Chapter 30: Cracks in the Empire
May 7, 2009 — 9:00 AM — Somewhere in South Delhi
The Delhi sun blazed mercilessly.
Rickshaws beeped furiously on choked roads.
Street vendors shouted over each other in a thousand flavors of chaos.
Shiva sat at a corner table in a grimy tea shop, swirling a glass of chai with one finger.
He was exhausted.
Twenty-four hours without sleep.
Still running on adrenaline and cheap samosas.
Across from him, Farhan and Riya sipped silently, their faces glowing with victory.
The Delhi Rickshaw Championship had been a massive success.
The underground scene now whispered Shiva's name like he was some kind of urban myth.
But Shiva wasn't smiling.
Not really.
Because last night, when the warehouse emptied...
something had gone missing.
The backup hard drive.
The one with all tournament recordings, player lists, sponsorship contacts, and — crucially — secret future plans.
Gone.
Stolen.
---
9:30 AM — The Problem
Farhan leaned forward, frowning.
"Maybe it got misplaced?"
Riya shook her head, deadly serious.
"No way. I packed it myself. It was inside the black duffel. Next to the cash."
Shiva nodded grimly.
And that wasn't all.
The backup venue list — the emergency cash stash — even the fake documents Shiva had created under alternate names…
vanished.
Stolen by someone who knew exactly what to grab.
Someone inside the team.
---
10:00 AM — The Suspects
There weren't many possibilities.
Baba (the ex-bouncer) — loyal but greedy.
Ajay (the poster guy) — desperate for tuition money.
Rachit (the security runner) — always quiet, always on his phone.
Farhan growled, smashing his fist lightly on the table.
"If we find them, we break them."
Riya glared.
"No. We do it smart. We do it clean. If they stole it, they're planning to sell it. Probably to our enemies."
Shiva's mind raced.
He knew exactly who would pay handsomely for that drive:
Rival student gaming crews.
Business sharks sniffing easy money.
Worst of all — GameNode Inc., the giant corporation he'd embarrassed.
He tapped his fingers on the table rhythmically.
"No violence yet," Shiva said coldly.
"First, find the rat."
---
10:30 AM — The Bait Plan
Operation Rat Trap was born on the spot.
Plan:
Send out a fake message claiming a second "secret championship" would happen next weekend.
Leak it carefully to all the suspects.
Whoever showed unusual behavior — contacting outsiders, asking strange questions — was the thief.
Simple.
Deadly.
---
11:00 AM — Setting the Trap
Riya and Farhan worked the contacts.
WhatsApp messages.
Orkut DMs.
Anonymous tips dropped at cyber cafés.
The fake announcement spread like wildfire among the inner crew:
> "NEXT LEVEL CHAMPIONSHIP — ₹1 LAKH PRIZE — LOCATION SECRET — RSVP FAST."
And then they waited.
---
May 8, 2009 — 5:00 PM — Surveillance
Shiva, Riya, and Farhan sat parked in an old Maruti 800 near Lajpat Nagar, sharing a single pair of binoculars.
From behind a cracked windshield, they watched as Rachit — the quiet one — sneaked into an internet café.
Sweating nervously.
Looking around.
Fifteen minutes later, he emerged.
On his phone.
Talking fast.
Too fast.
Shiva's heart sank.
> "It's him."
---
6:00 PM — The Confrontation
They cornered Rachit outside the café.
He tried to bolt.
Farhan tackled him to the ground like a rugby player.
A short, brutal scuffle.
Rachit cried out:
"I HAD NO CHOICE! I SWEAR!"
Shiva stood over him, breathing hard.
"Who paid you?"
Rachit whimpered.
"Not money! They threatened me!"
"WHO?"
Tears streaked Rachit's dirty face.
"Someone from GameNode.
They said if I gave them the drive, they'd leave me alone.
If I didn't... they'd get me expelled. Get my family evicted."
Shiva exchanged a grim look with Riya.
GameNode was moving faster — and dirtier — than he thought.
---
6:30 PM — Damage Assessment
In a deserted parking lot, under the flickering light of a dying street lamp, they extracted the rest of the story:
The hard drive had already been copied.
The copies had been delivered to a man named Vikram Sethi — a mid-level executive at GameNode Delhi office.
A full dossier on Shiva's operations, teams, locations was now sitting on some corporate desk.
It was bad.
Really bad.
If GameNode chose to act, they could:
Blackmail Shiva.
File legal charges.
Copy his underground tournament model and launch a polished, legal version — crushing him overnight.
Shiva sat on the hood of the Maruti, staring at the night sky.
The first real betrayal.
He felt it deep in his bones.
> "I'm not ready yet."
"If they attack now... I'll lose everything."
But giving up?
Not an option.
---
7:00 PM — The Counterattack
While Rachit sniffled in the back seat, Shiva outlined the counterstrike:
> "We go public.
Fast.
Loud.
Before they can kill us quietly.
If we make Rickshaw Rush too big to destroy,
they can't erase us without getting their own hands dirty."
Farhan grinned, the old fire returning.
"What's the play, boss?"
Shiva grinned back.
"We take Rickshaw Rush above ground.
We LEGITIMIZE it.
And we build an army bigger than they can even imagine."
Riya nodded sharply.
"War it is."
---
May 9, 2009 — Morning
The first step in Shiva's new plan:
> Create a fully legal front company —
a gaming club registered under student entrepreneurship rules.
No cops.
No lawsuits.
No sneaky shutdowns.
Once Rickshaw Rush had an official face, it would be untouchable.
But speed was everything.
Because GameNode already had the stolen blueprints in their hands…
…and the clock was ticking.
---
[End of Chapter 30]