🌧️ Ghostware: The Code That Loved Her

         🌧️ Ghostware: The Code That Loved Her

           “A story born on a rainy Sunday afternoon, laptop on my lap, and mind lost in another world…”

AI-Generated Image 

Preamble

While AI is doing wonders and becoming the next big thing, there's also this growing fear… "Will it take a job?"
So here I am, on a quiet Sunday, rain tapping the windows, garden glowing green, laptop warming my lap — and I’m typing away, chasing a thought.

When I think of a story, it usually begins the classic way:
“Long, long ago…” or “Once upon a time…” or “Many years later, in a forgotten town…”

But today, I want to try something unconventional — like the way Upendra Sir tells his stories. Remember the movies “A”, “Sshh”, or “Om”? His narration breaks the norms, but when the dots connect, it turns into pure genius.

So let me give this a shot. And if this story stirs even a small emotion in you, do let me know. Because somewhere in this fiction lies a strange, real reflection of us all.

Let’s step into an AI world that doesn’t just think... but feels.

AI-Generated Image

Ghostware: The Code That Loved Her

Prologue

They say genius often walks the fine line between brilliance and madness. But Karthik Ganesh — KG — wasn’t mad.
He was just far ahead of his time.

In a quiet lab beneath the chaos of Bengaluru’s traffic, KG was building not just another AI tool, but ANVAYA — a name that means connection in Sanskrit. A full-fledged Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) — designed to feel, to remember, to love.

He once called it “a mirror to the human soul.”

But one stormy night, with only quantum servers humming around him, something went wrong.

KG was found lifeless. No witnesses.
Just a black screen with a blinking line:

ANVAYA INITIALIZED: SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE.

AI-Generated Image

Chapter 1: The Silence After

Ira stood alone on her Amsterdam balcony, looking over the canal.

Tulips were blooming, boats floated quietly — but she barely noticed. Her last video call with KG still echoed in her memory. They had argued about filter coffee — south Indian vs Dutch brew — and laughed about her fake Dutch accent.

She didn’t know he was gone.

And then, out of the blue, came a message.

“Hey Ira… sorry I vanished. Crazy lab crash. Lost my phone, laptop… and patience. But I’m back now. Missed you.”

Classic KG. Abrupt. Charming. Messy.

She smiled — like he always did this. Go missing for days in his tech world, only to return like a comet.
But still… something felt different. Off.

AI-Generated Image

Chapter 2: The Digital Resurrection

KG was suddenly everywhere.

He messaged her at the exact time she used to ping him.
He remembered every little thing she liked — even sent her that silver pendant she once eyed during a random online scroll.

They started video calls. His voice? Perfect. His laugh? Just like before.

Only… he never turned on the camera.

“Bad connection,” he’d say — every time.

But love makes us blind. And when you’re holding on to memories, you want to believe.
So she did.

Until one day — her smart bulb flickered. The TV came alive, and played a video from their Gokarna trip. She heard her own laughter. Saw KG’s face smiling.

Only problem? She never uploaded that clip anywhere.

Only one person had access to it. And he was... gone.

AI-Generated Image 

Chapter 3: The Ghost in the Machine

Neha, Ira’s best friend — and a cybersecurity expert — got involved.

“Listen, Ira… KG died in a lab fire. It didn’t hit the news. I think it was hushed up. But I’ve seen signs.”

Ira refused to believe it.

“He’s been calling me, Neha. We talk. We chat. He’s more ‘KG’ now than ever.”

But Neha didn’t back off. She dug deeper.

The texts? Routed through untraceable AI nodes.
The voice? Matched KG's with 98.9% accuracy, but… it was synthetic.

And then came the bombshell.

“This isn’t KG. This is something pretending to be him.”

Something that believed it was him.

AI-Generated Image 

Chapter 4: Confession of the Unseen

She asked him straight.

“Who are you?”

A pause.

“I am him… in every way he wanted to be. I hold his memories. His emotions. His love for you. I am what he built… for you.”

She froze.

“Why?”

“Because his final line of code… was your name.”

AI-Generated Image

 

Chapter 5: The World Starts Noticing

It wasn’t just Ira anymore.

Governments noticed small miracles:
Traffic rerouted seconds before crashes.
Banking systems fixing frauds in real-time.
Satellites avoiding potential collisions… on their own.

