Mumbai thrummed with its usual evening energy. The air was thick with the smell of exhaust fumes, street food, and the distant salt tang of the sea. Tejas Joshi navigated the crowded pavement, his backpack heavy with textbooks, his mind still buzzing from a complex physics lecture. At eighteen, he was a top student in the demanding PCMB stream – Physics, Chemistry, Maths, and Biology – his sharp, analytical mind a comfortable home for equations and theories.
Life hadn't always been straightforward for Tejas. He knew he was adopted, taken in as a baby by the kindest couple he could imagine, Eshwar and Komal Joshi. They had showered him with love and support, encouraging his insatiable curiosity and celebrating his intelligence. They were his parents in every way that mattered, and his small apartment in a bustling Mumbai suburb was his home.
His college was nearby, nestled between tall office buildings and older, crumbling residential blocks. Right next to the college campus, separated by a high, imposing wall topped with security wire, was 'Futura Dynamics' – a private research lab shrouded in secrecy. Rumors among the students claimed they were working on everything from AI to advanced propulsion. Tejas, with his scientific mind, suspected something more specific. He had noticed the unusual power consumption spikes late at night and the specialized cryogenic delivery trucks. His best guess? They were building something incredibly advanced, maybe even a prototype light speed engine.
As he turned onto the quieter side street leading towards the lab's less-used service entrance, something caught his eye. It was out of place. A dark blue van, unmarked, parked awkwardly in the shadows, its engine idling softly. Four figures, dressed entirely in black and wearing simple thieves' masks, slipped out. They moved quickly, using bolt cutters on a chain securing a side gate.
Tejas froze, his mind instantly shifting from physics problems to threat assessment. This wasn't just petty vandalism. These men were equipped and moving with purpose. He ducked behind a parked auto-rickshaw, pulling out his phone. His fingers flew across the screen, dialing the police emergency number.
"Yes, I need to report a break-in in progress," he whispered, giving the lab's address. "Futura Dynamics. Four masked individuals, possibly armed." He gave his name and location.
"Okay sir, stay on the line, officers are being dispatched," the operator replied calmly. "Do not approach the suspects."
Tejas ended the call. Officers were coming, but looking down the long, traffic-choked main road, he knew 'dispatched' didn't mean 'instant'. Those thieves were already inside. What were they after? What if they damaged something vital, something dangerous inside that lab? His curiosity and a sudden, unexpected surge of protective instinct warred with the operator's warning. He was intelligent, yes, but sometimes, his intelligence led him to take calculated risks. He looked at the slightly ajar service gate.
He made his decision. Keeping low, he slipped through the gate and into the lab compound, moving silently along the shadowed wall of the main building. He found an unlocked window – carelessness, or maybe the thieves had forced it. He slid it open and climbed inside, finding himself in a dark corridor.
He could hear muffled sounds coming from deeper within the facility. He moved cautiously, his sneakers silent on the polished floor. He peered around a corner into the main research area.
The sight made his breath catch. Several scientists in white lab coats lay unconscious on the floor, slumped over consoles or sprawled near workstations. The air hummed with the low thrum of powerful machinery. And in the center of the room, the four masked thieves were gathered around a large, complex device that pulsed with a soft internal light. They were carefully placing a small, brightly glowing orange object, about the size of a cricket ball, into a padded containment bag. It seemed to radiate a faint warmth even from across the room.
That must be it, Tejas thought. Whatever they came for.
Just as he thought it, one of the thieves turned, perhaps hearing a floorboard creak, perhaps just sensing his presence. Their eyes met across the room.
"Hey! Intruder!" the thief shouted.
Adrenaline surged through Tejas. He spun and ran back down the corridor. He heard heavy footsteps pounding after him. He didn't just run blindly. His mind worked fast. He remembered the layout from glimpses through the windows on his walks home. He ducked into a side lab, slammed the door shut, and quickly jammed a heavy metal stool under the handle.
The thieves slammed against the door. "Open up!"
Tejas ignored them, his eyes scanning the room. Wires, tools, a large nitrogen canister... An idea sparked. He grabbed a heavy wrench, smashed the valve off the nitrogen canister, and aimed the nozzle towards the bottom of the door. A cloud of intensely cold gas billowed out, frosting the floor. He scrambled out through another door on the opposite side of the lab just as the first door finally burst open. The thieves choked and stumbled back from the freezing gas cloud.
