Sutanta's phone rang. As if he had expected it, his expression didn't change in the slightest when he saw Agung's name appear on the screen.
After pressing the answer button, he didn't hold the phone to his ear. Instead, he held it slightly away.
"What is the meaning of this? I demand an explanation!" Agung shouted from the other end. His voice was so loud it sounded as if it were coming through a speakerphone.
"I know you're angry; this was beyond our calculations as well. Mula Gati researchers always work far from conflict." Sutanta's voice was calm, but the usual playfulness that accompanied it was nowhere to be found.
"I don't care! The fact is, I was in danger!... and what about my family? My sister is at university in Surabaya!" his voice pregressively sounded more anxious the more he goes on.
"Calm down first—"
"How can I be calm knowing my family's lives could be targeted!?"
"We have already requested security assistance from Mula Gati, and it has been approved. We know your address, but not your sister's. Send us the address so we can provide protection until we find a long-term solution."
"It's hard for me to believe anything you say right now. You don't seem surprised by this incident at all. I know I was saved, but why was someone from Mula Gati tailing me? It's as if you anticipated this would happen."
Sutanta waited a few seconds before answering. "I am being honest when I say I did not expect this to occur. I realize how suspicious this situation looks to you; I hope you understand that any explanation I give won't sound logical. You know what is involved here."
For a moment, only heavy breathing could be heard on the other side of the call.
"Once again, I apologize. I never intended to place you in danger, let alone your family."
Click. Agung disconnected the call.
"Do you think he'll believe you?" asked Dr. Liem, who had been watching in silence.
Sutanta remained quiet; even he didn't know the answer. Agung's skepticism was so high it was becoming a burden to the man himself—a trait Dr. Liem already knew of through Sutanta's stories.
A few moments later, Sutanta's phone buzzed again. An address. It seemed Agung had decided to trust them for now.
Sutanta felt his breathing ease slightly. However, the two Doctors exchanged a glance. They knew they couldn't afford to relax just yet.
"Don't look at me like that. I just saved your life, didn't I?" said the boyband guy, Pandu, noticing the piercing glare Agung was directing at him.
Pandu's expression was indifferent—in fact, he looked annoyed by Agung's emotional outburst.
Realizing what he was doing, Agung tried to compose himself. "Is it really okay to just leave him here?" Agung asked, looking at the unconscious man and the two knives lying on the ground.
"What? You want him killed and disposed of, or what?"
"Huh? Why kill him? Normally, people report this to the police."
"Too much hassle. They'd probably just release him anyway."
Agung went silent for a moment before finally saying, "Follow me."
He hurried toward his house, limping as fast as he could. Pandu wore a weary expression, then quickly positioned himself in front of the walking Agung.
Without a word, Agung suddenly found himself hoisted onto Pandu's back. They took off at high speed. Faster than a normal person could run even without an extra load.
Because they were close from the start, they arrived at the path cutting through the garden in front of Agung's house in no time. Walking up the path, past two red palm trees on either side, they finally reached Agung's home. A white house with high ceilings and wide windows facing the street.
They were so fast that it felt impossible they could have been too late if there had been any danger. Even so, his heart felt immense relief when he entered the house and found his mother resting, watching TV in the living room.
His startled mother asked a barrage of questions, but Agung brushed them aside for the moment and called his sister in Surabaya.
"Juni, are you okay? Where are you right now?" Agung asked. Through the phone, he could hear the voices of several people.
"I'm fine. I'm just eating with friends. Why, Bro?" Juni replied, followed by the sound of chewing.
"Alright then. If anything feels strange, seek help immediately. Let me know as soon as you can."
"What's going on, anyway? You're making me worried, Mas."
"Everything is going to be fine. You don't need to worry." Agung realized that he couldn't explain anything. Any more than this, and he would only succeed in making his sister more anxious.
"...You're making no sense. I'm going back to my food!"
Click. The call ended.
Agung collapsed onto the sofa, his head throbbing. He deeply regretted his decision to join Mula Gati. What he feared even more was the possibility that he couldn't take back the consequences of that decision.
A moment later, Agung's mother came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with water and ice, placing it in front of Pandu, who had made himself comfortable.
"What trouble have you caused now, Gung? Fighting yesterday, and now coming home in a panic. You didn't even introduce your friend."
"I'll explain later, Bu." Agung tilted his head toward Pandu. "We just met on the road. His name is Pandu, if I'm not mistaken."
