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Flashback...

When they first met Professor Maha in the campus of Garuda University; they were taught about how important it is for them to respect authority and obey them without question--the most important thing is to follow their orders without question or hesitation or else they wouldn’t survive in their studies or even their lives in this world which is full of threats to their livelihoods as well as their lives; they were taught that without trust or respect between certain people or certain groups of people; nothing can be achieved by those groups or people in any field or any aspect of life.

“I can’t take it anymore...” Raiden grumbled, he felt like his head is exploding from their last exam; while Akito placed down his pen before turning around at him with concern on his face; worried about him if something happened during their last exam because of Professor Maha’s sudden test that made Raiden becoming lazier.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t memorized anything from your textbook yet, and I can tell you didn’t,” Akito murmured softly as Raiden shake his head no; clenching his fist inside of the pocket of his jeans while sitting at their table outside of their classroom--at least they’re free from studying now until next week when Professor Maha teaches them again.

Sanju grunted when he was literally studying the whole day yesterday if they have an exam today; even though it was only an hour long exam for the first subject in Political Science but it was enough to make him exhausted for hours now; so this sudden test from Professor Maha made him groaned loudly before sighing at his question. “You don’t have time to memorize! Everyone also unprepared!”

Haruna whined which made Damian rolled his eyes, Masaki still busy with his book--he was the smartest when it comes to quiz and exams--but sudden tests is one of his pet peeves. “We haven’t seen each other since morning because of the seminar that is keep going on and on--”

“Seminar?! We had a seminar again!?”

Haruna exclaimed, his eyes widened and jaw dropped by Damian's statement. “Wait a sec, since when?” Haruna grumbled, he felt like he’s going to die anytime soon because of the stress he got from this unexpected test. “What kind of seminar? Is there a problem with our grades?” he asked nervously, looking around the area where everyone are seated and talking quietly with their friends

“Of course not! It’s not mandatory seminar, you don’t have to worry.”

Akito said calmly as Sanju nodded along with him. “So, what does it involve then?” Raiden asked again, making Sanju sighed. “Well, it involves us participating in a debate session—in front of our classmates. So, it requires two representatives who are good at debates, which one of you wants to participate?”

At first everyone was surprised by Professor Maha’s sudden announcement of having a debate session today; but soon everyone agreed that having debates are better than doing quizzes or exams because it will help them improve their debating skills which will be useful if they want to become a politician or public figures. Ever since Sanju is the class monitor, he manage the whole group well for everyone inside the class.

Kirana and Kanae pointing their fingers at Juhaku with the others, making Sanju groaned. “Fine... opposition or support?”

“Support,” Haruna answered immediately without even thinking about the outcome—he’s good at debates since they also discussed during their class about politics or any related topic regarding social issues; so it should be easy for him if he participates in today’s debate session because they’re going to discuss human rights. “Well then, who’s the next one?”

Sanju asked, the whole class pointed at Akito--making him grumble with annoyed expression. “I guess opposition is okay…” he said, eyeing at the others with annoyance after they literally picked him for this and Demian has no idea what he’s going to talk about.

“Okay, here are the rules for you to follow: everyone starts with a speech. The first speaker is going to present their opponent’s argument first, then the second speaker will argue against the opponent’s argument and the third speaker will defend the proposition and the fourth and last speaker will make rebuttal, anyone care to volunteer to be the third and fourth speakers for these speakers?”

Sanju said, which made Kanae picked to be on Akito’s side and Izana getting picked on Juhaku’s side—both of them are glaring daggers at the whole class; mostly to Raiden because he was the first one to do it. “Great... I’ll be the moderator,” he whispered at the end.

Professor Maha was watching them carefully as he kept his pen and paper on his hand ready to write down any comment or suggestion that may arise during the debate. While Sanju and Raiden were taking notes of what each of them is going to say, Professor Maha stared at them and muttered something to himself. ‘Hmm... this is interesting, Juhaku has strong speech skills, but he lacks confidence. He’s confident, but not confident enough.’

Professor Maha mumbled to himself, writing the note down on his notepad while listening to the beginning.

