Dead City

The Codes

NOTICE: THIS IS THE POV OF DAHLIA

"Do I really need to have a blonde hair?" Tanong ko kay Athena habang binabanlawan niya ang aking buhok.

"Yes. Everyone of us changed our hair color. It is completely opposite of our hair colors before." She said.

She said to me earlier that I needed to change my hair color that is something light, since my natural hair color is dark. It is needed because I and Theo are so exposed already.

Everyone of us changed our hair color since everyone of us has been exposed to the eyes of our enemies, she added.

Mine's from dark brown to light natural blonde. Athena's from green to light blue.

Pagkatapos niyang banlawan ang aking buhok ay pinatuyo niya na rin ito. Pagkaharap ko sa salamin ay halos hindi ko na makilala ang aking sarili.

"This looks like a completely different persona." I silently said while staring at myself in the mirror.

"Okay. Everyone's done. My work here is done. I can now focus on different job." Athena said and then left the room.

Matapos ang ilang minutong pagtitig sa aking sarili ay lumabas na ako. Napaawang ng bahagya ang aking bibig nang makita ko sila Ian sa labas.

"Woah!" Wika ni Kurt na nakasalubong ko. I almost didn't recognized him. His hair is from brown to dark red-orange.

"You look completely different. But in a good different." They said.

"I almost didn't recognized you." Ian said. His hair is from light brown to black.

"Yeah. Me neither." Sabi rin ni Tin na dating may kulay brown na buhok na naging light blonde. Halos pareho lang kami ng kulay, mas light nga lang yung saakin ng kaunti.

"I too." Pag sang-ayon din nila Irish at Eula. Irish is from black to strawberry auburn, and Eula is from dark brown to reddish-purple hair color.

"How are you?" Pagiiba ni Kurt nang makarating kami sakanila Irish.

Ngayon lang kasi nila ako makikita simula noong nagising ako kahapon. Masyado silang abala, tapos si Athena ay hindi pa ako palabasin dahil hindi pa raw ako tuluyang gumaling.

"I'm great. Kayo ba? Kamusta na ang nangyayari?" Balik ko.

"We're great as well." Tin replied.

"Oh, Tin. Athena said to me that you work really hard for the serum you're experimenting that you didn't even slept for 2 days straight to complete it. I am so thankful for your effort, Tin. I am beyond grateful for what you've sacrifice to treat us." I said that made her awkwardly laugh.

Nasabi kasi saakin kahapon ni Athena na ang gamot na ibinigay at ibinuhos niya sa sugat ko sa ulo ay gawa ni Tin.

"Oh... err... well." She awkwardly chuckled.

"I'm still trying to gain back my control to the satellites. Nakuha ko na kasi kahapon, pero naagaw ng mga kalaban yung iba kasi hindi ko na-secure. Kulang-kulang kasi tayo ng materyales kaya ganito." Wika ni Ian.

"Sila Hans? Nasan na sila?" Tanong ko naman dahil ang nakikita ko lang dito ay sila Athena, kami-kami nila Eula, at yung ilang kasamahan nila Antonio.

"They're in the second part of our plan. They're trying to get some resources and materials we needed for further parts of the plan." Tugon ni Kurt.

"What's the plan, anyway?" Tanong ko naman.

Sinabi nila ito saakin kaya na lamang ako tumatango bilang tugon. Pagkatapos namin mag-usap tungkol dito ay saktong pagdating nila Mia.

Sinabi saamin ni Kurt na kailangan namin silang tulungan sa labas dahil may mga L-X na nakasunod sakanila at hindi nila kayang maipasok yung mga gamit na nakuha nila.

Pagkalabas namin nila Tin ay bumungad saamin yung mga materyales na nasa lapag.

"Woah!" I almost whispered when I saw Mia and Hans entering. Mia's hair is from black to copper orange, while Hans is from orange to black.

Lumabas sila Mia, at pag pasok nila ulit ay inilapag nila yung ibang gamit dito galing doon sa mismong labas ng building.

Ang ginawa kasi nila dito sa pwesto namin ay pinalibutan nila ito ng mga makakapal na gamit. May mga wires din akong nakikita. Kaya paglabas mo sa main entrance ng building kung nasaan kami kanina ay mayroon nanamang parang "pader" at bubong, na kung saan ay kinaroroonan namin ngayon.

Bale tatlong "pader" yung pinalibot nila sa lugar, at pang apat yung main entrance mismo na nasa likuran lang namin nila Eula.

Nagtulungan kami nila Irish maipasok yung mga gamit sa loob kung nasaan si Ian dahil ang bibigat nito. Nang maipasok naming lahat ay nagsipasok na rin sila Mia.

Halos ibang tao na ang mga nakikita ko ngayon. Owen's from light brown to burgundy, while Gale is from light brown to black, and Dylan is from brown to grey.

Biglang hinanap ng mga mata ko yung gusto niyang makita, ngunit hindi ko ito mahanap.

My heartbeat is getting faster and faster. It gets louder and louder as the time runs.

Where is he?

"Mia, Owen, Dylan. Help them assemble it." Aniya pagpasok niya sa pinto.

I almost didn't recognized him. His hair is from black to platinum blonde.

"It's so obvious, Dahlia." Sambit nila Irish sa tabi ko kaya ako halos mapatalon sa gulat.

"Stop doing that, please!" Madiin kong sabi kaya sila napatawa.

"It's not funny." Aniko.

"Alright." They said like a surrender.

"Anyway. Dahlia, if you have some time to spare, could you help me decipher the codes Gale gave me?" Tanong ni Eula kaya napakunot ng bahagya ang aking noo.

"Codes?"

"Yes. They somehow made it turn into morse codes. They don't have more time to decode this, that's why they ask me to decode it instead. But don't worry, Luke printed the list of the morse codes we'll be using to decipher this." Pagpakita niya saakin ng isang folder at isang coupon bond.

"It will take a lot of time if I'm just by myself, so I'm asking you for help." She said.

"Okay. I'll do it. Let me just check my phone." I replied.

Hindi ko na kasi ito naharap tignan dahil drain ng sobra yung battery ko. Pina-charge ko ito kay Athena, hindi ko nga lang alam kung saan niya ito nilagay.

"Athena. May I get my phone now?"

"Oh, yes! Here." Aniya atsaka nagpunta sa paanan nila Luke kung nasaan yung phone ko. Luke's hair is from blue to blonde. Now that I'm staring at him, I could say that he's a good looking man.

Pagkabukas ko nito'y wala naman akong nakitang notifications kaya ko na ito agad tinago at nagpunta na kay Eula upang tulungan siya sa pag decode.

"We'll try to decode this first. Mas maiksi kasi siya." Sabi ni Eula kaya ako sumang-ayon. Ang tinukoy naman niya dito ay yung mensahe na nakuha ni Gale.

- .... .. ... / -- . ... ... .- --. . / .. ... / ..-. --- .-. / -.-- --- ..- --..-- / .. .- -. / .- -. -.. / --. .- .-.. . / ..-. .. ..-. - . . -. .-.-.- / -.-- --- ..- .-. / . -..- -.-. . .--. - .. --- -. .- .-.. --..-- / .- ... - --- -. .---- ... .... .. -. --. / ..-. .-. .. ...-- -. -.. / .. ... / .... ----- .--. .. -. --. / - .... .- - / -.-- --- ..- / --. ..- -.-- ... / -.-. .- -- / ..- -. -.. . .-. ... - .- -. -.. / - .... .. ... .-.-.- / .- -. -.-- .-- .- -.-- --..-- / ----- --. --- -.. / .-.. ..- -.-. -.- -.-.--

Hinati niya ito at sinabi saakin na ang itaas na parte ay sakaniya samantalang ang saakin ay yung dulong parte.

Lumipas ang ilang minutos ay natapos namin ito. Pinagdugtong namin atsaka binasa.

This message is for you, Ian and Gale fifteen. Your exceptional, aston1shing fri3nd is h0ping thAt you guys caM understand this. Anyway, 0god luck!

