REMEMBRANCE | an ejen ali fanfiction

04 | A Ringing Phone

Several Months Later

"What is the status of the base in Pahang?"

Several red pins were laid out across the holographic map, its blue light illuminating the dark room in a shade of sapphire, like a ghostly, cold aura.

Four agents in different attire stood tall around the computer, frowning at the most recent addition to their trail, taken form in a gray pin Geetha placed in an undisclosed location of a MATA base.

Karya sighed, closing his tablet in disappointment. "It has been raided." He shook his head. Geetha turned the pin red. "I've just received word from our delegates. Nothing important was stolen, but what limited footage was transmitted revealed that the suspect was after our databases."

Leon's eyes narrowed, glancing skeptically at the Invisio agent. "Play it," he insisted. "We'll work with what we've got."

The displayed map shut off, and in its place was a hovering screen replaying a video of what appears to be the main cockpit for all the MATA interfaces, the entire wall filled with computers.

Two Techno agents, who were laid back in their seats and chatting with each other, abruptly got to their feet to face in the direction of their unknown attacker. They attempted to raise their weapons, but by some invisible force, they were lifted into the air, flailing around in surprise. Then their heads were bashed together, knocking them out in an instant. They crumpled onto the floor in a heap, unmoving.

In the final few seconds of the feed, a small, child-like figure appeared into view, nudging the unconscious agents' hands away from the keyboards before tapping into their computers. The screen cut off in a flash, the video taken over by the words 'LINE DEAD'.

"That was a child," Bakar commented in surprise, eyes wide on the screen. "Wasn't it?"

Karya turned to Geetha. "Is there any other footage?"

Geetha nodded, manning the main controls of their display. Her fingers flew on the keyboard, but after a few seconds, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, typing coming to a complete stop.

"All the data in that base has been completely wiped," Geetha said. "There's nothing here. Not on base, not in the save files. Anything prior to this event is also gone."

"The agents?" Bakar quizzed.

"Unharmed," Karya supplied. "Dazed and confused, but they're expected to check out of medical tomorrow."

"A spy?" Leon suggested. "Only agents with higher clearance can access that footage."

Geetha shook her head, running through the video another time in a faster speed. "We've already run several security and background checks in light of Vikram and Nikki." Her eyes hovered towards the combat agent, wary of his reaction. "Our contingency measures couldn't be stricter since."

To her credit, Bakar didn't react. "Another organized crime group, perhaps? A hacker?"

"That's our most logical assumption, after everything that's happened," Karya agreed. "And there's the question of their motive. What are they after? A child can't be the mastermind."

"Not to mention the technology they used," Geetha added. "Telekinesis is still only in its experimental stage and not distributed to the known public. It's a wonder how long the kid's had to train for if they can use it without causing any considerable harm to those agents."

"It's been two months," Leon grunted, teeth gritting, "and this is the only evidence we have for the crimes? A ten-second footage about a child throwing around trained agents like ragdolls?"