CHAPTER 2 – PART A
TITLE: "THE SMELL OF INCENSE DOESN'T REACH NARAK"
[SCENE: CREMATION GROUND – NIGHT]
Ash drifts through the air like dying fireflies.
Half-burnt pyres glow in the distance. Dogs circle the edge of the ground, eyes reflecting orange light. The Ganga flows nearby, black under moonlight.
ARYA VAIRAJ (17) stands barefoot on scorched earth.
His clothes are soaked — rain, blood, or sweat, impossible to tell.
In front of him: a PYRE.
On it lies a woman's body, wrapped in white cloth.
His mother.
ARYA
(soft, almost polite)
It's okay… I'll light it.
A PRIEST hesitates, glancing at the sky.
PRIEST
Son… the rain hasn't stopped. The fire—
ARYA
(smiling)
Fire always listens to me.
Arya takes the torch.
The flame flickers violently, then steadies — unnatural, obedient.
He lights the pyre.
The fire ROARS upward, defying rain.
The priest steps back, unsettled.
PRIEST
(whispering)
…Dev-anugrah?
Arya does not answer.
He watches the flames eat the cloth.
Eat the skin.
Eat the shape of the only person who ever said his name without fear.
[SCENE SHIFTS: INNER MONOLOGUE – SILENT]
A thin red THREAD pulses faintly from Arya's chest — unseen by normal eyes.
KARMA THREAD.
It trembles.
Not grief.
Not rage.
Calculation.
[SCENE: CREMATION GROUND – CONTINUOUS]
A GIRL stands behind him.
NYRA KASHYAP (18). Short hair. Sharp eyes. Her clothes bear the insignia of a KARMA REGULATOR CLAN.
She watches Arya carefully.
NYRA
You didn't cry.
ARYA
I already did.
Just… not today.
Nyra kneels, touching the ground.
NYRA
This place is wrong.
The dead here are restless.
ARYA
They always are.
NYRA
No. This is different.
(pause)
Something followed you here.
Arya finally turns.
His smile is gentle.
ARYA
I know.
[SCENE: SHADOW BEHIND THE PYRES]
Something MOVES.
A shape stitched from smoke and bone. Hollow eyes. A mouth full of murmuring prayers spoken backward.
A PISHACH.
But stronger.
Marked with a burned symbol on its forehead.
NYRA
(tensing)
That mark…
It's Narak-issued.
ARYA
So even Hell is watching now.
The Pishach SCREAMS.
The ground cracks.
Nyra summons a sigil with her fingers — glowing Sanskrit letters forming a barrier.
NYRA
ARYA, MOVE!
Arya does not move.
The Pishach lunges.
At the last second, Arya raises his hand.
The karma thread from his chest EXTENDS.
It PIERCES the Pishach's skull.
The creature freezes.
Then collapses — not destroyed, but ERASED.
No scream.
No residue.
Just absence.
Nyra stares.
NYRA
What… technique was that?
ARYA
(confused, genuinely)
I don't know.
It felt… natural.
Nyra's eyes narrow.
NYRA
That wasn't a clan art.
That wasn't divine blessing.
ARYA
Then what was it?
Nyra doesn't answer.
She looks at the pyre again.
At the fire that still burns in rain.
NYRA
Arya…
Your karma density is wrong.
ARYA
(smiling)
I've always been unlucky.
NYRA
No.
You're heavy.
Like something old is sitting inside you.
Arya looks down at his hands.
For a moment—
The smile slips.
Just a little.
ARYA
If something is inside me…
Then it's suffering too.
[SCENE: DISTANT – OBSERVATION]
From afar, atop a broken temple roof—
A MAN watches.
DEVADATTA RAO.
His eyes glow faint gold.
A divine being wearing human flesh.
DEVADATTA
(amused)
Still pretending to be human, little sin?
A shadow beside him WRITHES.
A BABY'S LAUGH echoes faintly — distorted, wrong.
DEVADATTA
Soon.
Very soon.
You'll remember why Narak wasn't enough.
[SCENE: BACK TO ARYA & NYRA]
Nyra exhales slowly.
NYRA
You should come with us.
The Regulators will want to see you.
ARYA
Will they help my mother?
