“Aha! May sinesenyasan ka, no?! Sinong nginingiwian mo?! Padala ka ng Alpha Division, ano?! Balak n’yo nanamang i-sabotahe ang gawa ko!!!” [Aha! You just sent secret signal, didn’t you? Who are you sneering at? Did the alpha division send you? You’re planning to sabotage my work again?!]

Now, he held a granulated cylinder and pointed it at me, his hand shaking.

“Mas nanaisin ko pa’ng masira ang gawa ko kesa makuha n’yo ito!” [I’d much rather destroy my work than let you take them!]

“No, wait!”

I tried to stop him, but he was already smashing the rest of the test tubes before I could grab him.

He is taller than me, but his arm felt so thin beneath his lab coat, I felt that I could easily snap it in half. He stared at me, his eyes, like that of a cornered animal, and started to scream.

“Saklolo! Inaatake ako! May terorista rito! Saklolo!” [help! He’s attaking me! There’s a terrorist here! Help!] there was genuine fear in his voice.

“I am not going to hurt you,” I assured him, but I was afraid he would hurt himself with the smashed piece of glass he held, so I didn’t let his arm go, I touched his neck with my other hand instead.

He shivered.

I merely wanted to calm him down. I Passed a special type of pheromone as I touched him, a pheromone that could help lower his heartbeat and even his breathing.

“A-anong...” [w-what...] he gasped as his breath normalized, “Anong ginawa mo...?” [what did you do...?]

“I am just calming you down.”

“Ang tinatanong ko, eh, kung ano ang ginawa mo!” [I asked you what you did?!] he repeated.

“Nothing. Just a calming trick,” I replied.

“A calming trick?” his heartbeat is starting to rise again. “Alam ko ang trick na `yan! Alam ko `yan!” [I know that calming trick! I know exacly what it is!]

He dropped the broken cylinder which shattered to the ground and grabbed my hands. It was then that I noticed how clammy his skin was.

“Isa ka rin, `di ba?” [you’re one of them, aren’t you?] he said, grinning like a mad man. “Isa ka rin! Ang tagal ko nang naghahanap ng ibang katulad n’yo!” [You’re one of them! I’ve been searching for your kind for so long!]

“Professor, you are feverish and also dehydrated, I suggest you go to the infirmary.”

“`Wag mo’ng ibahin ang usapan!” [don’t change the subject!] he snapped at me.

“When was the last time you slept or had a decent meal?” I asked.

“Parang makakatulog ako habang nandito ka’t binabantayan ang resesarch ko!” [as if I could sleep comfortably while you’re here, lurking over me and my work!] he laughed, “Pero ngayon alam ko na kung ano ka! Pinadala ka ba nila rito?! Balak nanaman ba nila ako’ng kunin at gamitin?!” [but now I know what you are! Did they send you? Are they planning to exploit me again?!]

Hmm... interesting.

I stared at him to make some sense of his words.

“Hindi na `uy! `Di na `ko magpapagago sa inyo! `Di na ko papayag! Magkakamatayan muna tayo!” [Never! I won’t let you use me again! Over my dead body!]

“Sir Eric, ayos lang po ba kayo rito?” [Sir Eric, are you okay in here?]

We both turned around and saw two guards checking in on us.

“Tamang-tama!” [just in time!] said the professor who pushed me to a side, “Nakahuli ako ng espiya! Hulihin n’yo ang taong `yan!” [I just caught a spy! Go ahead and cuff him!]

The two guards looked at each other, then looked at me. I simply shrugged at them.

“Akala mo makukuha mo ang notes ko?” [did you think you could steal my notes?] he continued as he turned back to face me. “Ha! Wala ka’ng makukuha! Nandito lahat sila!” [you won’t get anything! They’re all right here!] he tapped his right temple. “Wala ka’ng makukuha sa akin, maliban na lang kung marunong ka’ng magbasa ng utak!” [you won’t get anything outta me, unless you can read minds!]

He then freezes.

“Marunong ka ba’ng magbasa ng utak?!” [can you read minds?!] he asked me. “Marunong ka, ano?! P’wes, `di mo mababasa ang nasa utak ko! Wa-wala-wala-wala-wala-wala-wala!!!” [you can, can you? Well you can’t read my mind! Nada-nada-nada!] he chanted out loud while covering his ears.

“Ano po bang nangyari rito?” [can you tell us what’s happening here?] the guards asked me instead while Prof. Antonio squats on the ground with his eyes tightly shut.

“The professor is feverish, he is currently unstable and requires medical attention.”

“Sabi ko sa `yo napa-praning lang si Sir Eric, eh,” [I told you, Prof. Eric is just being his weird self again,] the other guard told his companion.

“Eh, buti na rin pumunta tayo, malay mo masaksak n’ya si Dr. Abdel!” [well, it’s much better to come check things out, then let him hurt Dr. Abdel] the other said.

“Pasensya na, Doc, ganyan talaga si sir `pag nasosobrahan sa trabaho, kaya nga walang nakakatagal na personal assistant d’yan, eh,” [beg your pardon, Doc, Sir Eric usually end up like this whenever he overworks himself] they told me.

“Buti po nakaya n’yo s’yang pigilan kanina nang nag-wawala s’ya.” [good thing you were able to calm him earlier while he was going hysterical]

“Yes, I am quite used to my subjects having tantrums.”

They stared at me and laughed nervously.

“Dadalhin na lang po namin si sir sa clinic sa baba.” [we’ll take him to the clinic]

“Okay, I shall go with you.”

They went closer to the professor and tapped his shoulder.

“Hinuli n’yo na ba s’ya?” [did you arrest him?]

“Opo sir, halika, dalhin ka namin sa clinic...” [yes, sir, why don’t you come with us to the clinic?]

“`Wag n’yo s’yang iiwan dito mag-isa!” [don’t leave him here on his own!]

“Opo sir, isasama rin namin si doc.” [yes sir, we’ll take Doc with us]

So, we made our way down one floor to the nearest clinic where they gave him a bag of dextrose and a shot to calm him down. He kept mumbling as he lay on the bed. Utter nonsense, I thought at first, until I recognized the complicated DNA sequences of an adolescent omega.

I left him there right after he fell asleep and went back to the laboratory where the broken test tubes were left untouched. It was the professor’s strict order, after all, that the cleaning crew were banned from the whole floor, after they accidentally `cleaned’ an experiment he was working on while he was on a coffee break.

I tried to salvage what little was left of his specimens and looked at them under the electron microscope.

Again, I find new and unparalleled respect for Prof. Eric Antonio.