God's Cage | WOTG #1

nineteen | the seventh seraph

CADE
The Seventh Seraph

—

The hallways were a deafening kind of quiet. I could only hear the tap of their polished shoes as they touched the floor. There were four of them: two men and two women and every one of them was covered in blue and black uniforms. They were also holding their own workPads which I must say they were absorbed in.

Wala akong nagawa kundi sumunod lang sa kanila. Wala akong ideya kung saan nila ako dadalhin pero ito pa rin ako naglalakad habang pinalilibuyan nilang apat.

Kahit hindi sila nakatingin sa dinaraanan namin ay alam nila kung saan daraan. Abalang-abala sila sa pagta-type sa kani-kanilang workPad. Nagulat na lang ako nang bigla silang lumikonat naiwan ako ng dere-deretso. Bumalik ako para naman makisabay sa kanila.

Sumilip ako sa workPad ng babae sa harapan ko at nakita ko na ito ay mayro'ng imahe ng utak. May mga numero rin na hindi ko mainitindihan ang nakasulat sa buong screen ng hologram.

"Sir, we are going to bring you to Director Anderson's office," the woman said in a thick British accent and I almost didn't understand what she said. She finally put her workPad down to look at me. Her eyes were a color of faint green and her bob-cut hair framed her heart-shaped face.

And since she was British and she might not speak Filipino, I said, "Who is Director Anderson?"

"He is our head and oversees everything we do here," she answered.

I just nodded at her even though that didn't satisfy the question and felt stupid for asking her that.

"This way, sir." At tinuro nila ang daan papuntang kaliwa. Iba ang pasilyomg ito kaysa mga naunang nadaraanan namin. Puti pa rin pader at ang sahig ng hallway pero nabawasan kahit papaano ang kaliwangan.

The hallway seemed an endless walk to nothingness. It went on and on.

Patuloy na lang kaming naglakad. Ang yabag lang ng mga paa namin sa bakal na sahig ang naririnig ko at ang mga hinginga ng apat na kasama ko. Lumingon ulit ako at nakita ang dalawang lalaki na nakatingin sa 'kin. Nang magtagpo ang titig ko sa kanila ay agad ko 'tong inalis. Para bang no'ng nagkatitigan kami ay may yelong dumila sa 'king likuran. Wala akong nakitang ekspresyon sa kanilang mga mata at para bang sila'y mga debateryang robot.

Walking for minutes was boring but then when we took the next turn, there was a huge window that oversaw the vast darkness of the universe and I gazed upon it, figuring this might be the last chance I would see it with my two own eyes.

Realization slapped me like cold water dripping in my spine: I was in outer space.

I gawked at the roundness of the bright blue Earth as it stood out against the stark blackness ahead, and then it hit me: never would I ever expected that I would see the planet in real life; not in photographs and holographic projections.

I was just looking at it as my feet seemed to work automatically. My mind grew peaceful as I admired the large planet humming with life against the overwhelming, unsettling universe stretching into infinity. The stars gleamed, growing more rebellious against the darkness, in every direction like sand sprayed anywhere. We were once told there were more stars in the galaxy than the sand grains in all of the Earth's beaches combined. I had a hard time believing it, but looking at it right now, while knowing that there was more than meets the eye, there were more the eyes couldn't see, just thinking about it made my breath escape my lungs.

Ang sabi ng lalaking kausap ko sa kwartong pinanggalingan ko kanina ay nasa Pilipinas pa rin ako. Pero wala nga ako mismo sa mundo. Napakunot na lang ang noo ko.