God Must Die

chapter 6

There was a loud beeping on the background as the guy in the brown suit stared at the blinking cursor on his screen. He fiddled with his pen, staring at the ticking clock across the room. He immediately straightened up when an old man entered the room in an abrupt manner, immediately shotting him a look. "Did the talk go well?" the old man asked.

The guy in the brown suit forced himself not to let out a sigh. "I was told that he has grown adamant. His isolation only made him even more delusional. Nothing can change his mind, I presume," he said and after a few seconds of thinking, talked once again, "Do you think there is a chance that his delusions are real? After all, he is no knucklehead. I do not like the guy but we must admit, he got brains."

The old man sat on the chair across the room. There was a look on his face, a look no one wanted to mess up with. "I know, I know, that has always been the problem, but no matter how many times I read his proposals and his papers, they don't make sense to me. He has continued what his father hasn't finished, and I know what his next steps would be.

"He had already convinced the board and he can convince it one more time, but we can't let that happen. Even if the guy no longer wants to cooperate with us, we can't let that happen. If it happens the second time, there'd be no chance on stopping him. He'd only add up to the casualties."

There was a long silence in the room as the two men pondered over and over again. The beeping on the background only grew louder as the time passed.

The old man looked up and met the guy in the brown suit's eyes. "We need to stop him differently this time," he said.

The guy in the brown suit raised his brows, all ears to listen. "You got a plan?"

"Not really but it's worth the shot. No matter what, we can't let Caeles happen." He stood and went for the door before looking back again. "We can't let that happen. Not again."

-

Jo had convinced Kyle to take away her Discovery ST-04 posters on the walls of her room. Ang sabi nito'y mas maaalala lang niya ang Commander at mas lalo lang siyang hindi makatutulog nang mahimbing kapag nakikita niya ang mga ito sa kanyang kwarto. She was alright with the idea back at the dining table, but staring at the posters, she was having second thought.

Nakaabang sa may pintuan si Jo habang nakatingin lang sa kanya. Nagkatinginan silang dalawa at pinagtaasan siya nito ng mga kilay. Napabuntonghininga siya bago ibinalik ang tingin sa mga posters bago muling tiningnan ang kapatid habang nakanguso.

"Hindi mo kaya," sabi nito.

She let out a sigh. "I'm sentimental. These posters have witnessed a lot. I don't think I can get rid of them." The posters gave such an impression. They just described who she was perfectly. Kahit sabihin pang maaaring ang mga ito ang dahilan ng paulit-ulit na bangungot niya, hindi niya pa rin kakayaning pakawalan ito nang gan'on-gan'on lang.

Tuluyang pumasok ang kapatid tsaka tumabi sa kanya, nakatingin na rin sa mga poster. "Let's switch rooms."

"What? No. Disgusting," she immediately turned down the idea. Just the thought of staying in her brother's room made her want to puke.

Jo pouted. "Excuse me? Malinis ang kwarto ko."

"Sa standards mo, oo. I don't even know how your girls managed to survive going in there," she replied.

Mas lalo itong napanguso. "May pambayad naman ako para sa hotel, ano."

"Oh my goodness, Jo Nicholas, I wasn't talking about you bringing girls in to have sex. I was talking about casual bringing. Mukha mo kasi puro kantot," she said, shaking her head. "Anyway, maybe I just need to unwind for a little while. Let's just hope for the best."