Standstill (Erityian Tribes Novella, #3)

12 : Her Memories

A week had already past after Kana's breakdown. Hayate told her to focus on healing while we gathered intel about the Hansen clan and the Shinigamis who attacked their village. On the other hand, Hiroshi was back on tinkering with the wires and devices in his little space at the corner of the living room.

Napahiga na lang ako sa tabi sa sobrang pagod. We had been sneaking in and out of the library and campus for the past few days, looking for any information about the Hansen clan, since Kana fell into a deep slumber a week ago.

"Hmm, this seems right," Hiroshi muttered as he checked the helmet he was holding.

"Ano 'yan?" mahina kong tanong habang nakahiga pa rin malapit sa working space niya.

"Remember the thing that I made when I was a kid?"

I furrowed my bows when I realized what he was making. "The one that can convert brain waves to visual images? Wait, you're still into that?"

Naalala ko ang unang trial ng device na 'yon a few years ago. Pinagsuot niya kami ni Hayate ng helmet na mas malaki kaysa hawak niya ngayon at sinabi niyang kaya nitong ilabas ang naiisip namin ay visual output. But there was something wrong with his device. The images flashed so quick that nothing made sense and we suffered grave repercurssions from it. Our hippocampus malfunctioned and we would have lost our explicit memories had the Medical departments staffs didn't intervene. Hiroshi was banned from using or working on any device for three months.

"It's okay now."

"I'm not wearing that ever again," matigas kong sabi matapos kong maalala ang pinagdaanan namin dahil sa device na 'yon.

"Put that down."

Napalingon naman ako at naglakad palapit sa amin si Hayate. Siguradong naalala niya rin ang mga nangyari dati. I don't want to be Hiroshi's guinea pig anymore.

"It's safer now," he retorted. "I already removed the unnecessary parts."

"But still—"

"Fine, I'll wear it."

Hindi na namin siya napigilan at sinuot niya ang helmet na hawak niya. I flinched as I saw images being projected in front of him, worried that something wrong might happen. A few seconds later, he looked at us with a smirk on his face.

"See?"

Nakahinga naman ako nang maluwag nang makita kong walang masamang nangyari sa kanya pero na-disappoint din siya dahil around 30 seconds lang na-project ang thoughts niya.

"It still needs a lot of modification and improvement," Hayate commented.

"Yeah."

Napatingin si Hiroshi kay Kana na tulog pa rin hanggang ngayon at doon ko lang na-realize kung bakit niya ipinakita sa amin 'yon.

"Wait, don't tell me you'll use it to her?"

He nodded. "She's the one who knows Hansen the most."

"Without her consent?"

"She already gave it."

May inabot naman siyang papel sa amin at nalaman namin na nakapag-usap na pala sila about that bago pa naging ganito ang kondisyon ni Kana. Bigla tuloy akong napaisip kung paano sila nag-usap nang matino dahil may signed agreement pa sila.

Hiroshi carefully put his invention on her head and we waited for her memories to be projected. According to him, there's a high probability that she's dreaming about what happened to their village, especially after that encounter with the Reaper and Elites.