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Mumbai ke Bandra mein ek mid-size marketing agency thi—EchoWords. Pandemic ke baad unka kaam mostly remote ho gaya tha, lekin har Friday ko ek virtual team call zaroor hota tha. Manager Komal Verma ne 10 baje raat ke liye Zoom call schedule kiya tha, sirf 15 minute ka status update.
Call mein total 7 log jude. Sabke faces screen pe the. Par ek aur box upar match se zoom ke tile grid mein pop hua—”Anant K.” Likha tha naam pe. Ek junior creative jo agency se 6 mahine pehle fire ho gaya tha intense behavioral issues ke chalte. Ek din bina kisi reason ke subah office mein chillaya, aur phir disappear ho gaya. Police ne later bataya tha ki woh Lonavala ke paas ek cliff se kud gaya tha—body kabhi nahi mili.
“Yeh kaise?” Neha ne muttered kiya. “Anant…? Who allowed him in?” Komal ne turant admin controls check kiya. Kisi ne invite nahi bheja tha. Magar uska feed live tha. Bhutiya low-res video tha. Anant ek purani makaan jaise backdrop mein tha. Dim light, peechhe deewar pe kuch symbols likhe hue. Woh screen mein seedha nahi dekh raha tha—bas sirf baittha tha, aankhein ubri hui aur pale.
“Kisi ka prank hai? Is this a recording?” Rahul bola, agency ka tech head. Usne Anant ko remove karna chaha, par Zoom ne “Unable to disconnect participant” ka message diya.
Woh tab tak lips hilata raha without sound. Lekin 12 seconds baad ek phrase audible hua: “Kehna mat. Kehna mat. Kehna…”
Feed suddenly went black. Anant ka tile bhi gayab ho gaya. Call mein complete silence chha gaya.
Next Monday, Komal office gayi after months. CCTV records pull kiye—weekend mein kisi ne server room access kiya tha. Server logs batate the ki Friday raat 9:58 pe “InternalReconnect.exe” naam ka koi unknown file execute hua tha, originating from Anant ka purana work laptop—jo IT ne destroy kar diya tha.
“Impossible,” Rahul whispered, jab technician ne bataya ki laptop ka MAC address ping hua tha.
Ek week ke andar team ke teen log alag alag time pe disappear ho gaye. Pehle Rajesh—he went out to pay his light bill aur kabhi nahi lauta. Phir Meera—lift mein gayi, upar jaate jaate lift ka CCTV flicker kara aur woh vanish. Teesra tha Rahul khud. Uske mobile ke last GPS ping ek Lonavala forest trail dikhata tha jaha kisi ka access nahi.
Komal har din ek room mein locked rahti thi, apni screen paltaati rehti thi, Zoom’s dashboard me check karte ki koi unknown naam dikh raha hai ya nahi.
Ek din raat ke 2 baje use Zoom app se ek invite mila, sirf ek line likhi thi: “Tumne mujhe dekha tha. Ab tumhara number hai.”
Usne app delete kiya. Lekin jab usne mirror mein khud ko dekha, to saamne Anant ka shakal reflect ho raha tha—faded, distorted, lekin aankhein wohi thi.
Final file jo uske office computer mein mili thi: ek .MP4 video zoom gallery ka, jisme ek extra tile tha—Komal khud ka—jo slowly dissolve hota gaya… jab tak sirf ek blank background nahi reh gaya.
Police ne us case ko ab tak solve nahi kiya hai. Agency shut down ho gayi. Magar ek rumor hai—Zoom ke kuch versions mein ek hidden user dikhta hai agar raat 10:03 pe kisi inactive chat room me login karein—”Anant K.” Naam likha hota hai.
Woh bolta nahi. Sirf dekhta hai… jab tak aap usse pehchaan na lo.