NYRA
(pause)
The dead don't return.
Arya nods.
ARYA
Then I'll walk another path.
He bows to the pyre.
The fire finally dies.
Rain takes over.
Nyra watches him walk away.
For the first time—
She feels afraid.
Not of what he is.
But of what he's willing to become.
[END OF CHAPTER 2 – PART A]
CHAPTER 2 – PART B
TITLE: "REGULATORS DON'T SAVE PEOPLE — THEY SORT THEM"
[SCENE: REGULATOR TRANSPORT VEHICLE – NIGHT]
A heavy, armored van cuts through rain-soaked streets.
Inside, dim red lights hum softly.
ARYA VAIRAJ sits on a metal bench, wrists loosely bound with karma-seals. They aren't tight — symbolic more than restrictive.
Across from him sits NYRA KASHYAP.
Beside her, two other REGULATORS.
KALPESH "KAL" TRIVEDI (28) — tall, broad-shouldered, scars carved across his arms like unfinished prayers. He chews paan calmly, eyes half-lidded.
MEERA SHUKLA (24) — thin, sharp-featured, eyes constantly calculating. Her fingers trace mantras in the air unconsciously.
KAL
(grinning)
So you erased a Narak-marked Pishach
with no mudra, no mantra, no bleed?
ARYA
I didn't erase it.
It just… stopped being.
Kal's grin widens.
KAL
Oh, I like him already.
MEERA
(firm)
Kal, stop encouraging anomalies.
Kal shrugs.
KAL
Anomalies are how we stay alive.
Nyra watches Arya closely.
NYRA
Arya.
Do you know what a Regulator actually does?
ARYA
Keeps balance?
Kal laughs loudly.
KAL
Kid thinks we're heroes.
MEERA
We're accountants.
For karma.
[SCENE: CUTAWAY – FLASH IMAGES]
— A child dragged screaming into a glowing gate
— A man praying while his soul fractures
— A god watching, bored
MEERA (V.O.)
We don't stop suffering.
We decide where it goes.
[SCENE: VEHICLE – CONTINUOUS]
Arya nods slowly.
ARYA
That's fine.
NYRA
You're not scared?
ARYA
I already lost the only thing I was afraid to lose.
Silence fills the van.
Even Kal stops chewing.
[SCENE: REGULATOR COMPLEX – EXTERIOR]
A massive compound rises from the city like a scar.
Ancient stone fused with modern steel.
Sanskrit inscriptions glow faintly across walls:
धर्मः स्थिरः न अस्ति
(Dharma is not stable.)
[SCENE: REGULATOR TESTING HALL – NIGHT]
Arya stands barefoot inside a massive circular hall.
On the walls: murals of Narak, Swarga, Patal, and realms unnamed.
Above him, a floating glyph rotates slowly:
KARMA EVALUATION ACTIVE
A dozen REGULATORS observe from balconies.
NYRA
Arya Vairaj.
Orphan.
No clan registration.
No divine contract.
MEERA
Mother: unidentified divine lineage.
Status: deceased.
Cause: soul extraction.
A low murmur ripples through the hall.
KAL
Soul extraction?
That's not Asura work.
MEERA
No.
That's divine violence.
[SCENE: KARMA SCAN BEGINS]
Light floods the chamber.
Threads erupt from Arya's body — thousands of them.
Black.
Red.
Gold.
Colors that don't exist.
The machine SCREAMS.
SYSTEM VOICE
ERROR.
ERROR.
KARMA LOAD EXCEEDS THRESHOLD.
Nyra clenches her fists.
NYRA
Stop the scan!
Too late.
The hall DISTORTS.
[SCENE: KARMIC MANIFESTATION – INNER WORLD]
The floor drops away.
Arya stands alone in a ruined palace.
Blood-stained pillars.
Chains hanging from the sky.
A THRONE at the center.
On it sits a SHADOWED FIGURE.
Its voice echoes layered — child, king, monster.
SHADOW
You took too long.
ARYA
(confused)
Do I know you?
The shadow laughs.
SHADOW
You wore my crown once.
The palace SHATTERS.
[SCENE: TESTING HALL – CONTINUOUS]
A shockwave blasts outward.
Three Regulators are thrown into walls, bones snapping.
