The Second Flight of Garuda

Date: August 1993 – One Week Before the Showcase

Location: SMA 1 Padang – Entrepreneurship Club, Workshop Wing

The room smelled of glue, burnt plastic, and ambition.

In a borrowed corner of the school's dusty workshop, Rakha sat cross-legged on the tiled floor, surrounded by bamboo scraps, sugarcane fiber, a soldering iron… and a dream.

He wasn't building a product. He was building a message.

⚙️ Project Name: "Saka Modular Cart – Version 0.1"

Concept: A collapsible, low-cost, multipurpose cart for selling liquid saka (red sugar syrup), designed for low-income street vendors.

Innovation: Foldable tray design, refillable insulated container, eco-packaging storage made from recycled bamboo.

Market Angle: Health-focused, traditional-modern fusion, highly mobile

.Impact: Affordable. Scalable. Made for the people who need it most.

Tari popped into the room mid-afternoon, hair tied back, clipboard in hand. She paused at the sight of Rakha halfway inside the cart frame, adjusting a sliding mechanism with a spoon.

"You're serious about this," she said.

Rakha didn't look up. "I'm not here to play business. I'm here to change it."

She stepped closer, examining his sketches. "You're not mass-producing these yourself, right?"

"No," Rakha replied. "I'll partner with vocational schools. Give them royalties per build. Let them own a piece of it."

Tari raised her eyebrows. "You're eleven. Where'd you learn how to negotiate like that?"

Rakha looked up.

"I used to die for this country. Now I'm just… starting earlier."

She didn't ask what he meant.

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

Innovation Path Progress: 72%

Early MVP Ready by Thursday

Economic Literacy +3

Negotiation Trait Evolving: "Grassroots Alliance"

Meanwhile – Debate Team Selection Week, Hallway Posters Appear

A new banner hung in the school foyer:

"Forum Debat Nasional Pelajar" – Regional Selection Round

Preliminary Rounds Begin Next Monday

Format: Motion-based rebuttal, logic challenge, timed critical response

Top 2 Students = Official SMA 1 Representatives

In the crowded hallway of Class X-A, students clustered around the freshly pinned debate selection poster. Names were still being added in pencil.

The usual names were there — children of lawyers, doctors, bureaucrats.

And then one name drew whispers:

RAKHA YUDHISTIRA HALIM

"Is that… the kid from Matur?"

"He's the accelerated one, right?"

"Did he even debate before?"

Among the onlookers, one figure stood out: Alvino Tanuwijaya.

Tailored white shirt. Crisp shoes. Sleeves rolled with intention. He walked up slowly, eyes narrowing as he spotted Rakha's name — etched neatly in small capital letters.

He didn't frown. He didn't laugh.

He smirked.

Turning just enough for his voice to carry, Alvino spoke calmly — but with the sharpness of someone declaring war.

"Let's make it interesting," he said. "If the village boy wants to talk policy…"

"Let him bleed for it."

A few of his circle laughed — soft, unsure. They weren't sure if it was a joke… or a warning.

One of them, Hendri, whispered, "Isn't that a bit much?"

"So is pretending rural instinct is policy," Alvino replied coldly. "He's a clever kid. But clever's not enough. Let's see what happens when he's under the lights."

📍 Inside the Classroom – Back Row

Rakha sat near the window, scribbling motion prompts on loose paper when the words floated to his ear.

He didn't look up.

He simply wrote something on the margin of his paper:

"I don't bleed in debates. I make others think they're bleeding."

Then underlined it twice.

🧠 [SYSTEM NOTICE]

Rivalry Escalation Detected

Debate Pressure: +7%

Confidence Trait Hardened: "Cold Resolve – Tier I"

The first bell rang. But the war had already started.

Not with fists.

With words.

And Rakha had no intention of losing.

Evening – Rakha's Room (Kos)

He stared at two sheets.

One: his prototype plan, full of calculations and cost breakdowns.Two: a motion prep list, with arguments for and against privatized water in rural zones.

The clock ticked past 10.

"If I only had to do one… this would be easy.""But life doesn't wait for perfect conditions."

