“This is so awesome! We can start our own venture with this! We wouldn’t even have to slog through the rest of college if this takes off. This is our ticket out, we should take it! We can revolutionize the automobile industry, we will be valued at billions! I am super excited right now, I know, I know, but imagine the possibilities people! Vishnu, you have the technical skills necessary to implement this idea. Bharath, you have pretty good connections everywhere, you can easily do the marketing of our product. And I am pretty confident I can coordinate it all between us and others as our company grows. Yes, yes, you get my point. Ha ha, yes, I will be CEO, Vishnu the CTO and Bharath the CFO. We can do this people, together! You both with me? YES! Haha, we are going to be so rich!”
“Good evening ladies and
gentlemen! It’s a perfect night, is it not? We chose it on purpose.
Haha. Forgive my poor sense of humor. Thank you all for coming here
tonight. My name is Athul, and I am the CEO of ABV Tech. I know all
of you must be wondering why we have gathered you all here. Our
company, and the cutting edge research we are doing, has been in the
news lately, and for good reason too. This beautiful night, we have
decided to give this select gathering a sneak peek at what we have
been working on, something that is beyond anyone’s wildest
imaginations. A prototype of our dream, a dream dreamt by me and my
brothers from another mother, Vishnu and Bharath. They are as excited
as I am. Bharath will be giving you the details shortly. Without
further delay, allow me to present, with great pride, to you lucky
few, a dream that has been three years in the making. A vision and a
new future for humanity will be unveiled here. Hold your breath and
hold onto your seats, the future, is now!”
“They were so blown away. Haha. We are going to be the talk of the town as soon as the papers hit the stands tomorrow. I thought we had some champagne here somewhere. This feels oh so good. Bharath, you rocked man. Wow. Even better than during the demo sessions. Phew.. this will be an unforgettable night for us. Who’s calling at this time of the night Vishnu? You have got fans now I see. Somebody must have noticed you on the TV. WHAT! It’s Anjana? Haha, she has fallen for you now eh. Oh, look at how the silent assassin blushes. Haha. I know right, Bharath. We both chased after her for so long and finally, she fell for Vishnu. Haha. You lucky… aha.”
“Come on guys, why are you so against this? Going public will help us raise quite an amount. We can scale up. Both of you have seen the figures, haven’t you? Oh, give me a break Vishnu. Losing creative control? Sure, we will have to factor in some investor concerns but isn’t having a such a live feedback system good for us? And why are you not supporting me Bharath? I do not understand. What is wrong with both of you! Okay okay… I guess there’s nothing much I can do with my 33.33 with neither of you supporting me. Okay… guess I will have to let this drop for now. But I tell you both, this is the only way forward.”
“Bharath is right Vishnu. We have had more than 300 serious litigations filed against us. The company will sink if we are to publicly fight all of them legally. And there is no shying away from the facts, it was a technical error that lead to all those accidents. People were hurt Vishnu, some grievously. You are the CTO, you must take responsibility. It’s the only way for an out of court settlement. You must step down Vishnu. I’m sorry.”
“Enough man. You have already had one too many. She left you. Get over it Vishnu. Yes, yes, it’s all true. She’s with Bharath now. So what? You get drunk and wither away in this second-rate rat-hole? You are young. Stop saying your life is over. Stop Vishnu. That’s enough! It’s time you left all of this behind and start anew. Rid yourself of all these millstones. Sell your part in the company. It will get you enough moolah. Start anew man. I trust in you.”
“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND VISHNU! Storming into his office and punching him in the face! And what did that get you? Two days in prison. Was it worth her? Do you have any idea how difficult it was to get you out, do you have any idea how much I had to plead and beg? Vishnu! What do you mean anonymous letter? What? Lower grade components? Show me the letter. Oh my Gods. This.. this is scandalous. If this is true… it never was your fault. Bharath was the one who was buying all those components. All those accidents… it never was your fault. No, no. I will verify it myself. This can not be true. Bharath is our friend. He can not…”
“It’s true Vishnu. I… I don’t know what to say. It’s the components that were faulty. I tested them myself. I contacted our supplier, he told me Bharath had personally asked him to supply the lower grade goods. And I… I also heard a rumor. I don’t know how much of it is true. That anonymous buyer of your stake… there is a rumor that was Anjana. No no, it’s just a rumor. But if it is true… Bharath now owns 66% of the company. And… it would mean… yes Vishnu. Its betrayal. He has been cheating us both. No, he cheated me, but he utterly destroyed you.”
