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NoxSecondDraft


FADE TO:

STOCK FOOTAGE: BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF CAMPUS.
Black. BITS PILANI, PILANI

Black. NoX

INT. SAKET'S ROOM - NIGHT

A very short short of Rishit, tied up, blindfolded, and his head hung over backward. He lifts his head up, then drops his head to his front again.

Make sure that there is a significant contrast of color space and brightness.

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. AKSHAY - AFTERNOON

There is a big box of knives in the frame.

Black. Day 1

Rishit is seen crouching and inspecting the knives.

Black. RISHIT

Tanay comes into the frame.

TANAY

Bro ek aur?

RISHIT

Wo uh- abhi vala chaku nhi bigadna mujhe.

INSERT: In the forest-like area behind Cvr, Rishit is looking at a map.

BACK TO SCENE

TANAY

Bhai tere paas already 2 nhi h?

Tanay takes a can of coke and puts it in the basket near Rishit.

Rishit sneers.

RISHIT

I'll just... sdikhata hu tujhe. Free hai iske baad tu?

Rishit puts a sharp-looking knife in the basket

TANAY

Nope. TU clubless hai. martial arts practice hai aur phir ek GD (insert club name) ki.

RISHIT

Ek ghanta h na, kafi hai.

TANAY

Kafi h mtlab?

RISHIT

Ek dabba kholna hai mujhe.

CUT TO:

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - NIGHT

Black. Earlier.

Black. Day 0

RISHIT is seen rummaging through his cupboard.

His bed is full of the contents of the cupboard.

Rishit sighs.

He half closes the cupboard door but stops. He opens it again. He looks at a particular groove. (See Illust.1)

He stretches his hands towards it. The shot changes to outside the cupboard, and we see him holding an old pen drive.

He examines it closely. It’s a plain, silver pendrive with no markings.

RISHIT

What's... this?

CUT TO:

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

We see Rishit in front of his laptop. He is looks at the pendrive, then his laptop, again at the pendrive. He puts it in.

RISHIT

What the-

Show the list of files on the screen as in List-1. The thumbnails aren't visible for obvious reasons. Rishit is in list mode of file explorer.

RISHIT (V.O.)

Aaand it's a porn collection. Room pop bhul gaya shayad idhar.

Rishit pulls the pendrive out. He pauses.

RISHIT (V.O.)

Ek min. Boys hostel mei kon porn chhupa ke rakhta hai?

Rishit plugs the pendrive back in.

We can see his scrolling quickly. He stops, sorts by type, and scrolls with a bit less speed.

RISHIT

Ah!

Rishit clicks on a file named "naughty_library_study_session.txt"

White. The image of the map is provided in this drive itself.

White. It is a frame in one of the videos.

White. Find the truth if you feel you're worthy of it.

Rishit changes the tab back to the folder and starts scrolling through the picture files.

He stops.

RISHIT (V.O.)

Filenames really aren't helping, dude. Ek hi tareeka hai.

Black. 3 hours later...

CUT TO:

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

We see Rishit, with the screen away from us. He looks tired. He suddenly moves towards the spacebar and clicks it. The frame switches to behind Rishit's head and we can see the map on the screen.

Rishit gets up, gets to the door, takes his jacket off and wears it. He leaves.

CUT TO:

Black. Shreya

Black. Day 1

EXT. GD BIRLA STATUE - EVENING

A group of students are wearing a hairnet, and have a broom with them. SHREYA is one of them. There is a torn poster with "STRIKE" written on it.

GROUP LEADER

We'll start from Saraswati mandir. Group 2, go west, and Group 1, that is, my group, will go east.

SHREYA (V.O.)

Why did I miss so many meets? I wouldn't have been forced to do this yrr.

Shreya's group (group 1) is seen moving.

CUT TO:

IN FRONT OF SHIV GANGA:

Shreya is seen picking up a Coke can. She is moving towards a dustbin. She stops. We see a few small puppies running into a thick bush.

Shreya looks intrigued.

She throws the can and moves towards the puppies.

She crouches and tries to look into the bush while looking excited. She finds a few puppies sleeping. A metal box is also shown with the puppies.

GROUP LEADER

Shreya! What are you doing?

SHREYA

I uh, found something.

GROUP LEADER

Just throw it, we're done here.

