Date: June 28, 2012
Location: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow, Patna
---
They always thought the cities would forget.
That time would bury the scams under everyday struggle. That memories could be bought with distraction, and silence fed with handouts. But as the sun rose over the dusty skyline of Delhi, as it struck glass towers in Bengaluru, and shimmered across the old tram wires of Kolkata, something woke up.
The streets remembered.
---
New Delhi – 6:44 AM – Connaught Place
A man in his late fifties, schoolteacher by profession, leaned against a pillar and scrolled through his OmniLink feed. His breath caught at a video playing silently—an ex-MP, still active in party circles, was laughing drunkenly while counting bricks of cash. Timestamp: 2010. Location: a villa in Goa.
Another video followed. The same man, standing in Parliament, praising austerity and national service.
The teacher didn't say a word. He just began walking. He didn't know where. But when he reached the outer circle of Connaught Place, there were others.
Students. Retired officers. Street hawkers. IT employees on break.
And someone had already painted a banner:
> "THEY STOLE. WE REMEMBER."
---
Mumbai – 7:15 AM – Andheri East
OmniLink feeds lit up between metro stops.
By the time the 7:09 train reached Ghatkopar, two compartments had already started a conversation. By 7:15, they were getting off early—not to reach offices, but to gather in front of the Nova Mobility showroom, still glowing in its night-mode lighting.
"They said politics was dirty," a young woman said, "but they didn't tell us the dirt was in our homes, in our phones, in the price of petrol, and in every ruined job interview."
A young delivery rider walked past, holding his phone up to record. "We were the price," he muttered.
---
Kolkata – 8:00 AM – Sector V, Salt Lake
Salt Lake was supposed to be immune.
It had tech firms, air-conditioned offices, and quiet cab queues.
But not today.
Employees in formal shirts and flip-flops sat cross-legged on the footpath, playing a projection from one of the OmniLink videos against the glass side of a building.
A businessman in the video counted money—nearly three crore—in a silent room while a voiceover played: "Bribe for port land development, Phase-3, West."
The crowd watching didn't boo.
They just nodded.
And stayed.
---
Bengaluru – 9:20 AM – MG Road
A cluster of startup employees gathered outside a café.
Not for cappuccino.
For protest.
They'd pooled money and printed QR codes that led to exposed account statements and verified video montages. Every pole, tree, bench, and bus stand bore them.
One of the coders, barely twenty-five, grinned at his friend. "This is the real hackathon."
---
Lucknow – 10:05 AM – University Gate
A young poet took a loudspeaker and stood on a stack of plastic chairs.
"They hid our fathers' pensions," she said. "They auctioned our degrees. They made us believe the world didn't belong to us."
She lifted a poster.
It simply said: "ENOUGH."
---
Patna – 10:30 AM – Railway Station
Porters stopped hauling loads.
They stared at a nearby LED screen mounted above a tea stall.
One of them asked, "Is that real?"
His friend nodded, solemn. "That's our MP's son."
The screen played a video.
It showed a young man bragging about making ₹200 crore during "just one infrastructure deal."
Someone turned down the gas flame on the tea stove.
And the pot boiled slower—but no one noticed.
---
National Media – 11:00 AM – Panel Chaos
Television anchors fumbled over breaking developments.
Some channels tried to downplay the videos as "unverified." Others demanded an investigation. But none of them had the same access.
Only OmniLink had the receipts.
Each post came with blockchain-based provenance, geotagging, and unalterable meta-history.
No one could deny it.
So they did the only thing they could: scream.
---
Government Reaction – 12:15 PM – Emergency Cabinet Meeting
The Prime Minister's tone was cold.
"We underestimated him."
The Home Minister replied, "No. We underestimated the people."
Half the room sat in silence.
The Intelligence Chief finally asked, "What are our options?"
Someone muttered, "BVM's already preparing marches in twenty states."
The PM looked toward the windows.
There was no smoke on the horizon. But there would be.
---
BVM Headquarters – Confidential Room – 1:00 PM
The central node-controlled leadership interface projected a map of India.
Red dots glowed in every major city.
One directive appeared, broadcast from the shadow command protocol signed only with Aritra's seal:
> "Rally. Document. Protect."
BVM cadres moved out silently. No fiery speeches. No hate. Just purpose.
They carried placards made not of slogans but screenshots.
And the cities, finally, listened.