October 07

The dial tone of the smartphone from inside the backpack sitting in the back passenger seat managed to stop my head from shaking to the rhythmic beat of the car's media player.

One of my eyebrows raised.

Feeling that all work is done.

I positioned my left palm on the right side of the small media player screen on the dashboard. The music volume is reduced to the maximum with one swipe in the opposite direction.

"Hello? With who? Sorry, driving." I squealed a little.

The sound sensor managed to stop the scream of the device.

"Brother! It's bad!"

"Danial?" My brow furrowed in confusion. I loosen the foot on the gas pedal. "What's wrong with calling a private number?"

We have a dedicated communication network with different cell phones. And I never took my cellphone with me when I was an ordinary civilian.

A hint of uncomfortable intention began to entice my heart.

" Affiliate Marsk is gone !"

My index finger automatically pressed the hazard light button.

"Try to check again the IP he used to use."

Two cars behind me decided to overtake.

"Ask Irina for help too." I glanced at the right and left mirrors only to pull over five seconds later.

"I'm saying this too because Irina has helped." The panic in his intonation is getting worse. "What should I do, brother? The data provided is still too little to convince 'Father'."

My jaw hardens.

Two months ago, an affiliate with the username Marsk communicated intensely with Danial after complaining about the possibility of embezzlement and laundering of funds from the Java-Bali underwater mega project.

Interestingly, the corruption brought the names of several ministers and a child of the nation's most influential people according to the Southeastern Continent's Forbes magazine. But two weeks ago, he only left a voice recording that contained his fear of that assumption. After that, he is not online anymore.

My tongue clicked.

That damn mouse dares! He couldn't just run away like this. Not after accusing here and there, even to attach some supporting files that look convincing.

At least Marsk will have to pay off the 'King' worries with an apology if it proves to be just bullshit.

"I go there." Turn off the hazard lights. Replace turning on the right turn signal. "We'll talk about that later."

The call ended after Danial agreed softly.

The gear in my hand was ready to shift forward until the black car I was waiting to overtake turned out to be in line with me.

Her slow horn made me wince curiously.

A slight worry flashed from a woman's clear bead as the glass from her left passenger seat moved down.

I was astonished.

A familiar scent wafts serenely.

"Hey!" The woman leaned toward the window. "You need help?"

I stuttered. I quickly rolled down the windshield too.

At the same time, just as the woman's face was no longer blocked, a familiar feeling immediately flooded my memory space.

I froze receiving various flashes of fragments, actions, words to expressions that I was sure had never happened.

"Hey!"

My shoulders jump.

The shriek just now was caused by the shock of a rather longhorn.

I worked a few times.

"Are you really okay?" The dots of worry that were not many before now almost filled her entire expression.

I gave a stiff smile. "Thank you for worrying about me, lady—?"

Question marks were painted on her highlight. "Oh?" Her eyebrows rose a second later. "Dara."

My left grip on the reflex steering wheel tightened.

My heart beats faster.

"Thank you again, Miss Dara." I cleared my throat briefly. My throat suddenly dried up. Making her name unintentionally hoarse.

I put a reassuring kiss on my lips to wipe the tears from that face. "You can move on. I'm fine."

After several thoughtful commotions wrestled in silence for the next ten seconds, Dara nodded giddily.

"Look after yourself." She made a small smile. "Be careful on the way."

I let out a sigh of relief. I rested my forehead on the steering wheel.

Dara.

I close my eyes.

How can all the déjà vu just be filled with you?

***

"This is already the eighth affiliate in the last four months." Danial took a deep, long breath and finished it with an annoyed grunt.

The man in the middle of his two heads challenged the gray ceiling of my study while rubbing his face roughly.

"Aren't you suspicious?" He leaned forward until his chest was almost pressed against the table's edge that separated us." Looks like someone wants to tarnish your record, Brother." He still whispers the prejudice just now even though he knows that all the rooms in this base are soundproof.

I smile. With my eyes still closed and leaning against the back of the chair, I responded by nodding just.

"What date is it?" I lowered the sitting gesture to be more comfortable.

There was a pause deliberately created by Danial before he chuckled again. "October 7."

I nod again. Please don't bother with the harsh tone he uses.

"Brother?"

"Hmm?" I lifted my chin slightly without opening my eyes.

"Wow!" Danial joked in admiration with exaggeration. "What's the matter with you? Why are you so calm?"

My stifled laughter inadvertently escaped in the form of a brief snort.

If The Echo, who relies on hearing like Danial, concludes that I'm not frantic, does that mean I've managed to trick him now?

To what extent can I trust him? Or should I expect nothing more?

"I don't like saying this." The restlessness in Danial's vocals caught my attention.

"I don't know why I thought," He lowered his head slightly. In between the intervals created by his hesitation, this man glanced at me fearfully for a moment. "That among this family, there are those who don't consider you family ."

My eyebrows rose. My irises rotate slowly. The effect of being too aware of the opinion just now led to the emergence of various presumptions full of wariness of Danial's sincerity.

"Naturally, right." I closed my eyes again. I also show a slight grin. "You think I have no envy?"

Danial pounded the table. "But you're not elbowing yourself like this!"

I desperately stifled a laugh. I didn't mean to laugh at this man's naive innocence. To be more precise, I was laughing at my past naivety. Sometimes I was framed by the children I sent to school so that I had to work part-time to supplement my income.

"You're going to let the case go this time too?"

"No." I rebut immediately. "I can't lose any more affiliates ."

"But," Danial returned unconvinced. "You look..."

I returned his fierce gaze with a humorous look. "This is how I think."

