ELISE'S POV
Finally, pumasok na ang teacher namin. Si Madame Al nga pala na tumulong sa akin kanina.
"Sinabi ko naman sa inyo, juniors and seniors, mahigpit na ipinagbabawal ang paggamit ng ability hindi ba? Lalo na kung ginagamit niyo itong panakot sa mga freshman," pambungad niya at lahat tumingin sa akin. Obviously.
"Ilang beses na rin akong nakakarinig ng reklamong pananakot na gawain ni Frost ngunit sa unang pagkakataon, caught in the act, at nakuha niya ang tamang parusa." Ow, what a bully.
"Lagot ka, dahil ikaw ang dahilan ng kanyang unang beses na pagkahuli, mukhang pag-iinitan ka niya." inaasar pa talaga ako ni Fenrir! Kainis. Inirapan ko nalang sya at nakinig nalang kay Madame Al.
"Sa mga freshman, ako si Allison Vixx. Isang sensist galing sa grupo ng mga psych at ang specialty ko ay ang pumigil ng ability niyo na parang switch, isa ako sa tatlong tagapangalaga o peacekeeper sa inyo, kaya binabalaan ko kayo, isaulo niyo ang bawat rules at regulations ng eskwelahang ito dahil bawat pagsuway, ay may kaakibat na parusa, naiintidihan niyo ba? "automatic kaming sumang-ayon.
"Una sa lahat, kailangan niyong pag-aralan ang ating sistema." binaliktad niya ang blackboard at isa pala itong malaking LCD screen. In-on niya ito at lumabas ang logo ng Cross Institute.
Kinalikot niya ang screen at may lumabas na mga litrato dito.
"Hidden Society, at ang mga hiddens," tapos isang malawak at malaking building na halos gawa din sa fibre glass at steel gaya ng Cross Institute. May naka imprentang 'The Heads' sa ibaba nang litrato.
"Ito ang Grail tower, na nasa City of Falias, na tinatawag, it is in an alternate dimension that we can only have an access to by travelling through a wormhole. Ito ang mundo ng mga hiddens. Dito pinapalaki ang mga hiddens na below 16 sa poder ng kanilang magulang at ipinapasok sa Cross Institute pagdating ng disi-sais upang makapag aral at makapag training, after graduating in the Institute they came back in the Falias as our renowned scientists to conduct further research. Dito matatagpuan ang tatlo nating Heads. Ano ang mga heads? Sila ang mga lider ng council ng ating institusyon."
Pinindot niya ulit at may lumabas na litrato ng tatlong tao doon, isang babae at dalawang lalake na nakasuot ng black gown at black suits. At ang pinaka kapansin pansin sa kanila, magaganda ang mukha nila at kasing puti nila ang snow. Ang suot nila ay parang galing pa sa makalumang century at French-Spanish inspired.
"Headmistress Eleonore Vladimire, Telekinetic." At nag zoom dun sa mukha nung babaeng batang bata ang itsura, Nakalugay ang buhok sa isang side na kulot kulot sa dulo.
"Headmaster, Carson Vladimire, shadow manipulation," tapos nag-zoom naman dun sa lalakeng pinakamatangkad na bulky ang katawan.
"Headmaster Sire Vladimire. Elemental fire dijinn." Sumunod naman yung nasa right side na siyang mas maliit sa kanilang tatlo.
May napansin ako, Vladimire? Pare pareho sila ng surname. Magpipinsan kaya sila?
"If you notice they share the same surnames, they are cousins. The Vladimires clan have a life-long legacy as the founders of the Falias City and other research facilities, one of them is The Cross Institute. For the sole purpose of uniting each and every hiddens We only one have one enemies that we're against, the neolutionists. It's a progressive scientific organization marked by genetic meddling and physical alterations among other scientific developments set on self-directed evolution. Their main goal is to preach transhumanism, or the so-called H+ movement, they advocate transformation of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies to greatly enhance human intellect and physiology. But their ways have always been inhumane,"
Nagpakita ng litrato sa screen ng kung saan may isang underground research facility ang isinasagawa.
"The worst part is, the neolution captured and tortured a lot of hiddens against their will, and experimented on them, killed them in the process or worst, turned them into a genetically modified beasts along the process of studying transhumanism,"
And suddenly the room were filled holograms. Nakarinig akong putok ng baril, muntik ma akong mapasigaw nang makita ko yung bata sa screen na nag-collapse. Habang ang iba'y sapilitang kinukuha at tinuturukan ng syringes.
It was like being thrust into a horror movie. Bigla namang nag iba yung view at may isang babae na nasa loob ng cryogenic chamber, at nag iiba na ang pisikal na anyo nito. I gasped when the hologram zoomed into the cryogenic chamber even more revealing how horrendous their state is, some of them developing additional limbs into their body or their human-like structure are diminishing and their identity couldn't be recognized anymore.
My mouth went so dry I could feel my lips sticking to my teeth. That's why I hold my breathe even more when a room filled with people are chained into their surgical beds while doing experiments on them on a conscious state and is being drugged from time to time.
Nakarinig ako nang mga sigaw, pero hindi ako sigurado kung galing ba 'yon sa mga estudyanteng kasama ko sa room o sa mismong pinapanood ko.
I wanted to cover my face, but my hands felt heavy, I cannot seem to move an inch and my heart got stuck in my throat.
Pero naramdaman kong may dumampi na palad sa likod ko, comforting me.
I tore my eyes away from those holograms and saw that Fenrir reached out to me, although it's just a simple gesture, it made me calm. He was staring straight at the screen, and I realized they weren't just women. There were kids and old people, too.
Feeling ko masusuka ako dahil hindi ko na kaya ang mga nakikita ko, I was used to watching gore movies, but this is a different case, these people were real, this is a part of our history and the thought that I might be one of those people sleeping in one of those cryogenic chambers or being performed an experiment on, it scares me.
"They've been quiet for a long time now and haven't initiated a hunt, and I know something big is coming for us, and we all need to be prepared."
Kinilabutan naman ako. There's a danger ahead, and it's coming for us without prior notice.
"The sole purpose of the Cross Institute is to maximize your full potential and capabilities so we could be prepared and fight, against them. I know they are trying to infiltrate and gain access to our portal towards the Falias City, so we also need to be prepared anytime."
Tumayo si Ms. Ali sa harap at ngumiti sa aming lahat nang casual lang. "This is why all of you are here, We've been persecuted unto deaths by the neolution," at naalala ko na naman yung mga pictures at video clips na pinakita kanina.
"Okay, that's the last part." She sounded so bright and business-like that I wondered if I had hallucinated the part where she basically told us we were all going to die.
But one look around the room and I knew that my classmates were just as shell-shocked and confused as I was.
BINABASA MO ANG
Project X (published via Sanctum Press)
Ciencia Ficción[TAG-LISH] "hiddens" are species who have an altered genome in their DNA and is considered a genetic failure that has evolved during conception and is considered higher than the average human in terms of intelligence and capabilities. Elise is an...
