I lean against the doorway of the living room and cross my arms. Divya and Neel are on the floor surrounded by Lego pieces like they’re in the middle of a tiny plastic war zone. The instruction booklet lies abandoned somewhere behind them, half folded, clearly ignored.
Neel is kneeling with both hands planted on the floor, staring accusingly at the structure between them. Divya sits cross-legged opposite him, holding a bright red Lego brick in her hand like evidence in a courtroom.
“You cannot just invent floors,” Neel says.
“Why not?” she argues. “Buildings evolve.”
“They do not evolve randomly.”
She points the red piece at him. “You are limiting the building’s creative potential.”
I push myself off the doorway and walk toward them. “What exactly is happening here?”
Neither of them looks up. Neel gestures dramatically at the half-constructed tower in the middle of the carpet. “Didi is ignoring the instructions.”
Divya scoffs. “The instructions are merely suggestions, Neel.”
“They are the foundation of engineering!”
“They’re boring.”
Neel finally notices me and his face lights up. “Aditya! Tell her the instructions matter.”
Divya glances up at me with an expression that sayschoose carefully.
I crouch beside them and pick up the instruction booklet. “You know,” I say thoughtfully, flipping through a few pages, “this does seem fairly straightforward.”
Divya narrows her eyes. “Don’t you start.”
Neel leans closer to me like we are about to form a secret alliance. “She added an extra floor.”
I look at the tower. Then at Divya. Then back at the tower. “Well,” I say slowly, “I admire the ambition.”
Neel gasps. “You’re encouraging her!”
Divya grins triumphantly. “See? Visionaries understand each other.”
Neel throws his hands in the air. “This is chaos.”
I settle onto the floor beside them and pick up a handful of pieces. “So what exactly are we building?”
Neel says proudly, “A space research center.”
Divya mutters, “It’s becoming more of a… vertical village.”
Neel stares at her like she has personally betrayed science. I start assembling two random pieces together. Neel watches suspiciously. “What are you doing?”
“Contributing.”
“That is not part of the design.”
“Every design needs innovation.”
I attach a small yellow piece to the top of the tower. Neel leans forward, horrified. “That is a window.”
“It’s now a satellite dish.”
Divya bursts into laughter. Neel points at the tower like a furious architect. “You are both ruining my structure.”
