Cross-Over (Anderverse Part 1)

Chapter 5:- The Next Clue

8th September 2024
It was a soothing afternoon; Arundhati was watching the last running scene of Mission Impossible 3 on the T.V. while Arun was studying as usual. He was solving questions from relative speed. The proof book was kept open on the bed, a black and red, two-inch chip attached at a page, it had written “Raina Industries” on it. The window was open for fresh air to enter. After spending 2-3 hours studying Physics, he stood up, closed his proof book, opened the drawer and kept in it. He then went down, saw his sister still watching the movie. Upon entering the kitchen, he refilled his bottle and drank a little. While going back he heard the doorbell,

“Aru open the door” ordered Arun while on his way back.

He covered half distance of the stairs,

“Bhaiya, it’s for you”

Arun returned and saw Aahana, with her bag pack. He remembered that he was supposed to teach her Probability and Statistics.

“Oh, I’m really really sorry Aahana, I literally forgot about it, please come in” they both went to his room,

“It’s okay, by the way I actually texted you before coming here”

Arun became awkward at the moment, “I... I was really busy yesterday and...”

“But I texted it like two hours ago”

“... and I was studying for like 2-3 hours so I didn’t pick up the phone, so I’m sorry”

“Ohh, we can study a little later”

They both entered Arun’s room, Arun made her sit in his chair and himself sat on the bed.

“So how’s the case going on.... If you want to tell me, cuz I am a little curious so...”

“Yeah I get it.... it’s ummm... going quite complicated” he leant forward to take out his proof book, “It’s gotta be somewhere here....” his hands still searched for the book, he realised the window was open, “...Fuck! It’s not here... Aahana! OPEN MY LAPTOP” he threw his laptop towards her. “Open the RI trackers website and guide me to the red spot”

“But what exactly happened?”

“SOMEONE STOLE THE FUCKING BOOK” he rushed downstairs. He jumped and pushed the main door; he quickly wore his shoes.

“Okay Aahana, which direction?” he asked over the call with his earphones.

The website got activated,

“Um... Left, NOW!”

He took a sharp left turn and started running in full speed. He was running with his full strength. Within seconds he entered the market place. The market place was full of people, vegetable vendors and a complex full of shops.

“NOW?” asked Arun in a hurry.

Distance between the red dot and Arun’s dot reduced a bit,

“Continue Left, go as fast as you can”

Arun saw a corridor like space between the shops and the vegetable vendors, he immediately chose that path. He started running, like Tom Cruise, each and every muscle of his was running with full power.

“RIGHT AN IMMEDIATE RIGHT! NOW” screamed Aahana over the call.

“Yups” Arun took a sharp right, he bumped into a couple

“Sorry”

“You fucking blind or what?” shouted the man.

The couple didn’t slow him enough, he continued running. Meanwhile at home Aahana got an idea to help Arun find the intruder.

“Arun! Take a sharp left, I’ll help you reach there quickly”

Arun still running responded, “Okay, I am taking the turn” he took a sharp left turn, after running for some seconds,

“Now right!”

“Okay” he kept running for quite long,

“Right again”

Arun took the turn, “You sure about this?”

“Trust me Arun” After 20 seconds,

“STOP... Turn right again and the intruder will be in front of you”

The red dot and Arun’s dot were facing each other on the screen.

“Front...You really sure about it?” he saw that there was a large crowd in front of him,

“Yes, I am”

Arun gathered some courage, “Zoom in the screen for better precession and keep guiding me until he or she is found” he started walking into the crowd.

“Okay” she zoomed in and followed the dots, they proceeded towards each other.

Arun started using his detective skills to find the person, “Let’s see who could it be... The person with a bag pack? No way, he looks like a 40-year-old dude, not possible, that girl... Too young she’s probably 12 no chance. Then... Fucking Hell!?” He saw a known face, a face he definitely didn’t expect, it was Ishika.

Meanwhile at the screen Aahana saw that the person crossed Arun, “The intruder crossed by your left!”

Arun saw Ishika going by his left, he followed her, “Am I going the right way?”

The dots were now going in the same direction,

“Yes”

Arun was sure that Ishika had his proof book. He followed Ishika, and as he was about to reach her, he got bumped into a person,

“Holy shit, what’s wrong with you buddy?” shouted a person to Arun.

