"Where have you been?" asked Yusuf.
Alice was taking off her clothes. Not caring about Yusuf''s whereabouts, she took off her clothes until only her underwear remained. With a flat face she said. "Where I go is none of your business! Do you think you''re the only one who can go wherever you want?"
Slightly tilted because he didn''t expect Alice to give an answer like that. "I''m just asking." And he let Alice change clothes and immediately threw himself on the sofa in exhaustion, grabbing a remote to turn on the television.
It is enough to admit that the beauty of Alice''s body looks so enchanting, maybe if another man saw her, he would immediately gobble her up. In contrast to Yusuf, who did not feel anything when he saw Alice''s beautiful body, not because he was sexually deviant but because he considered Alice as part of his family.
As usual, what he does when he turns on the television is watching an international news program which is currently showing several major events happening around the world. He was tired of watching local news programs which always presented programs about local celebrity scandals, corruption and the same state problems.
The news informs about the war taking place in the Middle East which is increasingly tense, showing how greed and ideological differences can destroy the lives of every human being.
"The strange thing about humans is that they are afraid of true peace. And the strangest thing is that they feel peaceful when war is going on."
"That only happens to those in the upper classes, in contrast to those who are below them," said Alice, interrupting Yusuf''s words. "War is the most profitable business for them."
"I agree."
After finishing discussing the war and conference that occurred in the country where he was, this time the news anchor informed about a well-known female idol group from South Korea, New Era. Will soon carry out his international tour in Indonesia in the middle of next month. Their name has started to rise since their debut last year on the world stage with the release of a single entitled Chaos and their first album received good attention from international critics.
"Daniel Allen, CEO of the Future company, gave a fact that really shocked the world at a press conference, he said that the concert that will be held in Indonesia will be the most magnificent and extraordinary concert. The following is a video of Daniel Allen''s statement to the press in South Korea."
The screen showed Daniel Allen standing on stage, wearing a black suit, he was standing in front of the media crew along with a number of top officials from Future, "Of course I am very happy with the enthusiasm of the fans who make our event very lively. And that doesn''t only happen in certain countries, in fact in all the countries where we tour, everything always ends very lively and that gives us a very good impression. But of all the countries, Indonesia is the concert venue we are looking forward to, because it will be more lively than you think," he said later. He left the location along with other high-ranking officials, not answering the media crew''s further questions.
"So he''s no longer in charge of Future now?" Yusuf asked, frowning in surprise.
"If that''s what the world sees, maybe you could say that." Alice had finished putting on her clothes. At home she didn''t wear fashionable clothes, like in her everyday life, she only wore fairly simple clothes with an oversized white short-sleeved t-shirt and tight brown trousers that were very short. "I think he''s quite crazy."
"Why?"
"I don''t know what he meant by saying that sentence. Whether it''s for a promotional event or whatever the intention is, but... how can he say that Indonesia will be the most lively and memorable tour? When compared to other countries, I think this place will only seem mediocre."
Smiling, Yusuf took a cigarette and immediately lit it. Maybe people who didn''t know anything would question Daniel''s words, but for those who had planned everything, they also agreed with Daniel''s words. In fact, he was really waiting for his tour to start.
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In the middle of next month, the excitement will not only be felt by people who saw the concert, but those who didn''t see it will also feel the same thing.
"That''s all the news we will convey today. See you again with us in the next news," said the news presenter and before ending it, they started broadcasting a summary of the tour activities of the New Era personnel.
Not knowing how exciting it would be, the world stage was waiting for him. No matter how many actors it takes to create a masterpiece, no matter how difficult it is to process the scripts in his mind, the show will reach its climax with some exciting plot that will surprise everyone, not just those sitting at the top. What will happen in the middle of next month will be more exciting than they thought. Because that was not the end of the plan he had been planning, in fact it was the beginning of a performance stage that he created.
