“You’re…the new hire? Lucas Long…Wait, I probably shouldn’t say ‘new hire’, the term is…um…” The senior member spied at the freshly caught ‘new hire’ through his thick glasses.
“...lawyer?” Lucas made an attempt to answer his senior’s question, albeit it just reflected how inexperienced he was.
“Bah, whatever, anyway, there’s your table,” The senior said as he gestured to a small, cramped and empty table save for a laptop that probably wasn’t even connected to the Internet. “Any other questions?”
“When do I get to take on the big cases?” Lucas confidently spat out a line that even the amateurs of the industry know just made him look really bad.
“And have you not already been assigned some very big cases? The recent mosquito breeding case, or the case of that boy who vandalised the MRT walls-” He looked up from his papers to see Lucas beaming with expectant eyes.
“Or do you think these aren’t enough, and you want the cases that involve rapists and murderers and terrorists?”
Lucas said nothing, continuing to stare at him with expectant eyes.
The senior laughed and pointed in the direction of another office-although it was definitely more spacious and thus definitely belonged to a much more senior rank than him-
“You’ll have to ask Scarlett for that one. In all my years here, I’m still handling all the lowly, unimportant cases-but Scarlett, my, I’ve never seen someone handle as many high-profile cases as her. Practically all the high-profile cases we have are directed to her-honestly, I wouldn’t believe it myself if you told me she’s only been working here for 3 years…a rising star indeed,”
Lucas drew closer to the pointed direction, until he could make out the image of a tired lady swiftly signing and processing documents in the office. He gazed at her for a brief while, his eyes entranced by the scene before him-
A splash of water was all it took to wake her up from her peaceful slumber. A very rude splash of water, cast by a very rude henchmen, serving a very rude boss.
‘Wakey wakey, Ma’at, it’s time for school!” David clapped while he got off the table he was very rudely sitting on.
Scarlett stared at him for a brief while in confusion. What just happened? Why was she in what appeared to be a cramped masseuse parlour? Why was David standing before her? Why were her hands tied up? Why did it seem like he was taking her hostage?
Then she remembered. The predicament she was in.
“This is tantamount to an act of terrorism. There is no way they could have let this slide.” Louis spoke again with his enchanting voice, analysing the situation calmly.
“This is an act of terrorism, Master. And yet they’re not-” Ananya not-so-calmly remarked but was then interrupted by the door to the emergency relocation camp banging open in a swift movement.
Stepping out from the door came a very burly men surprisingly well-dressed in a handsome suit, eyes fixed on and sifting through a deck of documents, followed by a flustered-looking middle-aged man clumsily stumbling over himself as he rushed to catch up with the burly man.
“Ugh, must be someone from the Department…his attitude alone gives it away…” Ananya snarked. Clearly, she must not have had pleasant experiences with this ‘Department’ she speaks of.
“A most astute observation, young miss! This here is Mano Rajendran, one of the most elite officers of the Internal Security Department, and he’s been put fully in charge of this case…uh…” The flustered man grew quieter when he saw the invisible tension between Ananya and Mano, and just as quietly took his leave.
Mano couldn’t tell that Ananya was staring him up viciously, though-or he could, and he just didn’t care.
“Since when did the Department handle solo terrorism cases?” Ananya extended her neck beyond the view blocked by Mano’s muscly body. “I don’t see any negotiators, nor STAR teams, did you-"
“Ananya Segaran, yes, miss? Could you please tell me anything and everything you know about the case, the victim and the perpetrator?”
Ananya sighed in exasperation. Looks like he was another one of those anti-social officers who never knew how to hold a conversation properly. Just like Master.
“I assume that means you’re gonna be handling the negotiations, then…although you’re not stupid enough not to activate a STAR team…
The culprit is a man named David Lim, 29. He worked in the CID for 8 years, which makes him my colleague. However, he didn’t like to socialise a lot-no matter what kind of event we held, typically celebratory feasts after cracking a big case, he would always refuse, and I have no idea where he would go then. Also, he always wore these bandages on his face, limbs and everywhere on his body, not sure if they were ever because he was actually injured or he was masking his identity. As for the victim…”
Ananya paused and turned towards the big screen indicating what was known so far on the entire case.
“As far as I know, the victim didn’t have any altercations with the culprit, nor did any side show any animosity towards the other. The victim is a woman named Scarlett Lin, 27. A lawyer and high-profile criminal case handler working for the Attorney-general’s Chambers, Crime Division, she has charged multiple high-profile criminals over her 3 years of work at the AGC. Today, I met with the culprit on accounts that we were colleagues attempting to investigate a homicide. However, towards the end of the investigation, I found that the murderer was in fact David Lim himself. Just then, he told me that his men already had wraps on major hospitals in Singapore and were prepared to do their worst if we did anything to him. I let him go freely as part of an agreement not to harm anyone in the hostage-taken places. He also requested that he take along Scarlett, and that’s how things came to-”
“Alright, I believe that just about summarises everything. By the way, if I might ask, what is he doing here?” Just as he did before, Mano rudely interrupted Ananya to point (at least politely this time) at Louis, asking him the golden question.
“All you people from the Department are so uptight and rigid and rude…” Ananya muttered under her breath.
“Sir, I am Senior Investigation Officer Louis Yong of the Criminal Investigation Department . The victim is my friend, and I feel sentiments towards her kidnapping. Plus, I believe my observation and investigation skills will come in handy here-”
“Alright, alright, stop, so you’re also an officer, well you can stay then, just to help me fill in the paperwork I guess,” Mano once again interrupted not only Ananya but also her master now.
