"Don't open it! Are you out of your mind?" My mother yells as she rushes toward me and gets the canister I am holding.

"What is that? Ever since we are little, you are keeping that away from us." I answered back as I stand up.

"Just do what you are told. Go upstairs!"

"Is that the reason, why Dad passed away?" I added, "You couldn't keep the truth from me."

"You know nothing. And do not ever bring that thing up! Your father is Gone." She said as tears flow from her eyes.

I do not want to make things worse, so I decided to go upstairs inside my room. I lock the pale-grey door and sit down on my bed.

There is no real happiness or freedom in this world. I do not know what is real and what is not. Are we acting for ourselves? or are we just being controlled by the System? We cannot go and leave our District or else we are dead. Staying in this place is nothing less like a prison where there is just a window that light is barely seen and no doors to run away from.

We are living in year 2120 where the entire world is under the System. The System claims that they are protecting us from any casualties that could happen. They say that they are working for the cure, a cure that no one really knows if it really exists or it is just a cover up for them not to be brought down from their position.

This is the one-thousandth year of the Delta-Psi virus and the three-hundredth anniversary of the System. This virus is not lethal at the first glance, but it almost wiped out the whole humanity millennium ago. It is not as severe as the other viruses are, but there is something in it that no one could explain.

All I know about the Virus is, whoever is exposed to it and is infected by it will be paralysed for a week or a month then eventually turns it into a Psychrows.

A Psychrow is an infected human who has been deprived of its judgment and rationality; it acts on its own and it deprives other people of a certain sense. When a psychrow dies, it will remain as it is for almost a week and then it will turn into a zombie like creature trying to feast on a living flesh.

I remember my Father. He turned into a psychrow eight years ago.

"You are a brave man, right? Take care of your Mother and your younger brother." he told me while catching his breath and wiping out the blood oozing from his nose.

"Father, you are not going to die. Just Hold on. You're going to be fine." I stood up, "I'll find someone who could help us." I added.

I looked around and see nothing but the dead trees and the haze that wraps us.

My Father handed me the canister, which my mother is angry about, and a necklace with a cylindrical steel pipe pendant.

"Son, listen up. When you turn seventeen, bring the canister to the System. Tell them these words." He whispered, "Crux sixty-seven east"

I do not know what to do. I cried while begging my father to hold-on but it's no good.

"Father? Father?" I was trying to keep him awake by patting his cheeks.

"Run! Marcus, run! I cannot hold it any longer!" he said as his skin turns pale.

I saw how the veins bulged from beneath his skin like roots emerging from the ground. His blue eyes turned hazy yellow as his consciousness escapes from him.

I remember crying out loud. "Father! Father! Wake up!" But I knew I had to run.

I ran as fast as I could as the tears from my eyes gushed to my cheeks. Dark clouds were devouring the moon and the stars, leaving me in total darkness.

I did not know what to do but to cry until I fell asleep under a mahogany tree. I can still feel, until now, the rain falling on my skin as the mud gradually fills up my leather boots.

I woke up the next morning finding myself soaking wet and the sunlight kissing my face. Upon receiving the recollection of what had just happened yesterday, I saw someone standing behind the bushes. Slowly, I walked toward that direction. The man, hearing my footsteps crushes the dried twigs on the ground, turned his back facing me.

"Father? You're Alright, "I ran toward him and embraced my old man.

He did not utter any single word. I was confused why.

I asked him, "Is there anything wrong Father? I thought you were dead?"

But he remained quiet and still. Just then, I realized something was wrong with my father. It seemed like he was hypnotised or had been robbed of his consciousness.

These memories are still hunting me up whenever on bed or when I am all alone. That is why I want that canister fall on my hands. Something must be in there, something expedient that made my mother deprives me of the privilege to have it.

While I am in the state of recollecting the past, I heard something bumped under my bed.

"Ouch!"

I was shocked. To my surprise, my little brother is hiding under my bed full of spider webs.

"What are you doing here Adam?" I raise my eyebrows as I stare to him.

He starts to cry and mutters, "They are here! The psychrows! They are after us!"

I pulled him out of his place and made him sit on my bed.

"We are safe here. You do not need to worry about the psychrows."

"No! We're not!"

I look at his white stricken eyes as I embrace him around my arms. "One... Two...Three...The psychrows are gone."

Finally, he already stopped. He wipes off his tears on his freckled cheeks, but I can still feel the shaking of his little body.

"You are not going to leave me? Right Marcus?" He leans on my chest.

"Listen up Adam. As long as I am here, no one would hurt you."

"But I'm scared. I am blind. Will I ever see someday Marcus?"

I pat his head and slide my palm Down to his nape. "Yes. We will find a cure. But as for now, you just have to stay inside."

"Thanks." He sits up straight and asks me, "Why was Mother yelling at you earlier? Was she mad at you?"

"No, she was just having a hard time. Why don't you go to your bed? It is getting late. I'll see you tomorrow." I kiss his forehead, "Goodnight Adam."

He jumps off and walks outside the door of my room.

Adam was only four-months old when he was deprived of his sight. That happened when Father and I came back from the woods. I can still remember the moment which ruined Adam's and Mother's lives.

I saw Mother standing on the doorway, her curly blonde hair was glowing because of the sunlight casted on it. She was staring blankly outside but the moment Mother saw us coming, she ran toward us.

Mother got down on her knees and hugged me so tight that I could barely breathe. She smelled like a newly baked loaf of bread.

"Are you okay? Were you hurt?" Mother started to cry. Her voice became stuttered, "What took you so long? I'm so worried about you two." She added.

I'm fine Mother." I took a glance at Father, "But..." Just before I finish speaking, Mother noticed the dried blood on Father's nose.

"What happened to your nose?" She stood up and asked Father.

But Father did not give any single word.

"Thomas, are you all right? What Happened?" Mother held Father's Cheeks and kissed him by lips.

At last! Father already talked. He Just said the words he gave me yesterday.

"Crux sixty-seven east." He said while staring blankly on the air.

"What? Say it again." Mother's tone suddenly becomes more serious.

"Crux sixty-seven east."

"Are you dead serious about this? Why do you have to say that word aloud Michael? "

Having no idea what was happening, I started to cry "Why are you mad at Father?" I asked Mother but she did not listen to me.

She grabbed my left arm and we walked inside the house leaving father alone outside.

Mother sat on the couch on the hearth and started to cry so hard.

"Are you okay Mother?"

"Did he give you something?"

I remembered that I had the canister inside my leather bag I use for hunting.

"Yeah, he gave me this canister." I pulled the canister out of my bag.

Mother took it and hid it somewhere inside the room which we are not allowed to enter.

I could still see Father, through the window, outside. He was just standing still, emotionless, and just staring blankly straight at us.

Mother returned with a loaf of bread and a glass of milk in her hands.

"I guess you are hungry." She said as she handed me the meal she prepares.

"What about Father? I think he's not all right."

Mother looked outside the window where Father was standing. In just a twinkle of an eye, Father fell on the ground. We were thrown from our seats and rushed outside to get Father.

"Marcus! Grab him by his left shoulder." Mother told me while grabbing Father's right arm.

We managed to get Father inside their room and lay him on bed. Mother changed his clothes. After some few minutes I returned to their room.

"What happened? When you were out on the woods?" Mother asked with tears trying to fall from her blue eyes.

"There was this hideous looking old man who was chasing after us."

"How did he look like when he was running?"

"Like a drunk man. It seemed like he had no balance. He couldn't even run straight."

"Did it bite your father?"

"Yeah. On his left leg. We were running but Father slipped on a muddy ground. The psychrow managed to grab his leg and bit it."

Mother paused on a while as if she realized something. She looks at Father who was sleeping deeply.

"Get out of this room now!" She, at once, stood up and we ran outside the room.

Mother locked their room from the outside. She was so terrified. Her eyes started to release the reservoir of tears they are holding. She slowly sat on the floor and continued her crying.

