arso woke up. Their findings last night kept him from sleeping well. The sound of television and people talking could be heard faintly, apparently from the common room. He left the room, then walked a little wobbling towards the direction of the sound. The man smiled seeing Kalyana and Rajata watching television, with Kalyana was trying to explain the French dialogue to Rajata.
The corner of Kalyana's eye caught the figure of someone at the common room door. She turned and found Harso leaning against the jamb. Kalyana's smile grew wide.
“Morning, Har!” she said. “Thank got you show up! I'm hungry now! Where should we eat?”
Harso shook his head with a smile. “Don't you want to take a shower before breakfast?” he asked.
Kalyana realized. “Oh yeah! Let met take a shower!”
“Very well, then, we meet here again in a few minutes!” said Harso as he returned to his room.
“Let’s go, then!” invited Rajata as he got up from his seat.
***
A
When the six of them returned to the laboratory room, Wang was still busy working in front of the computer screen.Bianca immediately walked over to Wang’s desk. “Has it finished, yet?” asked the dark-haired girl, massaging the shoulders of her co-worker.“Thank you, Bia,” said Wang, writhing with pleasure, “I need a few more hours.”“Aren’t you having breakfast?” asked Harso.“Yes,” said Wang, holding up a chunk of chocolate-covered wafer, his gaze was affixed to the monitor screen. Several empty packets of chocolate wafers were scattered on the table.Harso just shook his head with a smile.“So,” said Kalyana, “what was actually happened?”Harso was silent for a moment. Everyone in the laboratory stared at him, waiting for an answer. Only Wang was immersed in his own busy life. “Yester
Rajata ignored Kalyana’s mumble, he just got busy again on his phone.Kalyana got up from the sofa, then walked towards the reading chair where Rajata was sitting. She then sat on the arm of the chair. “Can we read along?” she asked.“Sure,” said Rajata briefly.Kalyana saw Rajata reading the history of the founding of Prambanan Temple. “Is there a connection between Prambanan and the Bedulu kingdom?” asked Kalyana.“Nothing,” said Rajata, “they are two are hundreds of years apart.”Kalyana joined in reading. “You seem very interested in Prambanan,” she said, shook her head in surprise, “from photographing the building to studying the history of its construction.”“As for taking photo of the temple, it’s been a long time,” murmured Rajata while still reading the article on the phone.&ld
"What you guys just met is similar to what we got from, uh, our previous experiment subject," Karthikeyan said, on behalf of Harso who looked busy with Wang."Similar?" Kalyana repeated, her forehead frowned, "You mean that the character that Rajata entered has also been reincarnated several times?"Karthikeyan's face frowned. "Maybe," he said simply.Bianca smiled broadly. "I don't know whether I should be jealous or afraid of you Indonesians," he joked, still checking the data on the monitor screen."Who the hell is your other test subject?" Kalyana grumbled, "lest you work based on the wrong data.""If it's so similar, why can't mine fail to replay?" asked Rajata, "we had no problem streaming timeline Kalyana’s Reference Point yesterday.""That's what we're trying to find out," Bianca said as she worked her way through the data on the monitor, "we're intrigued, too.""Harso," Roel mut
Kalyana banged on Rajata's room door."What's up, Na?" Rajata asked, already in a fresh state."You woke up already?""Yeah, much earlier," replied Rajata, "I was chilling up and surfing the internet.""Let’s go to Lidia!" asked Kalyana, "they managed to unravel our complicated memory!" Kalyana exclaimed as she continued walking.Rajata immediately followed his friend's steps.In the laboratory, they saw Roel was explaining something to Harso, Bianca, and Karthikeyan. Rajata and Kalyana join them. Wang himself was still busy with his computer."Wang finally succeeded in solving the problem to find the time-space coordinates of the overlapping memory timelines," Roel explained, pointing at the screen. The computer monitor displays the tangled patterns that Lidia produces from Kalyana's memory. Roel pushed a button. The crumpled memory began to separate into some tidier graphics.&n
The dark and quiet atmosphere presented by Lidia slowly changed to reveal the atmosphere of a busy courtyard filled with piles of goods and animals.Little Iswari walked slowly across the palace grounds. No one noticed Iswari's movements as piles of foodstuffs blocked her tiny body from view. Villagers back and forth in and out of the main gate carrying their crops. Everyone is busy with preparations for the ritual of the Sesaji Bumi, which will be led by the father tomorrow morning.At the main gate, she peeked outside through the open door. The streets were full of people passed by. With trembling heart, Iswari stepped out through the gate. For a while Iswari just stood silently at the side of the road, looked left and right, watched the buzz of citizens of the royal capital in the morning. Never before had Iswari set foot outside the palace. Although Iswari repeatedly insisted on seeing the world outside, her father, queen mother, and nannies always forb
