"You said, whoever asks this, even you, we must not share. The strategy of the hunter game is just…err…" he bit a big chop off the cake, "It is told only once, the rest is to concentrate, not to fail or I will be the sacrifice," Darko licked the crumbs on his hand.
Deg'
Leona choked to hear Darko's words.
"I want this cake again, Miss," the empty Darko wanted more brownish cake. He didn't understand that his story was not something ordinary. He doesn't recognize himself, especially in the situation he is facing. He was able to tell even something dreadful with a flat expression.
"Darko, come with me," Leona stood up. "I'll take a bath and change my outfits," she said as she cleaned up Darko's food from the table. "You need to change clothes, too. Put on trousers and a long-sleeved shirt. It's cloudy outside, so you'd better put on a jacket, too."
"Are you buying me a more sweet cake?" he asked innocently, standing up and following Leo's words.
"I'll buy more brownish cakes, many more. That's why you must change your clothes and go out with me," Darko nodded obediently.
As Leo put the cake wrappers in the trash can, she realized what the first thing she had to do with Darko was. Darko should know the difference between herself and her sister. The second step was then she had to meet her friends or rather her former subordinates on the D floor who might still be able to work with her to return this living doll's memory and life back.
Darko had to be freed from the real prison he was unaware of so that it would be easier to tell her about the chronology of the hunter game.
With a soaring curiosity swelling up in Leo's heart, that woman ran quickly to the second floor. She went to her room and cleaned herself quickly. She had not showered since the morning. Her madness over her isolation from Thomas made her forget how to strive and, most importantly, to get a solution, not to give up.
***
"Leo's house is inhabited by a man, Nana sometimes comes to visit him. Even without observing, I know that already," Raka talked on the phone. Vian knows that Raka's cluster is not far from Leo's cluster. Leo lives with Nana who finally chooses to live in the main house as the personal assistant to the sole heir of Djoyodiningrat.
"Do you know who that man is?" Vian asked.
"Too bad I don't. As far as I concern, he used to be Leo's patient," Raka replied.
"Alright. I need a favor, please find out the identity of the man living in Leo's cluster,"
"Okay, leave it to my team," said Raka as he hung up the phone.
***
There was no rapturous applause, no handshake as a sign of victory that is usually shown to the presenters when they achieve success.
Anantha's smiled widely. He knew that his presentation was not a bad one this time. He was seen by the audience in front of him and was stunned, especially a group of young people who seemed smitten with his presentation.
"Well, now it's time for anyone to ask questions if you have any. Even the sharpest and odd questions are welcome so that the ideas from Brother Anantha can be countered," one way to test a basic recipe or a basic concept – is it worth or it is not - is to give it a lot of questions from all sides so that the answers will emerge to reinforce the new concept." The moderator, Mahendra, invited the audience to ask questions.
"Suppose there is a company that sells products similar to Magic Letter's, what makes us more superior than our competitor so that you think we Magic Letter can be a national product?" Aruna didn't use the global term. For her, being accepted by the national market was extraordinary, although she knew that her brother offered a concept beyond the national market.
"Custom and original, some things are sold in limited editions. The next perhaps will be presented by three other people here who know more about this issue," Anantha wanted to say that Mahendra, Surya, and Aditya were more competent in explaining things related to building a brand, placing product positioning, and looking at market segments. All of these were beyond Anantha's capacity to explain.
Behind the heated discussion between a brother and a sister, a man looked at his wife proudly. Mahendra, from the beginning, when he found out a door sounded strange when it was opened, a female voice welcomed the visitors "Welcome, wait a moment, we will be with you soon, knicks-knacks presents which were displayed in a simple but interesting way, although still messy because held no certain concepts at all, had realized that his wife had great talent, a young woman in her 20 was able to be a leader for a group of young people and engineered a group of housewives from a low class to cooperate in her start-up.
"Have you ever handled custom products before now?" Dea asked. She knew it was hard to meet the customers' needs and expectations with a custom system. They would always find faults in what they had done even though it was requested.
"How about the payment methods? When we offer customs, it is no way that the payment falls at the end of the process, it is too risky. When the customers aren't satisfied with our work, it is possible they will not pay what they have purchased at all," Lily felt responsible when money became the issue.
"Hold on a second…one by one, please. How can I answer the questions flowing like rain? I got confused about which to come first," Anantha grumbled with the endless questions from the girls.
Starting from a compilation of questions from the heads of the magic letter team, it felt like time was running so fast as the discussion went on warmly. The sunset was barely seen. They were satisfied after all the questions in the heads were answered. Even this discussion finally gave the latest idea to update the marketplace that Anantha was working on.
The first custom marketplace is shifted from the marketplace I initially intended to support Magic Letter. Everyone who has verified their product and brand can join the marketplace with a blue whale logo jumping into the air. And the marketplace is called miracle waves.
Once again, an exponential concept took place, "This is what I like when discussing with young people. Their mind is fresh, wild, and out of the box," said Mahendra to Surya as they enjoyed their hot tea served by Aruna. The veranda offered a cozy sofa and transformed into a buffet room where one side of it served dinner.
"Our wives are quite talented. Unfortunately, I am indoctrinated by your mind" the two best friends were watching young people brush out of the room lightly, bare feet, stepping on the green grass, or swarming around that pregnant woman who was tired of sitting for too long.
"Wait there! What did you just say? Doctrine? What kind of doctrine did I teach to you?" Mahendra shook his head, wondering.
"About you who confined your wife,"
"Hah' hahaha," Mahendra burst into laughter.
"So, what has contaminated your mind?" Hendra asked further.
"Well, I used to think that you were so mean by not allowing Mis Aruna ad normal activities, developing her potential,"
"That is how I protect my wife," Hendra protested on Surya's statement.
"Don't be mad, because now I am like you,"
"Meaning? Do you want to confine Dea?" Mahendra's laughter was uncontrolled. Someone who used to degrade his way now adopted it.
"I can understand your behavior now. It is acceptable," Surya's expression was quite flat, "After we have wives, sometimes we wish they just stay at home, taking care of our children. Mahendra nodded lightly in agreement. His gaze went to a woman whose tummy was caressed by her friends.
"Aruna, how does it feel to be pregnant?"
***
"Darko, come out now. I am ready," Leo called out.
"Darko. Darko…" she kept calling as she walked toward Darko's door. It was open, and she took a look inside. Darko's clothes that he wore previously were lying on the bed.
Her ears heard a car roaring outside, accelerating before speeding up and leaving the driveway. Leo ran out to the door, but she saw no car on the drive. Then, she ran to the street, checking if the car was still around the turning not far from her cluster.
"Oh, craps!!! Damn it!" that bare-feet woman cursed to whoever took Darko with the car.
***
"Aruna, how does it feel?" was a common question from a girl of Lily's age. Unfortunately, Aruna didn't know what to say precisely. It is her first pregnancy.
"I don't know, but it feels good,"
"Do you get kind of morning sickness?" asked the newly-wed woman hoping she would also get pregnant soon.
"Sure, but it is not as bad as it is said. Hendra fills up our room with aromatherapy so that I don't feel that bad," explained Aruna