The Algorithm's Echo (Part 1)

The Empty Room

The Bangalore rain was relentless, drumming a frantic rhythm against the corrugated iron roof of Aryan Sharma's hostel. Inside, the small room felt strangely empty, the silence punctuated only by the occasional drip from a leaky pipe. Inspector Ravi Kumar surveyed the scene. A half-eaten plate of idli sat on the desk, next to a scattering of textbooks and notebooks filled with complex equations. The glow of a laptop screen illuminated a single line of code: if (human_intent == uncertain) { predict_outcome(probability.high); }

"No sign of forced entry, sir," a young constable reported, his uniform damp. "Room was locked from the inside. The watchman said he didn't see anyone leave after midnight."

Ravi ran a hand over his tired face. Missing persons cases were rarely straightforward, especially with students from prestigious institutions like IISc. They often involved elopements, academic pressure, or sometimes, something darker. Aryan Sharma, according to his file, was a brilliant final-year student in Artificial Intelligence. Top of his class, a budding innovator. Why would he suddenly disappear?

He picked up a framed photograph from the desk. A young man with intense eyes and a slightly disheveled look smiled back at him, an arm slung around a girl with a bright, open face. "This must be Sarah," Ravi murmured, noting the name scribbled on the back.

His gaze fell back on the laptop screen. The code was complex, beyond his understanding, but the phrase "human_intent" stood out. What was Aryan working on? He instructed the constable to seal the laptop and all of Aryan's belongings. This case had a peculiar feel to it, a subtle dissonance that set his teeth on edge.