May isang pinaniniwalaang alamat ng Karagatan na kung saan may mga sirenang nagbabantay ng mahiwagang Perlas sa Hilaga, Timog, Silangan at Kanluran ng Pilipinas. Sa tuwing kabilugan ng buwan ay nag-aalay ng buhay ng tao ang mga sirenang iyon para sa Karagatan. Sa loob ng ilang libong taon ay napanatili ang pangangalaga sa mahiwagang Perlas hanggang sa isang gabi ay ninakaw ng isang pilyong binata na kilalang manggagantso ang perlas ng Kanluran na binabantayan ni Sirene. Isang mahiwagang perlas, isang mamamatay-tao na Sirena, isang pilyong manggagantso na binata, isang hapon na kapitan ng barko, at ang paparating na Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig (World War II). Ang istoryang ito ay panahon pa ng pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas. Date Written: November 15, 2017 Date Finished: July 10, 2018

*Wattys 2018 Winner / Hidden Gems* CREATE YOUR OWN MR. RIGHT Weeks before Valentine's, seventeen-year-old Kate Lapuz goes through her first ever breakup, but soon she stumbles upon a mysterious new app called My Dream Boyfriend, an AI chatbot that has the ability to understand human feelings. Casually, she participates in the app's trial run but finds herself immersed in the empathic conversations with her customizable virtual boyfriend, Ecto. In a society both connected and alienated by technology, Kate suspects an actual secret admirer is behind Ecto. Could it be the work of the techie student council president Dion or has Kate really found her soulmate in bits of computer code? She decides to get to the bottom of the cutting-edge app. Her search for Ecto's real identity leads Kate to prom, where absolute knowledge comes with a very steep price.