章 5: The Circle

The sky was beginning to darken, and streetlights started illuminating the road as people turned on the lights in their buildings and homes. Vehicles passed by on the street. Inside a café, Lily was worried about her grandmother, grandfather, and aunt, which made her reflect on her past.

Ethan said that their current location was unsafe and suggested they head to San Andreas, United States. He explained that he was the head of the police force there, currently on leave to pick up Lily and personally protect her.

Bobby asked, "What about your family in England?" Before Ethan could answer, Willy stood up and said something that shocked everyone...

Everyone went silent.

Rin, who overheard, smiled and said, "The day after tomorrow, I'll return to Tokyo, Japan. I can help if you need it." Then she left.

Ethan was silent, placing a few stacks of money down before walking out, saying, "Don't stay there again. Stay at a hotel tonight. I'll arrange for your accommodation."

Bobby, Iqbal, Ardhit, and Trisno left.

Christian said, "You shouldn't have said that," patting Willy's shoulder before leaving. He motioned for Lily, who was standing still, looking at Willy with her head bowed and eyes closed.

Lily then asked Christian to leave them, and she approached Willy, taking his hand.

Willy gripped her hand back, saying, "You're the one who's ruined Lily's life. You made her suffer and forced her to witness such cruelty. Now you want to take her from us after you think you can protect her."

Willy shouted, his fist clenched, "Are we just pawns to you? Lily is our family, and I won't give her to you." His words echoed the voice of one of his subordinates, who once said, "You're so cruel to us. Your harsh words make us sick. Everything we do is wrong in your eyes. You want us to follow protocols, and we do. But why can't we make mistakes? Why can't we fix them? You always report our work, adding things we didn't do. Are we just pawns in your game? You and we are family in the police force, so why don't you give us a chance to improve?"

The voice rang in his head repeatedly, making him stop the car. He then asked Mark to drive.

The Edge group booked three rooms at a hotel. Willy arrived at Lily's door, remembering something he had said earlier. He wanted Lily to learn self-defense so she could protect herself if they couldn't reach her in time.

Lily opened the door before Willy knocked.

"Hey, you're still awake?" Willy asked.

"No, but I want to go home for a bit. Can you come with me?" Lily replied.

"It's a bit dangerous, but alright," Willy responded, extending his hand to her.

They went up the elevator and walked through the hall to the parking lot, making sure no one was watching. Then, Willy retrieved an MP5-K they had hidden and handed it to her. He told Lily to sit beside him in the front seat.

He started the car and drove slowly, with the streetlights illuminating the road. There were still many vehicles on the road. When they reached their destination, Willy deployed a drone on top of the car to monitor the surroundings.

He accompanied Lily inside but checked the room first to make sure no one was there. Once the room was cleared, Lily entered and asked Willy to wait outside. Willy stepped out and waited, and Lily returned carrying a bag and a suitcase. Willy then asked her to follow him to his room.

Inside, Willy packed some equipment into his backpack, then led Lily to a hidden room near the stairs, which contained a broom. A movable ceramic tile revealed a secret passage. They climbed down a stairway to the bottom.

Willy opened a door, and Lily was shocked to see an unimaginable sight: a hidden underground room with a 64-inch TV running a custom Linux system. The room was stocked with various weapons. Willy took an SPR 4 rifle, some pistols, suppressors, and flashbangs, and ran a Python program called Kaori. They left, with Willy carrying several bags.

The car was modified to hide weapons within the seats. They headed back to the hotel.

The next morning, Willy connected his laptop to a secret computer network and checked the security of their residence. There was a knock on the door, and Willy opened it to find Lily in her school uniform, asking him to take her to school.

Willy drove her to school but stopped first at a phone counter to buy a new phone before waiting for Lily to finish.

Christian and Ardhit went to buy food. Bobby and Iqbal checked the state of their base, and Trisno checked each of their rooms, ensuring everything was secure before completing their departure paperwork from the Grand Mercure Hotel.

After dropping Lily off, Willy waited for her and ordered some snacks at a small shop near the school.

At the same time, Ethan saw Willy eating some snacks and approached him, handing over three suitcases. "These contain 400 million rupiah each," Ethan said.

Willy asked, "What's this money for?"

"Go out of town and buy a shop. I think it'll be safer for you there. I'll take over the shop, and it'll become our headquarters when we're here," Ethan replied.

"No, thank you," Willy said, rejecting the money.

"And sorry for last night. We consider Lily family, part of us. We can't just move to another place and ruin Lily's future," Willy added, looking at the potato chips he was eating.

"Future? Is he talking about Lily's mental state?" Ethan thought. He then asked, "Is it about the different environment?"

"Yes, the change in environment could make Lily depressed," Willy explained.

"I see. Lily can speak English, but life here will be very different from there. It will force her to adapt, and worrying about her loved ones will deeply depress her. This isn't good for her. The constant flow of strangers will make her suspicious and afraid," Ethan thought deeply.

"Our problem seems to revolve around one person," Ethan said, opening the car door and placing the suitcases inside.

