ADAMAS pulled the swivel chair while not removing his eyes to the two humans who dared calling him a pretender. The moment he heard those words, he couldn't think of anything else but to punish the two.
Such insolence.
If only they weren't his readers, he had already slashed them in pieces.
Crossing his legs, he sat. "Why aren't you two saying anything? Are you still not going to believe me?"
He clenched his fist, making the thread tighten on their body. Napasigaw ang dalawa sa sakit.
"N-naniniwala na ako!" saad ng babae. "Naniniwala na kami kaya puwede pakitanggal ito? Ayoko pa mamatay!"
"Hmm. Good." Kaagad niyang inalis ang kaniyang black thread sa kanilang katawan. He whispered something under his breath and without a second, the threads perished.
Hinintay niya ang dalawa na makatayo bago ituro ang kama. "Sit."
Sumunod naman ang dalawa pero may narinig siyang mga pagbulong.
"Makautos 'to. Hindi naman sa kaniya ang kuwarto."
Hindi niya ito pinansin at tinignan ang libro ni Noa. Kaagad na sumilay ang kaniyang ngiti habang hinahaplos ang pamalat. Ito ang unang pagkakataon na nakita at nahawakan niya ang libro ng kaniyang manunulat.
Muli niya itong niyakap nang mahigpit.
"Ah. My wordy Noa, the pages smell good." Binuklat niya libro at inamoy. Lumukso sa tuwa ang puso niya nang maamoy at maramdaman ang emosyong binuhos ng kaniyang manunulat sa bawat pahina.
Pinikit niya ang mga mata habang iinisip na nasa kaniyang harapan si Noa.
"Ang weird talaga niya."
"Oo nga, Gon. What to do?"
Napatigil siya sa ginagawa. Sinuot na niya ulit ang kaniyang black veil bago inikot ang swivel chair upang tignan ang dalawa.
"You two. Answer me." He paused for a moment and crossed his arms. "How did I get here?"
"Huh?!" Kaagad na napasigaw ang dalawa sa kaniyang tanong. Tinuro siya ng babae. "Kami dapat ang nagtatanong sa 'yo niyan. Paano ka nakarating dito?!"
Napaisip naman siya. If he could remember correctly, the system restarted to fix the damage done by the quest. Hindi niya pa naranasang mag-restart ang system kaya hindi siya sigurado kung ganito ba dapat ang mangyayari sa kanila.
The Fictosa and the real dimension, Earth, had a clear-cut boundary. Humans and fictional characters shouldn't meet, and it was the system's job to prevent the two from crossing each other.
Him showing up here could only mean one thing. The system malfunctioned.
He tried calling the system earlier too, but it wasn't showing up. The more reason for him to believe about his guess.
The system was damaged more than he could imagine. But oh well, he wasn't feeling worried at all.
He felt happy instead.
He let out a chuckle as he thought of something. "I am not sure how I got here, too. Maybe it's the system's fault."
"The system?" the guy asked.
Tumango naman siya bilang tugon. Pinasadahan ng tingin ni Adamas ang dalawa. Isang maliit na ngiti ang gumuhit sa kaniyang mga labi nang hindi na niya makita ang kulay ng takot sa dalawa.
Good.
Muli niyang inikot ang tingin sa buong kuwarto. Hindi ito masiyadong kalakihan. Nagkalat ang kurtina, libro at mga basag na salamin dahil sa lakas ng presyon ng kapangyarihan niya kanina.
Napangiti siya at pinuri ang kaniyang manunulat. "You wrote me so strong, my Noa."
He kissed the book before putting back his attention to the two humans who were still fascinated by him. "What are your names?"
"I'm Gonietta." The woman who owned a pair of brown eyes and skin uttered. Her short hair with bangs made her more appealing than she looked.
Katabi nito ay isang lalaking may tattoong bulaklak sa clavicle. Hanggang balikat ang buhok nitong nakatali. "My name is Logan."