‘Akito... on the other hand, he has a flexible and versatile speaking skills that makes him easy to handle during debate and rebuttal. He’s quick-witted, but not too smart to fool people. Sanju... he’s smart and quick-witted, he’s very persuasive towards his opponents, he still lack of experience so he should learn more things... as a moderator—he can stay neutral and stop the debate if need be. This is very interesting indeed. Hmm, maybe I should try this myself someday. Damian is very focused and critical while he’s doing a research, the only problem is that he need to be careful with his tone and rationality that made him lack of empathy.’

“Right... let’s start with the debate by presenting the opposing arguments first, okay?” Professor Maha announced, making both sides stand up from their seats as he wrote down on his note.

‘Kanae may seen to be glazed but she has incredible capability to debate, she’s a genius when it comes to debate. And Izana... she has a loud voice and sharp tongue that can easily persuade someone into supporting her ideas—she can be very intimidating when she’s arguing but she has a soft spot when it comes to the weak-hearted. I don’t see Raiden has skills in debate, he’s very skilled... the problem is his energetic and aggressive personality, he’s a bit annoying sometimes. Haruna? Hmm… he’s fine and debatable, I was concerned with how he keep his posture like that.’

‘But on the other hand… he has a good memory and he has a lot of potentials to become a great debater.’

Professor Maha thought to himself, smiling at the idea of having a debate with Raiden and Sanju. ‘Masaki is quiet and taciturn, he isn’t a natural speaker but his mind works faster than the average person. His mind works fast and he’s intelligent, but he can be cruel sometimes when he argues. Maybe I should let Raiden lead this debate session, it would be fun to watch him deal with Sanjaya.’

‘As for Kirana... she’s too kind and compassionate, but she has a sharp tongue and she’s extremely generous to others. Her kindness is her weakness, which is why she doesn’t have much experience in debating. She might cause trouble for the other side, if she’s the third speaker.’

Maha thought, adjusting his glasses while taking notes on his notebook with his pen--listening to the debate while Sanju moderate and making sure the debate’s time is according to what Maha set for them.

‘The next one is their debate chemistry... that’s why they need to be able to argue on their behalf to win the favor of the audience. It’s not about winning or losing, but about learning how to argue persuasively and intelligently… without losing your defense.’

“Alright, our topic is about the climate problem in Indonesia,” Sanju began, before he explained since he’s the moderator. “We’re going to argue whether or not Indonesia should ban the usage of coal power plants in order to protect the environment; we know that burning coal releases carbon dioxide into the air which causes greenhouse effect which is causing global warming. First and second speaker, please explain your arguments.”

Maha watched the debate went through, before he thought while taking notes listening to them.

‘Impressive... Juha doesn’t use his emotions when he’s arguing--which makes him sound logical and convincing. He uses real facts instead of emotional appeal, which is a good thing. Akito is good as well; he knows how to control his anger, he even pressed his lips together to prevent himself from shouting when he’s mad. He’s calm, cool and collected, but he’s also impulsive. He tends to speak before thinking things through.’

‘Sanjaya is good in moderating the debate, he keeps the discussion lively and interesting. Kanae may looked a bit tired, but she has potential and she can be interesting in a debate. She’s smart and she has a sharp tongue, but sometimes she’s too kind to others that she can get herself in trouble later on. Izana is very knowledgeable about the subject matter, but her bad temper? No thanks, I don’t want to deal with it.’

Professor Maha said as everyone applauded for them, before he stood up from his chair. “The reason why I made a debate class… is to determine how you think in a situation that involves debate or argument, even to your enemies. You have to be able to think critically before you say anything to them, especially when it comes to social issues or political matters—regarding of anything that happened. So, you guys have done well. I have some constructive criticisms on your arguments. Keep those in mind, if you decide to continue with this.”

Maha hummed, before he continued. “Juha, you’re too stiff when you’re arguing, you seem like a robot in that position. Try to relax yourself a little bit, make your voice lower and softer. Don’t raise your voice too much during your presentation--it seems a bit emotional so please control your voice when you’re speaking facts.”

Juha nodded, the lecturer continued. “As for Akito, don’t use too much confidence and arrogance when you present your arguments to your opponent in front of the audience. It doesn’t look good on you, so please tone it down a little,” Akito nodded reluctantly, even if he tried to not say anything much--hat he said was true and he allowed that to happen.

Sanju noticed his lecturer facing at him, as he was already prepared. “Sanjaya, you were pretty good in moderating the debate, you take initiative well--but don’t be too nervous okay? This is just a start when you start the debate and moderation for the first time, but when you facing a serious one… don’t play around,” Maha warned, before Sanju nodded at him.

