The lights shone brightly in the office on the 14th floor of The Triple Monolith building amidst an atmosphere so tense it was almost suffocating. A murderous aura radiated from the body of a man in his early fifties who stood prominently in the center of the room. The sign in front of the door clearly identified the owner of the room: Moses, Chief Executive Officer.
“Crash!”
A luxury vase was swiped off the table and shattered into pieces.
He yanked off his necktie violently, standing there panting heavily, his face flushed red with the fires of rage...
“It’s been this long and you still haven’t caught her?”
Bald Jiang and Gap-toothed Long could only stand with their heads bowed in silence, not even daring to make eye contact with this giant who weighed over a hundred kilograms.
“Jiang! Is there no clue at all?” Moses roared loudly, the sound echoing off the walls of the narrow room.
“Boss... if the police hadn't interfered, I would have definitely caught her!” Gap-toothed Long straightened his chest and replied, hoping to regain some face.
Moses turned abruptly to stare intensely... “And which idiot was the one who fired the gun?”
“I have sent men out on three search lines already, Boss. We should have news soon!” Jiang reported in a calm, steady voice.
Moses turned to look at Jiang with a fierce gaze... “If I can’t settle things with the police, every single one of you will end up sleeping in prison! Look at this, it’s already dark. Who knows how far she’s fled by now!”
“Right now, we have spread our forces to search everywhere in Wuhan, both hotels and lodgings.” Jiang looked at the buttons on Moses's shirt.
“What about her residence?”
“The car and personal belongings are all still there. She hasn't returned to her residence. I’ve sent men to watch it; if she goes back, she won't escape.”
Moses slumped heavily onto the sofa before lighting a long cigar and taking a deep drag...
“The police haven't reported back yet either. They have to clear things for the bicycle race tomorrow morning. .”
“May I ask, Boss, who that woman is?” Jiang moved his foot to kick a shard of porcelain.
“Dr. Natalie Park... the Deputy Director of the Research Center. She’s Korean and has been with us for over two years.” Moses blew out cigar smoke and narrowed his eyes at Jiang.
“I didn't see her go out much. I’m not familiar with her face.”
“Dr. Kim Min-young, the former Director whom you poisoned to death in his residence three months ago, was the one who brought her to work. He said this girl is a genius with an IQ of 180+, having finished a PhD in Microbiology before she was even 14 years old... as for other history, I don't know.”
“And... what did she steal, Boss?”
Moses blew out a cloud of cigar smoke and took a long breath... “Just know that it is very important. Get it back no matter what. A black alloy box labeled Aeon 30
“Knock, knock!” Four subordinates returned to join them.
Moses quickly stood up anxiously... “Any clues? Tell me quickly!”
Jiang then turned to Ah Tue, the plump subordinate who stood panting heavily... “Ah Tue! What did you find out?”
“The boys found these clothes and a backpack.” He placed a set of black clothes along with a backpack on the table.
Moses scanned them with his eyes... “Do you think it's her? I only know she was wearing black.”
“I’m not sure either, Boss. We found them in a trash can. The child of a monkey seller in the market said they belonged to a beautiful woman, but it hasn't been confirmed.” Ah Tue reported stutteringly.
“If she is still in Wuhan, there is no way she can escape. My men are spread out at every point.” Jiang reinforced with confidence.
The worry in Moses’s eyes began to fade... “If you can catch her, I’ll give her to you. You can do whatever you want with her.”
“What if she fights back?”
“You can use lethal force, but the item must remain. Now go.”
“I’ll take my leave then.” Jiang moved to lead his subordinates out.
Cigar smoke drifted in thick clouds, obscuring Moses’s stressed face. He slowly leaned back and raised the cigar to his lips, taking a full drag. He blew out the dull grey smoke slowly before a sneer curled at the corner of his mouth—the smile of an angler who knows well that the fish has no way to escape his grasp.
Then his lips moved slowly...
“...Messiah!!!”
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Western Suburbs of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
POV: Tan | September 2025***************************
The sound of the walkie-talkie broke through.
“Everyone... we're going to take a break at Chenpibao first,” Sawn’s voice drifted out.
The massive neon sign of ‘Chenpibao Jiudian’ (Chenpibao Hotel) shining brightly by the bypass was like the oasis we longingly sought. The parking lot was crowded with hundreds of giant trailer trucks, lined up like a silent army of Transformers.
