Arc 1: The Wealth Momentum (2016)Part I: The Zero-Sum Game
Chapter 6 — The First Spending
An engineer doesn't worship miracles.
He dissects them—until they become tools.
Vikram Choudhary stood on the uneven pavement outside Dadar station, the smell of petrol fumes, frying oil, and damp concrete blending into a scent that Mumbai never quite shed. It was the smell of survival. The smell of ten million people running the same race with different starting lines.
This place had always grounded him.
And today, of all days, he needed grounding.
The blue holographic panel floated calmly at the edge of his vision, translucent, precise, uncaring.
₹ BALANCE: ₹6,858.00
The number pulsed faintly, as if breathing.
Vikram blinked—once.
Ting.
₹6,860.00
He stopped walking.
"No," he murmured. "Not yet."
He consciously did not blink again.
This wasn't about earning money anymore. He had already proven that part beyond reasonable doubt. This was about something deeper. Something fundamental.
Does the system obey reality… or overwrite it?
If it was the former, it was powerful.
If it was the latter—
Vikram swallowed.
—then reality itself was negotiable.
The Test Site
The Vada Pav stall stood exactly where it always had.
A rusted cart. One shaky wheel. A glass case smeared with fingerprints. The vendor—middle-aged, lean, perpetually sweating—flipped potato fritters with the bored efficiency of a man who had repeated the same motion for twenty years.
₹20 per Vada Pav.
₹10 per cutting chai.
Total: ₹50.
No taxes.
No receipts.
No digital trail.
The purest form of transaction.
Cash to hand. Food to mouth.
If the system worked here—
It would work anywhere.
Vikram stepped closer.
The Engineer's Checklist
His mind automatically assembled a checklist.
Variables:
Physical cash transaction
No QR code
No banking system involved
No credit card
No online confirmation
Hypothesis:
If rebate applies → system operates at a conceptual level
If rebate fails → system is bound to digital infrastructure
Risk Assessment:
Loss: ₹50 (acceptable)
Gain: Proof of systemic omnipotence (priceless)
He took a breath.
And spoke.
"Bhaiya," Vikram said. "Ek Vada Pav aur ek cutting chai."
The vendor nodded without looking up.
The Transaction
Vikram pulled a crisp ₹50 note from his wallet.
The note felt… heavier than it should have.
This might be the most important ₹50 of my life, he thought.
He handed it over.
The vendor accepted it.
The moment the fingers exchanged ownership—
The world paused.
Not visually.
Not audibly.
But internally.
The blue panel flared.
For the first time since its appearance, it expanded.
Lines of text scrolled into existence with clinical clarity.
TRANSACTION DETECTED
MODE: DIRECT PHYSICAL EXCHANGE
AMOUNT: ₹50.00
CATEGORY: ESSENTIAL CONSUMPTION
ANALYZING…
Vikram's heart slammed against his ribs.
The vendor poured chai. Steam rose. Life went on.
And then—
Ting.
A new notification overlaid the panel.
100% REBATE APPLIED
₹50.00 CREDITED
₹ BALANCE: ₹6,910.00
Vikram froze.
Not because of joy.
Not because of shock.
But because something inside him had broken.
The Glitch in Reality
"This…" he whispered. "This shouldn't be possible."
Cash transactions didn't leave trails.
There was no system to notify.
No network to ping.
No server to confirm.
And yet—
The system had known.
Not observed.
Not inferred.
Known.
The potato fritter hit the bun with a soft thap.
The chai glass slid across the counter.
The vendor said, "Aur kuch?"
Vikram shook his head automatically.
"No," he said. "Bas."
He picked up the food and stepped aside.
The panel remained open, as if waiting for acknowledgement.
STATUS: TRANSACTION COMPLETE
This wasn't a financial exploit.
This wasn't even technological.
This was metaphysical.
The system wasn't tracking money.
It was tracking intent.
Understanding the Mechanism
Vikram leaned against a nearby wall, ignoring the rush of commuters brushing past him. He stared at the vada pav in his hand.
₹20 worth of calories.
₹20 worth of survival.
And yet—
The system had treated it as a unit of expenditure.
Meaning—
"It doesn't care how," Vikram muttered. "It cares that I spent."
The realization sent a chill down his spine.
He took a bite.
The familiar taste grounded him again. Spicy. Greasy. Comforting.
Nothing supernatural about the food.
Only about the rules governing it.
The Mental Shift
For most of his life, money had been a constraint.
A limiter.
Every decision filtered through a single question:
Can I afford this?
That question had shaped his personality. His restraint. His so-called laziness.
Not because he lacked ambition—
But because ambition was expensive.
Now—
He took another bite.
The question no longer applied.
He had just spent money.
And reality had refunded him.
Not as charity.
Not as luck.
But as policy.
"This is not wealth," Vikram thought slowly.
"This is immunity."
Fear Comes Before Greed
People assumed infinite money would feel exhilarating.
Vikram felt afraid.
Because if effort no longer correlated with reward—
Then morality, fairness, and struggle were optional constructs.
What did earning even mean now?
What did value mean?
The system didn't answer.
It never did.
It didn't justify itself.
It didn't moralize.
It simply functioned.
Like gravity.
Or a loaded gun.
Second Confirmation: Immediate Re-Spend
Vikram wasn't done.
Not yet.
He walked back to the stall.
"Ek aur chai," he said.
₹10.
Paid.
The panel reacted instantly.
TRANSACTION DETECTED: ₹10.00
100% REBATE APPLIED
₹6,920.00
No cooldown.
No penalty.
No warning.
The system wanted him to spend.
The Engineer's Conclusion
Vikram stepped away again, chai warming his palms.
His mind worked furiously.
The system detects any form of spending
Rebate is instantaneous
No dependency on banking infrastructure
No visible upper cap
No diminishing returns
He exhaled.
"This is a positive feedback loop," he said quietly.
Spend → Refund → Spend more → Grow faster.
Left unchecked—
It would explode.
Mumbai, Unchanged
The irony wasn't lost on him.
Around him—
A man argued with an auto driver over ₹10.
A woman counted coins for a train ticket.
A child tugged at his mother's sari, asking for a samosa.
The zero-sum game continued.
Winners and losers decided by birth, timing, and connections.
And here he stood—
Outside the equation.
Invisible.
Undetectable.
Unfair.
The First Rule Is Born
Vikram finished his chai and crushed the paper cup.
He looked at the blue panel.
Then past it.
Into the city.
"Rule one," he said softly. "Never treat this like magic."
The panel flickered faintly.
"Rule two," he continued. "Never let anyone know."
He blinked unconsciously.
Ting.
₹6,922.00
He smiled grimly.
"Rule three," he finished. "If reality has a glitch…"
He tucked his hands into his pockets and began walking home.
"…I'll exploit it responsibly."
The engineer in him wasn't awed.
He was alert.
The miracle had been dissected.
Now—
It was a tool.
End of Chapter 6
SYSTEM LOG:
User has completed First Real-World Expenditure Test.
Spending-Rebate Loop: CONFIRMED.
Trajectory: UNRESTRICTED.
The Zero-Sum Game had just lost its first player.