Walee walkedthrough the corridor illuminated by pink lights. Her eyes scanned the roomnumbers on the doors to her right as her navigator blinked for her to keepwalking.
luxurioushotel was among the tallest buildings in Bangkok. The ceiling and s wereso high that she pitied the cleaners. the s, she could see the nighttime scenery of Bangkok and all of its busy roads.
The whitebuilding itself was illuminated by lights that gradually shifted pink toblue to yellow to green, and that same light shone through the high sinto the dimly-lit corridor.
To her rightwas a narrow waterway, with hologram carps swimming slowly in it. Across the waterwaywere the doors to the rooms.
These roomswere actually penthouses. The room she was looking for was a night club with aswimming pool that belonged to her boss.
Walee stoppedin front of Room X204, her boss’s personal getaway. When she stepped towardsthe door, a platform extended across the waterway, leading her to the entrance.
The door openedbefore she knocked. She stepped into the room, and dance music attacked herears. The cameras registered her face and temperature, then blinked green tolet her through.
There were manyguests inside, most of whom she did not recognize. People in party clothes eyedher uniform.
She wentthrough a short hallway and saw the indoor pool. Along the sides of the poolwere inflatable chairs and rafts. People were lying down, drinking, chatting,splashing. The behind them extended the floor to the ceiling. Atone end of the pool was the DJ stand, while the other end was the party areawhere people not in swimsuits could sit.
She stepped tothe side of the pool and scanned the faces. Her boss was not among thesepeople. She turned around and saw the minibar, and so she went up to thebartender.
“Where’s he?”She asked.
“Bedroom. Withsomeone.” The bartender pushed a plate of chips in front of her. “Eat while youwait.”
“I’ll go upthere and make my presence known.” She said and ate a piece. “Thanks.”
“Welcome.” Hesaid and went back to his business.
There was asmall staircase which led to the second floor of the penthouse.
The boss’spleasure room looked over the swimming pool, and was separated the rest ofthe area with sound-proof s. Inside the sound-proof layer was anotherlayer of glass. was the two-way type where the people inside could seeoutside, but those outside could not see inside.
Walee knew thatjust by sitting on a couch next to the staircase, the boss would eventuallyspot her. Shortly after, her boss opened the door. He was wearing a pair of yogapants, showing off his abs and well-toned arms. His hair was disheveled, and hehad stubble on his chin.
“For the loveof cucumbers, Walee.” He chuckled.
“ cannotwait until you come back to work the next day, boss.” She replied.
“But it couldwait until I’m done with my little business.” He leaned on the door frame. “So,what is it? You know my channels are always open for you, so it must beimportant for you to come personally.”
He tapped histemples, indicating his communicator. She knew he actually took them off duringhis pleasure time, so despite what he said, she would not be able to reach himanyway.
“It’s the onlything I’ll come all way to find you for. He’s been spotted again.”
The man’sexpression shifted.
She handed himher tablet, and he scanned through the document she opened.
“ was onlya few hours ago, huh? Let’s go, then.”
“Are you notgoing to put something on?”
“Whoopsie. Igotta tell my babe as well.” He shut the door behind him, and Walee waited forhim to finish.
Her boss’s namewas Srisuwan, but he preferred Suwan. He had a good head and was good-looking. Plus,he was reliable and carried himself with a certain charisma.
He was awell-to-do family, and after some series of events, ended up being a specialinvestigator. She heard that a woman murdered his entire family and left himcritically injured, but she never asked him about it.
He came backdressed, with a bag slung over his left shoulder.
“How long wereyou waiting for me?” He asked as he descended the narrow staircase, Waleefollowing closely behind.
“Not long.”
“You could trytalking to some of the girls in the party to kill time.” He adjusted his tie,speaking briefly to the door. “Don’t let anyone else in. Make sure the guestsleave in an orderly manner.”
