The Echo of Nirantara

The city of Nirantara was an architectural marvel—so eerily similar to Earth, yet not quite.

The streets bustled with people who carried secrets in their eyes, their smiles stretched too wide, their laughter echoing longer than it should.

The sky above them was a deeper shade of blue, as though it were watching.

Among the countless citizens was Arav Sen, a journalist known for his relentless pursuit of truth.

But in Nirantara, truth was a dangerous thing.

One evening, as Arav sat in his dimly lit apartment, reviewing his latest investigation, his phone buzzed. An unknown number.

"You're being watched, Arav," a whispery voice said. "Stop looking for what doesn't want to be found."

The call ended before he could respond. He shivered. This wasn't the first warning he had received since he began investigating the mysterious disappearances in Nirantara.

People were vanishing, but their names, their existence—were being erased from memory. No one but Arav seemed to remember them.

That night, Arav dreamed of Aditi, his younger sister, who had disappeared two years ago.

He remembered her bright eyes, the way she laughed, the way she used to say, "Nothing is ever as it seems, Bhaiya."

But here's the thing—Aditi was never real. Or at least, that's what everyone told him.

### The Investigation

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Determined to prove that something was wrong with Nirantara, Arav visited an old bookstore run by Ravi, a man who claimed to have the city's oldest records.

The place smelled of forgotten knowledge, dust, and something oddly metallic.

"I need records of missing people," Arav said.

Ravi hesitated. Then, after glancing around nervously, he pulled out a worn-out journal. "You're not the first to ask," he murmured. "But you might be the last."

Arav flipped through the pages, his hands trembling. Names, dates—proof. The last recorded disappearance was just two days ago. Meera Rao, a schoolteacher.

But as he read, the ink on her name began to fade before his eyes.

"What the hell?" He gasped.

"It's the city," Ravi whispered. "It erases people. Not just from existence, but from memory itself."

Arav's head pounded. It didn't make sense. How could a city erase people? He rushed home, pulling out old photo albums, searching for proof of Aditi.

But in every picture where she should have been, there was nothing. An empty space.

And then, he heard it. A faint whisper.

"She's still here, Arav."

He turned sharply, but there was no one.

### The Experiment

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Arav's desperation led him to the Nirantara Institute of Cognitive Sciences, a government facility where he believed the answers lay.

He broke in under the cover of night, his heart hammering as he navigated through the sterile white halls.

In a locked room, he found case files—hundreds of them. Each contained details of people who had vanished.

Their memories weren't being erased naturally. They were being removed.

That's when he heard the footsteps.

Dr. Ishaan Roy, the head scientist, stood at the doorway, looking unsurprised. "You shouldn't have come here, Arav."

"What is this place?" Arav demanded. "What are you doing to people?"

Ishaan sighed, stepping forward. "Nirantara is not what you think it is. This city—this world—is an experiment. And you are one of its test subjects."

The room spun around Arav.

"Nirantara is a fabricated reality," Ishaan continued. "A psychological trial. We test how the mind adapts when faced with inconsistencies.

We manipulate memories, erase identities, alter histories. This isn't your first time discovering the truth, Arav. It won't be the last."

Arav's breath hitched. "What are you saying?"

Ishaan looked at him with something like pity. "This has happened before. Dozens of times.

You uncover the truth, and then we reset you."

Arav staggered back. "No. You're lying."

"Am I?" Ishaan gestured to a mirror on the wall. "Then tell me, who is Aditi?"

Arav turned to his own reflection. He tried to picture her face, but—he couldn't. The memory of her was slipping, melting into nothing.

"No!" He clutched his head, trying to hold onto the image. "She was real! She—"

The world around him darkened. His thoughts fragmented.

And then—nothing.

### The Reset

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Arav woke up in his apartment. The city was bustling outside. The sky was a deep, watchful blue.

His phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number.

"You're being watched, Arav. Stop looking for what doesn't want to be found."

He frowned. Déjà vu.

Somewhere, in the depths of his mind, a voice whispered.

"Nothing is ever as it seems, Bhaiya."

But the memory was already fading.

And in Nirantara, nothing remained for long.