“Yes sir, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Izana sighed, her father is being strict like usual.

End of Flashback...

Siska grew suspicious over Maha's recent experiment that she saw yesterday night, then that explains his silence the entire night and him returning back home after one and a half hour midnight. She really can't tell if she's capable of exposing this mysterious person. So, she decided to wait for him until he finish his lecturing hours and leaving the campus, so she can go to his lab and check the notes on his desk about this illegal experiment and the neon blue serums that need to be disposed. If only the incubators was disposed, then Maha might figure it out that there are people inside this school discovered his secrets...

As she waited patiently on the chair for him to come out, when he finished his last lecture and came out. She spotted him going to the secret lab to inspect if there's any students inside before opening his locker, noticing her staring at him from his back. He noticed she wasn't moving, not even blinking. "I can see you, woman," he replied sternly, placing his journal books and notebook to another journal for his work. "You better tell me what did you do to Sanjaya," she threatened, folding her arms.

"Don't play the drama here, that kid is fine. If I was gonna kill him, he would be the first, would he? He's a rare specimen," Professor Maha responded sarcastically, this girl is the strongest person in this university as far as he knows--strong enough to leave him no choice.

"I did nothing to him, if he knew who's a professor here, he should've suspected me before; he should've recognized me."

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The young professor moved closer to her, standing in front of her while watching her face changed expression from calm into menacing as she glared at him. "Your daughter won't be pleased with you," she whispered, referring to Izana--knowing that it might trigger him into revenge mode as her 'revenge game' tactics will always be her weapon to leave a threat. Maha narrowed his eyes, what kind of bribery is this woman doing?

"You're the worst lecturer that ever existed in this uni, there's nothing that could hide your true color; I'd expect the truth to you," she replied calmly, watching him pulled the closest key to unlock the secret laboratory to burn anything that could link him to this secret lab.

Siska found herself being grabbed by the collar, being pressed against the locker door with her body strength being weak. It took time for her to look at him, seeing his cold teal-colored eyes on her brown ones. "Listen here, woman. If you fucking dare to say a word to the rector about what happened yesterday with this brat..." he warned, watching her stood silent and left her no choice but nod.

To be honest, this isn't what Siska wanted to do in the first place--but she has no choice, considering of the strength and the position Professor Maha's position, she is bound by law. That was so stupid.

"Just do your job and try not to attract the students and the security, you may be the leader in the security team but make sure no one trespass this."

Siska felt his hand left her neck and his glare went back to the initial cold glare, while she merely watched him. Then, she noticed a torn-out pieces of documents and saw an illustration that is similar with Sanju--and she knows it can't be hers but... her eyes widened to see Haruna was in here too? Why did he got 'involved' with these mysterious experiments? She gasped, before turning around--she can't let this man...

She quickly sprinted away while holding the torn papers, trying to know his secret plans. But now, she should've put the torn papers back without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Sanju was still resting on his seat for his work while having a flashback over how things happened; so far it was a strange, twisted, and horrifying nightmare as he experienced the real genetically engineered human and how was he involved with them?

"Is he experiencing an existential crisis? Or is this more of a horror movie that he got involved and now, he needs to survive?" Kanae whispered, trying to interpret on the situation while hearing the truth from that. Akito was holding back from reporting shit, even though what Sanju heard was the truth of this laboratory. Now that they couldn't destroy this whole place without any backup... they couldn't do anything to figure out the truth, except trying to escape their lives for now...

Raiden tried his best to cheer him up, only he took a long sigh as he showed him a genuine but sad smile, the rest remained silent while being in a stressful situation. Damian was watching, and the rest are seeing him in an empty state, broken. Sanju was unable to handle the memories of being experimented, no wonder he had these scars on his body whenever he found it. "Am I originally a clone?"

"Sanju! No, no, no, don't tell me that you're a clone!"

Haruna realized what he just did, panicking as he watched his expression became pained for the rest of the class. It is true that Sanju isn't a clone, but he feared that he might meet the clone of his true self if the project was out of his hand. He was having an existential crisis, somewhat unable to comprehend shit after that incident. "Please, tell me I'm not a clone. Are you joking with me or you're telling the truth?" Sanju whimpered, covering his face with his hands in distress. More worse, his grandparents were so cruel and they don't even expect Professor Maha using this and maybe destroying something important of him?