Shreya stands up and moves towards her group.

CUT TO:

INT. SHREYA'S ROOM - LATER THAT EVENING

Shreya opens her door and enters her room.

She immediately falls on her bed.

SHREYA

Phew.

She opens her phone and starts scrolling.

Prerna enters the room. She has wet hair.

SHREYA

Tuna naha kaise liya?? Geyser toh kaam bhi nhi kr rha!

PRERNA

I'm more surprised ki TUNE, nahi nahaya.

Shreya sighs

SHREYA

It- Okay so first of all, thoda sa hi kach-

PRERNA

Yeah yeah whatever. Samajh gayi.

Shreya shrugs.

PRERNA

Anyways, do you wanna solve a riddle?

CUT TO:

EXT. SKYLAWNS - EARLIER THAT EVENING

Black. Tanay

Tanay is at the skylabs counter. He orders a cold coffee. He takes a sip.

Prerna comes into the frame.

PRERNA

Bhaiya ek [insert drink name. coffe ke alawa].

TANAY

Practice bunk kr rhi aaj?

PRERNA

Tujhse toh jyada hi regular hu mai. Tu kya kr rha hai?

Tanay finishes his coffee. He hands the glass to the counter.

TANAY

Aaj lite le rha hu. Dimag aur sharir dono use up ho chuke hai.

PRERNA

Aisa kya kar liya?

TANAY

Rishit ka ek treasure hunt sa kuchh tha. Ek riddle mili h.

White. Start 420

White. Face the sun

White. Stop when blocked

PRERNA

Ye kaisi riddle hai?

Prerna is done with the coffee too. She hands it over to the counter. Both of them start moving towards the exit.

TANAY

Apparently apne campus ki ek location hai.

PRERNA

Ek toh kause treasure hunt ki baat kr rha hai? Email toh koi aye nahi?

Tanay shrugs.

PRERNA

Kya hn (Imitates Tanay's shrug)

Both of them walk out of the frame.

CUT TO:

INT. SHREYA'S ROOM - LATER THAT EVENING

Show this shot again -

PRERNA

Anyways, do you wanna solve a riddle? Bits ke andar koi jagah hai iska answer shayad.

SHREYA

Puchh.

PRERNA

It goes like this - Start 420, Follow the light at sunrise, and stop when blocked. Samajh aya kuch?

SHREYA

Ye kya chutiya si riddle hai?

Prerna shrugs.

Shreya hangs her head behind, while sitting on the chair. Show the camera in front of her face.

FLASHBACK TO:

The frame has the scene where the couple was seen smoking by Shreya. It should be from her perspective. The couple quickly tries to put their cigarettes out because Shreya's group members are behind her. Keep this shot quick.

BACK TO THE PRESENT:

Shreya quickly jolts towards her phone and starts tapping. She is seen opening the map app.

PRERNA

Actually kuch pata chala kya?

SHREYA

(While typing)

Shayad 420... Refers to canabis, ie. Cnot. Ek senior ne kaha tha.

PRERNA

Damn.

Shreya zooms and finds cnot.

She aligns the map wrt N. And then traces towards the left side.

SHREYA

Shiv gan-

Shreya pauses. She raises an eyebrow.

PRERNA

Shiv Ganga? Ye hai kya answer?

Shreya isn't responding.

SHREYA (V.O.)

Isn't Shiv Ganga... where I saw that box in the bushes?

PRERNA

Thik hai tu?

SHREYA

Yeah yeah, I'm fine.

Frame pauses on Shreya's face for a moment.

FADE TO:

INT. LTC - MORNING

We see a shot of Rishit in the class, barely managing to stay

awake.

CAMERA ZOOMS IN on Rishit, while the background sounds become

muffled but loud. (Not really sure how to explain this, an

example needs to be provided.)

SMASH CUT TO:

MONTAGE - RISHIT SEARCHING FOR THE SECOND CAPSULE

Black. RISHIT

Black. Day 2

EXT. BEHIND CVR BHAWAN - AFTERNOON:

It's silent. The forest-like area is visible.

Rishit is looking at the map. The place marked on it is where

he's standing.

EXT. AT GD BIRLA STATUE - AFTERNOON:

He parks the cycle nearby. He walks up to the statue. He stracthes his head. He tries to go over the fence.