“You’re not hiding firearms under those thick coats of yours, are you?” Mano pointed out Louis’ weird obsession with wearing thick coats.
“Sir, I am an armed officer, it would be more suspicious if I didn’t have a gun, no?”
“Many thanks for understanding, sir,”
Mano too stopped his note-jotting and turned to the big screen.
Scarlett sat on the chair in front of David. Or, rather, was forcefully tied to the chair by many layers or rope.
She peered out beyond his towering and intimidating self, out of the door held ajar-and she could see that this room wasn't really as cramped as she thought it was.
The room she was in herself was cramped, yes-but the masseuse parlour certainly wasn’t as small as that. There appeared to be multiple other rooms outside-with multiple other hostages outside.
Elderly men and women clutching their shaking walking sticks, masseuse women and their clients, and those client’s kids-there were a lot of them hostages David took, it seemed.
All being pushed and shoved around by his men armed with sharp knives.
Not even guns? Did David not have the authority to acquire enough guns for his men?
“Don’t look there, Ma’at, look at me,” David smiled heinously, grabbing Scarlett’s chin and forcing her head to look back at where it belonged, much to her displeasure.
“You should be excited, Ma’at, don’t keep getting distracted,” He scolded her like a parent disciplining a little child who just went out of line.
“And what exactly am I excited for?” For the first time, Scarlett spoke-with just as eloquent a voice as Louis’.
David snatched the presented phone away from the hands of one of his henchmen and dialled a number. “My favourite part. Negotiations time.”
“999? Oh, I’m in so much distress, a lot of guys came in with guns, and then they took us all hostage and-“ The call rang in, and answering it was obviously the voice of someone pretending to be some young woman.
“Enough, David. This is Mano Rajendran of the Internal Security Department. Don’t test my patience,” Mano once again interrupted him. (at least this time it can be justified, David’s earlier voice was annoying as hell)
“Alright, I guess I’ll get to the point then, seems like our Department lackey here is getting bored,” David cackled softly through the call, mocking Mano in such a derogatory manner.
“What do you want to know then, go on and play your little Department games,” Seems like David, just like Ananya, has something against the Internal Security Department.
“Why did you take hold of major hospitals? Why did you single out and demand Miss Scarlett Lin? What is your relationship with her? What is your motive for doing this? What are you trying to get out of all-“
“Oh, patience, lackey, one question at a time! About Ma’at…the very name I call her by should give it away.” He laughed deviously yet again.
“What…” Mano displayed a look of confusion, but was quickly answered by Ananya.
“Ma’at…isn’t that the Egyptian goddess of harmony, justice and truth? Daughter of Ra, she most famously participates in the weighing of the heart against the holy feather,"
Mano sighed and rubbed his temples. “That’s all I need to hear, goddess of justice, high-profile criminal case handler…
“That would appear so…it seems that David has had certain clashes or bore certain grudges against Scarlett due to a certain case she might have handled, causing this warped perception of his to view her as an incompetent goddess…” Louis-at this point he should go start an audiobook reading session, billions would pay to hear his voice.
“This man is quite unlike any others I’ve handled. While others claim themselves to be almighty gods, fit to render judgement and mete out punishment on humanity, this one calls the one in his opinion that is not fit to do such the almighty god here….” One would wonder what the ‘others’ in the many cases Mano handled be like.
“You too are an officer of the armed forces, Mr David Lim. I believe you too should be well-acquainted with the necessary procedures. What exactly is your motive for doing all of this?” Mano spoke back into the headquartered phone, elongating each word to allow himself more time to choose the next carefully.
“My motive…I believe this question can be answered with the previous one on…” David paused and mimicked the sound of flipping through documents-or maybe he really was flipping through some at that moment.
“Wrap on major hospitals and clinics,”
The words came crashing down on Mano and the rest like a meteor about to come crashing down to Earth.
“What-” He asked distressed, as if realising something important, but was for once given a taste of his own medicine and interrupted by a screeching voice coming through the call.
A screeching voice of someone in pain.
“QUIET! ONE MORE SOUND FROM YOU AND I’L-” The big man swung his knife against his latest butchered target, a young crying in great pain, her clothes absolutely soaked in blood-her blood, no doubt.
“Enough!” Fortunately, David came to the rescue of the little girl. Wait, David? What does he have to rescue the little girl for?
“How. Many. Times, have I specified NOT TO KILL ANY HOSTAGES??” He stared straight into the soul of the big man, who immediately cowered away like a small rat.
“We need every bloodsucker we can save,” David took out his gun and put it to the forehead of the big man, who whimpered even more.
No one on scene dared breathe even a gasp of shock. David’s facial bandages flew with the wind as he stared in silence for a while, his gun still to the head of the big man.
But after a while, he soon retracted it and walked his way without saying anything.
And that was when the people breathed a sigh of relief-but not for long, considering that most of them were already brutally wounded by the other big men that weren’t being held at gunpoint.
All bleeding out fatally, the blood spilling from their wounds, of course, if the situation were to continue as it was, would most definitely kill them.
They all tried to support each other, the doctors providing basic first aid to stop the bleeding with what little supplies they had…
And it seemed worth noting that all the brute henchmen of David’s took careful note not to kill them (probably due to the above incident), yet injure them in the way that would make them bleed out as much as possible…
All this of course, Scarlett was observing quietly from her room through the ajar door too, wondering the exact same questions as Mano had earlier.
“What exactly is his motive?”
“Apologies for the rude interruption,my dear lackey, one of my hostages were just being very uncooperative-”
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM??” This time Mano’s interruption came sharply and crystal clear-and this felt like one that was absolutely necessary too.
