Antologi Divisi Story 2015

When the sun starts to set itself on the faraway horizon, my friend, with your foremost firms - do believe, on the Earth's other hemisphere, the sun's ready to sparkle its warmth-of-brilliance to this very Earth alight.

----------------------------

Welcome aboard everyone to our very first transmission after a semester-long hiatus. No, this blog hadn't been forgotten by us - not even being close to oblivion, we might say. The suspended-animation status, however, had made this blog missed the chance to witness the very moment of reigns changing - the very moment where a new sovereign had arisen to further expand its predecessors' success stories.

We have to say, the previous Sunday was an incredibly marvelous day for everyone to get along with various activities - soothing breezes, warm sunlights, and many more. It had, however, turned out to be an even more joyful day for Stephen Ariel K. // skiseki as he was officially declared as the chosen individual to triumph the Genshiken Story's leadership for the upcoming year, being the direct heir to the previous Zakaria S. Laksmana // Nivalyx's throne.

Onto every dynasty, however, prevail various legacies. No different with Rakaputra P. // Rheine's bestowings beforehand, the remnants of last year's champion literacies were engulfed in a yearly anthology forme - Antologi Cerita Divisi Story Genshiken ITB Periode 2014 - 2015, to be exact.

As suggested above and by the title, what resided within the book were the winning entries of last year's selected writing challenges - with the previously-featured Zielverhuiser being a featured piece. Standing firm accompanying were two (semi-exclusive) short stories derived from two different contributors, of which both were firstly posted throughout the authors' personal blogs. It's such a bliss that the very book managed to be done on time to be exclusively premiered at Comifuro 6 last month - we're delighted had our book quenched your literary thirst back then!

Speaking aside, however, the last few months had been proven as a very productive month for Genshiken ITB in general. This very announcement is - indeed - just a small piece of the vast progress Genshiken ITB made over the past months (with Genshiken Staff Training 2015 being the most prominent and the most hyped for, arguably). Expect us to deliver more interesting coverages soon, and until then, have our conferings of a beautiful day!

GWC : Zielverhuiser

Apakah poster di atas terkesan familiar bagi Anda? Ya, poster yang telah ramai bersirkulasi di media sosial Facebook selama beberapa hari belakangan merupakan poster dari Freak-Quency, sebuah game Visual Novel yang berkisah mengenai misteri seputar dunia permainan virtual. Seusai versi penuhnya dirilis beberapa waktu yang lalu, game besutan Dewi Nur Fitri // Xerofit51 ini telah ramai dibicarakan dalam beragam komunitas, baik lokal ataupun internasional.

Meskipun demikian, banyak yang belum mengetahui bahwa game ini sejatinya adalah proyek lintas anggota Genshiken ITB. Pembaca yang jeli mungkin masih mengingat artikel mengenai Freak-Quency yang kami lansir beberapa bulan yang lalu, dan percayalah - sejak saat itu, banyak aspek yang telah berkembang pesat. Nama-nama seperti Sakon // sakon04 (yang notabene kini telah resmi bergabung dalam panji Genshiken ITB), Zakaria S. Laksmana // Nivalyx, dan Bima Saddha Prabawa // ntLKM pun turut andil dalam pengembangan game ini dengan kontribusinya masing-masing.

Fenomena Freak-Quency mungkin sedang mewabah, namun terlepas dari itu untuk saat ini kami ingin membawakan suatu konten lain yang menyegarkan ke permukaan. Yap - mengiringi musim liburan kali ini, kami mempersembahkan kepada Anda sebuah kisah pemecah rekor internal yang telah kami singgung sebelumnya - Zielverhuiser. Berikut detail teknis mengenai karya terkait :

• Judul : Zielverhuiser
• Pengarang : Ted Kesgar // tkesgar
• Event : Genshiken Writing Challenge - UJIAN

Sebelum kami mengakhiri post pamungkas di tahun 2014 ini, kami juga ingin mengumumkan bahwa tertanggal 15 Desember 2014 kemarin Hamzah Yondita // Yon sudah efektif menjadi admin kedua blog ini! Konten dari Yon akan kami hadirkan sesegera mungkin. Sampai saat itu tiba, selamat berlibur, dan tetaplah produktif berkarya!

PS : Further insights about the new version of Freak-Quency (including download link) is accessible here

----------------------------

Selasa, 28 Oktober, 0530
Rengasdengklok, Karawang, Jawa Barat
Prajurit Satu Anisha Farakina
Batalion Infanteri 42

Aku duduk di sebuah bukit kecil di belakang kamp latihan, merasakan hangatnya mentari yang baru terbit sebagian. Hampir semua orang masih berada di tenda masing-masing, merapikan perlengkapan masing-masing, takut jika tiba-tiba sore nanti ada sidak. Aku sudah bangun sejak jam empat pagi dan sudah selesai membereskan perlengkapanku menjelang Shubuh; aku masih gugup karena hari ini adalah hari yang penting. Setelah apel pagi, kami akan mengadakan latihan perang khusus di pusat kota Bekasi. Hasil dari latihan perang itu akan menentukan siapakah beberapa orang dari kami yang akan diambil menjadi anggota Resimen Operasi Khusus.

Menjadi anggota ROK adalah tujuan utamaku menjadi tentara. Alasanku bukan untuk mengejar pangkat, bukan pula karena rasa patriotisme membela Tanah Air, namun karena aku ingin berada dekat dengan Aram. Dari kabar terakhir yang kuperoleh di mensa, saat ini ROK berada di Cikarang, sekitar lima belas kilometer dari Rengasdengklok.

Suasana pagi ini mengingatkanku pada satu pagi lima tahun lalu. Pagi di mana Dumai dibombardir. Pagi di mana ayah dan ibu tewas terkena bom. Pagi di mana seorang teman yang sudah kuanggap sebagai kakak, Aram, menyelamatkanku. Aram beserta beberapa teman yang lain -- Hariadi, Jaring, dan Bayan -- terlarut dalam semangat patriotisme dan langsung mendaftar menjadi tentara, meskipun saat itu mereka masih berumur enam belas tahun.

Aku menjadi tentara saat kondisi Indonesia sedang sulit-sulitnya. Dua tahun yang lalu, aku ingat saat itu TNI memerintahkan semua orang di usia lima belas sampai empat puluh tahun untuk datang ke kamp pelatihan menjadi tentara. Saat itu, hanya pulau Jawa yang masih dikuasai Indonesia. Kondisinya sudah lebih baik sekarang -- kami sudah merebut kembali pulau Kalimantan dan Sulawesi, namun musuh masih menguasai pulau Sumatera, Banten, dan pusat kota Jakarta.

Ketika aku mendengar Aram menjadi anggota ROK, aku meniatkan diri untuk menjadi anggota ROK. Setelah pertempuran besar di Bandung -- tiga puluh ribu kami melawan delapan puluh ribu tentara musuh, atasanku merekomendasikanku menjadi anggota ROK. Anggota ROK hanya dipilih lewat seleksi tertutup berdasarkan rekomendasi staf senior. Tampaknya apa yang kulakukan di Bandung -- menembak empat puluh tiga musuh dan merusak sebuah tank kecil -- cukup membuat staf senior terkesan.

