The ceiling fan's slow turn did little to calm Rajendra's mind. He was back in 1987, armed only with the ghost of a future and a System that connected him to the bazaar of infinity. The Auction was real. The coins were real. The problem was making them work here, now.
He needed a tool. Something to build capital fast. The System's Procurement Menu offered a solution: a Sub-Spatial Inventory Module. A fancy name for a storage ring. But bringing such a thing into 1987 Mumbai was asking for impossible questions. How would he explain it to Ganesh? To anyone?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a slow, rhythmic chant from the street below. He looked out. A sadhu, his skin ash-smeared, robes a deep saffron, walked barefoot through the dusty lane, ringing a small bell. People on their balconies bowed slightly, some touching their foreheads in respect. Theology, Rajendra thought. Faith could mask the impossible. It could explain the unexplainable.
"System," he whispered mentally. "Can the physical form of procured items be… customized? To match local aesthetic or belief systems?"
[Query acknowledged. Cosmetic and minor phenomenological alteration of procured items is possible. Requires a 10% surcharge on base item cost. Visual effects (light, smoke, sound) are classified as minor phenomena.]
A plan, audacious and simple, clicked into place. He would need two faces. A dark one to build power in the shadows, and a bright one to wield it in the light. And each would have its own… divine justification.
He focused on the menu. He selected the Sub-Spatial Inventory Module. Cost: 12 Void-Coins. He added the 10% surcharge for customization.
[Total Cost: 13.2 Void-Coins. Confirm?]
Confirm.
The air before him shimmered, not with the System's usual green light, but with a deep, smoky crimson. When it cleared, a ring lay on his palm. It was heavy silver, but tarnished to a near-black finish. Set within its band was a cabochon stone the color of dried blood. It looked less like technology and more like a relic.
He put it on. He focused on his water glass. Store.
There was a soft, deep thrum, and the glass vanished in a brief, curling wisp of red-black smoke that smelled faintly of incense and iron.
Perfect, he thought. For the shadow work, this would do. It looked like a dark boon, a blessing from a fierce aspect. He changed his clothes, selecting a simple black cotton kurta. The ring stood out against it. This would be the uniform for one side of his life.
For the other side… he would need a different look. Later.
He went to find Ganesh at the mill. The foreman was tending to the silent machinery with a mourner's care.
"Ganesh Kaka."
"Rajendra-bhai. The money is safe. It gives us time."
"Not enough," Rajendra said, his voice low. "I have a path forward. But it walks in two directions. One path is in the light—we will revive the mill, make it strong and honest. That business will be called MANO. 'Mind' in Sanskrit. For strategy, for legitimacy."
Ganesh nodded slowly. "And the other path?"
"The other path is in the dark. It finds the resources to fuel the first. It is swift, silent, and necessary. That will be MAKA." He let the word hang. It evoked 'Maa Kali', the fierce protector, the destroyer of obstacles. "It will handle… special logistics. Moving things the world makes difficult to move."
"Smuggling," Ganesh stated flatly.
"Logistics," Rajendra corrected. "For MANO's survival. I need you, Vikram, and two others. The steady ones. For MAKA. The pay will be substantial. But you must understand… the methods will seem unusual. They are blessings, not tricks."
He showed Ganesh the ring. He pointed to a small spare part on the floor. "Watch."
He willed the metal piece into the ring. A faint red flash, a whisper of dark smoke, and it was gone. Ganesh's eyes widened, not with fear of technology, but with the shock of the numinous.
"A… a siddhi?" Ganesh breathed, using the word for a spiritual power. "From your pilgrimage after your father's…"
Rajendra said nothing, letting the assumption solidify. "It is a tool for MAKA. To protect MANO. Will you stand with me? As the first of MAKA?"
Ganesh looked from the ring to Rajendra's resolute face. He made a small, respectful gesture with his hands. "The Mother provides strange tools. I will get the men."
That night, by the docks, the MAKA crew assembled. Rajendra in his black kurta, the dark ring prominent. Ganesh, Vikram, and the two others—Mohan and Prakash—stood with him, dressed in simple, dark clothes.
The contact, Rahim, arrived in a van. He looked at the small group skeptically. "You have the money for the players?"
Vikram handed over a case. Rahim counted it. He opened the van's back doors, revealing stacked boxes of electronic goods. "Load it. Quick."
Rajendra stepped forward. He placed his ring-hand on the first box. "By the will that removes obstacles," he murmured, a line that could be a prayer or a code.
Store.
A flash of crimson light, a puff of smoke smelling of temple flowers and ozone, and the box vanished. He moved to the next. Flash. Smoke. Gone. He cleared the van methodically, the display a calculated performance of divine power.
Rahim stumbled back, his face pale. He made a frantic sign to ward off the evil eye. "Yeh kala jadoo nahi… yeh kuch aur hai…" (This isn't black magic… this is something else…)
"It is the blessing of necessity," Rajendra said, his voice cool. "Our business is done."
Once Rahim's van had screeched away, the MAKA crew moved to a secure warehouse. Rajendra reversed the process, the boxes reappearing with the same flash and smoke. The buyer was waiting. The exchange of goods for a large sum of cash was swift and silent.
Later, back at the mill office, Rajendra divided the money. The men accepted it with a new kind of reverence. They weren't just employees; they were initiates in a sacred, secret endeavor.
"MANO will be born from this," Rajendra told them. "Remember that. MAKA for the foundation. MANO for the future."
[Organizational Framework Established: MAKA / MANO.]
[First Shadow Operation: Success. Efficiency: 94%.]
[Weekly Stipend Awarded: +0.5 Void-Coin.]
[Earth Asset Threshold Crossed.]
[Reward: 1 Basic Procurement Token.]
He used the token immediately, adding the 10% cosmetic surcharge.
[Item Acquired: Hydro-Kinetic Purification Bead (Basic).]
[Cosmetic Overlay Applied: 'Sattvic Resonance'. Item now appears as a smooth, milky-white quartz bead on a white cord. Produces clean water with a soft, golden glow.]
A bead necklace, looking utterly pious and harmless, appeared. This was a tool for MANO's public face. He set it aside.
A priority notification flashed.
[Communication Request: User 'Mad Scientist'.]
[Context: Post-Auction Analysis of Biomass Samples.]
[Status: Friend Request + Analytical Data.]
He accepted. The message was clinical.
Mad Scientist: Analysis of procured cellulose and floral specimens complete. Specimen B (Genus: Allium) shows anomalous organosulfur compound structures with high bio-potential. Specimen C (Genus: Abelmoschus) presents unique polysaccharide chains.
Mad Scientist: Requesting bulk procurement of Allium Genus Variant A. Sativum subspecies preferred. Initial quantity: 70 kilograms for Phase 1 cytological and alchemical trials. Delivery timeline: 10 local solar cycles. Please state terms.
She didn't know garlic. She knew Allium sativum because the System's inventory listing for his onion had provided the taxonomic data. She was a scientist requesting lab materials.
This was MAKA's next test: sourcing 70 kilos of garlic wholesale without suspicion. And MANO's future might depend on the Void-Coins it would bring.
Rajendra, still in his black MAKA attire, began to type his reply, the blood-red ring glinting in the lamplight. The two-faced coin of his destiny was now in motion.