Sabriona

Chapter 8: The Writer With No Editor, Read Her as Raw as Possible

A
reader
once
told
me,
"You
are
the
pages
that
I
want
to
turn."

Postscript: What I told to myself in front of a reflecting surface...

-113th Article: Page-Turner, Universal Verse

"I'm hearing the cherubim's cheer-both wild and gentle cheers," Yesh wrote before heading on to the next chapter.

The next day...

"Do the math. Compute. You may create your own design by doing so, prior, to analyze and trounce the next move of the noxious species," the professor reminded the class.

*Stage 5. Eight minutes clocked.*

"Sab, are you alright? What happened?" Lewis went.

"I was spelled by the dark elements. No worry, it was just a 13-second spell. Thanks to the cadmium stanchion and to Rubics, who, in no time, came to rescue me."

"... good to know."

*Strange sound*

"Sssshhhh. Someone is around," Super Prince hissed.

"Scout to know who's there," Almish commanded.

"No one is," Oslo confirmed.

"But whose gigantic footprints are these?" Sab observed.

"Another monster?!" Oslo worried.

*Loud noise*

A wild and nasty creature showed up from behind the cracked walls.

They prevented and saved themselves from the bound and shadow of grotesquery until they found themselves one hundred fifty feet under the roof of the gallant stadium. There were rows of podia, sets of chairs, and pile of boxes. Behind the 20th podium was a set of folded paper notes. They needed to follow the written instruction in every fold to advance to the next round.

"This stadium is Brobdingnagian."

"It's like a planetarium, but much bigger."

"A spacious zone of multiple planetaria..."

"A jaw-dropping stunner!"

*An hour later*

2:34 PM

"You have to interpret the vague words, graphs, and symbols presented in front of you with the help of those inklings placed on the rostrum, desks, and ceramic platforms," the professor referred to the textual, visual, and physical displayed objects behind every lectern.

"You may start," she added.

"I can't understand this!" the rough-and-tumble student muttered.

"Me too-even if it has an analogous trait, which is the same with the recent paralleled patterns, I can't still fathom its details. The textual, numerical, and symbolic columns of information don't match to my calculations. This is impossible to solve," one of their team members maundered.

"I disagree. There's still one formula left which may be the only key to solve this," someone gainsaid.

"Yes, this can be solved. The teams of Yesh and Oslo already solved this one as shown on the monitoring board," one of the students viewed at.

"Students, remind yourselves of the makeshifts from the list of qualitative output, the adroit strategy from an objective or subjective modular view. This was discussed by your lecturer last week," the professor went along.

The hands of time paced counterclockwise. The reversal trajectory sent them to a more conscious state of mind.

"Though they are meant to distract you, you will not be bothered by the craven poltroon and distorted ogre when you maintain your inner peace. So sensibly mind to maintain that. Omit the gratuitous inconsistent codes, those inappropriate material blockage. There are reactants in the buckets at the left side of the rostrum which are sensitive to some of the powers and energies you release; be cautious to such. Maximize every spent minute. Lastly, you have to consider the reversed tick of time," the professor mandated.

Every student gave their complete effort to every task they faced, to every planned route they took, and to every devised obstacle rolled before them.

*Thirty-six minutes elapsed...*

"Obviate the structures that head your proceeding off, as they may delay your meaningful ascent and timely elevation toward the final task."

The run-through of time left off. Then the clock returned to its normal shift. They held out all the needless details across every task's sequential phase and the traces of roundabout labyrinth. Every functional input was well operated by the team members, except to those whose calculation didn't match with the object's computed fluoroscopy's password which was drawn, coded, and tabulated in lasered visuals.

"The time already ticks clockwise."

"How do you know?"

"Our footprints show..."

Their footprints slowly became visible, paced in forward motion instead of backward.

"You're right."

"... and look at our professor... She was no longer walking backwards," they happened to notice in light and silent jest.

"I'll go back after a moment. We will tabulate your scores to find out whose teams are suited for the end-game," Professor Primo Zilda told.

The professor left the room.

Their sure-enough faces showed that they successfully finished all the tasks prepared for them. The professor carefully tabulated the result of the most recent round to assess whose teams were qualified for the following stages.

"I hope we were able to meet the required score."

"What if we didn't?"

"If we didn't, then I guess we'll have to go back to the boot camp level to be reassessed."

"The reassessment period..."

The other teams started to communicate with the other groups.

"When did you observe that the clock was already reversed back to its normal condition?"

"We weren't actually aware until we noticed the restored course of our way, the vestige pattern of our footsteps."

"We're almost done with the three tasks..."

"One last task..."

"Do you think it will be the hardest part?"

"Maybe."

"I think it depends."

"It depends on what?"

"Depending on the bonus points we accumulated from the previous stage. The more bonus perks we gained from the recent round, the easier the next one will be."

"Yes, I agree. That's what Professor Primo Zilda discussed last week based on the tournament's criteria, category, and board percentage."

"I'm back. I wish that you are able to rest because the next stage will require you to use your mental, emotional, and physical strengths. The fortunate teams who will be called shall remain seated. Those who will not shall follow my initial, medial, and final directives," the po-faced professor advised.