Ozone Amiss

Chapter 15 : A Message

                                                                                         LIONEL

"Ahh", I said while opening my mouth habang sinusubuan si Inoichi. Inis na hinawi niya ang kamay ko, "Stop it, Lio. Hindi naman dominant hand ko ang nabali kaya kaya kong humawak ng kutsara."

He said at mas lalo lang siyang inasar. His young and innocent looks are far from his personality. He can be bitchy for a boy, but it suits him. Inoichi will never be Inoichi without his bratty attitude, at hindi ko ma-imagine ang itsura nito kapag naging anghel ito.

"Where the heck is Graham? That meeting is taking hours?", reklamo niya. He's been out for a while kaya maging ako ay nagtaka na rin. "Baka naman importante talaga kaya pinatawag siya. You know, ako dapat iyon but he insisted me to stay para alalayan ka. Don't worry for too much, babalik 'yun", I assured him.

"Kuya Quiver and Kuya Tyson is holding him for too long na", he said at napakamot na sa ulo. "Hey, guys." Sabay naming tiningan kung sino man iyon. Speaking of the devil, Graham came running to our table.

"Oh, bumalik ka pa", iritable wika ni Inoichi at hindi nag-abalang tumingin pa sa kadarating naming kasama. Niyakap naman siya ni Graham. "Sorry na", he said and pouted. He also kissed Inoichi on the cheek kaya naitulak siya nito. "Graham, ano ba? Andami-daming tao."

"So what? Maiingit sila", he replied at ngumiti. "Fine, apology accepted. Umupo ka na at kumain", sabi ni Inoichi at agad naman siyang tinabihan ni Graham. Pumunta naman ako sa counter para kuhanan ng pagkain si Graham.

Pagbalik ko ay agad naman siyang kumain. "Bakit daw kayo pinatawag?", tanong ko sa kanya. Nilunok muna niya ang kanyang kinakain at saka sumagot, "Quiver said they're planning a way out."

Nabilaukan si Inoichi sa sinabi niya. Maging ako ay nagulat. "Wait, No..." That would be a miracle. We are tracked here. Alam ng mga nasa taas ang lahat ng mga ginagawa namin dito. Lahat ng sinasabi namin, lahat ng mga pinupuntahan namin. Nakamonitor sila sa bawat galaw namin. Kung tatakas  man kami ay mahahanap kami kaagad.

"We found a way" , said by a voice. It must be Karina. She used telepathic message to communicate again. "We had quite tricks in our sleeves, Lionel. Well, it was Angelo's idea" , sabi ulit niya. What could they've done? 

I held my chin ay I think of other problems involving the escape. "Is there even an escape? May daan pa ba palabas? Makakaalis pa ba tayo dito?", sunod-sunod na tanong ni Ino. He has apoint. Matagal na kaming nakatira dito pero hindi pa rin kami nakakahanap ng daan palabas. Nakailang ikot na kami sa buong cantonment pero wala akong nakikitang "escape door" na labasan. 

"About that...", wika ni Graham at lumingon kay Cynthia. "According to Cynthia and Angelo, they found weird technologies on the center of the maze."

"Ha?!", sabay naming tanong ni Ino. "Teka teka, ilang beses na kaming nag-veventure sa loob ng maze, pero wala naman kaming nakitang kung ano-anong bagay sa loob",  sabi ni Ino habang nakataas ang isang kilay. Saan naman nila 'yun nakita?

Nagulat kaming tatlo nang makarinig kami ng kakaibang tunog. Kasabay nito ay ang paghawak ni Graham sa tiyan niya. Uh right, hindi pa nga pala siya kumakain. We stared him habang napakamot siya sa ulo. "We will continue this later, for now, eat!", utos ko kay Graham.

                                                                                             ~***~

"So you are saying you have found technologies inside the labyrinth?", tanong ko kay Angelo. We are now in the clinic dahil chinecheck up rin ni Angelo ang nabaling braso ni Inoichi. I also took this opportunity to ask him questions, especially about their discoveries inside the labyrinth.

"There was a touch screen monitor there. However, sabi kailangan daw ng password so hindi na namin siya na-assess", sabi ni Angelo. "Saan niyo naman 'yun nakita?", tanong ni Inoichi. Napatingala si Angelo habang nag-rerecall ng mga ala-ala. "It was on the east side in the center."

Maingat niyang binalutan muli ang braso ni Inoichi. "You're fine na. You can go home now", he said at niligpit na ang mga gamit pang-medikal. "Now, where was I? Ahh, the monitor. It was on the east side as I was saying." Saglit niya kaming nilingon. "Nagtago kayo sa southern side, tama? Right before namin kayo makita, we were examining the monitor. It was located in a chamber that camouflaged well with the mossy surroundings na kung hindi iyon nakita ni Cynthia gamit ang mata niya, hindi namin 'yun mapapansin", he continued.

So Sleuth can only see it, huh? I can't really question how we didn't notice it. Both Mimicry and Illusion are not the best eyes in finding hidden areas. It is more efficiently used in assessing movements and creating false images to avoid traps.

"About that, we would be going inside the next week's labyrinth", he said and pang-asar na tumingin kay Inoichi. "So no more whining, 'kay", he said and flashed a sarcastic smile. Napatawa naman kaming dalawa ni Graham sa sinabi niya. "Come on, give me a break", Inoichi said.

Our laughter was cut off by a bell sound. Quiver is calling us all again. Dali-dali kaming pumunta sa bell area. Mabilis naman kaming nakumpleto kaya na nakapagsimula sina Quiver at Tyson. May hawak si Tyson na kapirasong papel. Inaot niya 'yon kay Quiver at agad na napakunot ang noo ni Quiver ng matanggap niya ang papel.

Ipinakita niya sa'min ang papel. Hindi ko maintindihin ang mga isinulat sa papel, basta hindi 'yon Tagalog o English. Base sa reaksiyon ng mga kasama ko, ni isa sa kanila ay walang nakaintindi sa mga nakasulat.

Inis na napakamot sa ulo si Quiver. "Ano ba 'yan? Anong pahirap 'to?!", irita niyang sabi. He had to use Encryption. He closed his eyes for a moment at sa muling pagmulat, they changed into an indigo color. He then read the letter aloud.

"Greetings, my dear children! How are you doing? I hope you are doing great inside the 03 Cantonment", basa niya. We are really doing great... well, for now.

"It is sure lonely there. Mga bata sa loob ng ng 03 Cantonment, walang mga magulang, walang kasamang adults. Sana 'di naman kayo nalulungkot", he continued reading. We were not lonely at all. We had each others backs, helping each other out. This is better than adults who seal us in an unknown place.

"So what should we do to para mawala 'yung pagkamiss niyo sa ibang tao?"

"We will be adding a new test subject!"