Espiritu

1 - Marked

Syed sat down. "How so?"

"Hm, well, sometimes the tricycle drivers overcharge tourists or new guys." Frisco gestured to his pocket, which seemed to Syed like an awkward place to point at. "How much did you pay?"

"About eight pesos. Is that a lot?"

"Yeah, that's about two-pesos too much. See? I told you Libulan can be cruel. You could have bought so much with that kind of money! Maybe a lollipop or two."

"Shame. I couldn't possibly stick two lollipops in my mouth."

"Well, you're a handsome enough guy. Maybe you could give the other lollipop to her?" Frisco pointed at the girl talking to a tall, plump, flamboyant man in a polo shirt. Unlike every other student attending the orientation ceremony, she wore LVI's green seifuku-esque school uniform. She had silky white hair and amber eyes; which Syed clearly identified as a product of the Nation's controversial "Sublime" project.

The shivers that she felt from Frisco's finger-pointing were almost visible. After talking to the plump man, she took a seat a few meters away from them, and seemed to have mumbled an unmistakable "Fuck off" when she passed by Frisco.

"Alright, everyone. Settle down now." The plump man, Mr. Laran, stood on the podium and started the orientation.

-

It took about two hours for the orientation to finish, and everyone was sore from sitting on the plastic chairs and from feeling the unsual heat of the lobby. Mr. Laran's task of making the students join a club immediately after the orientation was seen as a blessing of the highest order. Not because of the camaraderie that a club offered, but because the club rooms had air conditioning.

"Hey Syed, let's go to whatever club Juliete's in."

"Who's Juliete?"

"You know, the pretty girl I, uh, 'introduced' to you earlier today."

Syed scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I guess that's fine. Do you like her? Is that why you want to go?"

"Hm," Frisco thought about the question for a few seconds. "I mean, I do like her. We've been friends for years so of course I do. But our relationship is more like that of a crow and a falcon. You know what I mean?"

"Not really."

"It's an odd friendship we have," Frisco said, smiling. "Let's just say that she's very fun to annoy."

It took them a while to wade through the clubs urging them to join. Frisco would retort with a non sequitur remark on the weather or Manila politics (or both) to confuse the club leaders, giving themselves enough time to escape.

They found the clubroom they were looking for after a while of tactical espionage action. Unlike the other clubrooms, this one had no label on the door; no holo-display to give potential club members information about the club and how to join it. There was only the plain wooden door and its frosted glass window.

"I'll let you do the honors," Frisco said.

Syed entered the room and saw the girl with white hair - Juliete - sitting by the window. She stared at nothing in particular, and seemed to immersed in her thoughts.

"Hey Juliete, I found your future boytoy," Frisco said, in a mocking tone. "Man, I hate that word."

Juliete suddenly snapped out of her trance, and just snapped. "B-b-boytoy? What kind of no-class harlot do you think I am? I'm a Sublime, I-"

"Yeah, yeah, pride of the family, pride of the Nation. We get it." Frisco started to laugh. "I was only doing what you told me to do. I think it's my right to start assuming that things are happening between the two of you."

"Shut up, Fresh Boy." Juliete tried her best to regain her composure. "I haven't even met him yet," she said, without the aggression of her previous words.

"Wait, you told Frisco to bring me here?" Syed asked, confused of the situation.

"Yes," Juliete said, matter-of-fact. "He told me about you. He said you've been marked."

Marked. The word seemed to hit him like a bullet.

"How did you know about that?"

"Libulan is a town with a cursed moon. It has always been that way." Juliete walked towards Syed and offered a handshake. "I'm Juliete Navidad, by the way. Proud Estehanon and Libulanian. As you can see, I'm a Sublime; the only one in Region VIII."

Syed shook her hand. "I'm, uh, Syed Jonathan Deseo. I don't really have any special genetic qualities, unlike you."

"So I see." Juliete gave him a smug smile, like she somehow won the conversation.

"I'm Frisco, by the way." He tried to contain his laughter.

Juliete ignored him, and Syed continued. "Frisco might have already told you this, but I'm from the Capital, so I don't know much about Libulan."

"I've expected a student from the Capital to be much more thorough with his research. I guess I was wrong to assume that." Syed had heard of the Sublime's haughtiness, and so far, Juliete seemed to be a perfect encapsulation of the stereotype. She seemed to be very happy, though.

"You haven't answered my question."

"And you'll have your answer, Deseo. I just wanted to introduce myself; that's all."

"Uh, Syed is fine."

Juliete smiled, and genuinely this time. "Alright, Syed."

"Anyway, Syed," Juliete said. "Have you at least heard of the rumor that has been going around the city? The one about the Soul Hacker?"

Syed became even more confused. Who was this Soul Hacker? "No, I'm afraid I haven't."

"Is that so? Well, I've mentioned the cursed moon before, but I haven't told what this curse actually is."

"Go on."

"Simply put, the curse is that of each human soul in Libulan. Once the light of the moon touches you, your soul becomes malleable. Your nature becomes vulnerable to change; the kind of unnatural change that turns you into someone- something completely different."

"And this 'Soul Hacker' is someone who can take advantage of that curse?"

"Yes. I know this all sounds ridiculous, you wouldn't have been marked if what I'm saying isn't true."

He believed her, but how could have he been marked before moving to Libulan? He decided to keep it to himself for now.

"We don't know the Soul Hacker's intentions, but he has already killed three people in Libulan. All of three of them were students; all three of them were marked, like you."

"Don't worry though, man," Frisco said. "I'm fairly sure that the Soul Hacker isn't going to kill you."

"Utter foolishness." Juliete looked at Frisco again in contempt. "There's absolutely no reason for you to assume that." She sighed. "Anyway, don't listen to him, Syed. You are highly likely to die."

"Well that's nice to hear."

"Well, there's still hope. That's why I asked Frisco to send you here. You're the first "marked" one we've seen alive, and you might be our key to finding the Soul Hacker."

The speakers boomed again, this time announcing that classes were about to begin.

"Ah, it seems that we'll have to talk about this another time, Syed." Juliete headed for the door. "See you in class."