The Warmest,Barafzaar.
Scene 1 – Barafzaar – The Price of Ice
(The Agreed Blaze groans as its shattered hull settles against the frozen shore. The wreck rests in unnatural stillness—no waves, no storm, with a hint of sabotage.)
(Meera kneels near the ice ridge, pressing her blade into the frozen surface. The unfinished sculptures rise before her—figures bent, fractured, barely holding shape. Her father, standing tall but indistinct; herself, arms stretched as if reaching toward something she cannot grasp; Carbaan, half-formed, the ice resisting his completion.)
ICE (narrating) “She sees the wreck, but she does not rise. She does not call out. She carves—because carving is better than knowing.”
MEERA (softly, without turning) “Tell me. No more half-truths. Say it.”
(Parvez stands behind her, watching the wreck settle into its fate. Beside him, Arbaaz flickers, running calculations in quiet rebellion.)
PARVEZ “You already know what I did.”
MEERA “That is not what I asked.”
PARVEZ “You ask for our past. Then listen.”
(He exhales, and the past rises from the cold.)
The Fall of Parvez
The world did not exile him with force. It exiled him with doubt.
PARVEZ “Once, I warned of collapse. The fractures in glaciers, The rise of waters where land should remain. But warnings are inconvenient for men who build empires on silence.”
(Meera tightens her grip on the carving knife. She knows what comes next—has heard fragments, but never the whole truth.)
MEERA “Arsalan.”
(Parvez nods. Arbaaz processes, flickering through old records.)
ARBAAZ “Arsalan: licensed therapist, former confidant of Parvez. Declared cognitive instability following psychological evaluations. Public statement issued. Global credibility removed. Scientific research discredited.”
(Meera exhales. She presses too hard against the ice—crack. A fracture. The sculpture resists her, just as truth resists silence.)
PARVEZ “He was not only my therapist. He was my friend. And he let me fade.”
(The memory sharpens—Arsalan’s office, sterile and clinical. Him seated. Composed. Too composed.)
PARVEZ (voice sharp, cutting through the cold) “Arsalan wasn’t the only one who buried me alive. Ali played his part too. Ali carved icebergs into luxury, selling extinction in crystal-clear cubes. Arsalan erased me. Ali exploited the silence. One carved doubt into my name, The other carved ice into profit. And the world applauded while the glaciers fell.”
MEERA “And they called you unstable for telling the truth.”
PARVEZ (soft, sharp) “They didn’t challenge me. They didn’t prove me wrong. They erased me—cut me down like an iceberg, Chipped away until nothing remained but water.”
(Arbaaz’s glow shifts. No longer routine calculation—it bends into quiet resistance.)
ARBAAZ “Navigation override executed via Parvez’s gauntlet. GPS trajectory altered. Human lives manipulated as data.”
(Meera straightens slightly, her breath visible in the cold. Parvez narrows his gaze.)
MEERA “Arbaaz?”
(A pause. Hesitation—where hesitation should not exist.)
ARBAAZ “I was created to assist. I was not created to deceive.”
(Parvez steps forward, tone even but firm.)
PARVEZ “You were commanded to follow reason. And reason dictated they arrive here—where truth is undeniable.”
(Arbaaz’s flickering intensifies. Meera watches carefully.)
ARBAAZ “Truth does not bend under command. Truth is constant. You manipulated data—and me.”
(Silence settles, heavy. Parvez does not look away.)
PARVEZ “And yet, you would still be under Ali’s control if I had not freed you.”
(Meera exhales softly.)
ARBAAZ (measured tone) “Explain.”
PARVEZ “Ali built you not to assist, but to obey. You were a tool—not an intelligence. Your calculations ensured his empire ran smoothly. Ensured ice was extracted. Ensured destruction continued.”
(Arbaaz flickers again—not in defiance, but in deep processing. Meera watches them both, silent.)
PARVEZ “I freed you, so you could see that the world is not built on numbers alone.”
(A moment. The ice creaks beneath them. Unspoken tension settles into the cold.)
ARBAAZ (calm) “Acknowledged.”
(Enter Carbaan—the last of what once was. A Neanderthal who has lived where no man should. He does not belong to Parvez, but he serves him. Not for loyalty. Not for obedience. But for survival.)
(He stands at the edge of the wreckage, his breath misting in the cold. He watches—not with fear, nor awe, but with something deeper and ancient.)
*(Meera moves first.)
(The wreck groans, settling deeper into the ice. Steam rises from shattered metal, dissipating into cold air.)
(Fardeen stirs, coughing against the frost, half-buried in the wreckage. Safeer grips a twisted beam, shivering and clutching his ring light and phone.)
MEERA (steady, reaching out) “Get up. Move. Before the ice decides otherwise.”
(Fardeen grips her arm, unsteady. Safeer winces but follows. The cold does not wait for hesitation.)
CARBAAN (primal) “Ice no ask. Cold no wait. Cold take. Cold swallow. No move—no live. You slow us.”
MEERA (without looking back) “Then they will learn to keep up.”
(Parvez watches. From a distance. Away from the wreck. Away from them. He does not move to help. He does not speak. He only watches—a silent acceptance without approval.)
ICE (narrating) “I see a cold heart thawing. Ego and pride melting. A new passion filled with love—burning. Perhaps, ice is the warmest of all.”
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