Randomers

by Alexis Dogman

  Ada opens the second form and reads the reason, "Family issues." Rejected.

  Ada opens the third form and reads, "Family is in trouble. Need to go help." Again rejected.

  Ada opens the fourth form and looks at the reason, "My sister is a prostitute and I need to help buy her off from the syndicate." Rejected yet again.

  Ada opens the fifth form and reads Chaisai's begging, "I miss my family. I want to help my sister. I want to see them. Please. Let me go." The rejected box is ticked.

  Ada opens the last form and reads, "I am depressed and no longer can focus properly on the task at hand. I am not a valuable asset to the Hive anymore. Release me." Expecting to see the reject box to be ticked, Ada is surprised the form is checked with 'alternate action'.

  What is alternate action? Ada goes back to the other files and finally finds a form that explains what happened. Chaisai was given a special one week leave approval to settle his problems and come back to the Hive. He made a copy of the MAP, left and never came back.

  Ada then searches for his background information. The Hive usually does a detailed enough background screening before recruiting anyone. But there might just be information that they have overlooked.

  "Born and raised in a small fishing village. Youngest among three siblings. Father died when he was five. Kaew prostituted in Malaysia in order to survive her family..." Ada murmurs to herself as she screens through the information, "If Chaisai was telling the truth about going back to save his sister, why did he take a copy of the MAP? Did his sister get a buyer?"

  Ada then watches the recordings of Chin's termination on Chaisai. Almost towards the end, Chin had a fallen down a flight of stairs causing him to loose one of the contact lenses and he reportedly removed the other one because it was tearing and was causing him pain in the other eye. So in the end no one else witnessed Chaisai's death.

  "What if Chaisai is still alive? Could it be that he has just found his way back to his sister? But if he is alive, they won't need to decipher the MAP. He would have already known the results," Ada wonders to herself.

  "And why involve Yuna?" Ada continues to try figuring out the link between them as she downloads Yuna's profile.

  "Parents died in accident at the age of eighteen. Left them a fortune. Raised her sister single-handedly. Graduated in accounting. Transferred to Australia two years ago. No relationships, one distant relative. You're just a loner like me I guess..." Ada mumbles to herself as she drowns herself into Yuna's painful past. The more she dwells into their backgrounds the more she can feel their pain and then she understands. These two women share one simple trait - the painful lost of a loved sibling.

  "So you guys are out for revenge?" Ada probes. Even though she feels a tinge of pity for them, she has been trained to be emotionally detached from her targets. It is especially important in this case, where it is either their lives or hers. So there is no room for sympathy.

  How did Kaew come to find Yuna? Why does she want to involve such a novice accomplice who would drag her own efforts down? Maybe because Yuna's got the funding? Or was it out of pity? Those are the questions that are spinning in Ada's head.

  "Nevermind, so what will two women wanting revenge on the Hive do? Yuna tried searching for the randomers' identities. Are they planning to default or warn them?" Ada deduces, her forehead pinched into a frown because if they succeed, there might be a chance that the MAP will deviate from the time-line. The last three randomers on the MAP is not under her charge. Other ghosts might take double her time to reinstate a new randomer. To find three randomers at the last minute will be quite impossible.

  To confirm her suspicions, Ada starts downloading all CCTV recordings from Wisma LLC, the building where Raja Poobalan's office is at.

  "Ah ha!" Ada slaps her palms onto her workstation in excitement, disturbing the rhythm of the monotonous keyboard tapping that fills the work area.

  Her profound doubts are confirmed. Looking at the tall and slender woman in her worse than simple disguise of just a baseball cap and overly large reflective sunglasses, she has indeed done all that's necessary to shy away from digital facial recognition.

  Ada watches the mute recordings of Yuna conversing with Raja Poobalan. To find out what they were saying, Ada clicks at a tiny button on the top of right hand corner of her sophisticated video player and a subtitle of their conversation starts to display at the bottom of the video, generated from interpreting their lips' movements.

  "So you are trying to default our randomers!" Ada says to herself smugly, the right corner of her mouth turning up into a smile, "And Kaew plays diversion while Yuna kicks off our randomers from the chessboard. Too bad I know your plan ladies."

  Ada checks on Raja Poobalan's status and it looks like Yuna's warning has fallen onto deaf ears. If things don't go out of hand, his initiation shall go on as planned.

  Chapter 21

  Malaysia: Monday, 17th November 8:20 p.m.

  After a brief two hours stopover in Hong Kong, the plane has since continued its flight towards Malaysia and is now already in Malaysia's airspace preparing for landing in another ten minutes. Cruising high up in the air at night, the view down onto the Malaysia landscape and her cities of lights are just breathtakingly alluring and beautiful. The night is alive with her highly populated cities awake and represented by the dense dots of white lights from below. Her roads are filled with trails of red and yellow light of the busy traffic. Her people are far from going to sleep as the night is still considered young.

  A ding sounds as all the lights in the cabin gradually come on until the cabin is fully lit. An announcement then follows, "Dear passengers, we are delighted to announce that we will be landing shortly. Please put your seat backs and tray tables in full upright position and fasten you seat belts. All electronic devices must be turned off until we are safely parked at the gate. Thank you."