Suwan and Waleeexited the room and turned right, walking past others who inhabited the samefloor or were otherwise just invited for a party. They had to descend anescalator to the floor below, before proceeding to an elevator.
“I don’t liketalking to strangers for non-work-related matters.” She said, referring to hisearlier statement.
“But you wantto know what falling in love is like, right? Can’t hurt to go a little bit outof your way to talk. If you don’t try to reach out, get your heart broken a fewtimes, maybe you’d really end up alone like you’ve feared.”
“I will keepthat in mind.”
“In the end,I’m just an outsider Follow your heart. Don’t let me boss you around, eventhough I’m technically your boss.” He shrugged. “So, what’s up?”
“It’s Thonglor time.” She replied. “No cybernetics or self-driving vehicles relatedaccidents, but the entire area is still down.”
“Oof. Thatwould suck for party-goers.”
“He appeared onthe rooftop of an izakaya. Witness reports said he appeared only a few secondsbefore all comms went down. They could hear his music again.”
“Any idea whatsong?”
“The same obscurefolk song that we could not find with a song-recognition algorithm and had togo to a professor in the field.”
“So, same songas always, but no injuries time… He’s getting more advanced. The firsttime he came around, he caused a major accident due to the self-drivingvehicles and cybernetic enhancements malfunctioning. That was why we had totake the case, since we ain’t got any enhancements.”
“Yes, I’maware. No need for recap.”
Suwan shruggedin response. “I’m quite proud of not being at risk of getting my organshijacked, you know. Let me brag.”
The elevatorbrought them down to the ground floor. The two exited, walking across the lobbyto the front entrance.
Suwan’s car waswaiting for them. As they stepped inside, the car’s cold air-conditionedinterior greeted them.
“It almostseems like he’s avoiding major losses.” Walee said as she did her seatbelt.
“True. Firsttime around, they called him a terrorist. Now he’s just an annoying prankster.I read a post the other day that called him ‘an anti-technology magician’. Howcool is that?”
Suwan closedthe door and entered their destination into the car’s navigation system,holding the steering wheel in case something went down. The car pulled out ofthe driveway and onto to the road.
“What do youthink he’s doing for, my dear Watson?”
“He never hadany letters, no official statements, no accounts on social media. The onlything we know about him is his name, a scrap of paper he left at thescene. So,” She flicked her tablet, “my guess is that he’s trying to getsomeone’s attention.”
She turned toface her boss and found him looking at her, his face and eyes smiling.
“Interesting.What else?”
“The name‘Apaimanee’ must mean something to that someone he’s trying to reach. Do youhave any idea who?”
“I thought youdid the background check.” Suwan turned his eyes back to the road.
“I did. I justwanted to hear your own mouth.”
Suwan chuckled.The car turned into a small street to avoid congestion on the road.
“Well, I’m notobsessed about trying to find him for nothing, as you have already guessed. ButI don’t think I’m the one he’s trying to reach.”
“Oh. Then who?”
“I don’t know.My brother Apaimanee went missing when he was sixteen, and when he came backtwenty-two years later, he kept slipping away me. There must be somethingmore important to him than reuniting with his long-lost brother.”
“Don’t tell mehe’s on some secret mission to revolutionize society and change the world.”
“Could be.Someone’s got to back him up, though.”
The car droppedthem off a distance away Thonglor. The two had to walk about five hundredmeters, past paralyzed vehicles parked on the streets.
The izakayathat their target visited earlier was next to the main road. Party-goers werestrewn about the place, bored. Some were chatting away while some wanted to beanywhere but here.
Suwan walked upto a vaping man.
“What’s goingon here?”
“Of course,it’s that Apaimanee guy! I didn’t think he’d visit place.” The man blew astream of white smoke. “I wanna post about encounter on my social media,but my phone is dead and the damn police are making me stay and give astatement. Ugh, can’t they do it online or something? I wanna go home andshower.” Then, his attention shifted to Walee, eyeing her uniform. “What? Youguys stuck here as well?”