Aku ingin bertemu kembali dengan Aram, orang yang aku suka sejak kecil. Sekarang peluangku ada di depan mata, dan aku tidak ingin melewatkannya.

                                   * * *

Pukul tujuh tiga puluh, apel pagi telah selesai dilaksanakan. Kami sedang melakukan cek perlengkapan dan persenjataan di ruang senjata. Meskipun hari ini hanya latihan perang, kami diperintahkan untuk mempersiapkan perlengkapan penuh, karena hari ini merupakan latihan perang terakhir sekaligus ujian seleksi ROK.

"Perlengkapanmu sudah semua?"

Eri adalah satu-satunya tentara wanita di seleksi ROK selain aku. Dia berasal dari Pekanbaru, ibukota Riau yang jaraknya tiga jam perjalanan dari Dumai lewat jalan tol. Orangnya ramah, teliti, dan terkesan lugu -- aku masih penasaran bagaimana dia memperoleh rekomendasi.

"Ya, sudah," jawabku.

"Kenapa kamu tidak menggunakan senapan serbu -- oh ya, aku lupa kalau kamu itu Ziver. Memang perlengkapan Ziver begitu berat ya?" tanya Eri?

"Ya, hampir sepuluh kilo. Ditambah perlengkapan medis standar, aku tidak bisa bergerak jika harus membawa senapan serbu," jawabku.

Ziver adalah singkatan dari Zielverhuizer, istilah bahasa Belanda yang artinya 'pemindah jiwa'. Ziver merupakan sebuah alat baru yang mulai digunakan oleh tentara Indonesia baru-baru ini. Ziver memungkinkan jiwa manusia untuk diselamatkan dalam kondisi gawat darurat di tengah medan pertempuran. Caranya adalah dengan memindahkan jiwanya ke dalam kontainer 'fles' yang mirip sebuah botol suplai air kecil, namun terbuat dari baja dan jauh lebih berat. Nantinya, jiwa tersebut dapat dipindahkan ke semi-klon dari tubuh asli tentara tersebut -- sebuah android yang mirip dengan tubuh aslinya. Terdengar mengerikan, namun TNI hanya berusaha menyelamatkan tentara yang hampir mati. Sejak pertama kali diperkenalkan beberapa tahun yang lalu, Ziver telah menyelamatkan ratusan nyawa tentara, namun memang ada tentara yang marah, yang lebih ingin mati di medan perang alih-alih menjadi semi-klon. Alat Ziver sendiri terdiri dari dua buah pelat dengan sebuah generator besar, mirip dengan defibriliator.

"Isha, jika nanti aku hampir mati, tolong sisakan sebuah fles untukku, ya," kata Eri.

"Insya Allah," aku tidak berani langsung berkata iya terhadap permintaan tersebut. "Ketika masuk ROK nanti aku akan menyiapkan fles khusus dengan namamu."

"Yah, meskipun nanti juga belum tentu terpakai," Eri menepuk kepalaku. Dia begitu tinggi untuk seorang wanita -- tinggiku 168 cm, namun aku hanya sedagunya.

PRIIIT!

"Semuanya berangkat!"

Peluit tanda waktunya berangkat dibunyikan. Kami berangkat keluar dari ruang senjata menuju kendaraan masing-masing.

                                   * * *

Selasa, 28 Oktober, 1530
Cikarang, Bekasi, Jawa Barat
Letnan Satu Ramadan Arietta
Resimen Operasi Khusus 4

"Pindai ke arah barat laut."

Bayan menembakkan sebuah drone ke angkasa. Dilengkapi dengan kamera, sebuah drone dapat melihat kondisi suatu medan hingga radius empat kilometer.

"Satu kilometer ke arah utara. 42 sekitar tujuh orang, musuh cukup banyak, ada kendaraan tempur."

"Baik. Semuanya, bergerak menuju zona pertempuran, hindari kontak dengan musuh, Raka ikut denganku. Bayan, Madina, pergi ke titik ini dan siaga di dalam mobil," aku menunjuk satu gedung di peta interaktif. Gedung tersebut relatif jauh dari zona pertempuran.

"Dimengerti."

Aku dan Raka berpasangan menuju zona pertempuran yang ditunjukkan.

Pukul sebelas tadi pagi, Batalion Infanteri 42 diserang secara diam-diam oleh musuh saat mengadakan latihan perang. Sebagian besar dari mereka sudah dievakuasi, namun terdapat satu peleton yang menjadi penjaga belakang ketika evakuasi. Atasan memerintahkan dua skuad ROK-4 -- salah satunya skuadku -- untuk menjemput peleton penjaga belakang. Dari kondisi mereka sepertinya tidak terlalu bagus; satu peleton berisi sekitar dua puluh orang telah berkurang hingga menjadi tujuh orang. Rencanaku adalah menjemput mereka -- sisa mereka -- dan lari menuju Bayan-Madina yang sudah siaga dengan mobil.

Aku tak habis pikir mengapa mereka mengadakan latihan perang hanya beberapa kilometer dari garis depan.

                                   * * *

Aku dan Raka tiba di zona pertempuran, sebuah rumah susun empat lantai yang cukup besar. Kami memasuki rumah tersebut dari arah selatan, menghindari musuh yang mengepung dari arah barat dan utara. Suara tembakan berdesingan memenuhi telingaku.

"Teman dari selatan! Teman dari selatan!" teriakku, memberi tahu Tentara 42 bahwa terdapat unit ROK di daerah mereka. Seorang dari 42 menghampiriku.

"Kamu komandannya?" tanyaku.

"Ya, saya Serma Amir. Kapten sudah tewas," jawabnya.

"Berapa orang yang tersisa?"

"Tujuh, dengan satu orang medis Ziver."

"Baik. Raka, siapkan satu drone tembak di lantai dua menghadap barat, aku akan siapkan satu di lantai tiga menghadap utara. Amir, bawa semua orang ke bawah, kita akan evakuasi," aku memberi perintah kepada Raka dan Amir.

"Dimengerti."

Aku menaiki tangga menuju lantai tiga, saat kemudian aku melihat sosok yang kukenal: Isha. Isha memegang tangan dari seorang tentara perempuan yang terbaring di lantai. Tentara perempuan itu bersimbah darah, dari mulut dan tenggorokannya keluar darah membanjir.

"...sha..." tentara perempuan itu berusaha berbicara sesuatu.

"Eri..." gumam Isha, sembari menyiapkan mesin Ziver untuk melakukan pemindahan jiwa. "Tunggu sebentar, kamu akan baik-baik saja..."