“I am sorry sir”

Everyone started looking at them, Ishika too noticed him,

“Can’t you see properly?”

Arun saw Ishika looking at him, the next moment she started running, Arun pushed the person and followed her. Arun chased her in some narrow paths and eventually, they reached the main road. Ishika ran and stood at the middle of the road. Arun was at the opposite side, suddenly Ishika got hit by a car. Arun was shocked at the scene, she laid down on the road, blood started flowing from her head, a moment later,

“She dead now?” it was Raghav,

“Hope so not” replied Arun,

“Ambulance’s here, let’s go now” Raghav started clearing the crowd, “SIDE, GIVE US SOME PLACE, HEY YOU GET AWAY!”

“How did you track me?” asked Arun, as he and Raghav were at the hospital, waiting for Ishika’s surgery to finish.

“We were keeping an eye on Shanaya’s friends, relatives and....” he took a disposable cup and was filling water from the filter,

“...and potential enemies” completed Arun,

“In a way...” Raghav then took a sip. “...See I trust you, but we’ve got procedures to follow and...” explained Raghav.

“I get it, am fine...” replied Arun in an obvious offended tone. “...what about her dad?” asked Arun,

“We told him about her daughter’s accident, hope so that he’ll be here soon... He was busy in a meeting and we actually told the PA instead of him, so... there he is”

Ishika’s father was here, he was deeply concerned and devastated by her condition, as soon as the doctor arrived.

“Is she okay?” he asked immediately,

Raghav and Arun were seeing this a little away,

“I’ll go check it out, you be here” instructed Raghav.

Arun was not able to hear the conversations, but her father’s reaction made it clear that Ishika was dead.

“Blood loss, if we could have made it a little early...”

“...We would have known why she did those killings... And how?” said Arun.

“I guess, that’s it now, we’ll see each other maybe some other time...” said Raghav, “...I’ll drop you home”

They both went to the car, got seated and proceeded towards Arun’s home. All the time Arun wasn’t feeling right about Ishika being the killer,

“Will I get my proof book back?” he asked,

“Um... By tomorrow I’ll give it to you, but why?”

“Research purposes” lied Arun.

On reaching home, he saw that Arundhati was studying and Aahana was helping her out,

“You still here, I mean I thought you won’t be here for that long”

“I decided to wait for you, actually and... Also helped her out, also are you okay, got hit by someone? And whom were you chasing? Was the person the killer?”

Arun replied, “Calm down, let’s go to my room and I’ll tell you the entire thing, then we’ll study” They went to the room.

Arun told the entire thing, Ishika stealing his book, her accident and the impact of her mother’s death on her mind.

“You mean she’s the killer and you caught her?”

“In a way, yeah”

“I can’t believe and I am really happy that I was able to help you out”

“Yeah, I think we should concentrate on other things now”

“Ohh... As you say”

Arun and Aahana then studied for quite a long time.

“I guess you understood it now” asked Arun after explaining her the entire chapter.

“Really, thank you so much” they both then left the room and Aahana went back to her home.

9th September 2024
It was a fine afternoon, Arun was sitting in his room, doing questions on Ionic Equilibrium. His eyes gazed at the book, fingers curled the pen and hands laid on the table, but his mind kept wandering about Ishika and her death. There was place in his head that wasn’t sure of her being the killer. He started patting his index finger continuously on the table.

“Ishika... really? I don’t think so... If that’s so... stealing my book... no way.... my head’s aching...”

He threw his pen and stood up; it was so hard that the chair fell back. Entering the living room, he observed that Arundhati was not there watching T.V. “Might be studying... cool enough” he thought. Outside, he took his scooter, started it and decided to go to Ishika’s house.

“Vaibhav! Open the door” a faded voice pierced the ears of a sleeping man, he woke up lazily went to the door, the knocking continued,

“Vaibhav!”

The door opened, a man, probably 28-year-old, 6 feet wearing black t-shirt and shorts, opened the door. He tried identifying the person in front with his sleepy eyes,

“Raghav?” he said.

“Yup, I need your help” responded Raghav.

“What can I do for you Inspector Singh?” asked Vaibhav, while taking a sip of coffee, his eyes were active and voice more fluent.

“So, there’s a girl, I mean was a girl, Ishika Sharma...”

“So you want me to hide your paedophilic activities, done...” he laughed in a sarcastic tone “...No offence buddy, it’s my humour”

“... Yeah I get it, may I continue?” Vaibhav made a gesture of “Sure” with his hands and head.