Tui threw an arm around my neck and led me straight into a bar pulsing with dizzying lights. The smell of cigarette smoke hung heavy, competing with the music and laughter. A dozen slender-bodied young girls swarmed us, welcoming us with the familiarity of old friends.
At a table near the entrance, Sawn sat sipping a soda with Loweis—the tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed Westerner I’d just met this morning. Loweis was an old friend of Sawn and Tui from their time in France. Everyone was so close that there were no grand greetings; a simple nod to each other was enough.
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“Want a drink, Jetdoe?” Loweis asked loudly over the sound of the music, sliding a glass of liquor toward the man beside me.
“Call me Tui... now I'm a trailer truck driver,” Tui replied with a deadpan face, but his sharp eyes flicked toward Loweis for a second as a warning before shifting his gaze to the emptiness on the table in front of him.
“Where's my water, Sawn?”
“Coming, sir!” Sawn scrambled to slide a glass of water over immediately, like a loyal pup afraid of making his master wait.
I watched, my brows furrowing in surprise. Just a moment ago, when he led the convoy in, I had felt an intimidating aura from him. He looked like a warrior or a gang leader who had seen much of the world. But why, in front of this simple-faced brother of mine, did he seem utterly harmless?
Loweis laughed so hard his shoulders shook. “You really are something... whether your name is Tui or Jetdoe, that foul mouth hasn't changed since Marseille. Remember? The day we almost became fertilizer on the Corsican border.”
“I don't remember, and I don't want to,” Tui cut him off and took a large gulp of water. “Those old stories died along with that French uniform.”
Sitting beside him, I could only keep my suspicions to myself. Jetdoe? Marseille? I began to feel that this brother I respected had a past far deeper and more formidable than the glasses prank he used to mess with my head.
“Jetdoe! What’s the move? Don't think too long!” Tui urged me again. His eyes didn't look like he was joking, but filled with a certain hunger I had never seen before.
“I'm afraid of White Silence, man!” I answered firmly, trying to hide the disappointment starting to form in my chest.
Tui clicked his tongue in frustration. He didn't wait for a second answer but stood up and scanned the bar. He then walked straight to a slender woman in a qipao waiting nearby, putting his arm around her waist. He leaned in and whispered in her ear until she giggled, and they walked off together, disappearing up the stairs of the bar... a place everyone knew was for one thing only. I could only stare at his back with an indescribable feeling.
I looked away from the stairs with intense frustration. In my head, images of Auntie Aueng’s face floated back and forth until I wanted to go up, grab Tui by the neck, and scold him once and for all.
I tried to find somewhere to rest my eyes to calm down, but then I noticed something that was... "too prominent." In a dim, hazy bar like this, there were two or three blond Westerners sitting at various tables. They didn't look like trailer truck drivers or factory engineers at all. Their clothes were clean and they looked far too good for this place. One sat at a wall table, looking down at his phone, but every time he looked up, I felt he was watching our table. When our eyes accidentally met, he quickly looked down like someone with a secret.
Another standing at the bar was the same. He didn't talk to the girls like the other men but stood sipping water quietly, glancing toward Loweis so often it made me uneasy.
“Loweis...” I whispered, nudging my chin toward the nearest blond man. “Is that your friend? Why does he keep staring at us? Or am I dressed weird?”
Loweis didn't look where I pointed. He just sipped his coffee slowly and smirked. “Maybe he’s just interested... in what a black-haired kid like you is doing sitting with an old foreigner like me.”
He remained indifferent until I grew annoyed. Between Tui running off to have his fun and Loweis giving one-word answers, China, in my eyes right now, was starting to look scary and untrustworthy.
After a while, Loweis, who had been sitting still, suddenly stood up. His eyes locked onto a newcomer. I followed his gaze until I saw a tall, graceful woman appearing in the dim light. She wore a knit beanie pulled down low; the flashing lights in the bar obscured almost her entire face. Only her single-lidded eyes were visible, smiling into crescents as she walked toward Loweis.
But what caught my eye wasn't that smile... it was her gait, walking straight as a ruler. Her shoulders were perfectly taut and dignified, unlike the other bar girls who usually walked with a flirtatious sway. Her persona was clearly 'military in civilian clothes.' It looked so out of place here that I wondered what she was doing in a bar for trailer truck drivers.
Loweis didn't speak a word. He grabbed her hand and hurried out of the bar immediately, leaving me blinking alone at the table.
“Hi! Tan!” a deep voice called from behind.