"Does this message make sense to you?" Tanong ni Eula saakin.

"No." I replied.

"Okay. At least we decoded this. One more to go. Moving on." She said. Apat na papel ang pangalawang gagawin namin, kaya ibinigay niya saakin ang dalawa, samantalang ang dalawa ay sakaniya.

Lumipas ang halos dalawang oras nang matapos namin, nahirapan kami dito dahil ang haba ng mga ito.

Pinagsama namin ito ni Eula at binasa. Ang mga nakasulat dito'y pinagsama-samang mensahe ng dalawang tao, ang pangalan ng isa ay AL, samantalang ang isa niyang kausap ay OG.

Ang pinaguusapan nila ay tungkol sa mga nangyayari sa headquarters nila Mia at yung sa ETP's at tetrahedron. For me, this looks like a conversation of a spy and its manager.

"Hans, we're done decoding this. Here." Pag-abot namin ni Eula sakaniya.

"Thank you." He said.

Nagpunta siya sa lamesa halos katabi lang ng pinagtatrabahuan nila Luke atsaka dito binasa.

"Gale, Ian." Wika niya kaya napatingin silang dalawa sakaniya atsaka rin lumapit.

"For us, that message made no sense." Eula said to them while they're trying to figure out what it meant.

"This seems familiar to me." Gale said.

"Luke, can you get here for a minute?" Pagtawag ni Ian kay Luke kaya naman siya lumapit.

"Does it looks familiar to you?" Tanong niya. Binasa naman itong maigi ni Luke bago tumango.

"Yeah. This style of message is from Felix, our vice-captain. He is the only one who likes to give us messages behind messages." He said.

"Captain, we kind a need a little help here." Pagtawag ni Gale kay Theo na inaasikaso yung ibang kinuha nilang kagamitan kasama sila Mia.

Pagkalapit niya'y binasa niya rin ang mga ito at bahagyang napaisip.

"He wants us to meet in east, 1:30 AM. The date is tomorrow, 9." He stated.

Agad na kumunot ang noo ko at hindi makapaniwala tulad ng reaksyon nila Ian.

"This message is just about informing us that they want us to rendezvous, and the real message is sent to somewhere else." Theo added.

"Where?" Sabay-sabay nilang tanong.

"What are you guys doing?" Pagsingit ni Dylan atsaka rin binasa ang mga ito.

"Ohhh!" He exclaimed, as if he figured out all necessary informations about this particular message.

"What? Did you know where did he sent the real message?" Tanong nila sakaniya.

"Nope. I'm just amazed about this codes here. It's called 'morse code', right?" He asked while smiling brightly.

"Stupid!" Pagpukpok ni Owen sakaniyang ulo kaya siya agad napakamot dito.

"Aww!"

Kinuha ni Owen ang papel atsaka ito binasa. Napatango naman siya agad.

"The real message is sent to GE15." He said. Tumango naman dito si Theo.

GE15? Sa pagkakaalala ko'y ito yung robot na pinadala ni Gale dati kay Ian noong bagong dating namin sa headquarters nila. Ito yung robot na tumulong sakaniyang buksan yung pinto ng kwarto niya, tapos tinawag pa siyang 'snore king'.

"She's still alive?!" Hindi makapaniwalang tanong ni Gale.

"Maybe. That's why Felix manage to send it to her." Ian said.

"Hindi ka ba nakakakonekta sakaniya?" Tanong ni Ian.

"No. I've lost connection to her when we're attacked by the L-X in the headquarters." Gale answered.

"Then let's go try to connect to her again." Sabi ni Luke sakanila Ian kaya na sila bumalik sa lamesa nila.

"But, you're with them, right? I mean, you guys are all together before the government captured your group. Luckily, you, Brian and Captain Stone manage to get away." Rinig kong sabi ni Gale.

Oo nga naman. Sa pagkakaalala ko, noong natanggap ni Gale yung message galing sa "anonymous user" ay noong panahong aatake pa lang yung mga militar na pinadala ng gobyerno. Ito yung panahong narinig ko rin yung paguusap nila Mia at Captain Stone sa earpiece ko.

"We were split into 2 groups by Captain Stone the moment we've found out about the Government's plan to eliminate your group. I was with Captain, together with Brian, and we're in charge of making a way to escape the area. Vice-captain together with my other teammates are in charge of letting your group know about what we have found out. But when the time when we're ready to escape, that's when the military cornered us. And yes, indeed, luckily, the three of us manage to escape and let you guys know."

"Captain Stone believes in Theo's ability. They believed in your group, for saving humanity. So he made that difficult decision even if it might seems that he betrayed our other members."

"I know this because on our way to your group, back then, he explained it to us." He said that made Gale and Ian speechless.

"How did you know the real message behind this message?" Tanong ni Eula kay Owen kaya ako napatingin sakanila.

"I work in military forces before. So I do have some skills." He stated.

"Really?" Hindi makapaniwalang tanong ko.

"Yes." He nodded.

"But why didn't you know how to decipher a code, especially morse code?" Tanong ko kaya siya bahagyang napakamot sakaniyang batok.

"I retired for approximately fifteen years ago." He answered.

"Then you should probably figured out about your General's plan, back then, yes?" I asked. Napatingin din sila Eula sakaniya at parang nag aantay din ng sagot tulad ko.

"Yep. When you and captain are still in the bank, we're not just sitting there waiting for you two. We were analysing everything about the incident in the headquarters." Wika ni Dylan.

"So when Dylan and Hans found us, you guys already knew?" Tanong ko ulit.

"We're still unsure, but he is our main suspect." Tugon ni Owen.

"How about you? What do you even do, before this?" Tanong naman ni Tin kay Dylan kaya siya napatawa ng bahagya atsaka napakamot sakaniyang ulo.

"I'll let you guys guess. If you guess it right, I'll treat you." Sabi niya saamin.

Napangiti naman ako ng maliit dahil alam ko na ang dati niyang ginagawa bago siya magtrabaho kasama sila Ian. Nasabi na ito saakin dati ni Mia. He was a former mafia leader of the gang named Crimson.

"A teacher?" Tanong ni Eula.

"Me? A teacher?" Hindi makapaniwalang tanong niya habang natatawa.

"Well, not necessarily. I have taught someone whom I considered my sibling before. But I'm not a teacher." He said that looks like he is remembering those times in the past.

"For me, you look like a notorious criminal leader." Ani ni Tin na nagpabigla kay Dylan. Napatakip pa nga siya sakaniyang bibig na animo'y hindi talaga ito inaasahan.

"You guessed it right. Well, it's not exactly, but it's kind a similar." Sambit niya.

"You're a criminal?" Tanong ni Irish.

"Not your ordinary criminal. He's on the top list of the most dangerous criminal on the whole world." Owen stated.

"I don't consider myself as a criminal. But I'm a former leader of a gang named Crimson." Sabi naman ni Dylan.

"How about you?" Tanong ni Irish kay Hans na nakikibasa sa binabasa ni Theo sa mga papel.

"Me? Well, err..... how do I say this?"

"Just say you like her." Sambit ni Dylan na nagpabigla sakanila Irish at Hans. Namula din si Irish dahil dito.

"Tanga!" Wika ni Hans atsaka pinukpok ang ulo ni Dylan.

"Aray!" Reklamo niya at nagumpisa na silang magbangayan. Napabuntong hininga na lang si Owen atsaka nasapo ang noo.

"I'm sorry about them."

"Hans is... well, you can say he's like Lupin." Owen said.

"He's a burglar?" Tanong ni Irish kaya dito tumango si Owen. Sila Dylan at Hans ay patuloy pa rin sa pagbangayan.

"He has many jobs before he got here. He's a con artist before he became a burglar."

"Yes. Together with his friends, they stole 20 million dollars from a large business in less than 2 hours. He's their leader, by the way." Said Dylan. Tumigil naman na silang dalawa ni Hans.

"How about Gale?" Tanong ko naman kaya sila napaharap saakin. Narinig yata ito ni Gale kaya siya ang sumagot.