“Now, now, don’t make me send you to the naughty corner, lackey, watch your words-” The last three words coming in much sharper than the first phrase- “All I did was merely…bleed them out.”
“Oho, don’t worry, thanks to a certain friend of mine who studied medicine, I’ve been able to carefully plot where to make incisions best that both wouldn’t kill the casualty yet cause them to bleed out majorly…” David even let a slight maniac laugh escape his lips there for a brief moment.
“What…you…why?” Mano was truly at a loss for words here, for once.
Louis whispered something to Ananya, after carefully considering something in his mind, who then nodded her head and immediately ran out of the emergency headquarters camp with a rapid sense of urgency.
“Don’t look so surprised, Department lackey, I’ve already told you about how I have far more men than you can possibly imagine. They’ve got wraps on all major hospitals in Singapore…
and what do you know, most hospitals keep their blood stocks in one location only, and don’t even bother to spread them out. Makes it all the more easier for my little bloodsuckers to find the blood stocks.”
Mano didn’t even bother to say anything anymore, just bearing a face of utter devastation.
“So of course you can guess what they did to them. You’re stupid, of course, Department blind servant, but deep down in my heart I don’t believe you’re THAT stupid,”
“Why…are you telling me all this?”
“Why…why indeed. I want you to make a choice.
In a few moments’ time, I will be releasing all of the hostages, save for a select few, but they’re not exactly in the best state-they should have lost quite a lot of blood by now, you see.”
“And with the blood banks destroyed…” Mano muttered to himself through the call, finally piecing all the puzzle pieces together.
‘But…how exactly am I supposed to salvage this?” Mano asked, as if a terrorist would tell a police officer how to arrest him.
“Simple. Where did all the blood originally come from?”
“Are you seriously forcing my hand here?”
“Look, it’s up to you whether you want to release the information to the public or not,
but I must warn you, there really is only one option if you want to save the most number of lives as possible.”
Said David as he gleefully hung up, without even waiting for Mano’s reply, and turned to the chair Scarlett was tied to.
“What a thrilling conversation,”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of all that, Ma’at. So, how about you? Any questions?” David sneered. Not the most polite knife in the shed, it seems.
“You haven’t even answered the main question yet,” Scarlett said without even raising her head to look at David. “What exactly is your motive?”
David stared silently, then burst into raucous laughter. And for once, this was the kind that actually sounded like he was laughing at something funny, and not a maniac laughing after he forgot to take his meds in the morning.
“Now that’s a fun question, Ma’at, of course you’re a lot more intuitive than that blind servant of the Department!”
He set down the phone he still held in his hand, opened a packet of sweets he definitely stole from a certain little girl, and popped a green candy right in his mouth, before pacing around while monologuing his grand motives.
“Just imagine what would happen once I release all 168 of my darling hostages, Ma’at. Of course, as logic would deduce, they would all be rushed straight to the hospital, as they’re bleeding out quite badly.
But can you imagine just what would happen if 168 ambulances, all rushing to perhaps the same nearest hospital around, desperate for a blood donation lest they go into shock-and I’ll assume that Department lackey hasn’t yet communicated the information to the public.
How many drivers on the road would actually give way to a rushing ambulance? Even if a life depended on it?
And even if they do get to the hospital in time-last I recall, my men have already destroyed almost all the stored blood stocks they have save for a select few. Where exactly are they going to get their blood then?
Plus, all the doctors and nurses must definitely be so overwhelmed and swarmed with work. They might have not enough time for other patients…and despite it obviously not being their fault, there will be patients who pass or fall terminally due to neglect. I wonder if the patient’s families might take legal action against these poor, helpless doctors?
And with the lack of blood stocks, several unimportant surgeries will need to be postponed to conserve blood stocks for emergency cases such as this. I wonder, are any big hotshot celebrities or famous rich CEOs going to flare up and get mad over their latest face implant surgery or cheek lift surgery getting postponed? Then twisting their fame and getting their blind followers to shame the said sanctions of life and paint them in a terrible light…
Only, if only there were kind, willing souls strong enough to step forward, knowingly risking their lives to save another, donating their own blood for those who need it…oh, and not to mention all the panic this would cause. People would spread around fake news about my terrorist situation, people would rush to supermarkets and clinics and hoard essential items and medications, leaving none for those who actually need it…people would start pointing fingers against, say, the police, for my affiliations with the CID, distrust and prejudice would spread like a plague through the community…”
Scarlett hung her head even lower, realising just how bad the situation was now.
David smiled deviously through his facial bandages. “You finally get it, Ma’at. I am not the one who killed all these people. It is the public’s greed. It is the public’s selfishness.”
“Your honour, I have every reason to believe my client’s words should be taken as the one and absolute truth.” Scarlett’s imposing figure and way with words sure helped make up for her lack of…height, for one.
“One, my client was severely intoxicated that day. It was his second brother’s birthday that day, and he was celebrating at his residence. He had exactly 12 bottles of mixed whiskey to drink that day, and toxicology reports state that there were 177/100 ml of ethanol in the sample of the blood 236 mg/100 ml of ethanol in the sample of vitreous humour.
When he exited the taxi that his friend, PD Razak s/o Govindasamy, had to help him out of the vehicle as he was so intoxicated he could not stand on his own, and the witness had testified that he vomited on his shirt too.
Upon exiting the taxi, he was at a remote bus stop where not many cars came along. It was a cold night at 10pm that night, and the only other person my client saw was the victim.
“ ‘Acting upon his instincts’, as my client describes it, he felt seduced by how the victim flicked her hair and dressed sexily in front of him, claiming that ‘she purposefully wore revealing clothing to attract men that would come by’ that night.”