"Haha, yeah. If I fly there, I might shoot him in the head with my SPR-4," Willy said.

"SPR-4? I've never heard of it," Ethan replied.

"Well, my country might introduce it next year, or a few years from now. For now, I made the SPR-4 from wireframe designs I got from Pindad, and it's still in development," Willy said.

"Looks like you've got quite the network for such a small group. You guys are like expert terrorists," Ethan laughed.

"No, it's because the designer asked for my help to review the designs. I tried to build it, and I'm still writing special reports for its technical development," Willy replied.

"Are you part of Pindad?" Ethan asked.

"No, Pindad is researching weapons for the Indonesian National Army. Some experts are developing weapons for testing," Willy answered.

Willy checked a news report on his phone and said, "It looks like global finances are heading for a downturn."

"Yeah, you're right. It's going to be tough to find money, and prices are going to rise due to inflation starting in the U.S. Use the money for your operations. I'll send someone to London to secure the Spark family and bring them to Medan. This city looks like a good base for us," Ethan said, handing the suitcase to Willy.

Willy replied, "I can't accept it."

"Create a small company that suits you. Use this money to buy buildings and equipment that you want," Ethan said.

Willy replied, "I don't know what kind of company to create."

Ethan said, "Then, just create a freelance company."

"Freelance? So, we would offer services?" Willy said, thinking about it.

"Ehmm, if we're doing freelance work, why not create an outsourcing app?" Willy said, thinking hard.

Ethan replied, "That sounds good. Outsourcing in Indonesia is still scarce." Then, Ethan wrote something on a piece of paper from his pocket, "Ethan Carter +1 415 555 xxxx," handed it to Willy, and said, "This is my phone number. You can contact me via Telegram. And if anything happens, don't hesitate to talk to me."

A few hours later, Lily came out and saw Willy, asking him to go with her. When she entered through the back door, she saw an unfamiliar suitcase. When she opened it, she was shocked by the amount of money inside.

Kualanamu International Airport, Medan, Indonesia.

A girl exited the airport and headed to the JW Marriot Medan Hotel. She rented a room and ordered a serving of Nasi Ayam Penyet (smashed fried chicken rice) with hot tea. While waiting for her order, she read the profiles of people suspected to be members of Flaminggo. Not long after, her meal arrived: rice with tempeh, salad, crispy eggplant, and a sizable chicken portion.

After finishing her meal, she powered up her laptop and opened the map. She looked for coordinates of her agency members and then went out to meet one of them.

The girl headed toward Paladium Mall and called her friend to meet her. They met and discussed the latest information.

Meanwhile, Iqbal and Bobby, who were checking around the base, realized they were being followed. They tried stopping, and the car behind them stopped as well. They relayed this information to Willy, who was also in a car, noticing that several cars had been tailing them since they made a turn into an alley.

"It's probably because we went to the base last night; they must have figured out our location," Willy said.

Willy gave instructions that shocked them. They drove to the police station together, intentionally fired a few shots at the police (but missed), and then fled.

The cars that were following them also sped up, thinking they were part of Willy's group. The police immediately reacted and gave chase.

Several police cars were deployed to pursue them, and soon, anti-terrorism unit Densus 88 was also involved.

Willy, having modified their car, activated the dazzling headlights and deployed spike strips, all while increasing speed. The pursuing cars couldn't see the road ahead and ran over the spikes. They finally stopped, and the police soon followed, checking their vehicles. When they found firearms, they assumed Willy's group had fired them. Some of the passengers in the car shot back at the police, leading to a shootout on the freeway.

Rin, who was relaxing in a pool while watching her tablet, then called Willy to meet. Willy answered the call, surprised it was Rin. He wondered how she had such quick information about him and asked her.

Rin replied, "Try looking up at the sky."

"Sate, you have access that not everyone gets," Willy said, feeling a little envious.

Willy then remembered Ethan's words about creating a company and asked Rin, "Hey, what if we create a freelance company that develops apps with cutting-edge features and technology in Japan and Indonesia?"

Rin responded, "Interesting. That's a good idea. I can embed a small program into their apps and use it to hack people who oppose me."

"Alright, then we'll create a company called Outsource Code," Rin added.

"Outsource Code, huh? That's a good name," Willy said as he drove.

"Thanks for inviting me, CEO of Outsource Code. I'm looking forward to hearing more from you," Rin said with a laugh.

Willy and his friends then moved to another hotel to stay at JW Marriot Medan.

Day turned to night.

Kualanamu International Airport, Medan, Indonesia.

An American conglomerate arrived in Indonesia, escorted by a trusted entourage. He boarded a car and headed to the JW Marriot Hotel to check in. He used the name Bruno Genovese.

Bruno went to the elevator.

Willy and the Girl from the Malaysian Agency walked into the same elevator at the same time. Willy was on the 5th floor, Bruno was on the 7th floor and the Girl was on the 4th floor. The silence in the elevator with the three people who were opposites but did not know each other were meeting.

To Be Continued