2nd March, 2036, Rajpath, New Delhi, India, 2:40 P.M.

Prime Minister Desai took a deep breath as he took his seat in the war room. As he sat on the desk, his arms folded, he cast his mind back to the events that happened during the last year, and how the world they knew had forever changed exactly one year ago due to an event: the Transference.

One year ago, on this exact same day, he had announced the “transfer of the country” to another world, five days after keeping the public in the dark regarding the matter. And it made sense in a way too, after all. It took them almost two weeks to fully comprehend and come to terms with what had happened.

Immediately after the ‘Curtain of light’ vanished, communications with the satellites in orbit as well as Dhruvyaan was resumed. Or rather, what was left of the satellites.

ISRO reported that many satellites had outright disappeared and could neither be located nor contacted. Dhruvyaan reported that contact with the ISS and the Chinese space station had been completely lost, and they too could not be located.

However, what shocked everyone wasn’t just this. When contact was resumed, all satellites and Dhruvyaan itself were found at different altitudes and orbits than they were at previously. However, the relative distance between them had remained mostly unchanged. This along with the reports from aircraft pilots and different laboratories all across the country, lead some to say that it looked like the planet’s radius had increased by nearly 2 times, which obviously was rejected. Surely, this was impossible, wasn’t it?

However, the surprises hadn’t ended there. When the feed coming from the satellites and the horrified crew of Dhruvyaan was inspected, what came out was nothing short of shocking, of course in the most unpleasant way imaginable. So much so that when the higher ups saw it initially, they questioned the mental stability of the workers and technicians and whether or not there was a fault in the system that hadn’t been fixed.

However, after checking everything, they decided, with hesitation, to present their findings to the PMO, which Desai still remembered as if it were yesterday.

The findings, in question, detailed how the world had warped around them in unimaginable ways. From the feed from the satellites, it was clear while India and the Indian subcontinent itself was fine, everything else surrounding it wasn’t. Where previously there was Africa in the west of the Arabian Sea, and most of what represented South-East Asia in the east, now there was nothing. All of it had disappeared overnight and was now replaced by a vast expanse of water that probably dwarfed the Pacific Ocean in size.

The northern part of the country looked rather fine at first glance, however that was only on the surface. While a very large part of land stretching towards Afghanistan to the west, Mongolia to the north, and some part of Myanmar to the east was present, something wasn’t alright. And soon they realized what it was.

Every shred of human civilization beyond the borders had vanished, replaced by thick vegetation and wildlife. Where sprawling cities were supposed to be, now existed thick, lush forests, devoid of anything resembling the metropolis and the millions of souls that resided there. The only solace was that Nepal and Bhutan were also here with India, cut off from the rest of the world like India.

While the traces of human civilization were gone, nature remained. All the mountain ranges and terrain features that had existed previously, were also present here, except without the people now. Especially the Himalayas to the north and the Hindu Kush mountain ranges in Afghanistan, as well as the desert in Mongolia. Roads going across the border in the north-western regions of the country completely blended into the terrain a few metres from the border. At the foot of the country, what was once the island country of Sri Lanka was now devoid of all human life and turned into a thick jungle; quiet, tranquil, and unaware of the civil war that once raged in the country.

Even the island groups in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal had changed. Many new islands had turned up in both the Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Island chains. For some reason, Diego Garcia island was in the Andamans now, when in fact it was supposed to be in the Maldives, which had been teleported along with India for some reason. Even more confusing was how the island was filled with confused Americans trying to make sense of the situation.

Everything had changed completely, in a way beyond the comprehension of anyone. No one knew the identity of the one who could do such a feat, of magnitude, precision and prejudice exceeding what humans could hope to ever achieve with technology. The only plausible explanation was that it was an act of God, ‘prabhu ki leela’.

Not all of the terrain was the same, however. Mountain ranges and hills completely sloped downwards into flat plateaus with very steep cliffs near the new coastline, both in the east and the west. Some portion of terrain that wasn’t supposed to be there previously, now had come into existence in the places where there were once cities and towns.

Surrounding the mainland was a gigantic water body that stretched all around the mainland for an absurd distance. The first photographs taken by the satellites after the transfer, did not contain any other landmass other than the Indian “continent”.

With all this evidence coming from pretty much everywhere, the Government had no option left but to declare the truth out to the public. It was crucial after all. Supply lines that once connected with a global economy were gone. New alternatives had to be established, and they had to be established FAST. Else the entire country would fall apart.

