Operation: Helios

Chapter 2

Tatlong araw bago ang alis namin, magkakasama kami ngayon at binabasa ang mga journal ng pitong researcher.

I'm now reading Leon's journal, the fifth researcher. Just like the other journals, it showed the Solis' cultures, religion, and traditions.

Sa timog ng Isla nakatira ang tribo dahil ito ang pinaka payapang parte ng Helios, nasabing maraming mababangis na hayop sa parteng kanluran at Hilaga ng isla, ito ay kagubatan. Sa bandang timog din may matatagpuang balon na pangunahing pinagkukuhanan ng tubig ng tribo.

But there's one thing that I couldn't understand, at the middle of the journal he had a weird entry, "When darkness come, the tribe will appease their Gods."

Is it a metaphor?

The darkness couldn't possibly mean the night since the sun never sets in Helios.  And Gods? I know that the Solis tribe considers the sun as their God, but maybe there are others?

"Kanino 'yang binabasa mo?" Tanya asked.

"Leon's."

"Oh, I haven't read that yet." She said, maybe she wanted to talk about it but couldn't since she haven't seen it yet.

"I read that! The one with the weird quote." Si Katelyn na narinig pala ang usapan namin. "What do you think?" She asked.

"Well it's seems to be a metaphor but I don't want to make assumptions until I gather other informations." I said.

"You're right, but it sure seemed like a ghost story to me!" She said jokingly, I shook my head and chuckled.

"Who has Camilla's?" I asked them, that's my next one, I'm saving Rica's for last.

May itinaas na journal si Yven, his way of saying he got Camilla's. Tapos na rin niyang basahin ito kaya nagpalit kami.

Now here comes the sixth journal. Unlike the first five, Camilla's first entries are a lot more friendly and accepting. It seems like she adapted their culture very easily.

Maybe it's because of her friendly approach that she managed to be closer to the Solis tribe than the first five, she also gave a lot of new informations.

Laudaluna, it is a tradition where the tribe does a 6-hour prayer, asking their God to keep the night away from their island since the sun is their God, the night would mean the absence of the sun which means the absence of their God.

Walang nakalagay kung gaano kadalas ito ginagawa ng tribo o kung anong mga detalye sa preparasyon at pagsasagawa ng nito.

There's also an information about the record of the history of the Solis. Ang sabi dito nakatala ang buong historya ng Solis sa lugar kung saan nakaburol ang pinaka-unang pinuno ng tribo, Amadeus Arno I, ang pangalan nito.

Unfortunately, Camilla wasn't allowed to see it as she was an outsider.

Pagkayari kong basahin ang mga sulat ni Camilla, hinintay kong matapos si Katelyn sa journal ni Rica.

Pagkalipas ng ilang minuto, nagpalit na rin kami ni Katelyn.

Sa unang pahina pa lamang ng journal ni Rica, wala nang kahit anong introduksiyon tungkol sa Helios at Solis, patungkol agad sa epidemiya ang bumungad sa akin.

           God's punishment, ito ang tawag ng tribo sa sakit na kumakalat ngayon sa isla, it already killed hundreds of people and animals.

          It seems to be an infection that could kill within few minutes. The source is still unknown. I've got very limited material and time to conduct an experiment but if I will draw a conclusion with the datas I have as of the moment, it seems to be an airborne epidemic that destroys your cells from the inside.

         When the people got infected, they all said the same thing, it felt like it their insides are getting crushed, and in matter of minutes, red huge marks would appear in their body just before they die. But as I've said, this is only a personal conclusion based on what I've seen and not based on scientific experiment so there's a big chance that I could be wrong about this.

         I'm already in a lot of pain as I am writing this entry, I know I got the disease, the power of the epidemic is too strong that any chances of studying it would be too risky for the civilization outside Helios, so I advise you, as you are reading this, PRIORITIZE THE PEOPLE AND NOT SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE EPIDEMIC.

I agree on her ways. It seems the government from 30 years ago agreed too, since  the government chose to restrict the island immediately to stop journalists and researchers from entering the island.

If the epidemic is airborne then it could be pass on easily, it was stated that the epidemic could kill people within minutes, so how many people could it kill before it was studied? Not to mention the technology from 30 years ago was not as advance as it is now. But still, a lot of questions formed in my head.

She left the journal on the shore where she was supposed to be picked up. Kung infected na siya noong sinusulat niya ito, inipon niya ba ang natitirang lakas para makapunta roon at idala ang journal? Her body wasn't found in the shore which means she was able to return inside, it makes sense if she didn't want to infect the people who were supposed to pick her up. There's also a possibility that she asked someone else to put the journal there because of the affect of the epidemic.

These are all speculations that I vouch to answer once I enter Helios.