VIRTUAL REALITY

I came to my senses. It was unbelievable. It's so ironic how I easily believed that this supernatural world is real, and now, I could hardly believe that it is.

Zero stared at me. His figure was slowly becoming blurry. Hindi ko alam kung glitch ba 'yon. O baka naman dahil naging aware lang ako.

Who else? Sino pang hindi totoo sa mundong 'to?

"Some people are real, though. Mabibilang ko lang siguro sa kamay ko," ani Zero.

"How come? Bakit naman kami maniniwalang hindi totoo ang lahat ng 'to. I can clearly feel everything," Lourd implied while his fist curled.

Zero sighed deeply, "Because it is virtual reality. It is connected to your senses. The administration is fooling you-"

"I refuse to believe so. Matagal na akong narito sa academy na 'to at bakit hindi ko man lang napansin?" giit ni Lourd.

"Then keep on fooling yourself. Hindi ba't inimbestigahan mo ang nangyari n'ong Orphic Games sa nakaraang dalawang taon? They didn't die. They just vanished. The twenty five Orpheuses aren't real people, so clearly, I didn't kill anyone at all."

"Bakit ngayon mo lang sinabi?" tanong ko naman. If he knew this back then, hindi na rin sana niya pinatagal.

"Two years ago, I did not really intend to make them vanish, and I only intend to investigate the dimension. I really thought I killed them. I was guilty. Pero nang mapagtantong bigla nalang silang naglaho, doon ako nagtaka. I dig deeper, and found fragments of my memories here."

Napaawang naman ang bibig ko. Hindi ko pa rin maintindihan. "Kung gan'on... paano ka naman napapunta rito sa virtual dimension na 'to? Kami? Paano kami napapunta rito?"

"I also didn't know how I managed to access the dimension, but for the two of you, your bodies are probably connected with NeuroLinks, one that connects with your brain. The NeuroLinks make it easy to fool your senses," paliwanag niya.

"Paano mo naman nalaman ang lahat ng 'to?" tanong ni Lourd. "It's just really unbelievable, Sei-Zero."

"I hacked the systems. Napansin kong kakaiba talaga ang dimension na 'to, at may ilang tao akong napansin na minsan nang biglang nawawala at magpapakita ulit. The glitches made it so obvious for me. I saw glitches because I didn't wear contact lenses."

Contact lenses? So that is also some kind of NeuroLink? Kaya pala biglang nag-iiba ang hitsura ng paligid kapag suot ang contact lenses. I remember my first day here. Hindi ko naman napansin na may ibang tao, pero n'ong masuot ko na ang contact lenses ko, biglang dumami ang tao sa paligid.

"How about the error in the faction tests?" tanong ko ulit. "Was it you who spoke to me?" I asked.

Zero nodded, "Yes. I am sorry if I used your brother. I needed it to make you trust me."

"There were also Orpheuses who vanished-"

"I eliminated those virtual people immediately. Four survived because she isn't a virtual one."

"Hindi ko pa rin maintindihan. Hindi ba nila tayo nakikita ngayon? Hindi ba nila naririnig ang pinag-uusapan natin?"

Zero shook his head, "I hacked and destroyed the cameras. No one will see us talking about this. Once they knew, they may harm your physical bodies in the real world."

"They?" tanong ko. "Bakit sino ba sila? Who the fuck would fool us, and for what reason?"

"Hindi ko pa rin alam," sagot ni Zero agad. "What I know is that Ephraim, Illeasalis, Adara, Ten, and even your brother, Nine, is behind this."

"Putangina," mura ko agad nang marinig ang pangalan ni Kuya. "Sigurado ka na ba d'yan? Kasama talaga ang kuya ko?"

"Hindi rin ako sigurado. Ephraim and Andrix are really the ones who made this virtual world. The others are somehow part of it."

"Wait," singit ni Lourd. "Come again? Andrix?"

Zero's eyebrows raised. "Yes. Andrix."

Napapikit naman nang mariin si Lourd. He sighed deeply, and when he opened his eyes, he looked at Zero with such doubt. "Andrix is the name of my deceased father."

"No wonder you look like him. He isn't dead by the way." Lourd cursed loudly because of that.

Bigla ko namang naalala ang lalaking nakita ko noon sa panaginip ko sa regenerating room. The one who looked like Lourd. Si Andrix 'yon? His father?

"Pero ako? Bakit mo ako kilala?" diretsong tanong ko sa kaniya.

He smiled at me a little, "I really do not know you, but I know the past you, Aurora Calytrix."

"Past me?"

He nodded, "Yes. Eventually you were reborn as Exiquel Four, and Ezekiel Nine adopted you."

"Pero saglit. Anong kinalaman ni Kuya rito?"

"I lost some memories, but I somehow do remember a concept of having ten people tasked to do the Orphic Dimension. With the ten of them, everything would be perfect. The dimension would really be possible."

"One is Isis. Two is Tamonjie. Three is Adara. Four is Rory. Five is Ephraim. Six is Andrix. Seven is Illeasalis. Eight is Caster. Nine is Ezekiel. Ten is Kiyoshi."

Zero? Kabilang ba siya sa mga numbers na 'yan?

"Those ten are probably behind this. And maybe, it didn't work perfectly because you died, Four. Kaya hanggang virtual reality lang ang Orphic Dimension."

Napataas-kilay naman ako. I remember Aurora Calytrix saying that the woman named 'Callista' killed peculiars. Hindi kaya't siya rin ang pumatay sa 'past self' ko?

"Bakit ako namatay?" tanong ko.

He smiled sadly, "I still do not recall that part."

"Callista," sambit ko. "Wala ka bang naaalala tungkol sa kaniya?"

"A few blurred memories. She was the one who killed pecuilars back then," sagot niya. Tumango naman ako, it connects to what Rory said to me.

"Hindi ko kaya maintindihan," singit na naman ni Lourd. Hindi ko naman siya pinansin at nag-isip nang malalim.

"So the people behind this virtual reality... Are they enemies?" tanong ko.

Nagkibit-balikat si Zero. "Hindi ko rin alam. Ang mahalaga ay makaalis na muna kayo rito sa virtual reality na 'to. You must find a way to wake up. It would be easy for the two of you to do so, since you are aware."

"Paano naman namin sasabihin sa iba? Hindi ba pwedeng i-hack mo na rin sa part nila at ipaliwanag mo rin sa kanila?" tanong ko.

"Mi amore," he sighed. "As much as I want to help you, but they might detect this hack and kick me out soon. Hindi ko rin alam kung sino ang iba pang totoong tao rito. It will be hard for me."

"Kung gan'on, anong dapat naming gawin?" tanong ni Lourd.

"You two are Neoterics, right? Then think of a possible way to awaken those who are real."

Awaken? Like awaken the senses? How could I possibly do that?

In a blink of an eye, Zero vanished in front of us. The area was all still so black, but I could see faint visions of light from behind. So maybe that part still exists, right?

Huminga naman ako nang malalim.
"Can you believe this, Four?"

Napatingala naman ako kay Lourd nang sabihin niya 'yon. He was laughing sarcastically.

"I lived believing that this virtual world is my reality. I lived believing that this fantasy is my reality."

The Orphic Secret
By lostmortals
Plagiarism is a crime.

Thank you for reading!