"You're not a clone, Sanju," Akito reassured, he know EVERYTHING that nobody knows even though he's just an intern. Not all of them know, there's one thing that is unknown... unless all of the professors knew about this. "Yeah, so please tell me. Please, what's going on? I'm... I'm..."

The rest of his words was blurred in static noise from his mind, feeling his thoughts forming back to normal again and found himself a mess. He didn't even want to continue because it's only his personal paranoia that caused him to think what's happening right now. For unknown reason, Akito felt his stoic and icy demeanor began to melt when he saw his friend's expression from pained, an empty shell that was no longer that happy or kind student he knew while being a sophomore like them.

He felt it... oh, he felt it coming through his soul.

Sanju was in an internal cringe of painful feeling, clutching the fabric above his chest--of his heart, and feeling intense pain as his insides began to want him to stop thinking whatever he would've done to him. "I have the evidence that you're not a clone, you're still you, even you have your same height. Nothing has changed in you, he took one of your DNA in there to create a facility."

"Don't tell me, that's why his grandpa seems rather hostile to him that time I spoke to him in the campus?" Damian spoke in distress, folding his arms to his back when remembering how did Sanju's grandparents reacted. "Of course... Professor Maha made a perfect copy of him, so even if you're the one that they'll keep, his creation won't keep getting out until he create one more... and we don't know why did he want to make a clone of Sanjaya..." Haruna spoke, he saw their supervisor Siska went back to their class to hand the additional lesson, thinking it was normal to keep her presence in this time.

Sanju removed his hand from his face, laying it on his lap--if those clones were experimented with his DNA and brain data, that's means they will have the same IQ as him and had the same brain wave, thought, and that was the moment...

"Was Professor Maha after my mind? Have he... and the clone were the same man, but the clone was the younger-self version of him and had the same DNA as me? What makes me special for him? Why did he...?"

Sanju muttered before he saw Akito take out something from his bag, his eyes widened to see folders of Professor Maha's experiments and the results, and the professor... Akito, he saved them from destruction, so he could figure out what the professor wanted and if he have a clone--why is it not him? It might just be the clone experiment, but everything after is connected to Sanju--Maha wanted his brain just to break every rules of human laws. "The reason why I attended Garuda University... is because my Superintendent of Nirvana Organization ordered me to spy on him."

Akito revealed his true mission to them, and Damian knew Akito once said this in the past. He was not only an intern but a spy; the most interesting part is, when they talked to Professor Maha; Akito always observing him and even if it would cost his job, he stayed to become one with them. "That's why you interacted with us, so we can find the secret?" Haruna assumed.

"Yes, at the first week of my attendance. I managed to go inside to look up what is the professor doing--and your answers are all here, I found the lab where Sanju got knocked out by him--and it took me a fucking ass hours, you see. I'm willing to endure all the pain so I could make my job as a spy for this organization, even if it cost my life--not everything have answers for."

Professor Siska noticed what was going on in their group, just the moment she opened the door without knocking earlier and realize, the whole class seemed distracted with their own talk. Her eyes narrowed, so Akito has been a spy the whole time? The Nirvana Organization... what are they up to?

The class stopped talking, noticing she's on the door and watching the students pretending like nothing happened and ignoring their words when she actually noticed. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little tired and nothing too suspicious has happened," Akito laughed innocently, rubbing the back of his head before Siska decided to let it pass to focus on the students that were having a serious moment--but everything was back to normal, before the class ended.

Siska doesn't know either Akito really meant it or trying to cover his own mistake, notwithstanding she won't stay silent and expose everything--she will get to the bottom of this. 'I have to tell Sanjaya about this... and if he would not respond and move forward, this will be over sooner than we could imagine.'

***

Sanju was sitting on the bench in the park of the college campus, watching the kids played on the play area while the adults are talking with their friends, reading the book, and walking. He was trying to cope with his trauma for the past five days... since then, life won't be the same and has changed him into someone he was. He look up to see Kirana visiting him with her usual smile, making him smile back as if seeing her as an absolute cure for his worries. "You keep looking for me even though I don't want to stay too long in your company?" he asked, chuckling.

"Can't help it, sorry! Besides, the others don't worry about you and leave you alone, right?" Kirana asked, before she folded her arms at him. "My father told me about you, that Professor Maha suspended the classes early because he doesn't feel happy or had no time to teach anymore," she said, taking her turn to sit and stared at him while noticing he glanced around their surroundings and realizing where were they; it's the campus ground.

