CHAPTER 4: THE MYSTERY OF DR. JOHAN
That afternoon, light rain began to fall. The sky over Kluang remained sombre, as if it, too, knew that something was being unearthed. Inside the homestay’s living room, a heavy silence lingered. No jokes from Liam. No sarcastic remarks from Nico. Risa sat at the edge of the sofa, sketching symbols from the lab walls into her sketchbook. Zara sat cross-legged on the floor, flipping through files they had brought out of the secret place. Aiman stared at the computer screen, reading a rough transcript of Dr. Johan’s voice recording.
“I can’t stop thinking about his voice,” Aiman said quietly. “It sounded like he regretted everything. But also like he knew this would become huge.”
Liam chimed in, “Seriously, Aiman. If you listen again, he sounds like someone who’s lost all hope.”
Zara closed the file. “But who is Dr. Johan, really? How did he end up with a hidden lab under Mount Lambak? This isn’t small. Surely the government knew?”
“I’ve been searching online. Not much info,” Aiman said, clicking through links on his browser. “Just one old article from 2003. Archived on Berita Harian. Title says, ‘Malaysian Researcher Develops Alternative Energy Model.’”
“There it is!” Liam perked up. “Sounds like a Malay sci-fi plot!”
“Dr. Johan bin Yusof,” Aiman read aloud. “Former senior lecturer in energy physics at UKM. His last project aimed to combine the Earth’s kinetic energy with long-term storage systems. But it was scrapped for being impractical and high-risk.”
Nico stood up. “If he got cut from the project, why did he continue? Who funded him?”
Zara added, “And why wasn’t the lab completely shut down? If the government ordered everything stopped, why is the security system still active? Who’s maintaining the place now?”
They all fell silent. One question led to another, but the answers remained murky.
Risa quietly rose from her seat and placed her sketchbook on the table. She flipped to a page and showed it to them.
“This symbol… I’ve seen it before. At college, in the library. There’s this old book on alternative energy and quantum physics. This symbol appeared in a chapter about looped energy systems.”
Liam’s jaw dropped. “You read quantum physics books for fun?”
Risa shrugged. “I like weird stuff.”
Zara gave a faint smile. “You are weird.”
Aiman noted down the book title Risa had mentioned. “We have to find that book tomorrow. But in the meantime, we should learn more about Dr. Johan’s background. Maybe someone who knew him personally.”
“There is,” said Pak Karim earlier that evening. “Name’s Mr. Hadi. He used to work with Dr. Johan. After the lab shut down, he quit and became a carpenter. Lives in the village next to the old mosque.”
“Tomorrow, let’s split into two groups,” Aiman suggested. “Me, Risa, and Liam will find Mr. Hadi. Zara and Nico, head to the public library and see if you can find that book Risa mentioned.”
“Yes! Spy mode activated,” said Liam, posing with a water bottle like James Bond.
“And please reformat your camera. Yesterday’s video is super blurry,” Zara added.
“I’m compressing everything now,” said Liam. “Hopefully we get something clearer.”
That night, they went to bed earlier than usual. But their minds were racing. Aiman lay awake, staring at the ceiling. The rain hadn’t stopped. Lightning flashed across the sky, and in that flicker of light, Aiman thought he saw a shadow pass outside the window.
He rose slowly and pulled back the curtain. No one was there. Just trees swaying gently in the wind. But his heart wasn’t calm.
Just as he turned to go back to bed, his old Nokia phone buzzed. A new message appeared, with no sender ID.
“You’re getting close to the truth. Don’t go too deep, Aiman. Some doors are better left closed.”
Aiman’s hand trembled. He stared at the glowing screen, his thoughts swirling.
“Who are you?” he whispered.
But as always, there was no reply. Only the silence of night and a mystery that was growing darker in the town of Kluang.