This was probably when the victim’s mother could take it no longer, standing up and flailing her arms at Scarlett, screaming, “YOU DEMON! YOU CLEARLY KNOW THAT HE DID IT, HOW CAN YOU DEFEND A RAPIST LIKE HIM??”
“Ma’am, please calm down, or I will have to get security to escort you out,” calmly said the judge, as if such situations were just another day in the life of a judge.
“As I was saying, Your Honour,” Scarlett continued, “The victim had seduced my client and, in his words, ‘asked him to go harder while he was groping her private areas,’”
Even the victim held her head low during that statement, as if out of shame.
“Does the prosecution have anything to say to that?” The judge turned to the victim, who was covering her face with her two hands like she was about to cry.
“No,,” She finally managed to spit out after a long while of waiting in eager silence.
Lucas had been watching all this from the audience. Lucas, the same Lucas who had longed to take on such a high-profile criminal case, was watching one right now.
But in his mind, he wasn’t praising Scarlett’s incredible argumentative skills that could manipulate anyone into siding with the very side she truly represents even if the two conflict on paper, just like the other members of the audience surrounding him.
In his mind, he was thinking:
Is justice truly justice if
Such unjust methods enact justice?
“David.” Mano whispered, as if exasperated, into the call. “I’ve told the public about this news,”
“You’re the one who made that call, no, I didn’t ask you to do anything,” David tutted. “I sure hope you didn’t just say that “there was a terrorist attack” but actually report that “blood stock levels were low”, and that’s because the reports of terrorism have already been written all about in the media,”
“Enough. I don’t have time for all your little games. Keep up your end of the bargain. Release the hostages,” At least Mano did not interrupt him even if he sounded tired of all David’s stunts.
“No, no, no…I just plain forgot, such an important matter, ugh, how could I?” David sighed ‘frustratedly’ at himself, then put Mano on hold and connected the call to a publicly broadcast livestream.
Thousands of followers had already turned up, all commenting on about when it was going to start and their own theories for this act of terrorism, eagerly awaiting the start of the livestream.
“My dear followers,” David started, soliciting a response of cheer from the digital crowd, “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to cut this one short. This one’s only to relate one important piece of ‘wildfire’ news,
Back when I claimed my men destroyed all the blood stocks in hospitals, that was a…little, harmless lie of mine.
I have actually instructed my men to save 5 packets of blood of each type,” David dropped the heavy message while casually holding up a 5 on his hand, and then immediately logged off soon after.
“This guy..is truly a crazy psychopath…” Mano uttered, possibly not knowing that David could still hear him.
But he cared not anyway. “There, now that we all know there isn’t a complete shortage and there ARE in fact blood stocks, albeit in a rather low amount…
Oh? Come now, lackey, do offer your most precious insights, why so silent? Although I’m sure you’re more than aware of what happens when demand exceeds supply…”
Mano could converse with the psychopath no longer. He slumped down into his armchair exhaustedly, not staring back at the newcomers who had just arrived along with Ananya.
“Of course, now I will keep my end of the bargain.” Said David in a gleefully delightful voice.
“Master, I’ve brought…” Ananya called for Louis, who was currently fixated on the case, to turn and face her as she stepped aside to reveal the 2 newcomers (or familiar faces).
—-------------------------
And all at once, out of the single only entrance of the masseuse parlour, came pouring out 164 bleeding hostages-ok, to be more accurate, it was ‘stumbling out’, since they had already lost quite a fair amount of blood and were at certain risk of developing hypovolemic shock.
The authorised personnel and STAR team lying in ambush (so Mano really did activate them) quickly went to treat their casualty’s wounds, while David calmly watched from the window of the third storey and sipped on some fine tea.
He gulped down one last refreshing taste.. “So, Ma’at?” He turned to Scarlett’s chair. “Your thoughts?”
Scarlett said nothing. Grr, why are the people with the nicest voice always remaining quiet…speak more, everyone loves your voice…
But she finally spoke up. “I’m not the judge of that,”
“Oh, but you are, JUDGE Ma’at,” David exclaimed, “You’re the divine one sent from above to render judgement on all the criminals of this world!”
Scarlett turned away, avoiding eye contact.
“Don’t look so sad, Ma’at, it is your divine duty to judge all of humanity. All,” David said, emphasising the word “all” as he bent his knees to meet eye contact with the shivering Scarlett, snickered at her straight in her face.
Then he turned away and went to resume the call he had with Mano.
“I have to say, your STAR team is pretty impressive. It’s barely been 5 minutes since I released the hostages, and they’re all already on their way to the hospitals…”
“Enough. It’s time to stop, David. We already have all your men who you rallied to attack the hospital in custody. There’s no one else you can depend on,” Mano’s voice came in even sharper than earlier.
“Hehe,” David covered what was left of his facial bandages with an even further bandaged arm. “Hehehehehe, hehehehehehe, aAHHAHAHAHHA!
Alright, lackey, I’ll admit you’ve been very cooperative. So cooperative, in fact, that you have been unable to do anything, anything at all, in retaliation to my actions.
Now, of course, I reward hard work, so go ahead, ask me any question you would like to find the answer to,”
Mano paused-as if he wasn’t affected at all by the maniac laughter he heard just now, or the blatant sarcastic mocking of him.
After all, he was the only one around-Ananya, Louis, Rai and Ahmad had went somewhere quieter to consolidate all that they knew so far.
After carefully considering his words, Mano took a deep breath and steadied himself. “Why Miss Scarlett of all?”