We hear a loud whistle. Rishit flinches and runs.

EXT. SKY LAWNS:

A sped up shot of Rishit walking all around skylawns.

EXT. PAINTING AT TOTT:

Another sped up of shot of him searching around that wall. Make it so that the camera is fixed on the wall.

EXT. BENCH AT LTC:

Rishit goes up to the bench. He sits down. His map slips into the grove. He tries to quickly grab it but tears the map in the process.

RISHIT

Behnchod.

END MONTAGE.

CUT TO:

INT. TANAY'S ROOM - AFTERNOON

Black. Tanay

Tanay is on his bed. His phone chimes. It's a message from an unknown number. He clicks on the notification. It's from "~shreya"

Tanay raises an eyebrow.

White. Hi.

We see the message in Tanay's phone as well. The same for the following messages.

White. I'm Shreya.

White. I got your number from Prerna. You probably don't know me.

White. I want to know about the riddle you asked Prerna.

Tanay looks flustered and confused.

We hear the door open. It's ANSH.

ANSH

Up for T.T.?

TANAY

Yeah uh... Thode time baad ata hu

ANSH

Mera.. Lab hai. 40 mins mei.

TANAY

Thik hai I'll be there in 5

Ansh is seen leaving the room.

ANSH (O.S.)

Thike

Tanay sighs. He moves toward his bed and falls on it.

Tanay looks back at his phone.

He begins typing.

Rishit walks in.

RISHIT

S9 wala cash leta hai?

ANSH

Most probably, ha

RISHIT

Oh btw Ansh ne kaha ki agar T.T. Ke liye jane wala ho toh khud ka paddle leke ana.

ANSH

Okay, sure.

Rishit leaves.

Tanay looks at his phone again.

Grey. Sure, it went like this.

Grey. Start-420, and Follow the light at sunrise. Stop when blocked.

White. I know the riddle. Mili kaha pe ye?

Grey. Uh.. sidha Rishit ko puch le ig. +91xxxxxxxxxx

White. Thanks!

CUT TO:

INT. TANAY'S ROOM - AFTERNOON

Another small shot.

A shot of Ansh gurgling and dying, without revealing that it is Ansh.

Make sure that there is a significant contrast of color space and brightness.

CUT TO:

INT. HOSTEL HALLWAY - AFTERNOON

COMING UP FROM STAIRS

Ansh is seen coming from the opposite direction.

ANSH

Hey if you're going to Tanay's room, tell him that he would need to bring his own paddle for TT, in case he's coming.

RISHIT

Okay-

Ansh hurries away

IN FRONT OF TANAY'S ROOM

Rishit opens the door.

RISHIT

S9 wala cash leta hai?

CUT TO:

EXT. SHIV GANGA - MORNING

Black. Day 3

Black. Shreya

Shreya is standing in front of the bush.

She leans forward and takes the box out. She opens it. It has something written on the inside of the lid.

"Find the truth if you feel you're worthy" is written on the box with a permanent marker. There is a poorly placed QR code. There is also a map in it.

Black. Find the truth if you feel you're worthy of it.

CUT TO:

INT. SHREYA'S ROOM - LATER THAT MORNING

SHREYA (V.O.)

... What the hell?

We see Shreya in her room, sitting at her desk.

A Base-32 encoder-decoder website is open on her laptop. The following text is supposed to be flashed on the screen, and it should also be partially visible on the laptop.

White. Seems like you managed to decrypt this.

White. If choosing base 32 instead of base 64 threw you off, my plan worked.

White. Take the map in the first box, merge the maps and look for the final piece at the centroid.

Shreya leans forward,puts her hands over her face.

We hear the door opening. Camera pans to the door.

PRERNA

Sem chalu mushkil se hua aur abhi lectures skip krne lagi?

Shreya leans back to normal and turns towards Prerna lazily.

CUT TO:

INT. BIO LAB - EVENING

// Change location maybe, according to feasibility.

EXT. FD3 - LATER THAT EVENING

// same issue

// Skylawns is beautiful, and the path in front of it may be used for the discussion where Rishit and Shreya exchange information.

// Saket is suspicious slightly here. I.e give him a reason to be wary of Shreya and Rishit.

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - EVENING

We see a shot of Rishit with his laptop in front of him.

