All Clear, Attorney

WQ

"SO. . . IT WAS all real?" Umawang ang kanyang mga labi matapos magkwento si Cadence pagkatapos ay bumaba ang kanyang tingin sa larawan. . . kung nasaan nando'n ang mga magulang ni Cadence. 

She blinked, staring at those pairs of hazel eyes. The woman's. . . gaze before she ran away lurked in her mind, and coldness seeped through her skin, making her rooted in her place. 

If that was real. . . 

Her heart hammered in her chest as possibilities ran through her mind. Tila malalagutan na siya ng hininga at ramdam niya ang unti-unting panginginig ng kanyang mga kamay. 

Tumingin siya kay Cadence. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she muttered the words that will make her face her greatest fear,

"Make me remember, Cad. Hypnotize me."

"I CAN SENSE something wrong with all of this. . ." she whispered to herself and looked at the mirror, her eyes staring back at her.

Everything just doesn't make sense.

No cellphone for a year.

Hypnosis. . . Sleep. . . And Medicine.

Hypnosis. . . They know how to hypnotize, and they're asking her to create a product that can make everyone highly suggestible.

The answer is. . . who will be the test subject?

Hypnosis. . . Hypnosis. . .

These people can hypnotize her. 

She needs to have a plan. . . in case something happens.

She needs to make something that can counter the hypnosis that were put to her mind. . . in case they will hypnotize her or worse, make her the test subject.

"What are you doing with these lemons, Aster?"

Kaagad siyang nag-angat ng tingin no'ng pumasok si Dr. Bernoulli. His blue eyes scanned the lemon seeds on the table. Mapanuri ang mga mata nito at bahagyang naniningkit. 

Her heart jumped as her mind began to formulate some excuses. "I tested on the herbs, too. There's a lot of studies that revealed that lemon promotes relaxation, and it can also target the prefrontal cortex that's why I'm trying it." 

Damn. Lemon. . . and prefrontal cortex. There's no direct evidence about that, but research suggests that the smell of lemon can actually make people feel calmer, kaya iyon minsan ang ginagamit sa paggawa ng air freshener.

Napatitig sa kanya ang lalaki nang ilang segundo bago tumango-tango. "All right. I'll leave this to you. We will be expecting the proposed medicine within three days."

Tumango lang siya at ngumiti nang tipid. When the doctor left the laboratory, she hurriedly pulled the ginseng powder out and amphetamines, both can enhance alertness. She's certain that with the combination of the two, hypnotic susceptibility will be reduced. 

She will make a lemon-flavored candy with the combination of the two. . . and take it every time she's done making the medicine. 

Because with their hypnosis skills, there's a big possibility that she might be the test subject. And she won't fucking let them control her.

But. . . she's wrong. She's not the test subject.

"She's our client, and you will be the one who's going to inject the drugs on her." Dr. Bernoulli pointed at the woman inside the white room, and they were all looking at her through the small gap on the door.