“Ahhh, so you want to know about Ma’at…well that’s easy. Go check out her case file on the white ghost rape case, or about the tiger-eyed venom homicide case, or, how about-
The Corrupt Crimefile case?”
That was probably the only phrase that could ever hope to solicit a response from Scarlett-so much so as she was immediately sitting upright, with her eyes blinking wide and her mouth slightly hanging agape in shock.
But David probably just thought that was any other case to her.
“Well, just about any case you check on her will have evidence of her devious crimes…
In the written documents of those cases, it’s perfectly articulated how flawlessly she presented her case in front of the judge, and how in doing so-rightfully, justly, throws behind bars evil criminals and sets free the innocent man.
But what about that innocent man, who just had his poor gambling addict mother exposed to the public eye, or the young girl who just had to reenact the entire gruesome case flow of her rape in front of indifferent audiences, or about that murderer’s kids that are getting bullied everyday at school because the sins of their father were openly publicised by the lawyer that he picked to defend him?
The evil criminals are thrown behind bars, but what about all the innocent people that are implicated in the course of these devious crimes being committed?
They are walking freely around, but are their minds so?
Some might say that she's a brilliant lawyer, purposefully putting up a fake and weak defence to prove the guilt of her client to the iudge.
But others would say she's ruining the innocent victim's life through such...unconventional means...
She only cares about the final verdict. She doesn't even care about the aftermath of the case, about the future lives of the innocent victims...
'The ends justify all the means.'
So you see, lackey? If a lawyer, the very emblem of justice, can commit such crimes on their own, then what must she be if not a god from above? Isn’t that right, Ma’at?”
He glared at Ma’at, smiling villainously.
“Your divine judgement of the gods, no?”
Carrying a bouquet of flowers, she limped over to the common graveyard of her victims.
Tens of hundreds of gravestones protruded from the ground, lying there in wait for a family member, friend or any passing-by kind soul to clean off the moss that was spreading all over the headstone like a plague.
She passed by most of the gravestones, not stopping to look or pay her respects to any of them-in fact, she quickened her footsteps more than ever.
She didn’t stop until she finally reached a singular gravestone that sat far apart from the others, as if it was infected with the flu.
She put down the bouquet and took out cleaning materials. Maybe she was the kind soul passing by that would help these poor dead people regain their dignity. Although, considering that she singled out this one particular ostracised gravestone out of the other hundreds of her victims, probably not.
Just as she was almost finished giving the headstone a fresh and clean look (she’s efficient), a middle-aged woman also carrying a bouquet of fresh flowers, stomped her feet and screamed when she saw her like she just laid eyes on the biggest monstrosity she had seen in her life.
“DEMON! GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!”
Scarlett immediately backed away from the headstone and dropped her cleaning materials, instinctively taking a step back to defend herself against the screaming woman.
“HOW DARE YOU COME BACK TO VANDALISE HER! SHE’S ALREADY GONE, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT TO DO TO HER!”
Scarlett hung her head low, exactly as that one particular victim of hers had done.
“Of course, I wouldn’t expect a demon to feel any compassion for her-no, you’d probably be celebrating off drinking champagne with that rapist demon, while she suffered WITH EVERY LAST BREATH SHE TOOK UNTIL THE DOCTORS PRONOUNCED HER DEAD.
And even then, you’d probably still think that she’s just another number, a figure, a percentage, an input of statistical data-of the annual number of people in the country who committed suicide, who overdosed, or, if you even see her with the SLIGHTEST BIT OF EMPATHY-
Another one of your pathetic victims.
Don’t think that just because you put that other demon behind bars that I’ll forgive you. I am indeed grateful to you for doing so, but you will never be able to imagine the pain she felt after that day for the rest of her life.
Everywhere she went, people were pointing out to her, whispering behind her backs, gossiping about her. Everywhere she went, people kept their distance, looked down on her from their high thrones of moral righteousness, led their children away from her like she was a monster.
Everywhere she went, the words ‘white ghost’ went sprawling around. Some people even threw eggs at her, refused to serve her, spat in her food…
Everywhere she went, she was a demon.
But what happened to the real demon?”
The woman’s words cut through Scarlett’s flesh and blood like they were sharp thorns piercing through skin. She kept respectful silence, not interrupting the woman’s monologue.
“And you know what? Fine. You can go ahead and go around killing as many more innocent souls as you like. Who cares anyway? All you lawyers like you are just like this-
As if you think you’re gods,”
“You’re lying! Even the terrorist himself said that there were excess blood stocks!” One man shouted above the crowd’s violent protesting, criticising both the doctors and nurses busily attending to the influx of patients and the STAR team dressed in full uniform and armed with guns looking after the last of David’s men they captured.
“And? Would you rather believe a terrorist, a murderer than your own doctors here?” Another doctor yelled back at the same volume, presumably to have his voice heard.
Another one was a lot less violent in her pleas. Getting down on her knees and begging the doctors, hugging onto their legs and refusing to let them go about their business. “Please, please, I beg you, my husband’s only so young, he can’t just go because of some crazy terrorist!”
While the doctor was not having it, yelping around like his pants were on fire, desperately trying to shake the clinging woman off who was surprisingly very good at sticking to people. “Let me go, you crazy woman! I have patients to attend to! It’s important!”
“Are you trying to say our own family and friends aren’t important?” The voice of another grumpy old man could be heard from the back of the crowd, frowning about the priority of patients.
“I KNEW IT! THAT DOCTOR’S LYING! THERE ARE STILL 5 BLOOD PACKETS LEFT!” That was when all heads turned to the shrieks of epiphany of a woman, as she held up packets of the fresh crimson liquid in her arms for all to see.