So, everyone in the PMO steeled their hearts as the Prime Minister gave a speech to the media, to the people who were hungry for answers as to why they couldn’t connect to the internet, why they couldn’t contact anyone outside the country, and why was Section 144 being imposed in places that didn’t even need it? And most importantly, what was the strange phenomenon observed near the border areas, especially in Bengal?

By the time the speech was over, the country was in chaos. What was the Prime Minister saying? Every political party took this opportunity and called him mentally retarded, saying that he had lost his mind because he got drunk on his own success. Soon however, photos and footage was released to the public, making people realized the real weight of the PM’s words. Media channels were running non-stop, shouting constantly while showing satellite images of Chinese emplacements before and after the ‘transfer’, or showing a video recorded by one of the crew members of Dhruvyaan, showing the new Indian ‘continent’, completely surrounded by water on all sides.

Soon enough, the reality of the situation started to set in, and people began to realize that no one was insane. They were indeed gone, either the original world had perished and every other country had died, or they had been sent to some other place, cut off from everyone they knew and recognized. The global economy that supported the rise of the country, all of it was gone. India could no longer import or export anything, and if nothing was done soon, everything would fall apart.

As the consequences of the transfer started to kick in, the government quickly rolled up its sleeve as it started contingency plans. Now that the country was in dire condition, everything they had on hand had to be utilized. And this included the new areas that were supposed to be India’s neighbours.

Initially, there was a lot of commotion regarding the use of the land outside India’s borders. Some idiots raised a commotion, saying that absorbing the vacant land as new territory in India was offensive to the people that once lived there. However, it was still easier to get the parliament to agree to do it anyway. The hard part came later.

For the common people, the real effects of the transfer soon started to reveal themselves. Inflation skyrocketed, fuel prices almost tripling and quadrupling. Where just ten percent increase in prices would become the topic of controversy for months, so it wasn’t hard to imagine what a 200% or 300% increase did. Immediately, people got on the streets, for this was no longer tolerable; inflation was now a problem that truly hit them like a wave, unlike earlier when it was merely a topic of media debates and in the whining of housewives haggling for every rupee, something that had no real meaning for most people in their lives. Several districts saw protests and some rioting here and there.

Several people questioned what happened to Indians living outside the country. Regardless the explanations being put forward regarding India’s predicament, one thing was clear: they would no longer be able to meet their sons and daughters living in another countries. They were now more or less dead, if they were even alive in the first place. Families mourned the loss of their children and families due to the transfer, any left without any kind of support. The government had to act quickly in order to secure their future and provide whatever support they could give.

Regarding Indians living outside the country however, the biggest headline was that related to Indian military assets overseas. Specifically, Indian military bases in countries like Seychelles, as well UN bases supported mostly by India. After the transfer, when contact was reestablished, with Indian assets, these bases were found in the far regions of the new Indian regions. All of their non Indian staff and assets had mysteriously disappeared.

Bases weren’t the only thing transported with the transfer. A group of IAF aircraft including one C17 as well as Flankers that were supposed to be in Japan participating in an exercise with the JASDF, were instead found in a UN base, their associated airmen in place of the non-Indian staff, completely confused as to why they were there.

The bases and the soldiers transferred with them proved to be instrumental in convincing the Parliament to allow the country to swallow those areas and assimilate them within the country. These bases could now be repurposed to patrol and guard the newly acquired areas of the country. This also included the American base and the American assets transferred alongside India, who were somewhat lucky too have been transferred with their immediate family members at least, if that could be called lucky.

The government acted fast. Within a month after the transfer, a new plan was announced, with one specific goal: to rebuild the country and help it stand up back on its feet. With the right amount of PR, the mood had drastically changed, from despair and gloom to that of hope, optimism. While not much, it was significant in calming down the people, and the rioting and the protests ceased entirely after six weeks.

With the onset of the calm, the real work started. Survey teams were sent out to locations that been previously identified as potential candidates for being profitable resource deposits by satellite reconnaissance. The general assumption was that the large landmass provided to the country must have at least enough some resources, at least enough to feed the country. And they were right, for the most part.

The ‘new regions’ of the country, now part of India as Union Territories, contained a lot of ore deposits, as was revealed by a quick survey. So the government got to work immediately.

The plan was to quickly build alternatives for everything that was imported from outside in order to support the economy. This included things like sophisticated electronic parts, complex machinery, things which weren’t built in India. The only way forward would be to utilize the wealth buried in the soils beyond the borders.

