Chapter 10 — The Thirteenth Landmark

An returned to Ha Luu when the water overflowed the drainage ditch on Say Street. Not knee deep, but enough to cause motorbikes to stall and papers in the house to become moldy. Residents stood on their doorsteps, watching Tan Giang convoys pass by with loudspeakers announcing relocation.

“People are not allowed to enter the southern route,” An said.

Khoi asked: "Why?"

"The south line is where they're opening gate number three. The water will rush in there."

Nam holds a walkie-talkie. “I will call the center.”

“Do you still have access?”

"Temporary."

“So use it to send the real map, not the red map.”

Nam did not respond. He turned on the device, but the communication channel returned a strange string of characters. Your password has been locked.

“They took away my rights.”

“That fast?” Khoi asked.

“They know we have the sample.”

Bich called from the car behind. "I just discovered that every file on the central server has been time-altered. If there are no copies off the network, all evidence is gone."

An watched the water slide across the road. “Milestone 13.”

“You want to use a mechanical landmark to save the entire system?”

“It still reads real.”

They took the car to the old wharf and took Khoi's boat. The water rose quickly, carrying tree branches and nylon bags with it. Khoi ran the machine at full capacity, but still had to avoid the vortexes created by the manhole.

Marker 13 appears under a new layer of water. The red needle touched 3.02 meters. A comparison with RiverEye on mobile: 2.61.

“Forty-one centimeter difference,” she said.

“Enough to drown a neighborhood.”

An opened the cylinder cover and saw that the white light was still on. She connected the external reader to the old port. The screen shows a pressure graph, but half of the data is encrypted.

“Can be downloaded directly to a memory card,” Nam said.

“No card.”

Khoi took out the waterproof voice recorder. “Use this?”

“It just records.”

"Match 13 makes a valve sound. Record enough to prove there has been a change."

An nodded. She turned on the phone. There was a steady buzzing sound inside the pillar, interspersed with clicking sounds thirteen seconds apart. Bich placed the microphone near the lid and filmed the scene of the water needle.

A woman from a house next to the canal called out:

“Miss, water is in the kitchen!”

An looked around. The three lowest houses were flooded. People themselves carry the refrigerator to the bed. No one receives instructions beyond the general speaker.

“Khoi, take everyone to elementary school.”

“The south road is blocked.”

“Go by canal.”

Khoi brought the boat to shore. An and Phuc, who followed them to the wharf, brought each family up. Phuc recorded the names of children, the elderly and people in need of medicine. Mrs. Hanh at the school opened a temporary medical room.

Meanwhile, Bich broadcast live from the backup phone. She did not say which company, just read the comparative data:

"The mechanical mark reads 3.02 meters. RiverEye reads 2.61. Two devices in the same basin cannot be more than forty centimeters off without a declared reason."

Network signal is intermittent. Viewers increased from a few hundred to a few thousand. Other residents sent photos of door number three, photos of murky water, and photos of Tan Giang staff moving equipment.

A comment appeared: She is inciting people to fight the government.

Bich read but did not react. “The data will speak for themselves.”

An's not sure the metrics can tell when the server keeper is deleting it.

Khoi returned, his shirt was soaked. He placed a child with a fever on a chair.

“His family is stuck on the ground floor.”

An took the thermometer and called Mrs. Hanh. Khoi looked at her and suddenly asked:

“If we save this area, will other areas suffer the water instead?”

An stopped. "Maybe."

“So what are we doing?”

“Buy time.”

“Buy by any?"

“Bring people out first, then find another opening.”

Nam appeared at the school door. He was carrying an old controller, his face pale with fatigue.

“I can access the maintenance channel. There is an auxiliary valve that directs water to the western regulating lake.”

“That lake is being used for the Tan Giang project,” An said.

“Yes. But the capacity is one-third left.”

“If you put water in there?”

“The lake overflowed. The model building may be flooded.”

“No one there?”

“There are workers and equipment.”

Khoi asked: “And the North Bank?”

“The water level can be reduced by fifteen centimeters.”

An looked at the map. Fifteen centimeters was enough to save the ground floor for an hour, not enough for a flood if the main valve remained open.

“Where can door number three be closed?”

Nam pointed to a spot below the dam. “In the empty compartment. But mechanical locks need someone to operate.”

“We'll go in.”

Khoi shook his head. “Chemical gas.”

“There are masks, gas meters, rescue ropes.”

“And if the door locks itself?”

“Then you pull us out.”

Khoi looked at her, his voice low. “Do you consider me a lifeline?”

“I consider you a person who understands water.”

He looked over at the sleeping baby, then nodded.

Before entering the cabin, An received a call from Duy. She turned on the speaker.

“You are broadcasting unverified data,” Duy said. “Stop now.”

“You can publish real data.”

“You are causing panic.”

“People are flooded. Panic doesn't come from me.”

“What do you want?”

“Open all RiverEye logs, make the map public, and stop the relocation.”

Duy smiled softly. “You think the city can run on the rough truth? There are decisions that need someone to take responsibility for the crowd.”

“My father took responsibility for him.”

The line was silent. An heard the sound of a pen tapping on the table on the other side.

“Your father chose it himself,” Duy said.

“He chose to save the hospital. And you choose to take the land.”

“You have no idea how many people I have saved.”

