"Of course," Jade answers with a smile. She's looking worse than Migo and Renz. There are dark circles under her eyes, a pale complexion and there are marks of her baro's sleeves on her forehead. "You introduced yourself when you helped us the first day we were here."

Isagani clears his throat again. "It is customary for Hiraya to welcome the newcomers through a feast. After that, you will be given a designation. Usually, newcomers have the right to choose which workgroup they'd want to be in. This time, as the five of you seem unaware of how Hiraya runs, the Rajah will make an exemption and will have the liberty to assign designations for you."

"Wait, what designation?" Jade asks, her brows even more furrowed this time.

"The Rajah is a benevolent ruler but you also need to earn your keep."

Of course, it will be like that. We might be guests for a week or more but we can't stay as guests forever, especially not in an unknown place such as this.

"Should I continue now?" When no one answers, Isagani adds, "Migo and Jade—will be placed under Bagwis as one of the hunters. Aian and Renz will be placed under Laya as sandigs. And Cielo will be one of the cleaners in the Rajah's residence."

Isagani did not pause to hear if there are any complaints and started to hand us what seems like a brown paper, but thicker, with symbols written on them.

"Listed there are instructions and recommendations for your designation. There's also a list of all the workgroups and what they do in Hiraya as added information."

"I can't read this," Jade says, handing the document back to Isagani.

Isagani frowns. "That's the standard form of writing. Surely, you know the characters?"

"No," Jade admits.

Isagani looks incredulously at all of us, waiting for someone who'd say they know the characters. No one speaks. So he lays the paper down on the table so that all of us could see the characters properly.

"Anyone who could?" Isagani asks again, still hoping. When his eyes fall on me, I shake my head. He let out a heavy sigh. "I can't believe this," he breathes.

Then, he enumerates the workgroups. He mentions around ten. None of which piqued my curiosity, but to begin with, I am never the curious child.

After his lengthy explanation, he said, "I will send books to the Babaylan's residence. You should start learning the characters."

"Does that mean you will give us another week before we start with our designation?" Jade asks.

"It is Rajah Sinagtala's wish to make your stay as comfortable as possible, but I'm against it," he says, then he turns his attention to Jade and a smile emerges. "You can choose not to report to your designated area, but don't complain if they give no meals to you at the Babaylan's residence. Also, don't complain if they kicked you out."

With all the stalkings I've done, it's the first time I met a person who doesn't like Jade. I look at Isagani, my interest piqued by his behavior towards her. He's around his forties. He has short hair and is wearing long pants and a vest with sleeves reaching up to his wrist. His clothes are covering up his entire frame.

"Are there still questions?" No one answers. "If that's all, then you can use this room for the whole day. I already reserved it for today's meeting."

When Isagani left, Jade slumped back in her seat. "Ugh, so that means our exploration of the island will be minimal. We haven't even found anything beneficial about this place."

Suddenly, Migo clears his throat and lays something on the table. It is a map. There is a vast land in the middle and around ten tiny, small islands surrounding it.

"Praise me now," Migo says.

"Where did you get this?!" Aian exclaims.

"That's a trade secret."

"Good boy, good boy," Jade jokes while ruffling Migo's hair. They seem to enjoy teasing each other.

"But the question is, where are we right now?" Aian asked who's poring over the map.

Migo points at an island somewhere in the southeast. "According to my contact, we are here," he shares. "The island of Hiraya governed by Rajah Sinagtala."

No one speaks. Right now, we are like sponges, absorbing every bit of information. I might even believe it if they say we're in a different world.

"Why does it look like a pangaea?" Jade whispers. "Millions of years ago, it's said that there's only one continent. The difference is, the Pangaea we know differs from this. Also, I can't recall that there are small islands around it, like these small dots here."

"Are we to assume that we are in the past?" Renz interrupts.

"Or in the future," Migo interjects. "We cannot omit that part."

"But the way of living of the people here, it was reminiscent of the past. The feast, the way they produce their food. There was also no sign of any kind of technology. If this is the future, then we should have seen their lives widely influenced by technology."

"Or maybe it was so futuristic that we couldn't understand it?" Migo asks.

"But without proof that we are in the future, I think it is safe to assume that we are in the past," Renz insists. His eyes fall heavily on Jade and she stares back. Migo is oblivious and continues to pore over the map. Aian smirks and looks at me, waiting for my reaction. I look away. There is tension in the air, which is further stifled by the silence.

Nonchalantly, Jade breaks the connection with Renz. "The explosion happened because of the machine Migo, Aian, and I were working on. It is a machine that would allow the user to see the past. It was not supposed to carry the user to any place."

Like a child whose playmate had been stolen, Renz's face contorts into sadness and I know it's my role to fix it. I reach under the table and entwine my hands to his. He smiles gratefully at me and I know my chance had just gone up.

I look back at Jade, who is folding the map. I don't want her to hate me. She's likable. If we are in a different circumstance, I would like to be her friend, but right now, my priority is to steal Renz from her. And that goal won't make me her friend.

"If the geography is different, how can we plan how to return home? Are we stuck?" I finally ask.

"Obviously," Migo says in an insulting manner.

"The two of us are together. We can survive here," Renz says to me.

I look back at him. I know what he is doing, especially now that Jade's attention is on us. But I also know that it's important that I let everyone know that this place feels dangerous and gives me the creeps. Renz never took me seriously when I said that, but maybe these three will.

"We can't just give up and stay here forever. We need to know why we woke up here. What age this is, where we are exactly. We have answered none of the five W's and I don't even want to ask the How."

"How is answered. It's because of their mistake. We are just the collateral," Renz answers.

I look away from Renz, and my eyes settle on Aian. I don't know, maybe because I believe he has the answer.

"We have no choice. We need more information, we need to fully assimilate with the Hirayan community and maybe learn slowly from there. We can share information, but only at random times," he answers.

I am flabbergasted. It's the first time Aian answers me straight, without scrutiny.

"But for how long?"

"As long as it will take."

"This island does not look dangerous. What are you so worried about?" Renz asks, forcing my attention back to him.

I'm not sure either. Maybe because a lot of things are unfamiliar. It's like we are playing a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces blank, so we can't put anything at all on the board. And the situation scares me like something is about to surprise me. I know we can't leave the island haphazardly, but every day passes and my paranoia is slowly eating at me.

"All we can do for now is to explore and ask very carefully. Discussing this between people who knew nothing won't result in anything," Jade suggests.

"And since we're here, Migo, Aian, let's take a walk around this place?" Jade adds. The two men nod and prepare.

As we are leaving, "Hey, Cielo," Aian snaps me back to reality and I look at him. "I still don't like you for doing that to Jade, but one piece of advice, try to be unnoticed as physically possible and make friends with the locals, but don't fully trust them. That way, we can all gather data. And more information means we are steps closer to returning home. Also, if you have information to share, find me, we can exchange." Then he left with Migo and Jade, leaving Renz and me in the room.