BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
The numbers kept dropping.
01:43
Night wind swept across the harbor.
Lights flickered overhead.
The shadows of the containers stretched across the ground—
like something lurking in the dark.
Above the black container—
Tono and Bimo pulled the ventilation hatch open.
CLANG.
The opening burst wide.
Hot air exploded outward.
And the sound from inside—
BZZZZZZZZZZ—
felt like more than machinery.
Deeper.
Alive.
Arga stood beneath it.
The MBG lunch box in his hand glowed brightly.
Eight grains of rice pulsed rapidly.
Not calming.
Calling.
"Be careful…"
Sinta's voice was quiet.
Arga only nodded.
Bimo reached his hand down.
"Come on!"
Arga jumped.
Bimo pulled him up.
A faint blue light glowed from inside the opening.
Farhan shouted from below,
"JUST OVER A MINUTE LEFT!"
Arga took a deep breath.
Slow.
"…I'm going in."
Then he dropped—
into the darkness.
Inside—
it was dark.
But not empty.
The air felt thick.
Heavy.
And the sound—
BZZZZZZZZZZ—
filled everything.
His feet touched the floor softly.
Arga stood still.
Alone.
The container—
shouldn't have been this large.
The inside stretched wider.
Deeper.
As if the space itself ignored normal rules.
Dim blue lights pulsed along the walls.
And at the center—
a machine.
Massive.
Pulsing.
Surrounded by dozens of battery units—
like a metallic heart.
The screen displayed:
01:18
Arga stepped closer.
His lunch box glowed—
but with every step—
the light dimmed.
Like something was pulling it away from him.
"…so this is…"
"…the source."
He stared at the cables connected to the machine.
"…if this breaks…"
"…everything stops."
"Arga!"
Bimo's voice echoed from above.
"What do you see?!"
"A machine! Lots of batteries!"
Farhan shouted immediately,
"CUT THE POWER!"
"That's the fastest way!"
Arga moved quickly.
But—
WHRRRRRRRRRR—
the machine changed.
The blue lights turned red.
The screen flickered violently.
Then words appeared:
ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED
Arga froze.
"…I'm…"
A pause.
"…the target."
The machine wasn't activating.
The machine—
was choosing.
And now—
it had chosen Arga.
The red lights blazed fully alive.
The cables moved.
The air shifted violently.
Arga staggered.
His chest suddenly felt empty.
Not pain.
Worse.
Like something—
was being ripped out of him.
Forced.
Without permission.
Outside—
Farhan panicked.
"HIS ENERGY IS DROPPING!"
Lila's eyes widened.
"The machine is draining him!"
Sinta shouted instantly,
"ARGA, GET OUT NOW!"
He tried to move.
He couldn't.
His legs felt heavy.
His body—
stopped obeying him.
His energy flowed out faster.
Too fast.
His vision trembled.
For the first time—
Arga almost collapsed.
Then he felt something worse.
Not just draining.
Reading.
Understanding.
The machine—
recognized him.
"…Anchor Domain…"
A voice.
Not human.
Inside his head.
"…stable source…"
"…high priority…"
Arga's eyes widened.
"…this isn't a machine…"
"…it's a living system."
His hands trembled.
But he still held onto his lunch box tightly.
"…no."
Quietly.
"…not like this."
A small golden light appeared.
Tiny.
But alive.
The machine roared.
WHRRRRRRRRRRRR—
The pull became stronger.
But the golden light—
didn't disappear.
00:42
Outside—
Farhan stared at the monitor.
"…his energy is rising again?!"
Lila looked shocked.
"He's reversing the flow!"
Pak Rahmat spoke quietly.
"…he's fighting the system itself."
Inside—
Arga nearly dropped to one knee.
His entire body shook violently.
Like it was about to break apart.
But he remained standing.
He raised his lunch box slowly.
"If you want this…"
His breathing grew heavier.
"…come and take it."
He stopped holding back.
He pushed back.
His energy exploded outward—
not as fuel.
But as interference.
As an attack.
Straight into the machine's core.
00:21
The lights flickered wildly.
The cables shook violently.
The machine's roar became unstable.
Broken.
Chaotic.
Arga's body was pulled forward.
Like the machine wanted to consume him.
Erase him.
But he stayed standing.
00:10
The machine screamed.
Energy collided violently.
Gold.
Red.
Two systems clashing.
One—
trying to take.
One—
refusing to break.
And right before the timer reached zero—
Arga felt something even more terrifying than pain.
Not because he was losing.
But because—
for a brief moment—
the machine
successfully controlled him.
And if that happened again—
the machine wouldn't be the thing destroyed.
He would.