"Are you okay now?"

It's good thing his injury is not physically but mentally scarring, now that he spend his day off by being alone in his residence or somewhere that was unknown to the others--only exception was Kirana and Haruna who came to visit him. Sanju glanced at her, he pondered why is she here and giving him concern despite knowing he's mostly an introvert? Then it has sunk into him, they might care because the incident is connected to him. "A little better, I spent my day off yesterday to talk about my health condition--they didn't ask me any personal, until today," he replied, finding a perfect opportunity to ask this.

"So far I kept questioning myself, ever since I saw that nightmare; would you end up meeting these clones he created and..."

He stopped himself, unable to say the rest of his words. He wished to apologize but his throat felt dry, he can't make up any words and he doesn't want to cause a misunderstanding between her. Kirana stared sadly, noticing his gaze softened--she sensed he's gonna cry just by seeing him hiding his feelings. "Sanjaya, if I were you... I might able to not handle it," she admitted, as a way to calm him down. "I don't want to say the truth, but don't force yourself to continue what you say..."

She hated to say such thing, but if he kept forcing himself to finish his sentence, it was possible the nightmares might began to haunt him again.

However... Kirana wondered if Professor Maha's name holds an incredibly eerie history, including the experiments; no student has been witnessed or known what's the secret lab he's been keeping, which it became a topic to assume that he was plotting something against the government. She was worried about Izana, because she already had an internal fight with her father before, and she doesn't want to tell him about it. "I don't even want to tell anyone. I don't want to show them the expression they knew, while actually I just keep it in the closet and continue moving on... I don't want to look back after what happened."

Sanju was honest, for one time in his college career and even throughout the years. He lost hope of going to the past and yet his knowledge of science hasn't changed, perhaps his mentality came back after hours of thinking in the laboratory during. "By the way, what was your father's occupation again?" Sanju asked, hoping to bring back their mood and changing the mood. "Oh, my dad? He's a superintendent in Indonesian Research Institute, no offense but Professor Maha and my dad are rivals in every way--especially when it comes to one's research to expand his domain," she revealed to him, the two laughed and looked up to see the clear blue sky above them.

"Oh right, my dad's waiting for me. Is it okay for me to leave you here?"

Kirana asked, hoping that he won't be offended by her not continuing the conversation after telling this story to him and he would be having a different view at her. "It's fine, besides; I won't miss another class because the professor's banned. I need to keep an eye on him just in case he did something funny," Sanju grinned, in fact he have already turned into a completely different person that he have feared. "I get it, take care, Sanjaya!" she exclaimed, running away from his spot and left the location.

His smile had disappeared, looking on the front ground as the footsteps faded. "Great, now what should I do now? Stay home and hope my grandparents won't respond to me until the classes started."

Rayhanda Tjahyadi; the forty-years old superintendent of Indonesian Research Institute turning around, seeing his daughter went back from her class. He was a tall man with youthful face with snow-like white short hair with long bangs almost covering his gradient purple eyes and cheeks, he has fair complexion and slender but lean and muscular built--in addition of his chained spectacles. He wears a black formal tailcoat waistcoat, white button-up shirt, black velvet ribbon around his neck, black pants, gray stockings tucked into his black riding boots and black gloves with gray wristbands.

Rayhanda is strict, stoic and indifferent, but have a heart as kindhearted man as he cared for his people, showing his true self when he's not working. He was quite protective, stubborn and cold at times, and sometimes he will no longer control himself of his anger to drive him to rebel.

"Who's this Professor Maha, you told me?"

Rayhanda asked with a rather cold tone, but it didn't made her flinch as she smiled with her hands clasped. "He's the lecturer who has been suspended after a serious lab accident of his, and the one that's been getting violent. Today, he excused from his work because the news in the website told us that--but he also admitted that he was tired and preferred to take a month off," Kirana replied honestly. "I see... that person, has a painful journey throughout his career after he reached his top of peak... and he choose violence more than anything to keep his dignity."

He still stared at the distance, not turning his gaze to his daughter before he returned to his car; Kirana went inside to talk about this.

As long as Maha stepped in an unjust path, he will take action--he saw how cruel his reputation could affect the students and people, despite to hold the records of achievements.

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