Share This Article
Pune ke Baner area mein ek naya tech start-up tha—DevVault Systems. Ek SaaS company, jahan har koi apne headphones mein ghusa rehta, Zoom aur Meet pe baatein karta rehta. Yahi pe aayi thi 22 saal ki Ahaana, fresh intern from NIT Bhopal. Shaant, lekin curious. Jo log use jaante the, kehte the woh cheezon ko observe zyada karti thi, bolti kam.
Company ne har kisi ko WFH ki permission di thi, par Ahaana har roz office aati thi. Usse laga ghar mein kaam karne se zyada focus yahaan hota hai. Office mein ek odd cheez thi—a dead zone jaisa ek glass-partitioned “Pods Room”, jahan teams confidential meetings leti thi. Room mein koi bhi jaa sakta tha, but use schedule karke jaana padta. Ahaana ko wahi room diya gaya tha jab se intern orientation chalu hua tha.
Chhoti si desk, ek window aur ek wall-mounted screen. Har shaam 5 baje, jab Zoom call pe daily standup hota, woh ek ajeeb si background noise mehsoos karti thi—kahi door se aati koi buzdil si cheekh, jo sirf woh sun paati thi. Initially, laga kisi ka prank hai ya koi construction work ho raha hoga building ke exterior mein. Par jab usne noise-cancelling headphones pehni aur mic off kiya, voice fir bhi aayi.
“Koi dusre room se bol raha hai?” usne ek baar apne manager se poocha.
“Nahi toh, tumhare room mein koi mic ya speaker toh nahi chalu?”
Har baar us voice ka pattern same tha—pehle ek static jaisa sound, fir kuch indistinct whispered phrases jaise “Don’t let it hear you…” aur end mein ek guttural, inhuman tone. Strange part? Jab usne wo audio record karne ki koshish ki, mic mein sirf khud ki sans lete hue awaaz aayi. Jaise koi kisi dusri dimension se keh raha ho aur mic us frequency se block kar raha ho.
Ek din Ahaana ne socha ki apni Zoom meetings ka screen recording karegi aur fir dekhegi ki kya dikhta hai. Jab usne recording chalayi, sab normal tha. Lekin jab usne background noise ke time-frame pe screen zoom kiya, usne dekha—screen ke kone mein ek pixelated sa face dikha, bina aankhon wale khaali socket aur wide-open mouth ke sath. Yeh face gradually aur clear hota gaya ek point pe.
Us raat Ahaana ne woh file apne roommate, Kavya, ko dikhayi. Kavya ne kaha, “Yeh toh static distortion hai, tu zyada soch rahi hai.”
Next morning, Kavya ne uthte hi normal behave kiya, par uski awaaz mein tal mel laga. Jaise woh kisi aur ke control mein ho. Aur jab Ahaana office pahunchi, usne dekha ki uske Pods Room ke bahar ek naya notice lag gaya tha: “Room under maintenance till further notice.”
Woh room ko bypass karke cafeteria chali gayi aur dusri jagah se join karne ka plan banaya. Lekin Zoom call usi room mein auto-launch ho gaya tha. Her laptop rebooted multiple times, hamesha screen wahi Pods Room dikhata. Uski voice pehle bhadki, fir dheere dheere shant hoti gayi. Headphones se wahi voice aayi jo pehle aati thi, par ab clear thi:
“Tum sun sakti ho, isiliye tum woh banogi jo hum chahte hai.”
Uske aankhon ke samne screen andhera ho gaya.
Next day, DevVault ka CTO ek email bhejta hai:
“Intern Ahaana has chosen to pursue other opportunities. Her system has been reallocated.”
Lekin Kavya ko last message Ahaana se WhatsApp pe yeh mila tha: “Maine khud ko record kiya tha… par mujhe screen pe woh chehra dikhta hai ab… kabhi bhi jab main apni reflection dekhti hoon.”
3 mahine baad, ek aur intern—Rohit—Pods Room mein betha hota hai. Daily stand-up ke dauraan woh kehta hai:
“Guys, is it just me or does this room have a weird echo… like someone’s whispering behind me?”
An HR reply pops up in chat:
“Ignore the sounds. Focus on your tasks and keep your camera on.”
Wahin screen ke kone mein ek blurry face gradually dikhne lagta hai… is bar aur zyada clear, aur is baar… aankhen bhi thi.
Yeh koi haunted jagah nahi thi. Yeh system ke andar ek cognitive echo tha, jo un logon ko absorb karta tha jo “record” karne ki koshish karte the.
Aur jaise hi tum sunte ho… tum us echo ka agla endpoint ban jaate ho.
