The rest of the office day dragged on like a bad soap serial.
Arun tried focusing on tickets, Jira comments, and the client's extremely irritating voice over the call—but his mind kept drifting back to one thing.
Time Freeze.
Every few minutes he caught himself staring at his palm like some confused villain in an origin story.
Is there a manual for this? Any tutorial pop-up? No? Romba unfair.
By lunch break, he was a mental mess.
In the cafeteria, as he poked suspiciously at rice that tasted like cardboard dipped in despair, he whispered to himself:
"How the hell am I going to test this in public? If I freeze time in front of people and mess up… they'll send me to NIMHANS."
He took a bite of rice and almost gagged.
"Maybe I should freeze time just to escape this food."
His colleague Senthil plopped down next to him.
"Bro! You're quiet today."
"I'm always quiet."
"Yeah but today you look like you're planning a murder."
Arun didn't blink. "Maybe."
Senthil laughed. "Ha ha bro you're very joke jokes."
Not really, but okay.
The afternoon droned on. After escaping another useless stand-up meeting where nothing "stood up" except people's blood pressure, the clock finally hit 6 PM.
Arun shut down his laptop and left.
Outside, Chennai's evening chaos was in full swing: autos honking like they were in a music competition, street vendors shouting, corporate workers walking like zombies, the sun slowly dying behind smog.
Arun walked toward the station. His heart wasn't racing today—just thumping with a different kind of energy.
Purpose.
He needed a quiet place. A controlled test environment.
But Chennai was allergic to quiet.
He ended up on the terrace of an under-construction building near the station, a place where workers often left early.
The door was unlocked. Perfect.
He climbed up, hands in pockets, scanning the area. The skyline looked like a mix of orange light, unfinished buildings, and chaos.
Up here, he finally breathed.
"Okay. Attempt number… whatever."
He looked at a discarded plastic bottle lying near the wall.
"Let's start simple."
He picked it up and tossed it in the air.
It flipped once…
Twice…
He whispered—
"Stop."
And the bottle froze mid-air.
He stared.
Yes!
He walked around it, inspecting every angle, like a man admiring a painting he didn't understand.
Then another thought hit him.
What if… I can unfreeze JUST the bottle?
He narrowed his eyes.
"Move."
Nothing.
"Unfreeze."
Nothing.
"Resume?"
The bottle dropped instantly, bouncing on the floor.
Arun blinked.
"Okay so that command works. But selective unfreeze nahi aa raha."
He picked up small items lying around—a stone, a screw, a piece of rebar.
He placed them separately.
"Stop."
The world froze again—he felt it, that strange pressure around him, like the air was holding its breath.
He pointed at the stone.
"You. Move."
Stone didn't move.
He flicked it.
It responded normally to his touch—it rolled—but only because he pushed it physically.
Not because it unfroze.
"Hm."
He walked to the rebar and held it.
"Unfreeze."
Nothing.
Then he tried something else.
He focused—not on the stone, not on the rebar—but on his intent.
When the bus froze, he had wanted to move through the world without making everything alive again. When he saved the bus slightly by shifting position, he had pushed part of the environment while everything else stayed frozen.
Not everything had been equally frozen in the accident… right?
He replayed the moment in his mind.
He had touched the seat handle, moved slightly, and the handle had responded normally.
BUT the people and the bus body were frozen.
So the handle was… unfrozen?
Or more accurately—he had unconsciously chosen what remained normal.
He stared at the rebar.
"Okay. Let's try this with brain power instead of mouth."
He took a breath and thought:
I want ONLY the rebar to unfreeze.
Nothing visible happened.
He touched it.
Still frozen.
He sighed.
"Oh come on, don't be selective only when YOU want."
He stopped and corrected himself.
Maybe it's not voice. Maybe it's not touch. Maybe it's intention.
He tried again.
Closed his eyes lightly.
Focused on the object.
Not commanding, but imagining it moving while everything else stayed frozen.
Move.
He opened his eyes.
The rebar hadn't moved…
…but the air around it looked wrong.
Slightly less static.
Less frozen.
His heart skipped.
He stretched his hand and nudged it lightly.
The rebar rolled freely on the ground.
"That's it. THAT'S IT!"
His voice echoed across the empty terrace.
He was grinning—an actual grin he hadn't felt in years.
Selective unfreeze.
He had done it.
He tried again with the stone. Focused on it. Visualized it unfrozen.
Then flicked it.
It bounced.
"Oh man. Oh MAN. This is crazy."
He spun in a slow circle, looking at the frozen skyline—cars suspended mid-road, birds paused mid-flight, a guy on a scooter mid-yawn.
He tried unfreezing a leaf stuck mid-air.
He focused.
Let go.
And…
Nothing.
He frowned.
Then chuckled bitterly.
"Ahh okay. Limitations. Of course. Why would life give unlimited cheat codes?"
He theorized silently:
Selective unfreeze rule (current level):
Can unfreeze objects he is touching
OR
Objects close to him
OR
Objects he can mentally anchor to (solid, noticeable things)
Tiny, moving, lightweight objects?
Not yet.
He turned around and looked at a big cement bag on the terrace.
He froze the world again—smoothly this time, without panic.
"Now…"
He focused on the cement bag.
"Let this move."
He pushed it.
It moved slightly, like pushing a heavy box.
Better than frozen.
His strength didn't strain as much.
"So I can selectively unfreeze a heavy object if I concentrate."
His heart pounded with excitement.
He walked to the edge of the terrace and looked down at the frozen street.
The power was unbelievable.
Terrifying.
Addictive.
And for the first time since this morning, a real question formed in his mind.
What do I do with this?
He wasn't a saint.
He wasn't going to save the world.
He wasn't going to fight crime like some movie hero.
But this?
This was life-changing.
Not in a dramatic "I will save people" way—
in a very practical Indian way:
Never be late.
Never get stuck in traffic.
Never lose an argument.
Never miss an opportunity.
Never get outsmarted in office politics.
Never get humiliated again.
Never remain powerless.
For someone who grew up careful, quiet, and constantly trying not to get crushed by the world…
This power was intoxicating.
He unfroze time again and sat on the terrace floor.
He wasn't trembling.
He wasn't hyperventilating.
He wasn't crying with joy.
He was thinking.
Hard.
"What's the next rule? How far can I go? How much can I freeze? How many things can I unfreeze at once?"
His thoughts spiraled until a loud ringtone shattered the moment.
It was Senthil.
Arun answered.
"Bro where are you?" Senthil asked. "I saw you walking toward station but now nowhere near platform. Teleport-aa?"
Arun stared at the frozen world for half a second and then back at the phone.
"No bro," he said.
"Just… taking fresh air."
"In construction site terrace?"
Arun rubbed his forehead. "Yup."
"Okay da weird fellow, come for tea."
"I'll come," Arun replied.
He hung up and looked around.
He wasn't done yet.
Not even close.
He took one last deep breath and said softly—
"Resume."
The world sprang back into motion—birds flapping, cars honking, someone yelling at a biker, everything resuming as if nothing had happened.
Arun brushed off dust from his pants and headed downstairs.
As he walked toward Senthil, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time.
Not pride.
Not confidence.
Just… anticipation.
Life was becoming interesting.