  Finally, it is time for Samantha's last task. She bends down to grab her handbag and picks it up. Reaching her delicate hand and fingers into it, she removes a gray little box slightly larger than a matchbox. It is one of her jewelry boxes for her rings. Samantha flips it open and inside the box are the two silver hive shaped brooches.

  Nikki has since moved back to her previous seat as the man at the other window seat has been snoring like a bulldozer. She is stealing a look at what Samantha is doing and catches a glimpse of the brooches as the matted glow from the brooches is somehow alluring.

  Samantha raises her head and catches Nikki looking and out of politeness, Nikki praises, "Those are lovely."

  "Really? They're couple brooches," Samantha says, smiling gladly.

  "Yeah, they're lovely," Nikki nods.

  "Wonderful! 'Cos I was just thinking of giving them to the two of you," Samantha quickly seizes the opportunity to give the brooches to them.

  "No, no. We can't have that," Nikki quickly turns down the offer politely.

  "Please take it. You two remind me so much of me and my husband. So lovely together," Samantha says to Nikki, "I bought these just before he died. We never had a chance to wear it. It'd make me so happy if you two could wear it for us. As a couple. If you don't mind, that is."

  Nikki stares hesitatingly into Samantha's eyes, which have already started to tear a little.

  "Please," Samantha pleads as she takes the brooches from the box and walks over to put them into Nikki's palms.

  Nikki has no other way but to accept them with an empathetic smile on her face.

  "Great. Put in on! Let me see how the two of you look," Samantha pushes and Nikki pins one of the brooches onto her white top.

  Turning to look at Zach, Nikki nudges her elbow at his. Zach turns to look at her. "Hey babe, what is it?"

  "Samantha's given these couple brooches to us. I've put mine on. Let's put on yours," Nikki tells Zach.

  Zach takes the brooch and looks at it. He isn't too keen on putting it onto his shirt, then he has an idea - he will put it onto his cap. Zach takes the brooch and pin
s it onto his cap beside the word 'Beetle'. Perfect, now he won't look too silly.

  Samantha looks at them, most satisfied. She clasps her hands together and smiles like a proud mother looking at her graduating children. "Perfect," Samantha says to them and goes back to her seat.

  The plane starts to descend and Samantha is more than happy that finally her job is done.

  Unbeknownst to Nikki and Zach, they have just been tagged with a new generation of RFID device. Once the plane lands and Zach turns on his cellphone, the virus will come to life and send out a signal that activates the RFID chip inside the brooches. Apart from detecting their locations via satellites, the brooches are equipped with a voice recorder and a mini camera that will record and telecast everything they say and do.

  The plane lands smoothly and everyone on board applause the Captain. An announcement then follows after the landing.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Local time is 8:32 p.m. and the temperature is twenty six degree Celsius. For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign. Please do not forget any personal belongings and use caution when opening the overhead bins. We remind you to please wait until you are inside the terminal to use any electronic devices. On behalf of Air Elite and the entire crew, I’d like to thank you for choosing Air Elite. Have a pleasant evening and hope to see you again,” the stewardess announces as the plane is taxiing to the gate.

  Zach and Nikki are excited more than ever and so is Samantha. While Zach and Nikki can't wait to start their sizzling five star holidays, Samantha can't wait to go home on the earliest direct flight back to Vancouver.

  Zach and Nikki, oozing with excitement, bids farewell to Samantha and are among the first few to exit the plane. They walk through the jet bridge and into the terminal. The modern and mammoth size airport is more impressive than what they had anticipated. The first thing they do once inside the terminal is to turn on their cellphones and take pictures of themselves arriving in Malaysia, posting the pictures onto their social accounts immediately.

  Just as they are happily snapping away, their brooches have come to life. Eyes are watching them from the Hive, keeping tabs on their every movement, making sure that things will fall into place nicely. Just outside the airport, two unwilling men are ready with their task.

  Using the stretches of travelators, Nikki and Zach quickly follow the Arrival sign towards the Aerotrain boarding area. The Aerotrain links the satellite building utilized for international arrivals to the main terminal building.

  "Is this what you imagined it to be?" Nikki laughs as they finally stop walking to wait for the Aerotrain.

  "No way. I was thinking of more like a tiny airport surrounded by a jungle. This is just... Whao!" Zach laughs.

  "Happy holidays!" Nikki cheekily smiles as she gives Zach a slap on his shoulder.

  "All thanks to my lovely wife," Zach says and bear hugs Nikki, giving her a big kiss on her cheek.

  The Aerotrain arrives and the metal framed glass doors of the safety wall slides open concurrently to the train's doors. Zach eagerly tugs Nikki into the almost seat-less train. Before they know it, they have reached the main terminal building.