Ilfeel expression before shaking his head in concern." You're getting weirder every day. "

I laughed.

Danial pursed his lips.

"Indeed," I finished laughing with a huge sigh. My eye squinted curiously. "What do I look like?"

Danial ran his beads to the right. His habit when trying to remember something.

"For sure, you're forgetful." He hugs. "Especially the day, date, month, year."

I put on a fantastic expression. "That bad?"

"Almost every day you always ask me what date it is, even though you just checked the date on your smartwatch?!" Danial glared annoyed.

My lips grimaced awkwardly. "I just wanted to make sure."

"Ensure?" A question mark was painted on the man's forehead.

I nodded my head slightly.

Make sure the time is still running normally.

I sighed. Gently massage the bridge of the nose. Usually Danial would say goodbye to me if I acted exhausted like this.

"Take care of your health, Brother." The sound of the stool sliding backward indicated that the cheap trick just now was still taking effect. "Call me if you need anything."

Yes, yes, asshole. Go home!

I still maintained an unwell attitude by nodding weakly, contrary to my inner content. Lips that are licked small complement my perspective.

After the study's sliding door sounded a melody indicating the automatic lock had been set, I immediately got up to approach the multi-story bookshelf behind my seat.

As fast as I could, I climbed the stairs connected to the reading attic. If calculated from below, total shelving stretched upwards as many as fifteen pieces, with forty steps arranged in a zigzag order to reach the top of the bookshelf.

I headed to the ninth shelving, about to reread the contents of the black synthetic leather-bound pocketbook I had hidden behind the rows of literature there.

Hardcover book I used the red mark in the center of the shelving to find the tiny literature. My forefinger moved to the left, going through several titles while counting in my head. Once I reached number nine, I breathed a sigh of relief when I touched the rough surface of the sheath of discourse.

Although I have never transferred this little one to another shelter, I regularly change its position as a precaution against Danial's discovery. The young man is one of the few literate people. Yet he always refused to go up to the attic and preferred to read on the tenth stair, which automatically made his reach no more than the seventh shelving.

I sharpened my focus when I made it to page fifty-two. 'Chapter Eight' is listed in the upper left corner of the sheet. After the chronology of the disappearance of the Tania affiliate is discussed in chapter seven, if I remember correctly, this time I should have addressed the Marsk affiliate ...

My body stiffens.

Oh, why is it different?

I quickly flipped through the following pages to chapters nine, ten, eleven, and twelve.

Immediately grab the nearest shelving edge. I slowly sat down on the steps that had been my foothold.

My chest rumbles. Cold sweat dripped down his chin. I wiped my face once before closing my eyes.

My mind always projects the exact moment when it's dark, especially when no one accompanies me. Starting from January 11th, on the day when I woke up after receiving a shot in the head, all the events in my daily life were recorded accurately in this pocketbook. Including the loss of several affiliates who are under my auspices.

Ten months ago, on January 11th, this pocketbook was under my pillow. On that day, just as the dawn broke a warm bias, I realized that everything written in this literature was my story.

Ways to survive —is the opening monologue engraved on the first page instead of the book title or author's name. Later, I shut down all my activities for three days, both at the organization and the hospital, to finish this pocket novel.

Over the past ten months, all the events written in the book happened. I had refused to believe it and almost consulted a psychologist. I didn't do it because I didn't want to be thought I was crazy.

I used this book as a reference after investigating the first to third affiliate disappearance incidents, which occurred sequentially around April to May. Because of that, I can be as relaxed as I was responding to the disappearance of the Marsk affiliate.

I gently grabbed the hair with my free right hand.

Edo, Vera, Tania, Arka, Beni, Chille, Gou, and Rose …the disaster that happened to the seven of them I have investigated and the cause is according to the book's contents. But why is Marsk different? Why doesn't that name exist?

Marsk… Marsk…

My grip on the book tightened.

Strange. The name sounded familiar.

I'm trying to unravel more memories and starting from the contents of pocket novels that I have finished more than twenty times. Memories of being escorted to the shooting range, this story is in chapter eighty-one. Back to chapter seventy, when the first trial was held—yes, something like this.

I quickly turned to page one hundred and seventy to find the moment the first congress was held. Marsk's name seemed to be mentioned at the time.

I pointed at every word in the novel so that my eyes would be more careful in finding what I was looking for. Such a strange username must be found quickly—

— a mysterious flash of memory placed me in front of a holographic screen. There are three circles containing close-ups of different people there.

I was shocked when I recognized the portrait of a woman in the roundabout on the left. Does that face belong to the woman who had aligned her car with me?!

"This is what Big Brother asked for, right?"

Surprised, I turned to the right—the silhouette of a woman rushing forward, full of emotion.

I blinked many times as I recognized the inflamed figure.

Irina?

It took only five steps for Irina to get to the side of the screen and point her finger at the scheme. There is a name pinned at the bottom of the photo. From left to right, I can read it.

Dara, Putra and Abimara.

The circles of Dara and Abimara that are side by side at the top of the screen are linked by a thick red line. Meanwhile, the green line from the two leads to the bottom, merging into the Putra circle. An inverted triangle is formed from the relationship between the three of them.

The lower left side, straight parallel to the Dara circle, pinned a small box titled 'Index'. The brief information in it made me even more confused.

The red line means fiancé. While the green line represents friends—

—I gasped.

Sweat dripped down some parts of the shirt to my skin.

My heart was pounding. The boom was felt to present a migraine.

What was that?

Why is there Irina? And then, how did that girl named Dara appear? So who is Putra? Who else-!

My limbs ran through the bathroom. The fried rice I ate on the way home was now gone.