Chapter 35
1195 Words
Chapter 35 – You Just Armed It
We entered Dr. Gregorio’s division and were greeted by his assistant.
“Dr. Abdel, welcome, Dr. Gregorio is waiting for you in his office.”
“Okay, lika na.”
We stared at the professor who was leading the way to the double doors.
“Um, professor, si Dr. Abdel lang po ang pinatawag ni Dr. Gregorio.” said the assistant.
”That is right, professor, it might be a personal message,” I told him.
The professor looked back at us, pouted at me, and sat on a chair near the double doors leading to Dr. Gregorio’s room. I couldn’t help but think that he looked quite child like.
“Hmph. Buti na lang, may baon ako,” he said, while stuffing his mouth with pretzels. “Bilisan mo, paubos na `to.”
I sighed and touched his shoulder as I entered the room.
“Please close the door behind you,” said Dr. Gregorio from inside.
The room was very spacious, furnished in lavish antique mahogany and red velvet. He sat behind a large, carved desk of black wood. On the wall behind him was a painting of himself, with a lovely young man sitting by his side.
“You have a message for me, Dr. Gregorio?” I asked as I stood in front of his desk.
“Yes, please take a sit,” he motioned me to a chair. “I believe you talked with Dr. Gonzaga earlier?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes. I asked him for an authorized person to talk to, regarding an issue I wanted to raise.”
Dr. Gregorio chuckled.
“Ah, yes, so let’s get to the point, won’t we,” his smile disappeared. “Prof. Antonio is not for you to take.”
“I believe, that is for him to decide.”
“Exactly,” he showed me a big, evil grin. “there is no way the professor would leave the country.”
“Because of your threat against his family?” his grin wavered.
“So, he has told you about that. But that’s not the only reason he would hesitate to leave.”
“Are you talking about the nuerochip in his head?” his grin disappeared completely.
“You’re really something, Dr. Abdel,” he said, shaking a finger at me. “Hindi ko akalain na pagkakatiwalaan ka ni Eric, in such a short period of time.”
“He loves my coffee.”
The doctor snorted.
“Prof. Antonio is very special to us. We can’t just let him go.”
“And that is why you are holding him against his will?”
The doctor laughed.
“Alam mo ba ang gusto n’ya, Dr. Abdel?” he asked me, “Gusto n’yang maging grade school Science teacher sa isang school for less priviledged omegas. Can you imagine? The greatest mind in this generation, wasting away in a no-name school? Teaching snot nosed little brats about biology?” he shook his head ang frowned. “How could I possibly let that happen, when he could save billions of lives developing medicine here in Universal Laboratories?”
“While you rake in billions in profit from his discoveries, you mean?” I said, “Yes, I can imagine that.”
“Then what do you propose? Sa tingin mo ba papayag s’yang iwan ang pamilya n’ya kahit pa walang nagbabanta sa buhay nila? Iniwan sa kan’ya ng kuya n’ya ang mga anak nito para alagaan. At alam ko’ng alam mo na walang makakaagaw sa trono ng kuya ni Prof. Antonio. Not even you, Dr. Abdel.”
“You have a point there,” I answered him, “But I wonder, what the other Universal Laboratory branch heads would say, if they find out that you are still using the banned neurochip on one of your top researchers?”
The doctor simply glared at me.
“I want you to disarm him, Dr. Gregorio. Or I will contact my superiors once more and tell them that you have been using banned technology,” I dared him, “and on a dominant omega as well.”
“So... he told you about the DOME project, too...”
“No, Dr. Gregorio,” I corrected him. “I already knew about the DOME project when I came here. In fact, that is the real reason why I wanted to take him home with me. I am, after all, the new head of the Prime Omega Project in our country.”
We looked at each other, each, trying to stare the other down. He flinched first and looked away.
“I knew there was something fishy when Universal Laboratories UACME sent you here,” he said, still staring at me, “I was wondering how you could possibly last that long with Prof. Antonio. Ngayon alam ko na ang tunay na dahilan.”
“On the contrary,” I answered back, “I would have stayed with him, even if he had nothing to do with the DOME project which your company have obviously hidden from us. He is a very talented person, and I would do anything to take him back home to work with me.”
He glared at me once more before answering again.
“So be it. Alam ko naman na hindi sasama sa `yo si Eric.” He stood up and stared at the painting behind him. “At isa pa, wala ako’ng balak gamitin ang neurochip, umalis man s’ya ng bansa. Malaki ang respeto ko kay Eric, in fact, idol s’ya nang nag-iisa ko’ng anak, kaya ayoko s’yang mawala sa kumpanya na ito.”
“Then why haven’t you disarmed it yet?”
“Who said I didn’t?”
I stared at him, as he touched the painting which swung open half way, like a door. There was a safe at the back which he opened, and took a flat, rectangular box from within it.
“I never armed it in the first place,” he said, “I didn’t need to. Alam ko na sapat nang dahilan ang pamilya n’ya para `di n’ya iwan o traidorin ang kumpanya. Besides, hindi `yun ugali ni Eric. Kahit pa napaka bastos ng maanghang n’yang dila, hindi s’ya traidor, at lalo namang `di s’ya mamamatay tao.”
He placed the box on the table. It was about five inches long and four inches across.
“Show me your hand.” he told me.
“Like this?” I raised my hand, palm out.
He took my hand, placed it on top of the box, and grinned his big evil grin.
The box gave a soft beep.
“There, you just armed it.”
“What?!”
I quickly pulled my hand away and glanced at the doorway.
“Don’t worry, it won’t detonate unless you trigger it. And you need to wait for 24 hours before you can disarm it again.” He opened the box and showed me a square microchip inside, about an inch big. “Nasa loob ang instruction, basahin mo’ng mabuti,” he said, “Enjoy!”
- Writer
