Chapter 2: Signals in the Dark

The blackout lasted only a few minutes, but the silence it left behind felt heavier than the darkness itself. When the lights flickered back on, the students in the lab erupted in nervous chatter. Teachers tried to calm them, but Arman barely heard a word. His eyes were fixed on the glowing message still lingering on his laptop screen:

“BLACK CIRCUIT IS WATCHING.”

Riya leaned closer, her voice trembling. “Arman… who are they? What do they want?”

Arman shook his head, his mind racing. “I don’t know yet. But this isn’t random. Someone hijacked the system deliberately.”

Zara, standing a few feet away, had lost her usual smirk. She crossed her arms, trying to mask her unease. “You’re saying a hacker group is targeting our school? That’s insane.”

Arman turned to her, frustration in his tone. “You saw the encryption. That wasn’t student-level. Whoever they are, they’re serious.”

Kian, who had been silent until now, stepped forward. His voice was calm but edged with suspicion. “Why would they send a message to you, Arman? Out of everyone here, why you?”

Arman hesitated. He didn’t have an answer. But deep down, he knew his curiosity had already painted a target on his back.

Riya placed a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe they know you’re the only one who can stop them.”

Zara scoffed, though her voice lacked conviction. “Or maybe they’re baiting you. Hackers love to play games.”

Arman’s fingers flew across the keyboard again, tracing the source of the intrusion. The trail led to a hidden server outside the school’s network, masked behind layers of proxies. He frowned. “They’re not just inside our system. They’re using it as a gateway.”

Riya’s eyes widened. “Gateway to what?”

Before Arman could respond, his screen flashed again. A new line of text appeared, scrolling across in stark white:

“NEXT: THE CITY.”

The words froze him in place. His breath caught.

Zara leaned in, her voice barely a whisper. “Did they just say… the city?”

Kian’s jaw tightened. “If they’re planning something bigger, we need to know what.”

Arman stared at the message, his pulse pounding. He realized this wasn’t just about the school anymore. Whoever Black Circuit was, they had their eyes on Dhaka itself.

And somehow, he and his friends were already entangled in their game.