"That was satisfying!" Gibli burped as he walked back to the convention.

"It sure was!" Kunjan agreed. He was proud of his choice.

"Let's go back again someday!" Gibli suggested. The others wholeheartedly agreed to this.

"Hey, we're near!" Thankappan announced pointing at the convention.

"Yea, let's go meet up with the two." Kunjan increased his pace a little. So, did others.

However, no matter how fast they got there, it wouldn't be of no use.

"Where the hell are everyone?" Gibli looked around and asked. They saw absolutely no one around in that convention. Everyone seems to have gone somewhere.

"Shit, we can't even ask around now that no one's here" Thankappan clicked his tongue.

"What about the houses in here?" Gibli asked.

"Are there really houses near here?" Thankappan looked around.

"Why don't you try calling in one of their cells?" Kunjan suggested.

"Good idea." Taro took his phone and called them. He had been learning how to use mobile phones these days, so calling someone was relatively simple for him. It was more of a muscle memory than actual deep understanding of the apparatus. Although, he did learn what certain voices meant. "I don't think they're gonna take the phone. I can't hear the beep."

"Let me check. It might be his ringtone or something." Kunjan took the phone off Taro and placed it near his ear. "Well, Gopan's phone is switched off. So, not good on that side." Kunjan sighed.

"Same with Lonappan. I don't think they're gonna turn it on anytime soon." Thankappan said.

"So, what are we supposed to do now? And why the hell did they went off without informing us first?" Gibli asked.

"Well, we did that too, didn't we? Anyway, we got three options now. One, we can search for them in this vast city. Two, we can wait by Gopan's auto. Gopan would need his auto since that's literally his livelihood, therefore if we waited by it, at some point they'll swing around and everything would be fine. Three, we go home without waiting for them." Kunjan gave out the options.

"Wait, won't they wander around looking for us if we went straight to the Holy land like that?" Gibli asked.

"Well, it's not like we will turn off our phones like they did. At some point, they will get fed up with searching us and actually turn on their phones and call us. However, I don't think they'll even bother searching for us. It's Lonappan. He doesn't give a damn about what we do." Kunjan explained.

"Ah, that option hinges on a what if situation—like, it's totally on chance whether they turn on their phone or not. They could act like total idiots at that moment and forget that phones exist. I don't like to take chances like that." Thankappan sounded intelligent for once, since this was one of the few times he held a detailed opinion for something.

"Okay, understandable. Then what about option number two? We're not gambling in that. I'm hundred percent positive that Gopan will come, even if Lonappan doesn't. So, how about that?" Kunjan asked.

"No." Thankappan bluntly replied.

"Why?" Kunjan didn't get why Thankappan would outright reject this method when it should've checked all his boxes of approval.

"I don't wanna wait for them for a long time doing nothing." Thankappan answered.

"You can play around on your phone or something meanwhile, rather than just standing around doing nothing." Kunjan suggested.

"No. I'm bad at it. Like I can't do shit when I'm expecting someone and they don't come around even after all that expectation!" Thankappan gave out a reason for his rejection.

"Well, you can't have everything in your life now, can you?" Kunjan asked.

"Umm, if we followed your first plan, we can, right?" Thankappan asked.

"Are you an idiot? We will have to search this entire city if we wanna get some clue. That's like searching a needle in a haystack!" Kunjan exclaimed.

"But we'd be doing something, right? I just don't wanna laze around. And you know what? If we ended up with nothing, we can just follow the second plan anyway! Simple!" Thankappan shrugged.

"Then what if Gopan and Lonappan somehow end up near the auto before us and leave for Mundur? That's entirely possible too, you know?" Kunjan asked.

"Even if that happens, buses are still around at this time, public and private ones and all has the Mundur stop. So we have nothing to worry about." Thankappan assured.

"Hmm, you're making a whole lot of sense tonight. Fine, we'll do it your way." Kunjan finally agreed to it.

"Now the question is where to begin with?" Gibli asked as he looked around to see none.

"Taro, give me your phone again." Kunjan ordered.

