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Delhi ke posh Vasant Kunj mein wedding season ka buzz apne peak par tha. Meera Sharma, ek fashion entrepreneur, ki shaadi ho rahi thi Aarav Mehta se, jo ek tech startup ka CEO hai. Shaadi modern thi, guests half virtual, half physical. Ek bada screen mandap ke paas lagaya gaya tha jahan Zoom pe relatives join kar rahe the — Canada se bua, Singapore se cousin, aur Bangalore se ek ex-colleague.
Sab kuch shiny tha — designer lehenga, drone photography, aur flashy reels. Lekin cocktail night ke dauraan, ek ajeeb incident ne sab ko hila diya.
As Aarav raised a toast, screen pe ek muted Zoom window activate ho gaya. Us window mein ek aadmi ka chehra dikha… lekin turant woh feeka ho gaya, jaise kisi ne camera gira diya ho. Fir kuch sekandon baad, usi screen par static ke beech ek blood trail aur faint sa scream sunayi diya. Sabko laga koi prank hoga. Lekin uske baad woh user — naam tha Varun_S79 — bilkul disappear ho gaya.
Next morning, Meera ke phone pe ek anonymous message aaya: “Shaadi se pehle sach accept karo, warna Zoom sach khol dega.”
Panic mach gaya.
Turns out, Varun Sharma ek former employee tha Aarav ke startup ‘LoopFields’ ka, jise 6 mahine pehle mental breakdown ke baad resign karna pada tha. Officially toh suicide note likh kar woh gaya tha, lekin body kabhi nahi mili. Police ne case close kar diya, assuming he jumped off a cliff in Uttarakhand. Lekin ab woh Zoom mein kaise?
Aarav ne bola, “Ye impossible hai. Varun is gone. Shayad kisi ne uska ID chura liya hai.”
Shaadi ke beech Zoom security logs check kiye gaye. Shockingly, Varun_S79 ne session do din pehle schedule kiya tha. IP address trace hua — South Delhi ka ek cheap coworking space. CCTV check kiya gaya, par camera us waqt off tha.
Fir kuch aur chhupa hua mila. Aarav ka yeh startup ek AI mental wellness tool develop kar raha tha — aur Varun lead engineer tha. Varun ka kaam tha voice modulation aur synthetic speech library build karna. Insiders ne bataya ki Varun ne kisi AI-driven virtual ‘presence module’ pe kaam kiya tha, jahan dead ya absent log virtually appear ho sakte the — uncanny realistic.
One bridesmaid, Riya, ne bataya: “Meera aur Aarav ke beech ek strange vibe thi. Meera baar-baar shaadi postpone karna chaahti thi. Par Aarav kuch pressure kar raha tha, jaise kuch dikhakar dabao daal raha ho.”
Tabhi shaadi ki panditani ne ek aur baat batayi: “Haldi ke din bombay se ek unknown parcel aaya tha Meera ke naam par. Meera ne khola bhi nahi.”
Investigation mein parcel khola gaya — usme tha ek pen-drive aur ek note: “Last chance to save yourself. Check video aram se.”
Pen-drive mein ek chilling video tha — AI-rendered Aarav, Varun aur Meera ki ek recorded Zoom call jisme Aarav Varun ko dhamka raha tha: “Tumhare AI module se ek aur kaam karwana hai, warna teri therapy history HR ko bhej dunga.”
Meera shocked thi. “Tum Varun ko use kar rahe the apni fake investor pitches mein?”
Video mein voice manipulated tha, lekin truth jhalak raha tha.
Aur phir final twist — forensic experts ne confirm kiya ke “Varun_S79” jo Zoom call mein dikha, wo real nahi tha, balki ek AI-generated avatar tha — perfectly scripted. Varun ne apni fake death plan ki thi, taaki woh khud ka AI-identity bana sake. Lekin kisi ne us module ko aadha chura ke ek vindictive message encode kar diya.
Turns out, Meera herself scripted the Zoom incident with leftover AI files — to expose Aarav’s coercion. Varun sach mein gaya nahi tha, lekin woh crash ke turant baad Himalayas shift ho gaya — media se door.
Police ne Meera ko guilty paa ya innocent? Sawaal open tha. Legal grey zone tha — murder nahi, lekin psychological warfare zaroor tha.
Shaadi cancel hui, Aarav ka startup collapse kiya. Meera nikal gayi apni mother ke saath, kisi pahadi town mein… jahan ek chhota bookstore mein AI ethics ki kitab chali gayi bestseller banne.
