The Witness Who Can’t Speak

Jakarta was unusually quiet that morning, as if the city itself was holding its breath.In a sealed room at Mentari Hospital, a man lay motionless. His eyes were open—but empty. His body was alive, but his mind trapped somewhere unreachable.

His name: Dr. Andika Wiraatmaja.Former head of a top research lab—and one of the few people who knew the full truth behind the technology at the heart of Ari's case.Now, he had become a key witness who could no longer speak.

Ari stood beside the bed, masked and silent. In his hand: a hastily scribbled medical report.

"Sudden neurological trauma. No external injuries. No traces of poison."Translation: made to look like an accident, but professionally done.Clean. Precise. Undetectable by law.

"He could still talk two days ago," said the young nurse beside Ari."He even sent a voice note. But last night... something happened. This morning, he's like this."

Ari stared at the man's frozen expression. A once-brilliant mind now reduced to a silent vault of secrets, locked tight by someone who knew exactly what they were doing.

Outside the room, Rey—Ari's trusted hacker friend—was typing furiously on his laptop.

"Bad news," Rey muttered. "You've been breached. The files you backed up last night were infected. But I recovered some… and found something else."

He played a scratchy audio file—an old recording from Dr. Andika.

"If anything happens to me, don't trust the official forensic report. They've planted someone inside the hospital. And... there's another witness. Not a scientist. But he knows who ordered the data to be falsified. His name is—"

The file cut off.Corrupted.That's all there was.

Ari's pulse spiked. The air in the corridor felt thinner.

The second witness was still out there.But he was being hunted.

And if they got to him first, the truth would die with him.

Ari turned to Rey."Find him. Whoever that witness is—we need to reach him before they do."

Rey nodded."One more thing. I checked the hospital's CCTV from the night Dr. Andika went silent. Someone entered his room using a staff ID. But the footage—was blurred. Intentionally."

Ari pocketed his phone and moved quickly down the hallway.

This wasn't just a legal battle anymore.It was a silent operation. And he was in too deep to back out.

In the parking lot, his car was waiting. Engine running.But he hadn't started it.

Someone had gotten in first.

Ari paused at the emergency stairwell, taking a slow, quiet breath.Cold sweat slid down the back of his neck.

It was his car. The engine was running. The dashboard lights blinked.The driver's door… slightly open.As if inviting him in.

He approached slowly, eyes sharp, every step calculated. His right hand gripped his phone—ready to record or call. His left hand slipped a metal pen from his sleeve—no ordinary pen, but one he had custom-made for emergencies.

"If you wanted me dead," he muttered, "you wouldn't be this subtle."

He peeked inside.

Someone was sitting in the back seat.Face hidden by a cap and mask. But the eyes—cold, unmoving—stared directly at the rearview mirror.Watching him.

"Get in," the voice was deep, low, and calm. "If you want to know who you're really up against."

Ari froze. One second. Two. Three.

Then he entered. Closed the door slowly. The keys were in the ignition—but untouched.The car didn't move.

The man handed him a black envelope.

"Inside are photos. Transcripts. A secret meeting that happened two weeks before you won in court. What they're protecting… isn't just business. It's a network."

Ari opened the envelope cautiously.Inside—photos of a man in a white shirt standing beside two high-ranking government officials.One of them had publicly claimed neutrality.The other... was the father of the lead attorney in Ari's opposing legal team.

At the center of the table in the grainy photos, a folder was visible—stamped with the initials: "P.P.I."

Ari muttered, "Perisai Putih Indonesia… the 'law within the law'?"

The man in the back gave a faint smile. "They're more than that.They are the system inside the system.And you... are getting too close."

Ari turned sharply. "If you know all this, why don't you report it?"

The man stared back.

"Because I used to be one of them."

Before Ari could say another word, the man stepped out into the dim parking garage—and disappeared.

Ari sat alone in the car, breath held.

His phone buzzed.One message.

"Your next move will decide whether you'll be remembered... or buried without a name."

Ari stared at the message on his phone, fingers trembling just slightly.

"Your next move will decide whether you'll be remembered... or buried without a name."

His breath felt heavier. The silence around him was no longer peace—it was pressure.He started the engine. The hum sounded normal. But everything had changed.

On instinct, he opened the envelope again, scanning the last photo.

His eyes caught something he hadn't noticed before: a blurry reflection in a glass panel behind the meeting table.A face.

It wasn't a politician.It wasn't a businessman.It was a judge.

Ari's heart skipped. He zoomed in, pulse racing.Judge Prakoso.The same man who had ruled against his client in a separate corruption case last year.

Ari whispered, "It goes deeper than I thought…"

Suddenly—his car dashboard flickered.The screen glitched.Music began playing on its own—an old Indonesian lullaby.Childlike. Innocent.Wrong.

Then came a new voice, through the speaker system. Modulated. Untraceable.

"You found the door, Ari.But what's behind it will either make you...or destroy everyone around you."

The screen went black.

Ari sat frozen. No sound now. No signal.

And for the first time, he truly understood:

This wasn't about law anymore.It was a game of control—and he had just touched the edge of the empire.