The Paramount Code (The Odd Ones, Book 1)

055. Instinct Over Reason

The class adviser then chuckled as he shook his head. "Don't stress yourself about it. Assessment lang 'yun, hindi ka naman kakatayin. Sure, it may be an important event for the students of the Paramount Class, but it's just to see your progress for the whole first half of the school year."

"Mahirap po ba ang ipapagawa sa amin, Sir Daniel?" tanong ni Sketch sa class adviser, "Paano po kapag hindi kami pumasa?"

Daniel laughed in amusement as he shook his head slowly. "There's no passing or failing in this quarterly assessment, Sketch. This time, it's all about showing your progress in training your abilities... and maybe, we can also find out the range and limits of the powers you all have."

Mahinang tumango si Sketch habang iniisip niya ang sinabi ng class adviser. Pagkatapos ng ilang saglit ay natahimik na silang muli, pero ang estudyante na rin ang bumasag sa katahimikang nabuo sa pagitan nilang dalawa.

"Sir Daniel?"

"Ano 'yun, Sketch?"

Sketch heaved a deep breath, and decided to admit the real reason why he is feeling really bothered. "Kanina po kasi, nakausap ko si Dr. Roth. Telepath po siya, hindi ba? Tapos... Tapos ipinakita niya sa 'kin 'yung nasa loob daw ng isipan ko."

Nagsalubong ang mga kilay ni Daniel. "Sinaktan ka ba niya? May ginawa ba siyang masama sa'yo?"

"No, it's not like that..." Sketch replied uneasily, "But he really did get inside my mind... It was like – he showed me something... Telling me that the metahuman mind can have no limits."

"What did he manage to make you see?"

"Hindi ko rin nga masyadong maintindihan pa 'yung nakita ko. Basta merong madilim na kwarto, tapos sa gitna merong ilaw kaya nakikita ko 'yung apat na upuan na nakapwesto roon... One's empty, so I presumed it was for me... And then the other three – Steven, Kit, and Kei were sitting on them. When I walked closer, the other light bulbs started to open. It made me see the other chairs...

"Tumakbo ako palapit dun sa tatlo kong duplicates, pero dahil sa mga galaw ko kaya nabuksan 'yung ibang mga ilaw sa loob ng kwartong 'yun. When the whole room is already lit up, that's when I saw hundreds of chairs... Some empty, and some occupied..."

Daniel paused for a while, and started to contemplate on what could be the reason why Sketch saw that. An idea then crossed his mind, so he looked at the young man in interest.

"Sketch... Maliban sa mga alters na meron ka, posible kayang meron pang ibang identities na nabuo sa loob ng isipan mo?"

"Pero nung nagpacheck ako noong bata pa ako, tatlo lang po talaga sila," tugon ni Sketch sa class adviser.

"Pero ngayon? Sinabi ko na sa'yo noon na naapektuhan ng mutations mo ang DID mo. Posibleng hindi lang ang pagbibigay ng sariling mga katawan sa alters mo ang nagawa nun, Sketch. If that was what's inside your head, it's possible that you might develop more alters in the future, increasing your duplicates."

The student started to think about what the class adviser told him. "Maybe... Maybe that's possible. But there were more than a hundred chairs. Baka hindi ko kayanin 'yun..."

"Sketch, you're not just a human being. Isa kang metahuman, at pwedeng maging posible sa'yo ang mga bagay na imposible para sa ibang tao," napahinga nang malalim si Daniel, "Sa tingin ko, dapat mong kausapin ang tatlo mong alters tungkol dito."

Sketch was about to respond to the class adviser, but was halted when Nico arrived carrying a box as big as him, which are filled with different objects he can use to train.

"Don't you think that's too much, Nico?" Daniel said as he chuckled at his student.

"Konti na nga lang 'to eh. Tsaka gusto kong pahirapan ang sarili ko ngayon kasi frustrated at naiinis ako. Gusto ko magtanggal ng stress."