David turns the pages slowly at first, then flips through them randomly, wasting about half an hour.
These officers are incredibly patient, he thinks, sweat prickling his forehead. Mr. Sree is watching my every move. I have to improvise.
"Sree sir, the images are not moving whatever I do."
As he says this, David slowly starts to stand up. In the middle of the motion, using his body to shield the book from their view, he quickly opens the first page, flips to the last, and then presses his hand firmly onto the middle page. He keeps the book half-closed to hide the silver liquid flowing out of the pages.
"Why are you getting up?" Sree's voice is sharp. "Sit down. You can try again; we have enough time."
Sree doesn't rise from his seat, but his eyes narrow, analyzing David's clumsy behavior.
David sits back down, keeping his hand hidden inside the book. He makes a show of shifting in his chair, pretending to be frustrated, then starts to get up again as if to say something, but sits down once more without speaking.
Buzz.
The watch vibrates against his wrist. The process is over.
David withdraws his hand from the book in one smooth motion, and the cover falls shut.
I can't move away from the book yet. If I show any sign of panic, Officer Sree will notice.
NEAA, how long until the book burns? Vibrate once if it is less than one minute.
Buzz. Buzz.
Two vibrations. That means he has more than a minute before the fire starts.
David pulls the book closer again. As he does, he notices something new—a silver ring has formed on the middle finger of his right hand. He hasn't expected the device to create separate accessories.
He opens the book again, pretending to read with utmost care, but the pages are now blank. He keeps checking his mental clock, asking NEAA for updates.
Finally, the one-minute mark approaches.
David closes the book, takes a deep breath, and places it on the center of the table.
"Sir, I really can't find any method to make the images move. Are you sure what I saw that day was real? Maybe I was hallucinating."
Officer Sree leans forward, his expression grave. "Okay, David. I will tell you something, but you have to keep this a secret." He lowers his voice, acting as if he is about to disclose a state secret. "You must not tell this to anyone, not even your close relatives."
But before he can reveal the secret, the book on the table bursts into flames.
"Fire!"
Chaos erupts in the small room. The officers jump back, but the fire is intense and rapid. Within seconds, the book is reduced to ash.
Silence fills the room. All three officers stare at David.
"I didn't do anything!" David throws his hands up innocently. "How did it catch fire all of a sudden?"
Officer Sree stands up and walks out of the room, pulling out his phone. Divakar, however, doesn't leave. He stares at David intensely.
"When did you get that ring on your finger?"
David's heart skips a beat. He hadn't expected Divakar's observation skills to be this keen.
"This? It was inside my pocket earlier. I put it on while I was reading the book. Fidgeting helps me think."
"Let me see that ring."
"Here." David slides the ring off and hands it to Divakar.
Divakar inspects it closely. It looks like a simple, polished metal band—quite ordinary. Finding nothing suspicious, he hands it back. He has no idea that the very technology they are hunting for is resting in his palm.
Officer Sree returns, putting his phone away. He looks frustrated.
"Come, let's go. Mr. David, sorry for disturbing you for this long. Manju, collect David's details for future reference."
"Yes, sir."
"Sir?" David calls out as they turn to leave. "You were going to tell me a big secret."
He isn't ready to let them leave without gathering some information himself.
"It was nothing," Sree says dismissively, already walking toward the door. "You can go back after giving your details to Officer Manju."
Officer Manju efficiently collects all of David's information, from his date of birth to his degree marks.
Once he is released from the station, David returns to his hostel. A crowd of onlookers is still waiting for news, including the hostel manager, Manohar.
"Why did the police come? Did they arrest you? Will they come back?" Manohar bombards him with questions.
"No, they won't come back. It was just a routine inquiry about the library fire," David assures him.
He escapes into his room. It is a mess—the police ransacked it during their search. His belongings are scattered everywhere, and Ajith is nowhere to be seen. Even Ajith's books have been tossed around.
It takes him the rest of the day to clean and organize the room. Once everything is in order, he goes up to the rooftop to check the new addition to his arsenal.
"NEAA, tell me. What's new?"
"David, wait a moment."
The silver ring on his finger begins to melt. It flows back into the watch, merging seamlessly. The transformation takes another fifteen minutes. When it finishes, the watch looks normal again.
"Upgrade complete. I now possess the complete Engineering Module for electronics and Advanced Operation Protocol creation capabilities. The Human Development book acts as a compact version of a Mainframe."
"Can you design robots? Like the ones I saw in the book?"
When David was young, he had always wanted to play with Transformers toys, but his family was too poor to afford them.
"I can create small machines, provided there is a sufficient material supply. For advanced machinery, I would need to connect to a supercomputer."
"Can you design small RC toys?"
Every man is a child at heart, David thinks, grinning. Creating toys is the first thing anyone should do if they get a super-AI! Ha ha!
"Yes, David, I can. With enough materials, I can guide you in the creation of any kind of RC toy."
First, we make money. Then, we begin our adventure.
"Sir," NEAA interrupts his thoughts. "According to the data in the book, this new volume is also referred to as the Book of Things. And this was only Volume One of Two."
"What are you saying?" David's eyes widen. "There is another book with similar technical drawings?"
Greed flashes across David's face.
"I will collect every book," he whispers to the wind. "Slowly... I will dig up the entire Human Era."