"What's wrong Mother? Why did we leave Father alone inside?" I asked as I hug her from her back.

"Get Adam and bring him to me."

She did not even answer my question. She was like in trauma or what. I really had no idea what was going on. I went inside little Adam's room and carried the sleeping infant on my arms.

"Give him to me." Mother told me as she extends her both arms to receive Adam.

She kissed Adam on the lips and forehead.

"If something to your father, we will go to your grandmother or to your Aunt Carina."

"But why Mother?" I asked her with tears on my eyes.

"Your Father is already a psychrow. Did you kiss him?"

"No. I didn't get a chance."

"Did his blood get into you?"

"No." I paused for a while and told my mother, "You've just kissed Father."

She realized it! Mother kissed a psychrow. She turned pale and more tears were deposited on her cheeks.

She gave me again little Adam and hurriedly went to the kitchen and tasted some sugar, some salt, some chillies, and had some water.

" Mother, what are you doing? I asked.

" I'm checking if I can still taste anything."

She paused for a while and looked on the mirror that was on the kitchen wall. She checked her own eyes and her tongue.

She looked at me and asked, "Do you hear me Marcus?".

I nodded my head as a sign of affirmation.

She was thinking too deeply when I saw blood oozing from her finger.

"You are bleeding Mother." I pointed at her left hand.

She looked at it and brought it in front of her face.

She got a knife and cut her left palm. Her left hand was covered with blood.

"What are you doing Mother?" My crying was intensified to what I have just witnessed which my mother did.

"I've lost my sense of feeling when I kissed your psychrow father."

"You couldn't feel anything at all?" I asked.

She looked at little Adam and slowly walked toward us.

Mother tickled my baby brother's left foot and Adam started to feel tickled. She snapped her fingers in front of Adam's ears and Adam responded by turning his head to the source of the snap's sound.

Mother went to the counter five steps away and opened a compartment. She picked up a flashlight and checked if it was still working.

She came back to us and channelled the light coming from the flashlight in front of my little brother's eyes.

Little Adam did not seem blinded by the light. He did not even blink.

"Adam is blind." Mother told me.

"Will he be alright?" I replied while staring at little Adam's face.

And up to this time even eight years had passed away, Adam is suffering to the deprivation of his sight. My mother is still unable to feel anything that touches her skin whether be sting, or any high and low temperature object.

As I am pondering of these things that happened on the past, the Great Siren wails. The prolonged high-pitched sound of the Great Siren wakes everybody in the District.

It is a sign that everyone has to get out of their homes and go to the Plaza. The Plaza is where people gather to receive and listen to the announcements broadcasted by the System.

Mother walks inside my room. Still, her mood is a little bit off because of the argument we have had earlier.

"Get ready, we are leaving within five minutes." She reminded me in a low serious voice.

"Sure. I'll just go downstairs once I'm done."

She gets out without a single word.

I opened my closet and get the navy-blue shirt. The smell of it is very nostalgic; it reminds me of my childhood days where the only problem that I have is how to sneak out and catch spiders on the woods. I made a secret compartment inside my drawer. There, I keep the important things I have had when I was just a little kid. I opened it and get the necklace my Father gave me when we were out on the woods. I put it inside my pocket since we are going to the Plaza where the System might be at as well.

I close my eyes and tell myself, "Crux sixty-seven east."

I meet Mother downstairs together with Adam on his cane. My mother looks like a typical mother wearing her patched apron.

"Shall we go now?" I asked as I tighten my wristwatch.

My mother holds me on my left shoulder fixing my wrinkled sleeves. "If they ask you about your health, tell them that you have a flu for almost a month" She told me.

"Sure thing." I replied.

This is what she always says when the Great Siren wails and when we have to gather in the Plaza. I do not know why Mother is paranoid and reluctant about the activities of the System. I feel something odd about my parents when the System is the subject. They have not been talking about it since I was a kid.

"Marcus? " Adam called me by name as he moves his cane forward.

"Yes, Adam."

He tries to hold my hands, but it takes him some time to do so. "The System will help us, right?" he asks.

