"My phone's working. Thank God," Sara mumbled in weak monotone to no one in particular. Relieved, she at once began keying in her reply to Kiran's cryptic message. Just when she had finished typing the words 'God! Of...|', something hit her from behind like a ton of bricks. Sara reeled and fell to the ground face first, like a swatted housefly.

Within a second, she was without her phone and without a clue as to what hit her. Very soon, as people noticed and began gathering around – shocked and curious – she found her phone being kicked around by blurry feet. As the phone kept moving about randomly like a pinball gone berserk, a shroud of blackness began engulfing her. Sara felt bleak and clueless about what lay ahead. She laboured to move her head sideways and found her phone lying in an inset by the parapet wall. It was still working evident from the ominous blue light emanating from it.

A gentle and refreshing breeze blew in a seeming attempt on its part to revive a stunned and sprawled Sara. It snaked its way through a row of old and stubborn trees, an endless balustrade and then through the boisterous crowd of still-curious but unhelpful people. Sara took a deep, long and stimulating breath, and just as her phone had done a little while ago, blacked out.

Some distance away, Kiran paced the service lane, angry with Burphy for first fleecing him and then blocking his way. He pulled his phone out and checked if Sara had responded. The cursor continued to blink ominously. Just as he began to drift into the melancholy of a sickening evening, the booming voice of Burphy brought him back to his senses.