The pre-production process has ended, when the time comes he must let the actors and actresses he chooses play their respective roles. They might improvise, but it wouldn''t be strong enough to destroy the script he had been drafting for years.
"Alice!" call Yusuf. "There will be a time when you will have to choose whether to remain sitting in front of your computer screen or go out and directly interact with people. If you find it difficult to choose, then I suggest that you choose the second option."
Alice looked at Yusuf in surprise. "Why?"
"Just listen to what I say. And later you will be grateful for listening to what I said."
"It''s definitely not something good, to the point that it makes me feel grateful to have heard your words." Alice turned on her computer, then sat in her place as usual. As soon as it was on, she began to assemble a kind of language code in the computer which resulted in various photos of a man in different places. "These are the last photos the world will know of Dave."
Yusuf immediately got up from his seat to look at the photo that Alice was showing him. "When was the last time he appeared?"
"Two years after you disappeared. A few months after Susan destroyed part of the Future branch headquarters."
"Susan?" Yusuf was shocked. As far as he knew, he should have given Susan the final order to live a quiet and peaceful life, stay away from the dark side of the world and live like most normal people out there. "Why did she do it?"
Alice''s eyes stared intently at Yusuf as if her gaze said, ''It''s true, you''re someone close to him, but you don''t know why he''s acting like that,'' and because she realized that Yusuf was a person who was insensitive to other people''s feelings, she chose to tell him. "Of all the people close to you, Susan is the one who feels like she has lost you the most. She spent years of her life just looking for you, and maybe she thinks you are being held captive by Future, or OWL."
"She even attacked OWL and D.I.E just to look for me?" Yusuf asked as if he didn''t believe it. What is even more unbelievable is that all these incidents were carried out by an innocent child like Susan. "How could it be?"
"That''s possible because she once stopped Future''s attack by herself." Never mind Yusuf, Alice herself still couldn''t believe that Susan had done it herself without any help from anyone. "Even though Lucas, who could be said to be almost your equal, couldn''t get out of Future''s base alive."
"Do you think he''s dead?" Yusuf asked
"If you look there is no more evidence of traces of the bridge of his nose. So yes, ninety percent I''m willing to bet he''s dead, there''s only a ten percent chance of him still being alive. Plus if he was still alive, do you think Future would just let him be? "They could do research on their superior body again."
Grinning, "Then I''m willing to bet that he is currently still alive and is being held by the OWL in a place of exile far from human existence," he said confidently.
Alice''s eyes widened, wondering how Yusuf could know about a special exile prison for prisoners who had committed the most heinous crimes. Only the OWl, herself, and the world''s top officials should know about the existence of this prison. Did Karius tell him? but that''s impossible because Karius doesn''t even know the existence of the prison. Or did someone leak it to Yusuf?
"You may be wondering how I found out about the existence of the prison. But Alice, before the prison was founded, I already knew about it."
Yet another complicated play on words from Yusuf. The prison had been established even a hundred years before Yusuf was born into this world.
"Even if you know about the existence of the prison, it doesn''t mean that Lucas will be there. The possibility that he is dead is greater, and there is only a small chance of him remaining alive. Moreover, what he attacked was not just any place, it was the heart of the Future. There are definitely many strong people assigned to protect that place."
"And I''ll bet on ten percent that you''re sure." Yusuf again revealed a little that Alice had tried to hide from him. "I also know that Lucas went there to save someone who has special abilities like Alex. He didn''t move without a reason, all the events carried out by the former Liber members, didn''t just move based on their thoughts."
It didn''t take long for Alice to figure out what Yusuf had said. Filled with anger he took a revolver from the drawer under his desk, approached Yusuf while pointing the revolver at Yusuf.
"Damn it, you said you weren''t making any plans anymore!"
Yusuf calmly extinguished the flame of his cigarette in the ashtray on the table, "Sorry, for now I don''t plan anything anymore, Alice. I did it even before the day I disappeared," he said.