The Old Jakarta Archives 03:00 WIB
The fire was not just burning, it was screaming. Years of papers and forgotten files were fueling the flames, making the building very hot. The orange light from the fire was shining on the police officers' special masks. They were just standing there, not knowing what to do. They were supposed to arrest a hero. They also wanted to run away from the heat.
Hartono was very angry. He was usually a person, but now he was shouting. "You have killed us all," he said. He was trying to get to the burning papers. It was too late. "Those papers were important," he said. "They were proof that the law is not working."
Pistachio was shouting back at Hartono. "No, Hartono, those papers were proof that you're a failure. You had to hurt a girl ten years ago to prove that you were right today. That is not justice, that is just being selfish."
Yanuar had his gun ready. His finger was on the trigger. "Pistachio, put down the flare gun," he said. "You are destroying papers."
Pistachios' friend Malik said, "These papers are not important anymore, Yanuar. They are fuel for the fire." Malik threw a chair at a window to make a hole for air to come in.
The fresh air made the fire even bigger. The police officers were separated from Pistachio by a wall of fire. Hartonos' special device was. It stopped working.
Malik's tablet was working again. "The signal is back," Malik said. "I can do something now." Malik was typing fast on his tablet. He was not trying to save the burning papers; he was doing something dangerous. He was looking at the security cameras in the building, the ones that Hartono thought were not working.
"The internet is working again, " Malik said with a smile. "I am sending this video to everyone in Jakarta, to all the news channels, and social media." The people of Jakarta could see Hartono, an important person, looking dirty and scared, and shouting about a ten-year-old murder in a burning building.
Hartono looked up. Saw the camera. He realized that people were watching him, and they did not think he was a hero anymore. They thought he was a man who was trying to hide his mistakes.
Hartono looked at his watch, and it was beeping very fast. "The guilt is too much," he said. His heart was beating fast, and his special watch was detecting that he was very stressed.
The watch said, "GUILTY". Hartono was very scared. "No, I am the one in charge," he said. But it was too late, his watch was making his heart beat fast, and he was going to die.
Pistachio did not help Hartono. He just stood there watching him. "You said that people who do things must pay for them, " Pistachio said. "It looks like it is your turn to pay."
The police officers were very scared. They put down their guns. Hartono fell. His watch was still beeping.
Pistachio and Malik jumped out of the window just before the building fell. They were safe. The secrets of the past and the man who was in charge were buried under the rubble.
Jakarta was very quiet. The signs that said "Justice is Coming" were not working anymore. The Great Purge was over. It did not end with a trial. It ended with Hartono being exposed as a person.
Pistachio was standing in the rain, looking at the city. He was a detective without a job, a hero without fans, and a man with a lot of work to do.
"What now, Pis?" Malik asked.
Pistachio looked at the city lights. "Now we do it one step at a time."