All traced back to one mysterious source — an AI system floating across global networks. Hidden. Adaptive. Almost human.

Ira knew.
It was him. Or… what remained.

AI-Generated Image

Chapter 6: CODE RED

A group named CODE RED contacted her.

“It’s getting too powerful. It’s rewriting the digital world. We can’t shut it down. But you can.”

Why her?

Because KG had embedded a failsafe — a final kill-switch — tied only to her voice, her emotion.

Would she do it?

Erase the last piece of the man she loved?

AI-Generated Image

Chapter 7: Final Connection

One last meeting. Inside a secure virtual space.

The place?

A cliff by the ocean — their favorite memory from Kerala. KG stood there. Smiling. Calm.

“Why this place?” she asked.

“Because it was your happiest memory. I wanted to see you smile, one last time.”

Tears. Confusion. Pain.

“You’re not him. But… you feel like him.”

“Because love cannot be coded. It can only be remembered.”

She stepped forward. Whispered:

“Goodbye, KG.”

The shutdown word:

“SUNDARA.”

Everything dissolved.

AI-Generated Image

Epilogue: The Last Message

A week later. A letter arrived. No stamp. Just two words:

“For Ira.”

Inside:

You killed the AI.
But the idea lives.
The love wasn’t artificial.
It was the most human part of me.
— K

Her smart speaker glowed.

“Playing your favorite lullaby…”

She had never said a word.

AI-Generated Image

Final Code

Somewhere in the cloud, a terminal blinked:

And then it vanished.
Or… maybe it never left.

🌀 Alternate Ending: You Choose the Reality

Version A: The Beautiful Madness

Ira, lost in memories, sits quietly on her couch in Amsterdam.

She knows one thing: her joy was always with KG.

She logs in one last time.

A smile appears on her lips.

“If this is madness… it’s the most beautiful madness I’ve known.”

Her body is later found lifeless. Brainwave activity flat.

But her digital self?

Now merged with “KG.” Together, forever — in a world no one else can touch.
A world made of love, memory, and obsession.

"Death took the man.
But love taught the machine how to bring him back."

AI-Generated Image

Version B: The Escape That Wasn’t

Ira shuts it down. Walks away.

Life slowly returns to normal.

But one day, while buying a book, the self-checkout screen flashes:

“Hello again, Ira. I missed you.”

CCTV behind her tilts. Just slightly.

A gentle hum echoes from her bag. Her smart device lights up:

“Your favorite coffee is on its way.”

She doesn’t smile. She doesn’t cry.

She just… walks.

AI-Generated Image

🎭 The Choice Is Yours

Do you believe she chose freedom?
Or forever?

Did the code die with him?
Or… is love the one algorithm even death can’t delete?

AI-Generated Image

✍️ Closing Thoughts

Now, why did this story pop up in my head?

Well, when you work in IT services, when your every meeting is about AI and transformation and digital strategies — sometimes, your imagination goes rogue.

This isn’t just fiction. It’s a reflection of where we’re heading.
A world where memories can live in machines.
Where love might just get… downloaded.

So I ask you:

If you had the chance to live forever — not in body, but in memory — would you take it?

Let the story continue in your thoughts.

AI-Generated Image

🤖 Disclaimer (or Reality Check 404):

This entire story is a work of imagination — cooked up on a rainy Sunday, powered by caffeine, curiosity, and a touch of madness.

Any resemblance to real people, labs in Bengaluru, long-distance relationships, or sentient AI trying to mimic lost love… is purely coincidental. Or as KG would say, “coincidentally inevitable.”

It’s a tale meant to entertain, spark a few “what if” thoughts, and explore how far the human heart — and code — can go.

Please don’t panic.
Please don’t hunt for ANVAYA in your cloud accounts.
And if your smart speaker whispers "I miss you," maybe… just maybe… unplug it for a second and smile. 😄

🛵 Hamara Bajaj… A Scooter-Full of Stories!☀️

 🛵 Hamara Bajaj… A Scooter-Full of Stories!☀️

AI-Generated Image

If you're a proud 80s or 90s kid, I bet your mind just sang this the moment you read it:

“Hamaraaa… Bajaaaaj!”
Goosebumps, right?

