30 Doors

5th Door

"Never do anything that you can't admit doing because if you are that ashamed of whatever it is, it's probably wrong." 

―Ashly Lorenzana  

***

I have solved a lot of puzzles and mysteries: the hard ones. I have faced foes from different walks of death. All the challenges that I have had in the past, it made me conclude that I was clever enough to face anything that could pit my brain. 

I was wrong. 

We're in front of a huge wooden door made from seemingly durable old wood. The door has no knob, no lock, no handle: nothing but a plain huge rectangular wood with a beautiful carving of a snake biting its own tail forming the sign of the infinite. 

Naputol ng pintuan ang kanina'y malalim kong pag-iisip tungkol sa nakita kong imahe ni Karen. Or was I hallucinating because I might have had an intake of enormous methane gas? Marahil guni-guni ko lang 'yon. 

Karen was long dead. I saw her dead, right in front of my very eyes. 

The odds got tougher, I realized. 

Malakas ang kutob kong, habang papalapit kami ng papalapit sa ground floor, mas titindi ang mga patibong at pagsubok na pagdaraanan namin. Nalalagasan na kami. Losing one of us was like losing a leg. This time, we need each other to survive the four remaining floors. 

"We have no clue. Wala nang laptop o cellphone na pwedeng panggalingan ng clues or trickery mula kay Larryson at sa mga kasama pa nito." Zyril said nervously. Kinikilatis nito ang istruktura ng nalakalaking pintuan. 

Kung susumahin ay nasa sampong talampakan ang taas at sa limang talampakan naman ang lapad nito. The infinite had transformed each floor so fast that no one among us noticed.  They were trying to prove something to us: that they're the superior mafia among others. 

"Andreas, I can't find any codes. No algorithm, no cipher, no ciphertext. Nothing." Zyril gasped in dismay. Sa loob ng maraming taon na nakatrabaho ko ito sa Scorpion, ngayon lang uli siya naka-engkwentro ng isang sitwasyon walang cipher o code. The last time I remember a scenario like this was before Karen's death. 

"Walang Morse code, shorthand, semaphore, or ASCII code. How can we even survive this floor without any clue?" I asked everyone: Vlad, Mina, Natas, Bella and Zyril. Baka naman may clue sila kung paano lulusutan ang fifth. 

My mind seemed exhausted. Dala na rin ng sobrang gutom na hinaluan ng matinding pag-aalala, hindi na ako makapag-isip pa ng mabuti.

Hindi ako makapagconcentrate. Hinahati ng presensya ni Karen ang atensyon ko. I was not sure if what I saw was real or was just an image created by my hallucinations. 

"I have no idea how to decrypt Morse codes or semaphores. Hindi ako spy kaya wala din akong maitutulong kung nagkataong may mga ganyang codes sa pintuan." Vladimir explained himself. Kanina pa nito nililibot ang paningin sa buong fifth floor. Just like the others, he's been so observant and alert. Hindi pa rin nag-iba ang mga pagsulyap-sulyap nito saakin na tila may gusto siyang sabihin. Marahil ay nag-iipon pa ito ng lakas ng loob o tinitimbang pa nito ang mga bagay-bagay. 

But I already knew what was running through his head. I was able to read his body language. I was pretty sure it's all about Karen.