Project Indigo

Drugged by Food

"WALA akong alam sa sinasabi niyo." Madiin na sagot ni Matix. Kanina pa namin siya pinipilit na ipakita sa amin ang laptop niya at baka totoo ngang may tinatago siyang sikreto tungkol sa beast.

"Just show us your laptop." Pamimilit ni Chaos.

"No! This laptop is my privacy. Kung t.i.tignan niyo ang laptop ko, para naring naninilip kayo sa hubad kong katawan." Ani Matix.

Ano daw? Ano naman connect ng katawan niya sa laptop niya?

Chaos grimaced. "Yuck. Di na kita kukulitin." He even shivered.

I sighed. "Matix, we really want to know your secret about the beast. Arius is working for the beast at sabi niya, may sikreto ka patungkol sa beast na yun kaya pinasok niya ang tambayan natin para madelete ang file sa laptop mo." I explained.

k.u.munot ang noo ni Matix. "File? I have hundreds of file in here." Aniya.

"Sino pang nakakahawak ng laptop mo?" Effie asked. We told her to rest pero nagpumilit siya na okay naman na daw siya at kailangan niyang pumasok.

Umiling si Matix. "No one but me. Well, except for my dad. He is a computer teacher at survivor siya ng ma.s.sacre ten years ago." Sagot niya.

"Could you please atleast check your laptop?" I pleaded.

Matix breathed heavily. "Fine, but no one will touch my laptop but me." He possessively said.

Chaos rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Agad na nilapag ni Matix ang laptop niya sa table at binuksan iyon.

"Ang haba ng pa.s.sword mo." Effie grimaced. It took him more then twenty seconds to type his pa.s.sword.

Matix grinned. "Of course! Para hindi madaling ihack."

When laptop opened, he clicked the file tab. "I don"t see anything new here," he looked at us, "I know all my files."

"Do you know that you have a file named "confidential"?" Chaos asked habang nakatingin sa screen.

Matix, with furrowed eyebrows, looked at the laptop screen. "Wala akong sinave na confidential file. This file is dated eight years ago."

"Two years after the ma.s.sacre." Sambit ko.

"My dad gave me this file exactly eight years ago. Baka sinave niya ang file na "to bago ibigay sa akin." Matix added.

"Open it." Utos ni Chaos.

He clicked the file at may isang doc.u.ment ang naroon at dalaw.a.n.g mp4 videos.

Ang isang doc.u.ment ay nakapangalan na BEAST.

Matix clicked the doc.u.ment but a note appeared:

File is locked

Ganoon din sa dalaw.a.n.g videos. "Paano natin yan makikita kung nakalock?" I asked.

"I can crack it," Matix said while typing.

"How long will it take?" Effie asked.

"Usually, to open a locked file, ilang oras lang an ibibilang but my smart a.s.s dad used Intercal—one of the hardest programming language. Intercal is the solution to open the file. I need to write the Intercal language carefully. One mistake, my computer will reboot and all files will be gone." Ani Matix

"So, ilang araw mo siya magagawa?" I asked.

"Not days, weeks! This is so hard to use! My knowledge about intercal is limited."

"So, hindi pa natin mababasa o mapapanood ang file." Sambit ni Chaos.

I sighed. Kaya pala inutusan ng beast si Arius na pasukin ang tambayan namin dahil may file sa laptop ni Matix na naglalaman patungkol sa ident.i.ty niya and he doesn"t want us to know!

"Matix.." Effie suddenly called.

"What?" Matix looked at Effie.

"Why is your hand turning purple?"

Tumingin kami sa kamay ni Matix and yes, it is turning purple.

I gasped. Anong nangyayari?

Suddenly, Matix fell on the floor, struggling to breath.

"Matix!" Sigaw ko.

Then Chaos counted his pulse. "His pulse is weak." Anito.

"We should bring him to the clinic!" Nagpapanic na sagot ni Effie.

Lumabas na kami ng tambayan namin at dumeretso ng clinic pero laking gulat namin na maraming estudyante ang nasa clinic. Ang kakaiba, purple ang skin nila. Ang iilan ay buong katawan ang purple at ang iba, ilang parte lang ng katawan. I turned to Matix, he"s now unconcious at kulay purple na ang leeg niya.

"We need help!" Sigaw namin.

A nurse helped us take Matix to a bed. "What happened to these students?" Chaos asked.

"Food poisoning. Apparently, may nakain silang lahat sa canteen but we don"t know why they turned purple. Hindi naman ganiyan kalala ang food poisoning." Ani ng isang nurse.

Pinaalis na kami sa clinic dahil masikip na sa loob. Sobrang dami kasing estudyante.

"What possibly happened?" Tanong ni Chals sa sarili habang nakahawak sa baba niya.

"They said it"s food poisoning. Kailangan muna natin imbestigahan kung anong pagkain ang nakain nila." Effie said.

~~

"HINDI namin alam kung ano ang kinain ng mga bata. Iba"t ibang putahe ang sinerve namin ngayon." Ani ng isang tindera sa canteen.

"Sineserve po ba yung mga dish daily?" I asked.

