Ch-1 When reality split
In the middle of the Manipur conflict, a young man made a decision no one else dared to make.
“They took her… and no one is going,” he said to his superior.
“If you won’t go, then I will.”
The village had already fallen. Armed men had stormed in, killing civilians and taking the survivors. Among them… was her.
Without waiting for orders, he crossed into the hostile zone alone—a place people feared like a warzone. Moving silently, he fought his way through enemies one by one, like a lone agent in a battlefield where survival itself was a miracle.
Finally, he saw one of them.
He raised his gun… fired.
But the bullet missed.
The man turned and ran.
Driven by rage, he chased him through the broken land—through smoke, silence, and fear.
Then—
A sudden strike.
The enemy swung his weapon and smashed it against his head.
Darkness.
When he woke up, something felt wrong.
He wasn’t alone.
Around him… he could feel the presence of others—like his own unit had been there all along, even though he clearly remembered going alone.
Years later, he told this story to his wife.
“I wasn’t alone,” he said quietly.
“It felt like… they were there. Like another version of my unit.”
His wife, a scholar studying consciousness and alternate realities, listened carefully.
“You believe that really happened?” she asked.
He looked at her, serious.
“It didn’t just happen… here.
It happened in another universe too.”
“It was during the Manipur conflict,” he said.
“They had attacked a village… killed civilians… and taken the rest.”
He paused.
“You were among them.”
“You were working as a journalist… undercover.
You found something you shouldn’t have.
They took you one night… when you were walking alone on the road.”
“The helicopter cut through the dark sky.
Inside, silence.
I raised my hand.
The pilot slowed the aircraft.
A signal.
‘Go.’”
“One by one, we slid down the rope into the darkness.
Boots touched the ground—quiet, controlled.”
The Plan
Behind a rocky ridge, I looked through binoculars.
“Five guards,” I said. “Three at the entrance. Two near the hut.”
One of my men asked, “Orders, sir?”
I answered—
“Alpha team, left flank. Silent takedown.”
“Move clean. No noise.”
“They nodded.
We moved.”
The Fight
“At first, everything was under control.
One guard dropped.
Another didn’t even turn.”
“Then suddenly—
‘INTRUDERS!’”
“Gunfire started.
Everything broke.”
“I pushed forward.
I didn’t stop.
Even when bullets were coming from everywhere.”
“One by one… my men fell.
I saw them go down.”
“But I didn’t stop.”
“I reached the hut.
Kicked the door open.”
“Civilians inside… terrified.
And then—
I saw you.”
“For a moment… everything became silent.
I told you, ‘Come.’”
“You ran toward me.”
“I took you out… and kept moving.
I had to clear the way.”
“I fought alone now.
One by one… I took them down.”
“Until only one was left.”
“He tried to escape.
I chased him.”
“I aimed…
fired…”
“…but I missed.”
“He turned suddenly—
and shot me in the head.”
After That…
“…and then everything felt strange,” he said quietly.
“I couldn’t see clearly… I don’t even remember falling.”
He paused.
“But I wasn’t alone.”
His wife frowned.
“You said your whole unit was gone.”
He shook his head slowly.
“I know… they were.”
“But when I was down…”
“It felt like they were there again.”
“Like backup arrived…”
“Like the fight was still going on…”
“…even without me.”
Silence filled the room.
His wife looked at him carefully.
“You were unconscious during that time,” she said.
“That’s what really happened.”
He looked at her.
“But I remember it,” he said.
“Not like a dream…”
“…like I was there.”
She stayed quiet for a moment.
Then she said softly—
“Maybe your mind continued… when your body couldn’t.”
He leaned back, staring into nothing.
“…or maybe it didn’t stop,” he murmured.
His wife sighed.
“I don’t think it happened the way you remember.”
He didn’t argue.
Because deep inside—
It didn’t feel imagined.
It felt like something…
that happened somewhere else.