Regarding the technology itself, there weren’t many issues; anything they hadn’t already developed in the country but had access to through imports, was to be reverse engineered as soon as possible. It was a dire situation, so few ever complained about intellectual property rights.

As for the armed forces, DRDO had already developed Indian versions of important components used in modern military technologies such as tanks and aircraft, and while there were a lot of electronics in use that were imported, reverse engineering them wouldn’t be an issue, provided they had access to the raw materials. The real challenge would be trying to maintain the American assets, which led to some friction since the Americans weren’t that keen on revealing secret tech to India initially, though they gave up soon considering it was the only way to maintain and keep their assets running.

With cooperation from everyone they could ask from, including all big companies like Reliance and Tata, as well as all government agencies, they immediately sent out task forces to set up mines and factories, and get them operational as soon as possible. The bases that had spawned in the other parts of the new region were used extensively for this operation. Cargo ships that had been sitting at the ports since the transfer, were now assisting the operation.

Back at home, more plans were being put into action. Starvation wasn’t a real issue since the biggest portion of the country’s food consumption was satisfied by domestic production. The real issue was unemployment. Now that India was cut off from the world, a large section of the country’s educated population that worked in the service sector would be left without jobs. To counter this, plans were drawn up. These people that would be fired, were to be immediately recruited and retrained so that they could provide the manpower necessary to run the new economy.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

More and more vacancies of jobs were announced. To fill those vacancies, training institutes were set up. The internet flared up with life and energy as learning channels started posting tutorials for these jobs and exams. Companies that provided internet connections breathed a sigh of relief as demand for their services started to climb once again.

The biggest supplier of manpower were the overcrowded slums found in every major Indian city. Quite a lot of these people were literate, courtesy of the internet. Training would make them the perfect workers that were needed for running the upcoming production units in the new regions. And of course, new residents for the upcoming colonies and residential areas in the new region’s cities.

Desai went in into deep thought. The poor masses were finally going to get the life they deserved. New cities and townships were being set up in the new regions, devoid of the filth and dirt that had plagued their lives up until now. It doesn’t mean that India was a completely dirty place; it had completely changed since the 21st century started, it now had the sparkle and charm that was only limited to the first world countries, like a dream that was far away from their reach. Everyone believed that India could never match up to the west, or even its neighbours in the North and east. Now that dream was starting to descend within reach, a reality. Yet it didn’t mean that everyone could have it; some were destined to never get a piece of the cake, to be born in misery and die in it.

This transfer however, changed everything. Cut off from the worries of the outside world, forced to peek inside, and wake up. Ever since Independence in 1947, India had been caught up in problems. Pakistan, then China, then Pakistan again, the never-ending cold war, the insurgencies, the political drama, the bullshit. Now, all of that was gone. What remained were the real issues, standing right in front of them, staring them squarely in the face.

Desai meditated, deep in thought. In the last one year, large numbers of people migrated to the new regions, being sent there to work at the newly established plants. Most were poor, helpless people, doing their best to support their families and feed them. Because they were going far away, many took their families as well. He had seen them, photos of buses, trains and even aircraft being loaded with a large number of passengers. The intellectual elite of the country, together with the opposition parties, had circulated these photos claiming that the government was forcing people to go to labour camps and violating human rights. And just like always, they still hadn’t shut up even after one year.

It didn’t matter. He had already tasked the party’s PR unit to handle the task of shouting at the opponents. The country was the priority, politics could go fuck itself for all he cared.

In a span of mere months, the new plants in the new region started functioning. The residential areas and the surrounding townscape grew, completely different from the way an average Indian city looked. More and more workers migrated with their families to these new regions. Cities started feeling…..empty, devoid of the life that lived there. Crowded colonies started becoming less and less populated, deserted even. Videos of bulldozers taking down buildings became common on the internet, circulated mainly by the opposition buffoons.

The cities weren’t that alive exactly. After the transfer, prices of fuel skyrocketed. Roads became deserted, with people choosing to only use their vehicles when needed. Startups that worked on EVs flourished. There was a startup, who’s founder had the privilege of meeting the PM. His company was going around, installing solar panels for recharging EVs all over the country. The government stepped in. Just like UPI, a unified support system for EVs was set up, powered solely by startups and funded and supported by GoI and big companies. Soon, life started trickling back in the roads and highways; quieter, sleeker and futuristic looking vehicles becoming more and more numerous on the roads.