Ali Ram, my Indian friend, beckoned me over, patting the seat next to him. He was a large, pot-bellied man with skin like polished ebony. For a stranger, he looked intimidating, but Ali was diligent, talkative, and loved performing magic tricks; he was like a traveling comedy troupe. He seemed to take a special liking to me. Ali loved Thailand; he had been there selling fabric since he was a teenager. Once, he drove a Vespa into a sewer before being deported because he had no identification documents. He always tried to chat with me, but I rarely had answers, and I’d just realized I didn't know my own country that well.
“Tan! Good to see you again. What are you hauling? From where? To where?” Ali asked, his head bobbing in that classic Indian style.
Tame 30 vaccine headed to Luang Prabang, I answered simply, nodding to everyone at that small table.
He stood up and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close until I caught that eternal, unique scent of his. It was a throat-stinging musk that made you hold your breath for fear of going into shock. I didn't show it, though. It’s a national scent; you can’t hold it against them.
“Do you guys know each other yet? Come here! Let me introduce you... Everyone! This is Tan from Thailand. Get to know him.” Ali Ram bobbed his head, introducing me to the two other men at the table.
My eyes snagged on a familiar face. “Hey! Yusuf Khan, I remember you.”
I greeted him first. Yusuf Khan, 32, from Northern Afghanistan. He wore a black-and-white checkered keffiyeh. His deep-set green eyes stood out against his thick beard and a long scar running from his cheek down to his neck—a reminder of his intense past as a Taliban warrior. He was a quiet, serious man. Yusuf stood up to shake my hand firmly.
“Good to see you again... Tan.” It was a short sentence, but heavy with meaning in a world where meeting again is a gift from God.
“You too, Khan.”
I turned to the new face sitting next to him. A small young man stood up quickly and gave me a polite Wai. I paused for a moment before returning the gesture.
“Sabaidee khrap!” he smiled politely. “Nice to meet you. I'm Sisamorn. I'm Lao, from Bolikhamsai. Please look after me.”
Ah... a Lao brother. I nodded and smiled, then turned back to Yusuf. “Yusuf Khan, where are you headed this time?”
“Hauling four million doses to Dushanbe, Tajikistan. I'm probably going the furthest in this convoy. Once this job is done, I’ll take a long rest. Haven't been home in a very long time,” the former Taliban warrior answered flatly before sitting back up and falling silent in his usual manner.
The pungent scent of Ali surrounding me now wasn't nearly as bothersome as the image I imagined of what Tui was doing up there. I felt like it was a waste of effort to have ever respected someone like this, and this anger was waiting to erupt. I vowed to myself that as soon as I got the chance, I’d definitely have a word with him. I wanted him to understand that Auntie Aueng’s feelings weren't something to be treated so carelessly.
“In Varanasi, my hometown, they are organizing a festival to welcome the Tame 30 vaccine. If I go back, I’ll be a hero!” Ali kept talking incessantly, his voice bobbing along with his energetic head-shaking. But for me, that voice started to become just a distant frequency.
I listened with one ear and out the other; my heart was focused only on the stairs. Frustration smoldered until my chest felt hot. The more Ali laughed cheerfully, the more I thought of Auntie Aueng’s face back home. I gritted my teeth. The pungent scent of Ali now wasn't nearly as disgusting as what Tui was doing up there.
Amidst the global fear and the anger smoldering in my chest... the beautiful Chinese music on stage began to play, contrasting sharply with reality. It made everything seem like a pure dream from an old world that had already collapsed.
I turned away from the conversation, looking out at the road through the hazy glass. Roadside lights shone brightly on a pair of Chinese teenagers doubling on a motorbike. They were flirting and laughing as if the world were never without hope. It was a beautiful sight, heartbreakingly so, in the middle of a world crisis. But while others saw hope, I saw only a ghost of Auntie Aueng, left to be lonely while her lover enjoyed himself in this cheap bar.
When the song on stage ended, others began to trickle back... including Tui.
He walked toward me with a wide grin, looking cheerful as if nothing had happened. He reached out to put an arm around my neck as usual, but this time I felt so nauseated I had to pull away slightly. He led me past Sawn’s truck. We waved to Loweis, who was already in his cab, ready to roll.
The radio broke the peace once more. “We’ll take the next break at dawn in Chaopo, Hubei Province. We’ll talk then. Everyone, move! Roll out!” Sawn, the convoy leader, commanded.
The trailer trucks pulled out one by one, following each other into the vast darkness. Not long after, Sawn’s voice announced loudly:
“There’s a checkpoint ahead. Everyone, be ready.”
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Author’s Note: