Artificial Horizon - A César Fernando Basa x Reader story

VI - Angle of Attack

The angle formed between the relative airflow and the chord line of the airfoil. The angle of attack is related to the flight path of the aircraft, not to the angle the wing makes with the horizontal. If the angle of attack becomes too great, the smooth airflow over the upper surface of the wing will break. If no corrective action is taken by the pilot, there will be a sudden loss of lift and the aircraft will stall.

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December 1st, 2200Z (0600LCL + 1 Day)
Location: Davao, Philippines

The alarm is still ringing as I stare back at the hotel ceiling I last remember of. A sliver of light peeked through the gap of the blackout curtains, the soft hum of the air conditioning unit, and the presence of modernization evident in the room are reminders to me that I am back... or awake, at least. I am still in the same clothes as I remember when we've left Clark yesterday afternoon and when I've met Elian at the rooftop last night. And as an additional reminder, the ring is absent from my finger when I look on my hand and instead, Elian's coat remained folded by the foot of the bed.

I press my hands against my face and breathe in heavily.

Tangina... ang lala naman ng panaginip na iyon.

The fact that I dream of something almost so real makes it much worse. I didn't think of being hopeful that I've fallen to some sort of a parallel universe or the past or whatsoever, but just remembering it entirely in great detail is like a punch to my gut for me to think that the reason I dreamt of it is because I desire it. Do I desire that respective life with Elian or César or whoever man? And just asking myself is like forcing myself to be delusional that it could be.

"Kasalanan talaga ito lahat ni Elian," I mumble as I reach out for my phone and finally manage to turn the alarm off for who knows how long it had been ringing. "Kung hindi dahil sa sinabi niya kagabi, hindi ako mag-iisip ng kung ano-ano, at hindi rin ako magkakaroon ng ganoong klase na panaginip."

Because, seriously, I don't think that my brain will be quite too imaginative and creative to produce something as that. Not to mention the complexity of such dream world to incorporate people I know from the company and had very few interactions at all; and even placed such sequence during the American regime prior World War II...

I drop my hands back on the bed and stare once more at the ceiling. Shit... Nakalimutan ko na kaagad kung anong year 'yon!

With that, I reach out for my phone another time, open the notes app and start listing everything that I remember of that dream before I forget all about it. The weird thing about our dreams, they are not only fleeting, but they immediately vanished from our minds upon waking as we realized to ourselves that what we just see is nothing but dreams or nightmares.

And seriously, my weakness is with dates that it is the first thing that I lost in my memory bank. But I manage to write down the ones I consider to be necessary enough to connect the dots and figure it out. Call me crazy but there has to be some history attributed on that dream, too. Or rather, I only gather what is truly out of place in my known reality.

I dare open then an internet browser and type down the main subject of my interest: LT. CÉSAR BASA.

The search finishes as fast as I am eager to find out more if such a man is really part of history than just someone I conjure based on Elian and then give him a different name; as all other people in that dream remained the same and retained their names as how I remember them. But then, let us say that the universe is clearly conspiring against me to doubt my instinct and believe that it is all in my mind.

There are records about a 'lieutenant', and a 'Cesar', and a 'Basa'. But there is none for a 'Lieutenant César Basa'.

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