Aku tiba tepat waktu untuk menyaksikan pertama kalinya aku melihat bagaimana jiwa dipindahkan ke dalam fles. Di tangan Isha terdapat dua buah pelat semacam pelat defibriliator. Pelat di tangan kiri diarahkan ke sebuah fles, sedangkan pelat di tangan kanan diarahkan ke dada tentara perempuan itu.

"Lima, empat," Isha menghitung mundur, "tiga, dua, satu."

Kemudian tubuh tentara perempuan tersebut tersentak ke atas, persis seperti disetrum. Fles yang dipegang Isha berubah menjadi berpendar kehijauan.

Setelah ritual pemindahan jiwa selesai, aku menghampiri Isha. "Isha?"

"Aram!" sahut Isha melihatku.

"Kenapa kamu menjadi tentara? Dan... itu tadi pemindahan jiwa?" tanyaku.

"Ya," jawabnya singkat.

"Ada banyak pertanyaan yang harus kamu jawab nanti, Isha," kataku.

Sebuah pesan dari jarkom memotong reuni singkatku dengan Isha.

"Aram, tank musuh dari arah utara sedang menuju kalian, tiga menit."

Sial.

"Dimengerti. Tim ROK, amankan jalur dari selatan zona ke mobil, kami akan evakuasi," jawabku lewat jarkom.

"Isha, kamu, langsung ke bawah! Kita akan evakuasi!" kataku kepada Isha.

"Dimengerti!"

Aku berusaha memasang drone tembak secepat mungkin. Drone tembak tidak terlalu akurat untuk menghabisi musuh, namun cukup akurat untuk memberikan tembakan perlindungan selagi kami melakaukan evakuasi. Setelah selesai, drone tembak pun aktif dan langsung menembaki musuh. Beberapa musuh terkena tembakan langsung, sedangkan mereka yang hendak menyeberang masuk langsung mundur.

"Aram, jalur aman. Segera lakukan evakuasi," pesan dari jarkom.

Aku langsung turun ke bawah, dan memberikan perintah untuk evakuasi kepada semuanya.

"Semuanya, evakuasi! Ikuti Raka menuju mobil!" aku memerintahkan evakuasi sambil menunjuk Raka.

Satu per satu tentara keluar melewati pintu belakang di sebelah selatan. Satu, dua, tiga -- tunggu, mana Isha?

"Mana Isha?" tanyaku pada Amir, tentara paling belakang.

"Dia masih di atas, membereskan Ziver," jawabnya.

"Di mana?"

"Lantai dua!"

Aku bergegas ke lantai dua. Di sana, aku melihat Isha bersama banyak fles. Banyak sekali.

"Hati-hati, jangan sampai jatuh!"

Aku menghampiri Isha. "Semua fles ini... berisi?" tanyaku kepadanya.

"Ya. Empat puluh delapan orang, empat puluh delapan fles. Batalion 42 punya empat Ziver, tapi mereka semua sudah gugur."

Empat puluh delapan orang, empat puluh delapan jiwa, empat puluh delapan fles. Dan Isha mengumpulkan serta membawa semuanya, termasuk dari Ziver-Ziver lain.

Aku merasa sedikit pusing.

"Aram," Isha memanggilku, "bantu kami menyelamatkan teman kami."

Tanpa bicara satu patah katapun, aku mengumpulkan fles-fles yang berserakan di lantai dan memasukkannya ke dalam ransel. Sebuah fles berukuran cukup kecil, seukuran genggaman tangan, namun sangat berat -- aku membawa sekitar dua puluh fles dengan susah payah, terlebih lagi aku masih membawa perlengkapan tentara. Isha membuang berbagai perlengkapan medis di ranselnya sebelum memasukkan fles-fles ke dalamnya.

Setelah semua fles masuk, Isha berdiri, sempat kehuyungan karena berat, sebelum menginjakkan kakinya ke lantai. Matanya melihat ke arahku, sebelum melihat sekitarnya, dan berhenti ketika melihat ke belakangku. Isha langsung berteriak.

"Tank!"

Aku menoleh ke arah yang ditunjuk Isha, melewati lubang besar yang terbuka di dinding rumah, mungkin bekas granat.

Sebuah tank. Meriamnya mengarah ke lantai dua rumah kos, tepat ke tempat kami berada. Aku dapat merasakannya -- meriam tersebut tepat membidik kami.

"Awas!"

Tiba-tiba, semua terasa lambat. Seberkas cahaya dari meriam tank tersebut, diikuti ledakan besar di atasku, dan dentuman bunyi besar.

                                   * * *

Selasa, 28 Oktober, 1605
Kota Bekasi, Bekasi, Jawa Barat
Prajurit Satu Anisha Farakina
Batalion Infanteri 42

Aku punya sebuah kebiasaan baik yang menyebabkanku akan mati beberapa saat lagi: aku tidak bisa melihat orang lain sakit atau terluka. Aku ingin menyelamatkan orang lain.

Pernah suatu ketika Hariadi jatuh dari sepeda, entah kenapa aku yang panik menangis, lalu lari ke rumah mengambil kotak P3K. Padahal Hariadi tidak terluka sama sekali. Kebiasaan ini menyebabkan aku menjadi tentara medis -- di sebuah pertempuran, alih-alih menembaki musuh aku justru memikul tentara-tentara yang terluka dan beberapa tentara yang sudah gugur menuju zona penyelamatan. Hari ini, entah berapa kali aku melakukan pemindahan jiwa, termasuk menggunakan fles dari Ziver lain yang telah gugur.

Ketika aku melihat sebuah tank dengan meriam yang sudah dibidikkan ke arahku dan Aram, kebiasaanku mengambil alih pikiranku. Aku langsung melompat mendorong Aram ke arah tangga -- tempat yang paling aman jika sebuah lantai runtuh, berusaha melindungi Aram. Dan benar saja, tank tersebut langsung menembakkan meriamnya menghantam langit-langit ruangan, sehingga lantai dua langsung roboh.

Roboh menimpaku.

Seluruh badanku dari kaki hingga dada tertimpa reruntuhan. Kakiku mati rasa. Sepertinya suatu besi tajam mengoyak pinggangku dari belakang. Darah mengalir.

Sakit.

Sakit.

Sakit.

Aku mulai kehilangan kesadaran.

"...Isha? Isha? Isha!" Aram menghampiriku. Dia selamat.

Betul juga, aku Ziver.

"...Ziver..." aku kesulitan dalam bernafas, dan tidak bisa berbicara dengan lancar.

"Aku ambil!" Aram pergi. Tak lama kemudian, Aram kembali dengan membawa mesin Ziver.

"Jarkom... tank hancur... drone bom... maaf..." aku tidak bisa mendengar kata-kata Aram dengan jelas. Mungkin sebuah drone baru saja menghancurkan tank yang baru saja membunuhku? Terlambat sedikit saja.

"Fles? Isha... fles kosong... di mana?" Aram bertanya kepadaku.

"...di ransel... ku."

Betul juga, aku menyimpan fles kosong di ranselku bersama beberapa puluh fles lain, yang kini tertimpa reruntuhan.

Air mataku mulai mengalir. Aku tahu aku akan mati tanpa bisa dipindahkan.

Aram terduduk di depanku, tangannya memegang pelat Ziver. Pandangannya kosong.

"Aram..." aku berusaha berbicara.

"Isha... bicara..."

Aram melarangku berbicara? Aku tidak bisa mendengarnya. Aku ingin meminta maaf kepadamu karena menjadi tentara. Aku juga ingin menyatakan suka kepadamu menjelang aku mati.

"Maaf... aku... tentara... suka..."

Kata-kataku semakin kacau. Sial.

Aram berhenti berbicara. Kemudian, tiba-tiba Aram memasang pelat di keningku. Aku tidak bisa melihat fles yang digunakan Aram. Dari mana Aram mendapatkan fles baru? Bagaimana jiwa bisa dibuang dari fles yang sudah berisi? Yang aku tahu, fles tidak bisa dipakai dua kali.

"Lima..."

Apakah Aram memaksa menggunakan fles yang sudah berisi jiwa? Jangan! Jangan menggunakan fles yang sudah berisi! Jiwaku akan tercampur dan rusak, sesuatu yang lebih mengerikan daripada mati!

"Empat..."

"Jangan..." tanganku berusaha mencengkeram tangannya yang memegang pelat, namun tanganku sudah terlalu lemah.

"Tiga..."

Aram, tolong jangan.

"Satu..."

Untuk sesaat aku merasa kepalaku seperti ditekan begitu kuat, seperti hendak diremukkan.

Kemudian semuanya menjadi gelap.

                                   * * *

Kamis, 28 Oktober, 0530
Monumen Nasional, Jakarta Pusat, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta
Kapten Ramadan Arietta
Resimen Operasi Khusus 4

Satu tahun telah berlalu sejak pertempuran di Bekasi.

Sejarah akan mencatat pertempuran di Bekasi sebagai salah satu pertempuran ganas di mana puluhan tentara gugur akibat serangan diam-diam oleh pihak musuh. Beruntung, Batalion 42 saat itu sedang melakukan latihan perang terakhir untuk seleksi ROK, sehingga mereka memiliki persiapan tempur dan menghindari korban yang lebih besar. Dari 280 orang, terdapat total empat puluh sembilan korban, dengan dua puluh di antaranya dapat diselamatkan sebagai semi-klon.

Aku akan mengingat pertempuran di Bekasi sebagai pertempuran kecil yang mengubahku secara keseluruhan. Pada pertempuran itu, aku bertemu dengan Isha selama beberapa menit, hanya untuk melihatnya gugur beberapa waktu kemudian. Aku tidak akan bisa melupakan pemandangan saat itu -- Isha, terkubur hingga kepala dan tangan, dengan darah merembes keluar.

Sial, jika saja drone bom datang beberapa detik lebih awal, Isha tidak akan mati... dan aku tidak perlu melakukan pemindahan jiwa.

Waktu itu, aku memiliki dua puluh fles yang semuanya penuh berisi jiwa yang sudah Isha selamatkan. Tidak ada fles kosong; semua fles kosong ada di ransel Isha yang terkubur bersamanya. Isha akan membunuhku jika tahu aku membuang jiwa yang sudah diselamatkannya, jika memang fles bisa dibuang isinya -- dan ternyata memang tidak. Aku tidak punya tempat untuk melakukan pemindahan jiwa, kecuali satu: tubuhku sendiri.

Aku suka Isha.

Aku melarang Isha berperang agar dia selamat melewati masa-masa perang, untuk kemudian aku jemput setelah perang berakhir.

Pilihan paling rasional sesuai akalku saat itu adalah memindahkan jiwa ke tubuhku sendiri. Aku tidak tahu apa yang akan terjadi; mungkin jiwaku akan hilang. Setidaknya Isha akan selamat. Aku tidak ingin Isha mati.

Namun hal yang terjadi tidak sesederhana itu.

Apa yang terjadi jika jiwa dipindahkan ke tubuh yang sudah berisi jiwa adalah terjadi fusi. Pikiran Isha menyatu dengan pikiranku. Aku menjadi tahu isi pikiran Isha.

Isha suka aku.

Sial, jika saja pertempuran di Bekasi tidak pernah terjadi...

                                   * * *

Sejak Kemerdekaan Kembali Indonesia tanggal 1 Juni, aku menerima banyak permintaan wawancara dari jurnalis sebagai salah satu pimpinan dari ROK. Hari ini, seorang jurnalis dari kantor berita lokal hendak mewawancaraku. Aku diminta menunggu di Monas pukul 10 pagi, namun aku sudah tiba di sini sejak pukul lima tiga puluh.

Pukul sepuluh lewat tiga puluh, jurnalis tersebut datang. Dasar kebiasaan masyarakat Indonesia, tidak menghargai waktu.

"Maaf, saya terlambat. Kapten Ramadan Arietta, Anda sudah menunggu lama?"

"Tidak, saya tidak menunggu lama."

"Terima kasih -- saya Munir dari KBNI. Bisa kita mulai wawancaranya sekarang, Kapten Ramadan?"

"Isha. Panggil saya Isha."

                                   * * *

Glosarium

Mensa : sebutan untuk ruang makan.

Serma : sersan mayor, salah satu pangkat tertinggi untuk perwira lapangan di TNI.

KBNI : Kantor Berita Nasional Indonesia, kantor berita yang merupakan gabungan dari Antara, RRI, dan TVRI pada waktu itu.

GWC : Create Your Own Legend

15 November 2014 merupakan momen yang monumental bagi Genshiken ITB. Bagaimana tidak, selain suksesnya pagelaran presentasi TA Calon Staff Genshiken ITB 2014 yang menuangkan total 25 (!) karya inovatif, untuk pertama kalinya dalam sejarah Genshiken ITB terdapat seorang pemenang Writing Challenge yang masih berstatus sebagai Calon Staff pada detik ia dinobatkan sebagai sang juara. Ya, Ted Kesgar // tkesgar - seorang Calon Staff Genshiken ITB 2014 yang bertugas sebagai ilustrator dalam tugas TA yang digelutinya - berhasil mengalahkan sembilan entri lainnya dalam Writing Challenge pemecah rekor entri terbanyak (hingga detik ini).

Entri yang membawanya menggapai posisi puncak - Zielverhuiser - mungkin akan kami cantumkan pada blog ini suatu saat, namun untuk saat ini kita tinggalkan sejenak euforia Writing Challenge bertemakan 'UJIAN' tersebut. Presentasi TA Calon Staff Genshiken ITB 2014 Sabtu lalu telah membawa angin segar kepada ragam divisi yang tergabung di bawah bendera Genshiken ITB. Ya, Divisi Story bukanlah pengecualian.

Salah satu presentasi TA yang lumayan disorot akan konsepnya yang relatif matang adalah 'Legenda Sungai Cikapundung' yang digawangi oleh M. Fathur, di mana sang penulis berusaha untuk membuat suatu epik fiktif yang menceritakan asal-muasal Sungai Cikapundung (yang notabene berlokasi relatif dekat dengan area kampus). Walaupun masih dinilai kurang dalam segi kepenulisan dan kesiapan cetaknya, para anggota Divisi Story sepakat untuk mengambil konsep 'mengarang suatu legenda fiktif akan sesuatu yang nyata' ini sebagai topik Writing Challenge selanjutnya dalam suatu rapat yang diselenggarakan dalam rangka mengevaluasi TA-TA yang terkumpul.

Adapun ketentuan-ketentuan pada Writing Challenge ini tertuang sebagai berikut :

• Deadline : 17 Desember 2014
• Konten minimal mengandung 100 kata, dan mengandung suatu legenda karangan sendiri
• Legenda yang dimaksud tidak boleh merupakan penceritaan ulang dari legenda yang sudah ada/mengandung unsur-unsur dari suatu legenda yang sudah ada
• Konten dikirim ke alamat e-mail story.genshiken.itb@gmail.com
• Jangan lupa untuk mencantumkan 'Writing Challenge : Create Your Own Legend' (atau kata-kata sejenis yang representatif) sebagai subject e-mail, beserta identitas (nama/ID Forum) pada e-mail sebagai tanda pengenal

Akan sangat panjang apabila keseluruhan seluk-beluk TA Calon Staff Genshiken ITB 2014 dituangkan di sini. Untuk saat ini, silahkan menikmati rangkaian melodi familiar yang telah diaransemen ulang berikut (yang notabene juga merupakan salah satu TA yang dipresentasikan) sebagai penyemangat Anda semua dalam menulis.

Kompetisi kepenulisan ini terbuka bagi seluruh Staff maupun Calon Staff Genshiken ITB. Selamat berkarya!

Genshiken ITB : 2005 ~ 2014

Say, we named ourself  'Genshiken Story' not for a void reason.

Aside from our primary task to deliver the best out from Genshiken ITB's story department, it's somewhat our 'responsibility' as well to pass on the stories behind this very unit to the masses. And yes - we've been aware of it from the very beginning. The time for this will come soon enough, indeed.

We ourselves doesn't really have many words on our mind right now - let the video above speak by itself. We'd leave you instead with the video's semi-official description (read : propaganda) that we've been using around on our mission to spread the video throughout our internal forum and the social medias :

'Inilah video yang menggambarkan perjalanan UKM Genshiken ITB, yang tersusun atas dokumentasi-dokumentasi pilihan yang tersedia sejak masa primordial Genshiken ITB hingga dokumentasi terkini yang diracik khusus dalam rangka Dies Natalis ke-9 Genshiken. Tanpa perlu banyak berkata-kata, rekoleksi foto dan video yang terangkum dalam suatu kolase konektif ini akan banyak bercerita mengenai pengembaraan sembilan tahun Genshiken ITB yang diwarnai beragam hal-hal atraktif.

Tak mudah memang merangkum kenangan yang terjalin selama sembilan tahun dalam sembilan menit nan singkat, ya. Saya memang tidak terlibat langsung dalam awal berdirinya kelompok studi ini, namun selama dan setelah melakukan proses penyuntingan secara tak langsung saya merasa terkoneksi - merasakan semangat dan aura positif para pendiri unit ini, para pendahulu, para pengurus yang kini bertugas, dan para penerus.

May this video confers you all with positive vibes.'

Happy watching. An exclusive, unreleased-before poetry has been planned for our release in the near-distant future, though.

- Nivalyx

News Glimpse - May 2014

Well, first and foremost, holiday season is fast arriving, so (obligatory) happy holidays to everyone from us! May this holiday season be a great one (:

Speaking aside, there's one major consequence regarding this holiday season, though : The vast decrease of Genshiken ITB members' activity. For us - Genshiken Story - this is no exception, sadly. Worry not, though - we've compiled several exciting things around in a short glimpse of news. Feel free to take a look!

• The 'You can (not) paham project' that we mentioned just underwent a major tweak - the project is now currently under chrovide's lead (whose real name is still not possible for us to disclose), has been renamed into Heavy Inversion, and - most importantly - has received a new logo. Although the designer himself, Maulana Mahardika // raika4freedom stated that 'the logo may subject to change', it's still possible for us to share the temporary design, so... yep - here it is:
  
  
  
• Apparently there are some story-based contents (guest reviews, even) posted on the old, abandoned Genshiken ITB website (most notably this one) - it's still unclear at this point whether we are allowed to re-post the content here or not, though. In the meantime, feel free to toy around the old Genshiken ITB website!
• The once-delayed Pen-Gen finally came into reality earlier today at SDN Lanuma Husein Sastranegara. How it went in general was more or less similar to the contains of our earlier post (no bombshells or anything), with Bima S. // ntLKM and Lisa S. Onggrid // requiem representing Genshiken ITB on the story post (I was stationed on the movie outpost myself, though, sharing stuffs about digital video editing and else). Here's a sneak peek of how this morning's event went:
  
  
  The activities done back then varies with each outpost, but for the story post specifically we did a short Chronicle of Budi-like story (a chain story where each person is only allowed to write two consecutive sentences at max, in this case) and - furthermore - we also asked the children (from Safeducation) to create a short story based on a random sequence of chosen illustrations.
  
  And, ah, yes! That was a joyful experience to everyone involved. We initially planned to create a full-length article on this, but the assigned commander-in-chief - Yusuf A. // KIRAfollower - asked us personally not to. Several more pictures are available to view on Genshiken ITB's Facebook Page, though - feel free to head there!

Well, yes, that concludes all we wanted to share - nothing major thus far, we can say. All Genshiken ITB divisions are still undergoing a transition between their old and new magistrates though, just for your (probably trivial) information.

Once again, have a joyful holiday from us!

News : You can (not) paham

Don't feel intimidated (or confused) by the post's title - some great things are meant (not) to be understood, no? Say, for example, this song* - it holds the status as one of the finest neurofunk tune out there we know, yet the lyrics make no sense at all. This one, dear readers, is not an exception.

So, uh, well... Hello! This time we'd like to bring an upcoming project from the Genshiken ITB members to the spotlight, and - as the name suggests - thorough understanding on this project isn't required at all.

Let us start our journey to nowhere with the back-story behind this 'madness', which is an interesting one. The inception of this insanity occurs when one of our prolific member, Dewi Nur Fitri // Xerofit51, posted this picture on our internal Facebook group, captioning 'Genshiken ITB : You can (not) paham' in her post:


In case you're wondering, the picture above depicts the female version of the core male members of Genshiken ITB. Yes, you're reading it correctly - which character represents who is better not to told here, though. In short time, thiis picture is proven phenomenal - it spawned an overwhelming 200 comments in just two hours. Needless to say, the counterpart follows soon enough:


Now here comes the interesting part : As the picture above gained increasing popularity over time, Xerofit51 herself decided to progress further, making a visual novel based on this concept. It's right now a work-in-progress, as the VN itself is currently being developed by a small team consisting of Xerofit51 herself, Mentari Adnin M. // meongngng, Maulana Mahardika // raika4freedom, chrovide (an illustrator who prefers her name not to be disclosed), and myself included.

...no, the best thing is still ahead. Although the 'You can (not) paham' is just being there as a placeholder name, a promotional video and some merchandises (such as exclusive cards and - wait for it - dakimakura) are being planned at the moment. At the moment we write this, the theme song of this project is streamable here, and a sample of the upcoming cards is viewable below:


The storyline is relatively simple - several Genshiken ITB members played a 'forbidden' game in the area of Genshiken ITB's secretariat (Star of Destiny?) which caused the male players to turn into a girl (and vice-versa). The involved players are then desperately looking a way to turn them back as is, by... Well, we don't know how though. The project leader (Xerofit51) hasn't told us how she will continue the storyline, and - frankly speaking - although we managed to peek at the script earlier, we didn't pay our full attention on it.

At this point, a question may pop out from your mind : Is it worth to create a VN based on something seemingly unimportant like this? In our opinion, the answer is simple : Considering for what this VN is made, yes - it's worth. It's very worth. Remember the VN Carat - A Genshiken Story that we reviewed on the blog earlier? Yes, this VN is projected to be an 'introductory VN' for the upcoming Genshiken Staff Training (GST) 2014 event. 

...well - it's against our nature to showcase many pictures like this in one post, we know. But, then again, it's quite rare to see a massively ambitious project like this. Potential, yet possibly too enormous to handle. Had this project ran into succession, we'll be having a meaningful feast for sure.

What can we say about this project so far, though? It's a chaos.

A beautiful chaos.

- Nivalyx

----------------------------

On a side note : Congratulations to Harris K. Yondi // HRRZ for being chosen as the head of Genshiken ITB for the upcoming 2014-2015 academic season! May this season be laden with positive energy and meaningful one under your lead!

*PS : The original song (which is also worth mentioning) is streamable here

News : Pen-Gen

As our celebrated GenCarnival is fast approaching, another story-related news is also coming this way!

Pen-Gen (also abbreviated as PengMas) stands for Pengabdian Masyarakat Genshiken, which more or less translates into Genshiken Community Service. Stands as a part of GenCarnival's opening ceremony, this event will let elementary school students to experience the vibrant atmosphere of the creative industry world, allowing them to emerge into a dimension less likely taught in school previously.

Here's the concept of the event, as translated directly from the proposal by us (with some extra flairs every here and there) :

When one's being asked about what he or she wants to be, he/she will answer based on the information that he/she had had previously. This applies no exception to children - it's no surprise if the outcome to this question is a common profession, such as teacher or doctor.

It's a seldom case the uncommon answer (such as being a novelist or a game designer) popped out. One aspect most likely being responsible for this is the lack of information about creative industry-related works on elementary schools' curriculum.

As a group who plays a role in the world of creative industry, Genshiken ITB aims to enlighten and empower these elementary school students with invigorating creative industry-related information. Five booths will be prepared for this event, which encompasses:

• Movie (in collaboration with LFM ITB)
• Digital game (in collaboration with HMIF ITB)
• Traditional game
• Illustration
• Story

...well, the proposal continues, but the bolded item on the list should reflect what we're trying to deliver here mostly : Genshiken Story will be participating in Pen-Gen to educate these children alongside four other booths (in which will be filled out by delegations from other Genshiken division). Right now, our only confirmed delegation is Rakaputra P. // Rheine - the other one is still left undecided.

Oh, and if you're wondering where I would be, actually I've been stationed (by the request of the head of Pen-Gen) on the movie booth. Either way, we're hoping that what we're delivering here is something which will come in handy for these future generation members.

See you there!

- Nivalyx

News : GenCarnival

Hello there! We're back from our single week hiatus with - get hyped for it...

...nothing!

Well, you're reading it right. Basically there's nothing ultimately interesting over these past few weeks - just us being busy with our daily tasks, as usual. (it's obvious though that we need to keep posting things to tell the world that we're still alive, so we think this news post should work as a gap-filler)

Consider this post also acts as a call-to-arms, though. Most of our core members (including myself) had been busy preparing for GenCarnival, an upcoming creative exhibition event which will be held this April. The trailer above is freely viewable for your pleasure, and because we're lazy to craft a chain of words to describe the event in detail, we'll just copy and paste the words embedded on the video's description here:

A spiritual successor to our previously successful Gen-Reon (http://genreon.wordpress.com/), Genshiken ITB (through GenCarnival) aims to deliver the magnum opus of Indonesia's creative visual modern products!

This creative exhibition event will be held at Institut Teknologi Bandung (Jl. Ganesha No. 10) on April 19th, 2014 - we'll gladly await your presence there!

Let's join the fun together!~

...should be obvious already (from the wording) that we're heaving a deep role down the event, isn't it?

Well, anyway, we're still trying to opt in our members to the event. To all Genshiken Story members, if you appear to have a work-in-progress, consider to showcase it in this event! Don't let your work of art left abandoned in oblivion - benefit guaranteed!

Further information about the event is accessible here.

- Nivalyx

Story : Mage Story (w/ News!)

Hello there! I'm still unbelievably exhausted after all the stuffs I've been involved on today, but look on the bright side - I got two nice things to deliver!

First, we got our hands-on the news. Remember the World Beyond The Window project we posted about earlier? Turned out that I could attend the Pasar Komik Bandung event personally, and managed to take a look on 'World Beyond The Window' comic strip: (don't mind this picture below though, it's fetched directly from Facebook and haven't gotten its fault-on-title fixed yet)

More or less everything is still mysterious at this moment, as the promotional book (booklet?) itself only consists of three rapid chapters : Smile, Brake, and Ruin. Aside from [SPOILER] three different characters centering at one single girl albeit their motive differences [/SPOILER], more or less nothing much is safe to conclude at the moment.

On the other side, we would also like to fulfill our vim to entertain dear you - our beloved readers - with a short story which has been sitting at a dark corner on my hard disk for days, waiting for itself to be posted. Without further ado, here's the technical details to the story itself:

• Title : Mage Story
• Event : Genshiken Story Meet-Up #6
• Author : Ferry

...frankly speaking, in fact this is an untitled story - we unanimously referred to this story as the 'Mage Story' as it was submitted under the file name 'Mage Story.docx' back then. In short, it's a story about young archmages trying to reign supreme - with some stating it has some relevancy with the 'current political situation'. Whether it's true or not, it's up to you to decide how this enthralling fairytale went!

At this moment we'd also like to announce that there is still one more day left on the Pasar Komik Bandung event, and we'll also be standing by there tomorrow. We greatly expect your presence there, but for now - indulge yourself with this story! I'm signing out (:

----------------------------

                The corridor toward the Great Hall is lit up by two rows of lanterns, each containing a sphere of light, brought to life by magic. The corridor itself isn’t very spacious, only wide enough for about 5 people standing shoulder to shoulder and as tall as a two adult men. Beyond the corridor lies the hall where the Mage’s Association held their yearly meetings and rituals, as is the case now.

                It is the time where a soon-to-be archmage to present themselves to the assembly, obtaining their blessing and approval as one of the few people standing at the highest point in the world of magic. Such coronation happens every twenty-odd years, and compared to the association’s thousand-years-worth history, this is nothing new.

                And even then, the archmage coronation this year is still considered special. The reason of this ‘special’ label lies within the archmage candidate himself.

                He was only twenty-three years old.

                “I still think it’s too early for me, Master Aethnes.” The young man says as his steps slowly lost its pace.

                “And why is that, my pupil? You certainly have proven yourself back there at Nophantes.” An old, sage-like man named Aethnes Firres, who is walking beside the young man, asks. Without delay, Aethnes take the young man’s upper right arm and signals him to keep walking down the corridor.

                “Ah, that was… that was not much. I mean, I’m sure you can disperse the rain in less time and you certainly won’t have any trouble with the tornado. Meanwhile I still let the storm to wreck six buildings and causes 32 casualties…” the young man stammered.

                “And yet it was your quick response that doesn’t let the storm to cause further damage,” The master cuts his pupil short. “Stop selling yourself short. To succeed controlling the weather and averting disaster from a whole village, at the age of mere twenty-three? I believe that’s an accomplishment fit for a great archmage-would-be.” Aethnes proudly smiles at his pupil. The young man can’t help but to smile back at that.

                “Not to mention, you also saved several people and wizards to were trapped by the tornado. Those wizards are the ones who vouched for you to become an archmage, and the association has no reason to deny such request after they hear it was you. You did make a name for yourself during our travels,” Aethnes continued. “Isn’t that so, Young Hero Ardes Embert?”

                Ardes smirked at that nickname. A nickname given by the mage community for him, a prodigal mage who helps people around the land in need. Ardes still feel that the nickname is rather insulting toward his master’s role, as it make it seems like he was the only one who travels and help those in need. While actually, it was Aethnes who did most of the work of helping people. The so-called ‘Young Hero’ only did the dirty work of defeating and capturing the rouge mages who were abusing their magic to torment and tyrannize people. Yep, only that, and nothing more…

                “I believe the one and only time I deserve to be called that is when I finally manage to drive the Nophantes Storm away. The rest were your work, Master.” The young man answers.

                “Hahahahaha…” The old man’s laugh bellows throughout the corridor. “I’m still amazed at how a mage of your caliber – at such a young age, even – can be this humble. We magicians are an arrogant bunch, you know.”

                “’There’s an exception for everything.’”

                “Now, don’t you try to turn back my own quote to me…”Aethnes chuckles. Ardes soon followed.

                As the laugh subsides, Aethnes once again start the conversation.

                “Well, whatever you say, you can’t back down now. The Association doesn’t accept any ‘no’s, even from archmages. Or archmage-soon-to-be, in your case. So,shall we review what you’re going to do in the hall?”

                “I’ve memorized it down to every step.”

                “No harm in doing another review, right?”

                Ardes knows his master well enough to know that he won’t stop bugging till his concerns are gone, so with a fake sigh he reaches into his robe, and pulled out a rolled-up parchment, made from a curious mix of papyrus and leather. He opened the parchment, and at the center of it was an ornate circle made from blue ink. The circle is multi-ringed, with letter and magic symbols filling each ring layer.

                “Using the summoning runes on this parchment, I am going to invoke a catastrophe-ring spell: summoning a hurricane within the hall. I will summon it, control its movement, size, and ferocity, and then disperse it back to calm air. That’s the gist of it.” Ardes recounts.

                “…Well, I guess that’s complete enough for a review.” Aethnes replies. “Just remember, you are going to prove yourself to be worthy, Ardes. Don’t hold back in fear of hurting the audience. Show them that you CAN control the hurricane completely.”

                “When you say that, once again I wonder why the coronation must be done through a dangerous method like summoning a natural disaster indoors.” Ardes asks sarcastically.

                “I guess we magicians like to live dangerously,” The old man jokingly replied.

               

                The two men stop in front of an oak wood gate, ornamented with dragon carvings and golden handle.  Beyond the gate, they can here the murmurs of the crowd.

“Well, here we are. I’ll be watching from the archmages’ seat with the other four,” Aethnes says as he pats Ardes on his right shoulder. “Show them that you are worthy, my pupil. I look forward for the time that we’ll work together… as equals, archmage to archmage.”

“I won’t disappoint you, master.” Ardes nods confidently. And with that, the two of them open the wooden gate, toward thehall of coronation…

It was a stormy night. Even though the Nophantes Storm was quelled, somehow heavy rain still pours down upon the land. The rain was heavy enough that some people fears that the capital was going to be flooded – a baseless assumption, according to the magicians. Even if the city was really flooded, a coordinated magic from about 2 mages would be able to roll the flood into a colossal ball of water, which then will be flung far from the capital.

Fortunately, no such flood happened. However, the rain was enough to force people stay indoors for the whole night. Yet, within the dark alleys of Ferrema District, a hooded person was walking in a rushed pace, a small spark from his wand lighting the path he walks through. His face was obscured by the rain and the shade of his hood, allowing no feature of his face to be seen even when you’re directly staring at him.

The hooded man walked and walked, turning left and right in a bizarre pattern until he stopped in the middle of a small, one-man wide alley sandwiched between a stone tower and a wall. He turned upon a wooden door, reinforced with black iron bars and locked with a keyhole-less lock. A simple incantation and a sound -*click*- came from the lock, and with the cue the hooded man pushed open the door and walked in.

Ten steps, and 2 candles lit up at his left and right. The candles continue to light up, forming a path within the impenetrable darkness. At the end of the path is a round, wooden table, where four other hooded men sat.

“You’re late.” A grovelly voice scolded the hooded man as he reaches the table.

“Blame the rain,” he replied.

“So much for saving Nophantes, eh? The storm still hits us in the capital,” Another voice spoke up. “What do you say for your pupil’s doing, Aethnes?”

The mysterious hooded man opens up his hood, and revealed the face underneath: an old man with white hair reaching to his back. His beard, neatly trimmed, hung to the base of his neck. “I say… he did a good job of saving that little village.” Aethnes answered.

“HAH! Good job, you say!?!?” The first, grovelly voice raised his voice. “You say he did a good job by saving a village which is to be punished for missing the harvest schedule? How much loss do you think the kingdom suffered because those lazy farmers decided to use that newfangled ‘technologic’ tools instead of old-fashioned hand farming, and because of their malfunction the harvest was late by a month?!? How many gold did we have to pay to those neighboring countries because we can’t fulfill the selling contract, huh?!”

“I say he did a great job at SAVING the village. It being punished by us, the Council of Archmages, has no relation to it.” Aethnes answered with a flat tone.

