Nadia Tirmizi – Strategic mind in the bureaucracy, compiler of the Black Files—evidence of decades of institutional rot.
Mehtab Qureshi – Senior federal secretary, 62, guardian of the system's skeleton. Loyal to no one, but wary of collapse.
Rayan entered like a surgeon stepping into an operating theatre.
No handshakes. No small talk.
He stood before a blank whiteboard.
"There is no saving this republic," he began. "Only redesigning it. From the root to the roof."
Qureshi folded his arms. "And what makes you think the state will let you?"
Rayan turned slowly. "Because the state is exhausted, and I am the only one left with a plan that doesn't end in tanks or flames."
Justice Rahim leaned forward. "What do you call this… plan?"
He picked up a black marker. In crisp Urdu, he wrote:
تجدیدِ پاکستان
Tajdeed-e-Pakistan – The Republic Reborn
"Not a party," he said. "A system. Not slogans. Algorithms. Not populism. Permanence."
The room went still.
Outside, the protest chant grew louder.
Inside, history had just changed its course.