Young Detective Pistachio thought his first case would be a simple theft report. Instead, he faced a worldwide event where thousands of prisoners and criminals died at the same time, showing no signs of violence. The public called this event “The Great Purge.”

In a panic, the government ordered the mass disposal of the bodies to prevent riots and disease outbreaks. Arjuna was put in charge of overseeing the cremation of thousands of these so-called “scum of society.” However, after the ashes were scattered into the sea, a new wave of deaths began to hit those criminals still at large. These included offenders involved in bribery, murder, sexual harassment, abuse, robbery, mugging, theft, online gambling, fraud, shooting, corruption, catcalling, and hackers. Pistachio started to see a pattern: each death occurred right after the victim committed a concealed crime. He had to hurry to find the “Global Executioner” before he himself got caught in the purifying flames.

Pistachio fled the Petamburan labyrinth after a brief exchange of gunfire with a signless uniform guard. He raced his motorcycle through a foreign-feeling Jakarta. Billboards that read "Justice is Coming" were plastered at every corner. It suddenly struck him that the Global Executioner was not one person. It was a collective. The group used the ash from "The Great Purge," which contained nanobots, to infiltrate society's bloodstreams through the air, water, and food. Anyone with a medical implant or wearable technology was now in the executioner's hands.


Chapter 8 - Chapter 7: Ghost in the Machine