Camera shifts to the screen with the blinking cursor. It says "Sir, I can explain these." The attachments are the files of the pendrive.

INT. COMMON ROOM - EVENING

Tanay and Ansh are playing TT.

The scene starts with an ongoing rally between them. Ansh is sweating.

Tanay smirks

Ansh misses. He smiles and picks up the ball. He passes it to Tanay.

Tanay serves.

TANAY

Btw kuch btane wala tha tu?

ANSH

Wo uh- Baad mei akele mei btaunga.

TANAY

(smirks, sarcastic)

Aisi kya private baat karni hai tujhe?

ANSH

Chal jayega pata

Tanay misses.

Tanay shrugs and picks up the ball.

CUT TO:

EXT. SARASWATI MANDIR - MORNING

// check what the saraswati mandir is like, during the day.

Black. Day 4

Black. Shreya

Shreya has a map in her hands.

BEGIN MONTAGE: (PLAY A SONG/ MUSIC) ON THE PATHWAY

Keep the frame fixed on the front of mandir. A few shots of shreya and rishit looking a different locations.

INSIDE THE SMALL GARDEN LIKE AREA

The part beside the pathways. First a shot at the left one, then the right one.

ON THE STAIRS

Shreya slips on a stair but catches herself (hand rail) (would be much clearer in the storyboards.)

GD BIRLA STATUE

Shreya points at the statue. Rishit vigorously shakes with head. Shreya still tries to get in, we hear a whistle again, and they run.

CUT TO:

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - LATER THAT MORNING

Rishit enters his room

SHREYA (OVER PHONE)

Dikh rha h kuch?

We see a shot of Rishit putting the pen drive in his laptop. He puts his phone on speaker and then on his table.

RISHIT

Ruk, abhi just pahucha room pe

SHREYA

Jaldi, jaldi.

RISHIT

Issey decrypt karne ke liye kya karna tha btw?

SHREYA

Woh uh- naughty library krke thi na ek text file? Usme check kr

RISHIT

Yep.

Rishit copy pastes the link and downloads it.

Rishit opens the app.

CUT TO:

INT. SAKET'S ROOM - NIGHT

Black. Saket

Saket's room should look like a proper drug dealer's room.

He looks anxious, and is seen vibrating his leg.

A loud knock is heard. Saket flinches. He waits for two seconds, and then gets up.

Another knock is heard.

SAKET

Aa rha hu be.

He opens the door. It's Ansh.

ANSH

(sweating, breath full)

Aur chahiye... Abhi.

Saket runs a hand through his hair, frustrated.

SAKET

Dekh. Parso hi diya tha maine. Itni jaldi khatam karega toh sahi mei mar jayega bhosadike.

// Not sure about how much profanity is allowed.

Ansh lets out a dry, bitter laugh.

ANSH

Mai iske bina mar jaunga agar aur nhi liya toh.

SAKET

Kya bakwas-

ANSH

Aisa hai toh btau kya tera woh karnama sabko?

Saket looks angry. He twists his fingers into a fist. He lets out a sigh.

SAKET

Thik hai.

Saket goes to his cupboard, takes out a plastic bag.

SAKET

Hadd me rehna lekin-

Ansh snatches the bag and then leaves. He leaves the door open.

Saket sighs again, moves towards the door. He slams it. The door bounces back. This time, he closes it normally, then locks it.

CUT TO:

INT. SHREYA'S ROOM - AFTERNOON

Black. SHREYA

Shreya is on a call.

SHREYA

Ha maine ek bruteforce app dhundh liya.

Shreya sighs.

SHREYA

Ek kam kar, aadhe tu try kar bruteforce karne ki. Mai jaa rhi hu. Bye.

Shreya has her laptop open. The clock on the wall says 12:48. She is standing.

On the laptop, a terminal is open, which shows % of combinations tried.

// I might have to make a simple cli app for this, but I'll be leaving it for later.

She puts her hand on her forehead and sighs.

Prerna gets up, picks up her bag.

PRERNA

Mai jaa rhi hu.

She leaves. After 4 seconds, She comes in again, picks up her keys, and leaves.

Shreya's phone rings. It is Rishit. She picks up the call.

SHREYA

Hello?

RISHIT (OVER PHONE)

Uhm, Bad news.

