The red line office is still messy from the previous night attack. The helpless followers of Budi have been secured in a storage room that has been strengthened with a retaining symbol. A special medical team that Dr. Maya secretly brought them to be evaluated and, if possible, cured from the influence of the entity.
Bimo sat on the floor, leaning on a metal table where the energy cage was still spinning. He looked very tired, but his eyes were alert.
"We can't just wait for him to attack again," Bimo said, breaking the silence of the morning. "Budi knows we destroy the caller. He will be angry, cornered, and that makes him more dangerous. We must find it. Now."
"But how?" Anton asked. His eyes were red due to lack of sleep. "He is a police inspector. He knows all ways to disappear. He will not use his credit card, call, or go to a place that can be traced."
"He was injured," said Dr. Maya, recalls. "He stabbed his own hand. His wound was deep. He needed treatment, or at least, bandages and disinfectants. He could not go to the hospital or clinic."
"He will go to a place that he feels safe," added Riani. "The place that has been prepared."
"Or," Bimo interrupted, "He will go to a place that gives him strength. A place filled with dark energy to heal his wound." He looked at the energy cage. "And we have a guide who knows exactly such places in Jakarta."
All eyes are fixed on the lump of dark energy circling in the cage.
"Do you want to ask him?" Riani sounded skeptical. "He won't help us."
"Not asking," Bimo correction. "I will torture him."
Dr. Maya gasped. "Bimo, we don't..."
"This is not about morality, doc," Bimo interrupted, his voice was loud and uncompromising. "This is about survival. Every minute Budi is free, he plans the next attack. He has tried to use Riani as a bait. He will not hesitate to slaughter the whole family of someone just to get our attention. I will not give him the opportunity." He stood up, approaching the cage. "He responded to the pain. He responded to fear. That's the language. So, that's what I will use."
Bimo did not give them a choice. He raised the cage. "Anton, I need a thermal camera and energy scanner is connected to the main screen. Riani, I need you to monitor the fluctuations of his energy, tell if he tries to lie or manipulate. Dr. Maya, prepare an adrenaline stimulant.
They carry out orders reluctantly but fast. In a few minutes, an emergency workstation was erected around a metal table. The cage is placed in the middle, connected to the sensor.
Bimo put his hand on a cage. "Listen carefully," he told the entity inside. "You will answer my question. For every wrong answer, or for every rejection, I will burn one percent of your essence. I want to see how long you can survive before being no more than just a memory."
The dark energy in the cage trembled, radiating anger and fear.
"The first question," Bimo began, his voice was like steel. "Where will Budi go to heal the wound? Mention the place."
He waited. No response.
Bimo frowned. A thin white flame, as sharp as a razor, penetrated the cage and sliced a small portion of the dark energy.
The entity screamed in pain - a high -pitched voice that deafening ears in their minds.
"I asked again. Where?"
"Warehouse ... in ... in Ancol ... near the old port ..." The sound that was in pain and hate was heard in their heads, such as whispers from the grave.
"Wild," commented Anton, looking at the screen. "His energy is consistent. He tells the truth."
"Specific address," Bimo insisted, his hand was still ready to emit fire again.
"Jalan Bintang Laut ... number 17 ... A warehouse of paint that is abandoned ... there is a symbol on the ground floor ..."
"Good," Bimo said, without the slightest mercy. "The second question. What did he guard there? Besides medical supply."
"A ... mirror ... a small portal ... to communicate ... with another ..."
Bimo and Riani exchanged glances. "Another?" asked Riani.
"The others ... like me ... what he called ..."
"He calls more than one?" Bimo asked, his voice was more dangerous.
The entity was silent. Bimo sends another fire, burning the bigger part this time. The screams are harder.
"Yes! Yes! Two! One to attack, one to heal! Budi will use the healing! Now Stop!"
Bimo pulled back his hand. He looked at his team. "We have a location. Anton, map the surrounding area. Dr. Maya, prepare a medical bag and an antidote for dark recovery energy. Riani, be prepared. We move in five minutes."
"Should we call help?" asked Dr. Maya. "We don't know what is waiting there."
"We cannot trust anyone in the police," Bimo remembered. "Budi may have left a message to trap us if we use the official channel. This is only us. As usual."
Five minutes later, they drove with their black SUV, leaving the office guarded by an automatic security system. Anton drove, with a laptop connected to their own satellite.
The warehouse in Anis exactly as described: remote, abandoned, and filled with strange graffiti graffiti. The surrounding air feels oily and smells of salt and rust.
"I feel it," Riani whispered, shivering. "There are two ... presence. One aggressive, like the cage. One more ... silent, like a spider waiting."
"What is silent is what we are after," Bimo said. "Anton, you stay in the car, keep the engine alive and monitor communication. Dr. Maya, you wait outside, hide. If there is something wrong, you are our savior. Riani, with me."
They approached the warehouse. The door is a little open. Bimo pushed him slowly.
Inside, dark and humid. The light of light from the gaps of the roof illuminates the flying dust. In the middle of the room, sit down. He leaned on a large wooden box, his face was pale and sweating. A oil lamp turn on next to him, illuminating a simple bandage wrapped on his hand. Blood is still seeping.
