"In a country where truth means nothing, and dreams are currency only the rich can afford… I was born with neither."
"My name is Sid. This is where it begins."
[Somewhere in Bharatya — near future]
The sky cried.
Black clouds boiled above the skyline, thick like smoke.
A deep grrrrrRRMMM rolled across the heavens, followed by a blinding crack of thunder.
KA-KRAAAAAMM!!
The storm above wasn't just weather.
It was a warning.
It was mourning.
Rain slashed down like knives, soaking the top of the tower in icy sheets.
And there—at the highest edge of the tower, far above the broken city—he sat.
A figure.
Undistinguishable at first—shrouded by rain, mist, and a creeping darkness that didn't seem entirely natural.
His shoulders trembled.
He wasn't just cold.
He was crying.
Slow, quiet sobs choked out into the wind. Each one barely louder than the storm... but far heavier.
Did he lose someone?
Was this grief? Or guilt? Or… both?
Down below, on the circular sky-garden path encircling the tower's rooftop, stood twelve figures.
Dressed entirely in black suits, arms behind their backs, white masks on their faces—motionless. Watching.
Eight men. Four women.
One of them was just a girl, no older than eleven—yet she stood still like a soldier, unmoving even as lightning flared behind her.
Their white masks reflected the crying figure above.
They did not speak. They did not flinch. They simply… witnessed.
Another crash of thunder tore through the sky.
BOOOOOM!
The man atop the tower raised his face to the storm and screamed.
"WHY?!"
His voice split through the air like the very lightning that cracked above.
[Elsewhere – in a cluttered room somewhere in South Bharatya]
Click click click...
Tap-tap.
Rakesh squinted at his screen.
He was typing into the "World Chat" app, half-asleep. But that scream...
It echoed across the night like a siren.
Rakesh G: what was that just now?
Nami Bae: yo I heard that too 😳
Arson Gill: was that thunder or a dude shouting??
P Kapoor: Guys turn on the news. Something's happening at Omnix Tower.
Kiran V: Bro I swear it sounded like the sky was crying with him 😭
Aanya S: whoever it was... sounded broken af.
Anonymous: …felt like the world paused for a sec.
Back at the tower...
The rain thickened—until it looked like black strings hanging from the sky.
Something began to rise from the crying figure's feet.
Not water.
Not mist.
Darkness.
It clung to his legs first—like a liquid shadow, bubbling upward like ink in reverse.
It began to twist, move, grow.
Like a black cocoon.
It wrapped his torso, his shoulders, his face…
His skin was no longer visible.
In its place—a creature made of pure shadow.
Long, slithering arms of darkness extended behind him.
Glowing red eyes opened all over his body—each blinking at a different rhythm, like watching from different worlds.
He no longer looked human.
No longer looked alive.
He pulsed with a power that didn't belong to this world.
It was ancient, silent, and enraged.
What was he?
A demon?
A god?
A victim?
He slowly raised his head to the sky. His voice, when it came, was no longer his.
It was empty, echoing—like it came from every shadow in the city at once.
"So this is what you wanted…"
A final bolt of lightning cracked—KA-KRRAAAAAAAMMM!!
The tower trembled.
The twelve masked subordinates looked up as the clouds peeled apart, revealing a ring of glowing energy circling the sky—pulsing like a heartbeat.
And then—
Everything vanished.
The darkness.
The figure.
The tower.
The storm.
Even the rain stopped—mid-drop—as if frozen in time.
Nothing remained.
Only stillness.
[???, Present]
Haaaah!!
Sid jolted upright in his bed.
Gasping. Dripping in sweat. Eyes wide.
Chest heaving. Palms cold. His heart was slamming against his ribs like it was trying to escape.
What the hell was that dream...?
The room was dark. The fan spun lazily above him.
No storm. No tower. No voices.
Just the faint hum of a tube light buzzing outside the window.
Sid stared at his trembling hands.
And for just a moment—he could still feel it.
The eyes.
Watching him.
From everywhere.