"Met on the road? 'If you're not mistaken'? Is he your friend or not?"
"I'll explain later, Bu."
His mother relented, moving toward her room while grumbling under her breath.
Seeing Agung bury his face in his palms again, Pandu spoke up. "Don't blame them too much."
Even though Agung shot him a sharp look through the gaps in his fingers, Pandu ignored it and continued, "Their connection to the organization is a secret; not even many of us know. Unless that information leaked, or someone was listening to your conversation, there shouldn't be any danger following them."
Pandu spoke quietly, avoiding the mention of "Mula Gati." He seemed cautious, but Agung thought otherwise.
It's not every day a man runs at full speed down the street carrying another man on his back. By now, every neighbor on this block has probably heard what happened.
For a secret organization, they aren't very good at keeping secrets, Agung thought to himself.
However, he knew it had been an emergency, and he himself had wanted to get home as fast as possible by any means.
"...In that case, who am I supposed to be angry at?"
"You can be angry at them, but don't overdo it," Pandu said, unclear if he was being serious or joking in such a situation. "You can direct the rest of your anger at the organization's executives."
"...So when does the security detail arrive?"
"What do you mean? I'm already here."
"But... Sorry, but you don't look that strong."
"You saw that skinny guy earlier move almost like he was teleporting? You think appearances are an accurate measure of strength?"
"By the way, what happened back there? I saw the killer manage to slash you with his knife."
"Magic, obviously. What else?" Pandu answered nonchalantly. It seemed intentional. His face was full of smiles, as if treating Agung like a child asking questions.
Just as Agung was becoming irritated and losing interest in questioning him, his mother returned to the room and reminded him to eat. "Invite your friend, too."
"Agung's mother, sorry for the short notice, but may I stay the night here?"
His mother gave a confused look for a moment before looking at Agung for clarification. She only gave her permission when Agung nodded.
"But we don't have a spare room. Juni doesn't like her room being used by others. If you want, you can share a room with Agung."
"It's fine, I'll just sleep on the sofa."
"But..."
"Really. It's fine." Pandu shot a wink at Agung, who immediately understood that it would be easier for Pandu to keep watch if he positioned himself in the living room.
However, his mother, who didn't understand the context, immediately cast a shocked glance between Pandu and Agung. This didn't escape Agung's notice, and he immediately gave a frantic shake of his head. Despite this, his mother still threw suspicious glances at Agung as she returned to her room.
As he thought about how he would explain this to his mother, Agung suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, remembering that Pandu had also winked at him when saving him earlier.
Does he not realize how cringey that is?
"Who is this?"
Agung's residence received another guest in the morning.
A young woman. She looked like a female version of Pandu, dressed in a business-casual formal outfit. However, they didn't actually look alike; unlike Pandu, who was tall with the eyes of a hunter, the woman named Karin was small-statured with wide eyes.
Once again, Agung doubted their ability to protect themselves, let alone someone else.
Since Agung had never introduced a single woman to his mother, she welcomed this guest with delight. However, she was forced to be disappointed when she saw Agung and Pandu leave the house immediately after breakfast. She watched their retreating backs with a look of concern and worry—though not for their safety.
In less than half an hour, the two of them arrived at the hotel where Sutanta was staying during his time in Solo.
"Dr. Liem has already left town. I should have as well, but of course, I couldn't do that given your difficult situation. Actually, this is a difficult situation for all of us; Dr. Liem and I are also potentially in danger because of this information leak," Sutanta said.
Each of them sat in a chair, facing one another. Agung sat leaning forward, radiating impatience; Sutanta sat upright; and Pandu sat cross-legged on his chair.
Sutanta continued, "Karin can be relied upon to protect your mother. We have also sent someone to protect your sister."
"I'm much calmer now, but I still can't accept this. How long must I live in fear like this? I'm sorry, but I've decided not to join the Mula Gati researchers."
"You look like you haven't slept at all..." Sutanta commented, noticing the dark circles under Agung's eyes. Given the situation—being targeted by assassins with supernatural powers—insomnia was hardly a surprise.
"Anyway, I'm afraid that's not a solution. We don't know if they will stop just because you sever ties. Additionally, Mula Gati doesn't have the luxury of deploying resources to protect those who aren't affiliated with it."
"I want to teach you a few techniques that you should at least master to protect yourself. But for now, I want to know: why are you being targeted by the Accelerators?"