Despite all these changes, it would be quite a lot of time before India would be back on its feet, back to its original status as a powerful country. Until then, they had to hold on, fix every problem they could and exploit every opportunity they could find, for problems always come in conjunction with opportunities. And one of the biggest opportunities and problems were created by the new region. While it expanded India’s boundaries and provided a treasure trove of resources for rebuilding the country, it was also absurdly large in area. Indian Navy and the Coast Guard were stretched to their limits patrolling the area. The Indian Navy was big enough to atleast fend off any hostile action from China, but they hadn’t been prepared to guard and patrol such a long coastline. In order to guard such a long coastline, every possible measure was being taken. Retired vessels were recommissioned so that they could patrol the new and old waters. The US Navy assets, including the ships that were part of the carrier strike group docked at the island, also aided the Coast Guard and the Navy. ISRO redirected some satellites to perform round the clock surveillance on the coastal regions and the areas which had less than ideal coverage. ISRO had also scheduled launching several new satellites specifically for surveillance in late 2036, the first spacecraft to be launched since the transfer.

Speaking of problems, there were other problems plaguing the country long before the transfer. Several months after the transfer, when it was announced that mining and processing plants would be set up in several parts of central India and in Kashmir, people expressed surprise at the decision. Those areas were infested with insurgencies fought and run by very stupid and delusional people with their stupid delusions, with Naxalites in central India and jihadists in Kashmir. How on earth could the government then open up factories in such unstable areas? Yet, despite all these questions, the production units were started, and to everyone’s surprise, they worked well without any problems at all. More industrialists followed suit, and more factories were set up in those areas.

The reason for this of course, was known only to a few select people. Previously, those insurgencies had been supported by entities from outside, from various sources. Now however, those sources were gone, and with that, the real reason for fighting many had initially was also gone. RAW and IB elements had penetrated deep inside these groups in order to check them, whenever these groups got too mischievous, these elements would ‘discipline’ them. They didn’t wipe them out immediately, since they would pop up anyways and cause havoc. Using these groups was also advantageous for intelligence agencies, as they could trace their actions and tracks back to their foreign handlers and reach them efficiently. Now however, there was no need to maintain these groups. As such, the green light for cleaning them was given, and just within a month, every jihadi, every Naxalite mysteriously disappeared, along with their local collaborators and helpers. Local organizations that openly supported these groups, such as supposed ‘student organizations’, mysteriously had their members disappear, never to be found again. Not everyone was disciplined, of course. These disappearances didn’t go unnoticed, and many in the Kashmir region who had been brainwashed by foregin propaganda had tried to raise a commotion. Their protests made it worse for them, however, as RAW proceeded to uproot the entire insurgency and ensure it never came back again. People who had been used to the leniency of the Indian state and were too vocal about their stance, were picked up, never to be seen again. Section 144 imposed on many districts ensured absolute silence reigned until the government was done with the ‘weeding’. Now there would be no delusional idiots ranting about separating from India and forming a new country, or joining a new country.

Thinking about the phrase ‘other countries’, a frown appeared on Desai’s forehead. Despite what was said to the public, they weren’t alone on this new world. There were indeed civilizations here. While India was indeed surrounded by a large ocean that made the new world seem lifeless, it actually wasn’t. Shortly after the transfer, ISRO satellites had discovered civilization much farther from the Indian mainland. However, it took them several weeks of research and observation before they could push a final report to the Prime Minister.

One of the key points of the reports was that human civilization, native to this planet in all likelihood, resided on the other side of the planet, far away from the Indian mainland. This came as a surprise as well as a ray of hope; finding that they weren’t alone in an unfamiliar place was assuring. However, there was more to the story.

ISRO’s investigation revealed that while at first they were indeed humans, closer inspection revealed that some of them possessed features not found in humans, features such as long ears, tails and ears resembling those found on animals. These features were at first brushed aside as distortion from the sensors or misidentification, but more evidence revealed them to be otherwise. Another thing that was noted about the native civilization- now termed as ‘aliens’- was that their technological level was very low. Contrary to popular beliefs of aliens being supposedly very advanced, the ‘aliens’ here were on a far lower technological level. Images produced by ISRO satellites as well as the Dhruvyaan crew showed images of peasants toiling away in the poor countryside untouched by technology, large castles and forts defended by men armed with chainmail, medieval Europe style helmets and weapons such as swords, bows and spears.

However, further investigation revealed something more puzzling. While there were regions which looked like straight out of a fantasy book, there were also regions which were far ahead on the technological development tree. There were countries which were observed to have attained technological developments identical to 17th or maybe 18th century England. In such countries, railway networks running steam trains were seen, pumping large quantities of smoke in the air. Large objects later identified as airships or weird blimps were also seen flying around some of those regions. The waters here were populated usually by steam ships, emitting large, black columns of smoke. Their military technology was similar; large columns of men marching in unison, wearing bright and colourful outfits and sporting flintlocks and muzzle loaders, with field guns drawn by horses sometimes making an appearance.

