The Life Of Normal-Taro

"It's as you said." Lonappan spoke in a mild tone.

"What? I didn't hear that." Ponnappan brought his ears close to hear his speech.

"I said you were right about it." Lonappan replied, this time in a slightly higher voice.

"What do you mean? I was right about what?" Ponnappan asked.

He knew what Lonappan was talking about. However, he did this just for the sake of riling his junior up and since he has a very huge ego problem.

"Crimson Robber. The ones in the Holy Land are aware of them. Hell, they came in close contact with them—at least, that's what I believe." Lonappan replied.

"Hmm." Ponnappan thought for a while before answering. "What you believe, huh? That means you didn't get any conclusive proof that they maintained contact with the Crimson Robber. Then what makes you believe that they did? I mean, what indicated to you about such a possibility?" He asked.

"Well, the speech mannerisms, of course. Thankappan missed a beat in the beginning when I started to talk about the Crimson Robber. That was a reflex action that he just couldn't control. He managed to hide this later on, but the initial reaction sold him out." Lonappan explained.

"I see. Rare blemish from Thankappan, eh? He's been a bit more expressive ever since he started living with the aliens. It's easier to get his expression for us now, but won't it be the same for others as well?" Ponnappan asked, to which Lonappan laughed.

"You know very well that it would be impossible. He is vulnerable around us since he knows us that well. He ain't that stupid to show his emotions before random strangers. Remember, he's a dungeon graduate after all." He reminded the commanding officer.

"You're right. I wonder why I got worried about that all of a sudden." Ponnappan laughed it off as well, before turning back to the focal point. "Was it just Thankappan you spoke to? Or was there someone else who would have confirmed your suspicions?" He asked.

"Yup. Remember M'Baku? I headed to him to get some sort of info on the Crimson Robber. However, he said that he wouldn't help me because of the trouble that Thankappan would bestow on him if he came to learn about it." Lonappan replied.

"And you stopped at that?" Ponnappan asked.

"Basically, yea. Because he didn't outright say that he never met the Crimson Robber. Instead, he denied to pass any information about the Crimson Robber to me, which means…" Lonappan waited for Ponnappan to complete his sentence.

"He has the info but fears Thankappan's retaliation." Ponnappan replied.

"Exactly! So, you get what I mean, right?" Lonappan asked.

"Yea, we know that the Crimson Robber came in contact with the Holy Land lads, but we don't have definite proof. So, how are we gonna get the robber?" Ponnappan asked.

"Hmm. I have no good idea about that as well. I mean, we're facing an opponent capable of turning invisible. We don't know the extent of it or anything like that. We're gonna be blind. How can we find someone like that?" Lonappan asked back.

"We don't." Ponnappan gave out a simple reply, which made Lonappan go on a frenzy.

"What in the fucking world are you speaking of? I mean, we just cracked a part of it just mere moments ago and now you want to just stop what we're doing? That's one of the craziest shit that I've ever heard." Lonappan sounded furious.

"Calm down, will ya? Don't just hear half the story and jump on me. Hear the entire thing before doing that." Ponnappan scolded.

"Yea, right. Sorry. I just got a bit over the top for nothing. I mean, I really don't have the right to be that, now that I think about it. Since I was the one who didn't believe that the Crimson Robber was here." Lonappan sighed.

"Well, shit happens, man. What else can I even say?" Ponnappan shrugged.

"The plan, maybe? You could always say about the plan." Lonappan gave out a punny reply, which wasn't well received by the opposing party.

"You just gotta ruin the moment, huh?" Ponnappan couldn't even look at him—he was that disgusted by the lame joke.

"I apologise." Lonappan was lightning fast at apologizing when he felt like he offended someone. And Ponnappan, being used to the lame jokes and puns that he cracks, quickly forgave him.

"Yea, it's fine. Not that big of a deal. Anyhow, we were talking about not finding the Crimson Robber, right?" Ponnappan asked.

"Yup." Lonappan nodded his head to that.

"You were right about one thing. The one against us is an unknown opponent. He turns invisible, so there's no way to find them and that's a fact. But to find the robber, it isn't really necessary to look for him alone, right?" Ponnappan asked again.

"Wait, you mean-" Lonappan was about to reveal the plan, but Ponnappan didn't want him to steal the thunder.

"We just have to put the others on our surveillance. If the robber is keeping contact with Thankappan and the others, we'll make our move. If not… well, they will. If they're familiar with each other, they will meet each other at some point." Ponnappan spoke in an assuring voice.

"Hmm, well we've bugged all the phones and rooms already, so we don't have to worry about missing their talks." Lonappan replied.

"Yea, there's that as well." Ponnappan mumbled before turning back to Thankappan. "By the way, you gotta do something as well." He spoke.

"What is it?" Lonappan asked. It really did feel like he did nothing on this mission, so he was fine with receiving a task to do.

"You gotta do a stakeout." He ordered.

"By stakeout, you mean… I gotta stay on the lookout for the whole day and night?" Lonappan asked, disbelief filled in his voice.

Normally, it's the junior agents who do the stakeouts. However, in this case, since the junior is also one of the people getting investigated and that he really doesn't have any other juniors, the responsibility of staking out fell on Lonappan, who was about to do it after a really long break.

"Yup, for the whole day and night. However, most probably, you might only have to stay on the stakeout for that one night if everything goes just right. Most probably, they'll have a meeting of sorts to discuss the shit you did today and the robber will most probably be on that as well. Wait until they show themselves. When they do, just waltz right in and do whatever you plan to do. I'm just involved in finding the person—not exact punishment on them." Ponnappan explained.

"Great! A whole day, huh? It's really gonna be taxing." Lonappan sighed.

"Especially since it's gonna be the first time you do in a very long time. Just try it. Who knows? Maybe you are still the same as back in the day. That'd be pretty freaking amazing, don't you think?" Ponnappan asked.

"That'd be really cool. But it's highly unlikely. I've grown old, you know? The bones have started wearing off." Lonappan said sarcastically.

"No use pandering to me about your old age. You gotta suffer and then eventually overcome it! I wish you all the luck on that, my dude. And before you ask me about it, no. I won't allow someone else's junior to do a stakeout in your place. It's your duty!" Ponnappan replied with a smile on his face.

"Sheesh, I'll need to get a few more juniors someday." Lonappan sighed as he thought about it.

"Good luck with your stakeout, Lonappan." Ponnappan gave out his usual business smile to which Lonappan scoffed at and exited the scene.

#

Midnight that day. Lonappan didn't count the time that he spent on the small car of his, but to his knowledge, a lot of time passed and there was no sign of anyone in the attic or anywhere in general. 

So, Lonappan was freezing in a place where it's usually hot without anything to do. Well, he would've had something to listen to, but it seemed like they were already aware of their bugging system. None of them gave any voice other than that one static sound from it.

Hence, Lonappan turned it off and decided to trust his ears and eyes. But it got too boring as well, since he had to stare at the same place the entire time. His only reason for the restlessness wasn't just the boredom, but also the seat. He had re-adjusted it multiple times to get that one right position and even that seem uncomfortable for him at times. It was truly hell.

Lonappan was briefly reminded of why he hated going on stakeouts like these. He always got back pains after this and that's never a good thing. When he became a senior official, he expected to let his juniors do shit like stakeouts, but never expected himself to get involved in one after so many years.

As Lonappan was sighing at his misfortune, he saw a slight movement in the Holy Land household. It seemed as if someone finally started moving in that place, which meant Lonappan had work to do.

#