Chapter 14 — The Thirteenth Landmark

The blue file is hidden in an unexpected place: the archives of the provincial library. Nguyen Dieu Trang once donated money to build a reading room, in exchange for the right to keep a file cabinet for "historical planning research". Bich found the key through the sponsorship list, and Khoi took them there by boat because the road was still not open.

The library was dark, save for emergency lights. The water on the field has receded, leaving behind a thin layer of mud. Nam stood outside the door, constantly checking his phone.

“Aren't you coming in?” An asked.

“I will be here.”

“Afraid of meeting the past?”

“I'm afraid someone will see me.”

Bich opened the cabinet with the key found in the sponsorship file. There were no books inside, just map boxes and a small projector. The last box says “Water — not for publication”.

An open. A thick base map, layers of transparent paper overlapping each other. The first layer is the 2009 contour line. The second layer is the proposed sewer line. The third layer is the Tan Giang boundary.

When placed on top of each other, An realized that the project was located right where the natural lake used to exist. Tan Giang did not build a city by the river; They built on the bed of an old lake.

“If there is heavy rain, the water will return to its original path,” she said.

“They know,” Bich replied. “Because this map has Trang's signature.”

At the bottom of the box is a hard drive. An plugged into the library's computer. There are twelve folders, each named after a year. The 2014 folder contains the Tan Giang blueprint and an audio file.

Nguyen Dieu Trang's voice rang out: "The North Bank area must have an event big enough for people to accept resettlement. No casualties needed. Just visible damage."

Duy said: "What if Mr. Vu doesn't sign?"

“Then let's find someone else.”

A noise in the hallway. Bich turns off the screen. Khoi pulled everyone to hide behind the document shelf.

The two entered the library. One person is wearing a security guard uniform, the other is Ha from the legal department.

“The hard drive is here,” Ha said.

Khoi winked towards the back door. An took the hard drive, but the cable was stuck. She pulled hard, causing the projector to fall to the floor. The sound of collision made the two turn around.

Khoi pushed the document shelf, creating a barrier. An and Bich ran to the emergency exit. Ha chased after her, but the slippery water caused her to slip. Nam rushed in from outside and blocked the door.

“Ha, stop,” he said.

“Have you betrayed me?”

“I have never been on your side.”

Ha pulled out her phone and dialed Nam. “I know who this message will be addressed to.”

“Send it.”

“You think they will forgive you?”

“I don't ask for forgiveness.”

Nam locked the outside door, locking Ha and the security guard in the reading room. They ran to the wharf.

The hard drive contains three types of data: planning maps, regulatory order logs, and closed-door meeting videos. Bich backed it up on two devices, one sent to lawyer Thuan, the other sent to four newsrooms in other cities.

“As long as one newsroom publishes it, the data won't disappear,” she said.

“If they sue?”

“They should at least sue four newsrooms at the same time.”

An looked at the map. "Not enough. They will say old data, not relevant to today's match."

Nam said: "There is a provincial meeting tonight. Trang will approve the fake damage report."

“We have to put evidence into it.”

Khoi checked his watch. “Ten hours left before cycle 13.”

An divides the work. Bich prepares to go live and send data. Khoi brought the rescue team to the sewer locations. Nam finds his way to the center. An will talk to Trang.

“Are you going alone?” Bich asked.

“No. I went with the person she thought was dead.”

An called Mrs. Hanh. Her mother Bring the original film roll and go to the provincial headquarters in an old tea cart. In the trunk of the car, she placed an aluminum kettle, hiding a third hard drive.

“Mom, you don't need to go,” An said.

"I stood outside the trial twelve years ago. This time I'm inside."

The provincial headquarters is crowded. Officials meet about "unusual flood damage". Trang sat at the head of the table, next to Hai Duy. Duy no longer looks calm, his eyes are red from lack of sleep.

An was stopped by security, but Ms. Hanh stepped forward.

“I am Lam Quang Vu's wife.”

The meeting room was silent.

Trang looked at her and recognized her immediately. “Mrs. Hanh, this is an internal meeting.”

“I have evidence that yesterday's flood was not natural.”

“You have no expertise.”

“I have a husband who died because his profession was turned into a crime.”

An placed the hard drive on the table. Bich plays audio clips through speakers. The room clearly heard the words "visible damage".

Duy stood up. “This is illegal recording.”

“You can dispute the content,” An said. “Don't object to the way it's written.”

Trang signaled to turn off the speaker. “Miss Lam, you are disrupting the meeting and causing instability.”

An placed the map on the table. "This is a natural lake that has been leveled. This is the old sewer line. This is the project boundary. If cycle 13 continues, water will flow through the old lake bed and collapse the south bank."

Trang did not look at the map. “This model has not been validated.”

“Then let's open the raw data.”

“Data belongs to the center.”

Nam walked in and put his business card on the table. “I confirm the data has been rewinded and there is an out-of-process control command.”

