Mutation
Ilang buwan na rin ang nakalipas simula nung mag-aral si Suzanne sa La Orian Academy. Hindi n'ya lubos maisip na sa ilang buwang pananatili n'ya sa La Orian Academy ay naka-survive s'ya sa dami ng mga nangyari—mula sa pagpasok n'ya sa special class hanggang sa engkwentro n'ya sa Apollo, ang pinakasikat at pinakamatalinong grupo ng mga estudyante, hindi n'ya lubos maisip na iingay at gugulo ang dating simple n'yang buhay. Aaminin n'ya na nung una ay gusto na talaga n'yang sumuko dahil sa mga ginawang pambubully sa kanya sa unang buwan na pananatili n'ya sa eskwelahan ngunit mukhang hindi hinayaan ng Diyos na matinag s'ya kaya eto't nakatayo parin s'ya sa school grounds ng La Orian. Bagay nga talaga sa kanya ang apilyedo ng nanay n'ya na 'Dimaguiba' nung dalaga pa ito.
Patapos na ang school year. Magtatapos na sila sa Grade 9 pero sa halip na mag-relax at i-enjoy ang pagtatapos ng school year ay puspusan ang paghahanda nila sa finals.
"Girl, mag-ge-Grade 10 na tayo. Wala ka pa rin bang plano mag-dorm? You're a scholar. You can have what we have for free. You can avail the uniform, the references, the gadgets and even the dorm. You can even choose the dorm that you want," wika ni Dane habang nangangalumbaba sa tapat ni Suzanne at nakanguso.
"Ayokong umasa sa scholarship ko. S'yempre, kahit libre ako sa lahat dito, kailangan ko paring mag-ipon. Tsaka, hindi ako pwedeng mag-dorm. Malayo kaya ang school natin sa pinagtatrabauhan ko tsaka once mag-dorm tayo, 'di ba weekends lang pwede lumabas? So, hindi pwede lalo pa't may part-time job ako," tugon naman ni Suzanne habang nagbabasa ng libro. Next week na ang kanilang final examination kaya nagdo-double time s'ya sa pag-re-review.
Dane sighed. "Here comes Miss Hardworking in the house y'all. As your friend, I'm so proud of you. Bilib na bilib ako sa'yo mula sa katalinuhan mo hanggang sa attitude mo. Ikaw na. Sa'yo na talaga ang korona!"
Suzanne giggled on his compliment.
"But you know, as the days pass by, I felt really, really nervous," aniya.
Kumunot naman ang noo ni Suzanne. "Ha? Bakit ka naman kinakabahan?"
"For our final exam," ngumuso ulit si Dane. "'Yung exam natin para mag-proceed sa Grade 10. Ayoko namang bumagsak at ma-kick out sa Special Class."
"Kaya nga dapat simula sa araw na ito, mag-aral ka nang mabuti at pag-igihan mo ang review," sabi ni Suzanne.
"I'm doing it. It's just that I don't wanna experience mental fatigue."
"Gumawa ka ng study schedule para hindi mo kailangan mag-mass study baka nga magka-mental fatigue ka na," bahagyang tinapik ni Suzanne ang kanyang pisngi nung maramdaman n'yang inaantok s'ya. "Dane, samahan mo nga ako sa supermarket—este sa mini mart o kung ano'ng tawag n'yo dun sa shop sa labas. Bibili lang ako ng maiinom o makakain para bawasan ang antok ko.
"Why? You don't want some coffee?" tanong ni Dane.
"'Wag na baka maging makakalimutin ako," bahagyang nagkamot ng ulo si Suzanne.
"Nuh-uh! That's not true," Dane waved his index finger. "According to my research or what I've read from Journal of Nutrition from U.S. of A, the caffeine in coffee might offer not just a momentary mental boost but also longer-term effects on thinking skills. Also, having an alcoholic drink a day might also benefit our mental performance, but the line between just right and too much is uncertain. An even better strategy for maintaining memory and thinking skills with age may be to eat a healthy diet.
In the study, researchers from the National Institute on Aging compared scores on various tests of thinking skills and memory with caffeine, alcohol, and nutrient intake in 727 men and women taking part in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging—I think it's some kind of health survey, I don't know. So, overall, participants who ranked high on the healthy diet scale did better on 10 tests of memory than those with lower diet scores. The same held true for those who took in more caffeine. The effects for moderate alcohol drinking were mixed.
