Raka was still standing inside the warehouse when Bayu left the room.
The old man's photo was still in his hand.
That face kept turning over in his mind.
Colonel Arman Wiratama.
A name he hadn't heard in years.
His former commander.
The man Raka had once respected more than anyone.
But also the man who was the biggest reason Raka had left the military world.
Raka closed his eyes.
Old memories came surging back without permission.
Torrential rain.
A dark forest.
The crackle of a radio cutting in and out.
And an operation that was supposed to be routine.
But everything changed when a single order came through.
Don't come back.
Raka opened his eyes.
His hand curled into a fist.
“Why now?”
He slipped the photo into his pocket.
Outside the warehouse, the rain started falling again.
Raka walked toward his car.
But before he could open the door, he saw something in the rearview mirror.
Someone was standing far behind him.
A tall man in a black coat.
His face was unclear.
Raka turned around.
There was no one there.
He looked around.
Only the sound of rain.
Then his phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A message appeared.
You shouldn't have taken that job.
Raka read the message again.
Then a second message came in.
Because the job isn't about money.
Raka typed a reply.
Who are you?
The message was sent.
There was no answer.
A few seconds later, a photo came in.
Raka opened it.
His breath caught.
The photo showed Raka himself.
It had been taken a few hours earlier.
Raka was walking out of the warehouse.
That meant someone had been watching him from the very beginning.
He looked around.
There were no suspicious vehicles.
No one was there.
But one thing was clear.
They were always one step ahead of him.
The next morning, Raka arrived at the meeting place early.
Laras was already there.
She was reading a document.
“Didn't you sleep?” Laras asked.
“A little.”
Laras studied his face.
“Trouble?”
“Someone from my past.”
Laras closed the document.
“Everyone here has a past.”
“The problem is, my past should already be dead.”
Laras looked at him.
“You're talking about Colonel Arman?”
Raka turned to her at once.
“You know?”
“I know a little.”
“How much?”
Laras stood.
“Enough to know that the last operation you went on wasn't a routine operation.”
Raka fell silent.
“You know what happened?”
Laras shook her head.
“Not all of it.”
Then she added,
“But I know someone deliberately erased parts of that operation report.”
Raka felt his chest tighten.
“Who?”
Laras looked toward the warehouse door.
“The same person who's asking us to take Adrian Wibawa's documents now.”
Raka grew even more suspicious.
“So those documents are connected to my past?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
Laras looked at him.
“In this world, the person who holds the information holds the power.”
Raka didn't answer.
The warehouse door opened.
Bayu entered with Jaka and Deni.
“Let's get started,” he said.
Raka stood.
“Not yet.”
Bayu frowned.
“What?”
“I want answers.”
Bayu sighed.
“We don't have time.”
“I don't care.”
Raka stepped closer.
“Why is Arman involved?”
Jaka and Deni exchanged glances.
Bayu finally said,
“Because Arman used to work for Adrian.”
Raka fell silent.
“What?”
“A few years ago.”
Bayu opened a file folder.
“Arman left the service not long after your last operation. After that, he became a security adviser for a company owned by Adrian.”
Raka felt something drop inside his mind.
All this time, he'd thought everything that happened in the past was just the failure of an operation.
It turned out there might have been something bigger.
“Why isn't there a report?”
“Because someone erased it.”
“Who?”
Bayu looked at Raka.
“Don't know yet.”
Raka took the file folder.
For the first time, he felt that this job was no longer a choice.
There was something he wanted to find.
The truth about his past.
But before they could continue the conversation, the sound of a vehicle's engine came from outside.
Everyone fell silent at once.
Deni walked to the window.
“There's a car.”
Bayu signaled for everyone to stay calm.
A black car stopped in front of the warehouse.
The door opened.
A man got out.
He was carrying an envelope.
The man walked inside.
No one knew him.
He placed the envelope on the table.
“A message from Bram.”
Bayu took the envelope.
“What does it say?”
The man smiled.
“Answers to your questions.”
He turned around.
Raka watched him walk out.
Bayu opened the envelope.
There was only one photo inside.
An old photo.
A photo of a team of soldiers standing in front of a military vehicle.
Raka recognized every face there.
Bayu.
Laras.
And himself.
Raka stared at the photo, his face pale.
“Wait.”
He took the photo.
There was one more person.
Someone who had never appeared in his memories before.
A man standing behind them.
His face was indistinct.
But there was handwritten text on the back of the photo.
ONE OF YOU IS A TRAITOR.
The room suddenly went silent.
Raka looked at Bayu.
Bayu looked at Laras.
Laras looked at Deni.
No one said a word.
The trust they'd just built began to collapse before their first job had even begun.
And Raka finally realized something far more terrifying.
Maybe he hadn't been recruited to help them from the beginning.
Maybe he'd been recruited because someone was certain Raka knew who the traitor was.
There was only one problem.
Raka didn't remember either.
Not yet.