"Pickpocket!" Gale said while raising her right hand.

"A skilled thief and pickpocket." Pagulit ni Owen.

"Let me justify that. I know what I've done before is bad and I'm not proud of it, that's why I'm working here to atone for my sins." Wika ni Gale habang diretso pa rin ang tingin sa screen ng kaniyang computer.

"She did it to survive poverty. I mean, just take a look at her. If you guys have only saw her before, you will know exactly what I am saying." Owen silently said.

"Gale, just like Dylan, when I first saw them for about fifteen years ago, they're super thin. Except Dylan's looking dead and soulless."

"Hey! Why am I mentioned?" Reklamo ni Dylan kaya napatawa ng bahagya sila Hans at Owen.

"How'd you feel, being an ex-military working with ex-criminals?" Tanong ni Tin.

"He despised us!" Hans said.

"That was so long ago! I was a brat. A complete arrogant brat." Balik naman sakaniya ni Owen kaya natawa si Dylan at Hans sa naging reaksyon niya.

"I am so blind and ignorant about other people. I didn't see nor tried to understand why people do what they do, just like them." Tukoy niya sakanila Gale.

"I admit that I was privileged, that's why I'm so ignorant and arrogant brat who only knows rules." Dagdag niya. Nakita ko naman ang paglambot ng tingin nila Hans sakaniya.

"Move on. It was from the past. What matters now is that you have learned and you apply what you've learned." Sambit ni Dylan sakaniya habang nakahawak sa balikat nito.

"We're open on our backgrounds. For us, it was just a part of our individual's story. It is just part of our history. So it has nothing to do to our views on each other now." Sabi naman saamin ni Hans.

"How'd you guys ended up working here?" Pagtanong ko sakanila na hindi yata nila inasahan kaya hindi sila agad nakasagot.

"All of us in this group, except Ian and Mia, have met Theo long time ago. He was the one who gave us light and hope to have the opportunity to change." Wika ni Hans.

"I admit that first time meeting him never ended well. Never." Halos natatawang sabi at umiiling na sambit ni Owen.

"He never ever asked nor told us anything regarding working with him or staying with him. It was his action that pulled us to choose to follow his path. It was his action that he unconsciously and unintentionally did that made us turned our back from our old life to stay and look up to him." Nakayukong sabi ni Dylan. Sila Hans naman ay sumang-ayon sa sinabi niya.

"He's really great. That even my vice-captain Felix himself have a high respect on him." Tumatawang sabi ni Luke kaya kami napatingin sakaniya.

"Hey! Stop eavesdropping and help them!" Wika ni Hans sakaniya kaya siya bahagyang napatawa.

"How did you guys know the meaning behind the message sent by Felix?" Pagiiba ni Irish.

"The first sentence mentioned the word 'message' and 'Gale fifteen'. I assume that the message was sent to GE15 since GE15 was made from Gale when she was just 15 years old. GE15 even gets its name from Gale."

"So GE15 means GalE15, am I right?" Tanong ni Eula kaya tumango si Owen.

"How about the remaining two sentences?" Tanong ni Tin.

"The next two remaining sentences is probably the one you found no sense since it has "typographical errors" in it. But no."

"If you read the first letter of the exceptional and the first three leters of astonishing, you'll get the word 'EAST'. And if you get all the "errors" in the sentences, you'll get 130AM. If you add colon between 1 and 3, you'll get 1:30AM."

"And the last one is 09, or 9. The word "0god" in the last sentence is not an error. The number 9 looks like letter g. Felix did it on purpose to mean when will our rendezvous is." Pagtapos ni Owen sa paliwanag niya.

He's amazing!

"If you guys are ever curious, I'm a nerd before." Wika naman ni Luke kaya kami napatingin sakaniya.

"Agent Austria, can you take a copy of this?" Biglang sabi ni Theo atsaka inabot yung mga papel kay Gale. Pagtanggap naman nito ni Gale ay nagtanong si Ian.

"What will we do next, captain. We're done on the second part of our plan." Aniya.

"Let's move to the part 3." He said.