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Bangalore ke Outer Ring Road par traffic signals ka slow hona koi nayi baat nahi thi. Par Manoranjan ke liye, HSR Layout ke us ek morh ka signal ek alag hi kahani ban chuki thi.
Daily apne mid-shift coding job ke baad, wo 12:15 baje raat ka signal cross karta. Har baar, green hone mein woh signal 7 minute leta. Sahi time par green ho jaata, par jab bhi Manoranjan us morh ke paas hota, signal red ho jaata. Jaise jaise din beet rahe the, usse lagne laga ki signal uska intezaar karta tha.
Ek din, kam se kam 11 baar red light blink hui par kisi aur vehicle ka wait nahin tha. Sirf ek woh tha puri road pe. Usne socha ki ho sakta hai signal ka controller kharaab ho gaya ho. Par jab kaafi din tak yahi pattern chalta raha, Manoranjan ne us morh ki detail check karna start kiya.
Google Maps par route dekhne par us road ka ek chhota hissha blur dikhta tha. Street view unavailable tha. Jab usne signal ke niche ka electric box inspect kiya toh dekha — koi wire hi nahi thi. Signal independent operate nahi kar sakta tha, toh fir har raat red kyun hota?
Waise toh Manoranjan logical banda tha, AI aur robotics mein specialised. Usne socha yeh kisi glitch ka hissa hai. Par ek raat, jab woh signal pe phir se ruka, usse laga ki driver-side window ke bahar koi khada hai. Kaali chhaya, bina chehre ke. Bas ulta haath aankh ki taraf uthaye hue.
Wo pal blink karte hi chala gaya. Par Manoranjan ne notice kiya — mirror mein pehli baar koi nazar aaya tha.
Agli raat, usne sab record karne ke liye dashcam aur screen recorder lagaya. Video check karne pe pata chala — uski gaadi signal pe ruki hi nahi thi. Maps aur dashcam, dono mein wo morh exist hi nahi karta tha. GPS route mein uski car ek chhoti si residential gali mein gayi dikhai di… jo officially 5 saal pehle demolish ho chuki thi flyover expansion ke liye.
Usne purani BBMP reports nikali. Jo pata chala usse raaton ki neend ud gayi.
2017 mein, is morh pe ek accident hua tha. A software engineer ne red light tod di thi aur ek scooter pe jaa lagi. Us scooter pe ek 4 saal ka bacha tha jiska haath us impact se alag ho gaya tha. Bacha gira, aur uske baad kahin mil nahi paya. Log kehne lage ki engineer ka dimaag hil gaya — usne bola tha ki bacha gaayab ho gaya hai, par logon ne dekha tha ki wo hi use uthake le gaya.
Engineer ne jail mein suicide kar liya.
Par jab Manoranjan ne uss engineer ka naam padha — Rohit K. — usse ghoom gaya. Yeh wohi banda tha, jiske desktop se Manoranjan ne apna job project spell-check kiya tha, jab wo intern tha 2019 mein. Rohit ka cubicle ab ek storage area tha.
Aur jab usne us purane laptop ke archived drive ko khola, ek folder mila: “βetaSignal”
Usme ek simulation video thi. AI-driven signal system ka demo, jo logon ki aadaton se khud learn karta tha. Par us simulation mein ek hi user loop ho raha tha — Manoranjan.
Us raat jab wo signal pe pahucha, har cheez theek thi. Par jaise hi signal red hua, side-mirror mein woh chhaya phir dikhi. Is baar usne Manoranjan ke driving haath ki taraf dekha.
Aur Manoranjan ko mehsoos hua — uska haath numb ho gaya hai. Usse ek blink mein sach yaad aaya. Wo hi tha jisne 2017 mein red light todo, aur scooter ko maara. Rohit ne sirf unka guilt programming model mein integrate kiya tha — ek punishment loop, jisme criminal aur AI system dono delay hote rahe. Manoranjan pura bhool gaya tha. Tabhi se woh simulation mein phase hua tha.
Woh morh ab kisi system mein registered nahi tha. Na signal, na GPS, na memory. Sirf un logon ke liye activate hota tha jinke andar kuch chhupa ho. Guilt ke red light ke liye.
Jab agli subah uski car empty mili, engine chalu tha. Par driver gaayab tha. Police ne video dekha — car khud rukti thi. Kisi insaan ke bina bhi, har raat 12:15 baje.
Aur signal… hamesha red tha.
