Chapter 1: Subject P-74
Satvik had a strange habit.
He didn’t look at people the way others did.
Where others saw faces, Satvik saw possibility.
Where others saw a moment, Satvik saw the cause and chain behind it.
But nobody knew this about him.
It was a Tuesday morning.
A normal day for everyone else.
But Satvik’s mind was already running differently.
He stood outside his college gate, bag has been balanced on one shoulder, and staring at the delivery truck parked near the entrance.
Satvik wasn’t staring at the truck.
He was calculating it.
The front wheel rested on a cracked stone.
The road had a downward slope of roughly 2.3°.
The truck weighed around 1.2 tons—he estimated this by seeing the truck’s model and it's height.
Neutral gear.
Handbrake loose.
Sun direct on the metal → thermal expansion → slight shift.
Satvik’s mind stitched it all into an equation.
Static friction < gravitational pull × sin(2.3°).
The stone’s crack line angle was 41°, meaning it would shear under approximately 12–15 kg of horizontal force.
The truck would surpass that in
34 seconds.
That’s when the stone would give way.
That’s when the truck would roll.
That’s when the four juniors sitting on the footpath would be directly in its path.
He shouted, but nobody listened to him, so he simply walked toward them.
Twenty-two seconds left.(in mind)
“Tum log yahaan se uth jao,” he said.
“Kyuuun?”
He didn’t explain.Because there's not much time for explaining.
Seventeen seconds.(in mind)
Satvik grabbed one boy’s bag and walked away.
All four followed angrily.
Three seconds.(in mind)
The stone snapped….just as expected.
The truck rolled forward, gathering momentum exactly as the slope predicted.
It smashed into the railing.
And the space where the boys were sitting……was empty.
They stared at him.
“Tum kaise samjhe, tu…tum… kya future dekh sakte ho?”
Satvik adjusted his bag strap.
“No, I can't see future, I wish I could..... But it's gravity.
Baaki mai bas calculate karta hoon.”
He walked away, expression calm.
Satvik thinks that the world is just unsolved math.
The world was not unpredictable.
And he walked away.
Behind him, the guard was scolding the driver, students were talking loudly, chaos was everywhere.
Satvik didn’t turn back.
His steps were calm.
Because while everyone else had just witnessed an accident,
only Satvik knew the truth:
He hadn’t predicted the truck would roll.
He had calculated it.
And this was his curse, that is He always saw things a little too early.
He thinks that: “Jyada pehle dekhna accha nahi hota. Waqt se pehle sach dekhna…
bhoj hota hai.”
He walks towards the classroom….
Satvik entered the classroom. It was the same as usual.
Students were settling in, arguing assignments.
Satvik quietly walked to his last-row seat.
Same place.
Same routine.
Bag down.
Notebook out.
Pen aligned at a perfect 90-degree angle on the edge.
To everyone else, he looked like the most ordinary boy in the room.
But then….
“OY Saaatvik!!”
A loud voice crashed through the noise.
A tall, energetic boy slid into the seat beside him.
This was Manik, Satvik’s closest (and only real) friend.
Manik said.
“Good morning, ANALYST!”
Satvik says: yeah Morning Manike
He simply glanced at Manik.
Manik replied: Oyi oyi don't call me Manike, my name is Manik.
Satvik smirked
“One day I will die and people will still call me Manike at my grave.”
Satvik’s expression didn’t change.
But his eyes softened.
Manik was the only person whose noise didn’t bother him.
Manik continued, excited:
“Arey wo truck wala scene dekha?”
Satvik:
“Stunt nahi. Calculated outcome tha.”
Manik clapped once.
“Exactly! Analyst!”
Satvik sighed, but the corner of his mouth almost lifted.
Almost.
He took out his notebook.
On the first page was a neatly written line:
“Events ≠ Accidents.
Patterns ≠ Coincidence.”
