The Devil's Legs Upside
The Disappearing Worker

Two glasses of champagne were presented in front of me. Mr. Teigl then poured white water which then straightened me up. The sparring on the Generator-Compressor bridge was really dehydrating me.

Right now, me, Lim, and the rest of the staff, plus Julia are in Mr. Teigl's private room in the Well-head Monitor room. I can't believe it, Mr. Teigl is so fancy, it turns out there's a room as good as this on the Bridge. His hospitality frightened me a little less, but it seemed, Mr. Teigl still looks tense. I know very well why I was summoned to this room. But the woman beside me, who was also straight up the glass, I did not know why she was there. Julia's? What the hell is he doing here?

“So .. You two are witnesses. The last person who saw him yesterday” (So. The last person who saw the Father yesterday) said Mr.Teigl started the conversation.

Julia and I met each other.

“I didn’t see you yesterday, Julia” (I didn't see you yesterday, Julia)

“Neither did I... And by the way, what were you doing at Generator-Compressor Platform?” (So did I.. By the way, what are you doing on the Generator-Compressor Platform?) Julia ketus.

I was nervous to hear that word. There's no way I'm telling him I'm going to see him. Duh, what an uncomfortable situation for me. I could only be silent as I turned my eyes to her. Julia looked so upset, she once again gripped the champagne glass.

“Now, please calm down .. no one to be blamed” (Please calm down .. no one is to blame here). Teigl tried to calm Julia down.

“Mr. Dimas, please tell me, where did you see Mr.Dennis yesterday, and what happend?” (Mr.Dimas, please tell me, where did you see Mr.Dennis yesterday, and what happened?)

According to the blonde old European man –Head of Generator-Compressor Platform Division-who was with Julia earlier\, the missing person in his division was named Mr.Dennis. Mr. Dennis has the exact same characteristics as I told you. He also worked as a Helper on the Platform Generator-Compressor which was responsible for transporting goods to all Platforms, which is exactly what I described. Looks like the guy I hit yesterday was Mr. Dennis. From the description of the Division Head I began to explain what I experienced yesterday afternoon.

“I saw him at bridge, near Generator-Compressor Platform Gate.. Well, like I said, I crashed into him” (I saw it on the bridge, near the gate Generator-Compressor Platform, as I explained, I hit him)

“SO YOU PUSH HIM TO THE OCEAN?!” (SO YOU PUSHED HIM INTO THE SEA?!) Cut Julia so emotionally.

“The hell?!” (What?!)

What the hell's going on? why is Julia angry with me?

“Whoa! Whoa! Calm down Miss Julia .. haven’t you seen the bloodstep? Its printed clearly” (Whoa! Whoa! Patience Miss Julia... You haven't seen those footprints? It's printed so clearly)

“Printed clearly?” (Printed so clearly?) Julia looked at the puzzled Mr.Teigl.

“It means, He ... deliberately jump .. right to the ocean..” (That means, He.... with an omelet jumping.........) I said with weight.

Suddenly Julia broke back. I don't know why he was so sad, we haven't even heard his testimony. But what makes me heavy is not Julia's cry, but the fact that there are bloody traces.

Honestly, I didn't see any blood yesterday. There were indeed several light bulbs that had fallen apart, but I swept the rupture alone with my shoes, then dropped them into the sea. And again, when I found Gagan screaming from a distance, at once Mr. Denis disappeared without a trace, along with the lights that were scattered earlier. I thought back to that moment, reassuring myself that I had never seen a bloody footprint.

Julia then began to share her testimony with all of us. Last afternoon, Julia passed Mr. Dennis in his study. Mr. Dennis, who was carrying a box of bulbs, went to walk to the bridge. Julia told me that Mr. Dennis ignored her, but she was usually very friendly. After that, he no longer saw Mr. Dennis, until the events of this morning. It seemed like Julia was so close to Mr. Dennis, she kept telling him about Mr. Dennis and herself, repeating the same thing while crying sobbing.

“Is there any strange or suspicious thing again that you notice, maybe?” (Is there anything strange or suspicious you know, perhaps?) Said Mr.Teigl cutting off Julia's incessant explanation.

“Umm .. I think he is sick” (Umm... I think he is sick)

“Sick?” (Sick?)

“Yeah .. He looks exhausted, and just keep balance with that box ... He even almost fall” (Iya ... He looks exhausted, and looks not strong carrying the box .. Even he almost fell)

Those words instantly made me remember the incident clearly. The description from Julia seemed to answer a little awkwardness that my logic was difficult to digest. Right, I was busy playing my phone, and I walked slowly because of it. When I hit him .. wait! I didn't really hit him, I walked slowly. Actually, I feel more like he hit me instead of the other way around. But strangely, he so easily fell down. If Mr. Dennis is sick as Julia tells me, then he was so weak that it was easy to get hit by me. Even so, a person who should be sick and weak like that, could not possibly run or jump from the bridge, quickly from before me, ‘ right? Arrrghhh, it's all the more confusing.

