In the year 3020X, as the population continued to surge while economic growth declined, the government faced an unprecedented challenge. When the economy hits rock-bottom and spiraled into despair, the government made a solution- to leverage human g...
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Chapter 25: Nightmares
If not because of the digital display clock na nasa gitna ng Prism, we would have no sense of time. Prism was designed to be like an actual ecosystem, na tila totoong araw ang mga solar simulators. There were also times when the ceiling panels would trigger a rain. It was complicated, pero unti-unti ko nang naiintindihan kung paano gumagalaw ang lugar.
For the past few days, nothing was suspicious—except for the calmness that makes me think of the calm before the storm.
Hindi pa rin kami nakakapagplano tungkol sa pagtakas, pero madalas kong napapansin si Kruger na nasa malalim na pag-iisip. Maybe he's devising an initial plan in his head.
Gaya ko, ay abala si Bean sa ginagawa. He had that contented look on his face sa tuwing abala siya, and it makes me think that being here makes him somewhat happier dahil mas nagagawa niya ang bagay na gusto niya kaysa noong sa minahan siya naka-assign.
Lumapit ako kay Bean na abala sa kung anu-anong sinusulat habang nakatingin sa isang halaman.
"You're glowing," sabi ko at naupo.
He looked at me with a confused expression. "Glowing?"
I nodded with a smile. "Masaya ka rito."
He forced a smile at inilapag ang hawak na tablet. "Well..." Inayos niya ang suot na beanie hat. "It's not freedom, but it wasn't that bad."
Napayuko ako. "Did I make everything worse?"
Tiningnan niya ako at umiling. "Coming back for me is stupid, but I appreciate it. That's brave. Thank you."
"Sa tingin mo makakaalis pa tayo rito sa Zone Z?" tanong ko.
Umupo siya sa tabi ko at malayo ang tingin. "They say habang may buhay, may pag-asa." It was a vague answer, pero tama siya. "How were you coping these days?"
I was getting used to it, pero ayaw kong masanay. This is not the life that I wanted. I wanted freedom; I wanted to teach the kids.
"I'm adapting," mahinang sagot ko at napahawak sa batok. "Pero ayaw ko rito sa Zone Z, Bean."
He forced a smile but made no remarks about it. Alam kong hindi si Bean ang tipong mahilig magbigay ng magagandang salita, just to give me a false hope. He cannot lie and tell me that everything will be okay dahil hindi namin iyon tiyak. In fact, like what he did with Old Steve, malamang ipaparealize lamang niya sa akin kung gaano kalaki ang problema namin rito sa loob ng Zone Z.
I was expecting him to tell me, ngunit tinapik lamang niya ang balikat ko. It was more than what I needed. He roamed his eyes around and picked a flower mula sa hindi kalayuan at iniabot iyon sa akin.
