The Mystery Files - Chapter 11:The Mind that Never Rests

Back at Haideron Tech's IT Wing , Ali couldn't thank his lucky stars enough.

Standing before the mirror in his sparkling executive office, he combed his hair neatly back into place.

For a moment, he felt as though he had returned...

...from the chaotic world of construction...

...to the data-driven world where he truly belonged.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

Thank God I chose computer engineering!

He shook his head.

My respects to civil and structural engineers.

His gaze wandered around his immaculate office.

The polished desk.

The sleek laptop.

The quiet hum of the air conditioner.

The orderly shelves.

Minimal furniture.

Exactly the environment he loved.

I wouldn't trade this executive office for a construction site.

Not for anything.

He straightened his tie one last time before returning to his desk.

His laptop screen glowed to life.

There was work waiting.

His mind, however, refused to cooperate.

Focus, Ali.

He rubbed his temple.

I wish there were a place where the mind could simply... stop.

He stared at the blank document.

Maybe I should ask one of the interns to type the progress report.

He placed his tablet and mobile phone beside the laptop.

His hand drifted towards the intercom.

Then stopped.

The Boss's words returned immediately.

"Ali... you'll be overseeing the HT Corridor project. Any queries or updates regarding the site—contact me directly. Not through my PA."

Ali withdrew his hand.

No.

Not this project.

Delegating even a small part of it would be asking for trouble.

He turned back to the laptop.

Instead of typing the report...

...his thoughts wandered elsewhere.

Tariq Malik.

The old man.

His trembling voice.

Ali blinked and rubbed his sea-green eyes.

What am I doing?

He unlocked his tablet and opened the notes he had prepared during the site visit.

But Tariq Malik's words kept knocking at his mind.

He ran a hand through his hair.

Enough, Ali.

Focus.

Half-heartedly, he began typing, using the notes on his tablet while attaching the high-resolution photographs, video clips and audio recordings stored on his phone.

He paused.

It would've been better if I'd taken the HT-900 Series drone cameras and the latest recording equipment from inventory.

The hardware had only recently been developed by the firm and was still lying in the warehouse.

Instead...

...I was busy hoping I'd somehow end up near the old airport.

He sighed.

What did I find instead?

The new airport.

And Mr. Tariq Malik.

His fingers paused above the keyboard.

His thoughts drifted back to Abdul Ahad's modest home.

Despite his fractured mind...

...despite the passing decades...

...the old man had recognised his father's face the moment he saw Ali.

"Your eyes... his jaw..."

Then...

"Iftikhar escaped the devil's game."

Ali stared blankly at the screen.

Which devil?

Did Papa escape some devil's snare?

The thought sent a chill through him.

He leaned back against the leather headrest and closed his eyes.

No.

If I keep thinking about this...

...I'll drive myself crazy.

For now...

...it had to wait.

He opened his eyes again and stretched his arms before returning to work.

A few minutes later, the report was complete.

He synced the files to Haideron Tech's secure server.

Then he glanced at his Apple Watch.

Exactly three o'clock.

The Boss would be waiting.

Ali shut the laptop, rose from his chair, and made his way towards the Boss's executive suite.

Mr. Haider stood before a large illuminated architectural maquette.

Ali slowed to a stop.

It wasn't the same model he and Omer had seen a few days earlier.

This one was noticeably larger.

Far more refined.

Beneath a crystal-clear glass enclosure stretched a miniature city of gleaming towers, broad roads, landscaped spaces and clusters of modern buildings.

Soft lights shimmered through the model, giving it an uncanny sense of life.

For a fleeting moment...

...Ali could have sworn a tiny vehicle had moved along one of the roads.

He blinked.

The entire display looked almost unreal.

Like a crystal city waiting to awaken.

No wonder the Boss had been standing there for so long.

Mr. Haider's hands rested inside the pockets of his tailored trousers.

His eyes never left the miniature city.

He wasn't merely looking at it.

He seemed......absorbed by it.

As though he wasn't seeing resin, glass, and steel......but a future only he could see.

For one strange moment......Ali found himself wondering whether the Boss was silently willing the city into existence.

The thought sent an unexpected chill through him.

He cleared his throat.

"Sir..."

Mr. Haider didn't respond immediately.

"The site inspection report is complete," Ali continued.

"It has been uploaded to the firm's secure server."

Only then did Mr. Haider slowly turn away from the illuminated maquette.

He walked back to the mahogany desk with measured, effortless grace.

As he sat down, he adjusted the gold cufflinks beneath the soft opal lighting overhead.

Ali remained standing.

Then the familiar voice broke the silence.

"Sit, Ali."

"Yes, Sir."

Ali took the chair opposite him.

Mr. Haider folded his hands.

"Did you have lunch?"

The question caught Ali completely off guard.

For a second, he simply stared.

"Not yet, Sir."

"I usually eat a little late."

Mr. Haider regarded him quietly for a moment.

"Now tell me..."

"...after spending four hours at the construction site..."

