The new semester opens with a bang that shocks the four Houses of QED University, an exclusive school for promising students of the science of deduction and art of detection.
The Holmesian Harriet Harrison never thought that the day would come when...
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MORRIE
THE SEA was calm. The weather was nice. Traveling by sea today would be wise.
Thank God that I never get seasick. I could stand at the edge of the cruise ship and stare at the large body of water that we were traversing.
We were en route to the Island of the Ibarras, owned by our very own chancellor. They called it "Maalamat na Isla ng mga Ibarra," inspired by a setting in a Rizal novel, though I believe there's nothing legendary waiting for us in there.
Following the directive from the office of the university chancellor, teams in every class shall undergo some sort of teambuilding. You know, the part where one pretends to get along with his teammates while secretly competing who's the best among them.
Considering who were on board my team, this activity wouldn't be a piece of cake. I could not imagine how we were gonna build a team if members had irreconcilable differences. My relationship with Aiden and Wilhelmina was good, but the beef between me and Harriet might be a problem.
One must remember: I am a Moriartian while she is a Holmesian. There's a slim chance that we could be friends. We have worked before, yes, but that wasn't a formal arrangement.
Harriet must be thinking the same. She's open to befriending and working with Wilhelmina, but not with me and Aiden. She may not explicitly state it, but I could read from how she interacted with our team. When the four of us were deciding on our team name, she supported Mina's suggestion — no matter how lame it was — just to oppose us.
Truth be told, I am not comfortable working with others. I am more comfortable if they are working for me. But thanks to us showing the value of teamwork, the chancellor was inspired to instill unity in diversity among students.
Disaster. One word that could perfectly describe the decision to put a student from each House in one room. Imagine cooking a meal using ingredients that do not go together. What would the taste be?
Not good? Exactly.
Unity in diversity? Unfortunately, my dear sir, I am not buying it. We may be magnets with different poles but never in a million years would there be any chance for us to be attracted to one another.
I was still trying to get used to calling ourselves Team WHAM. If only I came up with something wittier, I would have proposed a different group name.
"Morrie?"
My fellow Moriartian Andre appeared on my side, looking more anxious than usual. He has this troubled look on his face whenever he's about to tell me something that's either confidential or embarrasing. Between the two, I deduced it must be the former.
"Yes?"
He passed a folded piece of paper to me. "Mula kay House leader. Kakatapos lang mag-meeting ng council kagabi. Meron na silang desisyon."