CUT TO:

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - EVENING

// Saket comes to rishit's room with the pretense of campaigning. Saket drops amic in his room.

Rishit is sitting on his chair, with laptop in front of him. We hear a knock. Rishit gets up.

Rishit opens the door. Its Saket. (drop a sound effect)

SAKET

(Cheerful)

Hey, uh are you free for a moment?

RISHIT

Uhh... Okay-

SAKET

Great uh I wanted to talk to you about something.

Saket gets in, takes out the chair, and sit on it. He gestures Rishit to sit on the bed in front of it.

SAKET

So you're a first yearite, right?

RISHIT

Yea-

SAKET

So you already know ki kaise kharab tareeke se apne sports equipment ko handle kara jata- Uh pani hai kya?

Rishit nods.

As soon as rishit gets up, Camera turns towards the behind of Saket. Saket takes a small mic out of his pocket, and places it under the chair. He taps his phone twice.

Rishit turns back towards him with his bottle.

Saket takes it, and drinks from it.

Saket's phone rings. He picks it up.

SAKET

Kya?

(looks at Rishit)

Ek min-

Saket gets out of Rishit's room. Rishit looks confused.

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - EARLIER THAT AFTERNOON

Black. Rishit

Rishit is seen reading a textbook. He is on his desk. His phone chimes. The time on his phone is 12:34. He gets two new messages.

White. Stop looking for it.

Rishit glances at the phone. He picks it up, he raises an eyebrow. He touches the notification.

White. It's too soon.

Rishit starts typing.

Grey. ?

White. Look, I'm the one who planted those clues. I wanted it to be revealed.

White. But NOT THIS EARLY.

White. You're dealing with dangerous people, leave it be.

Rishit puts the phone down. He becomes more upright on the chair.

White. I didn't get enough time to hide myself, yet.

Rishit looks pale.

He picks up his phone again.

Grey. What do you want?

White. Just... stop. It's not even a warning. It's a request.

Rishit starts typing again.

Grey. Why don't you contact the authorities?

Gery. Or ask for help or something?

The messages remain undelivered. (only one tick)

CUT TO:

MONTAGE - RETURN TO NORMALCY

Black. Day 5

RISHIT'S ROOM - EVENING:

A shot of Rishit putting the pen drive into the groove that he found it in. He tosses the box on the ledge.

SHREYA'S ROOM - EVENING:

A shot of Shreya putting the second box in her closet.

HOSTEL COMMON ROOM - EVENING:

A shot of Tanay playing TT with the wall.

SAKET'S ROOM - NIGHT:

A mute shot of Saket on the call, frustrated.

ON-SCREEN TEXT: Day 6 (Linger for 3 seconds while the other shots are being played)

ANSH'S ROOM - NIGHT:

Ansh is at his room. He is seen inhaling a last line. He falls unconscious. Tanay is sleeping.

CUT TO:

EXT. LTC - AFTERNOON

Black. Shreya

// This might not be feasible due to multiple students coming out of the class together.

// Or a scene where Rishit calls Shreya?

// Or maybe a scene where Shreya gets a message from Rishit.

Shreya is walking away from the LTC with the other students.

Rishit is seen running towards Shreya in the background.

RISHIT

Shreya!

Shreya takes an earbud out and turns her neck towards Rishit.

RISHIT

ToTT this evening?

SHREYA

Evening nhi. Nirmaan meet. Kya hua?

RISHIT

Btaunga ToTT pe sab. 9 pm phir?

Shreya looks hesistant.

SHREYA

Uhh thik hai.

MATCH CUT TO:

INT. TOTT - NIGHT

Shreya is waiting at the table near the beverages corner. There are two cups of coffee on the table. Rishit enters the frame.

RISHIT

Hey.

SHREYA

Bta ab.

Shreya takes a sip. While she is taking the sip, rishit answers. (i.e. Shreya hasn't finished taking the sip while Rishit's dialogue occurs. This will be clarified in the storyboard.)

RISHIT

Wo uh- Ek- Ek file bruteforce se khul gayi.

Shreya's eyes widen. The frame should feel uncomfortable. (As in, break the composition rules a bit, intentionally)

RISHIT

I know ki tu-

SHREYA

(Slightly loud)

Nahi

RISHIT

Par-

SHREYA

(Louder)

NAHI.

