After the chaos settled, Meher carefully scanned the surroundings. Her eyes were sharp, every movement noted — she knew this wasn't over. Not yet.
A few steps away, Vihaan spoke quietly into his phone, arranging for anyone who might've witnessed the strange incident to have their memories erased. The campus had to remain calm — unaware.
Nidhi stood still, her arms crossed tightly. Her mind wasn't here. If only I could do something for Ananya, she thought bitterly. Then, without a word, her gaze shifted — a silent decision forming inside her. She didn't speak it aloud… not yet.
Only when Ananya smiled and said she was fine did the tension in the trio's shoulders loosen. For now, it seemed, the danger had passed.
Vihaan returned, his voice low but urgent.
"The wall's holding… but I can't say for how long. My best guess — eight months, give or take."
Meher didn't answer right away. Her gaze moved to Ananya, who stood a little farther away, laughing with new classmates — unaware, unbothered, unbroken.
"Good," Meher said softly. "In that time… I'll help her uncover the truth — make her remember why she's really here."
She paused, her voice tightening. "But… I'm afraid that smile won't last."
A silence passed before Meher turned to Nidhi.
"Inform the Head. We can't delay anything now."
Nidhi nodded immediately. "I'm on it."
As she walked away, Vihaan watched her — his expression suddenly vulnerable, like he wanted to say something… something that had waited too long. But he stayed silent.
Meher noticed.
She leaned in gently.
"Give her time," she whispered. "She doesn't know the full truth. But I believe in you. You'll bring her back — one day."
🌞 NEXT MORNING: First Day of College
The campus buzzed with a nervous energy — the first official day of lectures.
Ananya, Meher, and Nidhi walked together down the hallway.
"Looks like a packed schedule," Ananya said, glancing at her timetable.
"Yep," Meher said, flipping her notebook.
"We start at 8:00 with AI Fundamentals, then Python Programming at 9."
"Data Structures at 10," Nidhi added, sipping her coffee.
"Then a tiny break at 11 — bless it."
"After that, Mathematics for Machine Learning," Meher said.
"And then Digital Logic before lunch."
"Don't forget AI Ethics," Nidhi groaned.
"Followed by labs. So… we're basically living here now."
Ananya laughed softly. "This branch really said: no mercy."
☕ CAMPUS CAFÉ – LATER
The trio sat by the window, enjoying a short breather.
Just then, Ragini — the college topper — strutted past their table. Her gaze locked onto Ananya with thinly veiled jealousy.
"Still pretending to be something you're not?" she said sharply.
Ananya didn't blink.
"Still looking for validation in strangers?"
Ragini scoffed and walked off, tossing her hair.
"She's extra spicy today," Nidhi whispered with a grin.
"Someone's not used to competition," Meher added.
Nidhi smirked. "Maybe we should gift her a mirror and a hug."
"And a warning label," Ananya laughed.
Their giggles blended with the café hum, a moment of light in the tension-filled day.
🏫 LECTURE HALL – LATER
Students settled down. Chatter buzzed.
The doors swung open. Professor Veer Sharma entered — sharp eyes, commanding presence.
He walked straight to the podium.
"Let me begin by congratulating Ragini for her remarkable scores," he said, nodding at her.
"She sets a standard that others should strive to match."
The class clapped politely. Ragini beamed.
Then — silence.
His gaze shifted to Ananya. It wasn't praise that followed — only intensity, cold and sharp.
"Ananya," he said. "Let's see if you deserve that seat."
She blinked — the tension crackling.
"Explain the difference between supervised and unsupervised learning."
She answered calmly. "Supervised uses labeled data. Unsupervised learns patterns from unlabeled data."
He didn't let up.
"Bias-variance tradeoff. Speak."
"Bias is underfitting. Variance is overfitting. The goal is to balance both for generalization."
A slight nod.
"Acceptable." His tone was flat. "But don't think you've proven anything."
The air turned heavy. Everyone noticed — this wasn't a quiz. It was a trial.
🎒 AFTER CLASS – OUTSIDE
As they walked out, Meher turned to Ananya.
"What was that? He was clearly targeting you."
Nidhi agreed. "He didn't even look at anyone else. Just stared you down."
Ananya shrugged.
"It's fine. I've seen worse."
Meher frowned.
"You shouldn't ignore it."
Ananya gave a soft smile.
"Ignoring doesn't mean I don't notice. I just… don't let it in."
Nidhi bumped her shoulder lightly.
"Whatever it is, we've got your back."