The meeting place was a discreet, nondescript house in a quiet bylane of Calcutta, seemingly abandoned, but with a palpable sense of tense expectation within. Adav, dressed in simple, but impeccably tailored Indian clothes, was ushered into a dimly lit room. Seated around a low table were three men, their faces grim, their eyes sharp with suspicion.
One of them, clearly the leader, was strikingly young, perhaps in his early twenties. His sharp features, intense gaze, and the slight tremor of restless energy in his hands marked him immediately. This, Adav knew from the Codex's visual overlay, was Subhas Chandra Bose.
Bose studied Adav with undisguised skepticism. "You are 'The Architect,' then? The boy who commands steel from thin air?" His voice was clear, resonant, but laced with a challenge. "Forgive my bluntness, young capitalist, but what interest does a merchant prince have in the liberation of our nation? Do you wish to replace British exploitation with your own?"
Adav met his gaze, his own eyes calm, unwavering. He was indeed only fourteen, but his presence filled the room. He didn't offer pleasantries or apologies. "My interest, Mr. Bose, is in power. Not to replace one master with another, but to ensure India becomes her own master. And frankly, your current methods are inefficient."
A gasp rippled through the small group. Bose's eyes narrowed, a spark of anger flickering within them. "Inefficient? We speak of sacrifice, of patriotism, of throwing off the chains of slavery! What do you know of such things, boy?"
"I know that political freedom without economic power is just a different master's leash," Adav stated, his voice even, devoid of emotion. "You can protest, you can petition, you can even revolt. But if you cannot feed your people, if you cannot arm your soldiers, if you cannot build your own industries, then your freedom will be a hollow crown. You will always be dependent. And that, Mr. Bose, is a fatal design flaw."
He paused, letting his words hang in the air. "My vision," he continued, "is to build an India that can buy its own freedom, and then the world. An India that dictates terms, rather than begs for crumbs." He looked directly at Bose. "Let us talk not of revolution, but of economic warfare."