“So... She died yesterday in chase and...”

“You were chasing her?”

“She was a prime suspect in the murder of her own friend and some other girls so...”

“... It was Arun who was chasing, right am I” Vaibhav got a little serious.

Raghav kept a small packet on the table, “Yes, it was him”

Vaibhav kept the cup on the table a little hard, “I’m out!”

“Dude lemme finish first...”

“Am fucking out, there’s no way am going back, if he’s here no way things are going as per the plan, for fucking sure”

Raghav stood up, “Vaibhav he’s not there, I promise you okay, this thing right here is more important than your childish fights, get it?”

Vaibhav thought for a while, “Go ahead, fuck my life!”

Raghav excitedly took up the small package, “Cool, so during her post mortem...” he started showing the pack, “...Doctors found this in his head”

Vaibhav saw the pack, it was a small chip, “Was this really inside her head?” asked Vaibhav in astonishment

“You know what exactly is this thing?”

The scooter stopped just in front of the gate of Ishika’s house. He entered inside,

“Uncle?”

The living room was completely silent, no one was present,

“Uncle?”

A person from far away responded, “Who’s there?” said Ishika’s father, “Ohh, Arun, sit sit, I’ll be back in a minute”

Arun sat down. In a minute he came back,

“Here you go” Arun drank a sip,

“Uncle Am really sorry”

“Arun I know what happened, it was... You were there”

There was a silence between them, Arun felt really guilty about her death.

“Uncle, I will find the real culprit I want to help you out”

Ishika’s father thought for sometime, “Trusting you for the last time, please Arun”

“Uncle please tell me what exactly happened when she got to know about Shanaya’s death?”

“What is it?” asked Raghav as he leant towards the screen on which Vaibhav was working.

“This girl, um...”

“Ishika”

“Yes Ishika, what’s her age?”

“17”

Vaibhav looked at Raghav and said, “This chip has all the memories of this girl since she was a year old, more importantly, this chip has analysed her thinking and growth patterns, in simple words this can or possibly has, created an AI, which can exactly think like her and age like her”

Raghav went into deep thoughts “Dude you okay?” asked Vaibhav,

“No way that’s supposed to happen, can you see the specific parts of her life?”

Vaibhav turned back to the pc, “It is literally in front of you, but it’s encrypted, it has around 16 TB of information, damm! It’s so much!”

Raghav thought for a while, “Buddy, what to do next?” asked Vaibhav.

“Can you decrypt it? Only some specific days... possible?”

“It is possible but it can take a lot of time”

“How much?” 

“It depends, how many days are there...”

Arun and Ishika’s father entered into her room,

“Here she started crying, after throwing some of her items, she then lied on her bed, I came and tried to console her but her crying didn’t stop. After being with her for like 3 hours she slept, I thought she’ll sleep for a long time”

Meanwhile Arun visualised the entire scenario, he saw Ishika entering her room, in her school uniform after knowing about Shanaya, she threw some of her stuff here and there and started crying like a baby, her father came and sat beside her like on the bed, she then slept.

“I get it...” he saw the ceiling, “...Can I examine this place once?”

“Yeah sure and one more thing...” he went away.

Arun saw the scratch marks of the things she threw on the window.

“...She left this note before she went missing” Arun took the note which said

Dad, I have to work a little, I gotta find him and do loads of things, don’t be scared dad, nothing’s gonna happen to me dad. I am a fighter, just do one thing give ur first visiting card to a special person, the fun fact is you will not find him, he’s going to find you.
Ishi

“I think you are the special person...” he took out his first ever visiting card, “...here, keep this maybe it’ll help you”

Arun took the card, “Don’t worry uncle I’ll find the real person who’s behind all this, I promise, whatever it takes” with that Arun went out of the house, started his scooter and went for his home.

Arun sat down on his bed and started examining the card,

“What could it possibly mean?” he thought. He then rubbed the card between his palms, he felt a strange uneven-ness on the card, he slowly tore the card, and after peeling it off carefully, he found a black chip, inside of it. Arun thought that it might have some sort of video which might help in solving the murderer’s mystery. He went to his drawer and took out a chip reader device, he then turned on his laptop. After inserting the chip in the chip reader, he then inserted the chip reader into the USB port of the laptop.