RISHIT

Dheere... Please...

SHREYA

Kya dheere? Kra tha na humne decide ki ispe aur koi discussion nhi.

// In "" Shreya is saying in a mocking manner.

// This scene is also supposed to tell us that Rishit did not mention about the danger previously. I will need to add a scene to clarify why rishit says "Bad News" in that scene.

Shreya sighs. Rishit looks like he is feeling awkward.

SHREYA

Karna kya chahta hai tu?

RISHIT

Okay toh kafi chize hai jo I feel ki tujhe btani chahiye mujhe.

Shreya raises an eyebrow.

RISHIT

Pehli baat. Ek file khul gayi bruteforcing karte hue. Wo ek list thi ki kon log involved hai ek particular group mei. Context ke bina kafi useless sa lagg rha abhi, but recently mujhe kuch Tanay ne btaya.

Shreya adjusts herself on the chair. Rishit pauses.

SHREYA

Aisa kya btaya usne

RISHIT

Okay so Tanay ka roommate hai ek, Ansh. Tanay ne usko ek baar call pe uh- Heroin mangte hue suna.

Shreya looks surprised.

SHREYA

What-

RISHIT

Yeah I was surprised too-

SHREYA

Koi dean ya waise ko btate hai phir aur kya. Khud kyu par-

RISHIT

Nahi. Puri story pta nhi chale tab tak nhi.

Shreya furrows her eyebrows.

SHREYA

Aree??

RISHIT

Dekh agar sirf ye dikhayenge toh seriously koi nhi lega isse.

Shreya sighs.

RISHIT

Please yarr, chances hai ki ye Tanay ke roommate ko bhi involve karta hai.

Shreya takes a deep breath

SHREYA

Nahi. Mai nhi kar sakti ye.

Shreya gets up and starts to leave. Rishit gets up after her.

RISHIT

Shreya!

Shreya looks back at Rishit, points a finger at him.

SHREYA

Nahi.

Rishit sits back down. The camera stays at the table while Shreya leaves. Another person gets up and starts to leave. It is SAKET.

Saket is looking at shreya leave. Camera is close to Saket.

FADE TO:

INT. SHREYA'S ROOM - NIGHT

// Shreya finds drugs planted in her room, and a note. She can be proven guilty.

The room is dark. We hear the sound of keys for a few seconds.

The camera is inside the room, facing the door. The door opens, and shreya comes in, turns the lights on.

She sits on the bed. Her head turns towards the door.

The door is filled with sticky notes. All the sticky notes have a specific symbol on them.

The camera shifts to near the door. Shreya gets to the door and tries to pull one of them out. A bunch of sticky notes come out together instead, while quite a lot of white powdery stuff comes out.

Shreya flinches back. She falls on the ground. She is panting.

CUT TO:

INT. SAKET'S ROOM - NIGHT

// Edit this such that a senior member of the cartel is with Saket. This is heigten the stakes for Saket, while also revealing that the organisation's heirarchy a bit.

Black. Saket

Black. Day 9

Saket is on his desk, he is looking nervous. VANSH, his senior, is in his room.

Vansh is sitting on the chair, which is midway in his room. There are plastic bags filled with drugs on the table. They seem to have been arranged by size.

Saket takes one plastic bag out of his cupboard and hands it to Vansh. Vansh takes it and holds it up to his eye level.

A knock is heard.

Vansh looks at Saket. Saket looks at Vansh.

Nothing for 3 seconds. Another knock is heard.

Vansh uses his eyes and head to signal to open the door. Saket goes up to the door.

SAKET

Kaun?

A particular rhythmic knock is heard.

Saket opens the door.

It is Ansh. He looks very pale. His fingertips are blue.

SAKET

Abe- Bhai thoda limit mei rehne koi bola tha-

ANSH

(yells)

Tu bas naya batch de! Ab tak aa gaya hoga.

Saket flinches. Vansh looks at Saket.

SAKET

(Calmly)

Dekh, tameez se.

Ansh glares at Saket.

ANSH

Mujhe. Wo. Batch. De.

Saket sighs.

He moves towards his table and picks up a plastic bag.

He goes back to where Ansh is standing. He holds the bag out.

Ansh tries to snatch again. Saket doesn't let go. Ansh pulls again, and Saket lets go.

