India (Parralell world)
Gujrat
IIM Ahemdabad
03/03/2003
"Where am I?"
"When did my million-dollar villa turn into something like this?"
"Wait a minute...is there no room at all? Is this a... dormitory?"
Suddenly, a young man woke up in a small, unfamiliar space in confusion. He looked around and murmured to himself.
"Ahhh...."And then, in pain, shouted and grabbed his head, then fell back into bed and lost consciousness.
Some time later...
"Hey!! Aryan bhai, wake up! You okay? Did something happen?"
Aryan slowly opened his eyes, everything was in a daze and the light flooded in from the half opened window. Above him the old ceiling fan creaked around rolling slowly.
The pounding in his head felt like someone took a mallet and hit him over the head.
"Ughh... what the hell happened to me?" he groaned.
Then... the memories started to come flooding back.
Not of this horrible dorm. Not of this unfamiliar man calling him bhai.
But sleek gadgets. Smart homes. AI assistants. Until the self driving car crashed into him when it malfunctioned.
"Wait, I died...He was still in disbelief from the suddenness of it all, when unexpectedly a mechanical voice rang.
"Ding!"
"Congratulations host, for awakening the Backhand King Maker System".
Aryan froze.
Out of nowhere, a bright blue screen appeared suspended in the air like a video game interface.
" What the hell is a Backhand King Maker System.."
"Ding..!"
"Before you die host, you made a wish… that your country should develop…It could rise from corruption and finally unleash its true potential. You blamed the government. You blamed the system, but never once dared step into politics yourself."
The voice was ringing inside his mind…calm, cold, to real."
"And so…the system has descended....To full fill the dream that the host can only chase in the shadows."
"Ding..!"
This system will assist you in controlling everything : From the highest seats of power to the grass roots of the nation."
"Ministers. MPs. Chief ministers. The Prime Minister might even be your pawn everyday...but System might provide the tools, all you do is notice the opportunity and capture it."
"You're the host."
Aryan opened his mouth to say something, but, before he could say anything….
SMACK!
That hurts, across the cheek.
"Bang..!"
"Aryan bhai, you okay?!"
" I slapped you....You were not responding, I had just never seen you with that look on your face... I slapped you, dude."
A fat man, about 5'6" feet, was standing in front of Aryan, looking down into Aryan's face.
Aryan, still recovering from the slap, finally turned to look at him.
A strange look passed over his eyes, confusion, denial... and, more.
For a moment, Aryan looked cold, his eyes sharp and glaring.
Then slowly, the fire in his eyes fizzled out.
The anger was still there, but it was accompanied by something like... a concern... or maybe a recognition.
"Huh..." Aryan murmured softly, struggling to wrap his head around what just happened.
"Uh... are you okay, Aryan?" he asked, concern dripping from his voice. It wasn't some cruelty that motivated him to slap his friend, it was simply an act of last resort; a way to bring Aryan back into reality.
This fat man was not unknown to Aryan. He was Aryan's roommate, another college student, and probably...his only one of the few friend here in this 2003.
Aryan gradually pushed himself and felt the sting on his cheek.
He glanced over the room old wooden beds, rusty metal trunks, a broken mirror, and two plastic chairs.
This was definitely not his futuristic villa. Reality was beginning to set in. This was not his life.
And that fat fair-skinned guy, looking nervous while staring at him?
Well, there was no doubt about it... that slap was real.
"Water..." Aryan asked.
"Oh! Right!" The guy rushed to pick up a plastic bottle off the table.
"Here drink."
Aryan took a few sips and wiped his lips. His hands were still shaking slightly.
The guy looked at him worriedly.
"Aryan bhai, seriously... you were rambling about weird stuff! Like... system, and Prime Minister... Are you really okay?"
Aryan did not answer immediately. His eyes narrowed.
"System. Backhand king-maker system."
That could not have been a dream.
"What's your name?" Aryan suddenly asked.
The guy blinked in confusion.
"Huh? Bro, are you serious?"
Aryan leveled a look at him with a blank stare.
The guy paused. "It's... Manish. Manish Sharma. Your roommate?"
" We've shared a dorm here for going on six months now. Dude, are you sure you didn't smack your head way too hard?"
Six months?
Manish was worried, but didn't want to appear worried.
The silence was stifling as he looked at Aryan.
"I guess you win," Aryan sighed and rubbed his temples as if to shake the last bit of dizziness from his head.
"Hmmm? Win what?" Manish blinked.
"I don't know… just, you were right. I had a really weird dream, okay?" Aryan let out a forced chuckle.
"I mean, it's almost next-level weird." He leaned back and looked at the ceiling fan.
"In my dream, I died. There was this death machine. Like, an automated powered car malfunctioned and crashed into me. Then I had this really weird experience in my dream. I saw someone becoming Prime Minister, and it was kind of like in a movie, but it was definitely not a good movie."
"Dude… are you serious? That's like a sci-fi film or something!" Manish had wide eyes.
"Exactly… it was weird." Aryan replied, again forcing a laugh.
"When it happened it felt real, but now it was just a bad dream. I've actually been watching a lot of Black Mirror too."
Manish gave him a confused look. "Black what?"
Aryan thought for a second.
Right. It was 2003.
"No, nothing ; must've been a foreign web series..., I think I saw it in a magazine once."
He was waving it off quickly.
Note to self: Stop talking about future stuff.
Aryan shifted gears. He needed to get information.
Fast.
If he were going to have a start in building influence, he had to know this worlds 2003.
The political climate, upcoming elections, the global economy... everything.
So, he leaned in.
"Hey Manish... what's the date today?"
Manish cocked his head. "Bro, you seriously knocked your head hard. It's 3rd of March, 2003."
Aryan slowly moved his head up and down. His mind started to spin.
03/03/2003.