"Logan . . . Gonietta . . ." Binitawan niya ang libro. Naglakad siya papalapit sa dalawa. Pinatong niya ang dalawang palad sa ulo nila at ginulo ang kanilang mga buhok. "I will remember both of your names, humans."
Hindi naman nakasagot ang dalawa, nanatiling nakatingin sa kaniya na puno ng pagtataka. A new color of emotion sufficed from them, making him smile. It was new to him seeing someone changed emotion easily. Characters contained strong emotions too, but it didn't change as frequent as how humans were.
Humans indeed are very much alive.
It was the first distinction he witnessed between them.
"Uh, Adamas, right?" Logan said.
"Yes? What is it?" sagot niya at muling umupo sa swivel chair. Kinuha niya rin ang libro at kinakalikot habang nakikinig sa sinabi ni Logan.
"A-anong ibig mong sabihin sa system kanina?"
A new color appeared, and it was full of curiosity. One of the many strongest emotions he saw from the man that it wouldn't perish unless he would give him an answer to quench his hunger. It was a similar feeling he once felt from Noa's dumps before.
Nilagay niya ang libro sa kaniyang lap. Pinagsaklop niya ang kamay at pinatong sa libro bago nagsalita. "Like I said, I am Adamas Vondrov Riscarte. A villain. A character. A fiction created by the likes of you. That also means I am not from this dimension."
Sabay na napasinghap ang dalawa.
Kaagad na nagsalita si Gonietta. "Really? You mean there are other dimensions?"
"Yes, my reddy readsy."
Tinaas naman ni Logan ang isang kamay. "Ang dimension mo ba, mga fictional characters din ang kasama mo?"
"Correct, human." Tinuro niya ito sabay tango. "I am from the fictional dimension, Fictosa."
"Wow!" Sounds of amazement from their mouth echoed around the room. And Adamas knew those were sincere reaction because he could see through them.
He could see the color of their emotions.
"Lahat ba ng fictional characters nandoon?"
"Those characters that have physical books and even those that don't have are all in Fictosa."
Napatayo naman si Logan at sa pangalawang pagkakataon, napasinghap ito sa mangha. "May tanong ulit ako, Mr. Adamas. May kakilala ka rin bang Zero ang pangalan? Character ko 'yon! Ako nagsulat n'yon!"
Napasingkit ang kaniyang mga mata. He knew someone named Zero but he hadn't meet him yet. There was no Zero in the top ten popularity rank, and he had only heard his name from the system.
He hissed. "I am not sure."
Bumagsak naman ang balikat nito dahil sa kaniyang sagot. Napaupo ito.
"I don't know everyone, human. Just like Earth, Fictosa is a big dimension. I haven't meet each one of the characters. But rest assured, they are all there, alive and doing what you have written."
"Really?!" Bumalik ang sigla nito sa mukha.
Napangiti rin siya at tumango. "Yes."
Inikot niya ang swivel chair at hinarap ito sa bintana. Unang nakakuha sa atensyon niya ang ang bilog na buwan at maitim na kalangitan. Nakita na niya ito sa tuwing na-a-activate ang House Spot. Ang House Spot ay ang setting ng kanilang mga kuwento. Doon nila nararanasan ang artipisyal na mundong nilikha ng manunulat sa kanila. Gumagana lang ito sa tuwing may nakakasalubong silang karakter na galing din sa parehong libro at may ibang role na hindi katulad ng sa kanila.
Ang Fictosa ay hinahati sa iba't ibang regions base sa role na binigay sa kanila. Ang House Spot ang isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit may iba't ibang region ang Fictosa, upang hindi sila kadalasang magkita at ma-activate ang House Spot.
Lahat ng nasa House Spot ay artipisyal kaya hindi niya mapigilang mamangha habang nakatitig sa mga maliliit na bagay na kumikinang. Although they looked the same like what he saw in his House Spot, they were far more alive in this dimension. The little heavenly bodies were beaming, giving subtle beating to show its movements.
