"Hello, Carl." I returned to the meeting room, gazing at the skyscrapers wrapped in twilight while calling an old friend from college.
"Wisnu. Long time no hear, my friend." A voice with a Mandarin accent spoke from the other end of the line.
"How have you been, Carl?"
"I'm good. Still the same as before. Nothing has changed, except that I've gained a little weight. Haha. How about you? Need some help?"
"Haha. You always know. I'm good, and yes, I need your help."
"What else could it be? It's been a long time since I last heard from you, and now you suddenly call me."
"Okay, okay. Have you heard the hottest news from my country?"
"Ah. Stock prices crashing."
"Yes. I suspect it's the work of a black-hat hacker. I want you to confirm it."
"Okay, I can do that. What's the payment?"
"Two bars of pure gold."
"Haha. No, no. I was just joking. I wouldn't take advantage of a good friend."
"No, my friend. As a friend, I will still pay you."
"Okay, if you insist. I'll take it."
"Alright. Share your location. I'm gonna pay you directly."
"In a minute." I ended the call.
Carl Lee. A computer geek. Short, chubby, bearded, glasses-wearing, and sporting a wild afro. He always carries a laptop bag wherever he goes. His mother is of Chinese-Thai descent, and his father is a full-blooded American, giving him the features of a man from the land of the red dragon. He was never good at socializing and was often bullied by arrogant college students.
One day, I saw him being harassed by three big guys in a dead-end alley. I stepped in, fought them off, and helped Carl.
Since then, we became good friends. And in truth, he's an enjoyable person to be aroundâfull of humor, with a high taste in women. His celebrity crushes? Anne Hathaway, Rachel Weisz, Kate Bosworth. He lived with his mother and younger sister, and his mother's homeland dishes were incredibly delicious, making me frequent his house.
He often helped me fix my attendance records, which were in shambles due to my involvement in organizations. It was his way of thanking me for saving him. I saw it as a 'give and take' in our friendship.
Back in college, he was just a script kiddieâexperimenting with cyber attacks to sharpen his skills, then reversing the damage and vanishing without a trace. Now, he's a world-class cybersecurity consultant. He has worked for various organizations and governments since we graduated six years ago. If I'm an expert in numbers and finance, he's a master of binary codes.
And now, he lives in...
I opened WhatsApp and checked Carl's shared location. He was in the southwest of Karimun Jawa.
I replied, "Okay. I'll be there in two hours. Start working on what I asked for. I don't have much time."
Night had fallen. I called Murdani to prepare the helicopter.
***
A raging bull emblem adorned my sports car as I drove into the main courtyard of the family mansion in the southern part of the capital. I passed by a fountain with a statue of Ganymede pouring water and parked in front of the terrace. Mr. Murdani, our family butler, opened the door.
"Is the helicopter ready?"
"Yes, Mr. Wisnu. It's in the backyard."
"And the gold?"
"Also ready, Sir."
"Wait here, Mur. I'll freshen up quickly."
"Very well, Sir."
I walked through the main hall towards the eastern wing of the house. A few maids were still tidying up. It had been a long time since I last stayed in this room. My sister Sinta's room was right next to mine. The last time I slept here was the night before I left to study at the world's best university. After returning, I chose to live on my own for the sake of independence.
Unlike me, Sinta had only moved out to an apartment less than a year ago.
I took a quick shower and dressed in fresh clothes from my closet. Fifteen minutes later, I was back under the chandelier, walking alongside the butler towards the backyard.
A special technician stepped out of the helicopter.
"Everything is set and secure, Sir."
"Thank you, Ebi."
"Very well. Excuse me, Sir. Mr. Wisnu."
I stepped into the cockpit with Murdani. We put on our headsets and powered up the engine.
While waiting for it to warm up, I sent a live location to Carl.
With the GPS set and the dashboard lights glowing, the AW-type helicopter lifted off.
Wait a minute. I forgot to check on Talia.
She should've contacted me by now. I sent a WhatsApp messageâjust one checkmark. I tried calling her via cell signalâbusy tone.
Maybe her phone battery died.
I'll check again later.
Now, time to fly across the Java Sea.
***
After soaring over the ocean for 150 minutes, two lights came into view. As I got closer, I saw the first one was a small dock with speedboats tethered, and the second was the house we were headed to. A minimalistic home on a tiny island. The only house here. No other residents.
The helicopter landed on a grassy patch about 50 meters from the house, which was built with cedarwood and andesite stone.
I stepped out while Mr. Murdani shut down the multimillion-dollar machine.
Carl came out to greet me. We hugged, catching up on old times.
"I thought you were joking about the weight gain."
"Hey, I'm 200 pounds now."
"Wait... you speak Indonesian?"
"I've been here for over a year. I had to learn the local language to communicate better."
Though it seemed isolated, every two weeks, locals from the southern mainland would deliver daily necessities, ensuring Carl and his mother had everything they needed.
"What about your sister?"
"Oh, she's now following in our footsteps at MIT. But she's majoring in drama."
Carl grabbed his laptop and showed me his findings. We sat side by side at the main table.
Murdani waited on the front porch.
I scrolled through the data he had uncoveredâbinary matrixes flashing across the screen. At the end of it all, my suspicion was confirmed.
"Before you asked me, some hackers had already reached out to me. They suspected foul play in your country's stock exchange but couldn't pinpoint the culprit. When you called earlier this afternoon, I was already digging through the haystack."
A middle-aged woman walked out of the kitchen with a tray of food. The scent of Tom Yum Goong filled the air.
"Please... enjoy..." I smiled at Carl's mother as she spoke in broken Indonesian.
"Thank you, Ms. Lee."
"My mother is still learning," Carl explained.
I ignored the mouthwatering aroma, staying focused.
"black_zeroâwho is this?"
"Angelina Carroll."
"A woman? Wow. Female hackers are rare."
"In the eyes of average hackers, her tracks are cleanâpractically invisible. It took me five hours to find her."
"What was her motive? Was she paid?"
"I thought you'd never ask. Brace yourself, Wisnu. Don't be shocked."
I frowned, confused. Carl took back his high-end gadget, pressed Alt + Tab, and switched windows.
A face appeared on the screenâalong with a full profile.
And I was utterly stunned.
It was as if I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
"Are you sure, Carl?"
"One thousandpercent sure, Wisnu."