Soldiers — For Remi

First Day

Oddy and om Rival journey to Waru training place is fairly short, maybe also because they talk a lot during the trip. Oddy turned to the car window, finding a magnificent temple in front of them. The inscription "Construction Engineer Battalion 13/KE" is clearly displayed above the temple.

　The car they were driving stopped. The driver removed his seatbelt, followed by the sound of a car door lock opening. "Come," om Rival opens the car door first. "We've arrived" he held back the car door, waiting for his nephew to get out.

　Oddy came out, slowly stood up and looked around him. There are two separate grasslands, one on the right and the other on the left. The meadow stretches wide throughout the eye. In the distance there are several buildings that have been consumed by age. There was a call from the soldiers who were warming up around the field in groups. Om Rival walks towards a soldier, leaving Oddy with their driver.

　"Do you have a history of illness?" his tone was flat, as if reluctant to ask.

　"Ngga, anyway. It's just me cardiomyopathy from birth," Oddy glanced at the driver. There were many differences from him compared to the soldiers; his skin was whiter and clean, his face more geeky, and he was fairly short. Is he really a soldier?

　"Do not be so rigid, why," he answered. "Gua Arif, and yes, Waru soldier cave, but IT field."

　Oddy nodded slowly, smiling slightly. "Oddy— Cave"

　"Yes, the cave does not budeg. Caves of denger you chat ama mas Rival."

　The atmosphere was a little awkward between them, but before that could continue, om Rival came back. He brought a man with him; his body was burly and tall, his skin was tanned and he wore a Waru uniform complete with various badges. The man smiled and extended his hand to Oddy. "Gue Sujana, Jack the Waru Mari area. Lu Oddy, right?" his sentence is pronounced thick with a Betawi accent.

　Oddy nodded and shook his hand. "Yes, um," Sujana's sharp gaze made her a little uneasy.

　"The Mahar's Son?"

　"Yes, um."

　Sujana gave a big laugh then patted Oddy's shoulder quite hard. "At his uniform is still orange, orange team cake," his smile widened. "Mas Ari still nagajar nari?"

　Oddy forced himself to laugh. "Still, um. I also went to Sanggar mas Ari."

　"Well," Sujana began to walk into the region of Yonzikon, drawing Oddy with him. "Gue inget I came to Jakarta ama si Ari. Well, if you know, ya—"

　Oddy just nodded his head, pretending to listen to the babble of the middle-aged man. He looked back, finding Rival who gave him a small smile, as if to say; "Patience, yes. He's the one who's like that."

—

　"—so the story!"

　How long does Sujana tell? Oddy doesn't know, but for sure, they've walked around Yonzikon and he hasn't finished telling the story. Starting from the arrival of om Sujana in Jakarta with mas Ari, until finally he was appointed as Jack Waru has been told. Meanwhile, Oddy is getting bored. He came for training, not listening to Sujana's endless congor om.

　　They entered a small room. A light bulb went out, showing a small table and several large crates on each side of the room. Om Sujana stopped his steps and turned to Oddy. "Lu's different."

　Oddy felt cornered, his eyes glanced at om Sujana. "Um" he took a breath. "What do you mean, huh?"

　Oddy, focus!

　Oddy gulped, putting both his hands on his lap. His feelings are mixed.

　"It's a secret between us" he said in a serious tone. "Okaya Rival at that time did not worry about the boy, maybe he would be Jack Waru now. But, it wasn't Rival's fault. It's nobody's fault."

　A moment stunned, only then did Oddy understand what was spoken of by Mr. Sujana. "What do you mean, the prospective soldier who died yesterday?"

　"Iye, Iah," his right hand smashed against the table. His face flushed, showing his anger. The mood of the room suddenly changed. "Fuck shit!" he breathed, then leaned back in the chair. "It's not his fault he can do that, either. The Rival ampe was once in effect all macems. Good thing our King is willing to shut it down. So, that's highlighted in her media."

　The sleepiness Oddy felt vanished. His hands were sweating, his adrenaline was racing at once. "What's the story really, om...?"

　"Initially, yes, the ordinary rich. Pas the jatoh boy, we just panicked. The balloons had 3 hours of training. Want any disease, if the destiny becomes a mah soldier, should be strong. Well, this isn't.

　That's it, right. The boy died and so on. The hearing, the debate, the hoax, what's going on in the media. Because they are so busy, King Waru sent Rival back to the village. To Lombok ato Bali, au I forgot. We compose the storyline, let Waru members keep all safe. Once condemned, condemned all. Not the doang.

　If our media say enemy ama Hati, actually not. Jack Heart is on our side. Just those morons just nyebarin hoaxes not really. The bego mah nyerocos wae mouth kek canary a sprawling canary.

　Yeah, finally, we're discussing. We'll find out who did who. Then, we now have a deal," om Sujana stood up. He walked closer to one of the boxes. "And, we just realized, there is something missing among the factions," he faced the direction of the light beam, his stocky body forming a silhouette. "There's a Joker; a bastard who's just as reckless as a class of people."

　Oddy was silent, observing every move of om Sujana. All the words that were spoken om Sujana began to filter, his brain tried to dig deeper. "Kok, can you tell?"

　"Heh, you play this gambling, use old school playing cards. What is often not made?"

　"Joker."

　"Well, right now, so rarely dipped, playing cards only have Jack, King, Queen and subordinates."

　"Certainly, was he said there was a deal—?"

　Om Sujana cuts off Oddy's words by opening the chest in front of him. He turned his body, now facing toward Oddy. "We know how many Jokers are out there. But, only this time there is an ampe collapsed like this. Clearly, we have to find the wrong Joker."

　The room went back into silence and the tension between them began to thin. The bulb hanging just above om Sujana blinked a few times. "Oh, yes," om Sujana faced the open chest and began to dig into it. "Lu come here, dah."

　Oddy got up, then walked closer to Om Sujana. His steps stopped when he realized the contents in the box. "This is a relic from your great-grandfather," om Sujana gave a short dagger. The holster from his dagger is made of skin—or, maybe a banana midrib? Clearly, it looks worn out with age. "The Rival bring it back from the village."

　Oddy grasped the dagger, then took out the blade from the sheath. Pretty heavy. He faced another direction, throwing the dagger in the air. His eyes shone under the dimness of the bulb, not even the blade showed the slightest flaw. Oddy caught him back in his grasp, smiling widely. "Thank you, um," he faced om Sujana. The man laughed a little, patting her on the shoulder.

　"Gue likes your style."