Duy looked at him. “You're ruining your career.”

“I canceled when I first signed.”

An office worker ran in and whispered to Trang. She turned pale: four newsrooms had received the data, a live channel was broadcasting a warning from Site 13.

Trang turned to An. “What do you want?”

“Stop cycle 13, make all logs public and send an independent team to the chemical lake.”

“If not?”

“I will read your statement in front of everyone watching.”

Trang smiled coldly. "Do you think the city likes the truth? The city likes to be saved."

“No one has the right to save the city by pushing others into the water.”

Outside, the warning siren sounded again. An employee ran in: the water level in the south suddenly increased, cracks appeared on the embankment.

Trang looked at Duy. Duy looked at Nam. For a few seconds, no one decided.

An understands that that is the danger: a system with too many people responsible will have no one responsible.

“I will open the old sewer line,” she said.

Page blocked. “You have no right.”

"I have proof. And I have less time than you guys."

An turned to the door. Khoi was waiting in the hallway, his hand still bandaged. Bich streams everything live.

Trang shouted: "If you open it, I will arrest you."

An stopped for a moment. “After saving people, you can arrest me.”

She walked out. Bich's phone rang: anonymous source sent a new line.

Cycle 13 has no stop button. It's only people who dare to stand in front of the valve.

After leaving the meeting, An and Bich stayed in lawyer Thuan's file room. No one wants to call this a secret office, because it sounds too much like another story. Thuan put three phones in a metal box, turned off the signal and asked everyone to say one thing at a time.

“You have four sources,” he said. "Server logs, water samples, maps, testimonies. Don't mix them into an emotional story."

Bich opened the verification table. Miss time stamp each document, its owner, how it was obtained, and the risk of objection. An additional water level parameters. Nam called from an unknown number, saying he had been released but was suspended.

“I have a list of people who were granted access in the past,” he said. “Trang, Vinh, Duy and an account named N.”

“N is Water Source Company?” An asked.

“No. N is human.”

“Do you know the name?”

Nam was silent. “I only know that person appeared in the computer room and spoke with a Northern accent.”

“Is it Nguyen Minh Tung?”

"No. Tung is the one being ordered around."

Thuan asked Nam to send the list. A line of names is partially covered, only the words "Nguyen... Tung" remain.

Bich looked up. “It could be Nguyen Minh Tung and another person with the same last name.”

An remembers an old meeting, when a woman was holding a map with her back facing the camera. Her signature is not Trang, but the authorization code is NDT-REG.

“Source N could be the abbreviation Nguyen Dieu Trang,” she said.

“So why did Nam say no?” Khoi asked.

“Because the creator of the code and the end signer may be different.”

Thuan placed a new document on the table. The provincial agency ordered a temporary halt to all decisions to reclaim the North Bank, but also requested that raw data not be released to avoid "causing instability".

An smiled faintly. “They want to stop the revocation but retain the right to delete.”

“I will sue for the non-disclosure clause,” Thuan said. “But it needs people's names.”

Khoi called Mr. Sau. Within an hour, more than thirty households agreed to sign the data request. They didn't all believe An, but they all saw the number on their door.

Bich broadcasted the public meeting live. One woman asked: "What if we are still flooded?"

An replied: "The announcement does not make the water recede. But it lets you know who opened the sluice and has the right to request it to be closed."

One man said: “I don't know how to read a chart.”

"It's okay. Each family keeps one meter. When the real number is different from the reported number, you have the right to ask."

The meeting lasted until evening. People divided themselves into groups to measure water, write down the name of the person who came to post the sign and take a photo of the compensation slip. Fear does not disappear, but it is broken down into concrete things.

Meanwhile, Trang sent An an invitation to meet privately. An does not go alone; Thuan requested a meeting in the hospital lobby with cameras.

Trang arrived on time, wearing a gray suit, without an assistant. She looked at An for a long time and then said:

“You won a round.”

“I haven't played yet.”

“This is all a fight for control.”

“She controlled the data.”

"I control the consequences. If I don't sign, the city won't have money to repair the dike."

“So you create floods to get money?”

Trang looked out the glass window. "I created a reason for the budget to move quickly. The system is slow, the people are slow, the water is not."

“You talk as if good intentions erase bad methods.”

“You talk like someone who has never had to choose which area to save.”

I miss my father. "I read his signature. I knew that choice had a price."

Trang handed over a file. "Duy said she would announce the part her father received. If she did, her family would be crushed by public opinion."

“I don't ask for public opinion.”

“Do you think the city will accept a partially guilty father?”

“I think the city deserves the uncut truth.”

Trang curled her lips. “The truth cannot save anyone.”

“But lies kill.”

An left the hospital, leaving Trang under the white light. In her bag were Duy's hard drive, memory card and money receipt father's. She knew once it was announced, there would be no turning back.

Bich looked at her. “Will you read it all?”

An nodded. "Run out of."