In the caffeine-brain connection, the reason you get a quick wakeup call after chugging a mug of coffee has to do with the way caffeine tricks your brain. Not only is caffeine a brain stimulant, but it also blocks receptors for a chemical called adenosine, which normally prevents the release of excitatory brain chemicals. With adenosine out of the way, these brain-sparking chemicals can flow more freely—giving you a surge of energy and potentially improving mental performance and slowing age-related mental decline—"
"O, tama na, Dane. Tama na. Alam ko na, alam ko na. 'Wag mo na i-explain lahat at lumabas na tayo," sansala ni Suzanne sa kanya kasabay ng pagtayo n'ya.
Nagkibit-balikat naman si Dane at mistulang babae pa ito sa babae kung tumayo.
"What's funny?"
"Wala. Tara na nga," pigil ang tawang hinila ni Suzanne si Dane palabas ng classroom.
"Say, Mark," binaling ni Mark ang kanyang atensyon kay Clyde na ngayon ay tinitignan ang almond nut na hawak.
"What?"
"Who do you think is the Top 1 for this school year?" sabat ni Dwayne matapos i-assemble ang LEGO robot na hawak.
"Hey! That's my question!" angal ni Clyde.
"That's your fault. You're so slow," ani Dwayne sabay kuha ng almond nut mula sa bowl na hawak ni Clyde at kinain iyon.
"Right. Suzanne is a tough rival. Even she's a commoner and doesn't have the privileges that we have, I admit that she's indeed a smart-ass," komento ni Archles habang nagsosolve ng ilang mathematical problems sa Calculus.
"Para kayong car racers na nagtatagisan sa pag-abot sa walang katapusang finish line," parang makata pa kung magsalita si Dwayne dahilan para tapunan s'ya ng almond nut ni Clyde.
Sinamaan n'ya lang ng tingin si Clyde.
Nanatili lang na tahimik si Mark habang binabasa ang nobela ni Robin Cook na 'Mutation'. It's all about Victor Frank, and his wife Marsha, are unable to have a second child due to Marsha's infertility. They turn to surrogacy as an alternate method of conception. Victor, an obstetrician-gynaecologist and owner of the biochemical company Chimera Inc., injects the egg implanted in his wife with an agent called Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) into chromosome six, which causes the baby to grow more neurons than usual, as a result making them super intelligent. Their son, Victor Jr., VJ as they call them, is born a genius. He is able to talk in six months and read in thirteen. Several years later, VJ's brother, David, and nanny, Janice, both die of an unexplainable rare form of liver cancer. At about three, VJ experiences a drop in intelligence, leading Victor to think his experiment is a failure. VJ lives a secluded life from that point, leading his psychiatrist mother to worry, to the annoyance of Victor who believes VJ is fine. When VJ turns eleven, a disastrous chain of events begins. Victor had injected two other eggs with NGF, which were given to two families who work at Chimera through the fertility clinic there. They both inexplicably die at age three because of brain edema. Victor later finds out they had been given the antibiotic Cephaloclor, which causes the nerve cell growth process to begin again. This causes their brains to grow too large for their skulls, killing them. Their parents, however, were told their children had deadly allergies to this antibiotic.
Mark is really picky in novels that he wants to read. But this novel really got his interest... or maybe because...
"Dane, pwede magtanong?" unti-unting bumukas ang mga mata ni Mark nung marinig ang boses ni Suzanne. Kahit nakikinig s'ya sa piano concerto ni Mozart ay nangingibabaw parin ang boses ni Suzanne.
"Ano 'yun?" Dane was trying to be manly in front of Suzanne but he knows that this fella is a certified gay. He can't hide it from the great Mark Gosiengfiao.
"May PDF ka ba nung nobela ni Robert Cook 'yung Mutation?" tanong nito sa baklang kaibigan. "Gusto ko kasi talagang mabasa ang nobela na iyon kaso walang kopya sa National Bookstore eh. Sabi kasi ng best friend ko maganda daw 'yun kaso nawala daw ang kopya n'ya no'n kaya nagbabakasakali akong baka mayroon ka."
"Naku, Suzanne, sorry wala akong PDF ng book na iyan o kahit ang hard-copy niyan. You know me, I'm not into reading novels."
Mark can see the sadness in Suzanne's face. "Sayang... gusto ko pa naman mabasa iyon."
"Somehow she would have to face this last demon child, and with Joe's help, end forever the nightmare that her husband had begun," binasa ni Mark ang isa sa mga quotation ng nasabing libro.