“Then let's open the file.”

Duy hung up the phone.

An, Khoi, Nam and a member of the rescue team went down to the cabin. The water has reached the third step. Temporary safety indicator gas. The chemical tank door vibrates continuously.

Nam leads the way to valve number three. On the valve handle there is a new lock, engraved with code DQD-01. An used a half-moon key, but the lock was welded with an extra layer.

“Can't open it,” she said.

Khoi used a cutting tool, sparks flew. A pipe above cracked, chemical water sprayed down.

Nam pulled An away, but a piece of metal cut Khoi's shoulder.

“Khoi!”

"No problem."

Blood mixed with water, turned pale red and then dissolved. An tightened the rescue rope around him.

“You are injured.”

“Close the valve.”

An looked at the lock. She remembered the father's sentence in the tape: Water mold does not know how to love anyone. She used the key not to open the lock, but to hit the welded part hard. Cracked metal. Nam took the iron bar. The lock opened.

The valve rotates half a turn and then jams. The water in the pipe stopped, but the pressure needle still entered the red zone.

“There's a second valve,” Nam said. “In the back of the tub.”

Khoi put his hand on his injured shoulder. “Go.”

As soon as they stepped forward, all the lights in the cabin turned white.

A long beep sounded.

On the control panel, the words clearly appeared: CYCLE 13 ACTIVATED.

Outside, city loudspeakers simultaneously broadcast a level five warning.

An knew the big battle had begun.

Khoi returned to the control room, but An pulled him to the door. “This road is not safe.”

“So do you have another way?”

“Eastern maintenance line. Can bypass the pump.”

“I know that route. Filled.”

“Not completely. Phuc found the map.”

Phuc Spread the map on the hood of the car. The drawing was sent by a former worker, with a note in blue pen: “sluice box — behind electric pole No. 8”. They walked through the flooded alley, counting each electricity pole. Column 8 is located behind a newly built brick wall.

An used a ruler to tap the floor. A patch of land made a hollow sound. Khoi and Phuc dug in, revealing the concrete cover. Below is an old sewer line, wide enough for two people to bend down.

“If this road is opened, the water will flow to the natural lake,” Nam said. “But the lake has been leveled.”

“There is an empty space under the foundation of the model building,” An replied.

They don't have time to argue. Bich holds the live transmitter, residents send each photo of the water level. An called Mrs. Hanh and asked the elementary school to move to the second floor. She didn't ask why, just started knocking on each door.

In the sewer, the sound of water echoed like someone speaking in the next room. An touched the wall and saw old measuring lines. Each line bears the date, one line is deeply scratched: 12.09.

Nam stood in front of the line and said: "Your father passed here."

“Are you sure?”

“He used red paint to mark his escape route.”

An looked forward. A red arrow remains.

They came to a hand-picked door. The lock has been removed, but the gear is stuck. Khoi used a crowbar, An dipped his hand in the water to feel the direction of flow. The water is pulling toward residential areas, not the lake.

“If we open it wrong, we push water into the street,” she said.

“Can you read directions with your hands?”

“No. I read the pull.”

An try rotating a part. The gears shift, the water changes direction slightly. From afar, a siren sounded, signaling a new discharge.

Nam looked at the clock: "Ten minutes left before door number three opens."

“So we have to open the sewer line.”

Khoi and An pulled together. The gears turned further, and a large stream of water rushed past, dragging trash and mud with it. They have to hold on to the rope so they don't get caught.

Bich outside received a video from the people: the water in Say Street dropped a few centimeters. She read directly, her voice shaking from fatigue but not stopping.

"Community data confirms an old valve was recently opened. Residents don't know who opened it, but they know the water has changed direction."

At that moment, an explosion echoed in the sewer. The ceiling collapsed behind, blocking the way back.

Phuc shouted over the radio: "An, the water is rising in the east!"

“Keep everyone on the second floor!”

“What about you?”

“I will go out through the lake door.”

Nam points the way ahead. “There is an exit to the model building.”

“The building is flooding.”

“But the third floor is still dry.”

Khoi touched An's shoulder. "Go."

They ran through the sewers, the water up to their waists. An heard the sound of the pump above changing speed. Each rotation causes the drain to vibrate.

When reaching the exit door, the lock was welded. Khoi used a gas tank to cut, An held the wire. A blast of hot air made them both step back.

The door opens. They climbed to the basement of the model building, where water swirled around the forklift. Khoi looked for the escape ladder, An looked through the broken glass.

On the opposite wall, a billboard displays the slogan "Tan Giang — where water becomes value". The text is half covered by water.

An turned on the camera and spoke straight into the lens:

"This is the basement of the building that has just been used as an air conditioning tank. The water does not come in by itself. It is brought here through the old sewer. Everyone, look at the valve mark on the wall."

Bich transmitted images. Thousands of viewers saw An standing in the middle of a flooded basement, with the project logo behind him.

One commenter asked: “Are you afraid of being arrested?”

An replied: "Yes. But I'm more afraid of other people being forced to live in their own homes."

Khoi pulled her to the third floor. From the window, they saw the North Bank sinking red light.

Nam called: "Door number three is all open."

An looked at the water meter on Milestone 13. The red needle approached 3.17.

The big flood is no longer ahead. It is right under their feet.