Ansh puts it in his pocket and gets out of his room.

CUT TO:

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - EVENING

Black. TANAY

Black. Day 10

Tanay is seen walking towards Rishit's room. Tanay has a pair of TT paddles in his hand.

As Tanay opens the door, the camera pans with the door opening.

Rishit is on the table. Rishit flinches. Tanay is about to say something, but pauses for a moment.

TANAY

Aana hai...? TT ke liye?

RISHIT

Uhh...

Rishit looks at his screen, minimises the windows quickly.

RISHIT

Sure. Chalte hai.

Rishit gets up. His accidentally makes the lamp fall on the table, and a few papers on the ground. Rishit looks at them, pauses for a second.

RISHIT

Fuck it.

Rishit takes the keys from a hook. Rishit moves towards the door.

Camera cut when the door closes.

CUT TO:

INT. COMMON ROOM - EVENING

Rishit and Tanay are seen playing TT.

RISHIT

Bhai nhi pasand mujhe TT. Maine kitni baar bola hai.

TANAY

Tu bas kuch din khel. Lat lag jayegi gandi wali, meri guarantee.

RISHIT

Har match harne ke baad dekhta hu kaise lat lagti hai.

Tanay sneers.

Rishit misses.

RISHIT

Dekha?

Rishit picks up the ball.

RISHIT

Anyways, DCC chalte h aaj. Chutiya sa dinner bana hai aaj.

TANAY

Sure.

They are seen moving out of the common room.

CUT TO:

INT. OUTSIDE TANAY'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Rishit and Tanay are seen moving towards Tanay's room.

RISHIT

(While smirking)

Aur, progress kaise hai?

Tanay looks confused.

TANAY

Kaunsi progress?

RISHIT

Tujhe pata mai kiski baat kar rha-

We suddenly hear gurgling sounds. Rishit and Tanay look alarmed and rush towards the door.

They open the door.

Ansh is lying on the floor, gurgling. Foam is coming out of his mouth.

Tanay freezes. Rishit quickly dials a number.

RISHIT

RUK IDHAR, MAI BULA KE ATA HU LOGO KO.

Tanay doesn't respond.

Screen starts to fade.

Rishit rushes out of the frame. 2 seconds later a few guys come in, and take Ansh outside the room.

FADE TO:

INT. SHREYA'S ROOM - EVENING

Black. Shreya

Black. Day 11

Shreya is on the bed. She is typing. The camera shifts towards her phone.

Grey. I heard about Ansh. I'm sorry.

White. ToTT tonight. Please.

CUT TO:

INT. TOTT - NIGHT

Black. Shreya

The camera is fixed again, in front of the beverages section. Shreya is waiting at the counter. She asks for more sugar. (inaudible) She stirs the coffee.

Rishit enters the frame.

SHREYA

Hey.

Rishit nods. Rishit points towards the cup. Shreya nods. Rishit picks it up. He blows on it.

SHREYA

How's Tanay... Dealing with it?

RISHIT

He's fine, abhi ke liye atleast.

An awkard silence for 3 seconds.

RISHIT

Anyways, mujhe wo bina password ki file ke baare mei btana tha

SHREYA

I- Maine btaya toh sahi ki mai isme kuch nahi-

RISHIT

EK BANDA MARR GAYA HAI ISKI WAJAH SE, SHREYA. Mera dost yaha abhi tak sagme mai hai.

Crowd noise in the background stops. (maybe not entirely silent, but quite low wrt. Before)

Rishit calms down visibly. The camera pans to Saket in the seats behind them. (cool, appropriate sound effect).

RISHIT

Please.

The frame is on Shreya's frame. She takes a deep breath.

Saket stands up and goes to the counter.

SAKET

(While handing out a bill)

Singapuri noodles.

Saket looks at Rishit

SAKET

Hello Rishit. Btw tune wo TT wale petition mei apna naam likha.

RISHIT

Oh- Ruko

Rishit takes his phone out of his pocket. Shreya looks at his phone.

Saket looks at Rishit's cup. Saket puts his hand in the pocket, grabs something, and then looks at the cup again.

CUT TO:

EXT. TOTT - CONTINUOUS

Shreya is seen walking on the path. The camera is moving with her.

