Jakarta 01:00 WIB
The recovery room at the Central Police Hospital was not a place to be. It smelled like a hospital. It made Pistachio feel sick. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with a bandage on his shoulder and a thing that made it hard to breathe. The lights in the room were really annoying. It made his teeth hurt. It reminded him of the "Garden" that was still in the city's power lines.
Yanuar was standing by the window. He looked really tired. He was not wearing his hat, and he did not look like a boss. He looked like a man who was very sad.
"The Benang Merah did not wait for the sun to come up, " Yanuar said, his voice very low. "They already got rid of three of their companies in Tangerang. The bad guys you fought had poison in their teeth. They did not have names or records. They were like ghosts."
"They got 92% of the information, Yanuar," Pistachio said, his voice was not good. "They do not need names. They have the city's secrets. They can make every judge do what they want from here to Surabaya."
"But they did not get the 'Keys. ' Yanuar turned around. He looked a little happy. "Malik said the encryption was still locked. Without the keys, they have a lot of information they cannot read."
Pistachio reached for his jacket. He got a little notebook. Between the pages was a burned card. The one he got from the vent before the big explosion.
"The keys are not on the internet, " Pistachio said, holding the card. "They are not with the Syndicate. They are here. This is the way to get to the truth."
Yanuar looked at the card. It was a small thing, but it was worth a lot of money, and it could put someone in jail for a long time. "Give it to me, Pistachio. I will put it in a place at the police station. I will make sure it is handled by the people."
Pistachio looked at Yanuar. He saw a good man, but he also saw the system that made everything bad. He saw the people who let the "Garden" grow.
"No," Pistachio said, holding the card tight. "The safe place is another box for the Syndicate to open. The law is too slow to protect this Yanuar. The politics are too fast."
The Grogol Office, 03:30 WIB
Malik was waiting in an office above a noodle shop. The air was thick with the smell of food and the heat from the computers.
"You look very bad, Pistachio," Malik said. He was already getting the card.
"I feel very bad," Pistachio said, sitting down. "Can you help me?"
Malik put the card in the computer, and the screens showed a lot of code. "It is a bad thing. Hartono did not just track crimes; he tracked the people who might do crimes. He was predicting who would do something based on their money and what they searched on the internet."
"The Benang Merah wants that, " Pistachio said. "They want to know who to bribe before the person even knows they are corrupt. We are going to give them something that's not real."
For the five hours, they worked very hard. They were not just working on computers; they were changing the city. They took all the information. They added a special condition. If someone tried to touch the information, it would send a message to every news agency.
By the time the sun came up, they were done.
Pistachio stood up. Looked out the window. He saw people opening their shops and students going to school. He saw a police car driving slowly.
The "Great Eye" was gone. The people were starting to see.
His phone rang. It was a number.
"You think you won? " a voice said. The voice of the guy. "The Benang Merah is older than the law. We are the ones who make the law."
Pistachio did not get scared. "Then you better start writing. Because every time you try to get a secret, I will be the one you miss."
He hung up. Threw his phone in the water.
Malik looked at him. Was worried. "They are not going to stop, are they?"
"No," Pistachio said, getting his pen and notebook. "But neither am I."
He looked at the page of his notebook, and he drew a line through it. Not because everything was okay. Because he finally understood what was going on.
He looked out the window. The light was coming up. The city was still bad. It was allowed to have a history again.
"What's next?" Malik asked.
Pistachio looked at the page in his notebook. He thought about his friend and the bad people. He thought about the companies in the buildings.
He started writing.
Case No. 002: The Architecture of the Void.
"Next," Pistachio said, his voice was stronger. "We go after the people who lied to us."
The "Young Detective" was gone. In the heart of Jakarta, a man was starting to write. For the first time in his life, he was not looking for a shortcut. He was looking for the truth.
[THE END OF VOLUME 1]