Lieutenant General Agus Hidayat is a supporting character in the first season of HBO's The Last of Us. He was a member of the Indonesian armed forces before the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak and one of the first people to learn about the infection.[1]
Biography[]
Background[]
Before the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak in 2003, Agus joined the TNI, the military of Indonesia. He served as a paratrooper and became a Lieutenant General, serving in TNI headquarters.[1]
Events of HBO's The Last of Us[]
In September 2003, as incidents of violence caused by the Cordyceps fungus began to occur in the Jakarta area, Agus was authorized to take a military aide and locate and recruit Dr. Ratna Pertiwi to study the corpses of infected people owing to her background in mycology. On September 24, they found her at a café in Jakarta and escorted her to their car. In the car, she asked Agus if she was under arrest, which he assured her she was not: the local government required her expertise in mycology.
Arriving at a lab operated by the Health Ministry, Agus showed Ratna a microscopic sample that she immediately identified as Ophiocordyceps, but was puzzled at the manner in which it was prepared. Agus explained it was a sample taken from a human, to which Ratna expressed skepticism as she believed it was impossible for Cordyceps to manifest in humans.
Agus escorted her deeper into the lab, where she was shown the corpse of a woman in a testing chamber. From an adjacent observation room, he advised her to keep her hazmat suit on at all times and to exit the room if she felt herself becoming ill. He watched Ratna inspect the corpse and flee the room upon finding that the Cordyceps mycelium had in fact grown in the corpse's body.
Afterwards, he brought Ratna tea and she inquired as to how the government came upon the body. Agus explained that the incident occurred approximately 30 hours prior; the woman was a worker at a local flour mill, to which Ratna gravely noted flour was a perfect substrate for Cordyceps. Agus further explained that the woman was bitten by an unknown individual before she herself went into an unexplained frenzy and bit 3 coworkers, all of whom had to be executed according to procedure. Upon also learning from Agus that 14 other workers were missing, Ratna anxiously put her tea down as Agus inquired how they could stop the infection from spreading, be it through a vaccine or medicine. Ratna gravely explained there was no treatment or vaccine for this infection, and that the only thing the government could do in hopes of stopping the spread was to bomb the entire city with everyone in it. She then tearfully requested that Agus allow her to go home and be with her family.[1]
Appearance[]
Agus wore his country's military uniform, including a peak cap. He clearly displayed his badges on his left chest and his stars indicating his rank as a Lt. General. Also visible on his uniform were paratroopers' wings and shoulder patches indicating service in military headquarters and having served as an airborne commando.
Agus wore seven ribbons indicating medals he had earned. The highest-ranking was the Grand Meritorious Military Order Star (Bintang Yudha Dharma), Third Class.[1]
Personality[]
A military man, Agus was quite serious, marching quickly and giving direct instructions to Ratna in a stern manner. Despite this, he could be emotionally aware, offering tea to Ratna to calm her after she was shocked from her observations of a deceased infected. He also displayed attentiveness and understanding of topics outside his field of expertise, showing that he knew that chlorazol was standard for use in preserving samples taken from humans despite there being no indication of his having worked in a medical lab or served in the TNI Medical Center.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- Agus was portrayed by the late Indonesian actor Yayu A.W. Unru.