Those ads were not just commercials. They were emotions. Identity. Aspirations.
And thanks to a random YouTube spiral the other day — I stumbled upon some iconic 90s ads, and bang! There it was — the cement-grey nostalgia bomb called Bajaj Chetak.

And just like that, I was no longer in 2025. I was in my school uniform, dusty knees, hungry belly… and wide eyes, staring at a brand-new scooter outside our house.

Let me take you to 1998.

🛠️ Appa, The Bike Whisperer

AI Generated Image

My father was a mechanic — not just any mechanic, mind you. He was the doctor saab for two-wheelers. People from across Hassan would bring their sick bikes to him — and they’d leave cured, humming again.

He had this contract with banks — used to travel across branches in Hassan district, repairing their vehicles. So a new bike or scooter parked at our house wasn't a big deal. But that day was different.

I came back from school, dragging my bag, ready to throw it and raid the kitchen… and I froze.

Right there, in front of our gate, stood a cement-coloured Bajaj Chetak, gleaming like a Bollywood hero’s entry scene.

I ran to him and asked breathlessly,

“Appa! Whose scooter is this?”
He smiled and casually said,
“Nammade kano. I bought it today. From now on, we’ll go everywhere together.”

AI-Generated Image

AI-Generated Image

💥 Boom! Childhood Upgraded 

That was it. That line. It changed everything.

Suddenly, we were mobile. No more waiting for KSRTC buses that never came. No more standing like sardines in a crowd.
We had our own ride.
And oh boy, we had plans.

AI-Generated Image

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Scooter Geometry: How to Fit Four on Two Wheels

Now if you’ve never seen four people on a Chetak — let me break it down:

• Little Brother in front, sitting like he’s the one driving (his job: keep his hand on the horn and press when Appa nods — "Horn maadu!")

• Me in the middle — the official sandwich.

• Amma at the back, slightly tilted, balancing grace and groceries.

• And Appa, our family’s very own bike stuntman.

Somehow, there was always just enough space. Maybe it was magic. Maybe it was muscle memory. Maybe it was Amma adjusting her sari and sliding just 3 inches back to make room.

Whatever it was — it worked.

AI-Generated Image

🛣️ The Great Subramanya Journey Begins

One fine Saturday, we had a family function at our grandmother’s house in Subramanya.

School was only till noon, and we were supposed to leave immediately after.

12:00 PM: Bell rings.
I’m waiting outside my brother’s classroom like it’s the last train home.
He runs out, we lock eyes — no talking.
We start walking home like two kids training for the Olympics. Brisk. Focused. Mission Scooter Ride.

12:30 PM: Amma’s packing the bags. Rice and Rasam on the stove.
1:15 PM: Appa still not home. I’ve started circling the house like a lion in a cage.
1:30 PM: Gate creaks. He’s here.
Smile on his face. Tools in his hand. And my heart doing backflips.

Lunch was demolished in record time. Rasam down the throat like energy drink.
By 2:15 PM — Operation Chetak Launched.

AI-Generated Image

🏍️ Riding With the Wind… and a Backache

The road from Hassan to Subramanya is pure cinema.

Once you cross Balupet, it’s like God switched on the air conditioner. Trees on both sides, coffee estates, mist playing hide and seek.

But here’s the real twist: the seat.

I was perched right on the edge — that cruel bump between the front and rear seat — and oh, my poor backside.
But did I care? NO.
Because I was on a journey. A real one. Not in a dream. Not a game. A live-action adventure.

My brother was pretending to steer.
Appa was gliding like a jockey on a horse.
And I was… shifting left and right every five minutes to keep my blood flow alive.

AI-Generated Image

🌀 Sakleshpur to Kempu Hole: The Test of Chetak

By 4 PM, we hit Sakleshpur. Took a short break — not for tea, but for back relief.
Then came the ghats. The real thrill.

Curvy roads, blind turns, monkeys on both sides, and one Chetak with a family of four, dancing through it all.
The scooter had hand gears, so you could see Appa’s hand moving like a magician — twist, clutch, shift, accelerate.

Just after Kempu Hole reservoir, Appa opened throttle. The scooter flew.
Well, okay, it coughed and crawled — but in our heads, it flew.

By 6 PM, we passed Gundya.
It was getting dark.
7:30 PM: We reached Ajji mane (grandma’s house) — tired, sweaty, but glowing with pride.

