The Orphic Secret

Chapter 26

REALITY

I jolted awake and gasped for breath. I immediately closed my eyes and covered because it seemed blinded by light.

Ah, ang sakit sa mata ng liwanag. It seems like my eyes are finding a hard time to adjust to lightings. Mariin akong napapikit at sumakit agad ang ulo ko. Napahawak naman ako kung s'an. Napagtanto kong nakahiga pala ako kanina, at napabalikwas lang ako.

A soft ding popped up in the background, but it wasn't inside my brain anymore.

"Number four is disconnected from the system," the same robotic voice in the virtual dimension announced in a speaker.

I groaned and half-opened my eyes. My vision was still a little blurry, but I could manage naman siguro. Napatingin ako sa upuan ko, at napansing may parang scanner sa arm rest. It had a small note written in neon green text.

Rest your hand to connect to the dimension.

When my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I looked up and shrieked when I saw wires down to my- head?! Wala sa sarili tuloy akong napahawak sa ulo ko, at napansing tila may nakaattach na wires d'on. Kaagad ko namang 'yong tinanggal, at muli ko na namang narinig ang robotic voice.

"NeuroLink is disconnected."

What? Those are the NeuroLinks? Kaya ba nasa may ulo ko para ma-link nga 'yon doon sa utak namin? That's crazy.

Tumayo ako ngunit napasigaw din nang mauntog ang ulo ko sa salamin. "Aray naman!" bulyaw ko at hinawakan ang noo. I shut my eyes again because of it.

Inis naman akong napamulat. Ang tanga naman ng gumawa nito. Gagawa na nga lang ng glass, hindi pa sinakto sa tangkad ko, nakayuko ako ngayon, eh. The glass was in a convex shape, like it caved this seat in.

On the other thought, what is this machine-like thing I'm in? I'm suddenly reminded of the cryogenic chamber in the virtual dimension.

May umuusok din sa baba, at malamig 'yon sa pakiramdam. Pakiramdam ko nga ay inaantok ako dahil sa smoke. Well, baka nga pampaantok o pampahimbing ng tulog 'tong smoke na 'to.

I raised my eyes and punched the glass. Ngi, ayaw naman masira. I looked around to see if there was any exit, pero sadly, wala akong nakita. I think the button to open this 'kung ano man 'to' ay nasa labas. Actually the outside view wasn't visible to me. I only see hues of blue.

And my orb isn't with me too.

Nagulat naman ako nang biglang magslide pataas ang glass. Nawala na ang glass, at nakarinig ako ng faint voices. When the glass finally went up, I moved out of that machine-like thingy.

Nakita ko naman agad si Lourd, at napangiti. "Nice. Buti nakalabas ka agad, at pinalabas mo ako. Hindi ko alam kung pa'no, eh."

"Yeah, because you're an idiot." Ay, foul.

Umirap ako, at biglang nakuha ng peripheral vision ko ang ibang tao. My head snapped in their direction. Napaawang ang bibig ko habang tumitingin sa kanila.

Nicolas. Chastille. Iris. Lein. All in all, anim lang kami?

"Sila na... lahat?" tanong ko. I was expecting others, I even looked around more, pero nabigo lang ako nang wala nang makitang iba pang machine na katulad ng amin.

"Tayo na lahat?" mahina kong tanong. Lourd weakly nodded, and everyone else looked confused.

Napatingin naman ako sa taas ng mga machines or chambers, at napansin kong bawat isa'y may label na number. 4 was mine. Hindi ko lang alam ang sa kanila.