And that was also when the entire crowd unanimously agreed to overwhelm the doctors and nurses all at once and catch the STAR team by surprise before they could use their guns-and all also unanimously agreed to charge into the blood bank holding centre where that woman who had somehow broken her way in was.
And as David’s men watched the crowd fight over the precious life-saving liquid, overwhelming the doctors and nurses while the other patients were having medical emergencies and needed care immediately and the doctors and nurses couldn’t attend to them, they began all thinking in their heads:
Truly, the greed and selfishness of man. So, after all-
“ ‘Blood bank at a critical low after recent terrorist attack on neighbourhood masseuse parlour, you won’t believe what authorities say,’
‘Riots at major hospitals over lack of blood at recent terrorist attack, but family’s claims actually make sense?’
‘An estimated 5000 lives to be lost with combined collateral damage of recent terrorist attack, but fun fact, that doesn’t even come close to history’s top 10 worst,’
‘Mysterious lawyer who defended criminals involved in recent terrorist attack? Are authorities doing nothing about the case?’ Ooh, this one’s about you, Ma’at,” David scrolled through the stolen cell phone, reading through all articles relating to him and Scarlett, pausing to turn the phone to let her see and wait for a reaction when it came to a piece of news about her.
She sat there, staring blankly at David’s facial bandages that must really not have been tied properly if they can flow with the wind like he’s an anime protagonist.
By then all of David’s men were gathered in that one room, carefully watching the remaining four precious hostages that were crying away (nope, not bleeding out, no reason to anyway) their boss needed for leverage over the police with.
David turned the phone back to himself and stopped scrolling through the articles, and instead prepared himself for another negotiation.
“How’s everyone’s favourite Depart-” Mano cut off David before he could even finish saying the words ‘department lackey’.
“DO YOU REALLY THINK WE WOULD LET YOU GO, DAVID LIM? WE HAVE STAR TEAMS SURROUNDING EVERY POSSIBLE EXIT YOU COULD ESCAPE FROM. YOU NOW HAVE NONE.
WE ADVISE YOU TO SURRENDER, NOW, DAVID LIM. WE WILL NOT HESITATE TO TAKE DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST YOU,” Mano’s words came piercing through the call, him obviously seething with pure rage.
“Oh, so that’s what you’re so angry about, Department lackey, well, do tell your STAR team to come try their luck,” David chuckled to himself (and made sure Mano could hear him), and walked over to the window to watch the STAR team surrounding attempt to make their way in.
The STAR team, carrying their bulletproof and ballistic shields, led brazenly by a tall and strong-looking leader, charged forward into the open entrance of the masseuse parlour-
Only to be completely deflected back by an invisible barrier, leaving the men stumbling over themselves on their feet after being hit by the domino effect of their teammates in front getting hit too.
In hindsight, when they came to their senses, they were not deflected by some invisible barrier-no, it was a black, giant, swirling mass of something resembling a storm cloud, that had wrapped itself firmly around the entire masseuse parlour, stubbornly not letting anyone in or out.
Mano must have seen it all too, because he went screaming into the phone, “WHAT EXACTLY IS THE MEANING OF THAT, DAVID LIM?’
To which David only maniacally cackled, his eyes consistently flashing on and off a bright black, and replied, “Lackey, don’t worry, I’ll release the barrier when I’m ready, alright? Don’t get so worked up,”
And as if Mano didn’t care about the fact that he just openly admitted to having magic and using it to create a barrier to protect himself, (despite the fact that many of his subordinates were seriously confused) and only cared about provoking his opponent, he said this, “Fine. Let’s see how long you can keep up the barrier. I don’t believe you’re strong enough to keep it up while asleep,”
“Aw, is the Department lackey challenging me to a little fight? Well, I’m all for it,” David said, accentuating the ‘all for it’ part, probably through breathing heavily into the cell phone which much have certainly been awkward for all Scarlett, his men, and the other hostages there.
David opened his mouth to continue speaking, then paused for a moment and held his breath once he saw two figures strolling towards the sealed-off entrance bravely, armed with nothing but themselves.
He watched them through the window, as they silently made their way as close as they could be to the entrance.
Then another deep breath came in from the call. It was probably the sound of Mano calming himself down. But it was instead another voice that answered the call-one of a soothing, calming, audiobook reader voice.
“David, I assume you must have seen my two colleagues by now. Including Scarlett, there are exactly 5 hostages still left inside.”
“Hoho, that one’s correct…although do elaborate more. Even though I can see where you’re going, I wouldn’t want to jump to any conclusions, lest I get disappointed,”
Louis put down the call temporarily and looked up at Mano and Ananya. Mano closed his eyes and nodded his head. Ananya nodded along too, approving the plan.
Louis too took a deep breath and gulped down all his nervousness.
“We would like to offer a hostage swap, I, Mano, Ananya, and the two others at the entrance, for the five hostages in there,”
Scarlett sat upright, sharply cocking her head towards David who was still sitting on the windowside, and was even about to say something but quickly stopped herself in the nick of time.
“Interesting…but why should I trade Ma’at and 4 untrained, weak pushover hostages for five professional counter-terrorism personnel?”
Louis paused for a moment, carefully choosing the right words to say. Then he picked up a separate, private call with Rai and Ahmad, and gave them critical instructions through the call, then finally answered David’s question.
“Because…” He started, gazing into the camera which gave him full view of Rai and Ahmad’s situation. That also means he could see how Ahmad did the same thing he did back when hunting down East Coast-his eyes glowing bright red, slowly breaking free from the chains of gravity and hovering above the ground-then with a swift movement of his hand, slashed through air and allowed the slash to travel through the vacuum of space, eventually splitting a large stone that was about 10 metres away in half.