Manik peeked in and whispered:
“Ye sab likhta kyun hai tu? Padhai ke notes kam aur future ke formulas zyada lag rahe.”
Satvik replied without looking up:
“Because most people sirf result dekhte hain,
par mujhe result ke peeche ka reason dekhna pasand hai.”
Manik smirked.
“Toh reason ke peeche ka reason bhi dekh lete ho kya?”
Both smiles.
Before Manik could respond, the teacher entered.
“Good morning, class.”
Everyone went quiet.
Except Manik, who whispered:
“Analyst mode: ON.”
Satvik smiles.
But his eyes flickered with a quiet warmth,
friendship ka ek simple sign,
jo sirf Manik samajh sakta tha.
And just like that,
reading his calm face,
anyone could tell:
Satvik may look normal…
but his mind wasn’t part of this classroom.
It was several steps ahead.
After the class
Satvik went to the notice board
The notice board area was not crowded.
The CCTV camera above the board blinked.
Just for around 1.4 seconds.
A tiny flicker.
Barely noticeable.
But Satvik saw it.
Because he had seen the exact same flicker
yesterday at 11:42 AM.
And
the day before at 11:42 AM.
He quietly checked his watch.
It's 11:42 AM.
Right on time.
Manik walked up beside him.
“Bhai, Physics ka result lag gaya kya?”
Satvik answers: Nah Manike…. it's something else.
Manik noticed Satvik staring at the camera and asks him.
“Kya dekh rahe? Camera to chal raha hai yaar.”
Satvik’s eyes narrowed.
Three days.
Two glitches per day.
Both at exact time.
Both lasting 1.4 seconds.
Both with the same pixel displacement pattern.
And, most important
both occurring when he was standing in front of it.
That was impossible for a natural glitch.
It's A perfect image skip.
Manik: “Tum teen din se is camera ko hi ghoor rahe ho? Kuch toh bolo.”
Satvik spoke, quietly:
“Ye glitch nahi.”
Manik blinked.
“Phir kya?”
Satvik: “Image skip.”
“Skip kaise?”
Satvik explains.
“Glitch random hota hai.
Yeh… perfect timing pe ho raha hai.
Same duration. Same pixel pattern. Jab bhi ye pixel displace ho rahe hai, tab ka video around 1.4 sec ka cut ho jaa raha hai, and someone doing it. Mujhe dekh kar to yahi lagta hai”
He turned slowly to meet the camera lens…
as if looking directly into someone else’s eyes.
“Do baar roz.
Teen din se.”
Manik stepped closer, noticing the tension in Satvik’s eyes.
“Kya dikha?” he asked quietly.
No teasing.
No jokes.
Just trust.
He’d learned long ago —
when Satvik observes something,
there’s always a reason.
Satvik didn’t look away from the camera.
Satvik spoke, voice steady as stone:
“Ye same pattern bana rahe .”
Manik asked:
“Kitne din se?”
Satvik opened his notebook
Some neat numbers written with perfect precision:
11:42
11:50
1.4 seconds
Same time.
Same duration.
Same error.
Manik exhaled slowly.
He didn’t pretend to understand the math…
but he understood Satvik.
“Matlab?” he said softly.
Satvik’s eyes were fixed on the camera lens,
as if someone behind it was staring back.
And Satvik says: “koi dekh raha hai..Yeh malfunction nahi.”
Manik held his breath.
Satvik closed the notebook.
“Yeh pre-planned hai.”
Right on time,
the CCTV blinked again on 11:50
1.4 seconds.
Perfectly on schedule.
Manik saw it and says:
“Holy shit….. Analyst”
.
.
.
.
.
Somewhere far away…
A dark room with machines.
A monitor flickered.
A file opened.
SUBJECT P-74
Status: Active
Category: Predictive Anomaly
Name: Satvik
Image: Attaching….
The screen glow once for a second, then Satvik’s college photo appeared.
Chapter 1 END