  Half an hour later, after immigration checks, baggage claim and custom clearance, they finally exit into the arrival hall and to their delight, a clean shaven Malay man in his late thirties wearing a brown batik shirt and black pants is already waiting for them. He holds a white manila card with their names clearly written in black marker in his hands. Before Zach and Nikki can wave at him, the man quickly walks over to greet them. Zach and Nikki are too overwhelmed with excitement, so much that it never dawned upon them that usual hotel drivers never know their guests' faces unless they are someone really famous.

  "Welcome to Malaysia Mr. and Mrs. Burrow!" the driver greets in his Malay accent with a polite bow, "My name is Ali."

  "Nice to meet you Ali," Zach greets and they exchange handshakes.

  "Please come with me. Your car is waiting," Ali says and takes the yellow hard shell bag from Zach's hand. He then leads them out of the airport. A shiny, black sedan drives up immediately and stops just before them.

  "That's good timing," Zach comments, amazed at how perfectly things are timed.

  "That's what we are trained to do," Ali smiles as he quickly opens the trunk and carefully puts the hard shell in. Ali then proceeds to help Zach and Nikki remove their back packs and put those into the trunk too.

  After that, Ali hurries to open the door to the backseat for them, but just before they enter the car Ali stops them politely.

  "Nearly forgetting," Ali apologizes as he opens the door to the front passenger seat and removes two loops of Indian flower garlands, comprising of tiny yellow, white and orange flowers closely knit together by a string. Ali puts one around each of Zach's and Nikki's neck.

  "What flowers are these? They smell wonderful," Nikki asks as she sniffs and marvels at her garland, unknowingly that she is inhaling a sweet smelling chemical what the Hive calls the 'sleeping beauty'.

  "Jasmines. May your trip be unforgettable!" Ali answers with a laugh as Nikki enters the back seat clumsily followed by Zach, both blushing with joy.

  The first awkward thing Zach notices when he climbs into the car is that the driver behind the wheel is wearing a surgical respirator. He doesn't turn to greet them and just stares ahead.

  Ali then takes his seat next to the driver and adding to the awkwardness is that he too has put on a surgical respirator. Zach intends to ask them what's with the masks but his lips and tongue have started turning numb. The car drives off as an uncomfortably worrying feeling form in Zach's stomach. His eyelids are starting to feel extremely heavy. Something is definitely not right, his limbs feel weak and his head is spinning. Zach uses all his strength to turn and check on Nikki and to his horror, her head is drooped with her body lying against the car door. She is already unconscious. Zach tries to reach out for her but before he can, his brain has given out. Zach falls into unconsciousness too. Life is about to turn into their worst nightmare...

  Chapter 22

  India: Monday, 17th November 6:00 pm

  A new window pops up onto the screen, indicating that the two RFID devices has been activated and life streaming of Zach and Nikki's every movement, contact and conversation is displayed onto Ada's screen. Everything is falling into place as planned. No worries on that part at the moment.

  So, Ada slides the life streaming a little further off center and focuses on devising an action plan for her most urgent mission on hand - exterminating Kaew Saowaluk and Lee Yu Na.

  Once Ada understands where Kaew and Yuna are coming from, it isn't difficult for Ada to counter respond. She will have to monitor closely to see if the next randomer Raja Poobalan will default from action. If he comes to default, Ada will be left with only one choice - abandon the current lifegrid and make Zach complete through the whole action plan written in the MAP.

  This will be a risky move - putting one randomer through so many tasks. The chances of having him default will be extremely high but it will be the only available option if Kaew and Yuna succeeds. Not only will Ada have to make Zach do what no other randomer has done before, she will also have to be careful and deft in using Nikki to push him through to the end. And with Kaew being smarter than a shrew, Ada will have to be mentally prepared for surprise counter attacks in this battle of the wits.

  Chapter 23

  Malaysia: Monday, 17th November 8:45 pm

  What will they do next? Surviving is not difficult. She has done it before and she can do it again but going against the bad guys is a whole new level. She might be the happy-go-lucky one who doesn't seem to worry at all but deep inside Kaew does worry about their situation too as there is no more turning back.

  Kaew decides to take a cold shower as she waits for Yuna in their new hideout - the corner top unit of a five storeys walk-up flat buil
ding. Partially furnished and clean, the two bedroom and one bathroom, five hundred and sixty five square feet unit is going to be their hideout for the coming months, if possible. Nestled within a densely populated medium to low cost housing area of single and double stories linked homes, the ten years old flat is considered one of the newer generations of cleaner and more comfortable flats, unlike the one Kaew used to rent. As it is a genuine residential flat with proper families, this place is less likely to harbor drug addicts, the usual underground informants Chin would most probably use, making this place an ideal location to stay under the shadow.

  Finally she is able to breathe a little slower as her heart beat slows down in pace. It has been a suspense filled day for Kaew and she can still feel her body trembling slightly even though they have found shelter. The cold water running down her skinny body isn't any help to calming her nerves. But since there is no water heater or stove in the house, she will have to grit her teeth from clattering. It doesn't even take her five minutes to finish her shower. With a pink, blue and yellow striped towel wrapped around her head and an over-sized white sleeping gown, Kaew walks to the window in the room and peeps down at the road through the gaps between the curtains, her stomach growling with hunger.