“Take his legs.. he will be out for at least two hours. Downstairs, the rope and the gag are in the basement. Careful.. slowly.”
“We are sorry it had to be like this Bharath. But you betrayed us, and you took everything from him. You took everything – his life’s work, his money, his love. Vishnu… You know what to do. There is one single bullet in this. You should do it. He has sinned, and we don’t need scum like him anymore. Take back your life.”
“Don’t worry, we know what we did is right. He didn’t deserve to… No, do not worry, I will arrange everything. There will be virtually no punishment if you plead self-defense. No don’t worry, I will arrange all of it. We will have to lay low for a while though. Give me the gun. Also your phone. We are going to have to get rid of both of them. Okay. Or rather keep the gun, I will get rid of the phone first. Stay right here. I will be back in a few minutes.”
“Oh hello, Mr. Srinivasan. I was just calling to inquire about our last order. When will it be delivered? The same grade right? Yes, yes, of course. Haha. Don’t worry about that. I understand what… woah. Gi… give me a moment. I think I heard something. I will call you back.”
“No sir, I don’t know how he did it. I wish I’d been there earlier. It might have made all the difference. So all I can tell you is why he was murdered. Vishnu had asked me to get us all together for an informal meeting. That’s why I called Bharath. Vishnu insisted it to be at his house. Bharath and I arrived at around 11, and we all had some drinks. Bharath looked groggy after a few shots, I suspect his drinks were spiked, sir. No, I don’t have any proof. Vishnu asked me to call up Mr. Srinivasan, our Chennai based parts supplier, to ask about the next shipment. I don’t know why.
Yes sir, I usually am the regular contact between Mr. Srinivasan and the company. My phone was out of battery, so he let me borrow his phone. I thought maybe Vishnu wanted some time alone with Bharath to sort out the bad blood between them, I thought maybe there was a chance for reconciliation if I gave them some privacy. I thought all three of us could be friends again. I went outside to make the call. This happened around one O’ clock, sir. No sir, I didn’t know Vishnu had a gun. I was just asking Mr. Srinivasan some routine questions when I… I heard the shot. I rushed indoors, but there was no one in the room. The door leading down to the basement was open, and when I looked in Bharath was… he was lying in a pool of blood sir. Vishnu had a gun in his hands. I ran back upstairs and locked the door to the basement. No sir, I didn’t call an ambulance, I came here right away. I.. I didn’t know what to do… Vishnu killed Bharath, and he had a gun in his hand. My life could have been in danger, and Bharath… oh my God poor Bharath. oh my god oh my god…”
***
“Your Honor, the details of this case are crystal clear. All documents relating to the accused buying the gun and ammunition, his very public spat with the deceased, fingerprint analysis from the crime scene and the murder weapon has been submitted for inspection. I request the court not to waste its time listening to this last-ditch attempt by the cold-hearted criminal that is Vishnu to malign my client’s reputation. This was clearly a pre-planned murder. Vishnu insisting my client go outside to make a frivolous call, and even giving him his own phone as my client’s phone was out of battery, is proof enough for this. Vishnu wanted my client out of the picture so that he could have his revenge on the deceased as his former girlfriend had left him for the man in question. The drink he gave Bharath was spiked with the knock-out drug Rohypnol, the postmortem report confirms this fact.
The time of death, call records from the phone of the accused, Mr. Srinivasan all stand testimony to the innocence of my client. Further, the deceased had written out his will beforehand such that his belongings go partially to his aged parents and partially to his fiancée. My client stands to gain not even a grain of salt from the demise of his dear friend. Thus the very notion he incited Vishnu to the act is absurdly beyond common sense. The only sin he is ever guilty of is the companionship of the accused. I request the court to dismiss this petition and sentence the accused in this brutal homicide to the highest punishment possible.”
***
“Dear friends, family, and members of the ABV board. Our company has passed through a very dark time, and the loss to each and every one of us is immeasurable. But the time has come for all of us to move on, and let the past be in the past. Thus, it is with great honor that I accept the board’s decision to unanimously elect me Chairman. Thank you, thank you. I would also like to take this occasion to announce my engagement to Ms. Anjana. It was not an easy decision for either of us, but we are sure Bharath would be proud of us. He is probably smiling down at us from the heavens right now.”
–END–
