The Reboot Paradox (Working Title)

PROLOGUE

"Dhoni finishes off in style! A magnificent strike into the crowd! India lift the World Cup after 28 years, and it's a-an Indian Captain, who's been absolutely magnificent in the night of the final."

Those were the words echoing in a thinly audible environment, as the city Mumbai roared in delight over Team India's victory in the ICC Cricket World Cup, 2011 final; taking it to the streets to celebrate the victory. All the while, a man was sneaking past the people constantly looking behind and rushing away from them in the opposite direction.

"INDIA!" a man roared right beside him as they waved the Indian flag vigorously. He then immediately reached out to a nearby taxi driver.

"Hey, I wanna go to the Gateway of India. Is your cab for hire?" the man asked the driver.

"As much as I want to sir, I can't. You see, India has won today, the streets are crowded and it'll barely be logical to even remotely try to take you anywhere," the taxi driver responded as he moved away from the window.

The man immediately rushed off from there. Immediately, another man then approached the same taxi driver.

"What did the man ask of you?" he inquired.

"He wanted to go to Gateway of India sir. But I told him it's not possible," the taxi driver responded. The other man then gave him a hundred rupees and moved on in the same direction as the previous man did.

After clearing through the crowd, the man finally reached an alley, where he could hide behind a car. The other man then reached out to the alley and started looking around, walking slowly across the alley. Grabbing the opportunity, the man jumped on him with a wooden crate lying nearby and smashed it on his head.

The other man fell on the ground with that hit and suffered a mild concussion as he saw his mark running. He gathered his wits and started chasing him again. The man evading him instantly climbed up across three balconies and entered a building as he tried to trick the man chasing into a wrong house. However, as the man started getting off the staircases, he came face to face with chaser as they locked eyes, with the chaser getting out of the elevator. The chase started again as they exited the society.

"Daksh, I may need a pointer. The mark is swift. Get the police squad ready to round him up at the nearest location possible."

"Copy that Alpha, what's your twenty?" Daksh asked him.

"I'm still in pursuit." Alpha responded.

"Roger than Alpha, I'm setting up a team to round him up by the next block. Just make sure he gets to the main road," Daksh instructed Alpha.

"Copy that," Alpha said and picked up the pace.

As they ran across the street, Alpha missed out by an inch to get hold of him and lost his footing, falling off the footpath and crashing into a car. But just when he thought that he lost his mark, he spotted and an oncoming police team that had nabbed the man. However, things took an awkward turn, as the group of officers approached him and handcuffed him, arresting him along with the absconder.

"What do you think you guys are up to, filming an action sequence, are we?" the inspector asked him irritably as they tossed both the men inside the police van and drove away.

After a silent minute, finally there was some activity to clear the air as Alpha coughed lightly. The inspector then got off his seat and reached out to the front of the vehicle, to bring out a briefcase. He then opened it and took out some biometric devices.

"Uncuff that guy and bring him here," the inspector instructed the constable. The constable then followed his request, brought Alpha before him, and carried out his retina and fingerprint scan to confirm his identity. Once the process was verified, Alpha was offered salutes and the keys to the absconder's handcuffs.