Speedrun

DJ put out the cigarette. He was impatient and wanted something to do. Bala looked at him, and understood the frustration. He went up to Om who had just got a fancy new electric bike. Bala made some excuse about buying samosas, and asked if he could borrow the bike. 

The dull yellow streetlamps were sufficiently spaced apart to leave dark bands in the middle. They had been hastily retrofitted with smart capabilities, and automatically lit up when they detected movement. When Bala and DJ started snaking down the street on a silent electric bike, with the headlight turned off. The "smart" streetlamps did not light up. Up ahead, a slumped figure in a jacket was shuffling along the road, talking on the phone. The handset was physically pressed up against his ear, and he was using his right hand. 

The name of that figure was IT Teja. He had been conscripted for this ridiculous and potentially dangerous plan, and what's more, he was the bait. Hunting the hunters, was his friend, Arun. The idea was to make IT Teja walk along the left side of the road, with the phone in his right hand. This was the perfect position for the predators who picked the devices on the bikes. The idea had come about after Arun was walking along the road, heard the doppler of a bike coming and going, and then a surprised yelp and then a scream from someone who had just been robbed. The bike had long gone by the time either of them had realised that the phone had been stolen. 

So Arun had done his thing, and IT Teja had allowed himself to be talked into being the test subject. Sure enough, he heard the bike slowing down as it got nearer. He was a little too ready when DJ reached out for the device though, and held on to it and struggled. Bala stopped the bike, wanting to end this quickly, expertly slapped IT Teja's hand, popping the phone right only DJ, who let it slide down his chest into his hands, and looked at it as Bala began to speed away. Right at the last moment though, DJ tossed the phone back to IT Teja, who was surprised, but caught it. 

Bala sped away. 

Arun came up the street on his bike, and pressed a button on the handlebar. From his backpack something black shot up into the sky. He stopped next to IT Teja, and asked "what happened?" IT Teja did not understand himself, and replied with a look of utter confusion "they did not steal it!" Arun looked at the phone still in IT Teja's hand and asked, "What do you mean they did not steal it?" "He took it and then gave it back! I do not understand!". Arun handed him the backpack, looked at his dashboard, touched a screen there and muttered "It does not matter, hop on." 

The screen lit up and showed a drone in the air, following the bike that was now almost two kilometers away. Arun and IT Teja began following Bala and DJ. On his dashboard, Arun saw Bala taking a right ahead, moving out of the inner residential streets to the highway. He knew this was going to take some time. What's more, it looked like Bala had gotten one of those new Surge models, and the bike was gaining more distance with every passing moment. 

Arun followed Bala onto the highway, and then started going along the creek. About ten minutes into the ride, another black shadow shot out of the backpack, that was now with IT Teja. Arun said, "try not to move, the other one will try to land on the carriage using the tracking sticker on your back", just as he other drone landed and plugged into the back of the bike. Arun wondered to himself if there was enough charge to see them through. Bala seemed to have similar concerns. "Did they get away?" he asked. 

"No, they stopped."

"Where did they stop?"

"Mahalaxmi Samosa" 

Image posted by DJ while fresh Samosas were being made

At Mahalaxmi Samosa, DJ was eating a bhajji pav, because a new batch of samosas were being made. While his mouth was full, Bala asked a very important question, "we had the phone! Why did you throw it back?" DJ shook his head vigorously, and began chewing even more vigorously. DJ swallowed, said "iPhone", then went back to his bhajji pav. Bala let his shoulders drop in defeat. "Well, looks like Tim Cook robbed him already," he said, as he began on his vada pav.