Do Not Touch Me!

Chapter 15: The Second Mission

Chapter 15: The Second Mission

When it was almost seven and dinner time, sabay na kaming pumasok ni Athanasius sa loob ng silid at tumungo sa Dining Hall. Mula roon ay nakita ko sina Sayuri, Shinigami, Sunhell, at Portgas. Ang hologram naman ni Viveron ay nasa tabi lang din. Even though she does not need to eat and stuff, she still had us with her presence, and I guess it is the bonding and relationship here that matters. Her presence is necessary, after all. Lalo at siya ang pinaka-informant sa aming grupo. Sa kaniya halos nanggagaling din lahat ng data at impormasyon na kailangan para sa aming trainings at mga mission. Our life actually depended on hers.

"It is seven, let us eat." Saad ni Athanasius. Somehow, I like the idea that it is mandatory for us to eat breakfast and dinner together. Sa mga oras na ito rin nagkakaroon ng pag-uusap at katuwaan. Kahit pa man na ang tunay na rason kung bakit may grupo na ito ay para gawin ang mga dirty deeds ng Central Government, na para naman sa ikabubuti ng bansa.

We all immersed ourselves with dinner. Gaya ng nakaugalian ay nag-uusap ang lahat. Tahimik lang naman ako na nakikinig. Mostly, ang pinag-uusapan nila ay mga past missions nila, and those are events prior to me. Hindi ako makasingit dahil hindi naman ako maka-relate din.

"What is your most favorite mission?" Sayuri asked her twin, Shinigami, it seems like he was considering things and reminiscing the distant past, a few seconds later, he smirked.

"That would be catching up an illegal drug dealer. He had a Porsche, and I was just on my feet, hinabol ko sa kalsada. Para ngang nagulat ang drug dealer dahil bigla akong nasa harap niya. Sa sobrang gulat niya, he maneuvered the car and he fell off the bridge."

"I remember that one too." Tumawa si Sayuri, "we let the dealer off first, and both of us played rock, paper, and scissors, whoever loses will stay, and the winner gets to run." Right. Their power is ultra-speed. It seems like they can move in the speed of light too. Ngumisi lang si Shinigami at tumango, "I lost, so I stayed. You got all the fun for yourself." She pouted. After that, she looked at the rest of the members, as if waiting for them to say something.

"I guess mine would be setting the entire sub-headquarter of CALM on fire after its discovery,". tumawa si Sunhell matapos ang ilang sandali. Right. He was immune to fire. It cannot burn him. "Nakakatawa lang, parang nakakita ng demonyo ang mga tauhan ng CALM na doon naka-station. Paano ba naman, naglalakad ako sa gitna ng apoy at hindi ako nasusunog." He chuckled, "mabuti nga at nag-invent din si Dr. Achilles ng fireproof na kasuotan, kundi ay hubad akong lalabas sa sunog na gusali."

"I have no favorite mission," it was Portgas who said that. Sinabihan naman siya ng ibang ka-squad namin ng killjoy.

"And what about our leader?" Sayuri asked.

Tila nagdalawang-isip si Athanasius kung sasali rin ba siya, but he sighed as if surrendering, and decided to finally let out whatever it is that he was thinking, "it would be the last mission that we just had... Because we actually did not need to have more effort to accomplish it, since some missions of us were extremely difficult. But last time was just a piece of cake... And we managed to give direct critical hits to CALM, by cutting off one of their main and top sponsors. Mahihirapan na sila sa marine transportation ngayon, lalo at karamihan sa kanilang mga armas ay illegal smuggled weapons na galing sa ibang bansa."

Tumango ang lahat. He eyed me after, "and of course, most of the credit should be given to Mary, for without her as the bait, it might be hard."

Sayuri pouted.

"Alright, once everyone is done with their dinner, please proceed to the Control Center immediately. I just received a message from Dr. Achilles, it is another mission for the group." Saad ni Viveron. Tumango naman kaming lahat. I was curious immediately what this mission could possibly be. But of course, that can wait.

