Mahingga

Chapter 4: Kita

All during his ride on the Leytrain, Ako couldn't stop checking his Palam. He hardly spoke to Kaib, and he barely even noticed Kita when she glanced at him with her pale green eyes from across the train station. He'd swear those eyes glowed or something. He didn't raise his hand a single time to answer a question in either of his first two classes—he could hardly pay attention, not that he really had to. He'd had little more than a mouthful of rice as he sat at lunch in the dining hall, tapping the finger of his left hand against the table with his sleeve pulled back, glancing at his Palam every few seconds.

Kaib snorted from across the table. "Man, Ako, you're off today." Kaib had just finished eating and was now leaning back in his seat squinting at Ako when he wasn't smiling at any girl that passed by. The dining hall was little more than a giant room attached to the kitchens. Several long tables were stretched throughout in neat lines, and the place was packed.

"What're you talking about?" Ako asked distractedly.

The big boy's laugh rumbled again. "I mean you didn't eat your food, and you look like you're ready to sprint across the room. Did Dala ask you to go steady or something?"

Ako laughed. "No, we're not even eighteen yet, friend. Not even sixteen!" He placed another spoonful of food in his mouth as if to make his point. Halfway through chewing it, his Palam tingled. There was a locked message from Taiyo. Ako sprang to his feet. "Gotta go!" he sputtered, a few grains of rice popping out of his mouth. He threw his satchel over his shoulder and rushed out of the dining hall. He'd swear he could hear Kaib's laugh even from outside.

Once outside, he ran over to a collection of coconut trees near campus and pulled up the notification from Taiyo which showed up on the screen of his Palam across his left forearm. A few words from Taiyo appeared first: "This information shouldn't be seen by anybody else, and I don't want you to reveal this information in any way." Ako rolled his eyes and continued through the message. "The device we found had a few words written in Pawidan on its surface. And just so we're on the same page, the Pawids are the palefaces. I don't know if you know this, but when the aircraft crashed into the island, there were no survivors onboard. A few kids had been pushed out of the aircraft while it was over water while wearing some floatation vests. Those were the only people to live.

"Anyway, the kids were encouraged to preserve their language, and our government had them write down their alphabet and everything. They were encouraged to teach the language to their kids.

"Now for the classified stuff: the government doesn't reveal all its information to me. I'm just an engineer, but I'm working for politicians. They have their own translator and they don't let me know everything. Anyway, I'd had just enough time inspecting the device that we found on Bato to copy down the Pawidan words into my Palam. Some of the words aren't recorded at the governmental archives—I checked yesterday. I sent you a copy of them so that you could see if Kita would translate it for me. Don't make it a big deal—just say you saw it somewhere and wondered what it meant or something.

"Alright, good luck, little brother." The words ended there. There was another file with the Pawidan words that Ako couldn't understand.

Ako scratched his head. Was this a good way for Taiyo to further his research? It seemed ridiculous that the government wouldn't release the information, especially if it helped understand how the aircraft worked. Ako bit his lip and glanced about him. He'd do it of course. How could he not? The hard part would just be talking to Kita...again.

A deep thrum sounded throughout the university. Lunch was over. Ako closed out the message with a sigh and pulled his sleeve back down.

* * *

"I think Dala really did spook you out," Kaib said, slouching back in his seat on the Leytrain. "But I understand the pressure. She might very well be the most attractive girl at the university."