Chapter 8

The infiltration continued—not smooth, not planned. A brutal tug-of-war between Arya and the parasite clawing for control.

After dispatching three more guards—only knocking them out, though the parasite screamed for blood—he found it.

A hidden door.

It led to a basement that smelled of death.

Corridors stretched like veins in the earth. Walls damp and crumbling. The air—thick with rot, chemicals, and fear.

Behind steel doors, he heard it all: sobs, screams, laughter warped by madness.

And then—at the corridor's end.

A door unlike the rest.

Electronic locks. Security cameras. Motion sensors. A keypad glowing blue.

This was it.

Arya pulled a bypass device from his pack. Fingers moved fast—sweaty, steady, silent. The lock clicked. The door hissed open.

Inside was a lab. Sterile. Clean. Cold.

Too clean.

Glass tanks. Humming machines. Monitors flashing data in languages Arya couldn't read.

But at the center—a tank.

Filled with glowing blue-green fluid.

And inside—

Bayu.

Or what was left of him.

Arya stepped forward, unable to breathe. The figure inside the tank was monstrous. Bones twisted. Flesh translucent. Metallic implants fused into muscle. Tentacles curled along the spine like living wires. And yet—

The face was his.

Bayu.

Arya pressed a trembling hand to the glass.

"God… what did they do to you?"

Bayu's eyes opened.

Still human.

Still his.

"Arya…"

"You came…"

The voice was in his head. Not spoken, but heard—like a memory remembering itself.

"I'm getting you out," Arya said, scanning the room for a release valve.

"No. Don't. It's a trap… they're using me…"

CLANG.

The door burst open.

Men in black poured in—rifles raised.

And behind them—

Professor Hadiwijaya.

White hair. Round glasses. Calm, cruel smile.

"Mr. Arya," he said, clapping slowly. "Welcome back."

"You son of a—"

"Tut tut," the professor interrupted, raising a finger. "Let's not start with violence. You're outgunned, and this room is… well, let's say it doesn't forgive sudden movements."

Arya looked up.

Turrets.

Dozens of them.

Hidden in the ceiling.

All aimed down.

"All this," Hadiwijaya said, "was for you."

He gestured to a massive monitor now displaying Arya's biological scan.

"You are… astonishing. Rapid regeneration. Heightened senses. Even telepathic resonance. You're the breakthrough we've been waiting for."

Arya's jaw clenched. His eyes flicked to Bayu.

"You used him."

"Bayu was necessary. Without him, we couldn't draw you here. You're… elusive."

"Don't listen… to him…" Bayu's voice whispered in Arya's mind.

"They want control. Not progress. The parasite—it changes minds, Arya. Souls."

Arya's vision swam.

Pain stabbed his skull.

Like something was forcing its way into his thoughts.

The parasite was fighting. Bayu was fighting. And somewhere in the chaos—

So was he.

Professor Hadiwijaya chuckled.

"Ah. Seems Bayu's trying to speak. Impressive, really. He's the only one who survived full telepathic fusion. But… unpredictable. We've had to keep him sedated. Electrocuted. Occasionally dismembered."

He nodded once.

A lab assistant hit a button.

The fluid in Bayu's tank turned dark.

And Bayu screamed—not with his mouth, but through the air itself.

"ARYA—RUN—PLEASE—STOP THEM—"

Something inside Arya snapped.

And it wasn't human.

The parasite didn't resist him this time.

It merged.

Welcomed.

Empowered.

The lights shattered.

Darkness dropped like a guillotine.

Turrets opened fire—blind.

Guards screamed as bullets tore through flesh and metal alike.

And through it all—

Arya moved like vengeance made flesh.

He disarmed, dismembered, and dropped every guard in his path. Their weapons were useless. He was too fast. Too strong. Too angry.

Too changed.

The professor turned to run—

Arya caught him mid-step and slammed him into the wall.

Hard.

Cracks webbed through the concrete.

"Tell me how to free him!" Arya bellowed.

"He'll die!" the professor stammered, blood at his lip. "The tank's keeping him alive! Outside it—he'll suffer!"

"Arya…"

"He's right."

Bayu's voice was soft. Accepting.

"I can't survive outside. I'm not… me anymore."

Arya's hands trembled. "No. I can save you. I can—"

"You already did."

"But now… you have to end this. And me."

"Give me peace, brother. Please."

Tears blurred Arya's sight.

He raised his pistol.

Not at Bayu.

But at the system beside the tank.

"I'm sorry…"

"Thank you."

The shot echoed like a death knell.

The life support system shattered. Sparks flew.

The tank drained.

Bayu smiled.

And closed his eyes.

Their link—

Gone.

Arya collapsed beside the tank, silent.

He didn't scream.

Didn't sob.

Just whispered:

"…Goodbye, Bayu."

Eight minutes left.

He tied the professor with thick data cables.

Snatched a hard drive from the console—evidence.

Then he walked.

Not ran.

Walked out of the collapsing lab like a ghost on fire.

Behind him, the facility detonated in a roar of flame and rubble.

Serambi Nusantara's clinic—its secrets, its horrors—reduced to ash.

But Bayu's voice still echoed in Arya's mind.

Not a whisper.

Not a memory.

Just a name.

And a promise.