Chapter 01: What If ??
The Ernakulam Railway Junction was already awake.
Announcements echoed through the vast station, rising above the rumble of arriving trains and the hurried footsteps of passengers dragging suitcases across the platforms. Vendors called out for tea and snacks. Porters moved through the crowd with practiced ease, weaving between people who seemed to know exactly where they were going.
Deva stood among them.
Twenty-five years old.
A black bag hung from his shoulder as he walked toward the platform, his eyes occasionally moving across the crowd without settling anywhere for too long.
He looked ordinary.
That was the point.
He boarded the train bound for Karnataka just before departure and found his seat. After placing the black bag beside him, he leaned back against the window and watched Ernakulam slowly disappear.
The train began to move.
Buildings slipped past the glass.
Then roads.
Then people.
Then nothing but stretches of green broken occasionally by houses and distant hills.
Deva remained silent.
But there was something bothering him.
He could feel it.
Someone was watching him.
He turned his head.
A man near the opposite berth was looking at his phone.
Deva looked away.
A few minutes later, he glanced toward the aisle.
A woman was sleeping.
Two college students were talking quietly.
An elderly man was reading a newspaper.
Nothing unusual.
Yet the feeling remained.
Someone was watching.
Or perhaps…
I was simply imagining it.
Deva looked out of the window again.
And then his thoughts began to speak.
I am Deva.
I pursued my degree at Chennai University.
What I studied there is nothing compared to what I learned by myself.
Self-learning…
That is what actually made me who I am.
The scenery outside changed as the train continued north.
After college, I worked as a web penetration tester.
I wanted to work in the Cyber Crime Department. I studied for it. Prepared for it. Tried for it.
But I failed to become a Cyber Analyst.
His eyes lowered.
For a moment, the reflection in the window looked like a stranger staring back at him.
I continued my life as usual for another six months.
Then, one day, I received a job offer from the Central Government of India.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
But there is one small problem.
I can’t tell you what kind of work I am going to do.
The smile disappeared.
Not because I don’t want to.
Because I am not allowed to.
His fingers tightened slightly around the edge of his seat.
I have a girlfriend.
Kavya.
The name alone softened something in him.
We have been in love since our college days.
She got a job in Bangalore.
So now we’re apart.
Not because of love.
Only because of distance.
He looked down at his phone.
There were no new messages.
I still miss her presence.
Long-distance love…
He gave a quiet breath of laughter.
“Let’s get back to work.”
His eyes moved toward the black bag.
It sat beside him.
Unremarkable.
Ordinary.
Almost too ordinary.
What I have in this bag…
He paused.
I really don’t know.
His expression became serious.
But what I do know is that I need to hand it over to JET 06.
He will be waiting for me at Hubballi Junction in Karnataka.
The train continued toward its destination.
Hours passed.
Eventually, the announcement came.
“Next station, Hubballi Junction.”
Deva straightened.
He checked his phone.
Then the bag.
Then the phone again.
The train slowed as it approached the station.
Outside, Hubballi appeared beneath the afternoon light.
Deva stepped down onto the platform.
The moment his shoes touched the ground, he looked around.
Thousands of people.
Passengers getting off.
Passengers getting on.
Porters shouting.
Announcements echoing from the speakers.
Nobody appeared to be waiting for him.
He took out his phone and opened his contacts.
One name.
JET 06
He pressed call.
The phone rang twice.
Then someone answered.
“Hello?”
“JET 06?”
“Yes.”
“This is Deva.”
There was a brief silence.
Then the voice replied calmly.
“I know.”
Deva glanced around.
“Where are you?”
“I will be available in one hour.”
“One hour?”
“Yes.”
Deva frowned.
“What am I supposed to do until then?”
A pause.
“Just walk around the station.”
The voice became slightly firmer.
“Or you can wait in the AC Waiting Hall.”
The call ended.
Deva stared at the screen for a moment.
“Great.”
He slipped the phone into his pocket.
He looked around before approaching a nearby passenger.
“Excuse me. AC Waiting Hall?”
The passenger pointed toward one side of the station.
“That way.”
“Thank you.”
Deva started walking.