Going further beyond were the regions which ISRO spent a lot of time researching and investigating on. These were the regions with highest technological development, and thus the most important for India’s recovery. However, these regions weren’t entirely good either. These regions were at the technological level comparable to that of 1930s to early 1940s in the original world. Satellites recorded large sprawling cities with a web of roads densely packed with traffic, large factories covering the sky with smoke, airbases filled with biplanes and single engine aircraft, as well as strange, unidentified aircraft later identified to be some sort of armed airship, armed with armament usually seen on naval ships. While it seemed that countries of same technological level were usually grouped together, there was one exception. The country with the highest technological advancement was found sitting suspiciously in the region containing the countries with 18th century tech level. Here, first generation jet aircraft strikingly similar to those fielded by Nazi Germany near the end of World War 2 were observed, along with a lot of technology corresponding to the 1950s to the 1960s in the original world. Besides all this, the satellite’s infrared sensors picked up irregular heat signatures and sources that couldn’t be explained, everywhere in these discovered regions. Lastly, using reconnaissance satellites with high definition cameras, it was discovered that every country used a common language near identical to English for writing and in all likelihood, probably for speaking as well, much to everyone’s surprise. It wasn’t exactly same, it appeared odd, but it was English no doubt. There were other languages as well, but most were unrecognizable.

All these results indicated that maybe, these countries too were transferred just like India, though it was hard to confirm. At least the country with jets could be said with certainty to have been transported, otherwise there would be no way they would be the way they were observed to be.

These findings shed a lot of light on the current situation, as well as brought some concern. First, there was no doubt that India was now the most developed country on the technological ladder. Second, the only trade partner that would truly benefit the country was the single country that had also been transported along with India. It was not to say that others were completely useless, but they wouldn’t be as useful to the country as the other transported country was.

However, diplomacy and foreign politics in the new world with the new nations was a topic for the future, for right now they weren’t in a position to even reach those countries safely. For this reason, it was decided to expand the fleet of ships the country had. As such, shipbuilding was prioritized when setting up the first industries of the new region. They had started functioning already and would be providing new ships in the next few years.

Everything was going calmly after the transfer. The country was on the path of rebuilding and rearming for the challenges that would come to them in the new world. However, things weren’t going to be smooth sailing all the time, which was the reason why the Prime Minister was in the war room right now.

Some time ago, he was alerted. A group of unidentified ships was approaching India from the east. While merchant shipping existed in the new world, the region India transported to was completely out of its range. So a large number of ships approaching towards the country was bound to raise alarms. The group was detected departing from an island chain that formed the edge of the vast water body India found itself in, marking the boundary between what was now called the new Indian Ocean and the new civilized world. Now, they had come dangerously close, barely several hundred kilometres from the Andaman and Nicobar island chains. As such, the Navy and Coast guard were on high alert. Several destroyers were circling the fleet, keeping well out of visual range, while a Navy destroyer was on an intercept course to the fleet. Navy aircraft had already been conducting routine sorties along with constant surveillance from satellites.

At first the alien fleet didn’t arouse much concern, but when close surveillance revealed one of the ships equipped with what was identified to be a large cannon, everyone was wide awake. This wasn’t some merchant or civilian fleet, it was armed, and for all they knew, probably didn’t have India’s best intentions in mind.

All of this, however, was speculation. There was evidence that the crew aboard the ships wasn’t a part of some pirate group or irregular militia, as all of them showed signs of belonging to a conventional force. It was speculated that the armed ship was an escort, meant for self-defence. However, no one truly knew for sure.

PM Desai took another breath. Right now, he was in the war room. Since he arrived well before the intended time, there wasn’t anyone in the room, since it was supposed to be a high level meeting. Desai preferred arriving early to these meetings. It helped him meditate alone and collect his mind. For the meetings that happened here were those that carried a lot of weight. Therefore, steeling one’s mind beforehand was paramount.

Desai meditated, pushing all the thoughts plaguing him before he stepped in, away from his mind. This was important. Today, they were going to make history. They were going to make contact with an alien civilization. Even if it was supposed to be less technologically advanced than them, it didn’t the change the fact that they were alien. And today, they would be shaking hands with them. Or at least that was what everyone hoped to do.