Certainly, that startled David, because he almost fell off the windowsill but stabilised himself just in time-and continued watching the two of them like an amazed kid watching how a science experiment works.
“Is that interesting enough for you?"
Scarlett went back to her usual pensive state, trying hard to keep out whatever she was about to hear.
“Ma’at stays with me. The rest can go.”
Ananya and Mano made a silent cheer in their hearts, and possibly for the first time, Mano made the closest thing resembling a smile-even if it was just one of victory for a successful plan.
“Actually, wait..” David slid off the windowsill and took one glance around his hostage room. He saw the rows and rows of his men-which in fact were not many rows-squeezing the four remaining unlucky hostages.
An elderly woman and a young man, a masseuse, and a young, sobbing girl.
“The girl has to stay with me too,” David pointed at her, and his men tightly wrapped their arms around her as she started to scream and cry even louder.
This time it was now Mano answering the phone, as Louis had more than already done his part. “...Agreed.” Even Scarlett could sense the hesitation in his voice then.
David held down the phone and signalled to his men, who then grabbed the other three hostages by their armpits and dragged them out of the room (much to their very violent protests, which, unfortunately, could do nothing against men of their strength and calibre).
The little girl, surprise, surprise, couldn’t see that, because she was too busy screaming her eyes out to care.
The last of the men escorted (not so nicely) the three hostages out, while two men stayed behind in the room, locking the door behind them and guarding it closely with a stomp of their feet and raising their right arms across their chest at a right angle.
David acknowledged them with a nod of his head, then turned away.
“My men are preparing to release the three remaining hostages. I will lower the barrier in a while. I want your team to walk in with their hands up in the air, and don’t even try any funny tricks, because if I catch you-” David stopped himself there and chuckled. “Let’s just say I can do more than just create a storm barrier,”
Strange that the STAR team wasn’t helping with Mano’s hostage swap plan. He must have told them to back off.
The team was all lined up along the road leading to the entrance of the masseuse parlour, as if awaiting the red carpet entry of their VIPs.
And soon the VIPs arrived, all with their arms up in the air, with the exception of Mano carrying a communication device for contact with David, all inching closer and closer to the entrance, eagerly awaiting the drop of the barrier.
“David, we’re entering now, drop the barrier,” Mano whispered loudly enough for the team to hear him.
“Oh, wait, I’m not ready yet, I’ll drop it when I’m ready…” David too replied, despite the fact that he was very much already ready.
“No one else is to come in. Rush in but still with your hands up, I don’t want to keep the barrier down forever…” David muttered the precautionary measures the team should take if they wanted to ensure their lives.
And before Mano could respond to that, the storm barrier visibly slowed down in its swirling, then stopped, then vanished completely.
An elderly woman, a young man and a masseuse were pushed out of the open door by a few burly men manhandling them, but they quickly got up to their feet and ran past the team that was sent to replace them as they too rushed in.
It took only a few seconds for the swap to take place, and before long, a lightning strike hit the ground near the entrance and the storm barrier was back and up again.
The team gazed up at the surprisingly spacious parlour, that even had a second floor and a balcony along the floor for people to look down on the first floor.
And that’s exactly what David was doing to them right then.
“Welcome, I trust you didn’t bring any…prohibited items, no?” David smiled down at them, resting his head on his arm and his arm on the balcony railings.
“I don’t believe the 5 of us won’t be enough to take him out-” Ahmad growled up at David, his eyes starting to flash an intense crimson.
“Calm down, Ahmad, we have no idea what he’s capable of,” Rai extended a hand in front of Ahmad’s chest, stopping him from further activity.
“Rai’s right. This man seems to be able to resist my mind control…” Louis added.
“And with the storm barrier he created…” Mano went back into deep criminal profiling contemplation.
“Just who is this man?” Ananya finished off for him.
“I only have one question, and one question only.” David started, pacing around on the balcony like he had when monologuing with Scarlett.
“You three have Ikigai. I can feel it,” He pointed at Ahmad, Rai, and Louis-he’s surprisingly effective at ‘feeling’ Ikigai.
“And that one, I feel a sense of a curse on you…” This time he singled out Louis, which even made him shiver slightly beneath those thick coats of his.
“Have you seen…” David questioned, his voice getting lower. “ ‘them’, before?”
Rai and Ahmad shot each other a look while Louis remained indifferent. Clearly, that already gave David the answer he needed.
“Enough, David Lim, it’s time to surrender, you have no more bargaining chips left,” Mano, without saying another word, stormed up the stairs and took David by complete surprise.
He quickly retreated back into the safety of Scarlett’s room, guarded heavily by his men…that was only that two men left to guard Scarlett and the little girl. Where, oh, where did the rest of his men go…
Oh wait, didn’t he lower the barrier just now? Doesn’t that mean that at that time, anything, including bullets, could fly in?
David must also have realised this, because in the brief moment it took him to overcome his shock-his gun had been snatched out of his hand, the last of the two men knocked unconscious, and Scarlett free and untied.
“You…” He must have been enraged then, because he also snatched up a knife from the bodies of one of his men and held it up to the neck of the little girl who couldn’t escape in time. “Ma’at…MA’AT!"
He backed away into a corner, untouchable by bullets with his human shield.
The little girl cried and screamed loudly, like she’d gone back to being a stupid baby.
Scarlett watched from the corner with indifferent, indignant eyes, oblivious to the suffering the little girl was going through then.
