Project LOKI ③

Chapter 49: Sign of the Four IV (Forethought)

A/N: Fourth update for the week! We're still on a roll!

LORELEI

WE MAY have filled our stomachs with sandwiches, but Stein left us some food for thought. We may have roasted him with our words, but he didn't let us have the last laugh. Nasa amin na kung kakagatin, titikman o kakain ang kanyang mga salita.

By sharing with us those ridiculous what ifs, he managed to make us doubt ourselves. Ako nga mismo, napaisip sa mga sinabi niya. He pulled those arrows out of his quiver, and it's up to us if we're going to let ourselves get hit by them.

So how did I take the words of a mastermind? With a grain of salt—a lot of salt. Could we seriously trust any word that comes out of his mouth? He's the enemy here. The one who caused a lot of mess in Clark. To be fair with him, he's only continuing what was started by someone. For all we know, he might only be trying to mess with our heads. He might be attempting to drive a wedge into our relationship.

Well, I could tell that only two of the four possibilities are true. First, one of us is secretly working for him. That's certainly Jamie. We already knew that part. Second, one of us knows something that might hurt the feelings of another. That's certainly me. Alam ni Stein na iniimbestigahan ko si Jaime Santiago. Kapag shinare ko kay Jamie ang nalaman ko tungkol sa kanyang kuya, malamang ay masaktan siya.

Wait, did Stein indirectly admit that my suspicions were correct? Or was he messing with me?

Ugh! Nagbatuhan lang kami ng mga salita pero nagawa niyang guluhin ang isipan ko. Nagawa rin niyang guluhin ang isipan ng mga kasama ko. Paglabas naming apat sa cafeteria, tahimik kaming naglakad pabalik sa high school building. No one dared to utter a single word. Parang pino-process namin ang mga sinabi niya. Gano'n ang kanyang impact sa amin.

"Let's not think too much about what he told us," Alistair said, breaking the silence among us. My eyes raised their gaze at him. "He's only trying to plant a seed of suspicion in our heads to create distrust in our group. He could be feeding us lies."

"Pero tama ang isa sa mga sinabi niya, 'di ba?" tugon ni Jamie. I would have praised her for the good acting earlier, but now might not be the time. "Na isa sa atin ang palihim na nagtatrabaho para sa kanya. And that's me. Wala nang iba. Paano tayo makasisiguro na isa o dalawa pa sa mga sinabi niya ay hindi totoo? What if may itinatago pa ngang sikreto ang isa o dalawa sa atin?"

"Hindi porke't may katotohanan ang isa sa mga sinabi niya, nangangahulugang tama na rin ang iba," komento ko. In retrospect, Stein was kinda bold to hint about having a spy in our group. Parang wala na siyang pakialam kung malaman ba namin o hindi, basta't magdulot ito ng pagdududa sa aming apat. "Siya na mismo ang nagsabi na pwedeng isa lang doon ang totoo."

Ironic, wasn't it? Na wala akong tiwala sa possibilities na binanggit niya, pero tiwala ako sa sinabi niyang "only one or two might be true" line.

"Don't let his words get into your head," Loki said, looking at us over his shoulder. "The reason why he appeared before us was to plant those doubts that you are unfortunately entertaining. He didn't come there to eat snacks with us. He came there to start a psychological warfare. He wants us to suspect one or two of us to create a crack in the fragile trust that we have."