Project LOKI ③

Chapter 44: Dead Man's Switch II (Augustus' Box)

A/N:  The second day of the second wave of updates! Magtutuloy-tuloy kaya ang araw-araw na update?

LORELEI

"Hello there. You thought you've already seen the last of me, didn't you?"

AUGUSTUS IS dead. That's a fact. There's no way he could still be alive. There's no way that he could have sent this video himself.

So that clearly means na ang video na pinapanood namin ngayon ay isang trick. As Alistair and Loki had pointed out, posibleng may ginamit na application si Augustus para ma-send ang video na 'to o may ibang tao na may access sa email niya.

"He couldn't have faked his death, could he?" tanong ni Maggie bago napatingin kay Loki. "I mean, that only happens in fiction."

Augustus' death was unexpected. Kahit siya mismo, hindi niya in-expect na mamatay siya sa board room. No matter how forward-thinking he may be, I doubt he could have prepared an elaborate plan to fool us.

"I talked to the medical examiner yesterday," Sir Jim Morayta spoke, looking down at our chairwoman. "He confirmed to me that Augustus is dead. His body was brought to the morgue."

"Unless he managed to fool the medical examiner, he's pretty much dead," Loki replied. "This can be a pre-recorded video. He probably shot this days or weeks before his untimely death yesterday."

"If you're watching this video, that means I'm already dead," Augustus said.

Alam kong patay na siya, pero nakahinga pa rin ako nang maluwag. Maybe the thought of him returning back to life terrified me.

"I don't know how I'm gonna meet my end, but I'm well prepared for anything that might happen to me," the late editor-in-chief continued. "Oh, don't be so amazed on how I pulled off this stunt. I expect that there's no wi-fi in the afterlife so I can't send this email myself."

"He probably meant there's no wi-fi in hell," Loki muttered. I shushed him.

"Someone out there is executing my will," Augustus said, still looking straight at the camera. "That someone is my dead man's switch. Upon my death, he's gonna be activated to carry out my last wishes."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. I thought our battle with Augustus was finally over. His death would mean that we could move on to our next game. Pero mukhang may rematch pa pala. The only difference was that he's fighting us from the afterlife.

"Listen closely," Augustus said, leaning forward. "I have a dossier of damaging information against some personalities in Clark High. From the school officials down to the housekeeping personnel. I kept these materials just in case I might need to make them... cooperate. Most of these files haven't been exposed yet. And I assure you, the contents will shock you to the core."

"So his so-called Pandora's Box is real," Maggie muttered, her eyes still glued to the screen. "His threat is also real..."

"Maybe we should start calling it the Augustus' Box now," Loki commented.