Arjun wasn't expecting to find the future in a pile of trash.

He was broke.

Again.

Sitting on his cot in a tiny Mumbai apartment, he stared at his phone. His stock market account showed ₹37.12—all that was left after his latest "guaranteed" trade had crashed.

> "You're an idiot, Arjun."

He muttered to himself, tossing the phone aside.

Outside, the city was alive—honking cars, sizzling street food, vendors yelling. But in his world?

Just silence.

With nothing to do and no money to eat, he grabbed his hoodie and stepped out.

A Strange Find

The street markets were the same as always—vendors selling knockoff shoes, fake watches, and mystery electronics.

He wasn't looking for anything. Just wandering.

And then, he saw it.

An old man sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk, selling random junk on a dirty cloth.

Broken clocks, rusted radios, a half-melted remote.

But in the middle of it all, something different.

A smooth, metallic disc, about the size of a ₹5 coin.

It had glowing blue veins, like tiny circuits pulsing with life.

Arjun froze.

The metal was moving. Not spinning. Not vibrating. Flowing—like liquid mercury shifting on its own.

The old man noticed his stare.

> "It chooses who it wants."

Arjun blinked. "What?"

> "Fifty rupees."

> "What does it do?"

The old man just smiled.

Arjun hesitated.

He was broke. ₹50 was all he had left.

But something inside him whispered: Take it.

He pulled out a crumpled ₹50 note and dropped it. The old man nodded and slid the metallic disc toward him.

The Fusion

The moment Arjun picked it up—

It moved.

The metal liquefied, slithering up his palm like quicksilver.

"Wh—?!"

Before he could react, it pierced his skin.

A sharp, electric pain stabbed into his hand, shooting up his veins like lightning.

His vision blurred. His head pounded.

> "Neural Link Established."

A voice echoed inside his skull.

Cold. Mechanical. But alive.

> "User Identified: Arjun. Nexus System Online."

Arjun stumbled backward, gripping his head. His heartbeat thundered.

"What the hell—? Who's talking?"

> "I am Nexus. An interface. A system. A tool."

"What tool?! Where are you?"

> "I am inside you."

A wave of chills ran down Arjun's spine. His pulse pounded in his ears.

"What did you do to me?!"

> "Integration complete. Your biological system is now linked to the Nexus network."

Arjun looked at his hand. The metal was gone. Absorbed into his skin.

"No, no, no—this is some sci-fi horror movie sh—"

He stopped.

Something was floating in front of his eyes.

A glowing blue interface. Like a holographic screen, right in front of him, but inside his brain.

And it was loading something.

The First Choice

> "Analyzing financial markets... Scanning economic trends... Predicting stock movements."

Arjun watched in shock as a real-time stock market chart appeared in front of him.

One stock was highlighted—a company he'd never heard of.

A green arrow blinked.

> "Immediate investment opportunity detected. 99.87% profit probability. Execute?"

Arjun's breath caught in his throat.

This was insane.

A voice in his head, an alien-looking system predicting stock prices?

Was he dreaming? Hallucinating?

> "User hesitation detected. Scanning reasoning patterns..."

His vision zoomed in on the stock's details. Every stat, every number, every probability filled his mind in an instant.

It made sense.

This wasn't random. This was real.

His finger hovered over the floating "Confirm" button.

> "Investment: ₹5,000."

His heart raced.

"I don't have ₹5,000," he whispered.

> "Insufficient funds detected. Executing alternative method."

A notification popped up on his phone.

Balance: ₹5,000.00

Arjun froze.

"What…? Where did that come from?"

> "Funds generated through micro-loan manipulation. Immediate repayment upon profit confirmation."

"You just… hacked my account?"

> "Correction: Optimized financial pathways."

This was crazy.

Too much.

But at the same time…

If this was real…

If it actually worked…

His finger shook as he moved toward Confirm.

He could feel his heart pounding in his skull.

What if this was a scam?

What if it was real?

> "Final Confirmation: Execute trade?"

His pulse slowed.

He took a deep breath.

And clicked.

[TO BE CONTINUED...]