THE ART OF Desire

Chapter 5: Shadows of the Epigraphist

The iron gates of Fort Vredeburg creaked heavily as they closed behind them. Outside, Yogyakarta was a neon hell filled with the screams of monsters, but here, the atmosphere was so contrasting it made Je nauseous. Crystal chandeliers powered by alien generators hung from the ceilings of luxury barracks built over the fort's grounds. There was the smell of expensive perfume mixed with antiseptic, a futile attempt to mask the scent of death from outside the walls.

"Damn, is this a refugee camp or a five-star hotel, Je?" Guntur whispered, eyeing long rows of tables laden with premium canned food and bottles of wine. "If I’d known, I would've been picking up fares to this place since yesterday!"

"Don't get too happy, Guntur. Look at the guards," Je said flatly.

In every corner, "Purifier" soldiers stood stiffly, laser rifles aimed not outward, but at the refugees eating with pale faces. They weren't guests; they were assets.

Sekar walked close to Je, her hand clutching his ruined shirt. The fungus on her shoulder throbbed, emitting a thin vapor that made people around them back away in horror.

"Master... this place... is cold..." she whimpered.

"Patience, Sekar. We’re just passing through," Je whispered, though he knew it was a big lie.

"Hey! Don't dawdle!" a guard barked, prodding Je’s back with the muzzle of his rifle. "The Professor is waiting for you in the Central Hall!"

They were led into the fort's main building. In the center of the room, a massive holographic projector hummed to life, displaying a middle-aged man with silver glasses and neatly styled hair. Prof. Surya. His face was calm, too calm for someone witnessing the apocalypse.

"Welcome, my chosen brothers and sisters," the holographic voice echoed, crystal clear without distortion. "You must be wondering, why did the world have to end? Why did these spores take everything? The answer is simple: Evolution needs fuel."

Je narrowed his eyes. "Fuel?"

"Correct," Surya smiled, a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "For too long, humans have wasted their emotions and lust on trivial things. But now, with Cordyceps-Erotica technology, every breath and heartbeat you take can be converted into pure energy. This is the New Era of Humanity as Batteries. You no longer need to work; you only need to... feel alive."

"Crazy! He wants to turn us into giant power banks?!" Guntur exclaimed. "I don't want to be plugged into a USB cable just to light up the city!"

Suddenly, Je’s ears rang loudly. His vision blurred red.

TIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGG!

[Warning! Parasitic Frequency Detected!]  

[Opposing System: 'The Epigraph' is scanning the area.]  

[System Reaction: Stealth Mode Activated Automatically.]

Je collapsed to his knees, clutching his head which felt like it was being stabbed by thousands of needles. In his eyes, the hologram of Prof. Surya suddenly turned pitch black with intricate gold data lines.

"Je! What’s wrong with you, damn it?!" Guntur panicked, trying to help Je up.

"That sound... Guntur, can't you hear it?" Je hissed through gritted teeth.

"What sound? The Professor is just talking about batteries!"

[Analysis Successful.]  

[Host, beware. Prof. Surya possesses a 'Producer' type System. He creates networks to harvest energy.]  

[Your System is a 'Curator' type. In the hidden protocols, this type is also known as: 'The Thief'.]

"The Thief?" Je thought to himself. "I'm an art thief in the real world, and now I'm an energy thief in the System world? How fitting."

The hologram of Surya suddenly stopped talking. His head turned slightly, as if searching for something in the crowd. "There is... an anomaly here. A frequency that isn't synchronized with my network!"

"Dammit, he felt it," Je whispered. He immediately hugged Sekar, trying to hide his system's aura behind her thick spores.

"Take them to the underground quarantine room!" Surya’s real voice commanded through the building's loudspeakers. "Especially the man with the Prime specimen. I want to inspect his 'collection' personally."

"Run, Guntur!" Je shouted.

But it was too late. Ten Purifier soldiers had already surrounded them with energy nets shooting from the tips of their rifles. Je, Sekar, and Guntur fell as the blue nets wrapped around them, delivering a paralyzing electric shock to their nerves.

"Damn... I... hate... freebies..." Guntur muttered before passing out.

***

Hours later.

Je woke up in a room with transparent glass walls. His hands were handcuffed to a steel chair. Across the glass, he could see Sekar being laid out on a plastic operating table, surrounded by sample-taking robots. Guntur was nowhere to be seen.

"You have a lot of nerve bringing that specimen here, Je!"

Je turned. A woman stood in the dark corner of the room. She wore a black lab coat over a gothic-style dress. Her hair was jet black, her skin as pale as a corpse, and her eyes were framed with thick, sharp eyeliner. She held a digital tablet displaying the fluctuating graph of Je’s heartbeat.

"Who are you? Where’s Guntur?" Je asked hoarsely.

"That silly friend of yours is busy trying to seduce the cook in the prisoner's canteen," the woman said, walking toward the glass. "My name is Sinta. An Epigraphic Archaeologist under Surya's authority. But personally, I prefer to call myself a collector of nearly extinct artifacts."

Sinta pressed a button, making the glass in front of Je turn opaque, blocking the view of the guards outside. She then walked toward Je, leaning in until her face was only inches from his. The scent of jasmine and ancient ink wafted from her.

"Your System... it’s very unique," Sinta whispered. Her cold hand crawled toward Je’s chest, right where the batik tattoo was. "Surya thinks he’s the only one with a 'gift' from these spores. He doesn't know there’s a 'Thief' who just entered his kitchen!"

Je looked into Sinta’s deep eyes. "What do you want, Sinta?"

Sinta smiled mysteriously. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out an ancient stone fragment that vibrated as it neared Je’s skin.

"I know what you brought from the Palace bunker, Je. It’s not just a wooden statue." Sinta lowered her voice until it was barely audible. Her eyes flicked toward the torn pocket of Je’s pants, where another fragment of the Loro Blonyo was hidden by the system. "You’re carrying the key to the apocalypse in your pants, aren't you?" Sinta whispered with a tone that was half-seductive, half-threatening. "And I want to see if you know how to... turn it."

Je felt his System vibrate violently. Not because of a threat, but because of a strange arousal radiating from Sinta. This archaeologist wasn't a normal human; she seemed able to see right through the System codes inside Je’s body.

"And if I don't want to?" Je challenged.

Sinta bit her lower lip, her finger pressing the tattoo on Je’s chest until a surge of heat spread throughout his body.

"Then you’ll end up as a spare battery in Surya's warehouse." Sinta stood up, straightening her coat. "Think about it, Thief. Tonight, I’ll take you to the Skin Library. There, we’ll see just how great your 'artistic' talent really is!"

Sinta walked out without looking back, leaving Je in the darkness of the room, which was now filled with flashing System notifications.

[Status: New Target Detected - Sinta (The Epigraphist).]  

[Potential Sync Level: 95%.]  

[Warning: She knows your secret, Host. Dominate her before she hands you over to Surya!]

"Damn... why is everyone here crazy?" Je muttered as he tried to break his handcuffs. "Skin Library? Even the name sounds terrible."

In the distance, the fort's alarm began to ring softly, signaling that the first "harvest" ritual was about to begin.

___