Chapter Text
The first time Viktor realized something bigger was at play was when he accidentally say an unfamiliar logo drawn in one of Ali’s homework. It was only for a second before Ali had immediately erased the logo but it was enough for Viktor to memorized it. Then, he was suddenly hyper-aware of Cikgu Karya’s not-so frequent but still noticeable request for Ali’s or Alicia’s presence during class time.
That made him wonder if the so-called Stamp Club was hiding something, because truly, why else would the stern no-nonsense prefect Alicia would willingly spend time with someone like Ali? Oh, Ali was a truly great friend once people get to know him, but he was an awful student, a trait that Alicia would turn up her nose at.
And Ali? Collecting stamp? His friend was truly a kind person but he for the life of him could not imagine his best friend having a hobby that he would passionately claim to be ‘utterly boring’.
So, he got suspicious.
All of a sudden, he realized that Ali started acting weird when he got close to these people; Alicia, Cikgu Karya, and even his Uncle Bakar, because he soon realized it was strange that Ali was suddenly close to his uncle when before, Ali had only mentioned their relation only in passing. So he searched for clues, and everything started when Ali joined that Stamp Club.
The cold evening air stung Viktor’s cheeks as he sat on his balcony, gripping a printout of everything he had uncovered. It had taken weeks of sleepless nights, silently following Ali and Alicia’s whenever they had their Stamp Club meeting, asking random questions to Uncle Bakar about it, but the puzzle was slowly coming together.
It all came to a head when he eavesdropped Alicia whispered-scolding Ali to stand up for himself as an agent.
An agent.
It wasn't hard to find out clues once he got that. M.A.T.A. was a covert intelligence agency operating under layers of encryption and secrecy—an academy for young agents.
And Ali was one of them.
He glanced at the creased photo on his desk—one from when they were eleven, both grinning with missing teeth and tangled hair, holding up a cardboard cutout of Detektif Jebat. Those days felt like another lifetime now. Ali hadn’t just withdrawn. He had fallen. Fallen into something so vast, so dangerous, that he had been forced to bear the weight of the world with no one to lean on. Viktor stood abruptly and grabbed his hoodie.
If M.A.T.A wouldn’t protect him, then Viktor would join it. And he’d do it on his own terms.
Two days later, Viktor stood in front of a his school’s library building. It was supposed to be a normal albeit rarely used building, especially in the age of technology, students were more prone to use their tablets for school materials or for fun readings. But Viktor knew better now.
He had tracked a pattern—times when Ali or Alicia or whenever the Stamp Club went inside the library, almost always they would not come out within an hour. He had cross-referenced footage from a nearby security camera that showed the entrance of the library, but it was enough.
A M.A.T.A access hatch lay inside this library.
Timing would be everything.
At precisely 2:35 PM, he saw Uncle Bakar coming towards the library for afar. Quietly, he slipped inside and immediately hid himself among the rows of endless books. At the corner of his eyes, he saw him entered the library and went straight to a specific bookshelves. Keeping his head down, he saw a nondescript book being pulled out and a hand being placed in between the pages. There was a brief flask of dim red light before a quiet swoosh was heard. Viktor immediately ran towards the bookshelves and saw a pillar was split opened, revealing a hidden lift platform inside, with no Uncle Bakar in sight.
His heart pounded.
Now or never.
As the pillar started to closed, he sprinted across the aisle and leapt towards the lift. He wedged himself through, slamming into the wall as the narrow lift lowered into the earth. He had made it.
The corridors were dim and silent—built for speed and utility, not comfort. Everything gleamed in sterile steel. As Viktor moved, he realized this wasn't an academy—it was a fortress.
He kept moving, hugging walls, ducking behind crates and machinery. Every sound made him tense. Footsteps echoed in the distance. Doors opened and closed with pneumatic hisses.
Then, suddenly—
“INTRUDER!”
Viktor’s heart dropped. A red light pulsed overhead, and alarms rang out like air raid sirens. He bolted, turning corners blindly.
A metal shutter dropped in front of him. Another behind.
He was trapped.
Suddenly, electrified netting wrapped around him and flung him to the ground. He screamed out, the wires buzzing with low voltage. Two agents appeared, weapons drawn.
“Who are you?” one of them barked.
Viktor coughed, the breath knocked out of him. “I’m not here to hurt anyone... I—I came for Ali.”
Agent Karya stood behind a one-way mirror, arms folded, watching Viktor sit—handcuffed, bruised, but defiant. His school records flashed on the monitor beside him:
Viktor Ong.
Age 12.
High grades.
High tech aptitude.
No known affiliations.
Student of SRT Cyberaya 1.
He was quite familiar with this boy. The boy who always hang out with Agent Ali, one of the top scorer’s in Ali’s class, only second to Alicia. A boy addicted to video games, a seemingly harmless boy that shouldn’t have any idea about M.A.T.A. For as long as he was a teacher at SRT Cyberaya 1, he was confident Ali had never let slip about M.A.T.A to anyone unrelated, especially under Alicia’s surveillance.
And yet
“He broke into the M.A.TA base,” said an agent. “That’s a serious breach.”
“And yet,” Karya muttered, “he didn’t touch any weapons, didn’t steal any data. He asked for Ali, of all people.”
He studied Viktor’s expression. There was no fear. Only concern. Loyalty.
Karya narrowed his eyes.
Interrogation Room
The door opened, and Karya entered, flanked by two guards. Viktor straightened.
“You’re the one watching over Ali,” he said.
Karya raised an eyebrow. “I am one of many. Who are you to him?”
“I’m his best friend. And you’ve all abandoned him.”
Karya stayed silent.
“He’s breaking,” Viktor continued. “I saw it. He won’t say anything to you because you’re the ones who let it happen. But I know what I saw.”
He studied him for a long moment.
“You broke into one of the most secure buildings in Southeast Asia. Risked arrest, or worse. Why?”
“Because he’s needs help, before it’s too late,” Viktor said softly. “And if I have to break every rule to be there for him, I will. I’m not leaving without helping him.” “Besides,” Viktor lifted his head to directly at those sunglasses-covered eyes, “You wouldn’t hurt me, not when I'm just a naive child that stumbled this place by accident because someone wasn't carefully enough, not when I’ll expose everything about M.A.T.A if anything happens to me or Ali.”
Heavy silence, the threat hanging in the air between them.
Karya’s gaze hardened. “And what if we said we could use someone like you?”
Evaluation Hall
The next two months were brutal.
Karya hadn’t released Viktor. Instead, he submitted him—quietly—to a hidden evaluation phase: Neuro-aptitude tests, combat agility assessments, moral logic drills, even simulations of ethical dilemmas.
Viktor passed most of them—not with top scores, but with something more important: empathy, clarity, and sheer stubbornness.
Viktor knew he won when one day, Agent Karya gave him a never seen before weapon and forced him to train with it for the next month.
Ali sat on a recovery bench outside the training bay, rubbing his temple. His body was still weak from the recent override incident. Everyone gave him a wide berth. Except one.
Viktor stepped into view.
Ali’s jaw dropped. “Viktor?! What—what are you doing here?”
Viktor grinned, holding out his hand. “I think I’m your new classmate.”
Ali stared at him, unable to speak. Then his shoulders trembled. He didn’t cry—but something inside him cracked open just enough to let the light in.
“You’re insane,” Ali whispered.
Viktor shrugged. “Takes one to know one. So, Agent Ali... mind showing me around?”
Ali gave the faintest laugh. And for the first time in weeks, he smiled.