Shipwrecked Hearts

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Excel. Tila nagpantig ang aking mga tenga dahil sa aking narinig. I looked at K in disbelief... she's Excel and Mermaid is her daughter. That explains why she mourned for her before she decided to take her organ and transplant it to Maximo's.

Sa kasamaang palad ay hindi nahuli si Kid at nakatakas. Pakiramdam ko ay alam niya ang mga pasikot-sikot sa kastilyo. He took advantage of it. Nasabihan na ang lahat ng tao lalo na sa Jolly Roger patungkol dito. People are already looking for him everywhere. Hindi rin siya maaaring makalabas sa isla dahil mahigpit ang seguridad lalo na sa mga barko na lalagos at aalis.

He has no escape. It is only a matter of time, but there's a part of me that says that Kid planned everything... and that he will always find a way to breakthrough. I can smell his scent lingering around, but it is constantly fading, tila lumalayo siya. His presence is gradually disappearing.

Tahimik akong nakaupo sa tabi ng kama kung saan nakahiga si Maximo. May mga makinarya at mga apparatus na nakadikit sa kan'yang katawan. I see the heart monitor and the oxygen that supports his breathing, gayon din sa dextrose and blood transfusion. Nasa clinic kami ni K, katabi ng black morgue.

Matapos ang ilang sandali ay bumukas ang pinto, bumungad si K—or Excel, naglakad siya at saka lumapit kay Maximo. Mas pinabilis niya ang pagpatak ng tubig mula sa dextrose. I watched the steady breathing of Maximo through the mask covered on his nose and lips. The transparent mask moistens every time he breathes out and fades away when he breathes in.

"I know you have a lot of questions, Akira." Napatingin ako kay K, doon ko lang napansin na mugtong-mugto ang kan'yang mga mata, mapula ang kan'yang ilong at labi, tila galing sa walang tigil na pag-iyak.

Hindi ako umimik. Hindi makapaniwalang siya si Excel, siya ang rason kung bakit mayroon akong abilidad na kakaiba, kung bakit may sixth sense ako o ang Enhanced Sense. Ano ba ang dapat kong unang gawin? Unang tanungin? Hindi ko alam. Tila sa mga sandaling ito, lumilipad ang aking isip at puso. Pakiramdam ko sasabog ang aking utak dahil sa mga rebelasyong nalaman sa iisang araw.

"Come on, Akira. Ask me." Umupo si K sa tabing silya at humarap sa akin.

"Are you really Excel?"

She smiled. "What do you think?"

"Yes or no." Mariing tugon ko.

She seems taken aback to my attitude, naging seryoso ang kan'yang mukha. "I am the one and only Excel." Sagot niya, "or so that is what I think."

"Ano ang ibig mong sabihin?"

"I have memories that makes me question who I am, Akira." Aniya. "Memories of this certain girl named Lashanaja Lefevrel. I think my memories were altered after a certain incident. I remember that girl who seemed to be me working on a certain Memory Alteration with someone, I think someone close to me. He was working on this Artificial Intelligence as well and we decided to somehow combine the power of our works, but it failed—I failed, that's the extent of where my memory goes. I tried to remember the face of the man, but it wasn't clear. And every time I try to, my head aches."

"The entire time, I was sleeping inside a time preserved molecular tablet, as what it is called indicates, it prevented me to age while I hibernated since the cells of my body stopped moving and is developing, meanwhile preserving my consciousness and life. Nagising na lang ako na tila may bagong katauhan at nasa mundo ng modernisas'yon kung saan ang teknolohiya ay kakaiba, more advanced. It seems like the memory alteration caused me to become a mad genius, scientist, inventor, name it. I studied the concept of memory alteration and found out that if memories were altered, there is a high chance that the personality of the person changes. He or she becomes someone else. And I think that case happened to me."

"So, you think you are Lashanaja Lefevrel until your own work altered your memories?" I think I heard that name somewhere before when I was a kid. Parang nabasa ko sa isang balitang ilang dekada na ang tanda, about these two certain champions of World Science Cup who changed the history of Science. Pero dahil bata pa lang ako ay hindi ko maalala.

Tumango si K sa akin. "I think. Why would I have memories of someone I don't even know, right? Saka isa pa, nagising ako na walang maalala. Napapaginipan ko lang ang mga iyan. Dahil wala akong maalala sa aking nakaraan, I became obsessed of making a name for myself. I became Excel, my alias. The girl without a name." I smelled that K was being totally honest with me, walang bakas ng kasinungalingan sa mga sinasabi niya.

"Are you an enemy or a friend?"

"Friend." She smiled at me. "You can tell if I am lying or not, Akira. And you know I am not." Nagulat ako dahil sa kan'yang sinabi, dahan-dahan akong tumango upang sabihin na alam ko. She's really a friend. At alam kong alam niya ang abilidad at kakayahan ko dahil siya mismo ang rason kung bakit andito ako ngayon at kung bakit ako ay may kapangyarihan.

"Tell me everything." I know she knows what I mean. From the moment of her awakening from the hibernation, to what she's done. Everything.

She sighed, "this will be a long story. It might bore you."

"Amuse me." Sagot ko sa kan'yang. I bent and rested my joints unto my knees, as if showing interest. "Tell me your whole story, Excel." Because I need to divert my attention right now. I need to fucking tone down the voices inside my head.