“You could saythat.” Suwan glanced at his phone. No signal. “How do you think he did that? Hetook down signal on the whole grid. That’s insane.”
“I don’t know,man. Some kind of jamming bullshit. What’s it called? ECM? EMP? One of my buddiescrashed his car the first time that Apimanee dude showed up.”
“Whoa, is healright?”
“Yeah, he wastoo busy making out to notice that his car was out of control.”
Walee gaveSuwan a nudge, and the man turned to look around the izakaya.
“Well, I’mgonna see if the place still got food. Thanks for the info.”
“Yeah,welcome.”
The police werequestioning those in the izakaya. Suwan walked up to a middle-aged man andpressed his hands together in a wai.
“Suwan, gladyou could make it, but I’m afraid we have nothing going.” The man patted Suwanon the back. “Every single person said the same thing. He appeared, then he went.Nobody even saw where he skidded off to. We’re still looking at CCTVs, but youknow how useless those things are.”
“Those thingsare a waste of state money. So, he didn’t leave any clue again.” Suwan sighed.“Walee, anything on your side?”
“He used thesame song again time; that’s all I have.” She shrugged. “It’s a clue. Theperson he wanted to find must be related to that song somehow. Considering howobscure it is, finding someone who knows the song would be a challenge initself.”
“Ugh, and I thoughtthat would point to our suspect.”
“Might I remindyou; we do not have any suspects.”
The middle-agedman observed the exchange, hands on his hips.
“Hey, Suwan, Ithought you had a brother named Apaimanee. Isn’t that a huge-ass clue?”
“I don’t evenknow if it’s him or just somebody with the same name, lieutenant.”
“Boss, get upto the rooftop and stay there for two hours. See if he comes to you. He mightjust come, you know?”
“I don’t evenknow if he’s my brother or someone using his name. He was into music at thetime, but definitely not folk or anything traditional. I don’t know shit aboutfolk songs, so that music he’s using? Not a message to me.” Suwan shrugged.“But oh well, it’s worth a try.”
Suwan waitedfor two hours, scanning the perimeter for any signs of suspicious people.Nobody came. The night was hot and he was sweating.
The police weredone with the interviews, and they decided to call it quits. Signals went backup, and people were happy to be back on the network.
Suwan made hisway down the stairs and found a drink, plus a few grilled skewers waiting forhim.
Walee tappedthe tip of her stylus on her tablet’s screen. Suwan sat down next to her, andshe confirmed that the treats were indeed ordered for him.
“Nothing againtonight.” He took a sip of cold beer. It was a benediction compared to the hotweather earlier.
“I wasexpecting it, but you must be disappointed.”
“I wonder if person really is my brother. Who knows, he could be a shell of his formerself, transformed into some… brainwashed machine thingy-mingy.”
“That’s not aword.”
“I know, Watson.”
Walee took askewer his plate and munched on it.
“I’m looking atthe map to see if there’s a pattern to his appearance. So far, I know he’sappearing at densely-populated places. The algorithm can’t find any meaningfulconnections aside that either.”
“Huh. You mightbe right. He’s trying to get someone’s attention. Someone who knows the song, probablysomeone he met during his disappearance. He doesn’t know where that person isand is trying to lure that person out.”
“Uh-huh.”
“We need moreinformation.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Are youwatching cat videos?”
Walee did notanswer. She flicked something on her tablet and bit the last piece of chickenoff her skewer. Then, she turned the screen off and turned to her boss.
“Can you tellme more about your brother? If he really is the Apaimanee we are looking for,we might be able to glean something. If not, then you may be able to organizeyour thoughts on the matter. I can see that it’s eating at you.”
Suwan chuckled.
“You’resurprisingly sharp when it comes to reading me.” He downed his glass of beer.“I think we should find another place. izakaya is about to close up.”
2K