Alarms scream.
MEERA
Containment breach!
Kal plants his feet, slams his palms together.
KAL
KARMA ART:
VAJRA-SHIRA STANCE!
Lightning-carved Sanskrit wraps around him as he anchors the hall.
Nyra rushes forward, chanting.
NYRA
MANTRA OF STILLING —
OM SHANTI, OM SHANTI—
Arya collapses to his knees.
Blood pours from his nose.
He gasps.
ARYA
Make it stop.
Nyra reaches him.
NYRA
Look at me.
Stay here.
Stay human.
The manifestation FADES.
The hall falls silent.
Bodies lie broken.
Smoke curls from scorched symbols.
[SCENE: AFTERMATH]
Healers rush in.
Kal wipes blood from his mouth, laughing softly.
KAL
That was fun.
Terrifying.
But fun.
MEERA
(staring at Arya)
He's not just karmically dense.
NYRA
He's layered.
MEERA
No.
He's overwritten.
[SCENE: OBSERVATION CHAMBER – LATER]
Arya sits alone, wrapped in bandages.
Nyra enters quietly.
She places a cup of tea beside him.
ARYA
Am I dangerous?
NYRA
Yes.
ARYA
Am I evil?
Nyra hesitates.
NYRA
No.
That's worse.
Arya exhales slowly.
ARYA
Then teach me.
NYRA
Teach you what?
ARYA
How not to break the world
until I'm ready to.
Nyra stiffens.
NYRA
Why would you ever want to break it?
Arya looks at his reflection in the tea.
ARYA
If the world tells me my mother deserved Narak…
then the world is wrong.
Silence.
Nyra stands.
NYRA
Rest.
Tomorrow, you meet Narak's liaison.
ARYA
(smiles faintly)
Hell sends representatives now?
NYRA
Always has.
[SCENE: DISTANT – DIVINE OBSERVATION]
Devadatta Rao watches through a floating mirror.
DEVADATTA
Beautiful.
Even grieving, he negotiates with destiny.
The distorted BABY VOICE laughs again.
DEVADATTA
Grow.
Hate.
Hope.
He closes the mirror.
DEVADATTA
When you choose destruction…
make sure it hurts.
[END OF CHAPTER 2 – PART B]
CHAPTER 2 – PART C
TITLE: "HELL DOESN'T ASK — IT COLLECTS"
[SCENE: REGULATOR COMPLEX – LOWER LEVELS – NIGHT]
The lower floors of the Regulator Complex do not resemble a government facility.
They resemble a prison that remembers every scream.
Lights flicker irregularly. Walls are layered with old sealing scripts carved over older ones, some so ancient their meanings are lost. The air smells of iron, incense, and something rotting behind stone.
ARYA VAIRAJ walks barefoot down the corridor.
No restraints.
No guards touching him.
Everyone keeps distance.
NYRA KASHYAP walks beside him, tense.
KAL TRIVEDI follows behind, cracking his neck.
MEERA SHUKLA trails last, reading from a floating karmic slate.
MEERA
We're escorting him to a Narak Liaison.
Let's not pretend this is optional.
ARYA
What happens if I refuse?
Kal chuckles.
KAL
Then Hell files a complaint.
And Heaven pretends not to notice.
They stop before a massive door.
It isn't metal.
It's bone.
Carved together, fused, screaming faintly when opened.
On it is etched a single word:
नरक
[SCENE: NARAK LIAISON CHAMBER]
The room is circular.
No corners.
No shadows — because the shadows move on their own.
At the center stands a PIT, descending endlessly, filled with drifting red light and whispers in countless languages.
From the pit rises a figure.
TALL.
LEAN.
Wearing the robes of a monk stitched from flayed scripture.
Its face is gentle.
Its eyes are empty.
NARAK LIAISON
(smiling warmly)
Arya Vairaj.
Welcome.
Nyra stiffens.
NYRA
That's too familiar.
NARAK LIAISON
Of course it is.
I've been watching him since before his mother died.
Arya looks directly at the Liaison.
ARYA
Did she suffer?
The Liaison tilts its head.
NARAK LIAISON
That depends.
Do you consider truth suffering?
Silence.
Kal's jaw tightens.
KAL
Careful.
