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Chapter 22 - Chapter 22: The Shadow Redirected

Chapter 22: The Shadow Redirected

The assembly ground near the main lodge was a flurry of nervous energy as Professor Das issued the individual assignments. The sun, already climbing high, cast long, distorted shadows across the clearing, making the students squint.

"Your tasks are specific, detailed, and non-negotiable," Professor Das announced, his voice cutting through the early morning chatter. "You have your maps. Report back here before dusk. No exceptions."

Aarav received his dossier for Zone A: The Fungal Grove. He was already mentally mapping the route, his focus split between the task and the silent alarm ringing in his mind. He glanced at Ayushi, who was assigned Zone C: The Sun-Drenched Ridge. Akash, Pooja, and Kiara quickly checked their maps and formed smaller clusters, preparing to head out.

"Look alive, tiger," Akash clapped Aarav on the shoulder. "Let's bag the best data and be back before the lunch rush."

Aarav offered a tight, forced smile. "You go on ahead. I need to make a quick check on my gear."

He watched Ayushi start down her designated trail, her movements quick and efficient. He felt the intense, familiar pressure of his future memory closing in. It happens now. Rajat strikes during the individual dispersal, when the main camp is empty and the movement is chaotic.

In the original timeline, Rajat's black operation—the planting of the fake 'Kryptos Leak' corporate espionage files—had ruined him. It had been a targeted assassination of his future. Aarav had spent the last two years preparing for this exact strike. He had intentionally left a decoy USB containing only a single, useless picture of a motivational poster inside the specific compartment of his backpack's laptop sleeve, knowing Rajat's patsy would be precise. His real, essential work drive was safely in his pocket. He was ready for the attack.

Aarav hurried back toward the boys' tent area, which was currently deserted. He wanted to visually confirm the safety of his bag before heading into the forest. He reached the back corner of his tent, the designated drop zone. His own navy-blue backpack was exactly where he'd left it. He ran a practiced hand over the zipper—everything seemed undisturbed.

He turned to leave, a wave of familiar relief washing over him, convinced that the bomb had been deactivated.

Rajat, hidden behind a thicket of rhododendrons on the periphery of the camp, was giving his final, hissed instructions into a walkie-talkie. His eyes were cold, burning with self-righteous fury.

"Listen carefully, you imbecile," Rajat commanded. "He left the navy-blue bag next to the supply box outside the main tent. It's the second sleeve inside the laptop compartment. Plant the drive. Be quick. Be silent. No mistakes. This destroys him."

"Y-yes, sir," the terrified patsy's voice crackled back.

Rajat lowered the device, his lips pulling into a thin, predatory smile. "Say goodbye to your ambition, Aarav. Once this file is traced back to the college servers, the press will crucify you. The Dean will have no choice but to expel you for industrial espionage. Ayushi will see you for the desperate criminal you are."

He didn't know that, thirty seconds earlier, a tiny, unpredictable ripple of chaos had compromised his entire plan.

The Mistake:

Just moments before Rajat's patsy entered the area, Ayushi had realized she had forgotten the specialized pH strips she needed for her Zone C assignment. She'd sprinted back to the girls' tent area, only to find the flap zipped shut and a lock on the main zipper (a new rule due to past petty thefts). Frustrated, and desperately trying to save time, she had quickly dropped her backpack—a university-issue bag, identical in size and colour to Aarav's navy-blue bag—in the nearest empty spot near the supply boxes outside the boys' tent area, just a few feet from Aarav's bag, before running off to grab the replacement strips from the first aid kit inside the lodge.

The nervous patsy, operating under extreme time pressure and Rajat's fear-fueled instructions, saw the two identical navy-blue bags in the designated drop zone. He didn't check the tent number. He didn't confirm the name tag. He simply saw the bag closest to the supply box that matched the description—Ayushi's bag—snatched it quickly, unzipped the laptop sleeve, and slid the real, highly incriminating 'Kryptos Leak' USB drive deep inside the secondary compartment.

He was gone in less than ten seconds, running back to report his "success."

The patsy had successfully executed the plan's mechanism but failed the plan's target. The bomb was planted, but in the wrong hands, and neither Rajat nor Aarav had the slightest idea.

Rajat, satisfied by the patsy's rushed confirmation, moved swiftly to the main trail, intercepting Aarav as he started his trek toward Zone A.

Rajat stood with his arms crossed, a posture of immense self-assurance, but instead of outright mocking him, he chose to savor the quiet certainty of Aarav's impending doom.

"Well, well. Back already, Aarav? I trust you found everything where you left it," Rajat said, his tone dripping with false cordiality, a patronizing smile fixed on his face.

Aarav stopped, his expression perfectly neutral. He saw the cold, vicious triumph in Rajat's eyes—the look of a man who believed he had just sealed a victory.

"Yes, Rajat. Everything is exactly where it should be," Aarav replied calmly. He was internally smug, convinced that Rajat's expensive scheme had resulted in the planting of a single picture of a goat. My foresight holds. The threat is neutralized.

Rajat tilted his head, his smile widening into a sinister grin. "Good. Because some things that are 'left' eventually get found, don't they? And sometimes, what is found can tell quite the interesting story about a person's character and his future prospects." He paused, letting the words hang in the air, weighted with implied menace.

"A brilliant student like you, Aarav, must know that in the corporate world, a clean track record is everything. One little stain, one small, foolish mistake, and the whole edifice comes crashing down. It's a very fragile reputation, isn't it? Especially for someone who has so much to lose." Rajat leaned closer, his eyes sparkling with a cruel, prophetic delight. "Let's just say I'm looking forward to hearing the final results of this field assignment. They will be very illuminating."

Rajat pulled back, his satisfied, almost manic laughter dying in his throat as he struggled to contain his elation. He threw a mocking salute. "Enjoy the fungal grove, Aarav. May your analytical rigor be sufficient to handle what the day brings."

Aarav simply looked at the intensely gleeful Rajat, his black eyes calm and unwavering. He understood the subtext perfectly: Rajat was celebrating the successful execution of the 'Kryptos Leak' plan.

"I prefer to wait for the final results to come in before celebrating a victory, Rajat," Aarav responded, his voice a low, steady rumble. "Especially when I'm not even sure I like the trophy."

He walked past the villain, leaving Rajat standing alone, his cruel, triumphant smile fixed in place. Rajat shook his head, a wave of furious, satisfied certainty washing over him. "He thinks he's so clever. He thinks he's safe. Fool! He has no idea that the ticking bomb is already planted!"

Neither of them realized that Ayushi, oblivious and now armed with her pH strips, was trekking up the Sun-Drenched Ridge, carrying not only her assignment but also the ticking time bomb of corporate sabotage intended for the man she was falling in love with, the very bomb that was destined to destroy her future instead of his.

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