Project LOKI ③

Chapter 45: The Scarlet Thread X (Scarlet Showdown)

"Look at the pair of numbers." Tinanggal niya mula sa kanyang web ang isang sticky note. "The number on the left indicates which key you must press. The number on the right indicates how many times you must press that key."

"So for 51, I need to press number five only once... Letter J," I muttered. Iniangat ko ang aking tingin sa iba pang sticky notes sa pader. "For 21, press number two only once... Letter A then..."

My jaw dropped as I finished cracking the code. The five pairs of two numbers formed a five-letter name: JAIME.

For the nth time, nag-pop up na naman ang pangalan ng kuya ni Jaime. The late student council president. The missing piece in the Moriarty mystery.

"If the password is still the original, why did Augustus encrypt that name into a series of numbers?" Loki asked, putting back the sticky note on top of Rosetta's photo. "If the password has been changed, why would our generous Samaritan choose that? Could it be a random choice?"

"Do we know kung ano ang connection nina Augustus at Jaime?" tugon ko.

"We don't know that much about them," Loki replied. "What we know is that when Jaime was the student council president, Augustus was a news writer for the Clarion covering the mysterious deaths two years ago."

Muli ko na namang naalala ang Hydra analogy na nabanggit sa 'kin ni Sir Friedrich. Yeah, we solved the mysterious third party's code to me, but the answer only gave us more questions. Kailan ba darating ang panahon na kapag nakuha na namin ang sagot, 'yon na 'yon? Wala nang karugtong. Wala nang part two. Wala nang sequel.

"I might be looking too much into this," Loki admitted. When everything's so suspicious, talagang kung ano-anong theory ang papasok sa isip mo. "That's why I told you, it could mean something. It could mean nothing."

"Kaya ba hindi mo shinare sa amin kanina sa kotse... dahil nandoon si Jamie?" My voice somewhat trailed off. Bumaba mula sa aking lap si Freya at nagtungo kay Loki. She rubbed her body on his leg.

Loki carefully lifted our cat and cradled her in his arms. "I might be overthinking what those numbers mean. There's no need to raise an alarm yet. There's so much on our plate right now. The mystery of Jaime Santiago can wait."

I couldn't help but agree. We shouldn't bite more than what we could chew.

"Let's deal with the Rosetta problem," Loki said. Umupo siya sa kabilang couch habang dinuduyan si Freya sa kanyang mga braso. "We now have the passcode. What we need to know next is if the contents in the hard drive are the only copies."

"Do you want me to ask our mysterious sender?"

"He's too generous to leave the password-protected hard drive in your locker and give you a hint on the passcode. He might be generous enough to answer one simple question."

Huminga ako nang malalim at napabuntong-hininga. Here we go again. The last time I tried to call the number used by this mysterious person, iba ang sumagot. Sana'y hindi ito gaya ng lost and found situation kanina.

I unlocked my phone and went to my inbox. Cinlick ko ang number niya at pinindot ang call option. I turned on the loudspeaker option and placed the phone on the center table para marinig din ni Loki ang pag-uusap namin.

Ringing...

We watched with bated breath as the phone kept on ringing. Maging si Freya'y napatingin sa phone habang patuloy ito sa pagba-vibrate. Maybe that person's eating his dinner kaya hindi niya pa sinasagot? O baka tinapon na niya ang SIM card na kanyang ginamit para tawagan at i-text ako kanina?

The phone stopped ringing. The line finally connected! Loki nodded at me.

"Uhm... Hello?" I leaned forward so my voice could be clearly picked up by the phone.