“I think we should call Gagan” (I think we should call Gagan) ketus Lim.

“This cheap joke” (Guyonan dimeh again) said the Fat staff again, it seems he is still not kapok after about to be beaten by Lim.

“Why?” (Why?) I asked so disappointed

“That kid mutters only bullshit!” (The child only speaks lies!) said Mr.Teigl raising his tone.

Mr. Teigl, whose words were usually so calm and gentle, suddenly raised his tone like that, it was unusual. All of us were silent, staring at each other.

“You mean ... Pretni?” (You mean... Pretni?) I break the silence.

My words seemed to not only break the silence, but also destroy the calmness that Mr. Teigl's face drew. Instantly his eyebrows rose and his face bent viciously. It seemed, it was only further provoking his anger.

“I heard it from him yesterday, he yelled at me while ..” (I heard it from him yesterday, He yelled at me when ..)

“You better shut up!” (You better shut up!) cut Mr.Teigl firmly.

Eh? Wh why? What does 'Pretni mean?'

“There is no such thing here!” (Nothing like that here!) Added Mr. Teigls

“The hell! this bullshit again!” (What! This shit again!) sniffed one of the staff.

“Again?!” (Again?) Said astonishment.

For the umpteenth time I heard the word 'Again' today. It's as if something like this has happened before, just, Eh! or did it ever happen? My eyes glared suspiciously at Mr. Teigl's staff. When I said 'Again' they were shocked themselves. Then their faces grumbled a little, like they had said something wrong. Mr. Teigl did, but he chose to take a deep breath and began to explain to us the truth.

“This is our third missing person” (This is our third missing person case)

Julia, Lim and I glared in shock, our hearts as if they were spanked.

“*WHAT?*!” (WHAT!!)

Mr.Teigl then began to tell stories, there have been several missing people in this offshore bridge. According to Mr.Teigl, the first missing person and happened two weeks ago, Yes, two people disappeared in a day. This means there's three people missing in two weeks, crazy!

Mr. Teigl continued his story. The two previous missing men, who disappeared simultaneously, were an elderly male Engineer and a female Engineer who worked on the Well-head Platform and on the Generator-Compressor Platform. Instantly I gulped as Mr. Teigl stated that the position I was in right now belonged to the missing old male Engineer. Despite the sudden loss of two engineers, Mr. Teigl and the company did not dare to report to the police, because there was no evidence. The two of them simply disappeared, without a trace and without a clue.

The rest of the staff and workers searched the entire corner of the Bridge, but they did not find the nose of the two. In the Engineer's room a suitcase was found complete with her clothes and personal equipment, as well as the old Engineer's suitcase in her room. Then rumors about their relationship in the Bridge is santer sound, so Mr. Teigl and his staff thought the two men had escaped from the Bridge using a petroleum-carrying ship from the Production Platform dock. Maybe in the middle of the trip they decided not to bring their suitcases, considering the distance of the Bridge to the city of Dwarka is not up to a day.

Therefore, this two weeks Mr.Teigl and his staff are focusing on tracking all the expeditions of ships that transport petroleum from this Bridge. But the result is nil, the two people still do not meet. The possibility that they are still in this bridge is very small, but it does not rule out the possibility of them jumping to the bottom of the sea. If that is the case, then it could have a bad impact on this Bridge. This bridge can be stopped operation, even closed. Mr Teigl certainly did not want that, so he was still trying to find the ships, hoping they would actually escape from the Bridge.

Mr. Teigl's story is a little strange, I think he's covering something up. Of the many explanations he said, it still makes no sense if there are two workers who disappeared suddenly and not reported to the police. Then, for a couple who are kasmaran, why should they run away? Why not just date or make out on this bridge? Or ask permission for leave? Privacy is maintained. There are many discrepancies in Mr. Teigl's explanation. Is he going to keep this bridge in operation? Or not to deal with the police?

“I can’t report it to Police.” (I can't report it to Police) Mr.Teigl ended the lengthy explanation.

“But .. we have evidence now, right! These bloody footstep from ..” (But ... Now we have proof, right? The bloody footprints belonging to ..) Julia came back crying.

Mr. Teigl looked at us all one by one. His eyes were blank as if thinking hard.

“Ok .. I’ll report to the police! All people in this room now, should keep secret to other workers. Nobody should know about this case.” (Well, I'll report it to the Police. But this information is limited to us! Everyone in this room must keep this secret from the rest of the workers. No one should know about this case)