Taro called everyone out. "So, construction work, huh?" Kunjan sighed for one last time.

"Yea, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Gibli exclaimed.

"What do you mean? I thought we would be able to do anything over there." Gibli said. He had already imagined himself doing all sorts of things in the workplace.

"As if! You don't know jack shit about construction and now you want free reign? Like, try walking before you start running." Lonappan replied to Gibli's pipedream.

"So, how are we gonna go with it?" Kunjan asked the plan.

"Well, first of all, you lot will be doing nothing other than the heavy lifting stuff. I don't want you guys anywhere near the machinery. You need experience for that." Lonappan explained.

"You see, I do have experience working in this sector and I believe that could be of help." Taro flexed his multi-year experience on construction work over Wados.

"You might be right. Even so, I'm not gonna let you do the machinery. You used to work with the Wadorian machinery. That experience might be of little help. And I don't wanna imagine how terrifying you'll be if you are to have machines by your side." Lonappan suddenly got a chill as he inadvertently imagined that scenario.

"Yea, I guess so." Taro agreed with this as well, albeit disappointed about this.

Lonappan tried to console the disappointed Taro. "Don't look so down. In fact, only one person is experienced enough to do the work in this area."

"You?" Kunjan asked.

"Hell no. It's Thankappan." He replied to everyone's amazement.

"This guy?" Kunjan asked as he pointed towards Thankappan, in midst of him picking his nose.

"Yes, I'm that good!" Thankappan proudly proclaimed.

"Seriously though, this guy? It would be better if you let a toddler handle it than this guy right here." Kunjan shook his head as he retorted.

"Hey, don't insult me like that!" Thankappn cried.

For once, Lonappan stood with his plea. "Thankappan's right. He might look and even act like an idiot, but I believe in his training back in the dungeon prepped him for any random job thrown into him." Somehow, Lonappan's statement irked Thankappan more than the original one.

Everyone agreed. "True. I believe in the MIB's training regimen." Kunjan replied.

"Me too." Gibli chimed in as well.

"Hey, it would be nice if you give some of that trust to me too, you know?" Thankappan resorted to screaming.

"Don't be complacent with about the praise that I gave you. You gotta work hard to earn it." Lonappan said as he patted his junior's shoulders.

"Was that even a praise though?" Thankappan wondered.

"Moving on." Lonappan didn't waste further on this topic. "It's not like I'm telling you guys not to do machines eventually. Like, it'll be fine if you learned how to. So, I know that Kunjan is a fast learner. So, why don't you get look up close and become a helper?" He asked.

"That's cool. I'll do that." Kunjan agreed to the notion..

"Although, Taro will have to strictly do the heavy lifting alone." Lonappan asserted his point.

"I understand, but.." Taro was about to say something before he was cut short by Gibli.

"What about me?" He asked.

Nevertheless, before Lonappan could give a reply, Taro interrupted. "Wait. I just displaced my strength over to my shoulders. I can't use my hands with the same power as before now." He said.

"Well, can't you just meditate once again and shift back your power?" Lonappan asked.

"I can, but there's no guarantee it'll go the way I want to." Taro replied.

"Very well, seems like it would be better if Gibli helped you carry them—like Gibli can load and unload stuff from your shoulders and you can carry that stuff around. Gibli does have his hardened exoskeleton feature." Lonappan pointed out.

"Wait, I thought it was for defense alone." Thankappan spoke.

"It gives me quite a bit of strength too." Gibli replied as he hardened up and broke a rock nearby.

Taro was intrigued. "Wait, is it genetic or.."

"Sorry, man! You can't learn it. It's genetic." Gibli shrugged.

Leaving that idea aside, Taro replied. "Okay, I'm fine with Gibli helping me."

"Now that all's said and done, shall we move?" Thankappan asked.

#

A kilometer or two away from Holy Land—there it was, the construction site. They went there in Gopan's auto. "Have a great day a work, guys! And make friends along the way." Gopan wished them luck.

"Will do, Gopan." Kunjan replied.

"Wait here, Gopan." Lonappan ordered as he walked out of the auto and look at the guys. "Ok, this is as far as I go. I told them about you lot and they said they'll help you. So, behave and don't do anything stupid." He reminded.

"Sir, yes sir!" Everyone shouted as if they were in the military.

"By the way, where are you going?" Kunjan asked to Lonappan.

"Oh, trekking with my family. My son's been asking for it." He smiled.

"Lucky bastard!" Thankappan muttered under his breath.

However, Lonappan heard it. "Mind your language if you don't want me reporting the higher ups about all your mishaps." He said.

"Weren't you supposed to guide me? You'll be held responsible as well." Thankappan replied with a mocking smile.

"Piss off!" Lonappan flipped the bird as he walked away.

"See, it's that easy to make him tuck his tail and run." Thankappan whispered and chuckled.

"I can still hear you!" Lonappan shouted as he flipped the bird one more time.

"I'm sorry! I won't say that again." Thankappan's behavior turned a full 360 as he apologized.

