Deeply engrossed with his focus on the man with the briefcase, he is brought back to reality when a woman's voice starts talking on stage. Zach takes a look at his watch. 10:07 a.m. The emcee addresses the speakers, VVIPs and organizers and is about to invite their prized guest speaker to speak when Zach is distracted by the instruction he receives.
Pull the dial on your watch and tune your watch to 10:30. Then press it back in place.
Zach immediately pulls the dial out and fast forwards the long, silver hand of his watch to point at '6'. Not knowing what he is about to do, he presses the dial back in.
BOOM!!
A loud explosion rocks the hall causing even the glass from the chandelier above their heads to shatter. Shocked and shaken, Zach immediately raises his gaze from his watch to the direction of the explosion. Amidst the smoke, dust, blood curdling screams and chaos of people running towards the exit for safety, Zach can see the VVIP section blasted into shreds. The Chinese man whom everyone adored is dead. So is his subordinate, both blown into pieces. The few other people who sat around them are either seriously injured or dead.
Run away from the hall now and go back to your suite until further instructions.
Zach hasn't even the time to comprehend what has happened and he just heeds the instructions of running out of the hall in a frantic.
As he runs he feels like throwing up. The feeling of guilt mixed with the disgusting images of the scattered body parts from the explosion makes him hate himself all the more.
"The watch! It must be the watch! God damn it!" Zach curses to himself as he runs with tears of horror. What has he done again? He just murdered not one but several people! And to think that he has never even killed a fly in his life makes him despise himself.
Zach does not know it, but the man so adored by the people just now is a famous political figure who is running for the coming elections. The Indian lawyer whom he killed previously is this Chinese man's most helpful sidekick.
Congratulations, you have completed your second task. One more task and you will be free.
Zach listens to his final feed for the day from the chip in his ear.
Chapter 37
India: Wednesday, 19th November 8:30 a.m.
A hard tap on Ada's shoulder startles her to a jump from her seated position at her workstation. She has been so consumed by her work that she has not realized that someone is standing behind her. Turning around she sees Zero looming over her, his face pale and resentful.
"What are you doing here?" Ada asks with surprise.
"Come with me," Zero pulls Ada by her arm for her to get up from her chair.
"How did you get down here?" Ada asks, as individuals in the Hive are restricted from each other’s departments unless they have approval from higher ranked officials like Goda but Zero is not one of those.
"Amanda gave me access," he answers with a troubled look on his face.
"Oh yeah, you're the blue-eyed boy!" Ada purposely mocks him.
"You wanted to see proof right? Just come with me and I'll show it to you," Zero utters in a low whisper, his face in a mix of anger and sadness. Something is wrong and Ada knows it. For all those years that she has known him, he has always been jovial and boyish. It has to be something drastic to turn his character around like that.
Finally, she decides to handle Zach's behavior deviation later and she gets up from her chair. Ada tags behind him into the pod as she asks, "What do you-"
Zero shoots her a disapproving stare before stepping inside the pod. Ada holds her tongue and quietly follows Zero down into Level 05. Feeling worried and uncomfortable Ada follows behind Zero silently as he leads her towards the mainframe section.
"I'm not allowed in there," Ada says watching as Zero scans his chip on the scanner and the white metal door slides aside.
Ignoring her words, Zero enters the doorway indifferently. Zero seems like another person in whole, even like a zombie if she might say so. Ada hesitates for a second before stepping through the doorway feeling an uncomfortable feeling developing inside of her chest. It is fear and the first time she is feeling it with Zero.
The large room is dark, deserted and icy cold. Zero leads her through a maze of servers. Ada looks around her quizzically, wondering what he wants with her here in this freezing room. He stops walking when they are somewhere in the middle of the room among the humming of the servers.
Zero turns around and stares down at Ada like a haunting ghost, his face dark under the shadow of his wavy hair. Suddenly the craziest of all thoughts pierces through Ada’s mind, "Is he going to kill me?"
Zero grabs both of her arms and lowers his face to just beside her ears. Ada starts to tremble. She isn't sure of what to expect anymore.
"Your brother... he is dead," Zero whispers to her resentfully.
Ada can't believe her ears. At first, she is dumbstruck with shock but almost immediately, her facial expression changes to one that is irked and angered.
"You are sick!" Ada shouts to him, pushing him away from her angrily. Zero is a programmer and how would he know if her brother is alive or dead? He does not even know which hospital her brother is staying in. This is by far the sickest joke he has ever tried to pull off and Ada is not going to put up with it.
"It's true!" Zero insists in a low whisper.
"I want to leave. Now," Ada demands.
"Listen to me. Your brother died two years ago," Zero tells her sternly trying to grab hold of Ada's arm to which she immediately flings free.
"You think this is funny? You are sick. I don't know what has gotten into you but you changed. We're no longer friends you hear me? We're done. Let me go now," Ada says in one angry breath and points to the direction of the closed door.
