Do Not Touch Me!

Chapter 16: Protecting the Country's President

Chapter 16: Protecting the Country's President

Tinapos na naming kumain, at nang tapos na kami ay pumasok na si Thalia upang magligpit ng mga pinagkainan. Kami naman ay lumabas na at dumiretso sa Control Center, kung saan ang screen ay bukas at naroon si Dr. Achilles na naghihintay.

When we were all in our designated seats, Dr. Achilles let out a roll call, calling all of us by our codenames that were based unto the seven deadly sins, which also happens to be the name of the squad. They were creative about it, weren't they? I chuckled mentally as I noted that sarcasm.

"Alright, it has been a week since your last mission, and today, the Central Government has notified me and asked for help." Dr. Achilles started. Halatang busy rin siya dahil sa eyebags niya. Mukhang may mahalagang bagay itong pinagkakaabalahan. Still, the remnants of his youth were there. Alam ko agad na may itsura siya, lalo na sa mga araw ng kabataan niya. Despite the fact that Athanasius does not look anywhere close to him, both of them still looked attractive and good.

"What is it?" Athanasius asked his father.

Ah, I must be dreaming of a memory. Somehow, being aware of that is a game changer.

"When is the assassination plan?"

"On his State of the Nation Address, that will be next week." Saad ni Dr. Achilles, "it is unsure whether the tip is legit or not, but this had the Central Government to grow paranoid, they want you all to guard them, even though the risk of exposure is high, since it will be public and broadcasted. We cannot afford to let other people find out that we have superhumans, lalo na ang ibang mga bansa. Panigurado ay mas darami ang kalaban, hindi lang ang CALM. The reason why CALM remained confidential in this matter too, is to make sure there is lesser competition," Dr. Achilles stated, "kaya naman kung pakana ito ng CALM, it will be too ironic and contradictory."

Tumango ako, his words making sense. Baka naman may iba? Baka naman hindi talaga involved dito ang CALM? But of course, we cannot be too sure about it.

"Is there a clue to whoever the snitch is?"

"Anonymous." Dr. Achilles stated, "we are not sure whether it is trust-worthy, but we need to hid with the Central Government's wish that everyone of you are dispatched to protect our President. If something happens to the President, in case our President dies, he will be replaced by the Vice President, and despite the lack of evidence, it seems like the Vice President is involved with CALM, the enemy of RAGE."

So, there is a division within the Central Government?

"Of course, only the executive branch, this includes the President and his most trusted cabinets, know about RAGE and the existence of Seven Deadly Sins, a few senators and politicians too. If the Vice President succeeds, RAGE will surely fall. We are top-secret because we are illegal, your existences is illegal too... If the Vice President sits into power, trouble will surely fall unto us. So, we need to ensure the President is safe on his State of the Nation Address."

Tumango kaming lahat habang nakikinig kay Dr. Achilles.

"This is troublesome, then." Athanasius sighed, "hindi pwede na mamatay ang presidente at palitan siya ng bise."

"Indeed," Sayuri stated. "Though I do not really care about political affairs, this matter that involves us is something I have to treat seriously. Baka ma-expose pa nga tayo lalo kung ang bise presidente ang maging presidente, kung sakaling may masamang mangyari sa pangulo."

"Alright, that settles it then, I will leave the President into your care, but of course, there will still be normal securities that shall be stationed, you all shall only be the special force, para maging kampante ang loob ng pangulo at ng mga nakakaalam na may plano na iassassinate siya sa kaniyang State of the Nation Address. Good luck, I will be unable to contact you all until next week as well since I am working on something extremely important. Lauda finem." He ended.

I opened my eyes after dreaming of that memory from a week ago, when Dr. Achilles notified us regarding the internal division within the Central Government, due to people who act based solely on their own interest and benefit. Kung walang hidwaan sa loob ng gobyerno ay hindi na sana kailangan pa ang intervention namin.

For a week before the State of the Nation Address, we prepared. Inalam namin ang structure ng gusali kung saan magaganap ito, at si Viveron naman ay kinuha ang listahan ng lahat ng mga mandates na pumunta sa event personally. Though it will be broadcasted. The enemy here is CALM, and the Vice President. Despite the lack of proof, that is what everyone in RAGE is implying. Gusto ng Vice President ang executive powers. Gusto niya gamitin ang RAGE at Seven Deadly Sins, despite of how classified the existence of this is, it only means someone also informed the Vice President.

"Are you guys ready?" Tanong ni Athanasius. Nasa labas kami ngayon ng mansion kung saan sa harap mismo namin ay may nakaparada na malaking itim na van. Tumango naman kaming lahat. Nakasuot ako ngayon ng protective gear kaya naman kampante silang lahat, nakasuot din ako ng face mask, kaya tanging mga mata ko lang ang exposed sa akin. Lahat din sila at naka-face mask, it was a way of protecting our identity as well, because we had to remain anonymous, and the risk of exposing our face will mean they will already have a specific person to target. We had to be cautious.

Pero kahit na, I maintained a fair distance between us. They were no longer that cautious as well with my presence, as if they had finally learned to trust me, despite of how uncontrollable my ability was.

Sumakay na kaming lahat sa van. It had a system that enabled Viveron's intervention, kaya naman kahit walang driver ay bigla itong umandar at humarurot nang nakasakay na kaming lahat. The van was open space, malaki rin ang loob at halatang hi-tech. Ang upuan ay parang mga couch na nasa gilid lang, at sa gitna ay mahabang coffee table kung saan may mga gamit na nakalagay.