“Why…. You… “ The first voice expressed his anger.

“Enough of that. There shall be no fighting between us.”A fourth voice, which sound so eerie and ancient, suddenly spoke. Hearing the voice, Aethnes and the first voice quickly went silent.

“Valvoga.Aethnes.” The fourth voice continues.

“Yes, Grandmaster.”Valvoga Sieglus, the man whom the grovelly voice belongs to, answered together with Aethnes.

“You should know, that we gather here… not to discuss the village Nophantes. No, we gather here to discuss the one… the Young Hero… Ardes Embert.”

Silently, Aethnes swallowed when he heard his pupil’s name.

“As you all aware, the Nophantes wizards who were saved by this… Hero… recommends to the high council for making this…upstart young mage to become an archmage. A glance to his many, various deeds for this land in the past 10 years has swayed the high council to his favor, and hastily they agreed to make him an archmage.”

“Those simple minded fools!”Valvoga shouted, as if he’s letting something off his chest.

“Of course, from the four of us in the Council of Archmages, none agreed for his coronation. Pray tell, how do you think that a mere twenty-three year old is equal to us? Such is insulting to the magic we studied for all these years.”

                “But, Grandmaster,” Aethnes cut the ancient voice. “His grasp of magic, potential, and thirst for knowledge is equal to-“

                “THERE IS NOTHING EQUAL!” Valvoga slammed the table. “ARE YOU SAYING THAT A TEENAGER CAN KEEP UP WITH ME, THE MASTER OF FIRE FOR 30 YEARS AND COUNTING? ARE YOU SAYING THAT’S THE EXTENT OF MY MAGIC PROWESS?!?”

                “That striked a nerve, eh?” The third voice, who was silent for sometime, spoke up. Valvoga turns and glares toward the third voice. However, he ignored it. “But, true. It’s very insulting to say such things, Aethnes. Is this pupil of yours so great that you have to sing him praises?”

                “…That was never my intention, Eneas.”

                The third voice, Eneas Arphim chuckles. “Then I guess we all agree that this ‘Young Hero’ are not fit to be one of us archmages.”

                “That’s also not-!”

                “Silence.” The ancient voice spoke again.

                “Aethnes.” The speaker of the ancient voice, the Grandmaster, turns to face the old master. “You should know that this pupil of yours, were he to become an archmage, is a threat to this secret council. His idealism and curiosity will, without a doubt, clash with our goal to preserve the rule of magic within the land by any means necessary.”

                “How can you be so sure-“

                “I hear he took interest to those ‘tec-no-nogy’ tools when he encounters them in Nophantes.” Eneas smirks. “Even though such heretic things go against the rule of magic… Maybe he thought he can combine the two into something greater. Ha! He hasn’t realized that magic is the supreme force in this world.”

                Aethnes went silent. He can’t find any rebuttal to Eneas’ slander.

                “And such was the evidence, Aethnes.” The Grandmaster continued. “This pupil of yours are too naïve, too curious. He won’t accept our reason for the superiority of magic. He won’t accept our way of governing this land from the shadows. He is not yet ready to speak in the same mind as us, not yet fit to be an archmage.”

                “But he’s good enough to be a hunting wizard, I guess.” Eneas said. “Cleaning up after those mages we let to go rouge needs some skills, after all. And that way, he’ll still see us as good and the rouge mages as evil; with hardly any chance to realize that we played the rouges as a measure to control people. He’ll be the best hound in our history!” he ends his opinion with a malicious grin.

                “…” Aethnes was still silent.

                “The decision is final. Ardes Embert is NOT to be an archmage.” The Grandmaster concludes. “And we, four members of the Council have decided that Aethnes Firres is to carry out the Council decision within a week, by any means necessary. Thus is the meeting of the Council today. Dismissed.”

                And with that word, all the lit candles were suddenly blown by a strong wind. Aethnes was alone in the darkness.

                “…”

                “Oh, Aethnes?”Suddenly, Eneas’ voice rung through the darkness. “I have one more fact to motivate you.”

                “…what are you saying?”

                “I believe the Association assigns archmages to a province within the land. There are 5 provinces and 5 archmages… and yet here comes the sixth archmage. Heh… I just hope you don’t get retired, seeing your popularity is eclipsed by your pupil…”

                “….!!!” Aethnes’ eyes widened.

                Along the way, Ardes was silent as a stone. It came as no surprise, as he botched the hurricane summoning. It almost went out of control and would destroy the Grand Hall with everything inside it, if not for Aethnes’ quick action to subdue the wild wind. The Association senior members were furious, but an appeal from his master manages to soothe them and spare Ardes’ life. In return, he is to serve as a mage hunter for life with no chance to improve his standings.

                “I’m… sorry it turns out like this, Ardes.” Aethnes speaks to the young man. “I’m the one who pushed you to become an archmage, yet it ends in a public humiliation… really, I’d never thought it’ll end up like this.”

                “…Don’t worry, Master.” As they reached Aethnes’ tower, Ardes finally replies.

                “I believe life as a mage hunter isn’t that bad. Now excuse me, I’ll… get some sleep. It was a tiring day.” With that, Ardes climb the stairs toward his room.

                Aethnes’ eyes follows his pupil until he disappears from his sight. Words can’t express how regretful he is right now to destroy his own pupil’s life with his own hands. After all, it was he who sabotaged Ardes’ summoning. Using ink with the same color as the parchment, he drew some additional symbols upon it to allow him to influence the hurricane, and drove it out of Ardes’ control.Then, using the same method, he’ll bring the hurricane under control, and save the whole assembly. Fulfill the Council of Archmages’ orders while saving his own popularity…

                Remembering his malicious plan, Aethnes throw himself into his work chair. Such deed left him drained, both physically and mentally. Tomorrow he’ll have to help Ardes to adjust to the life as a mage hunter… butnow, he doesn’t want to think about anything. 

                Especially not the possibility that someone will know his ‘crime’, this malicious deed toward Ardes.

                …

                Nobody will know, right?

“But, Grandmaster,” Aethnes cut the ancient voice. “There’s nothing wrong with a new perspective, isn’t there?”

“Heeheehee. Nothing wrong, you say,” the third voice, who was silent for some time, suddenly spoke. “Of course, there’s nothing wrong with idealism. But really, Aethnes, remember the reason why this Council were made in the first place.”

“…To lead this land to prosperity, and to preserve the ways of magic…”

“…by all means. Do not forget the last part, Aethnes.” The third voice chuckled. “And THAT explicitly say that we do… unsavory things to accomplish that goal. Such disobedience toward the magicians’ guidance,  and that so-called ‘progress’, like the Nophantes ‘ tek-no-gy’ case, isn’t needed, and must be disciplined.”

“And what does have to do with Ardes?”

“Heh, don’t play the fool Aethnes. That pupil of yours still thinks that it’s a mage’s duty to help people. He won’t be able to take in the fact that we, magicians, are superior, and those ‘helps’ we give are our way to guide the lesser beings.