"I only heard that name for the first time yesterday; I thought you would know. Is it possible Mula Gati researchers just made a valuable discovery and they want to attack you all, starting with me—the easiest target?"
"They have existed for hundreds of years." Sutanta shook his head. "There are records of them dating back to the first kingdoms in Indonesia. They have been studying and mastering the arts of magic and mysticism for ages. We are only trying to rediscover what they already know."
Agung fell silent for a moment. If what Sutanta said was true, then there was no reason for them to...
"If these Accelerators don't care about Mula Gati, is it possible the person yesterday was just a member acting on his own?"
At that suggestion, Sutanta looked at him with a heavy gaze.
"Why?"
"I didn't want to tell you about this because I was sure it would only make you worry." Sutanta paused for a moment before continuing. "The guard sent to watch your sister did indeed find magical activity there. They managed to expel a jin that was sent and unearthed charms planted around your sister's residence."
SLAM!
Before Sutanta could even finish his sentence, Agung reached the peak of his patience and slammed his palm onto the wooden table beside him. His hands shook violently as he tried to brush back the long hair that had fallen over his face.
When he fought someone like Heru, who was powerful and influential, he had never felt this frustrated. Back then, he knew his family's safety wasn't threatened, so he didn't care what happened to him.
"This has never happened before, which is why I want to ask again: do you truly have no information that might be related?"
Isn't the answer obviously Mula Gati? he thought. He had never experienced anything strange like this before hearing about them. But just as he finished that thought, Agung remembered something and reached into his wallet. From it, he pulled out the item he had once shown to Raka.
A slip of paper the size of a business card, with a watermark of a triangle with a dot in the center and a message.
"THAT'S IT!" Sutanta suddenly shouted, pointing at the paper Agung held.
"but You haven't even read the writing yet..."
"Do you see the triangle with the single dot in the center? That is the symbol of the Accelerators," Dr. Sutanta said, his breath quickening. He then continued, "Show me the writing."
Recalling the contents, Agung shyly showed the paper to the curious Sutanta and Pandu.
"Footsteps that leave scars upon the face of time. Stay on your path, and the world shall witness the most beautiful dawn. Be wise when the devil offers the sweet, cursed fruit. For if not, you shall plunge the world into darkness."
...
For a few seconds, there was no sound. Agung tried to break the awkwardness with a fake cough, but both men remained focused on the text.
Pandu glanced at Agung's face every so often with one eyebrow raised. His thoughts were crystal clear to Agung: Seriously? This guy?
Agung felt so embarrassed, even though he wasn't the one who wrote it.
Pffft! "Bwahahahahaha!"
Having apparently seen enough of the paper, Pandu burst into boisterous laughter.
"Ridiculous. What are you, a prophet or something?"
Contrasting that reaction, Dr. Sutanta calmly asked, "Where did you get this?"
In response to the question, Agung recounted his experience from less than two weeks ago—the incident where he was ambushed by two thugs sent by his former student, Raka, because of their conflict at the time.
Initially, he thought the paper had been slipped in by the thugs, or perhaps by the people who carried him to the ambulance, but there was no explanation that truly fit.
Pandu's laughter, which had been the background noise until now, slowly subsided. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
He also seemed to be trying hard to look elsewhere. Both of them knew that if their eyes met, Pandu's suppressed laughter would surely explode even louder.
Agung didn't know whether to be offended or to compliment Pandu's grasp of the conversation's seriousness.
"And you decided to keep it?" Dr. Sutanta asked, looking completely unfazed.
"Initially, I threw it in the trash, but then I decided to keep it. I don't really understand why myself."
"Easy enough to do with magic, but the real problem is: why are they doing all this?" Pandu said to a desk lamp nearby, a stray chuckle still escaping him.
"I cannot decide what to do with this information," Sutanta said, sounding careful with his choice of words. "I want to seek the counsel of the Mula Gati board," he continued.
"Agreed! I want to see Dewi Putu's reaction when she reads this." Pandu seemed to eagerly welcome the idea.
"you call her by name? I didn't know you two were that close," Sutanta commented, finally shifting the conversation.
Trying not to be conspicuous, Agung leaned toward Sutanta and whispered, "I haven't had a chance to ask anything since yesterday. first of all, who is this guy?"
"You mean Pandu? I have no idea, I just met him today too," Sutanta replied.
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