Taro wasted no time in giving it. "What is it?" He asked as Kunjan got busy with his phone.

After a few moments of silence, Kunjan showed the phone to everyone. "This!" On the phone was the live media coverage of the WPP rally helmed by Vijay Das. "There was no chance in hell that the media isn't covering this shit." He spoke, extremely proud of his minimal investigative skills.

"Where are they now?" Gibli asked.

"They're on the exact opposite side to us. We can catch up with them easily." Kunjan replied.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Thankappan shouted as he advanced.

#

As Kunjan told, the gang caught up with the rally within mere minutes. "Whew. Now, where are the two?" Kunjan asked as he surveyed the area.

Thankappan pointed to the distance. "There! Right behind Vijay Das." He pointed the two out.

"Do you think they've even noticed our disappearance?" Gibli asked.

"Nah, mate. I don't think so. They don't give two shits about us." Thankappan replied.

"Touché." Kunjan agreed with Thankappan on that.

"Anyway, let's just meet up with them." Thankappan led the way to them. He poked Lonappan's shoulder who turned back. "Hey!"

"Hey, guys? Are you enjoying this?" Lonappan asked as he continued chanting the party slogan.

"Yup, they definitely didn't notice our disappearance!" They collectively thought.

Thankappan cleared his throat. "Hell yea! I am, for sure! However, poor Gibli is feeling sleepy. So I thought it would be better if we leave now." Thankappan smiled.

"Dude, why the hell did you throw me under the bus like that?" Gibli cursed Thankappan inside, however continued keeping a smile up front. "Yea, what can I say? People in Ark sleep and wake up early." He shrugged.

Taro decided to chime in as well. "Well, it's boring for me, since I don't know what's happening. Although, it's like that right now, I would like to come back someday when I actually understand what's happening." He spoke out the truth, except for the last part, maybe.

"Hmm. You guys better go then. It'll last for like four more hours or something." Lonappan answered.

"Fuck. Okay, cool. We'll move by bus then." Thankappan replied.

Meanwhile, Gopan jumped in. "Hey, guys! What is it?" He asked.

"Well, they want to leave. These guys are new to this, so they can't possibly be good at this like us. Gibli wanted to sleep or something. What a wuss, right?" Lonappan laughed.

"I'll get you for this, Thankappan!" Gibli glared at Thankappan with vengeful eyes, which he didn't noticed.

"Can't blame them for that. Have a safe journey back guys!" Gopan wished.

The crew left the place and headed to the nearest bus stop. Unlike earlier, since the crowd reduced, the number of buses increased. Thus, they were able to get a bus fairly easily and they headed back to Mundur.

On the way, they saw Koma mall, fully lit up, in its majestic form. Thankappan suddenly had a desire inside him. "Guys, didn't they say it'll take them four hours or something to return? Why don't we just go to Koma mall and watch a movie or something? It's allure is calling me!" He spoke as he gazed at the mall with awe.

"My answer is gonna be the same as last time." Kunjan replied.

"I might have to agree with Kunjan as well." Gibli chimed in.

Unhappy with this, Thankappan turned towards Taro, hoping for one supporter among them. "What about you, Taro?" He asked.

However, Taro wasted no time to think. "No!" Taro rejected the notion almost immediately. "That place is evil!" He hadn't forgotten his incident with the Koma mall.

"Of course, you would think that! Well, fine. You go enjoy boring old movies or something." Thankappan sighed. "However, do tell me if there are any bangers among them." Thankappan added.

"You're asking the person who doesn't know the difference between the two." Taro pointed at himself and replied.

"Ah, right! I forgot about that. Well, I guess I'll just sleep then." Thankappan shook his head in dismay.

Soon enough, they reached Mundur. None of them uttered a single word until they got back since they didn't want to disturb their neighbors. Upon reaching the Holy Land, Kunjan, Gibli and Thankappan went to sleep, while Taro watched television as per his routine. However, he kept his eye to check whether Lonappan had returned or not. Thus, another peaceful day ended in the Holy Land household.

#