. “I’m with national security. We believe you have something dangerous.”
His friend, Arjun, was behind her—nervous, avoiding eye contact.
He’d told them.
Rajiv ran.
Bullets splintered the wall behind him. The woman’s face twisted into something cruel.
He barely escaped—tumbling out a window, landing on a fruit cart, fleeing into chaos.
---
Stop Five: The Truth
That night, he went back to the warehouse. It was burning.
Flames lit the sky as sirens wailed in the distance. He saw bodies being carried out.
And he saw her again—the woman from earlier—watching with a faint smile.
He ducked into an alley, heart shattering.
The man in the red turban… dead?
He had no allies. No one he could trust.
Except maybe… the chip.
He still had it. Hidden in his shoe.
Desperate, Rajiv used the device the man had given him and pressed the button.
Nothing.
Then everything changed.
---
Stop Six: Echo
The world around him flickered.
Colors changed. Buildings warped. Time itself slowed.
And standing before him… was himself.
Another Rajiv. Older. Hardened.
“You activated the Echo,” the future Rajiv said. “I’ve been waiting.”
Rajiv stammered, “What is this?”
“This is the truth. You didn’t just say yes to a favor. You said yes to fate. You’re the carrier of a technology that can bend reality. That chip rewrites time. And you’re its chosen protector.”
“Why me?” Rajiv whispered again.
His future self smiled sadly. “Because you were the only one who didn’t ask what was in the envelope. You just said yes.”
---
Final Stop: The First Step
Now, Rajiv is on the run—with a power the world would kill for.
He’s chased across cities, hidden in slums, hunted by agencies, cults, and ghosts from the future.
All because he made one small choice.
One ordinary day.
One simple yes.
And everything changed.
Forever.
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