The classroom felt wrong.
Not simply quiet.
Empty.
Rows of desks stretched behind them, untouched and abandoned, as if the school day had ended while something else had quietly begun.
Only four people remained.
Arga.
Sinta.
Bimo.
And Bu Rini.
She stood near the front desk, still and composed, watching them.
Not like a teacher.
Like someone measuring something they could not see.
The evening breeze slipped through the open windows. Curtains swayed softly.
But inside the room, the air felt heavy.
"I'll ask one more time," Bu Rini said.
Her voice was soft.
Too soft.
"Is there anything unusual about the MBG food?"
Silence.
Bimo swallowed.
Sinta glanced at Arga.
Arga felt the familiar tightness in his chest.
He wanted to tell the truth.
But how could he explain something he barely understood himself?
"…It tasted better," he said at last.
"Yeah," Bimo added quickly. "Really good."
"And… energizing," Sinta said carefully.
Bu Rini didn't react.
She only looked at them.
Longer.
Deeper.
Then she exhaled.
"…So you've already reached that stage."
The silence snapped.
"…What?" Bimo whispered.
Bu Rini stepped forward.
Slowly.
Certain.
"There's no need to pretend anymore."
Her voice changed.
Lower.
Sharper.
"You've felt it, haven't you?"
Arga's heartbeat quickened.
"The warmth."
Sinta stiffened.
"The speed."
Bimo's breath caught.
"The strength."
No one answered.
They didn't need to.
Bu Rini nodded once.
"I thought so."
BANG!
The crash shattered the moment.
Everyone turned.
Pak Damar rushed past the window, panic on his face.
"Bu Rini!"
She moved instantly.
"What happened?"
"The box—"
"What about it?!"
"…It's gone."
Everything stopped.
Not silence.
Not shock.
Something worse.
Understanding.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then dimmed.
The shadows in the room stretched too long across the floor.
Bimo edged closer to the others.
"…I really don't like this."
Sinta's voice dropped.
"…We're not alone."
Bu Rini turned sharply.
"Stay here."
She moved for the door—
but Arga felt it.
The energy inside him.
Stronger now.
Faster.
Not random.
Focused.
Calling.
He stood at once.
"I'm going."
"Arga—"
Too late.
He was already moving.
Sinta followed without hesitation.
Bimo froze for half a second.
Then groaned.
"…This is a terrible idea."
He ran after them anyway.
The Office
The hallway felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Their footsteps echoed louder than they should have.
Every sound felt unnatural.
They reached the office.
The door was already open.
Pak Damar pushed it wider.
"Principal?"
No answer.
The room was empty.
But one thing was certain.
The box was gone.
Bu Rini stepped inside.
Her expression changed.
Not surprise.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
"…They're faster than I expected."
Arga froze.
"Who?" Sinta asked.
Bu Rini did not answer immediately.
Instead, she turned and looked directly at them.
"…People who know about the program."
The silence tightened.
"…What program?" Bimo asked.
A small pause.
But a heavy one.
Then Bu Rini spoke.
"The MBG program…"
Her voice lowered.
"…was never just about food."
Everything inside Arga went still.
"…What do you mean?"
Bu Rini stepped closer.
"Those meals were designed."
She held his gaze.
"To awaken something."
Silence pressed in from every side.
Sinta's next words barely came out.
"…Awaken what?"
Bu Rini looked at all three of them.
"Your bodies."
The words did not simply land.
They sank.
"Some children," she continued, "can process it."
"Most can't."
Bimo's voice trembled.
"…And the ones who can?"
Bu Rini's eyes sharpened.
"They become something else."
A pause long enough to change everything.
"…We call them—"
She stopped.
The lights flickered again.
Then came a sound from outside.
Fast.
Close.
Arga turned toward the window.
A shadow vaulted over the school fence.
"They're here."
Bu Rini's expression hardened.
"…Too soon."
The Call
Arga's lunch box pulsed in his hands.
Bright.
Alive.
Then a voice whispered inside him.
Go.
He froze.
It had not come from outside.
Not from anyone in the room.
It rose from somewhere deeper.
Not a thought.
Not imagination.
Something else.
He looked down.
The symbol glowed more sharply than before.
It was no longer only light.
It was direction.
A pull.
A target.
He lifted his head.
"We have to stop them."
Sinta nodded at once.
"Yeah."
Bimo swallowed hard.
"…We're really doing this?"
Arga did not hesitate.
"If we don't…"
He looked toward the dark window.
"…they'll come back."
Silence.
Then choice.
"I'm in," Sinta said.
Bimo let out a long breath.
"…Fine. I'm in too."
The Name
They turned and ran.
Out of the school.
Into something they still did not understand.
Bu Rini did not stop them.
She did not call after them.
She only watched.
Pak Damar turned to her.
"You're letting them go?"
Bu Rini exhaled slowly.
"…We don't have a choice anymore."
Her gaze lifted toward the darkening sky.
"They've already awakened."
This time, she did not stop.
"…Nutrition Guardians."
The Beginning
Outside, the wind cut past them.
The sky deepened into night.
The city carried on, unaware.
Arga ran in front, the symbol in his lunch box pulsing like a second heartbeat.
Guiding.
Pulling.
Leading him toward something waiting in the dark.
For the first time, they were not reacting.
They were not surviving.
They were choosing to move forward.
Into a hidden world where food became power.
And power always demanded a price.