Lovely Ever After

Kabanata 109

WARNING: DO NOT TAKE IDEAS IN THE STORY TOO SERIOUSLY. THEY ARE ALL MY THEORIES AND INVENTIONS. THEY ARE NOT TRUE. THEY ARE PURE FICTIONAL.

Kabanata 109

"I hope I'm thinking wrong." Mahinang usal ni Mr. Racadio sa gitna ng kanyang pag-analisa sa mga resulta na nagpapakita sa holograms, ako naman ay tahimik lang sa gilid, hindi ko alam kung ano ang nangyayari, tahimik lang ako dahil ayoko na makaisturbo sa matanda.

Nagulat ako nang biglang umurong si Mr. Racadio mula sa hologram, "bakit?" Kabadong tanong ko sa kanya, humawak siya sa aking balikat bilang supurta, tila nanghina siya dahil sa resulta na nakita.

Bumilis naman ang pintig ng aking puso, please don't tell me it's something bad.

"He is alive. That's one thing I am certain of." Humugot siya ng malalim na hininga. If he is alive, bakit parang namatayan siya sa kanyang reaksyon?!

"Isn't it something to be happy of?"

"Castro must have turned him into his subject."

"Ibig mong sabihin, si Liham ay buhay na robot?!" Tila napiga ang aking puso dahil sa aking nalaman.

"No." Bumuntong-hininga siya at tumingin kay Liham na kasalukuyang tulog, may ginawa si Mr. Racadio upang matulog siya.

"Then what?"

"Castro must have been desperately searching for immortality, a way to be invincible, but there is no such thing as immortality, it goes against life and life is based on science and whatever that goes against science can only bring disaster." Pagpapaliwanag niya ngunit wala akong maintindihan ni-isa.

"Hindi ko maintindihan."

"I'm saying that Castro must have thought that Liham was dead when he turned him into one of his subjects, but little did he know he was alive all along." Kumunot ang noo ni Mr. Racadio, "it's not impossible, maybe Liham's heart at that time was not beating kaya akala ni Castro ay patay na siya, but perhaps his brain was still working kaya nabuhay siya." Castro zoomed in the hologram of Liham's brain, "but something's strange."

"Ano ang ibig mong sabihin?"

"The brain's function is to control the body, it is a part of the nervous system, something is interrupting with his nervous system, something... similar. There's a small feature attached in his Cerebrum, the biggest part of the brain that holds higher brain functions like thoughts and action."

"That must be it, hindi ba pwedeng tanggalin na lang iyon?!" Hope flickered in my eyes as I eye him.

Umiling siya, all my hopes that went up broke down like a skyscraper, "it's not that easy, there's a high chance that when I do that, he might lose his memories, or worst, die. At saka isa pa, that feature which may seem to control him seems to be the cure of his sickness too."

Now speaking of it, "ikaw ba ang nakadiskobre sa kanyang sakit?"

He nodded, "it is one of the rarest disease I've encountered, no, that sickness is not discovered yet. Only him has it."

"Ano naman ang tawag mo doon? Since you were the first one to discover it."

"Half Dead Disease. It seems like his blood is poisoned and at the same time, his white blood cells and some body cells of him are neglecting the poison. Somewhat similar to a leukemia, but much more different and unexplainable. Tendency kasi kapag leukemia, mas malaki ang count ng either white blood cells or what, but his case, something is wrong, yes, he is ill but his blood and body is neglecting it. I don't know for how long that illness will be neglected but there's a high chance one day, mas magiging malakas pa ang poison sa kanyang dugo, defeating every antibodies."

"Is there a high chance that it is hereditary?"

Umiling siya, tila nabunutan ako ng tinik dahil walang sakit ang aming kambal, but thinking it is Liham who must suffer all made me want to slap myself for being such a bitch, for being thankful for a mere second.

"Let's proceed again."

I fished for my pocket and took the device, should I show it to him?

"Mr. Racadio, I have something."

"What is it?" Tanong niya habang nakatingin pa rin ngayon sa holograms at may ginagalaw.

"A device that controls Liham."

Tumigil siya sa kanyang ginagawa at tumingin sa akin, "you have it?"

I nodded.

Halatang nag-isip nang malalim si Mr. Racadio.

"This button is the flight mode, ito ang mode na malayang gumalaw si Liham, while this button is the order mode, tila robot siya na susundin ang mga utos mo. You speak your order through the speaker, he does not do any order that is not spoken here."

"Use it, we might find the secret behind it." Tumingin muli si Mr. Racadio sa kanyang holograms, "on my command, put him in order mode." I nodded, "go."

I pressed the button of the order mode, agad namang dumilat ang mata ni Liham, there was something there, the glowing red dot that I've always seen since last night, this time, that red dot remained and did not disappear.

I gasped.

"Scan the brain, Machina!"

"Scanning brain. Scanning error."

Kumunot ang noo ni Mr. Racadio, "Machina, why is there an error?"

"A barrier from the device attached at the cortex."

"Infiltrate the barrier." Utos ni Mr. Racadio, I stood there, amazed.

"Infiltration complete, scanning subject's brain, scanning complete."

"Show results."

Biglang nag-flash sa puting pader ang visual presentation ng resulta ng scan, "what does it say?"

Kumunot ang noo ni Mr. Racadio habang nakatingin sa resulta, "let's scan it again, but before that, give random commands to him."

Tumango ako.

"At my signal, go."

Gamit ang speaker ng device, nagsalita ako, "Liham, look at me."

Saktong iyon ay tumingin sa akin si Liham, his face was stone cold, he looks like a living mannequin right now. I bit my lower lip, hindi ko pa rin talaga kayang tignan siya sa ganitong kalagayan.

"Shift to flight mode." Utos ni Mr. Racadio, sumunod naman ako at pinindot ang button ng flight mode, Liham started to blink, confused. Pagkatapos ay tila inantok siya at bumalik sa pagtulog.

"That confirms it." Tumingin sa akin si Mr. Racadio.

"What does it confirm?"

"The device you are holding is the sender while the device attached in his brain is the receiver, when you send a command, the receiver forcefully sends it towards the different parts of the body using the spinal cord towards the nerves attached, invading his senses. When you shift to flight mode, he returns to normal and the device attached to his brain shuts down, kaya naman bumalik siya sa pagtulog, sa dating estado ng kanyang utak."

"You mean, all I have to do is let him stay in flight mode?"

"That's another thing." Kumunot ang noo ni Mr. Racadio, "by any chance, did he behave differently? Anything? Did he ever act strange?"

"Well, Liham is usually calm but there are moments he become unusually aggressive and temperamental."

"That's a side effect of the device attached in his brain."

"Ano ang ibig mong sabihin?"

"There's a high chance he is slowly losing himself, the device in his brain is slowly eating his brain cells to remain functional."

"Pero naka-shut down naman ang device?"

"It still functions even if it is in shut down mode. That's another problem, if it goes on like this, I am afraid he only have one month left before he truly dies."