CHAPTER 14
TEAM A (Chaos's group)
"Kailangan ba natin hanapin ang light switch?" Tanong ni Effie sa mga kasamang kanina pa nagiisip kung paano buksan ang ilaw.
"It's too dark. I can't even see all of you." Sambit naman ni Chaos habang kinakapa ang bawat pader.
"There are no light switch!" Friday exclaimed.
"Give me your phone." Utos ni Matix kay Effie na siyang katabi lang nito.
"Bakit?" Effie asked nang ibigay niya ang phone niya.
"We'll turn on the flashlight of course."
Then an automated voice spoke, "fifteen minutes left."
Matix cursed as he hurriedly turn on the flashlight. Nilibot niya iyon sa buong kwarto. Habang pinapailaw ang kwarto, may nagreflect na ilaw mula sa kaliwa.
"There's a mirror." Chaos uttered.
Lumapit ang apat sa salamin at pinakatitigan ito. "Why would there be a mirror on a dark room?" Friday asked.
"Could it be a two way mirror?" Effie deduced.
Chaos interferred. "Hold the flashlight well, Matix." Aniya at nilagay ang daliri sa salamin.
He explains, "a standard mirror has a gap between my finger and its reflection. While a two way mirror directly touches the reflection." Pinakita niya sa kasama ang daliri kung saan ang reflection nito ay magkadikit sa daliri.
"It is a two way mirror." Friday mumbled.
"Baka nasa loob ang susi para mabuksan ang pinto?"
Binuksan ni Matix at Chaos ang salamin. Sa halip na makita ang susi, isang papel at box na may padlock ang nasa loob.
Chaos read what's on the paper. "Ha,
Fooled you. The key is in the box. Goodluck. -Seven"
"How do we get the password?" Ani Friday na hawak ang box.
The automated voice spoke, "ten minutes left."
Matix cussed again then analyzed the box. His eyes then widen in glint. "Alam ko na." He uttered then pressed certain numbers.
Makalipas ang ilang segundo, bumukas ang lock.
"How did you do that?" Manghang tanong ni Effie.
Matix proudly smiled. "There are roman numbers in the box. The first four roman numbers are IV, V, II, VI. It trnaslates to 4, 5, 2, and 6."
Friday, who's holding the box immediately opened it. But instead of a key, another paper was there.
She took it and read it. "Fooled you once, it's fine but fooled you twice, shame on you. The key is not in box. -Seven"
"Damn that Seven!" Galit na sambit ni Chaos.
"Nasaan ba ang susi na yan?!" Effie frustratingly exclaimed.
Nilibot ulit ni Matix ang buong kwarto na may flashlight, sinama rin niya ag ceiling sa paghahanap.
Makalipas ang ilang segundo, sumigaw siya. "The key is there!" Aniya at tinuturo ang susi na nasa itaas ng nakasaradong pinto.
"I'll get it." Ani Chaos at tumingkayad para abutin ang susi.
He opened the door using the key. Tumambad sa kanila ang isang hallway na may apat na pinto. Sa tapat ng nakasaradong pinto ay may papel na may mathematical equations.
Then an automated voice spoke, "Solve the mathematical equations and riddles.
The equations or riddles with the correct answer is the correct door. You have one hour to solve it."
"Each of us should take one door." Ani Chaos at tumakbo papunta sa isang pinto.
His equations states "Evaluate the function: 2x^3 + 3x^2 - 6x = 17 if x=2"
"This is basic." Simpleng sambit ni Chaos at ginamit ang whiteboard sa gilid para isolve ang equation.
In this equation, he just have to substitute 2 to all the x variable. 2x^3 results to 16. 3x^2 is 12. When you add the two, the answer will be 28. 6x is 12. Subtract it to 28 and the answer will be 16.
But the given answer is 17 so that means the door that Chaos solved is wrong.
Sino ang may hawak ng tamang pintuan?
Meanwhile, Friday is solving a riddle: "You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. I'm quick when I'm thin and slow when I'm fat. The wind is my enemy."
Sa ibaba ng riddle ay ang sagot na: "Fire"
Is fire really the correct answer? Or there is something else?
An automated voice spoke, "twist the door knob if you think the door is correct. If you twisted the wrong doorknob, your time will be reduced to twenty minutes. As of now, you have 50 minutes left."
Friday frustratingly pulled her hair. She was quick to answer and twisted the doorknob but a loud siren filled the whole room.
An automated voice was heard, "Wrong answer. Time left, 30 minutes."
Friday stilled. Ilang beses niyang pinakatitigan ang riddle na nasa pintuan. That's when she realized, the answer is wrong. Because the wind is not the fire's enemy. In fact, it helps the fire spread widely.
Friday then snapped her fingers. "The answer is a candle." She mumbled to herself.
A candle is slow to expire when it's new and fat but when it's thin, it fastly expires. And when you blow a candle, it's fire will go out.
Si Effie naman ay may hawak na tanong na: "There once was a lady who really liked pink. In her cozy, little one-story house,
everything was pink. Even her dog was pink. Her hair, her carpet, everything.
What color are her stairs?"
Sa ibaba ay may sagot na: "None."
Effie frowned. "This is so basic. It was pink. Everything in her house is pink." Aniya at hindi ito binuksan.
Sumunod si Matix na may hawak na tanong na: "Who proposed the theory of continuity of germplasm and strongly discarded the theory of inheritance acquired character given by _____?"
Sa ibaba ay may sagot na: "Lamark, Darwin."
Marahas na umiling si Matix. "The correct answer is Mendel and Weisman." He said at hindi na binuksan ang pinto.
"Wait, so where is the correct door?" Naguguluhang tanong ni Chaos nang wala sa kanila ang bumukas ng pinto.
