Chapter 24 – The Hidden Engineers
June 2010 – Deep in the Garhwal Mountains
Beneath layers of granite, foliage, and fog, a second hidden facility quietly came alive.
No signboards. No public records.
Only a winding dirt trail, a remote-controlled gate disguised as an abandoned forest path, and twenty-four engineers flown in one-by-one—each under a different name.
This wasn't a biotech lab.
It was the birthplace of "AstraLogic" — Ram's secret semiconductor and quantum hardware company.
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Why Chips? Why Now?
Ram had witnessed the chip war of the 2020s. He knew:
India was completely dependent on foreign hardware.
Chip shortages crippled global innovation in AI, defense, and communications.
Nations without fabs were pawns.
In his old life, India tried to catch up too late.
In this new timeline, Ram wouldn't wait.
He would leapfrog straight to the future.
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2035 Tech in a 2010 World
From his quantum phone, Athena reverse-engineered chip blueprints:
7nm SoCs optimized for AI inference and edge computing
Neuromorphic processors mimicking human brain networks
Custom FPGA accelerators for biotechnology simulations
Each design was sliced, simplified, and adapted for 2010-era fabrication limits.
With crypto-backed funds, Ram acquired:
A small failing semiconductor assembly plant in Noida under a shell firm
Old but serviceable UV etching machines from Eastern Europe
A retired Israeli chip architect under an anonymous consultancy
All roads led to AstraLogic Labs, hidden in the hills.
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Training the First Digital Sages
Recruitment was delicate.
Ram couldn't rely on top IIT grads yet. They were under too much surveillance and influence.
Instead, he:
Pulled from underdog engineering colleges
Hired passionate tinkerers from hacker forums
Built a dormitory-learning system in the labs—where engineers lived, worked, and learned from Athena directly
Their mission?
> "Build the silicon brain of a new Bharat."
They didn't need to know the full future. Only their piece of the puzzle.
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A Side Project: The AI Companion Chip
Ram knew voice assistants like Siri and Alexa would eventually become standard. But they were nothing compared to Athena.
He tasked a team with a side project:
> Build a small, ultra-efficient neural chip capable of hosting an offline AI model—trained on curated knowledge, education, and strategy.
This would become the "Garuda Core"—a voice assistant designed for field officers, educators, researchers, and CEOs.
One day, Ram would deploy thousands of these across his companies and institutions.
A unified brain. Quiet. Loyal. Fast.
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Ram's Journal – June 18, 2010
> "In 2035, we were told: 'You can't do tech in India.'
But they were wrong. We didn't lack talent. We lacked vision.
My labs will create not just chips—but minds.
I will not build factories.
I will build temples of creation."
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By the Numbers – June 2010
AstraLogic Engineers Trained: 26
Early Chip Designs Completed: 3
Prototype Fabrication Partners: 2
Garuda Core Version: Alpha v0.1
Crypto Funding Used So Far: $41 million
Projected Self-Reliance Timeline: 6–8 years
Long-Term Goal: India's dominance in edge-AI and bio-integrated computing
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End of Chapter 24
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