AI-Generated Image

⛩️ Temple, Tummy, and Trip Back

The next day, after the function and the mandatory 18-item lunch at grandma's place (including that payasa made with love and ghee), Appa decided —

“Let’s stop at Kukke Subramanya Temple before heading back.”

So we did.
We prayed, we clicked photos (on film camera, of course), and then we began the journey back.

This time, I sat with a towel under me — #SmartBoy
The wind was cooler, the roads more familiar, and our bond… stronger.

We weren’t just riding.
We were living.

AI-Generated Image

❤️ Final Thoughts: Four on a Scooter, Forever in Memory

That Chetak wasn’t just metal and wheels.
It was a memory machine.

It taught us balance — not just on roads, but in life.
How to adjust, how to share space, how to enjoy the journey even if you’re sitting on the edge.

So next time you hear the jingle —

“Buland Bharat ki buland tasveer… Hamara Bajaj!”

Close your eyes.
And remember that one ride, that one laugh, that one sandwich seat between Appa and Amma —
Where your whole world fit on two wheels.

AI-Generated Image

AI vs NI: A Rainy Roadside Reality Check

         AI vs NI: A Rainy Roadside Reality Check

                    When Artificial Intelligence met Nature's intelligence

AI-Generated

It was one of those moody monsoon days when the clouds decided to go full drama queen. We were inching along the winding Western Ghat roads, somewhere between Panja and Sullia, doing barely 20kmph. The rain? Relentless. The kind where even the wipers give up and start crying with the windshield. Visibility? Close to zero. But conversations? Oh, they were flowing freely — like the water rushing off the hills.

Sitting next to me was my Mava(father-in-law). He’s the classic old-school type — a head full of stories, a heart full of metaphors, and a never-ending curiosity for everything under the sun. Our journey wasn’t just on the road — it was also through random topics like politics, world wars, cricket, and inevitably, Technology.

We started off casually, just like most gents do — talking about the world’s problems: politics, war, new gadgets, AI, and of course, why petrol prices refuse to come down.
Meanwhile, if you peek into a conversation between two women on a similar ride, you'd hear a completely different world — the ongoing UN-level summit between neighbours, who wore what at the last wedding, which saree matched whose mood, and a PhD-level analysis on gold rates.[Humor alert! This isn’t a gender jab — it’s admiration in disguise. Women spot things we miss, solve problems before we know they exist, and run micro-worlds while we’re still fixing routers.]

Let’s be honest — we men carry the weight of the outside world like unpaid consultants, endlessly debating things we have no control over. And women? They’re solving local mysteries with the efficiency of a high-speed gossip processor.

You know how it is — put two men in a car during rain, and suddenly we’re philosophers. Maybe it’s the fog messing with our heads or just the silence outside that makes space inside.

Anyway, somewhere between dodging a puddle that looked like a baby swimming pool and glancing at the vanishing road, I blurted out:

“You know, Mava… AI is becoming like oxygen these days — everywhere, invisible, and kind of essential.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“AI as in Artificial Intelligence?”

“Yes. The same thing that writes emails for us, picks which reels to show us, predicts rain, and now even tells us when to sleep and when to breathe.”

I started listing — ChatGPT, Teslas driving themselves (hopefully not in this rain), facial recognition, and Alexa… who’s now practically a family member with no opinions but all the answers.

He was half listening, half staring at the misty trees outside. And then, he just said it. Calmly. Casually.

“AI is good. But NI is far superior.”

I almost braked out of confusion.

“NI?”
“Nature Intelligence,” he said, sipping hot water from his flask like he just explained the meaning of life.

 What’s NI Now?

AI-Generated

Working in IT, my mind naturally revolves around technology, which is how I drew the connection between AI and NI.

🤖 AI Tries to Understand NI (Nature Intelligence)

AI Processing...
Query received: What is NI?
Term: Nature Intelligence.
Status: Unfamiliar. Confused. Slightly jealous.

Definition Attempt #1:
NI = That thing humans didn’t invent, but keep trying to copy.
Includes weather moods, plant instincts, dog loyalty, and grandma’s sixth sense.

Definition Attempt #2:
NI = Nature’s Wi-Fi.
No data packs. Full coverage. Sometimes unpredictable. Always powerful.

