The Diwali lights seemed to dim around Rajendra as he read Vex's message. The floating, empty stasis pod in the image felt like an accusation. He'd been careless. The Mad Scientist's urgent delivery had left a trail, and a desperate, cosmic bloodhound had found it.
He went straight to his office at the mill, the sounds of the festival a distant hum. He needed to think. Vex wasn't gloating or threatening. He was inquiring. "You're shipping more than just old movies... What else are you sending out there?"
It was the tone of a competitor analyzing a rival's new product line.
Rajendra decided honesty—a strategic, limited honesty—was the best shield. He couldn't pretend it wasn't his pod. The energy signature was a giveaway.
Rajendra (Earth-Prime): Correct. I am a multi-source merchant. Beyond cultural artifacts, I also trade in unique biological specimens from my world. The pod was for a specialized, time-sensitive botanical delivery to another client. My operations are diverse, as any sustainable business must be.
He sent it, framing his actions as simple, prudent business. Don't apologize; explain.
The reply came faster than light.
Vex: Diversity is wisdom. The specimen in that pod carried a potent life-signature, distinct from the necrotic residues I typically deal in. My people's… medical requirements are complex. We require a balance of materials. Your world shows surprising potential in both cultural-emotional and bio-stabilizing fields.
I propose a new trade relationship. Beyond the Glyth non-interference pact, which I honor. A commercial proposition. I wish to become a primary contractor for two things:
1. A monthly supply of curated 'emotional narratives'—specifically, recordings of tragic or cathartic human events (theatrical, musical, or documented).
2. First right of refusal on any new psychoactive or neuro-stabilizing botanical samples you discover.
In return: I will match or exceed the Void-Coin payments of your other clients, and I will provide access to a selection of Tier-1 industrial and material science blueprints, safe for Tier-0 assimilation.*
It was a staggering offer. Lucrative, and laced with what Vex knew Rajendra needed: legitimate, earthly tech he could introduce. No weapons. No world-breakers. Blueprints for better alloys, efficient batteries, polymer chemistry. The building blocks of an industrial empire.
This wasn't the predatory Vex he had imagined. This was a pragmatist. A wholesaler making a bulk offer for exclusive rights.
But Rajendra was a merchant too. Exclusivity was a cage.
**Rajendra (Earth-Prime): Your offer is serious, and I acknowledge the value. However, 'primary contractor' status and 'first right of refusal' are too restrictive. I will not bind my world's potential output to a single client, no matter how generous. I counter-propose a Preferred Partnership.
Terms:
*- I will guarantee you a minimum of 20% of my monthly output in the categories you specified, at a 15% premium over my standard rate.*
- You will have early notification of new biological findings, but not exclusivity.
*- In return for this preferred status and the guaranteed supply, you will provide one Tier-1 industrial blueprint of my choosing per quarter, with full safety protocols.*
This maintains my flexibility and your supply security. It is a partnership, not a procurement annex.
He was drawing a line. He was Earth's merchant, not Vex's appointed dealer.
The pause this time was longer. Rajendra could almost feel the weary calculation happening light-years away.
**Vex: Your terms are acceptable. The premium is noted. We have an agreement. Transmitting the first quarterly blueprint now as a gesture of goodwill. It is for a room-temperature superconducting ceramic compound. Your primitive 'computers' and power grids would find it… transformative. Begin curating the first emotional narrative shipment. I require something embodying 'sacrificial love' and 'generational loss.' **
[File Received: 'LTS-Ceramic (Kal-7) Synthesis & Application Primer.']
Rajendra stared at the notification. Room-temperature superconductors. It was a keys-to-the-kingdom technology. With this, he could leapfrog decades of research. MANO could build revolutionary electronics, lossless power lines…
And the cost? He had to find a tragic love story.
He leaned back, a strange feeling settling in his chest. He had just made a deal with the being he thought was a monster. And the monster had offered him the tools to build a better world, in exchange for stories of heartbreak.
It was the most human transaction he'd ever conducted.
