The red line office that usually feels like a shelter now turns into a defense. After Budi's betrayal, the air was heavy and full of suspicion.
"We cannot trust anyone," Bimo said, his voice was flat but full of authority. He stood in the middle of the main room, his eyes swept every corner. "Budi knows all our protocols. He knows all our weak points. That means he can bring his troops here anytime."
"Then what are we doing?" Anton asked, his face was still pale. "We cannot fight all Jakarta Police."
"We will not fight them," Bimo answered. "We will lock them up. Dr. Maya, I need a complete list of all physical security systems installed by Mr. Daru in this building. Everything. Anton, I need you to decide this office from all external networks. The internet, city electricity, telephone lines. Use emergency generators and our internal servers. We must be invisible islands."
"Fine, Bimo," Anton said, immediately turned to his computer and began to type quickly.
"Riani," Bimo called. "I need you to feel everyone who approaches this building. Every evil intention, every thought that is controlled. You become our early warning system."
Riani nodded, sat on the floor and closed her eyes, focusing on expanding her psychic senses.
"And what are you going to do?" asked Dr. Maya while handing over a complicated diagram of a building to Bimo.
"I will turn this place into the biggest trap ever," Bimo answered. He took the diagram and started walking around the room, scribbling with a special limestone who was sparkling with his energy.
During the next hours, they worked endlessly. The sound of the generator buzzed loudly, giving energy for emergency lights and important equipment. Anton has decided all connections to the outside world, making their office a digital bunker.
Bimo goes around every corridor, every room, even air ventilation. In each entrance, window and weak wall, he carved the symbols of fire with his own hands. The symbols glow with soft white light before fading, being invisible to normal eyes, but ready to be active.
"He will come with his controlled followers," Bimo murmured to Dr. Maya who followed him with a notebook. "They are not human anymore. They are dolls. So, we cannot hesitate."
"What is the protocol?" asked Dr. Maya.
"We do not kill if possible. We paralyze. But the main priority is to protect ourselves and stop the ritual," Bimo answered. "If something is threatened, we do what to do."
In the main room, around the energy cage that is still spinning, Bimo draws a large and complicated concentric circle on the floor. It is a cage in a cage.
"This is for him," Bimo said, pointing to a trapped entity. "If they win it, the ritual will be accelerated. So, we make this our last defense point."
In the afternoon when Riani suddenly opened her eyes, her breathing panting. "They came!" He shouted. "Budi ... and others. Lots of. They carry something ... a large box. Made of old metal. It emits very evil energy."
"Position?" Bimo asked calmly.
"Lobby. They forced the main door," Riani reported.
"Right as expected," Bimo said. "Anton, activate level one."
Anton pressed a button on his console. From the ceiling of the lobby, a non-choking white gas bursts sprayed, filling the room quickly. It was a strong sedative gas designed by Pak Daru to conquer the material that was realized, but also effective for humans.
"Gas has no effect on them!" Riani shouted, who was still monitoring psychologically. "They ... they don't breathe? No, they breathe, but not affected!"
"They are protected by their strength," Bimo growled. "Activate level two."
In the lobby, the floor suddenly became very slippery by a special layer of oil. Some followers of Budi fell, but others walked firmly, as if their feet had unnatural grip. They continue to push their metal boxes.
"They passed it!" Anton reported, looking through internal security cameras that died one by one when the intruders damaged it.
"Let them enter the main corridor," Bimo ordered. "Activate trap number three and four simultaneously."
The main corridor is a narrow path to the main room. When Budi's followers entered the corridor, the wall panel was open, spraying a very cold liquid that immediately froze above them, slowing down their movements. Simultaneously, a high-voltage power cable fell from the ceiling, electrocuting some followers until they jerked and fell.
Some made it through it. Including Budi. He walked calmly, trampled on his subordinate body that was shocked without caring.
"They are still coming," Riani whispered, scared.
"They will reach here," Bimo said. That has been calculated. "Get ready."
The main steel door of the main room was determined hard from the outside. Once, twice, then hit by something heavy - maybe the metal box.
"Bimo! We know you are inside!" shouted Budi's voice from behind the door. "Open the door, and we will make your death quickly. Challenge us, and we will use the girl to open her mind and find your every fear."