A few minutes later, he reached the entrance of the AC Waiting Hall.
A receptionist sat behind a small desk.
“Sir,” she called.
Deva stopped.
“Yes?”
“Details, please.”
She turned a register toward him.
“Name?”
“Deva.”
“Entry time?”
He checked the station clock.
“Four twenty.”
“PNR number?”
Deva gave it to her.
She entered the number into the system.
“Phone number?”
He provided it.
The receptionist verified the details carefully.
Then she looked at him.
“Okay. You can go in.”
Deva nodded.
“Thank you.”
He walked inside.
The AC Waiting Hall was quieter than the station outside.
Rows of cushioned seats filled the room. A few passengers were sleeping. Someone was scrolling through their phone. Another man sat with his eyes closed, listening to music through earphones.
Deva looked upward.
Two CCTV cameras.
One near the entrance.
Another positioned toward the opposite side of the hall.
Together, they covered almost the entire room.
His eyes moved toward his bag.
The bag was black.
It had been allocated to him by the Central Government.
The brand name Lewise was printed across the front.
He placed it carefully beside his seat.
Then he looked at the cameras again.
Both could clearly see it.
Good.
He sat down.
One hour.
That was all he had to wait.
He leaned back.
And slowly, his mind wandered somewhere else.
Six months earlier.
A government building.
A closed room.
A long table.
Three officials sitting across from him.
Deva had sat there exactly where they had instructed him to sit.
His hands had been resting on his knees.
He remembered the first instruction.
“No one should know what job you have been assigned to do.”
The second.
“You always need to be in areas covered by CCTV cameras. Otherwise, you will face the consequences.”
The third.
“You should never be careless. You must always be on time.”
Then came the fourth.
“In case the thing you need to submit goes missing, you must immediately inform us and the concerned officials of the state or district.”
Deva remembered looking at the official who had spoken.
The man’s expression had remained completely emotionless.
And then came the final warning.
“If you lose it, you could be imprisoned for two years for violating the rules.”
A pause.
“But don’t worry.”
The official had leaned slightly forward.
“You won’t die.”
Another pause.
“However, your family will never live peacefully again.”
Deva’s eyes opened.
He was back in the waiting hall.
For several seconds, he didn’t move.
The memory still lingered.
He checked the time.
Only a few minutes had passed.
“One hour…” he muttered.
He rubbed his face.
He had travelled for hours.
He needed to freshen up.
Deva stood and picked up his towel.
Then his toothbrush.
Then the toothpaste.
He looked at the bag.
He hesitated.
The instructions returned to his mind.
CCTV.
He looked at the two cameras.
Then deliberately placed the bag in a position where both cameras had a clear view of it.
He checked once.
Then again.
Satisfied, he walked toward the washroom.
After a few steps, he stopped.
Something felt wrong.
He turned around.
The bag was still there.
He continued walking.
Inside the washroom, he put toothpaste on his toothbrush and turned on the tap.
Water rushed into the basin.
He began brushing his teeth.
For a few seconds, there was nothing.
Then—
A thought appeared.
Small.
Almost meaningless.
What if…
His hand stopped.
He stared at himself in the mirror.
“What if…”
The thought returned.
His breathing changed.
He lowered the toothbrush.
Why had that thought even occurred to him?
He looked toward the door.
Nothing.
He rinsed his mouth quickly.
Then stepped out.
His eyes immediately searched for the black bag.
The seat.
The floor.
The area beneath the CCTV camera.
His eyes widened.
He stopped walking.
For a moment, his mind refused to understand what he was seeing.
The seat was empty.
The place where the bag had been was empty.
Deva slowly looked upward.
One CCTV camera.
Then the other.
Both were still pointed toward the hall.
His heart began to pound.
He looked back at the empty seat.
The black bag was gone.
Completely gone.
And for the first time since he had accepted the government job, Deva understood exactly what those officials had meant.
If the thing you need to submit goes missing…
His face went pale.
Someone had taken the bag.
Inside a room watched by two cameras.
While he was only a few metres away.
Deva didn’t move.
Then his phone vibrated inside his pocket.
JET 06 — Incoming Call.