"...what stayed with you the most?"

Ali let out a weary breath.

"Sir..."

"...I realized that stepping into an entirely different profession is much harder than I had imagined."

A faint smile crossed his face.

"I spent four hours at the site..."

"...yet I felt like a visitor."

He shook his head.

"An IT professional cannot simply become a civil engineer overnight..."

"...in fact, I don't think he could, even if he devoted years to it."

Mr. Haider gave a slow nod.

"And the opposite is equally true."

"A civil engineer cannot become a computer expert merely because circumstances demand it."

He paused.

"Every profession has its own language..."

"...its own instincts..."

"...its own way of thinking."

Ali nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

Mr. Haider leaned back in his chair.

"Tell me, Ali."

"If I transferred you tomorrow..."

"...made you Head of the Construction Wing..."

"..with the same salary..."

"...the same benefits..."

"...would you accept?"

Ali instinctively adjusted his tie.

"Sir..."

"...I would respectfully decline."

"And why?"

"Because I would become a liability instead of an asset."

A faint smile appeared on the Boss's face.

"And if refusing wasn't an option?"

"If I made it mandatory?"

Ali lowered his gaze briefly.

"Then, Sir..."

"...I would probably walk straight into HR..."

"...and submit my resignation."

Mr. Haider nodded slowly.

"I expected that answer."

He rose from his chair and walked towards the illuminated maquette.

The miniature HT Corridor glowed softly beneath its glass enclosure.

He rested one hand lightly against the edge of the display.

"You see, Ali..."

"If a man has a choice..."

"...he usually chooses the path he understands."

"Very few willingly abandon the work they were trained for."

He fell silent for a moment.

"But life doesn't always offer us that privilege."

"Sometimes circumstances become stronger than personal wishes."

"They leave a person with only two choices."

"Either walk away..."

"...or shoulder responsibilities they never imagined would become their own."

His fingers drifted along the edge of the glass case.

"People often believe intelligence alone is enough."

"It isn't."

"You may spend years studying another profession..."

"...learning its language..."

"...understanding its methods..."

"...even carrying out its responsibilities well enough that no one questions you."

He paused.

"But deep inside..."

"...you never stop thinking like the person you were originally trained to become."

"Knowledge can be acquired."

"Skills can be developed."

"Experience comes with time."

"But instinct..."

A faint smile crossed his face.

"...instinct belongs to the profession that shaped you."

Ali listened quietly.

There was something different about the Boss's voice today.

It lacked its usual crisp certainty.

It sounded less like a lesson...

...and more like someone recalling a truth he had learned the hard way.

Mr. Haider continued.

"That is why carrying responsibilities outside your own field..."

"...is far more exhausting than people imagine."

He remained silent for another moment.

"And yet..."

"...some people spend years doing exactly that."

"Not because they enjoy it."

"Not because they ever planned to."

"But because life leaves them no alternative."

He turned from the illuminated model and tok his chair once again.

"I didn't send you there to become a civil engineer."

"I sent you there because a leader should understand the language of every department..."

"...even if he can never truly speak it."

Ali nodded slowly.

As he rose from the chair, one sentence lingered in his mind.

A civil engineer cannot become a computer expert merely because circumstances demand it.

"By the way..."

Mr. Haider's voice regained its usual calm professionalism.

"That cab driver who dropped you off ..."

"...call him."

Ali stopped.

"I'd like to interview him."

A chill crept slowly up his spine.

How does he know?

From the executive suite on the tenth floor...

Mr. Haider had an entire technology empire to oversee.

International clients.

Major projects.

The HT Corridor.

Yet somehow...

...he had noticed a single cab.

He had noticed its driver.

Ali kept his expression composed.

"Sir..."

"That cab driver is actually a civil engineer by qualification."

One of Mr. Haider's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Is he?"

A faint smile appeared.

"Then he's of far greater use to the Corridor than he would ever be behind a steering wheel."

He glanced briefly towards the glowing model.

"We need young civil engineers."

"If one of them also happens to drive well..."

"...that's merely an additional skill."

He looked back at Ali.

"Call him."

"Yes, Sir."

As Ali walked towards the electronic glass doors, he could almost feel the Boss's gaze following him.

The polished corridor outside lay in complete silence.

Ali moved slowly towards the elevator, but his thoughts refused to settle.

Not only had Mr. Haider shifted the entire HT Corridor away from the old airport...

...he had also replaced the earlier architectural model.

This new maquette was unlike anything Ali had ever seen.

It wasn't merely a presentation piece.

It felt...

...strangely alive.

Who had designed something so extraordinary?

And why had the Boss replaced it so suddenly?

The elevator arrived with a soft chime.

Ali stepped inside.

As the elevator doors slid shut, another thought quietly surfaced.

Perhaps...

...today's visit had never been only about inspecting a construction site.

He wasn't entirely sure what the Boss had wanted him to see...

...or understand.

But one thing was certain.

The image of the glowing miniature city...

...and the man standing silently before it...

...refused to leave his mind.

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