CINCO (Five) [On Indefinite Hiatus]

Chapter 7: Fall of a Conscience, Rise of a Mission

"CINCO"

Chapter 7:  Fall of a Conscience, Rise of a Mission

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The brain's frontal lobe, they say, is the seat of the human conscience. It's putting your soul in a measuring cup and then pouring out its contents upon a silver sink, down the drain, perhaps to rise into the air as molecules to see another day.

The brain's amygdala, on the other hand, is the seat of one's emotions. Fear, sadness, empathy, happiness—alter it in any way, and you will be able to fully control your emotions, or take away emotions that hinder you from a goal, cause, or a mission; and on the other hand, enhance emotions which strengthen willpower.

There's so much that can be done to the human brain and the human body, even in the late nineteenth century. There were the patriots, the scientists, the atheists, and then the men and women of great faith. They set aside their differences and augmented their assets to fuel a common cause.

The project did not have a name; it simply had the minds, the equipment, and the finally the subjects to participate in its success... or failure.

Cuba, during 1890's, was in a revolt against Spain as well. The French revolted against Great Britain. History had their freedom fights. There were the freedom fighters.

But there never were the soldiers.

Filipinas, 1896: the first testing period.

The search for the five individuals wasn't easy. The choice began from the entire archipelago, and narrowed to a thousand, to hundreds, to a dozen... and then to five. They were chosen for a number of factors: from their indestructible strength of will, their tendencies to become lone wolves but fiercely loyal to people they trust; to their unique and acute abilities, their innate intelligence, and their predisposition to mental and physical invincibility. If their bodies had any implication to disease, that was taken away immediately.

There were prayers, and they were playing God. The more perceptive ones such as Felipe Villasor and Emilio Jacinto had to be placated with profound debates on spirituality and social consciousness. But they had already been willing subjects from the start; a part of them were keenly aware of the Faustian nature of their pact, and the other half gave in to the demise of all doubt.

Give us the mission, the young men—as well as the rest of the five—finally acceded, and we will do what we can to carry it out.

The whispers and roots of an armed revolution in the Philippines against Spain which would involve the entire nation had been a good platform to test out the initial results.

Dr. Jose Rizal had informed Andres Bonifacio of the lack of arms and weapons. The Supremo argued that an ever-burning fire in the hearts of compatriots was a start; the weapons will follow. There were a few rifles, some guns, some makeshift cannons, spears, and knives.

And when the Katipunan had been divulged to Spanish authorities, the revolution was too raw and everyone was far from prepared for military combat.

Then the Supremo's own right-hand man, Emilio Jacinto, emerged from a sleeping spell of sorts, and memories and knowledge poured in, and the skills. The speed, the strength, the ability to calculate risks at a blink of an eye. And there were twenty Spanish and mestizo soldiers dead in less than ten minutes, and the youth, who would have perished under fire and suffered five bullet wounds, appeared to be unaffected at all. That night, the Supremo and his companions were sleepless, and the torches and lamps burned until dawn.

Emilio Jacinto, his wounds scabbed and closing, watched Andres, Dr. Pio, Macario and the rest of the camp with the same sleepless eyes.

Pursue the mission, he had been told, many months before under the freezing lights of the Laboratory. Be loyal to each other.