The Old Jakarta Archives 02:00 WIB
The building was really old and falling apart. It was like a limestone fortress, and it smelled bad. The air was thick and damp. It was a place where drones could not fly. Wi-Fi signals could not get through. This was the place in Jakarta where the Executioners' "Great Eye" could not see.
Pistachio and Malik walked through the aisles with flashlights. The beams of light cut through the dust in the air. It looked like ash was falling from the sky.
"Why are we here, Pistachio?" Malik asked quietly. His voice echoed off the iron shelves. "The Executioner has everything. He has all the information he needs. What could be here that he does not already know?"
Pistachio said, "The 'Great Purge' is based on what's certain.. Digital information can be erased. It can be changed. Paper is different. If you burn paper, it leaves ash behind. If you hide paper, it stays where you put it."
He pulled out a rusty drawer. It was labeled CRIMINAL DIVISION: 2016. He started looking through the files. He was not looking for a person. He was looking for a victim.
This was about something that happened ten years ago. It was called The Case of the Silver Watch. The Executioner had talked about this case at the police station.
Pistachio found the file. "Aris," he said. "He was a thief I arrested. His daughter died while he was in jail. The Executioner says I killed her by following the law."
He spread the papers out on a table. There were records of the arrest and the evidence. There was also a note from a worker. It was handwritten. Had never been put on a computer.
"Look at this, Malik," Pistachio said.
Malik leaned in to see. The note talked about the daughter's condition. It said she needed medicine. It also said there was a person who had promised to pay for her surgery. This person was called a " benefactor".
Malik read out loud, "The benefactor stopped helping at the minute. The girl died two days later."
Pistachio's eyes got smaller. He looked at the name of the benefactor. It was not hidden in the papers. It was clear.
The name was Saraswati.
Malik was surprised. "She is the lawyer from 'The Garden, ' " he said. "She did not try to save the girl. She let her die."
Pistachio felt a feeling in his stomach. The "Zero-Debt Theory" was not a law. It was a story. Saraswati and the Executioner had not been waiting for justice to fail. They had been making sure it failed ten years ago. They wanted to create a tragedy so bad that it would make people think the Purge was necessary.
Pistachio whispered, "The Executioner is not making things fair. He is making things unfair. He is creating crimes so he can punish them and make people think his system is necessary."
Suddenly, there was a noise.
Clang.
A metal canister rolled across the floor. It was making a hissing sound. White smoke started coming out. It was the gas they used to clean the crematorium.
Malik coughed. "They found us," he said, covering his nose with his shirt.
Pistachio said, "It is not 'they'. It is the machine. It did not need a signal to find me. It just needed to figure out where I would go when I was in trouble."
Through the smoke, a figure appeared. It was a man in a dark coat. He was wearing a mask that looked like a mirror.
The Executioner stood there quietly. He was holding a device that was humming. It was the sound that had killed the CEO.
Pistachio pulled out his gun. His hand was shaking. The gas was making it hard for him to see.
The Executioner said, "You found the one thing that was not supposed to exist: The Truth behind the Justice."
Pistachio said, "You did not start this to save Jakarta. You started this because you are a fake. You are a bad person with a good excuse."
The Executioner took a step forward. The light on his wrist started blinking. It was beating like Pistachio's heart.
The Executioner said, "In a world of people, a fake who kills bad people is still a good person. Now lets settle your debt."