I take a glance at Mother hoping that she would help me out what to say to Adam, but she just nods.

"Yes Adam, they will." I pat him on the head.

We arrive at the Plaza around six in the evening. There is a large number of people who gathered themselves together. You would get lost if you walk alone here with these multitude. The Plaza is consisted of an upper and a lower level. The upper level is designed to accommodate the older people ranging from fifty-five years old and above, while the lower level is designed for the younger generations. On the centre, is gigantic pillar where the broadcast will be viewed from.

There are military officers patrolling around the Plaza with their guns and gas masks. I watch how the segregation of people takes place. I can see tears on the parent's eye, while the children have no idea what is going on.

The gigantic pillar suddenly turns-on and plays a live broadcast of a blue orb.

"Calling the attention of everybody." Says the blue orb from the monitor.

The crowd refrains from talking and from whatever they are doing. The silence is deafening that makes me feel uncomfortable.

The blue orb turns green so do the lights inside the plaza.

"This night is a very special night. This is the three-hundredth anniversary of the System and the one-thousandth year since the DPV-20 or the Delta-Psi Virus infected the human civilization. We congratulate every one of you for making through this era despite of the challenges we faced, and we are facing. The system established the five Districts to segregate people according to their sense-dominance."

The orb changes its colour from green to yellow, but this time the lightings remained green. The orb continues to speak.

"Three hundred years ago, the system discovered the possible intervention against the infectivity of the pandemic DPV-20. People have different sense-dominance; some people are dominant in seeing, others in hearing, some are dominant in tasting, some are dominant in smelling, and some are dominant in feeling. The DPV-20 will only be lethal when two carriers of different sense-dominance touch each other or any other physical contacts."

From yellow, the orb changes to orange and the lights change back to blue.

"When they touch each other, the slumbering virus within them will be awakened turning them into psychrows. The first stage of the psychrow's mutation is the deprivation of senses. A psychrow might be deprived of all of his senses or either, just one. The second stage is the deprivation of speech and locomotion. When it dies, the psychrow would become lifeless ferocious creature; and that is the final stage."

I look at Mother and saw her eyes trying to hold the tears from flowing. She takes a glance at me and turns back again. I wonder if her empty expression is due to Father's tragic death or something else.

The orange orb turns red while the blue lightings switches to dark-purple colour. The orb continues its speech.

"When a psychrow's body fluids, at its first and second stage, are contracted to a person, then that person's dominant sense would be lost but he or she will not become a psychrow. But if a psychrow dies and walks again as a ferocious non-living creature, you should be cautious. It is fast, it is emotionless, it is merciless, it would kill, and it would eat. If it happens that these creatures did not kill you, then you will, eventually, turns into a psychrow."

The orb turns white so do the lights.

"The DPV-20 is scattered throughout the entire world. It is an airborne virus. And that is the reason of the establishment of the Districts. By doing this, we could minimize the possibilities of the infection; setting aside the transmission and infection due to direct contact with a reanimated psychrow."

The Plaza becomes covered with absolute darkness, but the people stay still and silent. Only the beeping sound coming from the gigantic pillar can be heard. I feel Adam's hand holds my arm; I can feel his fear, his hand is shaking a little bit.

"Marcus, I am scared." He said.

"Do not worry. Everything will be all right."

"What is that sound?"

I put my arms around my younger brother just to quench the fear he is struggling from. I could not see Mother since it is very dark and because Adam is sitting between us.

"Mother?" I called on her.

"Yes Marcus?" An emotionless voice speaks.

"How could you be with us in this spot? You are older than us. You supposed to be on the higher level."

"Someday you will know how and why." She tells me and touches the pendant on her chest.

After the twelfth beep, the lights get back; and I see numerous military personnel gathered round about the gigantic pillar. The pillar displays again the broadcast of the orb, but this time the orb is colour black. I can feel the tension among the people, mostly on the older generations. I do not know why, but I feel the System is up to something. My mother looks at me.

