Moth to a Flame

Quarantatre| Confrontation

THIRD PERSON

Sebastian entered Geometry's office. Naabutan niya itong nakatayo habang nakaharap sa bintana at may kausap sa telepono.

"Then I'll be expecting you on that day," he said, his tone unyielding, before abruptly ending the call the moment he noticed Sebastian's presence.

He looks at him as if urging him to speak. Sebastian responded with a bow before handing him a brown envelope. Binuksan naman kaagad ito ni Geometry at binasa.

It was the medical results of Kage, a detailed diagnosis of why his cognitive and emotional synthesis keeps on messing up these days. According to his behavioral patterns and the abnormal brain neuron activity that was recorded in the Neromatrix, he was suffering from schizophrenia.

"He's schizophrenic?" The words escaped Geometry's lips in a low, doubtful whisper, his brow furrowing deeply as he flipped through the pages.

Aside from Yulan's diagnosis, there was a collection of second opinions from different types of doctors. Isa-isa niya pa ring binasa ang mga iyon kahit puro PTSD at Schizophrenia lang din ang nakalagay.

Kahit hindi maitatangging baliw ang lalaking iyon ay hindi niya lubos akalain na may ganoon itong klaseng sakit. He had always thought he was crazy in a good way, but never actually expected he was literally sick in the head.

As he skimmed through the pages, he stopped when he read a particular diagnosis from a renowned psychologist from the Philippines. "Dissociative Identity Disorder?" Matapos niya itong basahin ay sinuri niya ang mga kalakip na detalye roon.

There were additional details about his brain scans where it was pointed out that he had a smaller hippocampus, which is linked to memory, and a smaller amygdala, which helps with emotions. This might explain if he has been dealing with memory problems and episodes of dissociative amnesia.

It was also noted that he had a reduced corpus callosum size, which may lead to difficulty integrating thoughts, memories, and identities, which may have the experience of separate personalities.

Dumako ang pangalan niya sa pangalan ng doktor. "Contact him." He handed the paper to Sebastian. "Make sure to do it discreetly." Tumango naman ito sabay labas ng opisina.

Naiwan naman si Geometry na nakaupo sa swivel chair, nakapatong ang braso niya sa lamesa habang magkasaklob ang mga kamay.

Having schizophrenia alone is already dangerous because he might have the risk of being violent and delusional. But having another personality? If their enemies found out one of the Quartet Federation's Leaders had become mentally ill and unfit to rule, the Salvatores would become everyone's target.

And he can't afford to let that happen yet. . .

He was about to send a message to someone when he received a distress call from Zeeshan's satellite phone.

"Incoming call alert from Zeeshan Al-Hadid. Would you like to answer or decline the call?" A vivid blue hologram flickered to life, accompanied by urgent beeping from Diamond's alert system.

"Answer."

He prepared his ears to hear Zeeshan's chattering on the other side of the line, but his brows furrowed when he heard a couple of gunshots and screeching cars from his background instead.

"Zee, where are you?"

"Fuck!" Zeeshan's voice came through, laced with tension. "Astaghfirullah!" Ang sunod niya namang narinig ay ang malakas na ugong ng motorbike.

Napahinga nang maluwag si Geometry. Zeeshan rarely gives a distress call. Hindi naman siguro siya tumawag para iparinig sa kanya ang pakikipag-racing niya sa gitna ng kalsada?