New Species

Six: Shed Some Light (Part 2)

Six

Tahimik lang akong nakaupo sa harap ng desk ni Prof. Ivanov. Even my favorite blueberry cheesecake didn't look appetizing at all dahil sa revelations na narinig at nakita ko ngayon.

New product of evolution?

Seriously?

"Are you ready to continue?" untag ni Prof. Ivanov sa akin kaya umayos ako ng upo.

"Kung hindi kayo Homo sapiens, ano kayo?"

"We're called Homo praestanus. Praestanus is derived from the Latin word praestans which means superior."

"Bakit hindi namin napag-aralan ito sa school namin?"

"Because we don't want our race to be jeopardized."

"But you are a scientific breakthrough. You can change the world or something. "

"We can but we won't. You see, the hunt for our kind is not yet over. Those scientists almost six centuries ago established a clandestine organization to hunt the First Generation down. That organization is called Nimrod."

"Which means a skillful hunter," wala sa sarili na sabi ko.

"Yes. And it continues until this day governed by the descendants of those mad scientists. "

I shook my head. This was becoming more complicated.

"The King wanted to kill the First Generation for their treachery but Nimrod had a different plan. They wanted to study them. They knew from the very beginning that Garrick and his likes were different. The scientists knew na mapapakinabangan sila in research purposes. They were able to capture some but many were not full-blooded. "

"Full-blooded?" ano naman yun?

"The Full-bloods were the First Generation and their children. May iba pang First Generation aside from the Caverly, Devereaux, Monreau, Degray at Eastoft. Nag-asawa din sila ng kapwa First Generation at siempre ang mga anak nila ay Full-bloods. Ang ibang First Generation naman ay nag-asawa ng mga Homo sapiens. Ang mga anak nila ay half-blood."

"May kaibahan ba?"

"Yes. A Praestanus is stronger, faster, smarter and has more sensitive senses than a sapiens."

"Like you? Like Griffin or Calix?"

"Yes. Ang kaibahan nga lang ay sina Griffin Degray at Calix Devereaux ay mga Full-bloods. Simula sa pinakaunang ancestors nila ay hindi sila nahaluan ng dugo at DNA ng sapiens. Unlike me. Two hundred years ago, isa sa mga ancestors ko ang nag-asawa ng sapiens. Kaya mula sa mga anak nila, hindi na full-bloods."

"So, meaning, there are two types of Homo praestanus. Ang Full-bloods at Half-bloods," pagkaklaro ko.

"Tama."

"Pero ang abilities ninyo ay pare-pareho pa rin naman right?"

Umiling siya. "The Full-bloods have more abilities than us."

"Like?"

"You will see."

Hindi ako umimik nang bigla akong may naalala. "Professor, I have a question."

"Ano yun?"

"Si Garrick, praestanus din yung asawa n'ya?"

"Yung una n'yang asawa ay hindi. She died during the War."

"So yung tatlo niyang anak ay mga Half-bloods."

"Yes. Sina Maximus, Lyre at Morven Caverly. But Lyre and Morven died in England during the execution. Tanging si Maximus lang ang naisama ni Garrick dito. When they settled here, Garrick married another First Generation. Si Maitane. They had five children."