“Calm down, David Lim, don't-” Mano attempted to negotiate calmly now that he’d seen that David was actually desperate.
“You forced my hand, Ma’at, I had no choice,” He pressed the knife even further into the little girl’s skin, then before anyone could react, his eyes flashed bright black and smoke shrouded the entire room.
When the team finally coughed and cried away the smoke/tear gas, and when the smoke/tear gas finally dissipated-
all that was left was nothing but a knife lying on the ground.
“So,” Mano paced around, skillfully pouring out the tea from the teapot in a teh-tarik style. “Did you enjoy yourself?”
“You mean proving you wrong or planning the breach?” A young woman sat at the table opposite, blowing at the tea and sipping it a moment later replied.
A head full of her short and straight black hair made for the main attraction of her face, with her narrowly-glaring eyes and sweet smile betraying her sullen expression contending for second place. She sat with crossed legs, a symbol of elegance and dignity-certainly, crossing her legs with those complicated fabric she calls ‘a coat’ must not have been an easy feat.
A singular glove supported her right hand, with her left seemingly rebellious in nature and atypical from the rest, offering no concealment nor protection from prying eyes. Shiny, polished leather boots were what one would find adorning her feet, each light ray reflecting a sign of her painstaking duty in polishing them.
“Alright, alright, you win, Director, I didn’t know anything…” Mano smiled the brightest he’s ever had, pulling out a chair playfully and plopping himself on it. “But seriously…you sure you don’t want to join our investigations?”
“No, I’ve already told you, how much more of a target I am than the rest of the Department combined. I should only-”
“Show your face when absolutely necessary,” Mano finished that off for her, resting his chin in his palm and resuming his smile.
“Good that you know,” She finished off the rest of the tea, slamming the cup on the table just soft enough not to break it, but hard enough to cause an obnoxiously loud sound.
“Wel…not even a slight consideration? This fella is very interesting, it’ll do wonders in terms of intelligence…” Mano suggestively whispered.
“And what makes you think I won’t be doing my own investigations? I just said I’d distance myself from your…inexperienced team,” The young woman flashed a weak smile, either playfully at Mano’s weak team or about the thought of her solo investigations.
“You sure you don’t have an inkling about what this fella might be? Magic powers that no one could have seen coming-”
“I saw them coming,” She narrowed her eyes at Mano right after interrupting him.
“Fine, fine…I didn’t listen, fine, fine, you risked the lives of everyone there to prove it to me…fine, fine…”
“Seriously, what case will ever be high-profile enough for you to take it personally…” Mano whispered, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms, his entire body loosening up and getting comfortable. “I wanna see you in action, Director. Show me you leading the STAR team, into the face of a terrible hostage situation…Just…do something more than just planning behind-the-scenes!”
“And what’s wrong with simply planning? I’d prefer to let my men get some action, they’ve been itching to,” She simply closed her eyes and dusted off her right shoulder coat.
“I wonder…” Mano wondered aloud, planning something clandestine in that mind of his, instantly causing the young woman’s eyes to bolt awake. “If one of the STAR team were to get injured, as a direct consequence of you not leading the team…”
He leaned in closer, causing her to instinctively flinch.
“What’s your backup plan, Director? Would you take responsibility? Or…
Do you have another plan in play…preferably one that involves you stepping up?”
She sighed, rocking her chair back and forth. “If there really is a situation where even the most experienced of them can’t overcome the challengers…
That’d be quite devastating, no?”
“ ‘Citizens rally together to donate blood amidst scarcity due to recent terrorist attack,’
‘Good Samaritans providing monetary services and donating everyday resources to resolve crisis of people overbuying,’
‘ ‘Stand up for what's right’, says a 25 year old shop attendant, as he fights for the injustice and prejudice against police officers due to recent terrorist attack,’’
Scarlett scrolled through the news articles and read off them one by one just as David had done-except in this case, the articles were the complete opposite.
“David must have seen all this by now, right? Do you think…” Scarlett trailed off her sentence and turned to face the young man dressed in a pure white suit with a black tie.
“He must've,” He said as he pulled out her office's drawer and began tinkering with the machinations inside, occasionally muttering a “Shut up, Bandung, I'm only doing this because of you,”.
“He mentioned the Corrupt Crimefile case, you know,” Scarlett lay back in her office chair tiredly.
And that was when the young man stopped with his childish playthings-though, to his credit, it looked more like he'd regained control of his limbs again and could freely move them.
“He…did…? Did you tell that team from the Internal Security Department?”
“They were just here a while ago, you didn't run into them?’ Scarlett tilted her head slightly, raising an eyebrow.
“You know I'd rather not have dealings with them,” The young man continued. “The Corrupt Crimefile…
You don't think he realised, do you?”
“No, he only casually mentioned it with other cases,”
The young man quickly shot a glance at the paper-thin glass, transparent walls of Scarlett's office-and quickly pressed the control that blurred it.
“The next step of the plan is in action, then?” He asked cautiously.
Scarlett said nothing, only nodding her head quietly.
“Are…you ok?” The young man finally managed to spit out after a brief period of awkward silence.
“Yeah, I just…’they’ won't die in vain, will…they?”
To this the young man walked forward up to Scarlett and held her hand up to the table like he was having an arm wrestling match.
“ ‘They’ will not have suffered for nothing. If the plan fails…”
He swiftly reached for his gun and cocked it smoothly.
“I will have them die a thousand deaths to simulate the pain that ‘they’ went through.
I will have them burn for eternity and drown in their endless money that they so longed for, so much so as to put ‘them’ through so much pain.
I'll make them pay myself.”