"Whatever happens, try not to breathe nor taste the air. Do not open your eyes and do cover your ears." She said with a desperate voice.

Adam begins to become more frightened. He starts to cry, but my mother tries to comfort him. I watch how some old people stand and try to get their young ones, but the officers will not let them. Using their guns, without shooting a single bullet, they forced the crowd to stay on their places. The commotion has been resolved. The orb starts to change colour in quick succession; From red to indigo then going back to red. I start to get dizzy, but Mother pats my back. I remember what she just told me; "Do not look." I close my eyes, and the dizziness eventually comes off.

It has been five minutes since the changing of colours happened.

"Is it already done?" I asked Mother while my eyes are close.

"Not yet. Keep your eyes shut."

Out of nowhere, I feel an excruciating pain. I hear Adam and the other people scream so loud. Even I, myself, could not hold it anymore.

"Mother what is this?" I try to shout aloud but my mother does not hear me because of the other screams that envelopes the Plaza.

It is so painful. I have never felt this kind of discomfort before. I start to scream just to find an outlet for this pain, but nothing has gotten better. I endure the pain for three and a half minutes.

Finally, the destructive sensation is gone. The noise inside the Plaza eventually recedes. I could not feel Adam beside me; he has fallen on the ground, not moving and unconscious. Mother picks him up and reclines him on his seat. She does not seem bothered or worried about my unconscious brother; she is calm and tranquil.

"Mother, is Adam all right?" I asked her while holding my brother's hand.

"This is much better." She simply replied.

Confused and startled, I just return to my sit and look at the crowd around us. Most people are weeping. Some loss their sense of awareness, and some are unconscious. The military personnel check each fallen person. One officer comes to us and checks Adam. Mother gives my brother to him.

"He is blind. Be careful." Mother tells the officer.

The officer just nods and carries Adam away from us to the exit.

I am shock. "Why did you do that Mother?" I asked.

"They will bring Adam and the other fallen people outside here." She replied without looking at me.

"Do you know something about this? Mother, are you hiding something from me?"

"Marcus..."

Just before Mother finishes speaking, a thick mist covered the entire place. Again, fear enshrouds the whole Plaza. People inside try to get outside but the big doors of the Plaza are tightly shut.

"Try not to breathe. Do not taste the air." Mother tells me again as she covers her mouth and nose.

I do as what she does. As the mist hazes the surrounding, some people fall on the ground. Some people try to run but they stumble as they loss their consciousness. The military bring them outside the Plaza. There is less than a half of the crowd left inside, including us. The mist starts to disappear, as the orb starts to speak.

"The third level of filtration is complete. The filtration for sight, the filtration for feeling, the oral and olfactory filtration is also complete. Several of you passed out and will not be able to be tested for the final stage of filtration. I encourage you to remain calm and cooperative to prevent casualties. Thank you."

After the orb ends its announcement, I can hear the weeping of the terrified people inside. We do not know what would happen next. I saw a group of people begging the officers to let them out, but the personnel declined. Mother moves closer to me.

"Marcus, try to cover your ear as long as you can." She whispers.

"Sure thing." I reply.

"The next thing that you would hear is no ordinary sound. This is the worst part. Do not resist if your body wants to collapse. But if it does not, and the sound is over, try to pretend that you lost your sense of awareness."

There is an unusual sound. At first, it was just an extremely low frequency; after some minutes, it eventually raises to the maximum sine frequency which human ears can hear. It is still tolerable until a distortion of sounds, and random feedbacks interfere. The result is very agonizing. My nose bleeds due to the impairing effect of the destructive sounds. It still does not stop; it continues for about three more minutes. I see other people fall from their places with their noses bleeding just like mine. I look at Mother, there is blood on her nose and ears.

"Mother ae you all right?" I hold her on her back.

"Yes, this is just normal." She looks at my eyes. "This is the final filtration, and the worst part." She added.

"What is this for Mother?"

"They are trying to develop a counter virus for DPV-20. Those who will survive the five tests they administered, will become subjects to further laboratory testing and experiments. That is why, you should pretend to be severed by the five tests."

