Artificial Organisms: Hierophant

Seiben

        ~7~

(Manna)

Nazis? Sure ba to? I clarified what he just said. "Nazi? Edi sobrang tagal na nun ah. They were defeated at the end of the Second World War. Ang tagal na nun. Ganun na ka-advance ang technology nila? I know that Nazis were quite advanced in military weapons but I never knew that they were that advanced when it comes to medicine and genetics."

Castle smiled a little. "You're a smart girl. I must admit, I was not expecting you to know a lot."

"Wow," I remarked sarcastically. "Hindi man halata pero smart talaga ako. Masyado ka lang matalino kaya nagmumukha akong bobels." I protested. Grabe naman tong taong to. Anong akala n'ya sa akin- walang alam? Mahilig kaya ako magbasa ng history and scientific books. And bobels means bobo, boba, bubita. Add na yan sa dictionary. 

"Sorry about that. I was wrong, I admit." Maiinsulto sana ako kaya lang isang rare phenomenon ang bumungad sa akin- nag-smile ang lolo n'yo.

Nagsmile si Castle.

Teka.

Si Castle nag-smile? Nagsmile si Castle? Ulitin ko pa. Nagsmile si Castle!

Homaygad! It's a miracle! Hindi agad nagsink-in sa akin. Lumaki nang husto ang mga mata ko, checking if what I was seeing was true kaya lang, nang makita ni Castle ang reaction ko eh agad namang nag-revert into his stoic self. Sayang. Dapat napicturan ko ang smile n'ya.

That smile was genuine. How did I know? Well, it's simple. There were creases sa gilid ng naningkit n'yang mga mata. Sa mata mo malalaman kung totoo ang smile. Kapag walang crease ang gilid ng mga mata, well, most-probably, fake ang smile na yun. Pero sayang talaga at hindi ako nakakuha ng picture.

Ibinalik ko rin ang facial expression ko sa normal. Nakaka-wa-poise ang smile ni Castle. Dapat demure ang madam n'yo. "Apology accepted," medyo may pagmamaldita pa sa tono ko. Offended daw kasi si Madam kaya medyo inis ang peg.

Tumango lang si Castle at nagpatuloy sa pagsasabi ng life story n'ya. "I was created during the peak of Nazi regime in Auschwitz, no, the prototype me was created there. It was the Nazis that started creating me. When the Nazis were defeated, the prototype me was still unfinished. My original creators put the prototype me under cryogenic sleep and sealed it away, locked in a laboratory under the concentration camp."

Napainom ako ng gatas kasi feeling ko nakikinig ako ng isang thriller story na ewan. Edi ako na ang O.A. Wala akong pake.

"But after the Second World War, the Allies liberated the concentration camp and discovered the prototype. It was the Americans that continued the project. They cloned the prototype and improved it then handed the clones to a group of German physicians and scientists after fifteen years. Project Hierophant predated even the First-borns, you know. It took them many years, a million innocent lives and 355 clones to create me." Na-sense ko na malungkot si Castle nang sinabi n'ya ang words na 'a million innocent lives'. He lowered his eyes again. I guess it was because the Nazi scientists who created the prototype him also experimented on living people and killed them in the process. "I just hope that I am worth all of the sacrifices."

Habang nakikita kong nakatungo lang at nakatingin sa baso n'ya si Castle, naimagine ko na para s'yang isang batang malungkot. "Wala ka namang kasalanan sa mga ginawa ng gumawa sayo," I said tapos eh inubos na ang gatas sa baso ko. Napatingin s'ya sa akin with a questioning expression. "Like I said, wala kang kasalanan. Rid yourself of the burden, Castle. What is done can never be undone. There's no point crying over a soiled cake."

"You mean spilled milk?"

"It's the same." Di ko nalang pinansin ang correction n'ya. I was striving for originality, you know. "Tell you this, you're already making it all worth it by trying to save people from the danger that these First-Borns are imposing," Ang korni no? But I don't really think that Castle should be blamed.