Case-by-Case

8 by 8: Ascii Macaraig. Weird name, I know.

"What's that supposed to mean?" tanong ko matapos niya sinabing (someone who can put up with this shit). Psh. Beta-testing huh. This will be my first time doing this. "Ang galing naman ng friend mo. Is he a good game developer?"

Terra tsk-ed. He then opened the laptop and scoffed while saying, "Ascii's not that good. He's the only game developer I know personally. That's all."

Tinitigan ko nang maigi si Terra bago nagtanong.

"What's the name again?"

Tumigil naman si Terra sa pagtipa sa laptop at tumingin sa akin.

"Ascii Macaraig. Weird name, I know," sabi ni Terra at tumitig ulit sa laptop screen. "He's famous. It's surprising you didn't know him. He's with me in some cases, after all. Tell me, Nisus. Are you really my fan?"

Natulala ako at umusbong ang pangangailangan sa aking matabunan nang tuluyan ang suspicion ni Terra.

"It's true, I'm not a fan of yours," sabi ko. Biglaang lumingon si Terra. Para siyang pinagtaksilan. "I like you."

After I lied, I leaned and claimed his lips.

—__—

Nandito kami sa black room. Actually, it's only my second time coming here and I can't help but adore the design of the place. It truly is Moriarty's Lair and I can't describe you how exquisite it is. Magdadamot ako ng 8th Wonder kung gusto ko. Ble~ Hints are something evil, dark, and mysterious.

I'm sitting on a big black swivel chair with Nam and Otor on my opposite sides. They're also sitting on a chair like mine  but on their other sides, there are empty chairs. It's bothering to think na mayroon pa dapat nakaupo roon.

Wallace sat on a black king-like chair and a long glass table horizontally separated him from us.

"The chairs are now full so let us begin."

Walang nagprotesta kaya napatingin ulit ako sa dalawang bakanteng upuan at napalunok. Are they seeing things that I cannot see?

"Wallace present," Wallace said with a smile.

"Anamnesis present," malamig na sabi ni Nam bago sumandig sa swivel chair niya.

"Otor present!" masiglang ani Otor at tumingin sa kabilang gilid.

"Ez with the z present..."

Kinilabutan ako nang may marinig na napaka-gloomy na boses mula roon.

Matapos niyon ay may matigas na boses na nagsalita sa gilid ni Nam.

"Siklab present!" He spat those words like venom. Feel ko mamamatay-tao ang nagsalita. Ewan. I can sense anger in his voice.

Lumingon si Nam sa akin. Sandali pa akong naging idle dahil sa nakakayelo niyang tingin bago wala sa sariling nagsalita.

"Nisus present."

"Babae ba 'yon? Bakit may babae diyan?!" sabi ng boses na pangmamamatay-tao.

"So, the rumors are true..." sabi naman ng may gloomy na boses. Parang may nakikita pa akong nakakalungkot na aura mula sa swivel chair na katabi ni Otor.

Teka nga, I feel out of place. Mga multo ba ang nagsasalita?!

"Sino sila?" tanong ko at tinitigan si Wallace habang naniningkit ang aking mata dahil sa tinatagong inis. "Bakit wala na namang nag-orient sa akin? Shit lang. Are those ghosts?"

Humagalpak sa tawa sina Otor at Wallace. Nam on the other hand remained silent while staring at the ceiling. Wala naman akong narinig na komento mula sa gloomy na boses. Iyong matigas na boses naman ay parang wala na. I heard a loud toot-toot from Nam's side.

So, mga gadgets lang pala 'yon?! What's wrong with me? Dapat 'yon agad ang naging deduction ko. Why do paranormal activities keep on clouding my thoughts whenever voices are involved? Psh. Nagtanong pa ako.

And speaking of gadgets...Terra left without a word. Sinubukan namin siyang kausapin but as what Otor said, para raw itong tinakasan ng ulirat. He used his high-tech wheel chair to leave and even shook his head when Wallace offered him a lift. I tried to stop him and gave his gadgets but he refused, saying akin na raw 'yon. It's a good thing though.

"They're our other comrades, Nisus," nakangiting sabi ni Wallace, "but they are emotionally challenged. Working in a bar won't do them good."

"Anong emotionally challenged?! Mga baliw 'yan!"

"I'm still here..." anang malungkot na boses.

"Oops. My bad Ez." Bumaling naman si Otor sa akin at nagpaliwanag. "They work separately from us. Imagine having a grown up man who always cry if he sees a man and a woman together; and another grown up man getting angry just by seeing, hearing, or smelling women?!" Umiling-iling si Otor at sinabing, "Not cool man."

The gloomy voice hummed and muttered, "Definitely... for you... Because... you're into women..."

"Lol!"

"Okay, let's get back to business," sabi ni Wallace na sumeryoso ang mukha. "The Chief of the 1st Division called me. Someone blew up our cover. Moriarty's Lair is out in the public and Project Holmes made a challenge. We will continue to work on our ways and they will try their best to stop us. Our identities remained confidential. What we (need) to do is to be (more) careful around those guys since we know their identities. Project Holmes even said it's a head start for us."

"Those a-holes! They're underestimating us!" inis na bulyaw ni Otor at nanlaki ang mga mata. Nariyalisa niya siguro na exaggerated siya masyado. Nag-peace sign lang siya at agad na nagpaumanhin. OA talaga. "Sorry."

"So, our enemies are that sure on taking us down?" Nam butted in, his eyes not leaving the ceiling. I looked up and saw that he's looking on the list of missions pinned on it. There'a a red cord connecting each and every mission. Tumingin ako kay Nam. So, everything's connected? Nam nodded his head as if he read my mind and said, "Let's give them what they want, Wallace."