As we are talking, an officer comes to us with a scanner. I pretended to be out of my awareness so that they will not get me like my mother told me. The officer puts the scanner in front of my face. A beep sounds.

"He is clear. Get him." Says, the officer.

I look at Mother and she looks at me. We do not expect that it would not go according to the plan.

"Let my son go." She bravely tells the officer.

"You have no any business here lady."

I try to resist but the officer electrocutes me. I fall on the ground, unable to move due to the contraction of my muscles. Mother pushes the officer away from me, but the officer is steadfast.

"If you would continue to interrupt the operation, you would be penalized by the law." The officer points his finger to Mother.

I saw Mother holds the pendant on her necklace and shows it to the officer.

"Crux seventy-eight south." She tells the officer and gives him an unusual handshake. Mother's fingers and the officer's fingers interlock; the officer's thumb is pointing upward, while my mother's thumb is pointing downward.

"Caelum forty-five north." Says the officer as they let go of each other's hands.

The officer steps backward and withdraws from before us. Mother grabs my hand and helps me stand up.

As I regain my strength, I see the military personnel take the remaining people who do not fall on the ground; there are about fifty of them. I look at Mother who is watching the people go inside the white containment pod.

"Mother, what happened? Do you know that man? Does he know you? I ask her.

"I will not lie to you, after you have witnessed it."

"Tell me. I am confused. Are you one of them Mother?"

Mother just nods. "I will tell you about it when we get home."

We exit the Plaza. The streetlights, the cars, and the people standing by make, me feel freed from a monster which enslaves me. We look around to search for Adam, but there are too many people covering the entire outer grounds. Most of them are still crying and traumatized to what have just happened inside the Plaza. We start to shout, calling Adam by his name, but it is all in vain. Suddenly, I hear a familiar little voice from a distance.

"Marcus! Mother! I am here."

We see Adam standing with the other people outside. He is crying, he is still terrified. But there is a lady with a dark-brown hair, who stands by and tries to pacify him. We run towards them.

"Adam. Mother is here." Mother shouts as we approach my little brother.

Upon hearing our voices, Adam raises his cane and waves it above his head. "Mother! Mother! I am here! Mother!"

"Mother. I am really scared. Those men are bad; the System are bad people." Adam said while wiping off his tears.

"There is no need to be afraid of. I am here and your brother Marcus. We will protect you." Mother assured Adam. "I am so proud of you. You are such a brave boy." She added.

"Marcus, I miss you. I thought you are not going to leave me." Adam speaks to me.

I see his hopeless face drenched with tears as he speaks to me with words that make me feel bad about myself.

"I am deeply sorry Adam. I really wanted you to stay with us, but I could not do anything." I start to cry because I feel guilty inside. It feels like, I let my little brother down.

I get him from Mother and embrace him. "I promise, this will never happen again."

"I love you Marcus. I am glad that you are fine." I feel his little hands touch my hair.

The kind lady who stays with Adam offers me her scarf.

"Take this. Wipe off your tears." She smiles.

I do not know what to do. Am I going to accept it or refuse it? I start to blush because this is my first time being in this kind of situation with a lady.

I get her scarf. "Well, thank you." I just said.

"You are blushing. Don't be shy about it." She giggles a bit.

"By the way, I would like to extend my gratitude for staying with my little brother."

"Do not mind it. At least he is fine now. I was worried about him earlier. I am Errie. And you are?" She asks as she extends her hand in front me.

"My name is Marcus."

"Four five zero nine A Z T. That is my System Recognition Number." She tells me even though I do not ask for it.

My mother bows her head before Errie and smiles. "Thank you for your kindness and good heart. We owe you this one"

"I am glad to help. I think I should go now; it is getting late." Says Freya as she bows her head.

Errie walks away. I see how she disappears as she leaves with the other people out of the outer grounds.

Mother wipes off her tears. She takes a step forward and looks around.

"Let us go home. It has been a long night." My mother holds my shoulder as I carry Adam on my arms.