Zeter did not speak a word to me the whole way back to the Kit mansion, but once we

got there, all he said was,

‘Get off.’

And with that, he told the driver to take him to the engineer headquarters.

I rushed to Jeter’s room. We had a lot to talk about!

There I saw Jeter, Nin and Harris sitting on the floor playing a game called ‘Ludo’

and told them everything that had happened. They were shocked and like me, quite

determined to change the current course of action into something more concrete. I

also told them how I had made a deal with Mr Kit regarding experimentation on me.

In exchange for my consent and wilful submission, I wanted my father to be given

access to the Silverns grand library so that he could start reading up on law. Given the

fact that my father is nowhere to be seen and has held no contact with me, reaching

out to him will also be a task of its own, and one that is not guaranteed success.

They felt sure at the impossibility of a clown working towards becoming a lawyer

because nature can never be wrong. And of course, since they were convinced of

being God’s messiah on Earth, their theory could not be wrong. But self appointed

theories are always wrong. That is what makes us all human.

Harris remarked how this would create a greater divide between the two races.

Before, the miscellaneous were definitely dependent upon the eliteratti but at least

they were working for their livelihood and never begged. The great demand and

supply system helped keep Left Arrow afloat since they supplied great basic

necessities. Now with the impending complete cut of demand, the future seemed very

uncertain.

‘Now, none of the miscellaneous will be allowed into Right Arrow. They will not be

allowed in any of the restaurants or anything,’ Nin observed.

That is when Harris remarked, ‘this hearkens back to Pakistan’s pre-partition days.

When Muslims and dogs were not allowed in to restaurants either. When bloody

violence was everywhere as a result of discord between a system of belief.’

‘We can’t let that happen here,’ Jeter voiced out concernedly, ‘cuz if it does, then

father and everyone else will never think beyond themselves! And I am thoroughly

sick of business. We need change now.’

‘Yes, Jeter, we do need change. But not just for us, also for those people who live in

oblivion of what is to be a most grim fate. The inauguration ceremony is tomorrow

before noon,’ I informed.

‘That explains why our classes have been cancelled,’ Harris observed, ‘now we just

need to focus on when we will be able to make our trip to Left Arrow. With the

automated cars, as the unveiling tomorrow suggests, Jeter and Nin, expect tighter

surveillance and difficult trips!’

‘Yes, absolutely, we need to think about all these contingencies,’ I acknowledged,

and then suddenly burst forth, ‘also, guys! What became of the trip you took to Left

Arrow today?’

‘Well,’ Nin narrated, ‘apart from getting several signatures from BaBa Goushi’s

bakery, and making progress in that front, we met up with Badriya.’

I was definitely interested in that.

‘She could not believe her luck when I told her Gregory vouched for her to be the

leading actress in his play, but more than that, she was absolutely elated at the fact

that you stuck to your word and actually delivered what you promised, and so, in

exchange, she’s going to be getting all her colleagues and dramaturgical family to

sign the petition.’

‘Nin! That’s great. But you should know, it was mostly you who got her that vote

from Gregory,’ I felt so shy and moved by her graciousness of heart in giving me the

credit for an action that would not have happened without her. It may be because I

had a very rough day with the several twisted reality checks the eliteratti graciously

gave me.

‘No, you pushed and reminded me,’ she maintained, ‘honestly, I require a push.

Anyway, she told us to come to the show and watch her perform. But we have to be

there under all circumstances if we want to reach a large crowd of the miscellaneous

in one go!’

And that is where we were stuck. I would not be able to accompany them to the

miscellaneous village because of my date with the scientist. At that point, I planned a

strategy with my friends: they would continue going to left arrow in my absences,

collecting the signatures. Nin would stay involved with Badriya and her show since

that would be our biggest audience, Harris would help in tracing the location of my

father from the “person detection facility”, and Jeter would organise these trips by

keeping tabs on the computerised system owing to his family business.

I would try my best to keep gathering intelligence at Right Arrow.

‘We don’t have much time, therefore, you must tell Badriya about what is happening

here and what it means for her miscellaneous brethren. Tell her, because so she knows

the gravity of the situation,’ I said solemnly.

We all knew my absence from their trip to Left Arrow would not be a valid option

for long. Something had to be done.

It had been a long day, and we all decided to go to sleep. Tomorrow would be

another day, but not an ordinary one in the least.