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Saket, ek 23 saal ka tech intern, Gurgaon ke CyberHub wale ek high-end startup mein kaam karta tha. Office tha modern, HR policies flexible, par ek cheez thi jo sab employees avoid karte the — ek obscure internal app jiska naam tha “LuprOS Connect”.
Kehte the yeh app sirf legacy systems ke test ke liye bana tha, aur har naye employee ko brief milta tha: “Don’t open the red icon folder. It’s deprecated.”
Ek raat Saket office mein akela reh gaya. Coffee peete-peete bore ho raha tha, toh curiosity mein uss folder ko explore karne laga. “LuprOS Connect” open kiya aur test video call button dikh gaya. Usne socha, chal ek baar dekhte hain kya hai — yaad rakhne layak experience toh milega.
Call initiate karte hi screen static se bhar gayi. Timer neeche dikha “00:00”. Phir dheere-dheere clear hua — camera off tha, par saamne ek white-tiled room dikh raha tha. Koi aadmi pichle kone mein baitha tha, deewar ke taraf muh karke.
Saket ne camera shift karne ki koshish ki, par controls kaam nahi kar rahe the. Timer badhta raha: 00:14, 00:35, 00:59…
1 minute ke baad aadmi dheere se uthta hai. Camera ka angle nahi badla, par aadmi camera ke kareeb aata gaya — bina muh ghumaye.
Saket ki spine thandi ho gayi jab usne dekha — aadmi ke pair seedha chalne ke bajaye ulte mudh rahe the, jaise peeche se walk karte hue saamne aa raha ho. Uska muh screen ke taraf ab bhi nahi tha.
01:47 par lights flicker hone lagi.
03:21 par background mein ear-piercing static noise shuru ho gaya.
Par sabse disturbing moment aaya 13:00 minute par.
At 13:00, screen freeze ho gayi. Ek second ke liye Saket ne socha app hang hogayi hai. Par jab screen unfreeze hui… woh aadmi uske saamne tha. Nahin, screen mein nahi — real mein.
Peeple ke peechhe. Meeting room ke reflection mein.
Saket turant khada hua, lekin room mein koi nahi tha. Usne monitor dekha — video call ab bhi chalu thi. Timer ab 13:27 pohonch chuka tha. Uss aadmi ne finally muh ghumaya — aur uska chehra… Saket khud hi tha. Par aankhen black, aur uske lips hile bina woh kuch keh raha tha.
Usne likha whiteboard pe: “Tumne mujhe dekha, ab tum dekhoge.”
Next day Saket office nahi aaya. HR ne socha chhutti le li. Lekin jab unka system admin uske workstation ka remote access check kar raha tha, tab shocking detail samne aayi — Saket ka webcam ab bhi active tha. Aur har subah 10:13 par aur raat ke 2:13 par, “LuprOS Connect” self-launch hota tha.
Aur har din monitor pe koi aur room dikhayi deta — kabhi office pantry, kabhi washroom, kabhi kisi employee ka ghar.
Har room mein kone mein ek aadmi, muh ghumaye, baitha hota tha.
Jab senior manager Meera ne office server se app uninstall karvaya, to server crash ho gaya. Jab backup se recover kiya, toh CCTV footage corrupt thi. Bus ek frame bacha tha — Meera apne cabin mein chai peeti hui. Aur window ke peeche ek aadmi khada tha, jiska chehra blur tha.
Office ne app permanently disable karva diya, aur naye interns ko warn karne laga.
Par ek problem ab bhi thi.
Har baar jo koi pura 13 minute tak woh video call dekh leta hai… woh kahi na kahi dikh jata hai. Shaayad kisi dusre call mein. Same white-tiled room mein. Same ulte-hue kadam. Aur jab camera zoom in karta hai, woh chupchaap likhta hai – “Next: Tum”
Aur camera band hone ke baad, tum kabhi apne reflection mein sirf khud ko nahi dekhte ho.