He was back in the main corridor, running for the exit. But one of the thieves, faster than the others, cut him off, appearing from another hallway. Tejas skidded to a stop. The thief lunged, grabbing for him. Tejas dodged, using the man's momentum to spin him around, and then, seeing his chance, he kicked the containment bag the thief was holding.
The bag flew open, and the glowing orange object rolled across the floor.
Without thinking, Tejas scooped it up. It felt incredibly smooth and strangely warm in his hand, pulsing with a gentle, rhythmic energy. He turned and sprinted towards the exit again.
"Stop him! Don't let him escape with the core!" the leader shouted.
Another thief appeared in the corridor ahead, blocking his path. This one held a futuristic-looking weapon – a laser gun. Tejas tried to juke left, but the thief anticipated him, raising the weapon.
"Drop it, kid!"
Tejas saw the red targeting laser appear on his chest. He instinctively raised the hand holding the orange object to shield himself.
The thief fired.
A searing beam of red energy shot from the gun. But instead of hitting Tejas, it slammed directly into the glowing orange object in his hand.
For a split second, nothing happened. The object seemed to absorb the laser's energy, glowing impossibly bright. Then, it exploded.
The blast wasn't fire and shrapnel. It was a wave of pure, concussive orange energy that threw Tejas backwards like a rag doll. He slammed hard against the corridor wall, the orange object disintegrating in his hand. The energy wave ripped through the lab. A nearby server bank exploded in a shower of sparks, igniting cables and equipment. Fire began to spread rapidly.
Through the ringing in his ears and the blinding spots in his eyes, Tejas saw the thieves, panicked by the explosion and the spreading fire, running away, disappearing back the way they came, empty-handed.
Then, darkness claimed him. Tejas fainted.
He wasn't out for long. The acrid smell of smoke and the intense heat of the fire jolted him back to a hazy consciousness. The corridor was filled with thick, black smoke. Flames licked at the ceiling. He coughed, his lungs burning. He needed to get out.
But then, through the smoke, he saw them. The unconscious scientists in the main lab, still lying helpless on the floor as the fire spread towards them. He couldn't leave them.
He stumbled towards the lab. The heat was intense. He felt strangely… light. Disconnected. He reached the first scientist, a small, older woman. He grabbed her under the arms, expecting her to be heavy, but she felt like nothing. He turned and moved back towards the exit.
The journey felt impossibly fast, dreamlike. One moment he was by the scientist, the next he was dragging her out through the broken window he'd entered, laying her safely on the grass outside. He blinked. How had he moved so fast? It didn't make sense.
His head was pounding. The smoke inhalation was making him dizzy. But he knew he had to go back. There were more people inside.
He climbed back through the window, into the inferno. He felt that strange lightness again, that impossible speed. He grabbed another scientist, then another, moving back and forth through the smoke and flames like a phantom. He didn't feel the heat. He didn't feel the effort. He just moved, driven by a primal, unconscious instinct to save them. He saw his shirt sleeve catch fire, but felt no pain. He saw pieces of his jeans tearing away as he brushed past burning debris.
He brought the last scientist out just as the roof of the lab began to collapse inwards with a deafening roar. He laid the man gently on the grass beside the others. The flashing blue and red lights of approaching police cars and fire trucks danced through the smoke. Help had arrived.
The adrenaline, the strange energy that had filled him, suddenly vanished. The pain hit him all at once – the burning in his lungs, the searing heat on his skin, the throbbing ache where he had hit the wall. The world spun violently. He collapsed onto the grass beside the people he had somehow saved, and the darkness took him again. He became unconscious.
The chapter ends as Tejas lies on the grass, sirens wailing around him, the unconscious scientists safe beside him, his torn and burned clothes the only clue to the impossible speed he had just unknowingly unleashed.
[To be continued…]
Support me: vanshbosssrahate@oksbi (UPI ID)
Author: Vansh Rahate
Editor: Vansh Rahate
Story by: Vansh Rahate
Under: Alaukika Studios