"Been hooked to that novel, huh?" puna ni Archles sa kanya habang nagbabangayan naman sa malayo sina Dwayne at Clyde—payabangan lang naman sila ng mga nalalaman nilang trivia.
"Did you know that there was only one code during World War II that was never broken by the enemy and was used by the US Army? Navajo soldiers, called Codetalkers, developed a radio code based on their native language. It was the only way US soldiers on the battlefield could be sure that messages were from there own side and not from Japanese imitators."
"Did you know that the hottest continent on earth is Africa, where a record high of 136.4 degrees Fahrenheit was once recorded?"
"I just wanna read and understand someone's mind," sinara ni Mark ang hawak na libro at tumayo.
"Where are you going, Mark?" tanong ni Clyde sa kanya habang sinusumpa at minumura s'ya ni Dwayne dahil sa masakit na pagpitik n'ya sa ulo nito dahil sa hindi agad ito naka-counter rebut ng trivia.
"Damn you, Clyde!"
"I'm going back to the classroom," hindi na hinintay ni Mark ang sasabihin pa ng kaibigan at agad s'yang lumabas sa secret place nila.
Nagkatinginan naman sina Dwayne, Clyde at Archles at nagkibit-balikat sa isa't isa.
Mangiti-ngiting dinadama ni Suzanne ang init mula sa hawak na coffee cup habang naglalakad sila ni Dane pabalik ng classroom. Walang kung anu-ano'y natigilan s'ya.
"What's wrong?"
"Dane, mauna ka muna sa classroom. May kukunin muna ako saglit sa locker room," untag ni Suzanne.
"Okay," tumango naman si Dane bilang tugon at nauna na s'yang maglakad papunta sa kanilang classroom habang si Suzanne naman ay naglalakad na rin papunta sa kanyang locker.
Agad naman n'yang kinuha mula roon ang kanyang notebook at libro para sa subject nila sa mga oras na iyon. Kinuha n'ya rin ang extrang ballpen mayroon s'ya nung maalala n'yang malapit na palang maubos 'yung ballpen na gamit n'ya. Nilisan na rin n'ya ang kanyang locker nung makuha na n'ya ang mga kailangan n'yang kunin.
Mabilis ang naging lakad n'ya pabalik sa kanilang classroom nung marinig n'ya ang pag-tunog ng school bell. Mabuti na lamang at napigilan n'ya ang kanyang sarili nung may makakasalubong na s'ya. Buti na lang talaga—baka magkaroon na naman ng eksenang kape part 2—part 2 dahil kilalang-kilala n'ya ang taong parang kabute kung sumulpot sa harap n'ya.
"Buti nalang hindi na naman umiral ang pagiging lampa mo," isang nakakalokong ngiti ang sumilay sa mga labi ni Mark nung nag-angat ng tingin si Suzanne sa kanya.
"A-Ano?!" agad tinuro ni Suzanne ang kanyang sarili. "A-Ako?! Lampa?!" Gago ka ba?!
"Hindi ka naman bingi, 'di ba?"
Sandaling natigilan si Suzanne at agad tinuro ang binata. "Teka sandali, linya ko 'yan ah?!"
"Why? Are you the only one who can say that?" Mark flaunted a deadpan expression to Suzanne as he walked towards their classroom.
Nanggagalait si Suzanne na inangat ang hawak na libro at iniwasiwas ito na para bang ipapalo n'ya ito sa nakatalikod na si Mark ngunit hindi na lamang n'ya tinuloy at nakaismid na pumasok sa kanilang classroom.
Dumiretso agad si Suzanne sa kanyang upuan nung makita n'ya ang kanilang guro na naghahanda nang i-introduce ang bagong leksyon na tatalakayin nila.
"Where have you been? What took you so long?" bulong ni Dane sa kanya ngunit ningitian lang n'ya ito bilang tugon.
Agad n'yang binuksan ang drawer ng kanyang mesa para kunin ang tablet ngunit natigilan s'ya nung makita ang isang pamilyar na bagay na naroon. Tahimik s'yang napasinghap sa gulat nung makita ng dalawang mata n'ya ang bagay na gusto na talaga s'yang magkaroon—ang Mutation na nobela ni Robert Cook.
Tahimik s'yang lumingon-lingon sa paligid bago tumingin muli sa librong hawak na n'ya ngayon na may sticky note pang nakadikit dito na may nakasulat na Suzanne. Sumilay agad ang matamis na ngiti sa labi n'ya.
Mark looked away to the window and smiled for himself.