Bimo did not answer. He just raised his hand, gesturing to Anton.
Anton nodded and opened the door electronically.
The door opened hard. Budi and a dozen followers, whose eyes were thick black and expressionless face, stood there. They pushed a large metal box into the room.
"Wise vaginal discharge," Budi said with a faint smile.
"Welcome to our office, Inspector," Bimo welcomed. "Or should I call you 'anchor'?"
Budi's smile faded for a moment. "You have learned."
"We all learn," Bimo replied. "Now, why don't we end this?"
Budi nodded to his subordinates. They began to open a metal box. Inside, there is a small statue made of bone that is united with a silver wire. That emits aura of hatred and hunger that is almost physical.
Riani screamed and dropped, holding her head. "His voice ... Very loud!"
"This is a caller," Budi said. "With this, and with the energy center in your cage, the ritual will be completed here, right now."
Bimo doesn't waste time. "NOW!" he shouted.
He slammed his hand to the floor. The entire floor of the room glowed with the symbols he carved before. A bright white energy field stretches, cutting Budi's followers from their leaders and from the metal box.
The followers screamed in pain, pinched by sacred energy, could not move. But Budi just laughed.
"A good step! But you forgot one thing!" shouted Budi. He pulled out a ritual knife from behind his jacket and without hesitation stabbed his own hand. Black blood-really black-rolled out and dripped to the floor.
The symbols of fire where the blood landed hiss and faded, turned gray and helpless.
"He gave me his own blood to fight your blood," Budi said, walking through the energy field that weakened directly towards the central cage.
"Don't!" Riani shouted, trying to block him, but a follower who could still move from catching him from behind.
Bimo growled and threw a burst of fire at Budi. Budi turned around and raised his bleeding hand. The fire hit the black energy shield produced by the blood and faded.
"I'm no longer a human being that you can burn, Bimo," Budi said. He has now reached the outer cage. He began to draw symbols with his blood on the floor, around the Bimo cage.
Bimo looked around. His followers were trapped, but the energy field would soon collapse. Anton tried to reach for weapons, but he was not a fighter. Dr. Maya took shelter behind the table. Riani is still detained.
He must make a choice.
He pulled all his strength. He did not focus on Budi, or to his followers. He focused on a metal box, on the caller in it.
"NO!" Budi shouted, realizing Bimo's intention.
Bimo pointed his hands into the box and released all his strength in one concentrated pure white fire. It is a burning light, so bright so it cannot be seen directly.
The light hit a metal box. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the box glowed into hot white. The statue of the bone in it screamed - the piercing soul - and then crushed into dust.
The caller has been destroyed.
The screams of pain and anger that did not originate from his mind or followers echoed in the room. It was the shout of the entity trapped in the cage, feeling the plan was destroyed.
Budi staggered, lost balance. The concentration broke. The blood in his hand stopped flowing and returned to red. The Bimo energy field, which is no longer oppressed, strengthened again, pinned the followers more powerfully. The followers who held Riani fell down, released him.
Bimo fell into his knee, running out of energy. His last attempt has drained it.
Budi hissed, staring at Bimo with pure hatred. "You destroyed that! Need Decades to find the artifacts!"
"Get out of here, Budi," said Bimo, panting. "Your ritual fails. Your caller is broken. You have nothing else."
Budi looked around. His followers could not move. The only way is to run away. He growled, then ran to the emergency exit, disappearing into the darkness.
Silence down in the room. What remains is the helpless followers, the injured red line team, and the cage that rotates calmly.
They succeeded. They maintain their fortress.
Bimo stood with difficulty, assisted by Riani and Dr. Maya.
"Is this over?" Anton asked.
"For tonight, yes," Bimo answered, looking at the cage. "But Budi is still free. And he is still 'anchor'. As long as he is still alive, the threat is still there. He will try again."
But that night, they won a big victory. They have survived from direct attacks and destroyed a key component of enemy rituals.
Bimo looked at his team the men and women who had struggled with him, who had faced betrayal and fear, and remained.
"We strengthen the defense again," said Bimo, his voice again contained determination. "We clean this. And we start hunting. Because now, we know the faces of our enemies."
War hasn't ended yet. In fact, maybe just started with the truth. But for the first time, Bimo was sure they could win. They are red lines. And they will survive.