In the year 3020X, as the population continued to surge while economic growth declined, the government faced an unprecedented challenge. When the economy hits rock-bottom and spiraled into despair, the government made a solution- to leverage human g...
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Chapter 8: Mystery
I was still surprised by the cracking noise Wolff made when he punched the wall. I'm sure it wasn't the wall, but his fist. Kahit madilim, bahagya akong lumayo sa kanya. But then, I was surprised when he called my name.
"Dani?"
"Y-yes?" medyo natarantang sagot ko.
He breathed heavily. "C-can you... can you please hold me?" There was anger in his voice, but above it, I sensed fear and panic. He sounded so lonely when he said it too.
I battled with myself kung susundin ko ba ang sinabi niya. Odds are he's trying to do something bad to me in the dark, pero kalahati ng isip ko ang ayaw maniwala sa isiping iyon. Hello, pag-iinteresan ba naman ako ni Wolff? Besides, he doesn't seem to be that kind of person.
But he really sounded desperate.
"P-please... Dani."
Inalis ko ang agam-agam sa isip. "Just stay still, lalapit ako sa'yo."
"T-thanks..." he said in a low but relieved voice.
Unti-unti akong lumapit sa kanya. Una kong nakapa ang kanyang braso, so I slid my hand down to his wrist. Bahagya akong nagulat nang inalis niya ang hawak ko sa pulso niya at siya na mismo ang humawak nang mahigpit sa kamay ko. It was so tight, as if I'd leave him behind kung hindi siya humawak nang mahigpit sa kamay ko.
Now that I noticed it, he's shaking a bit. His hands were cold, and he was still catching his breath.
"By any chance, are you claustrophobic?" tanong ko.
Huminga siya nang malalim. "Sort of. I just panic when it's cramped and dark."
Mahinang tumango ako kahit hindi naman niya iyon nakikita. "Siguro naman makakalabas tayo rito mga ilang sandali lang, hindi ba?"
"I don't think so," sagot niya. "An unauthorized person crossed the lab, and then there's Code Black. Power won't be activated sooner para maiwasan ang mas malalang resulta dahil sa Code Black."
Hindi ko iyon masyadong naintindihan, but I know it's really dangerous. "What? Then how long do you think we'll stay here?" tanong ko. It's starting to get warm too.
"That depends on the level of emergency," sagot niya. "More or less, we'll stay here for 4 to 6 hours."
"Ano?!" I didn't mean to panic too, pero apat hanggang anim na oras? Seryoso ba siya? "Ganoon katagal? Wala ba kayong standard procedure sa ganito? Is this the first time something like this happened?"
"It's not the first time a Code Black was declared. Hindi rin ito ang unang beses na may nakapasok sa lab na hindi authorized. But it's the first time that someone breached the lab and there's this kind of emergency, which means it's the defector's deliberate effort, which is why we issued Code Black," sagot niya habang humihingal. "J-just please bear with me for a few hours."