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.

"The Central Government received a tip from someone, it seems like CALM is now planning to assassinate the President of the country. We need to dispatch you, our very own top-secret unit, in order to protect the President, and of course, Mary will be too dangerous if she is close to the President, so she will have to remain secluded somewhere, where she can still respond just in case back-up is needed, and she will be with Viveron to monitor."

"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.

"Lauda finem," we replied. Kasabay nito ay namatay ang screen. Bumuntong-hininga naman ang lahat.

"Tell me, ano ba talaga ang motibo ng CALM?"

"It is a private organization," saad ni Athanasius, "it is still unclear who its members are, their lips are very tight-sealed, and they are aware of our existence. But we know who its leader is, and it is a former colleague of my father, a traitor, who wanted only nothing but his self-interest. He tried to steal father's research on genetic mutation and stuff, but my father had a hunch he will be betrayed, so he made a fake one. His colleague, Clint Marshall, discovered it was not real, and he was furious. He was rich too, and had connections, so he used it. Gusto niya makuha ang isa sa ating lahat, to perform experiments on us, and find out the secret behind us becoming superhumans." Mahabang paliwanag ni Athanasius. "And once he gets the right formula, he will sell it to the world as a bionic military weapon. Kung mangyayari man ito, delikado ang hinaharap ng mundo," that is why our existence was top secret. Naiintindihan ko na.

"Why does he need more money if he is rich already?" Kumunot ang aking noo.

"Ambitions, aspirations, selfishness, greed, and desire." Sagot ni Athanasius, "I guess those are the primary reasons why. Perhaps it was pride too, since my fathet outwitted him."

Humalakhak naman ang ibang mga kasama namin.

"It will be easier to destroy CALM if we knew their base, ngunit kalat ang organisasyon na ito, at hindi tiyak kung may main base nga talaga sila. Hindi rin tiyak kung nasa bansa ba ang pinuno nito, o nasa ibang bansa." Bumuntong-hininga si Athanasius pagkatapos.

Tahimik lang ako na nakikinig din at nag-iisip. Sinabi nila na baka involved ang Vice President sa CALM, at may nag-tip na sa SONA ng President ay may papatay sa kaniya, the primary suspect is CALM, at balak nila gawing presidente ang bise pangulo upang magkaroon sila ng access sa RAGE sa wakas, dahil sa pagkakaalam ko, mamanahin ng presidente ang kapangyarihan over RAGE.

Naguguluhan ako, kaya naman hindi na lang ako nag-isip pa tungkol sa ganitong bagay. When we were all done talking, bumalik na kaming lahat sa aming kuwarto. It was an exhausting day as usual, thanks to the trainings and its gradual increase in difficulty. Humiga ako sa kama at humikab. Pinikit ko ang aking mga mata, at napaginipan ko ang aking mga magulang.

"Mary, what do you want? We are going to Japan..."

"I don't want anything, Mama. Just for you and Papa to come home safely soon. I will miss you two." The kid version of me pouted. It felt like I was watching my past with my very own eyes as I was rooted on my spot.

"That is so sweet, Mary." Ngumiti si Papa sa akin, "we promise to get home, safe and sound. While we are away, you better be a good girl, okay?"

I nodded. "But is it really necessary for you two to leave the country?"

"Yes, Honey. It has something to do with our line of work. Someday, you will come to understand." Aniya, then dad turned to look mom, "Yael, did Achilles respond already?"

Umiling si Papa, "Marina, he still did not." Naguluhan ang batang ako kung tungkol saan ang pinag-uusapan nilang lahat. "How about Clint?"

"No response too, perhaps tayo na lang mauuna sa Japan, at susunod sila."

I opened my eyes after, forgetting a dream that seems to be of great importance. I tried recalling, but it was now vague and obscured. I sighed.