Back at the red line office, the atmosphere felt different. Budi, who is now aware and tied to a chair in the interrogation room, looks destroyed. His gaze was empty, staring at the floor. He is no longer a confident enemy, but a loser who is confused.
Bimo, Riani, Dr. Maya, and Anton watched him from behind a one way glass.
"What do we do with him?" Anton asked. "We cannot hand it over to the police. He will be released in a matter of hours, or Worse, he will kill anyone who holds it."
"We will not submit it," Bimo answered. His eyes could not be separated from Budi. "He is a source of our information. He knows more about their network than anyone."
"But look at him," said Dr. Maya. "He looks ... broken. Disconnected. Is the entity that controlled him completely gone?"
"Let's ask," Bimo said. He turned and entered the interrogation room. Riani followed him.
Hearing the door open, Budi raised his head. His eyes were red and tears in his eyes. "I ... I don't remember many things," he said, his voice hoarsely. "There's only ... darkness. And sound. He always talks."
"What is the name 'he' you mean?" Bimo asked, sitting opposite Budi.
"I don't know his name," Budi answered, shivering. "But he was strong. He approached me ten years ago, after my wife died. He promised ... he promised to return it. All I have to do is do some ... task."
"Task like killing?" Urged Riani.
Budi nodded, tears dripped to his cheeks. "Initially only information. Then, divert the investigation. Then ... then worse things. He said it was for a bigger good. For a new world where I could be with Ratri again."
"And you believe it?" Bimo asked, his voice was flat.
"I want to believe it!" shouted Budi. "You don't understand! That solitude! He fills that emptiness! He gave me a goal! And he gave me strength. Seeing things that cannot be seen by others. Feel things ..." He sobbed. "But it's all lying. Ratri never returned. And I ... I have done terrible things."
Bimo paused for a moment, studying the red lines of destiny around Budi. They are tangled and weak, but not broken. There are still traces of dark presence attached to him, such as oil residues.
"One entity approaches you. What is in the mirror heals you. What we trial in the cage is the third, which attacks us," Bimo concluded. "How many of them are there?"
Budi shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe a lot. Maybe it's just a handful. They don't trust me. They only give me orders."
"Who ruled? Who is their leader?" asked Riani.
"They call it 'the first created' or 'who woke up before time'," Budi answered. "I've never seen him. Nobody has ever seen it. But all the others ... they are afraid of him."
Bimo and Riani exchanged glances. The name alone has made the air feel cooler.
"The Nexus project. The fifth ritual. What happened after the caller was destroyed?" Bimo asked.
"I don't know," Budi answered. "The plan is a mess. But he ... 'First' ... he will not stop. He will find another way. There is always another way."
Bimo sighed. He stood up. "You will stay here, Budi. You will help us map every follower, every location, every plan you know. If you work together, maybe someday you can redeem some of what you have done."
Budi just nodded slowly, then bowed his head again, lulled in his regret.
Get out of the room, Bimo feels tired. They have information, but it only reveals how deep their hole is.
"We need more than just a prisoner," he told his team. "We need weapons. We need knowledge. We need something that can fight something that is 'waking up before time'."
Dr. Maya suddenly looked flinched. "Mr. Daru," he said.
"What about it?" Anton asked.
"He knows," said Dr. Maya, the more excited. "He always knows we will face threats like this. He often talks about the upcoming 'big war'. He must leave something. Something more than just a diary and basic symbol."
"This office has more secrets," agreed Bimo. "We've searched. But maybe we search in the wrong place."
"Not in the office," said Dr. Maya. "In his personal workshop. The room he always shook. Even I was never allowed to enter."
"Where's that?" asked Riani.
"The ground floor. Behind the old archive storage rack. It looks like an ordinary wall, but there is a secret door," Dr. Maya.
Without wasting time, they headed to the ground floor. Large iron rack full of dusty boxes standing on the wall. Dr. Maya groped the side of the shelf until she found a hidden panel. He pressed it, and a part of the wall behind the shelf shifted in a crushing voice, opening a steel door.
Behind it, there is a room that is not large. Dusty and metal smelling and old paper. A messy desk with strange tools, complicated diagrams, and a pile of thick notebooks.
And in the middle of the table, wrapped in black velvet cloth, there is a box shaped object.
Bimo approached the table. He felt the strong energy of the object. Energy is not evil, but very old and very powerful.
He pulled the cloth cover.
Underneath, there is a box of teak carved with the same symbols as carved by Bimo throughout the office, but far more complicated and filled with precious metals that glow softly. On the lid, there is a burning sun symbol.