"They lied to you to keep you working here. All those hospital correspondences are fake. I have the original email here, dated two years ago. Take a look for yourself," Zero says, taking a sheet of folded paper from the back pocket of his gray uniform and slapping it into the palm of Ada's hand.
She unfolds the paper and reads it as Zach removes a torch light to shine it over the contents so that Ada can read it.
Reading through the letter, Ada's brain can only process the following words from the letter:
... sorry to inform you that patient Hiroto Nakahara has passed away...
Her watery eyes then dart to the top of the email to verify the date. It was indeed from two years ago.
"It can't be. It can't be..." she stammers, "... Don't you dare joke with me...."
"I'm not," Zero whispers softly, his voice gentle and sympathetic.
"How did you get this? How do I know if this is true?" Ada asks, trying to swallow the fear swelling up inside her.
"You know how our correspondence is controlled by an outer source which then re-diverts all emails to the Hive right? We don't have access to the actual emails and what you reply is actually forwarded to the same source where they screen through everything going in and out before posting it out on your behalf. That was how they found out that your brother died and started to play you. Look what I traced. The IP address you corresponded to for the last two years is from inside the Hive," Zero reiterates, pointing his finger to some other information he has printed out at the bottom of the page.
"They know the reason you came and they lied to keep you here. We have gotta leave," Zero tells her.
Ada turns away from Zero's gaze as she bursts into sobs. Two years? Two years?? There is nothing left of his body now. She won't even get to see the last of his body. Why did they do this to her? This is too cruel. He was everything she had worked for and now that he is gone, her world crumbles like the snow of an avalanche. Ada can't bring herself to hold in anything anymore. She erupts, crying as she scrunches the paper within her grasp. Ada, for the first time allows her sorrow to pour out and as she cries, her body starts to quiver with the pain of the loss of her brother.
It kills Zero to watch Ada hurt like that. Zero moves forward and hugs A
da tightly from behind. Ada continues to cry relentlessly in the cold and quiet room with Zero being her only emotional support and warmth. He is now all she has left - the only safe haven and the last person who will ever care. Ada lets herself crumble into his arms.
Zero hugs her even tighter, burying his lips into her sweet smelling hair, kissing her on the top of her head. If he has the magical power to, he will make all her pain go away. All he knows is he wants her to be happy and he wants to protect her from harm even if it means risking his own life for it. Never in his life has he felt so painful to see another person hurt and from that very second onwards, he knows that she has become the most important person in his life. With a vow that he will never break, he swears to himself that he will never ever let anyone hurt this woman again. Never.
Chapter 38
Malaysia: Wednesday, 19th November 12:00 p.m.
Across the street, seven doors down on the third floor, a pair of watchful eyes peeps out from the beige curtains, watching the yellow and black super-bike’s owner for any movements.
On a rubber mat over the bare cement floor, Kaew is fast asleep on one of their comforters while Yuna takes the first watch. They have immediately rented up the only available unit that is not too far from the killer's suspected lair. When Yuna is not able to watch, the digital camera on its tripod does the job momentarily for her by recording videos for a few minutes until she is back at her post.
The unit is an empty shop office with no renovations whatsoever. Being fugitives on the run, the mere availability of electricity, ceiling fans, white fluorescent lights and tap water are a privilege.
The weather is hot and dull and Yuna's stomach starts to growl. She is hungry and tired. She hasn't had any breakfast or lunch yet. Not even a wink of sleep. Yuna takes a sip from the mineral water and the bottle is already empty. So are the rest of the bottles. There is no food or water. Taking a look at the watch, Kaew has been sleeping since 7:00 a.m. right after they paid up the landlord who is also the owner to the kopitiam downstairs. A kopitiam is a local breed of simple and down to earth, mostly Chinese run coffee-shops serving local coffee, steam bread with butter and coconut spread apart from hosting food stalls for local delicacies like the savory Penang Prawn Noodles, Fried Kuay Teow Noodles or Hainanese Chicken Rice.
"Kaew," Yuna calls out, maintaining her post by the window. Kaew continues to sleep like a drunkard, unaware of Yuna's call.
"Kaew!" Yuna calls again, louder this time. She is so hungry she needs to go get some food immediately. However, Kaew continues to sleep, not even slightly affected by the noise.
"Kaew!" Yuna shouts but still to no avail. Yuna throws the empty mineral water bottle towards Kaew's buttocks and finally Kaew starts to stir. She turns around, mumbles something in Thai and starts to go back to sleep. Horrified, Yuna throws another two empty bottles at her and this time she opens her eyes, yawning as she asks annoyingly, "Wat??"
"It's 12:00pm. I'm so tired and hungry I'm going to die. Go get some food and water. Then it's my turn to sleep," Yuna snaps.
"Oh.... so late ah. No wonder me feel hun-gli," Kaew, wearing a blue spaghetti strap and matching blue shorts merrily hops up from her comforter and stretches herself before walking off to the toilet with one hand scratching the cheek of her butt.
