Project LOKI ③

Chapter 48: Honor Thy Father IV (Blood and Ink)

A/N: We're halfway through this chapter! November rush continues!

LORELEI

"For the record, I'm Margarette Fernandez from the student executive committee. This conversation is being recorded. Is that okay with you?"

THIS FELT like a deja vu. You get that feeling sometimes? It's like replaying an episode of a series that I didn't want to watch again. Not because the episode was badly written, but because the episode was too painful. Going over it again would be a torture.

May kirot pa rin sa puso ko kapag naririnig ko ang boses ni Margarette. Isang linggo na ang nakalilipas mula nang maaksidente siya at mawala sa piling namin, pero nami-miss ko na siya. Her presence. Her eyeglasses. Her banters with Loki. Hearing her voice slapped me with the undeniable reality that we would no longer hear her speak again. And that's something we have to confront. We're still coping with this loss.

Dahil kumpleto na ulit kaming apat sa execom office, sinimulan na namin ang pagre-review sa mga audio clip na iniwan ni Maggie. That was Rye Rubio's order as the acting execom chairman. After taking our lunch, dumiretso na kami roon upang simulan ang review.

Thanks to the search for my biological dad, I got the Jaime Santiago mystery off my mind for a while. Sa sobrang busy ko sa pag-iisip kung si Sir Friedrich Rivera na nga ba ang sagot sa matagal ko nang tanong, nasapawan na tuloy ang iba pang bagay. Well, I'm a human too. I couldn't juggle many things at the same time.

The four of us with Rye gathered around the mahogany table, with a white laptop in front of us. Walang video na mapapanood, pero naka-flash sa screen ang isang audio player. Medyo basag na ang speaker nito, pero audible pa naman ang tunog.

Last time Rye asked me about the clips, I pretended to not have listened to them. Mas mabuti na kung sabay naming madi-discover ang na-discover ko noong nakaraang linggo. Walang mag-aakusa sa akin na nagsinungaling ako o itinatago ko ang katotohanan.

Nagawi ang tingin ko kay Jamie na halos masubsob na sa mesa para malapitang marinig ang sinasabi sa clip. I wonder if she'd realize that her brother was the brains behind the incidents that Maggie was reviewing. Listening to these clips was a step closer to that truth. Paano kaya siya magre-react?

That made me think of something. Halos pareho kami ng sitwasyon. There were parallels. We believe that someone we hold to a certain regard may not be capable of wrongdoing. Yes, there were hints that suggest otherwise, but we still try to find some loopholes. We have the tendency to defend these people from the accusations.

How about Alistair? He was touching his chin with his eyes squinted at the laptop screen. He's undoubtedly sharp. He's easily notice if something's off. Would he arrive at the same conclusion that I did?

Well, I doubt that they'd be sharing the same conclusion as mine. Una sa lahat, hindi sila aware sa ibinulgar ni Luthor sa amin na si Jaime Santiago ang founder ng organisasyon na pinapalakad ngayon ni Stein. That could put things in the proper perspective. I had the benefit of knowing that piece of information kaya naging madali sa akin ang pagtagpian ang mga piraso ng puzzle.