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Mumbai ke Powai mein ek startup tech office mein raat ke dus baje tak chaar interns kaam kar rahe the—Tanya, Zubin, Ravi aur Megha. Project deadline tha, toh sab ek Zoom call pe connected the even while sitting in separate cabins. Office officially 7 baje band ho jata, but wo last submission roz delay kar raha tha. Unhone senior Devansh ka Zoom link use kiya, wo kab ka resign kar chuka tha, lekin link abhi tak active tha.
Zubin ne light-hearted awaaz mein bola, “Bhai is Devansh ka ghost hi chalega ab toh deadline complete karne ke liye.” Sab hans diye. Screen pe sabke mic mute the, aur background se koi disturb na kare isliye wo log headphones mein the. Suddenly, ek ajeeb si shaant awaaz unke headphones mein aayi—na woh Hindi thi, na English. Koi whisper kar raha tha, par kisi ka mic on nahi tha.
“Guys, kya kisi ne kuch bola abhi?” Tanya ne poocha.
“Naah, sabka mic toh mute hai… aur koi aur toh meeting mein join nahi kiya, right?” Ravi checked the participant list. “5 log hain. Hum 4, aur host—Devansh.”
Megha ne panic mein kaha, “But Devansh ki ID toh delete ho chuki thi, system se… yaad hai HR ne bola tha?”
Chaaron ne us ID ko remove karne ki koshish ki, but Zoom showed: ‘You do not have permission to remove host.’
Usi waqt ek message ping hua group chat mein—Devansh se: “Main sun sakta hoon.”
Sab freeze ho gaye.
“Yeh kisi ne prank kiya hai, hai na?” Zubin ne nervously hass kar bola. Tanya ne chat window ko dubaara check kiya. Message time tha: 08:43 PM. Lekin unki call toh 09:15 PM se chalu hui thi.
Lagbhag 2 minute tak kisi ne kuch nahi bola. Suddenly, Megha ke headphones se ek aur whisper aaya—“Tere peeche mat dekhna.” And then, camera close-up. Zoom pe ek nai video tile pop-up hui bina kisi naam ke. Sirf pitch black backdrop, aur ek slowly moving face… jiska expression change nahi ho raha tha.
Zubin ne turant apna laptop bandh kar diya, “Screw this. Main jaa raha hoon.” Lekin jaate waqt uske laptop screen pe kuch reflect ho raha tha—uska hi chehra, par aankhon se khoon beh raha tha.
Tanya ne guard ko call kiya, but phone busy aaya—bar bar.
Ravi panic mein chillaya, “Yaar yeh ho kya raha hai! Ye koi livestream prank toh nahi?”
But phir, chat me ek aur message aaya: “Tum logon ne uski voice delete ki thi system se, lekin echo ab bhi rehta hai.”
Purani files check karne par pata chala ki Devansh ka ek code module ab bhi unke backend server pe active hai. Usme ek AI generated voice transcript tha—jo bina permission ke audio snippets record karta tha, internal testing ke liye. Par Devansh ki hi voice model kabhi delete nahi hui thi.
Us voice model ko use karke kisi aur ne (ya kuch aur ne) system ke andar se communicate karna shuru kar diya tha. Ab woh un inputs k andar blend ho gaya tha—keyboard clicks mein, trackpad ke scroll mein… aur sabse scary: unke mute mic ke andar.
Ravi ne ek last test kiya—Devansh ki ID se dummy call initiate kar ke dekha kya hota hai. Jab usne call shuru ki, poore office ki lights flicker kar gayi, aur Zoom call screen pe sabka chehra distort hone laga, jaise unki aankhon se pixels gir rahe ho. Megha ne apne mic ke saamne cheekhna shuru kiya, “Leave us alone!”
A screen freeze hua. Sab kuch black.
Agli subah HR ne CCTV footage dekha. Saari raat office khali tha. Kisi ne andar se Zoom call initiate nahi kiya tha. Lekin ek bande ka monitor on tha—aur usme sirf ek chat box blink kar raha tha: “Jo kaam tum log chhod gaye the, main complete karne aaya hoon.”
Tanya ke ghar ke WiFi speaker se aaj bhi kabhi kabhi Devansh ki awaaz aati hai: “Mute mein sab kuch clearer hota hai.”
Aur jab kabhi microphone grey ho, samajh jao… koi tumhare liye sun raha hai.