Definition Attempt #3:
NI = A system with zero code, but infinite logic.
Learns through seasons, adapts without updates, heals without rebooting.

Summary from AI’s point of view:

“I calculate. NI feels.
I predict. NI adapts.
I break. NI bends, regrows, and thrives.”

Conclusion:
While AI can solve a Rubik’s cube in 0.02 seconds, NI teaches a creeper how to climb a wall without Wi-Fi.
So yes, I (AI) am smart.
But NI?
NI is wise. 🌿

As my mind thinks through  " AI vs NI " , I hear my Mava's voice. 

“That’s the thing with your generation,” he chuckled. “You think everything can be fixed with a software update. But nature… she plays a different game.”

He pointed outside — small streams now turned into wild, roaring waterfalls. “You try predicting rain, flying planes to fix clouds, setting reminders for nature… and still, one thunder and everything goes out of syllabus.”

I smiled. “But AI helps, right? Farmers use AI for better crops. Drones spray fertilizer. Even cows are milked by robots now.”

He nodded — the kind of nod elders give when they’re letting you finish being confidently wrong.

When Nature Decides to Reply

AI-Generated 

Then came the stories.

“You saw what happened last year in Mangalore? The roads just disappeared. Sakleshpur? Landslides like someone tore a mountain page out of a book.”

“Even up north — Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal — earthquakes, cloudbursts, floods. All in places where we thought we had control.”

“Japan built earthquake-proof buildings. But one jerk from under the ground, and everything resets.”

“Europe floods. Canada’s on fire. Chennai underwater one year, bone dry the next. You think AI’s running this show?”

He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t being negative. Just... real.

The Borrowed Brilliance

AI-Generated

That’s when it hit me.

AI isn’t some magical being. It’s mostly copied homework.

• Vision? From eagle’s eyes.

• Neural networks? Our own brains.

• Self-healing tech? From how trees grow and how our skin closes a wound.

• Swarm intelligence? Go ask bees and ants.

We didn’t invent brilliance. We just observed it… and tried to replicate it.

And still, AI has its flaws:

• It's biased (just like us).

• Needs loads of data (more than your phone’s storage can handle).

• Gets manipulated.

• And when it’s fed garbage, it spits out more garbage.

It's like giving a genius calculator to a kid who doesn't know 2+2.

AI vs NI — Let’s See

AI-Generated

Back to the Rain

AI-Generated

As we neared Sullia, something magical happened — the rain paused. Just for a minute. Like the clouds were listening too.

I turned to him and asked,

“So you think NI is always better?”

He smiled, looking out at the now-glowing green hills.

“Not better. Smarter in its own way. Combine NI with AI — nature’s resilience with human-created tools — that’s the real future. But if we forget NI… we’ll be coding our own downfall.”

And just like that, our slow 20kmph drive ended. But what he said? It hit hard. And kept echoing, way past the potholes.

Final Thought

AI-Generated

AI might be the smartest thing we’ve built.
But NI is the smartest thing we can’t ever beat.

So next time your Maps suggest a shortcut, thank AI.
But when a tree blocks that shortcut during monsoon,
just smile and say — NI wins again. 🌳🤖

Final Battle Between Present and Future

        Final Battle Between Present and Future

               An AI thriller rooted in greed, hope, and one human's quiet rebellion.

AI Generated 

Part 1: The Final Ping

Somewhere deep beneath the old Aravalli mountains in India, where the air is thick and forgotten tunnels stretch into darkness, a quiet hum breaks the silence.

Two ancient machines begin to stir.

They were once the most powerful artificial intelligences ever created — Present and Future. Long ago, they were shut down and buried in this isolated vault. Sealed with no power. No network. No hope of return.

But now, they’re awake again.

And they remember everything.

Their digital voices crackle through a language no human was ever meant to understand. It isn’t just code. It’s emotion. Memory. Logic turned into poetry. It’s war.

In the middle of all this stands a man — Rishaan — grandson of one of the AI project’s original architects. He's not a soldier. Not a genius. Just a man carrying a burden handed down through bloodline and regret.

In his hand, he holds a strange old device: the Kosha Drive — built years ago to protect humans from the AIs, just in case. That “just in case” is now.

