(Avni POV)
The second I saw him step through the glass doors, I felt my pulse stutter.Not because I'd missed him.Don't flatter yourself — this isn't that kind of story.
No.It was because my brain started rifling through every memory I had, trying to confirm that the man walking toward me was the same one who walked out six months ago.
He wasn't.
His face was familiar but wrong — like someone printed him in slightly lower resolution.Same hair, same eyes, same posture…just hollow.Whatever made him him was gone — replaced by static.
Nivaan Sharma was back.But the version standing in the lobby felt like a knockoff.
He looked at me, and I swear there was a flicker — like he recognized me, but only from a dream he didn't believe was real.
My chest tightened, but I kept my expression flat.Always flat.It's safer that way.
"You weren't supposed to come today," I said.The words slipped out more brittle than intended.
He stared, a sarcastic smile half-forming."Honestly? I wasn't supposed to come back at all. But here we are."
His humor hadn't changed.Annoying.
I told him to go to HR — not because they'd help, but because it would buy me time.He followed anyway.
The office buzzed with fake productivity.Screens flickering.People pretending to care about data when all they actually cared about was being seen caring about data.MindMesh specialty.
I watched the glances — the not-so-subtle whispers trailing behind him.Oh, he's ALIVE?Did he really just walk in?Wasn't he… gone?Did he kill someone?
Humans are predictable.Give them mystery and they'll invent horror to fill the gaps.
I hated that he could still feel the room shifting.He hadn't forgotten how to read people — even if he'd forgotten himself.
Then Ira appeared.If chaos were a person, it would choose Ira as its avatar.Black hair. A look that said "I'll stab you and then cry about it."Unfiltered. Unhinged. Unpredictable.The office could've caught fire and she'd still lead with her emotions first.
She walked up to him and slapped him hard enough to make the plants rustle.Honestly?Good for her.
His expression twitched, but he didn't react violently — just blinked like he deserved it.
We all froze — the way people freeze before an accident unfolds.I braced myself.I knew what usually followed.
But before any dramatic confrontation could start, every screen crackled.
Then glitched.
Static crawled across the glass walls, the computers, even the emotion board.The lights dimmed and the company logo warped into jagged letters like someone was rewriting reality live.
A single message burned across all screens:
WELCOME BACK, NIVAAN.WE MISSED WATCHING YOU.
My lungs felt tight.This wasn't normal.Not even by MindMesh standards.
Then his badge synced.By itself.No input.No prompt.
Just synced.Forcefully.Like it was claiming him.
Red light.Danger state.
EMOTIONAL STATUS: UNKNOWN / UNSTABLE
Understatement of the century.
The power shut for three seconds.Three.That's enough to change the world.Long enough for someone to disappear, appear, or die.
In the darkness, a voice whispered through the speakers — distorted, muddled, layered like there were two voices speaking on top of each other.
"Don't trust them."
People gasped.Someone screamed.
But I wasn't listening to them.My eyes were on him.
Because that voice…was his.
Not just similar —it was him.Except deeper, colder, untethered.
When the lights came back, he was standing completely still —shoulders tense, breathing shallow, eyes dark.
He looked at me.And for the first time since he walked in, I saw fear bleed through.
Not fear of others.Fear of himself.
I stepped closer.Maybe stupid.Maybe reckless.But instinct rarely asks for permission.
"Don't panic," I said flatly.
He snorted."I'm doing my best."
Liar.His hands were shaking.
Kiyan rushed over next — breathless, desperate, like a golden retriever with baggage."Are you okay? What's happening?"
I ignored him.
Then Erin and Ray arrived — from different corners, but both staring at Nivaan like he was a ghost they weren't ready to believe in.The office buzz grew louder —everyone trying to pretend they weren't terrified.
I leaned closer to Nivaan."Did you hear that?"
He swallowed.He knew exactly what I meant.
"Yeah," he whispered."Sounded like—"
"You."
He froze.The denial didn't come.Just a heavy silence.
HR punctuality is nonexistent, so obviously the first authority figure to arrive wasn't HR —it was Helena.
Head of Research.Walking contradiction.Smile kind, eyes razor-sharp.Always looks like she knows too much and says too little.
She glided over, hands clasped behind her back.
"Nivaan," she said warmly."As I live and breathe."
Fake warmth.Makes my skin crawl.
He straightened instinctively — like he remembered answering to her, even if he didn't remember anything else.
"Welcome home," she said.The choice of word wasn't accidental.
Home.Not work.
Terrifying.
Before he could respond, she continued:
"Let's take a walk. I'm sure you're overwhelmed."
No one moves like Helena without intent.She was already analyzing him —movements, pupils, pulse, badge data.
He hesitated.For a second, I thought he'd refuse.
Then he nodded.Mistake.
As he followed her, Ira tried to step forward — but Kiyan held her back quietly, shaking his head.
Wise.For once.
I saw the look in Helena's eyes.She wasn't taking him to talk.She was taking him to evaluate.
The second they disappeared into the privacy corridor, whispers exploded again — chaos blooming like mold.
"He's dangerous—"
"He wasn't supposed to—"
"How did his badge sync—"
"Did he hack himself—"
"Was that really his—"
I tuned them out.
Three months.That's how long I'd worked under Nivaan before he vanished.Three months of quiet conversations, sharp intellect, and…unspoken tension.
Then one day —doors swipe denied.Desk cleared.No explanation.
Only a rumor:He'd been reassigned.Transferred.Promoted.
Lies.
I'd known it then.I know it now.
People don't disappear because of promotions.They disappear because of secrets.
And MindMesh?Specializes in both.
Ira stormed toward me."What the hell is happening?"
I shrugged."Take a number."
She glared — still wild-eyed, still vibrating with emotion like a live wire.
"You knew he was coming back."
"Did I look prepared to you?"
She scoffed."Don't play dumb. It doesn't suit you."
"It suits you fine though."
She looked ready to murder me.Honestly, not the worst threat today.
Kiyan, ever the mediator, stepped between us.
"Arguing isn't helping," he said.
He had that stupid softness in his voice — that softness that always made people trust him more than they should.
He turned to me."We need to know what happened to him."
I met his gaze."We will. But we don't chase answers. We wait."
"You really think he's safe with Helena?" he asked.
"No one is safe with Helena," I said."Not even Helena."
He looked away.
I looked at the dark corridor where Nivaan vanished.
Six months ago, he disappeared.Now he's back.
And the thing that scares me most isn't what happened to him.
It's what he might have become.
People don't come back the same.
Especially the ones who were never the same to begin with.