He poured a glass of warm water, stretched his neck, and picked up a pen.

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

Stress Management Holding

Focus Multiplier: 1.3x Active

Mini-Reward Unlocked: "24-Hour Recall Boost (Temporary)"

The race had begun.

One track for the economy. One for the nation's voice.

Rakha wasn't just running. He was building the path while sprinting on it.

📍Date: Friday, August 1993

📍Location: Aula SMA Negeri 1 Padang

The school hall had never looked so polished.

Rows of plastic chairs were lined up before a plywood stage draped in red-and-white cloth. A homemade banner fluttered gently above:

"Lomba Inovasi Siswa – SMA 1 PADANG"

(Monthly Student Innovation Showcase)

Parents had been invited. So had a few local business owners and even a representative from the city's cooperative office. Teachers sat in front with clipboards. Behind them, students whispered predictions and rivalries like it was a sports final.

On a table by the wall, three scale models stood ready:

A sleek folding cold brew cart with matte paint and custom branding – Team Alvino.

A line of colorful bottles with modern labeling and a pamphlet campaign – Team Tari.

A bamboo-and-plastic prototype with refillable canisters, waste catchers, and solar heating plates – Team Rakha.

🎤 First Up: Team Alvino

Alvino stepped on stage like a CEO walking into a boardroom.

"Good morning. Today, I present the Urban Coffee Cart – a mobile, scalable model for cold brew sales targeted at city students and office workers."

He clicked a slideshow remote. (Borrowed from his father's office.) Graphs appeared. Growth charts. Brand mock-ups. Buzzwords flew: "demographic edge," "consumer behavior," "early adopter curve."

The judges nodded. He even name-dropped his family's small café chain as a "future partner."

Applause followed. Polished. Impressive. Strategic.

🎤 Second: Team Tari

Tari walked up with her signature confidence and a little smile toward Rakha in the front row.

"This is Saka Sehat — a repackaged version of our local red sugar, designed for urban wellness markets. It's healthy, it's traditional, and it comes with a story."

She handed samples to the front row — mini glass jars with rustic twine wrapping and a QR-style barcode tag (hand-drawn, for now). Her team even had a slogan:

"Dari ladang, untuk badan."

Sincere. Clever. Marketable.

Applause. Respectful.

🎤 Third: Rakha Yudhistira Halim

There was a pause as Rakha stepped up, his oversized uniform sleeves slightly rolled.

No clicker. No slideshow. Just him and his cart.

"I don't come from a café," he began. "And I don't have a marketing team. What I have… is saka, bamboo, trash, and a father who walks five kilometers to sell things we should be processing instead of wasting."

He placed his prototype down.

"This cart isn't just for profit. It's for livelihood. A vendor can fold it. Push it. Store supplies. Keep drinks cold without power. Sell safely. And it costs less than a single cold brew machine."

He looked up.

"I'm not here to win your applause. I'm here to remind you that innovation doesn't need chrome. It needs direction."

Dead silence. Then a slow clap — from a teacher. Then another.

And then the crowd joined.

👨‍⚖️ Judges' Deliberation

The three business reps murmured. One teacher leaned back in her chair, whispering:

"Alvino's is polished. Tari's is smart. But that… that boy built something useful."

Another judge — a cooperative head — nodded.

"If scaled, his could change rural vending overnight."

🧠 [SYSTEM NOTICE]

First Public Demonstration Complete

Community Innovation Trait Evolving…

Milestone Achieved: Local Impact – Tier I

Blueprint Reward: "Basic Solar Refrigeration Unit (Tropical Use)"

Economic Skill Boost: +4

Passive Unlocked: "Pitch Presence – Minor Influence on First Impressions"

After the Results – Outside the Hall

No winners had been announced yet, but buzz spread fast.

Tari found Rakha near the handwashing station, wiping grease off his hands.

"You know they're not used to that kind of pitch, right?"

"I know," Rakha replied. "But they'll remember it longer."

She smirked. "We're not done competing, you know."

"We haven't even started."

Behind them, Alvino stood at a distance — unreadable. But his jaw clenched for just a moment… before he walked away.