“Dinner is ready, My Lady,” said Sukemi at the door.The voice of her personal maid awakened Iswari. It was dark, the room lit only by a few oil lamps. The smell of fragrant incense filled the room. Apparently she fell asleep after taking a shower earlier this afternoon.A little stumbling, Iswari walked towards the door then opened it. Sukemi looked followed by several palace maids brought trays of dishes, waiting to be invited in.“I’m not hungry yet, Sukemi,” said Iswari. “You just tell them to take it back to the kitchen.”A little annoyed that she had awakened from her dream, Iswari witnessed Sukemi and her entourage of maids leaving. The cold air blew refreshingly, instantly made the princess realized how stuffy her room felt.Slowly, Iswari walked down the palace hallway towards the door to the garden. Taking care not to make a sound, she opened the door. For a moment Iswari froze, hesitantly looked at the garden
Iswari creeped towards the royal stable. Slowly he opened Pavana's stable, her beloved horse, and led it out. For a moment Iswari was silent, thinking about the best move to leave the palace. Finally she made up a plan and immediately spurred Pavana fast.As expected, the gatekeepers were always on the lookout for people trying to get into the palace, but they weren't prepared to deal with people breaking out. The two soldiers fell as they were hit by Pavana's burly body.Iswari drove away from the palace, smiled at the angry cry of the soldiers. They didn't seem to recognize who had barged out. Understandably, as the sun still hasn't risen yet.Years ago Iswari finally managed to find her way to the top of the cliff, the spot where Wirakrama had apparently told her about. Since then she went there frequently to watch various port activities, fantasizing about voyages to foreign lands. Lately Iswari has not visited the place for a long time, and the conversation
Iswari was in the garden when Sukemi came to see her.“Excuse me, My Lady, I want to convey a message from Senopati Wirakrama,” said the maid.“Senopati Wirakrama?” asked Iswari in surprise. “What is his message?”Politely, the maid held out a palm leaf to Iswari, which her lady took immediately.“Thank you,” said Iswari, who immediately read the writing on the palm leaf without waiting for Sukemi to resign.“If My Lady Iswari is pleased, please take a moment to visit Pavana at the stable, to see his condition.” Those were the words of a row of Pallawa letters on the sheet.Wondered by Wirakrama's message and worried if something happened to her beloved horse, Iswari immediately headed for the royal stable.The stable was deserted, not a single grocer in sight. Presumably they had finished tending and feeding all the horses. Approaching Pavana's stable, Iswari heard the rustl
"Harso!" exclaimed Karthikeyan at the laboratory door with his three teammates. “We'll go home now! Happy weekend!"Harso just waved back their greetings. He smiled at Kalyana's message about her airplane seat, then put the device on the table, fell silent.Before long, he heard the sound of a door opening and closing in the distance. Harso got up from his seat and headed to the capsule area. He then went into one of the capsule and closed the door, then concentrated for a moment giving a Reference Point to Lidia.A few moments later he was in the figure of a man who was holding and watching the hand of a woman who was sitting in front of him. The man's hand was trembling slightly and broke out in cold sweat. Harso could feel the turmoil of the figure he entered, the turmoil of a young man who had the opportunity to touch the hand of his idol.Suddenly various images of the woman's future events hit Harso's mind. The description of the meeting of th
“So you are ‘Rajata’,” commented the man who was sitting cross-legged on the living room chair.“I am, Sir,” said Rajata with a slight nod. He sat in a chair opposite the well-built man with his elbows resting on his knees.The white-haired man looked at Rajata investigatively. “Frankly, I don’t know what Kalyana sees in you,” he said a few moments later, “especially when compared to Harso who is a scientist and Armand whose successful career has led him to his assignment abroad.”“Papa …!” protested Kalyana who sat in another chair facing the two men. Kalyana’s fierce face then suddenly changed. “Errr, wait a minute, Pa. How can you know about Harso and Armand? “The father turned to Kalyana. “Na, your papa is old-fashioned, not nonsociable,” he said, “I have many friends who are happy to tell Papa about many th
"Mer, where is your friend Kalyana staying? The place looks interesting. Let’s stay there sometime too!”"Oh, yeah?" said Merina, stopped her reading and then reached for the phone Arsyad had borrowed earlier. In the timeline of Kalyana's social media accounts, her friend is seen posing intimately with Rajata on the front yard of a kind of resort. She smiled then hit the 'like' button and left a line of comments. "Looks cool!" she continued to Arsyad. "You’re right! Let’s stay there sometime later!""But that's why I can't see the news feed from of Rajata account, huh?" murmured Arsyad."Why, are you interested in him?" asked Merina while still stared at the phone screen, hoping Arsyad did not see her expression harden a little."You are crazy! I'm not even interested in other girls, let alone, boys!" said Arsyad. "I'm just curious, how come his name is written differently from other account names of your friends."Merina sm