Tumango ang tindera. "b.u.t.tered shrimp, seasoned pork, crab meat at korean beef ang usual na sineserve namin. Wala namang nangyaring poisoning na nangyari dati pa. Ngayon lang."

"How about this one,?" Turo ni Chaos sa isang dish na nasa display chiller.

"That"s chocolate pudding. Iyan ang bago naming sineserve." Anang tindera.

"Since when?" Effie asked.

"Kahapon lang. Madami ang k.u.main kaya sinerve ulit namin ngayon."

"Can we take a sample?" Chaos asked

Tumango ang tindera pero napatigil din. "Teka, sabi sa amin ay huwag basta basta ibigay ang putahe. Sa student council lang kami pwedeng sumunod."

I saw Chaos rolled his eyes. "We..We work for Daeril Ocampo." He grimaced.

Nanlaki ang mga mata ng tindera. "Talaga ba? Naku, pasensiya na. Sige, ibibigay ko sa inyo ang chocolate pudding." Anito at pumunta sa kitchen para siguro k.u.muha ng chocolate pudding.

Nang ibigay sa amin ng tindera ang choco pudding, agad kaming tumungo sa tambayan.

~~

"ONE of us should taste it." Chaos suggested.

Kanina pa kami nakatulala rito. Hindi namin alam ang gagawin sa chocolate pudding. Hindi naman madistinguish kung ano ba talaga ang mayroon sa chocolate pudding at naging purple ang mga estudyante kasama na si Matix.

"Ikaw ang tumikim. Ikaw ang nakaisip eh." Sambit ni Effie.

"Psh, let"s think of another way." Ani Chaos.

There is something different sa chocolate pudding na ito. It seemed lighter. Alam ko ang hitsura ng choco pudding dahil paborito iyon kainin ni Wednesday na kapatid ko. Lagi kaming may stock noon sa refrigerator.

"This choco pudding is odd. Sobrang light ng kulay niya sa usual na choco pudding."

"Baka nasobrahan sa milk? Or nakulangan sa chocolate?" Ani Effie.

"That"s it!" Biglang sigaw ni Chaos na nagpaigtad sa amin.

He snapped his fingers. "My grandmother is a pharmacist and she used to tell me everday that a specific drug, when overdosed, turns you into barney!"

"Barney?" I asked.

Chaos nodded. "Ano ba kulay ni barney? Purple, right? Now, I get it!"

"Anong drug iyon?"

"Narcotics." Chaos answered.

Oh. Kaya pala medyo white ang choco pudding dahil nahaluan ng madaming narcotics. White pa naman ang kulay nun.

"So they were drugged?" Effie asked.

Chaos nodded. "We just need to find out who put the narcotics—"

"Wait, hindi ba dapat ay alamin muna natin kung ano ang gamot sa narcotics?" Pigil ko kay Chaos. Finding out who put thr narcotics on the chocolate pudding will come later. Sa ngayon, kailangan namin makahanap ng lunas sa narcotics.

Chaos sighed. "Let me call my granny."

I chuckled. The way Chaos say granny is cute.

For the first time—well, hindi naman first time pero bihira lang kasi—Chaos smiled while on the phone.

"Hi granny! I want to ask something.." he said in a lively voice saka niloudspeaker.

"Ano yun, apo ko?"

"Um, what is the medicine for narcotics?"

His grandmother gasped. "Why? Nakadroga ka ba? Oh my G.o.d, apo ko, okay ka lang ba? Bakit ka nagdodroga? May pinagdadaanan ka ba? Do you want granny to sing you to sleep again?"

Chaos winced saka in off ang loudspeaker. I chuckled. Mukhang nahiya ang loko.

"Granny, I"m asking for a friend—no, I"m not on drugs—yes, I"m still a virgin—" he stilled and stopped talking.

I cleared my throat. That"s awkward..

"Granny, please, tell me the medicine for narcotics." Chaos pleaded.

"Pain killer? What kind of— oh okay. Thank you, granny. I love you so much. Bye."

Chaos while smiling as he turn off his phone. Nang tumingin naman siya sa amin, his smile faded and turned serious.

"Granny said opioids can be used. Since narcotics are also opioids, it"s fine that we should use methadone. The clinich has it all so, they will be taken care of. Wala nang dapat ikaalala." Chaos said.

I sighed. Tama si Chaos. Aalagaan naman sila ng clinic nurses kaya di na dapat magaalala.

"The medication won"t take any long so baka bukas or the next week, magaling na sila, including Matix." Chaos added.

"The beast surely did it." Effie suddenly said.

"What?"

"Siguradong ang beast ang may kagagawan nito. Siya naman lagi ang may kagagawan ng mga nangyayari sa Liberty High."

Tumango-tango si Chaos. "You"re right but we have to make sure. Until Matix is recovering, hindi natin magagalaw ang security cameras sa cafeteria at hindi natin malalaman ang totoong nangyari."

"So we have to wait for Matix to recover?" I asked.

Chaos nodded. "He"s the only one who is good in hacking. He could hack the security cameras in the cafeteria." Ani Chaos.

Tumango tango kami. So we have to wait for a day or more to solve this case...