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Anaya Patel, ek 29 saal ki UX designer, Mumbai ke Andheri East ke ek 10th floor ke apartment mein kaam-from-home kar rahi thi. Lockdown ke baad bhi uske tech company ne remote kaam continue rakhne ka decision liya tha, aur uska din Zoom calls aur Figma designs mein hi guzarta tha.
Wahi Thursday tha. Subah ka Zoom stand-up meeting khatam ho chuki thi. Uska agla call 3 baje tha. Woh kitchen se chai bana rahi thi jab uske MacBook se notification aayi: “Zoom call in progress”. Par Anaya ne koi call initiate nahi ki thi, aur koi link ya Google Calendar reminder bhi nahi tha.
“Maybe koi glitch hoga,” usne socha. Par curiosity ke maare usne screen pe click kiya.
Screen pe ek Zoom call chal rahi thi — bina kisi title ke.
6 log dikhe. Sabke cameras on the, par kisi ka mic on nahi tha. Faces blurry lage pehle, jaise purani VHS tape ho. Anaya unmein se ek ko pehchan gayi—Maaya, uski college roommate jo teen saal pehle ek road accident mein mar gayi thi.
Un sabki aankhen seedha screen pe thi. Jaise woh Anaya ko dekh rahe ho.
Anaya ne mouse uthaya aur leave meeting pe click kiya. Button clicked, magar kuchh nahi hua.
“Yeh kya…” usne softly kaha. Tabhi Maaya ki video zoom-in hone lagi… bina kisi input ke.
Maaya ke chehre pe aankhen nahi thi. Sirf. ek smudge, jaise kisi ne aankhen rub kar di ho Photoshop se. Piche ek aur figure khada tha—patla, lekin clearly visible, pitch dark, aur bina chehre ke.
Anaya ne laptop ka screen band kar diya. Dil zor se dhadak raha tha. Usne socha ki reboot kare machine ko. Power off karna chaha, lekin button respond hi nahi kar raha tha.
Woh panic karne lagi.
Usne apna phone uthaya aur company IT support ko call kiya. “Hey, mujhe lagta hai Zoom app glitch kar rahi hai… ek random call join ho gaya bina invite…”
Rajat, IT support ka banda, bolta hai: “Anaya, ek second… tumhara system mein ek auto-join script run hua lagta hai. Tumne koi file download ki thi kya kal raat?”
Anaya sochti hai. Kal usne sirf ek PDF khola tha—project brief. Par uska naam tha — “sketches_final.pdf.exe”
.exe?
Tabhi uske phone pe Zoom se ek aur notification aayi: “You are now the host.”
Laptop ka screen khula tha ab. Iss baar sirf ek participant. Screen black thi, sirf ek audio glitch sunai de raha tha: “Aa…naa…ya… aa…cha…na.”
Usne pura system force shut down kiya. Light band ho gayi, fan ne chillana shuru kar diya. Saari cheezein ruk gayi.
Ek thapp thapp ki awaaz aayi…
Window ke bahar koi tha. Duswa floor par.
Anaya ne curtains hata ke dekha. Ek translucent figure, bilkul wahi shape jo usne screen mein dekhi thi — bina features ke, pitch black, lekin ab uske glass door ke bahar.
Phone se light jalakar usne dekha — koi marks nahi, lekin uska reflection… reflection mein uska chehra tha hi nahi.
Chuuk-chuuk…
Phone vibrate hua. Naya message: “Zoom recording saved: 1hr 24min”
1hr 24min? Woh call toh sirf 2 minute chali thi.
Woh file automatically open ho gayi. Video mein — Anaya hi thi. Baithi hui, lekin aankhon mein khoon. Ek ek karke woh sab wapas aaye—Maaya, Arjun (jo suicide kar chuka tha), Priya (jo hostel ke fire mein gayi thi)… saare log jinko Anaya jaanti thi—jo ab nahi the.
Aur woh pitch black figure peeche… sabke.
Zoom video mein ek moment aaya jahan Anaya uthti hai, camera ke bahar jaati hai… aur real-life Anaya ki screen pe uska angle match karta hai. Jaise recording nahi, live feed ho.
Ek awaaz background mein boli: “Tumne humein block kiya, Anaya. Zoom ne sab jod diya.”
Usne apna MacBook window se bahar fenk diya.
Sirf ek second ke liye aawaz ruki. Tab uske phone pe ringtone baji—unknown Zoom audio call.
Usne accept karne ki himmat nahi ki.
Phone khud se speaker pe chala gaya. All she heard was:
“Agle call mein tum screen pe nahi, andar hogi.”
Tabhi uska phone bhi band ho gaya.
Agle din Anaya missing thi. Mumbai police ne flat khol ke dekha, sab normal tha — bas laptop screen pe ek call chal rahi thi, jisme 7 participants aur ek black screen host tha. Jab kisi ne camera access kiya, screen pe likha tha:
“New host joined: YOU.”