FLASHBACK:

RISHIT

Uss file mei ek riddle thi, aur ye bhi likha tha ki ye final step hai.

Rishit is reciting this, while these frames are shown on the screen.

White. Take what you name me and peer at my core,

White. Each piece that you find is a numeric score.

White. Break me apart, it’s a simple trick,

White. Their aggregate is the key you seek.

END FLASHBACK

We see shreya looking at her phone. She puts her phone down again.

ANOTHER FLASHBACK:

SHREYA

Coffee nhi pine wala?

RISHIT

Tsk. Kal uthna hai jaldi.

Rishit drops the cup in the dustbin.

END FLASHBACK

Shreya trips on her shoelace, but manages to save herself.

SHREYA

FUCK.

CUT TO:

INT. SAKET'S ROOM - AFTERNOON

Black. Sarthak

Black. 2022

Sarthak knocks on Saket's door. He opens the door. Saket's room is much cheery right now. He has music playing in the background.

SAKET

Sarthak Bhaiya?

SARTHAK

Sab thik?

SAKET

Haa

Saket goes up to his laptop, then pauses the music.

SARTHAK

Vansh ke side kya haal chal rha hai?

SAKET

Vansh bhaiya ne apne hostel pe kafi acche se apna presence jama liya hai. Kafi dealings kar rakhi hai.

SARTHAK

Koi na. Compare mat karna khud ko btw. Wo jab freshie tha ussey toh kafi accha kar rha hai tu.

Saket smiles.

CUT TO:

INT. VANSH'S ROOM - NIGHT

Vansh and Saket are playing a video game together.

SARTHAK

Sahi hai bro. Lagta hai ki Saket kuchh time mei sambhal lega sab kuch.

VANSH

Kya bol rahe ho bhaiya. Uska wo fuck-up nhi suna aapne?

SARTHAK

Arrey-

Sarthak dies in the game. He puts his phone/controller down (If controller is feasible)

SARTHAK

Sun. Saket ka dhyan rakha kr tu bhi. Reveal ho jayega sab toh wo toh chudega hi, ham sab bhi mar jayenge.

Vansh sighs.

CUT TO:

EXT. SKYLAWNS - EVENING

Black. Day 12

Black. Shreya

// Shreya figures it out that maybe each character of the filename is to be converted to its ascii code.

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - NIGHT

// Rishit figures out that hexadecimal has to be used.

// Rishit finds the mic after he exclaims.

// Saket is seen walking towards rishit's room.

INT. SHREYA'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

// shreya freaks out. Calls tanay. Tries to prepare a plan.

INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

// Rishit quickly tries to grab the knife that he bought from akshay. He also manages to grab the other knife.

// Show the knife being used to open the first capsule somewhere before.

// saket enters the room.

// Rishit points the knife towards saket. Cut to the next scene.

INT. SAKET'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

// Rishit is tied up, with blindfold and the mouthplug (not sure what to call that)

// Saket opens his mouth plug. A conversation between them.

// Rishit is supposed to know a bit about saket because of the bruteforced file.

// Cut to the next scene directly.

Change the amount of time the black frame appears in between shots according to the tension.

EXT. HOSTEL - CONTINUOUS

Frame is fixed on the Hostel entrance. Tanay is seen running out of the hostel entrance. He goes up till the front gate, runs back, while taking his keys out. He goes left.

Frame shifts to the cycle stand.

Tanay is seen unlocking his cycle.

INT. SAKET'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

// rishit manages to convince Saket.

// Rishit manages to make saket hesitate.

EXT. VC'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

// Shreya and Tanay are whispering and arguing weather they should jump over the fence or try to call someone.

// Vc arrives.

// Shreya tries to explain.

// Rishit comes rushing to the scene.

EXT. BENCH IN FRONT OF SNAKE PATH - EVENING

Day. 20

Rishit is sitting on the bench. He is smiling a bit.

FLASHBACK:

SHREYA

Why... Why was saket spared?

RISHIT

Apparently no proof on him. And Tanay's word doesn't count according to vc. Although Tanay never blamed Saket in the first place.

END OF FLASHBACK

Rishit's phone rings.

White. I told you not to rush this.

White. I'm fucked now. They now know who I am and where I was trying to hide.

Camera zooms out.

FADE TO:

Black. The end

NoX

Written by

Harshil

2025