Changi, Singapore, six in the morning. From the aviobridge window, Kalyana saw the wet tarmac from the rain. The air felt a little stifling, but that couldn't make the smile on her face disappear at all."Why have you been smiling all this time?" asked Rajata at his side."Oh, so I can't smile?" said Kalyana, trying to purse her lips. “Fine, I won't smile anymore.""Well, don't smile too much," murmured Rajata with a serious face. "If you smile like that, I will have a hard time looking ahead, as I want to see you all the time.""Ouch!" Kalyana grumbled. “I'm sorry I went out with you! You turned out to be too cheesy, making me nauseous!”Rajata just chuckled while squeezing Kalyana's hand gently.The connecting flight to Surabaya is still a few hours away. After getting off the shuttle train that took them to change terminals, Kalyana and Rajata chose to sit on one of the benches outside the departure lounge. Kalyana took out the phone, kill
"Your career and wealth are not as good as him," Kalyana replied with a serious face, "but I think you can be like him, if you want to work hard. You have the capability for that.""Thank you," said Rajata, smiled shyly. "So, do you want to go out with me?"Kalyana smiled sweetly, clutching Rajata’s hand that was leaning on the divider of their seat. "Ta, I also have some feelings for you now," she said softly. She paused for a moment then took a deep breath. Her face flushed red before even continuing to say, “And right now, I want you to hug me tightly. It felt like I just see someone I had known for a long time.”Rajata smiled, squeezing Kalyana's hand back."But," continued Kalyana again, "I'm afraid of my feelings.""Afraid?""Yes," replied Kalyana. "How could you, who I only met for the past one or two months, could suddenly replace Armand in my heart? Just because Armand was caught kissing another girl? You also just
A bang on the door woke Rajata. Immediately he opened the bedroom door. Kalyana looked neat at the door."Come on, wake up, you lazy!" Kalyana exclaimed with a big smile.Rajata hurriedly took a shower and got ready.An hour later, they were in the elevator which led them down to the lobby floor."Have you said goodbye to Armand and Harso?" Rajata asked as they walked towards the train station."Yes.""How are they?"Kalyana snorted. "Harso sent his regards to you," she replied. "Armand was still waiting for my decision.""You haven't decided yet?""Yes, I have.""Then, why haven't you informed him?""I’ll tell him later, after I finish my novel."“What does that novel have to do with it?""Hey! Stop the nag!" said Kalyana with a big smile. "Let’s go, we’ll be late!"***The train that would take them to Zurich Flughafen arrived shortly after the two reach
Getting out of the lift, Rajata walked slowly toward the door of Kalyana's apartment. Hesitantly he moved the doorknob. Unlocked. Slowly he opened the door and entered.The apartment was dark, only the TV room was dimly lit by the television set at a low volume. Rajata stepped there.In the TV room, Kalyana was seen sitting with her legs bent on the sofa, wearing her pajamas. Her chin rested on her knees while her hands were holding a cup of drink, wrapped around her legs. The girl seemed absorbed, focused on the French-language film that was shown, not caring about her friend's arrival. On Kalyana's face, which was lit by the television, Rajata caught a glimpse of two small rivers flowing from the eyes down the cheeks."Na?" Rajata greeted gently."Hmmm?" muttered Kalyana, still glued to the television."What is wrong?"Kalyana just shook her head.Rajata is sitting next to Kalyana. “Why did Armand leave the apartment? Did you
The sound of grinding machine, followed by the scent of coffee, awakened Rajata. For a moment he was confused about where he was. His body immediately sat up and alert, residue of emotions that Lidia induced."Morning, Ta!" said Kalyana from the kitchen. "Want some coffee?""Yes!" he exclaimed getting up from the sofa."Then you can help yourself!" sneered Kalyana, busy with the frying pan on the stove.Rajata just smiled, approached the machine and prepared a cup of strong coffee for himself.Soon the aroma of fried egg and butter filled the apartment."Come on, have some breakfast!" asked Kalyana while bringing a plate of sunny side ups. "This is the most complicated dish I can prepare.""Armand will be here today, won’t he?" Rajata asked a few moments later, busy scooping up his rice."Yes," said Kalyana with flushed cheeks."What time will he arrive?""Around seven o'clock, I think," answered Kalyana. "W
Quo VadisThe train was speeding gently towards Lausanne. Kalyana was deeply contemplative, looking out the window.Rajata tried to close his eyes. His body still felt a little tired. A gentle blast of warm breeze from the train's temperature control system carries the scent of Kalyana perfume, refreshing. Rajata opened his eyes. "Your perfume smells good," murmured Rajata.Kalyana turned her head. "Thank you!" she said, smiled, then looked back out."When will Armand be here?" asked Rajata."Oh, this weekend, the night before we fly back to Surabaya," Kalyana replied."You decided to forgive him and make up with him?"Kalyana smiled, shrugged. "Perhaps," she said later. "All the information that Lidia put into my head made me feel chaotic, and it seems like the experiences of all the figures we followed made me realize I miss him.""Congratulations!" Rajata replied with a big smile."Why you asked? Are you jealous?" sne