"So, these are the stars, huh? Indeed, they are beautiful like how you describe them." He smiled. Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin talaga siya makapaniwala na nasa mundo na siya kung saan nandito rin si Noa. Nagagawa na niyang tingnan ang mga bituing natanaw na ni Noa at ang kalangitang palagi nitong pinupuri sa tuwing binabanggit ang ganda ng madilim na mundo.
Sumagi sa isip niya ang huling mensaheng sinulat ng manunulat. Naglalaman ito ng mga papuri sa kaniya. Kung gaano siya nito kagusto at kung gaano ito tuwang-tuwa na maisulat siya.
Adamas didn't think it would be the last time he would receive something from her. When he red the message, the happiness from those words allowed him to see the color of her emotions.
But it wasn't only happinesss.
There were traces of dark, drowning emotions. And he wanted to know what it was. He wanted to know why she felt that way at that time. What happened?
But how could he knew? He couldn't communicate with her. The Dump was just a one-way email for them to know how the humans felt towards them. The only thing they could do was to read their messages and acknowledge their praises, including the hate comments.
"But now, I'm here." Napahigpit ang hawak niya sa libro.
He never wished to visit the real dimension, but he had wished million times to see his Noa and talked to her. Why did he abandon her? What was her reason? Those were the questions he longed to ask.
And today, he might be able to have an answer.
He was now in the real dimension. He might as well take this opportunity to see his Noa.
"Logan, Gonietta." He looked at the two. Tinaas niya ang libro. "Do you know the author of this book?"
Tumango ang dalawa.
"Oo. Nakapunta ako dati sa book signing niya," sagot ni Gonietta habang nakangiti.
"Ako rin!" masiglang saad din ni Logan.
Pakiramdam niya'y gumalaw sa tuwa ang kaniyang tainga matapos iyong marinig. Dali-dali niyang hinila ang swivel chair papalapit sa dalawa at dinutdot ang sarili. Kaunti na lang tatama na ang kaniyang mukha sa dalawa dahil sa sobra niyang lapit.
"Tell me more!" Kumabog nang mabilis ang puso niya habang unti-unting nararamdaman ang pamumula sa kaniyang mukha. Hindi niya talaga kayang itago ang kaniyang emosyon sa tuwing mababanggit ang kaniyang manunulat.
"Well, Miss Noa Green is really nice," komento ni Logan.
"Of course! She is the sweetest!" Kaagad niyang sagot sabay tango. "What more? Did she get shy when she signed the book? She couldn't keep an eye contact too, right? Does she always carry a pig keychain on her hand?"
"Whoa! Kalma lang!" saad ni Gonietta. "Ba't mo alam lahat ng 'yan?"
"Hah!" Pinagkrus niya naman ang mga kamay at taas-noong tinignan ang dalawa. "I am, after all, her greatest creation. Of course, I would know everything about my creator."
"Wow . . . you are really Adamas," sagot ni Gonietta. Tinignan siya nito mula ulo hanggang paa. "Masiyadong confident."
"And what else, humans? Tell me more about my Noa. What does she looks like? What does her voice sounds like? How does her eyes shimmer as she thought of me? Did she tell you about my book?" sunod-sunod niyang tanong. He held the tip of his veil and swayed it a little. "Argh. I want to see her now."
Nagkatinginan naman ang dalawa.
Bahagya siyang napalayo sa kanila nang mapansin ang pag-iiba ng kanilang emosyon. Ang magaan at maliwanag na kulay ay unti-unting nag-iiba at napalitan ng kadiliman. Naglaho rin ang masayang ekspresyon sa kanilang mukha dahilan para mapakuyom si Adamas.
Not that emotion again. He had seen those emotions through the comments which contained censors.
"Why aren't you two speaking? Answer me."
Napayuko si Gonietta habang si Logan naman ay nanatiling nakatingin sa kaniya.
"Speak. Tell me what lies behind those expressions."
"Hindi mo ba alam?"
"Know what?"
Napayuko si Logan.
"She's dead."