The next week was a whirlwind. The film shoot for Pyaar Ki Jeet began with a simple pooja ceremony on a set in Film City. Madhuri Dixit was there, dazzling in a simple salwar kameez. Salman Khan, young and eager, stood beside her. Rajendra attended, not as the boss, but as a quiet observer. He watched the scene being filmed—a simple moment where the boy first sees the girl.
The director called action. Salman looked. And in his eyes, Rajendra saw the raw, unjaded charm that would one day conquer a nation. Madhuri responded with a shy smile that held both innocence and deep strength. The chemistry was there. It would work.
Prakash Mehra grinned at him. "We have lightning in a bottle, Shakuniya-ji."
On the way out, Rajendra was stopped by a nervous assistant. "Sir, a man asked me to give this to you." It was a plain envelope.
Inside was a single photograph. It showed Elena Volkova, in a Mumbai café, deep in conversation with a man in a sharp suit. The man was Vikram Sampat, the electronics importer whose business he had crippled.
On the back, scrawled in pen: "Your Russian rose has thorns. She's smelling other gardens. - A friend."
It was a warning. Or a poison pill from Sampat's crumbling network. Was Elena playing him? Was she already looking for other backers, other ways to secure her future beyond his gold?
He didn't react. He pocketed the photo. Trust was a currency, and he had just seen a potential counterfeit note.
That evening, he met Shanti to review the first Karjut weaves that had come in. The fabrics were beautiful, rich with colour and tradition.
"They're perfect," Shanti said, her fingers tracing a complex geometric pattern. "We can make sarees, dupattas, even line men's jackets. The story sells itself."
"We'll call it the 'MANO Heritage Collection,'" Rajendra decided. "Launch it with the film's music release. Cross-promotion."
"It's smart," she agreed, then hesitated. "Rajendra… my father. He's impressed. The Diwali bazaar, the film, the Russian deal he's heard whispers about… He's asking more questions. He wants a formal meeting. Not as a distributor. As a potential investor in MANO itself."
This was the next level. Sharma Industrials buying in would bring massive capital, legitimacy, and deep political connections. But it would also mean ceding some control.
"Set the meeting," Rajendra said. "But we keep 51%. Always."
She nodded, a spark of challenge in her eyes. "I'll make him see it."
After she left, Rajendra sat alone with the hum of the city. He had a film shooting, a textile line launching, a Russian heiress possibly double-crossing him, a corporate titan wanting to buy in, and a steady contract to supply tragic stories to an emotionally-starved alien civilization.
His empire was being built on stories, spices, sorrow, and superconductors.
He pulled out the photo of Elena and Sampat again. A cold part of his mind, the merchant part, began planning. He would need to vet her loyalty. He would need a test.
And he knew just the one. The first "emotional narrative" for Vex. He would have Elena find it for him. He would have her procure a recording of a classic, tragic Indian love story—the kind that ends in sacrifice and tears. He would see how she moved, who she talked to, what she was willing to do.
It was a business test, wrapped in a cultural assignment.
He was about to summon Ganesh to arrange a meeting with Elena when his System chimed. It was the Mad Scientist. Her message was uncharacteristically brief.
**Mad Scientist: *The 'Silver Sprig' specimen has yielded a breakthrough. A derivative compound shows 67% necrosis-halting efficacy. I am designating it 'Formula Aasha' (Hope). Production scaling is required. Your cultivation project on Earth-Prime is now of utmost priority. I am attaching enhanced agricultural schematics. Implement them. Your next botanical shipment must be ten times the volume.*
[File Received: 'Hydroponic/Aeroponic Integration Framework (Tier-1)']
Another blueprint. This one for ultra-efficient, climate-controlled farming. She wasn't asking. She was telling.
Rajendra looked from the Mad Scientist's demand to the memory of Vex's polite offer. Two powerful, needy entities. Both wanted Earth's bounty. Both were offering him the tools to reshape his world.
He was no longer just a merchant.
He was the gatekeeper.
And he stood at the gate, the keys to both heaven and hell in his hands, while wolves and angels alike waited patiently outside, their offers stacked at his feet.
The only question was which door he would open first.