Ch 2 Part 2: What is in the box?
Ch 2 Part 2: What is in the box?
Written by Kavya and Concept by Sidhant First go to previous blogs if you have not already....
Meanwhile, in Tokyo...
Soto, too, was in turmoil. October 4th marked a painful anniversary—the day two years ago that had set him on the path of isolation. Since that fateful day, he had become a Hikikomori, a prisoner of his own making, spending his days in solitude, safe from the world that had hurt him. His dojo, a quiet retreat for meditation, had become his sanctuary.
But today, something felt off. Soto had spent the entire morning meditating, as was his custom, and had even allowed his robotic house assistant to prepare his beloved green tea. Yet, when he returned to his study, another strange object awaited him: another carved wooden box, this one bearing an intricate sudoku puzzle.
His heart raced. The box was unlike any he had seen before, with a special pen inserted beside it. The puzzle, a challenge he had often relished, seemed to mock him now, a reminder of a time when things had been different.
Without a second thought, Soto set to work. The puzzle was complex, but nothing he couldn't solve. A mere 11 minutes later, he placed the final digit, and the box sprang open. Inside, a message awaited him: "AIKA"—her name, carved into the lid.
A flood of memories overwhelmed him. Aika, the girl he had loved. Aika, the girl who had broken his heart. He had locked those memories away, but now they had found their way back, creeping into the corners of his mind.
The blue light that flickered inside the box illuminated a strange sequence of numbers—a phone number. Trembling, Soto dialed the digits. What would it reveal? What truth was lurking just out of reach?
In Kenya...
Absko sat in his modest apartment, staring at the strange floppy disk he had found inside his own carved box. The message on his phone—"look at me maybe"—was cryptic, yet urgent. The Tandy 2000 desktop, slow as it was, finally hummed to life. And then, the audio message began: “Absko power go save world; don’t unveil next floppy; no blog; meet soon.”
Was this a joke? Or was it a call to action? Absko had never been one to shy away from a challenge, but this felt different. This felt like something bigger than he could ever imagine.
The three protagonists, each in a distant corner of the world, were now caught in a web of mystery, manipulation, and fate. The boxes—each seemingly random, yet unmistakably linked—had set them on a collision course, one that would unravel secrets, unearth hidden truths, and perhaps even change their lives forever.
But the greatest mystery of all remained: What next?