And in front of it, hanging on the wall, is a large mirror covered with a black cloth.
Budi looked up as they entered. He was not surprised. He just smiled, an expression of tired and triumphant.
"I know you will find me," he said, his voice was hoarse. "He sent me a dream. He said you would torture him. You can kill him, but you will never break us."
"It's over, Budi," Bimo said, stepping in, with Riani behind him. "Nobody will heal you."
"Oh, but he has done it," Budi said. He pointed to a closed mirror. "He has cleaned my wound from infection. He only needs ... a little time to restore my strength." He looked at Bimo. "And he really wants to meet you."
Budi grabbed a rope hanging beside him and pulled him. The black cloth covering the mirror fell.
The mirror did not reflect anything from the room. What's in it is the darkness that moves. Then, two points of red light light in the darkness, like the eyes. A hissing sound came out of the mirror, not through the air, but directly in their heads.
"The god of fire ... finally ... we met."
Bimo raised his hand, the fire burned. "Let go of that person and face me."
"This person? ... he's not important,"* hissed the voice. *"He is just a tool. Like the others. But you ... you are the key. You are holding my brother. Let him go, and I will give you knowledge. Knowledge of your true destiny. Why are you really sent here."
"Don't listen to him, Bimo!" Riani shouted.
"He lied," Bimo said, but his hands did not move.
"Am I lying?" The voice sighed, sounded almost like seduction. "Ask yourself. Why is the deity of the mighty fire in reincarnated as a weak human being? Why do you have to suffer through this mortal life? That is not to save them."
The mirror began to smoke. The images appear on the surface. Bimo saw himself, not as a god, but as a child, fear by ghosts he could only see. He saw himself treated on the streets, betrayed, hurt.
"You are a punishment," whispered the voice. "You're not a savior. You are the destruction. Your gods sent you to burn this world to run out because they are fed up with their motorcycle. With humans who continue to fall into our arms. You are a fire of cleaning. Not to save Jakarta, but to destroy it, so they can start from the beginning."
The pictures in the mirror changed, showing the real form of the Bimo god, burning the whole city, burning people who shouted, burning everything.
"They lie to you, Bimo. They make you believe that you are a hero. Even though you are an executioner. Red line? That is just a joke. Their destiny has been determined: to be burned by you."
Bimo was silent, staring at the mirror, his fiery hands began to tremble.
"Bimo, that's not true!" Riani shouted. "That's just manipulation!"
But Bimo seemed not to hear it. He was fixated on the picture of himself that burned everything.
Budi burst out laughing, enjoying every second. "Amazing, right? Truth is bitter."
"Join us,"* seduced the sound from the mirror. *"Let go of my brother. And together, we will burn this world according to our wishes. Not as a tool of the gods, but as a ruler. You don't need to suffer anymore, Bimo. You can have the strength you want. You can reply to everything that ever hurt you."
Bimo bowed his head. The fire in his hand was extinguished.
Riani looked horrified. "Bimo ..."
Then, Bimo raised his head. His eyes were fiery, but not with anger or confusion. With absolute calm.
"You're wrong about one thing," he said, his voice was clear and authoritative.
"What?" Hissed the voice, for the first time it sounded unsure.
"They don't lie to me," Bimo said. "I always know."
Riani gasped. Even Budi stopped laughing.
"I know what I will do if my strength rises completely. I know the destiny of the destruction that I brought," continued Bimo. "But that's why I struggle. Not to accept it. Not to please the gods or join you. But to change it."
He looked directly into the red eyes in the mirror.
"I'm not the executioner. I am not a hero. I am the one who chose not to burn. And my choice is what makes me stronger than any gods. Stronger than you guys."
He raised his hand again. But this time, the fire is not white. The fire is pink, blue, green, gold-the color of life itself.
"Because I chose to protect, not destroy."
He threw the colorful burst of fire at the mirror.
"No!" Shouted the voice.
The mirror cracked, then broke into pieces. The red eyes screamed in pain before disappearing together with the darkness in the mirror. Destroyed.
Budi screamed, holding his head, as if his relationship with the entity broke up roughly. He fell, rolling on the floor.
Bimo walked toward Budi who was helpless. He turned Budi's body. His eyes had returned to normal, full of confusion and fear.
"What ... what happened?" Budi murmured, the original voice returned. "Where am I?"
Bimo looked at him for a long time. He saw the red lines of destiny around Budi, tangled and almost broken, but still connected.
"You are used," Bimo said, his voice was no longer full of anger, but almost sounded sorry. "But you made an option to let it happen. For that, you must be responsible."
He raised his hand, not to burn, but to punch. The punch hit Budi's temple correctly, making him unconscious.
Riani approached, still panting. "Bimo ... what did you say earlier ... about knowing everything ... Is that right?"
Bimo looked at him, and for a moment, Riani saw ancient sadness and an unspeakable burden in the eyes of the god hiding in humans.
"That's for another time," Bimo said, his voice returned as usual. "Now, we have to clean up this chaos."
He looked at the mirror fraction. One threat has been neutralized. But the entity's words hung in the air. "Another". Their war is not over. In fact, maybe just entered a completely new round.