"Seems like you're the one who's tucking the tail." Kunjan laughed.

By this time, Thankappan was already used to this treatment. "Yea, yea. Go on with the mockery."

"Guys, how about you be a bit professional about this?" Gibli suddenly placed a damper on the joyous mood amongst them.

"What's up with him?" Taro asked to Kunjan.

"Typical Arkian doing typical shit." Kunjan sighed before he replied. "It is as you say, Gibli. We'll be pros from now on." He assured.

"Thank you." Gibli felt relieved.

Meanwhile, someone came running towards them. "Oh, you might be the ones that Lonappan send." He said.

"Yes. Hello, I'm Thankappan."

"I'm Kunjan."

"Hello, sir. I'm Gibli." Gibli chose to be a pro in introduction too.

".." Taro didn't speak and bowed his head instead.

"Ah, you might be the shy one." The man broke the silence and spoke.

Kunjan was quick in playing cover-up. "Ye-Yes. His name's Sadanandan. Don't worry. He'll talk when he settle in with you guys." He smiled. However, such emotions were not visible through his stoic shell of a face.

"That's good. I'm Vineeth and it's nice to meet you." The man introduced.

#

"So, what are we doing?" Gibli asked, eager to know what exactly he had to carry.

"Well, Lonappan told me about it. So, Thankappan, you can go cut the cinderblocks. Kunjan, you'll give me a hand and Gibli and Sadnandan can carry that granite over there." Vineeth laid out the plan.

"Okay." Everyone agreed. Suddenly, Gibli dragged them into a corner.

"What is it?" Taro asked.

"Look guys. First impression's the best one. We gotta show them that we're hard working people and impress them with our work ethic. That's the way to go if you ask me." Gibli gave out his opinion.

"I might have to agree with Gibli over here. Let's work quickly and effectively so that our tenure with these guys remain longer." Kunjan chimed in as well.

They all agreed to Gibli's plan. As soon as they got into work, they wasted no time. Thankappan was quick to find an efficient method to cut the cinderblocks without any hassle. Kunjan joined in on the work rather than watching. Taro and Gibli carried several marbles simultaneously and shifted it to the inside. Vineeth and several others looked surprised at this spectacle.

"Hey, hey, hey! What the hell are these guys doing?" An old guy came running as he saw this sudden increase in pace around the worksite.

"It seems they're good at what they do, Pranchiyetta [????]!" Vineeth exclaimed. A buzz filled in the workplace.

"Fuck being good at it. Put all those things back to where it was and restart it. But this time take it slowly—like, you over there, instead of cutting those cinderblocks efficiently, play around with it; do it slow. And you over there with that stoic face, just watch; don't work. And you two—what are you monsters? Do it slow, it's granite for fuck's sake." The old man screamed.

"Wait, what did we do wrong? Isn't this effective?" Kunjan asked.

"It is. Too effective, to be honest. We don't want that." Pranchi retorted.

"But why?" Kunjan didn't get it.

"Because, we're trying our level best to slow this shit down." Pranchi replied.

"Again, why?" Kunjan asked.

Pranchi took in a deep breath. "Okay, let me explain. We are working in terms of daily wage—that means it's not a contract. You get it? If it was a contract, we would've worked our asses off and completed it as soon as possible. However, this is a daily wages situation. That implies, no matter how much we slack around, we still get paid. It works well with the fact that the people paying us can't fire us because no sane worker will take someone else's unfinished work. So why waste our energy, if we're getting the money for doing nothing. So, hear me out and do what I said." He explained.

Before things escalated any further, Vineeth interrupted. "Don't worry, Pranchiyetta. I'll make them understand." He assured.

"I trust you to do that, Vineeth." Pranchi said as he waked off.

"Who's that guy?" Kunjan asked.

"He's Francis—we call him Pranchiyettan. He's our boss." Vineeth replied.

"Should we do it as he said? Because, my conscience is telling me not to." Gibli spoke. He didn't felt good doing what the old man told.

"Even though your conscience is precise and I feel that way too, unfortunately, he's our boss and we gotta do what he says. And think of the bright side here. Wage for minimum amount of work. That's someone's wet dream right there!" Vineeth chuckled.

"Yea, we're leeching off of someone's hard earned money. Don't you feel guilty?" Kunjan asked.

Suddenly, Vineeth's expression turned grim. "Look, I get what you said. But this is my only job. I've got mouths to feed. My wife joins in on earning money for our household and even with that, it's not enough to pay our mortgage. So, I don't wanna be placed amongst you and lose my job. I don't know what your reason is for coming here, but if you're looking for an ethical workplace with no exploitations, then screw off from here. Well, might as well screw off from this entire country since there isn't a place like that here. But, if you are here to earn some money, shut your traps and do as he said." Vineeth said and stormed off.

The rest of the day went uneventfully. The crew listened to Vineeth and toned down their efforts. Although, it didn't felt like they deserved it, they finally got the first pay on their own in this planet.

#

[????]–eta: A derivative of chetta; more like an informal version of it.