The day unfolded like any other.
Ayaan went to school. Answered questions. Corrected a teacher once—politely. Laughed at the appropriate moments.
Ariyan went to work. Stocked shelves. Counted change. Nodded at faces that never looked back.
Two ordinary days. One of them ending.
Night closed over the city. Ariyan's phone vibrated.
"Go to the river," VOID said.
The voice was steady. Certain. Unhurried.
"I'm staying on the line," VOID continued. "Just walk."
Streetlights slid past overhead. VOID watched through eyes Ariyan couldn't see—cameras adjusting, angles opening, blind spots dissolving.
"Stop," VOID said suddenly. "Police ahead."
Ariyan's heart leapt.
"Turn left. Now."
He did.
"Good," VOID said. "Keep moving."
The river waited in silence. Too much silence.
"Opposite side of the bridge," VOID instructed. "There's cover."
Ariyan spotted it—a rusted barrel near the road, half-consumed by shadow.
"Confirm," VOID said.
"I'm here."
"Do you have everything?"
Ariyan swallowed. "Yes."
"Then listen."
VOID's words came slowly, precisely—like instructions read from something already decided.
"Take the bear trap and place it in the middle of the road. Wait for him there. He'll come around twelve. He always goes to the bar at eleven, and afterward he uses this road to get home. He'll be drunk. He won't notice the trap. When he's caught, let me know."
A few minutes passed.
Then it happened.
"He's in the trap," Ariyan said.
"Give him the vial I told you about," Ayaan replied.
Ariyan did.
"Because he's drunk, the vial will accelerate his heartbeat," Ayaan said calmly. "It will trigger a major heart attack."
There was a pause.
"Now remove everything," VOID instructed. "Leave nothing that remembers you."
Ariyan obeyed.
When he walked away, the river kept flowing—indifferent, uninterrupted.
In his room, Ayaan ended the call.
No trembling hands.No regret.No satisfaction. Only confirmation.
He opened his private file and typed:
Justice is not mercy. Mercy forgives. Justice remembers.
Outside, the city slept.
Inside, a new chapter began.