NARAK LIAISON
(smiling wider)
Oh, relax.
I'm not here to provoke.
I'm here to offer clarity.
[SCENE: PIT ACTIVATES]
The pit glows brighter.
Images rise from it like smoke.
— A WOMAN screaming as her soul is torn apart
— DIVINE HANDS holding her down
— A CONTRACT burning her name away
Arya's breathing becomes uneven.
ARYA
Stop.
The images do not stop.
NARAK LIAISON
Your mother attempted an illegal resurrection clause.
She offered herself as collateral.
NYRA
That's impossible.
Divine contracts can't—
NARAK LIAISON
—be broken?
(smiles)
They can.
They just demand interest.
Arya's karma threads begin to vibrate violently.
ARYA
Where is she.
The Liaison points downward.
NARAK LIAISON
Not Narak.
Not Swarga.
Not even Patal.
MEERA
(alarmed)
Then where?
NARAK LIAISON
Nowhere.
She was removed from the cycle.
A beat.
Then—
ARYA SCREAMS.
Not loud.
Not explosive.
A quiet, animal sound — like something breaking internally.
The floor CRACKS.
Sealing scripts ignite.
KAL
Shit.
[SCENE: KARMIC COLLAPSE]
Arya drops to one knee.
Blood pours from his eyes.
The karma threads erupt outward, lashing the chamber walls.
The Liaison steps back for the first time.
NARAK LIAISON
Interesting.
He's rejecting causality.
NYRA
Arya!
Look at me!
ARYA
(shaking)
She doesn't exist.
So this world let her die twice.
The pit ROARS.
Something begins to CLIMB.
Hands.
Too many hands.
MEERA
Containment failing!
KAL
Then we kill it!
Kal charges, activating his stance.
KAL
VAJRA-SHIRA:
SECOND FORM!
Lightning slams into the pit.
The thing SCREAMS.
But it keeps climbing.
NARAK LIAISON
(amused)
Ah.
A collector escaped early.
ARYA
What is that?
NARAK LIAISON
A balance adjustment.
A soul eater.
It feeds on unresolved grief.
The creature lunges.
Toward NYRA.
Time slows.
Arya sees it clearly.
Nyra's eyes widen.
ARYA
No.
Something inside him CLICKS.
Not rage.
Decision.
The karma threads snap inward — then EXPLODE outward with precision.
ARYA
KARMA EXTRACTION:
NIRNAYA.
The creature FREEZES.
Every thread in its body is pulled out violently.
The soul eater collapses — not erased.
But stripped.
Empty.
Dead.
The chamber goes silent.
Everyone stares.
MEERA
(trembling)
That wasn't destruction.
KAL
That was judgment.
The Liaison's smile is gone.
NARAK LIAISON
You shouldn't be able to do that.
ARYA
I don't care what I shouldn't be.
Arya turns to the Liaison.
ARYA
Bring her back.
NARAK LIAISON
I can't.
ARYA
Then I'll break the system that says you're needed.
The Liaison studies him.
Then laughs.
NARAK LIAISON
Now that…
That's blasphemy.
ARYA
Call it love.
[SCENE: CONSEQUENCE]
Alarms blare.
Red light floods the chamber.
MEERA
Emergency protocol!
Narak contract violation detected!
NYRA
Arya, you have to leave. Now!
ARYA
Will they come after me?
NYRA
Yes.
ARYA
Good.
He steps backward.
The karma threads wrap around him instinctively.
ARYA
Tell the gods—
I'm coming to negotiate.
He vanishes.
[SCENE: AFTERMATH – SILENCE]
The pit seals itself.
The chamber is ruined.
Kal exhales slowly.
KAL
Kid just declared war on existence.
MEERA
No.
He made a promise.
Nyra stares at the spot where Arya stood.
NYRA
(whispering)
And he'll keep it.
[SCENE: DISTANT – DIVINE OBSERVATION]
Devadatta Rao watches, eyes gleaming.
DEVADATTA
There it is.
The first refusal.
The BABY VOICE giggles.
DEVADATTA
Run, little king.
Grow strong.
When you break the world…
He smiles.
DEVADATTA
…I'll be waiting to take the credit.
[END OF CHAPTER 2]