The sun was already high above the harbor.
Cranes moved again.
Machines roared back to life.
Containers shifted across the docks as workers forced themselves back into routine.
From a distance—
everything looked normal again.
As if the chaos from earlier had never happened.
But everyone there knew—
today had changed something.
The MBG trucks continued leaving the port one after another.
Carrying lunch supplies.
Rice.
Vegetables.
Eggs.
Fruit.
Simple things.
Important things.
And for the first time—
all of them realized
just how fragile those things really were.
Pak Rahmat stared at the tablet in his hand for several seconds before finally nodding once.
"Distribution is stabilizing."
Bu Maya let out a slow breath.
"…the kitchens are still operating."
Nearby—
the team sat on stacked pallets near the loading area.
Exhausted.
Sweaty.
Bruised.
But none of them looked relieved.
Bimo drank from a bottle for several seconds straight before lowering it slowly.
"…that almost turned into a disaster."
Dika leaned back against a container.
"…almost."
Sinta stared toward the ocean.
The sea looked calm.
Too calm.
"We held the harbor…"
She paused.
"…but they never planned to stop here."
Rani lowered her gaze slightly.
"…this was only the opening move."
Arga slowly opened his lunch box.
Eight glowing grains.
Steady.
Bright.
But this time—
they pulsed.
Like a heartbeat.
Not his heartbeat.
Something larger.
Something distant.
Something wrong.
BEEP.
Everyone turned immediately.
Lila stood frozen beside the tablet.
"…another signal."
The screen lit up.
A map of Indonesia appeared once more.
But the markers weren't red this time.
They were white.
Flashing rapidly.
Unstable.
"…what is that?" Bimo asked quietly.
Lila swallowed hard.
"…these aren't warnings."
Sinta stepped closer.
"…then what are they?"
Lila answered without looking away from the screen.
"…live incident reports."
She tapped one of the blinking signals.
The screen changed instantly.
A school kitchen appeared.
Children sat in rows waiting for lunch.
Workers moved quickly between trays and containers.
One woman smiled warmly.
"Just wait a little longer, okay?"
Then—
THUD.
A child collapsed face-first onto the floor.
His spoon slipped from his hand.
Silence filled the room.
"…Miss?"
Another child fell.
Then another.
Panic exploded instantly.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"
At the corner of the room—
a lunch box slowly opened by itself.
The light inside flickered violently.
Not soft anymore.
Broken.
Unstable.
Then—
one child stood back up.
Slowly.
His eyes empty.
"…hungry…"
CRACK.
The floor beneath him split open.
The video ended.
No one spoke.
Lila immediately opened another report.
This time—
a warehouse.
Volunteers shouted while trying to restrain someone.
"CALM DOWN—!"
Too late.
BOOM!
Metal shelves collapsed.
Rice spilled across the floor like white rain.
And in the middle of the chaos—
a teenager stood perfectly still.
No panic.
No confusion.
Only silence.
"…system active."
The screen froze.
Back at the harbor—
the air felt heavier than before.
The workers nearby had stopped moving.
Even the machines suddenly sounded distant.
Everyone understood now.
This wasn't interference anymore.
This wasn't preparation.
This was happening.
Right now.
Across the country.
"…how many?" Sinta asked quietly.
Lila's fingers trembled slightly over the screen.
"…too many."
Pak Rahmat stepped forward slowly.
His voice remained calm.
But it felt heavier than anything else.
"This isn't a targeted attack anymore."
He pointed at the map.
"This is system collapse."
Silence swallowed the harbor.
Bimo sat down slowly on a wooden pallet.
"…they're not stopping the food…"
He looked at the flashing white signals across the map.
"…they're making the kids collapse instead."
No one denied it.
Because that was exactly what they were watching.
Arga stared at the screen without blinking.
All the lights.
All the signals.
All the pain.
He could feel them now.
Not hear.
Not see.
Feel.
Far away.
Close.
Everywhere.
"…they're connected."
Rani turned toward him immediately.
"…you can feel them?"
Arga nodded slowly.
"…and they're hurting."
Silence fell again.
For the first time—
this no longer felt like war.
It felt like millions of voices screaming at once.
Farhan spoke quietly beside the others.
"…if this keeps spreading…"
He stopped himself.
Sinta finished it for him.
"…people will stop trusting the system."
Pak Rahmat lowered his eyes slightly.
"And once trust disappears…"
No one finished the sentence.
They already knew.
Bimo stood abruptly.
"…then we move."
Lila looked at him instantly.
"…move where?"
"…everywhere."
"…we can't."
That answer hit harder than expected.
"There are too many locations," Lila whispered.
Rani clenched her fists tightly.
"…then we have to choose."
That was the cruelest part.
Not fighting.
Not surviving.
Choosing—
who could still be saved.
Arga finally spoke.
Quietly.
Firmly.
"…no."
Everyone looked at him.
"…we don't choose victims."
Silence.
"…we find the center."
Sinta understood immediately.
"…the one controlling all of this."
Arga nodded once.
"…if we stop that—"
"…everything stops."
The harbor fell silent again.
Not because hope returned.
But because for the first time—
there was still a direction left.
Then—
Lila opened another report.
Her hands shook slightly this time.
"…North City…"
She stopped.
Her voice almost disappeared.
"…too late."
No footage appeared.
Only a single line on the screen.
STATUS: UNRESOLVED
Bimo slowly sat back down.
"…so people already…"
He couldn't finish.
He didn't need to.
Far away—
a black vehicle moved through the city streets.
Inside—
the man in the hat calmly read the incoming reports.
Harbor: FAILED.
Warehouse: SUCCESS.
Kitchen: SUCCESS.
Several Locations: TOTAL LOSS.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Not happiness.
Satisfaction.
"Good."
The screen changed.
Not the harbor.
Not the kitchens.
Something deeper.
More important.
NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CORE
The heart of the system.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"…now they'll panic."
A pause.
"…and when people panic—"
The smile slowly returned.
"…we take everything."
Back at the harbor—
the sea breeze still moved gently through the air.
The trucks still rolled forward.
Lunch was still being delivered.
But across the country—
children were beginning to collapse.
One by one.
And for the first time—
all of them understood the truth.
This was no longer about saving everyone.
It was about—
how many people could still be saved
before everything became too late.