"He kept it for us," whispered Dr. Maya, amazed.
Bimo opened the box lock. Inside, there are no weapons. There is a thick skin book that looks very old, and a clear crystal as big as a fist that emits warm light.
Bimo took the book. The cover reads the title in an unknown language, but once he touched, his writing changed, changed to Indonesian: "Void -Breaker: The art of splitting the darkness between stars by Daru Wicaksono".
"Void-breaker ..." Anton repeated. "Breshing of emptiness?"
Bimo opened the book. The pages are full of neat handwriting Mr. Daru, complicated engine diagrams, energetic formulas, and studies of inter-dimensional creatures.
"This is not just a notebook," Bimo said, his eyes sparkled as he turned the page. "This is a manual. A guide to fighting them. He has studied them for decades."
He took the crystal. Once touching his skin, the crystal brought brightly, and a small hologram appeared on it. It was a picture of Pak Daru who was younger, smiling.
"Hello, Bimo," Pak Daru's warm and familiar voice was heard, making them all jump. *"If you hear this, then I have left, and you have found my legacy. Also means that 'they' have risen, and you need help."
"This book contains everything I know about the disturbing entities. Their origins, their weaknesses, and most importantly, how to build a tool that can drive them back to their origin forever-a void-breaker."
"This crystal is the key. This is the 'sun's heart', a stone from the core of our own dimensions. This is a source of energy for the tool. But be careful, its strength is limited. It can only be used once."
"Building void-breaker will not be easy. You need rare materials: the iron forged in ritual fire, cables that are twisted from pure red lines, and the most difficult ... A 'anchors' that are willing-a pure and strong human consciousness that acts as a guide to target the device."
"I know the burden is heavy, Bimo. But I believe in you. You are not just a fire carrier. You are the guardian of the balance. Use this knowledge wisely. Happy hunting."
The hologram faded. The crystal returned to be clear.
They were all silent, processing the information they had just gotten.
"So, that's the answer," said Dr. Maya finally. "A weapon. But it can only be used once."
"And we need a 'anchor who is willing'," added Riani, his voice contained concerns. "What does that mean? What happened to that person?"
Bimo looked at the book. He turned several pages to find a chapter entitled "The Anchor".
"Here," he said, reading it loudly. "anchors must be individuals with extraordinary Willpower and high psychological awareness. The process will connect the awareness of the anchor to the void-breaker, mandate it to the heart of the leader entity. However, the energy pressure will be very large. It is very possible that the anchor awareness will be destroyed in the process, or even worse, trapped forever between dimensions."
The room was quiet again. It means clear: the anchor basically performs a suicide mission.
"We can't ask anyone to do that," Anton whispered.
"We might not need to ask," Bimo said, closing the book. His death was fixed on the direction of the interrogation room. On Budi.
"He?" Riani asked, not believed. "But he is a traitor! He is weak!"
"He is also a police officer who was once good, who wants to see his wife again," Bimo replied. "He has a strong willpower to be able to survive the control of the entity so far. And most importantly, he has a debt. A very large debt that can only be paid with sacrifice like this."
"You will give him a choice?" asked Dr. Maya.
"That's the only way to work," Bimo answered. "The anchor must be willing . That cannot be forced."
Bimo took the book and crystal. "Anton, Dr. Maya, began to collect materials listed here. Riani, with me."
Bimo and Riani returned to the interrogation room. Budi still sat in his chair.
"Budi," Bimo called. "We found something. A way to end all this forever. But it takes sacrifice. The biggest sacrifice."
Bimo put the book in front of Budi and explained about void-breaker and the role of anchors. He didn't hide the risks.
"... So, if you do this, you will help us stop the 'first'," Bimo nose. "But most likely you will die, or your fate will be much worse. That is your choice. We will not force you."
Budi listens carefully, without interruption. After Bimo was over, he looked at the book for a long time.
"I will do it," he said finally, his voice was calm and full of confidence.
"What?" Riani was surprised. "Do you understand the risks?"
"I understand," Budi said, lifting his head. There is a new light in his eyes, the light of redemption. "I have done terrible things for a lie. Now, I have the opportunity to do one right for a truth. To make up for my mistakes. And maybe ..." He smiled bitterly, "... On the other hand, I was finally able to meet Ratri properly."
The decision was made. There is no celebration, there is no pleasure. Only gloomy and severe acceptance.
The job now starts. The red line team has a mission: building an impossible weapon and prepares a traitor to become a martyr.
The war against the darkness entered the final round. And for the first time, they have a hope. Expensive expectations.