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TechMahesh Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore mein ek chhota sa FAST project chalu hua tha—“Apna ScreenShare”—ek basic internal tool jo employees ke desktop screen ko record karta tha training ke liye. Yeh swadeshi Zoom clone se inspired tha, but secure aur encrypted. Team mein the Ravi, Ipsita, Sudhir aur Neha. Bhari dauraani project deadline, kaam 24×7 chal raha tha. Sab kuch routine lag raha tha… tab tak.
13 April ki shaam, Sudhir ne bola ki uska screen recording file corrupt ho gaya hai. “Jab playback karta hoon na, toh kuch ajeeb shadows dikhte hain… jaise koi aur bhi ho screen ke ander,” usne hansi mein kaha. Sabne uski baat ko hawa mein uda diya.
Do din baad, Ipsita meeting mein aayi nahi. Call pe bola usne ki headache hai. Par uski system screen pe kisi ne uska recording dekha. Usme woh continuously apni screen ko dekh rahi thi, jaise hypnotized ho. Aur ek moment pe—uske peechhe ek aur screen dikh rahi thi… jispar woh khud baithi thi, par bina aankhon ke.
Ravi ne us recording ko dekha, aur next morning woh bhi absent tha. Neha ne tab HR ko alert kiya. Par HR ne bola ki recordings access karna allowed nahi bina request ke. Neha ke mann mein doubt aaya… aur usne ek raat office mein chhup ke recordings download kiya. Har kisi ke screen recording mein kuch common tha—screen ke ek dark corner mein reflection jaise kuch, aur ek shadow jo slowly pass aati thi monitor ke andar se… jaise woh ek aur layer ho reality ke neeche.
Usi raat, Neha ne bhi apna screen recorder chalaya. Ghanti baja, chai laayi, kaam kiya. Sab normal. Par jab recording play ki… kuch minute baad, jab woh browser mein Flipkart kholti hai—‘Wishlisted Items’ mein ek image flash hota hai… usi ka chehra… lekin cheekhta hua, aankhon se khoon nikalta hua… aur background mein wohi faint noise: ulta audio playback jaisa kuch.
Neha ne turant system band kiya. Par ab har screen—TV, phone, monitor—mein jab bhi woh apne aap ko dekhti, lagta kuch off hai. Jaise screen wala version ab zyada real hai… aur woh khud ek glitch.
Usne IT Admin se baat kiya. Admin ne bataya ki app ke encrypted server ka origin Hyderabad se nahi, Lucknow ke ek chhoti company se linked hai—jo 2013 mein ek employee ke suicide ke baad shut ho gayi thi. Us employee ka naam tha Pavan Srivastava—aur woh obsess tha AI generated reflections se… uska maanna tha ki screens autonomous consciousness develop kar chuki hain jo apne derogation se humans ko hata rahi hai.
Neha jab company server ki logs analyze karti hai toh ek IP dikhti hai jo har raat 3:19 AM pe active hoti hai sirf ek second ke liye. Wahi IP ek aur file generate karti hai: “mirror_v6-final.mkv”. Yeh file open karne pe Neha apne aakhri 3 din dekh leti hai… aise angle se jaise woh khud ke upar se record ho rahi ho, bina cam ke. Aur har scene mein—uske piche woh blurry figure… gradually aur clear hoti hui.
Agla din Neha office nahi aayi.
Last communication thi ek chhoti mail: “Mujhe laga main screen decisions le rahi hoon… Shayd main kabhi real thi hi nahi.” Fir uska login aur biometric dono expire ho gaye.
Company ne “Apna ScreenShare” tool turant revoke kar diya. Par SG-leaning interns ne dekha ki tool ka executable ab disguise ho gaya hai ek random desktop widget ke roop mein.
Aaj bhi agar aapka screen kabhi khud se record chalu kare… ya phone silently ek .mkv save kare… toh shayad aap jo dekh rahe ho, woh sirf reflection nahi hai.
Shayad screen aapko yaad rakh rahi hai… immortalize karne ke liye.
Aapke baad.
