Operation: Helios

Chapter 4

April 7, current year.

Warm air welcomed me as I went out of the chopper. It wasn't hot, just warm. It was comfortable, too comfortable that it's sending shivers down my spine.

The white sand is refine, the water is so clear that you can see the corals from afar. We're at the shore where they found Rica's journal.

And the Sun.

It's not at all what I expected.

Hindi tirik ang araw, it's like a sunrise. Hindi masyadong mainit, just enough to feel the warmth. It's as if the sun picked this place as its favorite and poured all its love in here. As if Helios is its favorite child.

Dito inihatid at sinundo ang lahat ng mga researcher dati.

Galing dito, tanaw na tanaw na ang mga puno sa loob ng Isla.

"This is Agent Morgan, Agent Cuevo radio check, over." Napatalon ako nang may marinig na malamig na boses mula sa radyo ko.

That was Agent Morgan testing our radios one by one.

"10-4, clear." I responded.

"Alright communication is clear." Agent Sanders na malapit sa'min matapos makumpirmang maayos ang mga radyo.

Lumapit na rin sa'min si Agent Morgan.

Ipinamigay na ni Agent Sanders ang mga bag na may armas.

Whoa, it's heavy, years of training and working out will finally payoff.

The island has a total size of 14,412 square kilometers.

From the shore where we landed, about 50 meters lang ang lalakarin para makapasok sa bukana ng Isla, but from there, we'll walk a total of 59 kilometers to arrive at the place where the tribe and the researchers lived. It's in the South of the island, we're currently in the entrance which is at the Southeast.

A normal person would take about 15 hours on a 59km walk, but since the landscape of Helios is not simply plains, not to mention our heavy baggages, it would take us about 24 hours to get there.

Napagdesisyunan namin na tatlong araw ang gagawin naming paglalakbay papunta roon, 8 hours a day, it will give us time to rest and time to observe and study our surroundings.

If we truly want to trace their journey, we have to start here.

Pagpasok sa isla, iba't ibang halaman ang sumalubong sa amin.

Lush trees and wild grasses bought vibrance to the island. Buhay na buhay ang pagka-luntian ng isla.

Nag bigay kulay rin ang malalagong bulaklak ng mga puno.

But my favorite part are the maple trees with mixed red and yellow leaves in it. 

There are also different kinds of mushrooms, mayroong mga halaman na dito lang makikita sa Helios, nakatala ito sa almanac galing sa mga samples na naiuwi ng mga researchers dati.

Mayroon din namang mga halaman na pamilyar na dahil nakikita rin sa labas ng Helios.

Si Katelyn ang pinaka namangha at pinaka kuryoso sa mga halaman ng Helios, she's a botanist, so it's expected of her.

The gentle wind causes the leaves to dance producing a very calming sound, together with the lively song of the birds and crickets. You'll also hear the gentle waves from the shore not too far from here.

Everything I see is so beautiful and mystical.

Helios is restricted because of a lot of reasons, if those reasons are solved, I hope they still continue to restrict this Island. When outsiders sees this land, I'm sure many will corrupt its nature and take advantage of its richness.

We were all busy appreciating the beauty of the place when we heard a gunshot!

We all looked at Agent Morgan who's holding the gun.

Tinignan namin kung ano ang binaril niya at may nakitang ahas malapit sa paa ni Tanya.

A fucking king cobra! What's better than a welcome from the snake with one of the most lethal venom!

Tanya gasped.

"I'm here less than 10 minutes and I almost died! This is-"

"You people are not hired for sightseeing." Agent Morgan cut Tanya's words.

"The government chose you because they saw you as competent people and not some kind of amateurs who can't  notice a snake that's not even camouflaged." He paused and looked around us. "Don't get the wrong idea, you are all replaceable."

His words are right.

We all got too immersed with the beautiful surroundings.

I'm also guilty.

"I'm sorry, that was unprofessional of me." Si Tanya.

Tinuloy na namin ang paglalakad.

Kinuha ko ang notebook ko at nagsimulang magsulat ng mga nakikita.

Kung ibabase sa mga nakatalang sulat ng pitong researcher, marami ng pagbabago sa parteng ito ng isla.

Nakasulat doon na pagpasok dito, may nakahilerang bato na nagsisilbing daanan papunta sa bahayan ng tribo, wala na ito ngayon.

Hindi naman nakakagulat dahil higit tatlumpong taon na ang nakakalipas mula ng maalagaan pa ito ng tribo.

Makikita galing sa tinatayuan namin ang isang napakalaking bato sa tuktok ng burol, malayo ito at nakatatak sa pinakagitna ng Isla. Natandaan kong nabanggit ito sa mga journal ng researcher, they call it rock Tafos.

It has a pointed shape resembling a skyscraper. The rock was mentioned quite a lot because the villagers used it to tell the time by the placement of its shadow.

I'd like to see it up close but we have to follow our plan. Our top priority destination is the village of the tribe, which is the opposite way from the Rock Tafos. The distance is also quite far. Natatanaw namin ito dahil sa taas nito pero malayo ito sa amin.

All the researchers were busy writing to our own journals except one.

Eiji Tan is still busy appreciating Helios.

"It will be bomb to live here!" He said when he saw me looking at him.

"Aren't you going to record anything?" I asked.

"Oh, no worries!" Lumapit siya sa akin para ibulong ang susunod na sasabihin. "I never forget anything that I see, so in a sense, I'm already recording everything here." He pointed at his head wearing his cheeky smile, his dimple showed.

"But of course I will write it later tonight." He said before leaving to roam around the area.

I also continued roaming the area to record my findings. Every information will be useful to compare the Helios of 30 years ago from the current Helios.

Pumasok ako sa medyo mapunong parte ng area. I was looking around when I saw an odd yet beautiful flower.

"It's beautiful, right?" Si Katelyn na nasa tabi ko na pala. "It's rare and mysterious but don't touch that. It's called Medusa's flower. If you touch it, the part of your body that touched it will be completely paralyzed, and if you accidentally eat it, your whole body will stop functioning." She looked at me. "Instant death."

Right, Katelyn is a botanist. This is her area of expertise, I haven't seen this plant in the researcher's almanac so it could have been dangerous.

"You really know your way with plants." I told her.

"We should go, I think the others are already waiting, any delay will affect our schedule." Si Yven na malapit pala sa amin.

Tumango kami at sumunod na sa kanya para daluhan ang iba pa naming kasama.