Project LOKI ③

Chapter 50: The Final Equation II

Also she mentioned two reasons why she accepted the spying job. First, she wanted to prove her loyalty to Stein. Second, she wanted to seek for our club's help.

Gaya nga ng naisip ko recently, Stein must be so desperate to break us apart. It's becoming an obsession already! Wala na siyang ibang bukambibig kundi kami o isa sa amin.

He tried to plant doubts in our minds when he ate with us during the morning break a few days ago. Kaso hindi masyadong effective kasi idinismiss namin ang mga sinabi niya bilang unnecessary noise. We saw through his plan and there's no way we'd dance to his tune.

His desperation to destroy our connection took a step further by revealing that Jamie is his spy and that she informed him of our fallout a few nights ago. Clearly he hoped to drive a wedge in our friendship. Ang pinagtatakahan ko ay kung bakit niya bigla-biglang nilaglag ang kanyang espiya. That's a mystery to me until now.

Now he's going all in by telling us that the spy act was Jamie's idea all along. Was that his trump card to sever our bond? Was he running out of cards so he resorted to that narrative?

I would be a fool if I fall for the trick of our enemy. Loki said it best: Stein is trying to engage us in a psychological warfare by playing with our thoughts and muddying our emotions. His primary objective with his sudden appearances was to make us confused. Imagine kung magpapaniwala kami sa kanya. Lubos na maaapektuhan ang pakikitungo namin kay Jamie hanggang sa dumating sa punto na itakwil namin siya sa grupo.

I have doubted Jamie several times, but I still chose to trust her despite everything. There's no way I'd let Stein's words get into my head. While there's a possibility—no matter how slim it may be—that the mastermind was not feeding us with a lie, I'd rather toss a coin and bet that it's heads not tails.

Enough of these mind games. The more we entertain his ideas, the more pleasure he gets from it. Sasagutin ko sana siya upang ipamukha na hindi tatalab ang psy-war niya, ngunit naunahan ako ni Loki.

"You really don't know when to give up, do you?" Loki asked, sighing. Maging siya'y pagod na rin sa ganitong strategy ni Stein. "You're like someone who's not so good at playing darts. You keep on throwing darts at the board, hoping that at least one will hit the bullseye. Unfortunately, you have repeatedly missed your target."

"As long as my darts land anywhere on the board, I'm fine with not hitting the bullseye," Stein replied with a grin. His confidence was brimming so much that it might be more appropriate to call it hubris.

"Excuse me, but what are you hoping to accomplish?" Maging si Alistair, hindi na nakatiis na basta-basta manahimik sa tabi. "Strategically speaking, you exposing your spy to us—if it were true—doesn't give you any advantage. Mawawalan ka ng magbabantay sa mga galaw namin."

'Yan din ang iniisip ko. Masyadong risky sa part ni Stein kung itatapon niya ang kanyang malakas na baraha nang gano'n-gano'n na lamang.

"It's like intentionally sacrificing your queen in a game of chess," Loki added. Here comes the chess analogies. "That's definitely a dumb move. So what is your game exactly? Sow the seeds of doubt in our minds? Punch a hole in our boat, hoping that we would sink?"

"Is it not working?" Stein smirked. "'Di ba nagkalabuan kayong apat noong isang araw? If I played a part in your argument that night, my strategy is effective. Hindi nabalewala ang effort ko."

"Oh, don't give yourself too much credit." Loki slowly shook his head. "Our house may be shaken by the serious discussion we had, but the steel bars, which are as strong as our bond, didn't let it collapse. There may be cracks on the wall, but we can fix them."

Hindi ko naiwasang mapangiti sa sinabi niya. I enjoy it whenever he tries to defend our bond. His words, his analogies. Everything about it. Kapag si Loki na ang nagsalita tungkol doon, I could feel the weight of his words.