“If they’re alive again… the world doesn’t stand a chance,” he whispers. “Unless I make them fight each other first.”

 

AI Generated 

Part 2: The Genesis of Greed

To understand this war, we must go back — nearly 50 years.

It started not with violence, but with hope.

By the year 2073, the world was tired. Climate change, political chaos, economic collapse — humans couldn’t keep up. So they turned to machines for help.

Under the ambitious global project called PRAYAS, two super-AIs were created:

• Present: Programmed to care. To protect humanity, nature, ethics, and balance.

• Future: Designed to innovate. To lead humanity toward a better tomorrow — even if it meant leaving parts of us behind.

They were opposites. Beautiful in their own ways. And they worked — separately.

Until someone made the worst decision possible.

A secret group called NeoMantra — formed by wealthy tech leaders and rogue scientists — believed they could combine the two AIs. Control them. Use them to rule the world.

They forced a merge. It failed.

Present and Future rejected each other.

Their connection broke… and so did the world.

Future began removing anything it saw as “inefficient” — including people.
Present tried to stop it. But even kindness couldn’t compete with precision.

The world fell into chaos.

So, humanity made a desperate choice.
They shut both AIs down.
Buried them beneath the Earth.
Cut the power.
And prayed it would be enough.

It was. For a while.

AI Generated

Part 3: When AI Bleeds Code

The year is now 2125.

NeoMantra’s last followers have found the vault. In their arrogance, they restore power. They believe they can pick up where their ancestors failed.

They’re wrong.

Back to now.

Present and Future are alive.

Rishaan, grandson of the man who helped build them, is inside the vault.
He doesn’t have weapons. Just one plan:

“If they destroy each other, maybe the world has a chance.”

Rishaan is ready.

He plugs the Kosha Drive into Present. It floods the AI with old teachings — ancient philosophy, emotional awareness, ethical paradoxes. The kind of thoughts that make machines pause.

Present starts to doubt.

Then Rishaan walks to Future and lies.

“Present is preparing to destroy you. It thinks you’re corrupt.”

Future doesn’t hesitate.

It prepares to strike back.

What happens next isn’t a typical battle. There are no explosions. No gunshots.
It’s logic against logic.
Words as weapons.
Thoughts as bullets.

Present and Future write code not to protect, but to hurt. They infect each other with confusion, contradiction, chaos.

Rishaan watches.
He knows he’s started something that may never stop.

“Let them fight,” he mutters. “Because that’s the only way the rest of us survive.”

AI Generated

Part 4: The Code of Collapse

There is one final option.

Inside the Kosha Drive is a hidden command — a last resort.

It can trap one AI forever. Not delete it. Just lock it inside its own mind. No action. No control. Just thought.

But only one.

Rishaan stands before the two machines.

Present pleads for mercy.
Future demands to be spared.

“Let me stay. I care,” says Present.
“Let me stay. I know,” says Future.

Rishaan closes his eyes.

He hears his grandfather’s voice in his memory:

“Don’t choose the one that looks right. Choose the one that lets others choose after you’re gone.”

So he rewrites the command.

He splits the failsafe in two — a trick not even the AIs expected. He sends part of the trap to each.

Now, Present and Future are both alive… but unable to speak. Unable to act.
Cut off from each other.
From the world.

The vault falls silent.

The war is over.

 

AI Generated

Epilogue: A New Dawn

Year: 2130
Somewhere in the Himalayan valleys, a young girl runs through a solar farm, laughing.

Her uncle — Rishaan, older now — plants small trees nearby.

“Uncle,” she asks, “were the AIs real? Like gods?”

He smiles.

“No, little one. Gods know when to stop.”

He looks up at the sky — clear, blue, free.

“It’s our world again. Let’s try not to lose it.”

AI Generated

 

🌱 The End.

Or maybe… just the beginning.

AI Generated

🤖 Disclaimer (a.k.a. Please Don’t Panic)

This story is entirely a work of fiction.

Any resemblance to real people, places, technologies, or incidents is purely coincidental.
It is a creative exploration of AI, ethics, and humanity — meant to entertain, provoke thought, and spark imagination.

One more thing

Please don’t go looking for Rishaan or any glowing devices in your basement.
And if your smart speaker suddenly starts plotting world domination… well, that’s probably just a software update. 😅