SOLEDAD

Waking up beside the person whom I supposed to investigate with is quite blissful. Mas lalong napadali ang trabaho ko, hindi na ako mahihirapang kumuha ng blood sample sa kaniya.

"Gising ka na pala," bigla akong napatingin sa direksiyon ng boses kung saan iyon nagmula.

"Sino ka?" the guy who just talked looked familiar to me but I couldn't quite figure it out. I think I've seen him somewhere.

"Ang pangalan ko ay Marco," the guy introduced himself. "We're Angel's staff. Ring a bell?" he grinned at me. Jerk move.

Hearing that name makes me feel so disgusted. Naiinis ako sa tuwing nakikita ko ang mukha ng babaeng iyon, let alone meeting her in a situation just like this, anong meron at kahit dito magsasalubong pa rin ang aming landas?

"Oh, so you're one of her pets," I smiled in return.

Sumandal si Marco sa kaniyang kinauupuan. "Kung para sa iyo, pet ang isang utility man, ang hot ko naman para doon?"

"The audacity huh? Anyway nasaan si Angel?" binago ko na lang ang usapan. Talking with this guy makes me irk so bad. "Did she come back already, umalis siya na kasama si Verm?"

Kala mo kagwapuhan, cute lang naman. Kung hindi lang siya chubby, papasa sana siya sa standards ko. But that doesn't matter anyway, I'm here for an order and not for any senseless crushes like this.

"Wala pa. May mahalaga kasi silang lakad na kailangang gawin," ang sagot ni Marco sa akin.

"Anong mahalagang lakad naman 'yon?"

He shrugged. "Malay? Hindi nila sinabi sa amin e," again with the grin that makes my blood boil. Nananadya yata ang lalaking to e.

"Just answer me. Ano bang balak na gawin ng boss ninyo rito sa bayan ng Wichita?" I asked him fair and square, why does he need to keep it a secret.

As if naman na may pakialam ako sa article na balak na isulat ni Angel. My only objective in mind is to make sure that I can find proof that this guy, who's currently unconscious on the bed just right beside me, is one of the subjects of the experimental procedure of the 12th project.

The project that made werewolves possible to exist.

"Nah, baka agawin mo na naman ang article na isusulat niya. Kilala ka na namin, Soledad. Alam namin yung mga galawang magic mo," Marco slightly raised his voice.

Napasapo ako sa aking dibdib. "The audacity. Ako, aagawin yung article niya? Oh come on, I'm too mature to play games with her right now. Don't tell me may binabalak kayong masama?"

"Kung ang pagliligtas ng buhay e masama sa iyo, then maybe oo?" ngumiti na naman ang pusang-gala.

If only I did not learn the art of being patient, I had kicked the face of this guy already. Akala mo kung sinong importante, dakilang alalay lang naman ng babaitang iyon.

"Playing the hero eh?" bulong ko sa sarili ko. I can't force this guy to tell me the truth. Mukhang nasabihan na sila ni Angel na ilihim kung anuman ang balak nilang gawin sa bayan na ito.

As if I had a choice. I decided to sit down beside this guy and pulled out my phone from my purse. Doon ay minabuti kong i-review ang objective ko for this mission.

This is my second mission since the first one that I had before. Mas madali nga ito kumpara sa nauna, I just need to gain evidence, gain proof, and don't make any unwanted attention from mass media.

The arbitration team made me as one of their arbitrators.

And being an arbitrator means a lot to me. I have one job to do and to follow its orders. Sa mga unang project, medyo pahihirapan ka nila nang kaunti, ngunit habang tumatagal, yung mahirap para sa iba e magiging madali para sa iyo.

Goodness gracious, I have tried shooting one subject on my first mission before. It was totally dangerous lalo na at poisonous ang nilalang na kailangan naming i-contain that time.

If only the Seruma company does have their own testing lab and not just doing it in some isolated places like the small town of Montenegro. Baka mas napadali ang containment process para sa mga bioweapon na kanilang binubuo.

Somehow, being a part of the arbitration made me wonder some things as well. Yung team of arbitrators kasi ang siyang nagde-decide if a subject that the project has created is fatal to the community or a benign wellbeing.

Project number 12 is creating a werewolf genes by experimentation with wolves from the foreign country na siyang ipinadala rito sa bansa. They decided to pick one isolated town in the Philippines, observed the people around there, and they decided to choose them as their own variants.

Seruma organization can make a whole town their own laboratory with its  own citizens as the lab rats. Mabuti na lang talaga at naging maayos ang naging proyekto nila sa bayan na iyon. They had successfully created a pack of werewolf.

They also have made a backdoor on their genes. They can control them all. All their memories, their movements, the level of their ferocity. Kayang-kaya nilang kontrolin ang bawat isang may dugo ng pagiging taong-lobo.

And that's one of the reason why the arbitration team has concluded that we need to contain all of those people who have survived when they first conducted the first purge among the community of those werewolves.

They were hunting for the pack that we were thinking that was owned by this person named Manuel Sebastian. If we could verify the genes of this person, we can purge the whole pack at camp tirso.

Hindi sa labag sa loob ko ang gusto nilang gawin. Total annihilation of the community of werewolves is too brutal to begin with. Because I know it was not their choice to become a subject, a variant of the 12th project.

They thought that once these type of bioweapon will be controlled by the opposition, it will be a total chaos. Imagine a pack of werewolves under the control of the opposing forces, kaya nilang pumatay nang maraming tao sa isang atake lamang.

Their teeth, their sharp eyes, and even the fury that they have whenever they lock on to their targets. Kaya nila itong sunggaban at patayin sa pamamagitan ng malakas na pagkagat gamit ang kanilang matatalas na mga pangil.

