Novels by Adinda Permata

"Hero?"The voice didn't come from the truck's speakers. It echoed directly inside Mega's head, like a distant whisper from the bottom of a well. It was hoarse, cold, and filled with confusion.Mega winced, clutching her temples. "He... he’s talking to me. Through my mind.""What is he saying?" Boby asked, his eyes fixed on the monitor displaying Roy’s figure."He’s asking... what a 'hero' is," Mega whispered.Outside, Roy lowered his hand from his chest. He took a single step forward. That small movement caused Irene, perched on the roof of the truck, to tighten her grip on the minigun, ready to unleash hell if necessary."Human... Brown..." Roy’s heavy voice finally rang out, this time through the air rather than the mind. He spoke slowly, every syllable sounding like a monumental effort. "You... took... my Queen.""I didn't take anyone, General," Boby replied over the intercom, his tone trying to sound casual even though cold sweat soaked his back. "She chose for herself. She chose

The LED lights on the truck's ceiling flickered dimly, adjusting to the power fluctuations from the solar generator. The air inside the truck bed was silent, filled only by Ujang’s soft snoring from the corner and the rhythmic beeping of medical equipment.Mega opened her eyes.This time, there was no screaming. No wild jolting. She woke up with a terrifying stillness, as if her soul had just returned from a long, exhausting journey.She stared at the metal ceiling. Her memory slowly pieced together a messy puzzle.She remembered the coldness of the nitrogen. She remembered the pain as her skin blistered. She remembered the sweetness of Boby’s blood on her tongue. And most clearly, she remembered the face of the man in the clown mask smiling at her even as his neck bled."You’re awake?" Nur Hasanah’s flat voice broke her reverie.Mega turned her head slowly. Nur was sitting at her workstation with her back to Mega, busy with a microscope."There are clothes on the chair next to you,"

The subtle, repetitive cracking sound inside the dimly lit truck bed sounded like someone stepping very slowly on shrimp crackers. However, the accompanying sight was far from appetizing. It was a scene both horrifying and biologically mesmerizing.Inside the metal bathtub—a repurposed freezer—Mega lay in a fetal position. The hard layer of grey skin that had served as her mutant armor was now cracking everywhere. The fissures widened, peeling away from the flesh beneath like a molting crab shell.Nur Hasanah didn't blink. Her eyes were glued to the magnifying lens, observing the process with an almost religious awe."This... this is beautiful," Nur whispered, her voice trembling. "Look at the vascularization. The capillaries under the new skin are immediately filling with fresh blood. Pink. Not black. She's alive. She's truly coming back to life."Boby, leaning against the truck wall with his left arm heavily bandaged, could only manage a weak smile while chewing on the remains of a

"Hold her! Grab her legs!"Nur Hasanah's shout cut through the chaos inside the cramped, cold truck bed.Inside the metal tub filled with melting ice, Mega's body convulsed violently. It wasn't just shivering from the cold, but violent muscle spasms. Her back arched upward, her heels and head slamming against the metal with loud, ringing *DANG! DANG!* sounds.Ice water splashed everywhere, soaking the truck floor, which was already slick with blood and chemicals."Her heart is in fibrillation!" Sarah reported from the monitor, her voice panicked. "The graph looks like a tangled mess of scribbles! Her nervous system is rejecting the cold temperature!"Ujang and Irene held down Mega's legs and shoulders with all their might. Even Ujang, whose strength was equivalent to a bull's, struggled to restrain the slender woman's thrashing."She's ridiculously strong, ma'am!" Ujang complained, the veins in his neck bulging. "I feel like I'm holding back a semi-truck that's about to flip!"Boby, w

"LET GO! LET GOOO!"The scream was not human language. It was the sound of tectonic plates grinding, condensed within the vocal cords of a mutant woman.On the Cipularang toll road, Mega thrashed with a ferocity that made the laws of physics weep. Her feet were firmly embedded in the asphalt, which had been transformed into a super-sticky polymer trap. However, her upper body still possessed the inertial momentum from her supersonic run.The result was horrific.Mega's shins (tibias) began to bow. Her thigh muscles strained almost to the point of rupture, trying to pull her legs free from the instant "cement.""System! Hold her! She's going to tear her own legs off!" shouted Boby, who was riding Mega's back like a cowboy on a short-circuited mechanical bull.Boby clung to Mega's neck with his left arm, while his right hand held a steel syringe loaded with an elephant dose of tranquilizer (enough to put two Tankers to sleep).But injecting her wasn't that simple.Mega's body vibrated a

"Zero percent."Sarah swiveled her office chair to face Boby, pointing at the monitor displaying a 3D graphic simulation. On the screen, a green dot (their truck) was attempting to chase a red dot (Mega). In every simulation, the red dot either successfully escaped, or the green dot crashed into a tree and exploded."The probability of us catching her in a chase is a big fat zero, Uncle Bob," Sarah explained, chewing gum. "Even if Uncle Ujang drives like he’s possessed by an F1 racer, the laws of physics won't allow this heavy six-wheeled truck to match that creature's acceleration. She can turn 90 degrees without braking. Us? We’ll just end up rolling over in a spectacular crash."Nur Hasanah nodded in agreement, her eyes fixed on the portable microscope on her desk. "Her metabolism is hyper-accelerated. She’s not just fast; her neural reflexes are 50 times quicker than a human's. Before your finger can squeeze the trigger, she’s already moved to the next county."Boby sat on an ammu