After freshening up, Kaew slips into her jeans, zips up a grey hooded jacket, puts on a wig of curly hair and a pair of sunglasses. She then slips into her sneakers and walks over to Yuna. Kaew extends her right hand to Yuna and with her palm facing upwards as she wriggles her fingers at Yuna's face.
"It's in the bag. Get me wanton noodle please. Dry. Oh and get us some cup noodles from the grocery shop as well. Water too," Yuna says, pointing to the black canvas bag on the floor.
"O-kie boss," Kaew mocks as she skips over to the canvas bag and searches for Yuna's purse and removes two fifty ringgit notes from the purse with her bony fingers.
Kaew slips the money into her back pocket and proceeds to the wooden door. Yuna turns her gaze back to the window and then announces, "Clear. Make it quick."
Kaew turns the knob, pulls the door open and darts out, slamming the plywood door close behind her immediately. The unit doesn't even have a grill to it. If the killer knows about their whereabouts and attacks on an ambush, they will be dead in seconds. Their approach is nothing but a large gamble over their lives.
Even though Yuna is keeping watch over the killer, if he is to exit his unit, Yuna will still have no means of contacting Kaew. Once outside the door, Kaew is on her own and she will just have to be extremely careful and street smart about it.
Minutes pass and finally there is the sound of keys slipping into the doorknob. The lock lets out a click and the door swings open. Kaew's face is flushed and sweaty.
"So heavy and so fuck hot!" those are the first words Kaew says as she enters with large and heavy plastic bags dangling from her twiggy wrists.
The moment she locks the door behind her, she puts all the bags down by the door and starts stripping. Kaew pulls her wig off and throws it into their disguise bag, unzips the jacket and almost flings it off followed by tearing her jeans off like it has caught on fire before lastly, kicking her sneakers off. Now, wearing nothing but her spaghetti straps and her pink panties, she finally heaves in relieve, "So, so, so hot!"
Kaew then starts rummaging through the bags to locate the hot foods that she has packed for the both of them. Kaew finally finds it and removes two white polystyrene food containers. She grabs a bottle of mineral water and takes the food over to Yuna.
"Wanton fi-nis. I buy chicken leg," Kaew says passing the polystyrene container to Yuna together with a pair of disposable bamboo chopsticks.
Yuna gladly sweeps the polystyrene container from Kaew's hands and bounces up from the plastic stool beside the window. It is Kaew's turn to stay watch. Kaew lays some of yesterday night's newspaper onto the stool before settling her bum onto it.
Like a robot running low on battery, Yuna is running dry of blood sugar. Her head is spinning and a headache is drilling into her skull. Her stomach has started feeling the burn of her gastric juices and her eyes feeling heavy from tiredness. Yuna immediately sits herself onto the rubber mat and opens the polystyrene container. Instantly greeting her nose is the savory smell of braised chicken feet. Her gaze falls onto the wanton noodles, dry stirred in the braised sauce of chicken feet and thick, black mushrooms completed with two stalks of blanched Choy sum and fresh chopped spring onions. Her stomach rumbles like a roaring thunder and Yuna starts gobbling down the noodles, almost without biting. Never in her life has she been so hungry and never in her life has wanton noodles tasted so good. After a satisfying meal of the black sauce noodles, she washes it everything down with almost half a bottle of mineral water. Without caring to change or bath or even dispose the polystyrene container, Yuna rolls onto her side onto her comforter and falls asleep all curled up like a baby.
FIVE HOURS LATER
"Yuna! Yuna! He move. Killa on da move!" Kaew shouts as she keeps her eyes on the killer, wearing only a fitting plain white T-shirt tucked into his black jeans. With a pair of sports sunglasses over his eyes, he crosses the street to their row of shops.
Yuna prances up and springs over to the window like a tiger but still misses the sight of the killer.
"Where did he go?" Yuna asks.
"He come our side oledi. Kenot see him anymo," Kaew shakes her head in reply.
"Is he coming for us?" Yuna asks frantically.
"Tink no. He no wear killa coat. Jus T-shirt. I think he buying food," Kaew answers matter-of-factly, "maybe he like wanton mee like yu."
Yuna and Kaew nervously peek out the window and wait for the killer to reappear. After about ten long minutes, they finally spot the killer crossing the road back to his unit. In his hand is a bag full of groceries. So, he isn't aware of their location and the fact that they are spying over him.
The killer marches pass his super-bike and into the stairwell where
the women loose sight of him. Yuna then takes over the watch station while Kaew takes a rest.
Chapter 39
India: Wednesday, 19th November 4:30 p.m.
Ada has been sitting before her workstation for the last few couple of hours feeling desolated, her mind blanked out by the hatred towards the Hive's putrid efforts to keep her here. She has lost all interest and loyalty towards working at the Hive, feeling betrayed and exploited.
The red alarm on Ada's screen blinks continuously reminding her of Zach's behavior deviation but she has no more intention in protecting the Hive and its MAP. Instead, Ada turns the alarm off, calls out a command box and enters a completely unrelated string of command.
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