Author’s POV

The Rao mansion was waking up.

It was seven in the morning—sunlight pouring in, the quiet hum of life beginning its daily rhythm. Footsteps echoed softly in the corridors. Somewhere, a kettle whistled. Somewhere, curtains were being drawn.

Everyone was awake.

Everyone… except Shree Rao.

Her room remained wrapped in darkness. Curtains shut tight. Silence broken only by slow, steady breathing.

Shree lay curled beneath her duvet, peaceful and unaware, a teddy bear tucked securely against her chest – Jojo, her constant since childhood. Her fingers were loosely wrapped around his ear, as if even in sleep she feared losing him.

Last night had been long.

Too long.

She had stayed awake till three in the morning, eyes glued to her screen, fingers dancing across the keyboard. Code after code. Error after error. Until finally—success. Whenever Shree started something new, she gave it everything she had. There was no such thing as “enough” for her.

For the world, she was a brilliant hacker.
Top five in India.

For her family, she was still just their baby.

The door opened quietly.

Dr. Meera Rao stepped inside and paused at the sight. Her heart softened instantly. Shree slept like a child—hair sprawled messily across the pillow, face relaxed, untouched by the chaos she created outside these walls.

Meera walked closer and gently brushed her fingers through Shree’s hair.

“Shree… bacha.”

A soft groan.

“Five minutes more,” Shree murmured, turning her face deeper into the pillow.

Meera smiled. “Shree, get up fast.”

“Mumma,” she protested sleepily, “I slept late last night. I need more sleep.”

And just like that, she turned away—pulling the duvet over her head and drifting right back into her dream.

Meera shook her head fondly.

If only she knew…
Sleep was the last thing her daughter would get today.

Whereas on the other side of the city ….

Special Director Veer Rana was driving his car, hands on the steering wheel and an earbud in one ear connected to his phone via Bluetooth. He was speaking with Rudra. “I’m reaching in ten minutes. Tell Arnav to handle the situation.”

He disconnected the call and slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

He was angry that morning because someone had breached the CBI system and planted bugs in it. Because of that, confidential information and case details were being transferred to the hackers’ system, and they were unable to stop it.

The moment he entered the bureau, he felt it—tension hanging thick in the air. No chatter. No jokes. Just focused eyes and restless movements.

Veer said But how did all this happen? " and Rudra said, “Sir, Arnav was tracking Malik’s phone as it was on for 2 minutes, but during tracking his location, someone breached our system.”

Malik was an international criminal; the CBI team had been tracking him for two weeks.

And they had almost had him.

After some time arnav sat frozen at his desk, fingers moving rapidly but unevenly. Sweat dotted his forehead.

“Sir,” he said without looking up, “I’m trying to stop it… but whoever this is—they’re ahead of us.”

“It’s not Malik,” Purvi added quickly. “This hacker isn’t him.”

Rudra scoffed. “What do you mean you can’t handle it?”

Arnav swallowed. “Sir… I need help.”

The room went silent.

“Call her.”

The voice was calm. Commanding.

Everyone turned to the door and saw  Director Ayushman.

“She’s the only one who can stop this.”

Veer’s  jaw clenched, and he said: “Then why the hell isn’t she here already?”

No one answered.

Of course.

Shree Rao.

Their Cyber consultant.

As per DoPT orders, she was officially part of the team. Just three months ago she had joined them —and she had cracked systems even experienced professionals struggled with.

A twenty-two-year-old young hacker.

Brilliant.

Annoying.

A sharp vibration broke the silence in Shree’s room.

Once.
Twice.
Then again.

She moaned and buried her face deeper into the pillow.

The phone vibrated again, this time for longer.

She absentmindedly ran her hand on the bed and found her phone opened her eyes and saw Purvi’s number. Her eyes flew open. Purvi, after seeing the number of missed calls, sleep vanished instantly. Purvi called her 20 times, but Shree was deep in slumber. Shree rolled onto her back, blinking rapidly as her mind snapped into focus. She glanced at the screen.

“Damn it,” she whispered.

She accepted the call.

“Yes?” Her voice was still groggy, but alert.

“Shree,” Purvi’s voice came through, urgent and breathless. “We need you. Now.”

Shree sat up, pushing the duvet aside. “What happened?”

“Our system’s compromised. Someone breached our trace mid-operation.”

Shree’s jaw tightened.

“Who?”

“That’s the problem,” Purvi said. “We don’t know.”

Shree swung her legs off the bed. “Put me on speaker.”

Within seconds, the sleepy girl vanished.

She moved fast hair tied up, laptop open, workstation coming alive. Screens lit up one after another. Her fingers hovered above the keyboard.

“Give me access,” she said, calm and firm.

Arnav’s voice joined in. “Sending credentials.”

“Received.”

Her fingers flew.

Code streamed across the screen, lines blurring as she navigated firewalls with terrifying ease. Her posture changed. Her expression hardened. Gone was the girl who clutched a teddy bear in her sleep.

This was the hacker the world feared.

“Whoever this is,” she muttered, “they’re good.”

Veer watched silently as her voice echoed through the speakers.

Fast. Sharp. In control.

“Shree?” Purvi asked nervously. “Can you stop them?”

“I’m already inside,” Shree replied. “But they know I’m here.”

Her fingers paused for half a second.

Then

She smiled.

“That means,” she continued calmly, “they’re finally worth my time.”

Veer straightened.

Interesting.

“Shree,” Purvi said, “Director wants to know, can you trace them?”

Shree cracked her knuckles.

“Oh, Purvi,” she said softly, eyes locked on the screen.
“I’m not just tracing them.”

Her fingers struck the keys again faster, sharper.

“I’m inviting them to play.”

The screen flashed.

The system trembled.

And somewhere…
The hunter realised they were no longer alone.

After half an hour of chaos, the cube system is safe.

“I have traced the location”, she said. While her hands were flying on the keyboard.

And then the voice comes from the other side, “Shree, come to the bureau in half an hour”.                

She knew it was Veer’s voice, as from the start they were like cat and mouse

Shree sighed on the other side and said, " Yes, sir. "

The call disconnected from both sides.