"So, we go over the plan." Athanasius remarked, lahat sila ay nakasuot ng uniporme na tila mga guards din. "We pretend to be special guards made exclusively for the President, on the other hand, Mary will stay inside the van. We will only require her presence if something wrong will happen. She will be accompanied with Viveron, and they will assist in monitoring. We were given access to the CCTV cameras of the building, after all." After that, inabot niya sa aking ang isang malaking tablet, kung saan sa screen nito ay makikita ang current na footage ng iba't ibang anggulo ng gusali kung saan magaganap ang State of the Nation Address ng presidente.

Tumango naman ako. Wala akong reklamo, dahil delikado talaga ako. Lalo at maraming tao at public na lugar ang aming pupuntahan. Baka may maaksidente pa dahil sa akin. While looking at the CCTVs, I was made sure of that. Ang malaking lugar ay unti-unting napupuno ng mga taong nakabarong at Filipiniana.

It was an hour later when we reached our destination. Bumaba na ang lahat habang ako ay nanatili lang na nakasakay. I looked at Athanasius, Shinigami, Sayuri, Portgas, and Sunhell, "good luck." I told them. Isa-isa naman silang nagpasalamat sa akin, nang pumasok na sila sa gusali ay awtomatiko na sumara ang van, at lumabas ang hologram ni Viveron. Somehow, it felt like I was not alone because of her.

"I hope nothing goes wrong, and that the tip was just a prank." I stated.

"I hope so, too. But we do not deal with hopefulness here, Mary, we are dealing with chances, and we cannot risk the chance of the President being assassinated. The country will surely fall if that happens." Aniya.

Tumango naman ako. It seems like my squad are already on their designated positions too. It took half an hour as well before the State of the Nation Address took place. The President started by acknowledging powerful individuals, the senate, and other people, then next, he proceeded on his accomplishments on his three-year term, and he said he still had a way to go and lots of things to accomplish, he still had half of his term to do that, since in the country, a president is given six years to serve, after that, halalan na, and the president will no longer be allowed to run again as a president, but he or she can run for vice president.

"Let us also acknowledge the fact that the crime rate of the Philippines ever since I sat into power has gradually decreased." It must be because of Seven Deadly Sins. Isang top-secret na grupo mula sa RAGE. They are the shadow of the government, and I guess the end justifies the means. To become a great leader, you must also deal with hard choices. I know the President is kind to the good, and he is not to those who are bad.

Tahimik na kami ni Viveron habang tinitingnan ang mga CCTV. Rinig ko rin ang talumpati ng presidente. Pero dahil masyadong nakatuon ang atensyon ko sa mga posibleng mangyari ay hindi ko rin naiintindihan ang sinasabi ng Presidente.

~*~

Third Person Point of View

"They are buying the tip I sent, the Seven Deadly Sins will be dispatched to protect the president, as expected." Saad ng isang tauhan sa kaniyang boss.

"Good," ngumisi ang kaniyang boss. Halata ang tuwa na naipinta sa mukha nito dahil sa magandang balita mula sa isa sa kaniyang mga tauhan. Mukhang na-paranoid ang presidente dahil sa tip na iyon. Hindi rin nila alam na ang nagbigay ng tip pala ay isa sa mga pinakamalapit sa presidente, and he was also the one who suggested that they use the Seven Deadly Sins too, considering their special ability and such.

"We do not need to fight the Seven Deadly Sins, we all know how powerful they are. It will be futile, but our plan is great and flawless. We will release sleeping gas in the entire building while the president's speech is ongoing, and we take all the Seven Deadly Sins with us so we can examine their body in our laboratory, and recreate them. In the process, the President will be assassinated too. Magugulat na lang sila paggising nila ay patay na ang presidente. We will also interrupt the broadcast while this is ongoing, saka na lang ibalik kapag tapos na tayo sa ating operasyon."

Tumango ang tauhan ng lalake. Nakangisi ito, pakiramdam niya ay nanalo na siya. Hindi niya inakala na ganito lang pala kadali ang lahat. Kahit hindi pa man nagsisimula ang kaniyang plano, pakiramdam niya ay nangyari na at success ito.

It was a brilliant idea, he got it from the a*******n case of the pretty ladies of the province, conducted by CALM's top sponsors, the late Maxwell and Argentine. Nagpanggap sila na nagrerecruit sila ng mga modelo, at aayain sila na ma-interview sa isang silid, only for a sleeping gas to be released.

The difference this time though, ay hindi na makikita ang usok ng sleeping gas, this will not alert everyone, kaya naman maganda.

"Three hours left," halatang sabik na ang boss dahil tingin ito nang tingin sa orasan. He cannot wait to grt his hands unto these superhumans, dissect and autopsy them, and study their cells. Alam niya na produkto ito ng genetic mutation. Colleague niya si Dr. Achilles dati, ngunit naisahan siya ito. Maling journal ang nanakaw niya. "Malapit nang magbago ang mundo. Magiging makapangyarihan din ako. Ang mundo ay nasa kamay ng mga nasa itaas, at malapit na akong maging parte rin nito. I will be the tip of the top, and nothing can stop me soon."

"I will now go, Boss." Saad ng tauhan matapos ang ilang sandali.