They could tear thousands of human flesh in no time. That's why even if I find them not being a threat to humanity, I just follow the order of the arbitration team. I am just here to observe their actions and gain evidence if they will turn into one.

At kapag naisagawa ko na ang plano ko, I would just send a report to them, and they will have the elimination team do the job of exterminating them.

Arbitrators would never harm any innocent people. But if these werewolves will be proven real, I'm afraid the bliss of being unnatural is totally a painful truth.

Like, you would exist like that without your choice and you'll be killed because of it? Isn't life unfair? Or the arbitration team just wanted to prevent what could result for thousands of lifes being lost.

As I turned my phone on, I saw the recent report that I had submitted to my superiors.

We've received a report from one of the sergeants here who have mentioned about the anonymous attacks of wolves in Camp Tirso. Dahil doon, nakuha nila ang atensiyon ng aming grupo.

The Seruma company had decided to take action about this kaya nang maka-receive sila ng report mula sa pulis na nagbabantay sa Camp Tirso, they immediately submitted an order for me to investigate.

Being a journalist helped a lot for me to stay with my subjects.

Specifically right this time with my current subjects. I mean, they're hot. Malaki ang katawan nila, maganda ang kutis, kaya nang makita ko sila noong unang beses akong magtungo sa Camp Tirso, I was so mesmerized to see their huge built of a body.

If only they're not a prospective variant of the 12th project, baka hindi ko napigilan ang sarili kong gumawa ng bagay na ikasisira ng reputasyon ko. I badly want to taste their skin, like intimately.

"Yung mata mo, titig na titig kay Manuel. Sabik lang?" biglang entrada ni Marco habang nakatitig ako sa mukha ni Manuel.

Sinamaan ko siya ng tingin. "If you don't have anything good to say, puwede bang manahimik ka na lang?"

"Paano ako mananahimik e kung paano mo titigan si Manuel parang gusto mo siyang sunggaban," tumawa si Marco.

"Kadiri ka!" I threw one of the pillows na nahablot ko sa tabi ni Manuel.

Marco did efficiently dodged it. "See? Kala mo makaka-angal ka. Kitang-kita ko sa mata mo Soledad, gusto mong makaisa kay Manuel."

I was almost there, gustong gusto ko na sanang bunutin ang kutsilyong nakatago sa sandals ko para ihagis sa noo niya but I decided to remain calm.

Control yourself, Soledad. You're here for this job. Do it, don't let yourself be distracted by useless people like that guy named Marco.

I closed my eyes and heaved a sigh. "Phew," bulong ko sa sarili ko.

Then I went back looking at my notes.

"Anyway, seryosong tanong lang. Nabanggit sa amin ni Angel na may nakita kang traumatic na pangyayari kanina. Nakita mo raw na umitim yung mata nung isang lalaki rito sa ospital?" Marco asked me in a serious tone of voice.

Then flashbacks came flashing to my mind. Yung mata nung lalaking nangingisay habang inaasikaso siya ng mga nurse sa sahig. He was having a spasm that nobody else could control.

He was looking at me, and his eyes... it was all black.

Bigla akong muling kinabahan nang dahil sa ala-alang iyon. I did my best to erase that image in my memory and having this guy bring that up made me feel like I should have thrown the knife into his head already.

"Alam mo palang traumatic, ba't kailangan mo pang ipaalala?" I asked him in a serious tone as well.

"Masama bang magtanong?"

"Read the room, jerk."

Akmang magsasalita pa sana si Marco nang biglang bumukas ang pintuan ng kuwarto ni Manuel. A woman came inside while holding a tray with three cups of coffee on it.

"Oh, gising ka na pala," the woman said to me as she puts the tray on top of the table nearby. "Nagdala ako ng kape para sa ating lahat. May tinapay din akong binili, baka gusto ninyo?"

"Nice, kanina pa ako nagugutom," agad na lumapit si Marco para kumuha ng tinapay sa dala ng babaeng pumasok sa loob.

"Who are you?" I asked her. She might be one of Angel's pets as well.

"Oh, I'm Samantha. Sam for short, editor ni Angel. Nice meeting you pala," she smiled at me. "Ikaw si Soledad di ba? Angel mentioned a lot of things about you."

I grinned. "Of course. My reputation precedes me. Hindi talaga niya kayang pigilan ang bunganga niyang siraan ako."

"She's not the type of person who would take credit of someone else's work you know," Samantha took a sip of her coffee. "Iyon lang naman ang masasabi ko."

"Yeah, believe on one side of the story. You don't know the reason why I did that," aniko.

"Care to tell the story of why?" Samantha crossed her legs as she looked straight at me.

Why do I feel like she's more than a bitch that I am. Para akong nasa hot seat habang kaharap ang babaeng ito. It seems like Angel surrounded herself a pair of problematic idiots.

Isang mayabang na lalaki na walang ginawa kung hindi ang magpaka-insensitive, and another woman who knows nothing but to be bias. Kung alam lang nila ang rason kung bakit ako nandito, malamang ay matatanggap nila ang puno't dulo ng lahat nang pangyayari.

Well, I'm not intentionally acting like an antagonist for Angel. In fact, I do care a lot about her. Pero iba pa rin yung pakiramdam ng pagiging superior niya over me way back in college.

It felt so degrading. But when I found out what happened to her past, about her mother's suicide case, doon ko nalaman ang lahat.

If only I can tell Angel everything that I know, I have done that already.

Yet being an arbitrator makes me feel so obligated to keep ourselves private, never to tell anyone the reality of what we are capable to do.

"You really want to know the reason why?" I looked straight on Sam's eyes as I grinned. "Simply because I was born as an arbitrator, Sam."