Rohan blinked into his Dream Space—no longer a starry void, but a modern house brimming with purpose.
A classroom with a smart board flickered to life beside a glass wall showing the endless cosmos. A mini kitchen hummed quietly in one corner. A training mat stretched out behind it, bordered by wooden racks holding weapons and exercise tools. Upstairs, a bedroom, a shower pod, and a reading chamber pulsed with calming energy.
"Welcome to your divine dojo," DL's voice chimed in, dry as ever. "Where you learn, train, nap, and hopefully become less dumb with time."
Rohan smirked. "Nice upgrade from the void of swirling galaxies."
DL appeared as a hovering projection in front of the smart board. "Figured you'd like Wi-Fi and plumbing in heaven."
Rohan chuckled but said nothing. His fingers hovered over the board's search interface. Hesitation flickered in his eyes—he was about to dive into something he barely understood.
Finally, he typed: "Jet Engine Blade—Single Crystal Process."
DL didn't miss a beat. A quiet chime sounded as a translucent interface hovered beside them, showing a currency deduction queue.
KP Cost:
Full Schematics: ~150
Simulation Model: ~50
Optimized Deployment Strategy: ~30
"That cheap?"
"The Library doesn't charge much for knowledge you'd eventually get anyway. But knowledge from the future-future? That's another story."
Rohan tapped "Confirm," and his surroundings shifted. The smart board dissolved into a 3D field. Blueprints unfolded like glowing origami. Jet engines—layer by layer—began to spiral and hover midair. Data sets streamed around him in soft arcs. Materials. Temperatures. Rotational stress curves.
DL's voice cut in, sardonic. "Now pay attention, meatbag. This is where the magic happens."
Then the board lit up.
"Welcome to your first lesson: jet engines."
A series of jet engine blueprints spiraled into view as DL began his lecture, already in full sarcastic-professor mode.
"India's dream? Build a fifth-generation stealth fighter jet by 2030. It's called the AMCA."
The jet hovered between them—sleek, angular, predator-like. Its frame shimmered with stealth coatings. Internal weapons bays. Sharp intake geometry.
He enlarged the hologram of the aircraft—a sleek, angular beast with stealth coatings and futuristic weapons systems.
"But here's the catch, junior—they've got the body, the dream, the team… but not the heart."
Rohan frowned. "The engine?"
"Bingo. The Kaveri Engine—India's indigenous attempt. Developed under the GTRE. Decades of sweat. Crores in funding. Political pressure. And in the end?"
DL zoomed into the engine blueprint. A huge red 'X' slammed onto it with a buzzer sound.
"Couldn't even get the Tejas Mk1 to fly reliably. Underpowered. Overheated. Unreliable. Embarrassing. So they started importing General Electric's F404 instead."
Rohan stared, eyes glazing over as acronym after acronym flew past his ears.
"Whoa, whoa—hold up!" He raised both hands. "CFD? AMCA? GTRE? F404? What the hell are you even saying? I'm not an aerospace engineer, DL. Translate, please."
DL sighed like a professor dealing with a particularly enthusiastic but slow student.
"All right, slowbrain. One alphabet soup, coming up."
He cleared the board with a swipe and started listing with mock cheer:
DL's ACRONYM EXPLAINER:
AMCA: Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft
India's fifth-gen stealth fighter project. Think of India's answer to America's F-22. Still in R&D.
GTRE: Gas Turbine Research Establishment
DRDO's engine lab. Built the Kaveri. Big effort, underwhelming result. Didn't quite take off—literally.
CFD: Computational Fluid Dynamics
Simulates airflow, pressure, and heat inside an engine—without building it.
F404: General Electric's fighter engine
Good for the '80s. Used in Tejas Mk1. Too old-school for stealth tech.
DL arched an eyebrow. "Clear now?"
Rohan nodded slowly. "So… India's building a stealth fighter with yesterday's heart?"
"Worse," DL said, tone dipping. "They don't have the heart. Fifth-gen jets need more than just sleek shapes. You need engines that cruise at supersonic speeds without afterburners. Low radar and heat signatures. Blades that survive literal hell."
A rotating turbine spun midair. DL highlighted a single golden blade.
"Behold: the holy grail. Single-crystal turbine blades. With internal cooling. Manufactured with microscopic precision. Only a few nations have the process—and they're guarding it like dragons on a hoard."
DL's tone dropped to mimic a sneering diplomat:
"And when India asked for help—U.S., U.K., France—they all said, 'Sorry, national security. IP rights. Strategic sensitivity'."
"Translation?" Rohan asked.
"They don't want India catching up. The tech gate is locked. And the key? Isn't for sale."
Silence stretched.
Rohan's gaze drifted back to the engine schematic. So much potential. So many closed doors.
"The dream dies before it flies," he muttered.
DL smirked. "Not if you give them the missing piece."
"So… they've been locked out by the world powers," Rohan murmured, watching redacted documents scroll across the board.
"Like kids peeking through a fence," DL replied. "And you? You're gonna kick it down."
Holograms shifted. Theoretical engines bloomed to life—designs using exotic alloys, AI-assisted tolerancing, and thermal flow simulations running in real time.
"You're not here to play messiah," DL said. "You're here to spark the fire. Suggest a concept. Leave a breadcrumb trail."
Rohan's brain spun.
"So I give India… jet engine tech?"
DL waved a hand. "Not give. Seed. Inspire. Let their scientists walk the path themselves. You'll just… move the first obstacle."
Rohan crossed his arms. "And how do I 'present' it without looking like a spy?"
"Easy," DL said. "You'll register a private aerospace startup under your name. Once you turn 18. I've already prepared the documentation and digital footprint to make it believable."
DL brought up legal papers, company registration forms, and a basic prototype proposal. It looked oddly mundane.
"You'll pitch it as a materials innovation company. Not a weapons dealer. You whisper ideas into their ears. When they listen, you license".
Rohan blinked at the glowing legal forms, the weight of it all hitting him like cold water.
"You're asking me to… change the course of an entire country's defense roadmap?"
"I'm asking you to accelerate it. Quietly. You don't even show your face. Let the data speak. The world runs on algorithms and confidence metrics—feed both."
His voice cracked with disbelief. "What if I mess this up? What if I start something I can't control?"
DL's avatar looked at him flatly. "Every invention is a loaded gun, Rohan. It's the hand behind it that decides where it points."
"They won't know it's you. Your company will function as a silent tech supplier with low-level clearance. India verifies the tech via labs and CFD simulation. When results match, they green-light limited-scale implementation."
Rohan crossed his arms.
"What do I ask for? Upfront payment?"
DL's tone shifted into one of mock seriousness.
"No. Don't be greedy. Reduce the front payment — it gains trust and gives long-term security. Instead, negotiate a royalty clause on every engine using your design. Once your components are built into actual fighters, you can claim intellectual rights without triggering political alarms. Keeps you in the loop. Protects your life. And builds your influence."
Rohan exhaled, amazed.
"All this from a cosmic dream classroom," he whispered.
Rohan whistled softly. "You've thought this through."
DL's avatar cracked a smile.
"You're not here to become a genius. You're here to accelerate progress subtly. Spark innovation without breaking the world. Show them the piece they were missing. That's the only way change sticks."
Rohan looked at the spiraling blueprints, a mix of awe and fear in his eyes.
"This isn't just about learning anymore," he thought. "It's about changing the balance of the world."