"Double check your doors. Baka mali ang sagot niyo." Aniya at bumalik sa pinto niya.
Effie once again checked on her door.
"There once was a lady who really liked pink. In her cozy, little one-story house,
everything was pink. Even her dog was pink. Her hair, her carpet, everything.
What color are her stairs?"
After a few seconds, her eyes widen.
She is wrong! The lady doesn't have any stairs because she's living on a one-story house! "Guys, I found the correct door." Sigaw niya at dali-daling binuksan ang pinto.
When the door opened, bumulagtad sa kanila ang isang malaking screen.
"Ano naman ang gagawin natin?" Effie asked.
Again, an automated voice spoke, "Welcome to Seven's third game. The truth or lie game! Several questions are shown on the screen. To open the door, one of you shall answer all the questions honestly, or the walls will narrow down the room. Enjoy!"
Matapos magsalita, dumilim ang paligid.
Isang podium ang nasa gitna at sa harap ay isang malaking screen.
Then, the first question flashed on the screen.
"For Chaos, do you really like Friday Cortez?"
Chaos was quick to answer. "Yes."
A green light appeared signals that Chaos was telling the truth. Another one appeared for him. "You are a part of the Genesis."
Chaos furrowed his eyebrows. "No."
Then the walls narrowed down. Meaning, Chaos lied.
"I don't even know what is the Genesis." Depensa niya.
Sunod na tanong naman ang tungkol kay Friday.
"Friday, do you really like Chaos? Or you were just afraid of rejecting him?"
Friday stilled before answering, "I like him. I really do."
This time, no lights appeared. There was defeaning silence for the whole room. Hanggang sa gumalaw ang mga pader at unti-unting lumiliit ang buong kwarto.
"Friday..." hindi makapaniwalang sambit ni Chaos.
"Chaos. Totoo ang sinabi ko. The machine is lying!" Ani Friday at unti-unting namumuo ang luha sa mga mata.
Chaos didn't speak instead, he hugged Friday so tight like he's afraid of letting her go.
The next question appeared. "Effie, have you thought of joining the beast's side? Did you have any regrets in joining Chaos's team?"
Effie was silent for a moment until she answered. "I thought of joining before. When the beast threatened me, I thought of betraying my friends so my family could be safe." Effie sobbed.
The green light appeared meaning, Effie was telling the truth.
Agad naman siyang tumingin sa mga kaibigan. "Alam kong tinraidor ko na kayo noon pero sana naintindihan niyo ang sitwasyon ko. Hindi ko naman na uulitin iyon eh."
Another question appeared for Effie. "Are you part of the Genesis?"
Effie stayed quiet. She doesn't have the heart to answer yes or no.
The walls narrowed down. Mas lalong sumikip at lumiit ang kwarto dahil walang isinagot si Effie.
Matix asked, "ano ba iyang the Genesis na yan?" He confusingly asked.
Marahas na umiling si Effie. "I don't know any of that." Sambit niya.
Ang sunod na tanong ay para kay Matix. "You have once worked for the beast."
Matix frowned. "Of course not. I'm loyal to Chaos." He then smirked at Chaos who just winced.
The green light appeared and another question flashed on the screen. "You are pretending that you don't know Twilight Martinez."
Matix stilled before answering. "No. Hindi ko talaga siya kilala."
The green light once again appeared meaning that Matix was telling the truth.
At dahil dalawang beses nagsabi ng totoo si Matix, bumukas ang pinto para makapunta sila sa susunod na patutunguhan.
It was a long dark hallway. Habang naglalakad ay hindi maiwasang magsalita si Chaos. "I don't know any of thay Genesis thing. Maybe Seven is making it all up to confuse us." Aniya.
Effie nodded. "Me too. Pagkatapos ng lahat ng ito, aalamin natin kung ano ang Genesis na iyan."
Bumaling naman si Friday kay Chaos habang nakahawak sa kamay nito. "Chaos, I was telling the truth. Believe me please. Gusto kita hindi dahil naaawa ako sayo. Please, maniwala ka sa akin." Pakiusap niya.
Ginulo ni Chaos ang buhok ni Friday. "I believe you than that machine, Friday." Masuyong sambit nito.
Matix grimaced. "Pwede ba, huwag kayong maglampungan sa harap namin. Single people here." Turo ni Matix sa kanila ni Effie.
Effie frowned. "Huwag mo nga akong dinadamay, Matix. Ang dami mong alam eh yung mga videos na nasa file ni X, naretrieve niyo na ba ni Twilight?"
Matix smirked. "Yup. Twilight and I finally retrieved it. Hindi pa namin napapanood dahil gusto namin na magkakasama tayong lahat na panoorin iyon. My tablet is with Twilight."
"We need to watch it as fast as we can." Ani Chaos.
Huminga nang malalim si Matix. "I'm tired. This is so exhausting." Komento niya.
"Oo nga. I wonder, kamusta na ang Agati siblings?" Puna ni Friday.
Nang makarating sa susunod na pinto, binuksan nila iyon at isang napakalaking warehouse at nasa gitna noon ay ang Agati siblings na hinihingal at pawang pagod na pagod.
"Twilight? Anong nangyari sa inyo?" Effie called.
Nagmulat ng mata si Twilight at naiiyak na tumakbo kay Effie at niyakap ito. "Effie! Thank god, nandito na kayo. Alam mo ba kung anong pahirap na ginawa sa akin ng X na yan? At ang mga kupal kong mga kapatid, they made me do all the work!"
Friday glanced at the three brothers. "Bakit parang mas pagod pa sila sayo?"
Twilight frowned. "Because I got mad at sila na ang pinagawa ko ng huling laro."
"What game was it anyways?"
Twilight was about to speak when the whole warehouse blacked out.
And all that was heard was a loud gunshot.