Màu nền Màu tối Mặc định Xám nhạt Xanh nhạt Xanh đậm Vàng nhạt Màu sepia Vàng đậm Vàng ố

Font chữ: Palatino Linotype Bookerly Segoe UI Patrick Hand Times New Roman Verdana Tahoma Arial

Chiều cao dòng: 100 120 140 160 180 200

Kích cỡ chữ:

"WOW, SO MARAMING WORLDS OUT THERE SIMILAR TO WHAT WE HAVE HERE?!"

One of the students asked and no one was making any move. All of them were waiting for the reporter in front to clarify the question.

"Based on the theory," the man wearing a school uniform said. "Probably."

"Woah..." bulong ng ilan. "Paano? I mean, how does that thing work?"

Lahat ay tumingin muli sa lalaking nasa harapan at naghihintay ng susunod na sasabihin nito.

Kung titingnan kung paano s'ya tumindig, everyone will agree that the man possessed a nice figure; not that hunk, not that skinny either.

Kung tutuusin, nasa kalagitnaan s'ya ng pagiging cute at hot since he could do both at once without even trying. His white skin complexion and brown eyes were his best assets, not to mention his brain.

His name is Axes, my ex.

I sighed and looked at my wristwatch. Ten more minutes at dismissal na.

As I looked once again in front, I noticed how Axes pushed his glasses upward.

I gulped. It looked so manly for me.

My lips curved into a smile.

Would you believe that this hot yet smart guy in front used to be the man I thought I'd end up with?

And would you believe me if I would say in the parallel universe where I accidentally tuned into five months ago, I was the candidate for valedictorian and not him?

I shook my head.

Limang buwan na ang lumipas simula nang nangyari iyon at minsan ma'y hindi na iyon na-ulit pa.

Every single day, I was waiting for it to happen again, for me to tune into a different frequency but it never happened at all.

Habang tumatagal nga ay napag-iisipan namin ni Zero na baka isa lang 'yon sa mga delusions namin. Sinubukan naming magtanong sa iba kung may naranasan ba silang kakaiba nang araw na 'yon. Turned out, tanging kaming dalawa lang ni Zero ang nakaranas niyon at hanggang ngayo'y naaalala pa rin namin ang lahat.

Posible bang nag-hallucinate lang kami at some point?

I sighed.

"Well," Axes cleared his throat. "The possible creation of a different universe boils down to the explosion of a singularity that we all know as what?" he asked and he smiled. "The Big Bang Theory."

Axes followed, "After the explosion of the singularity 13.7 billion years ago, theoretically speaking, our world was not the only universe that was born," he said as he continued to walk at the center of the room. "It was suggested before na kung ang space-time ay nabuo as flat, it would stretch and will create countless universes na identical sa kung anong mayroon tayo ngayon. At 'yon ang tinatawag nating..."

"Parallel universe..." bulong ng ilan.

Ngumiti si Axes. "That's right."

When Axes made sure all ears were on him, he continued.

"Kagaya na rin ng mga nasa balita, scientists are already working on opening a portal to a mirror universe," he started. "In fact, a team of physicists at North Jensen Ox Laboratory are working on it. Nalaman pa nga nila na kailangan natin ng 85-megawatt nuclear reactor capable of firing billions of neutrons on command to possibly open a portal."

"Anong basis nila riyan?" one of my classmates asked.

Axes smiled.

"Neutrons," he answered.

He walked in front. Even our professor was listening quietly.

"If you will beam neutrons in a wall, no one should pass through that wall. If something did, it means they transformed in a mirror version of themselves, as what the physicists hypothesized."

"In other words, kung lumusot sila sa wall na sinasabi mo, napunta sila sa ibang mundo?" one of my classmates asked.

Axes smiled. "We can assume that."

"Wow!" some exclaimed.

"Neutron lasts for fourteen minutes and fourty-eight seconds in beams before they decay into protons," Axes said. "Pero nang mag-conduct ng experiment ang ibang physicists by placing neutrons in a lab bottle, some of those neutrons broke down ten seconds faster, which is contradictory to their nature because neutrons, no matter what pressure we apply to them, will decay for fourteen minutes and fourty-eight seconds. Nothing more and nothing less."

"What does that mean?" one of my classmates asked.

"It means..." Axes stopped and turned serious. "Those neutrons are not from our world, theoretically."

Some of my classmates gasped. Some even cursed.

"Oh, so they're working to create portals?" a guy at the back asked. "What if... what if we don't need them? What if, matagal na 'yong bukas?'

Lahat ay nagtinginan sa kanya. Nang makilala ko siya ay halos umirap ako.

"What do you mean by that, Zero?" Axes asked.

Zero with his curly hair and favorite jacket smiled when he got the attention he wanted.

"Well," Zero started. "Sabi mo ang neutrons na 'yon ay hindi galing sa mundo natin... well again, theoretically. So paano sila napunta rito kung walang portal na nabuksan para magtagpo ang dalawa, o iilan pang mga mundo?"

Nanlaki ang mga mata ko.

Don't tell me...

"Man, it's vague," Axes said. "What exactly are you trying to imply?"

"I'm just wondering," Zero said with a smirk. "What if, hindi natin kailangan ng 85-megawatt para magbukas ng portal at ang kailangan lang ay mag-tune in tayo sa ibang frequencies para makapunta ro’n?"

"What... do you mean? Are you referring to an experience or something?" tanong ni Axes.

Lumakas ang tibok ng puso ko, animo'y kumakalabog ito sa loob ng dibdib ko.

Don't tell ikukuwento n'ya ang nangyari sa 'min five months ago?!

Ngumisi si Zero. "Yes."

I closed my eyes hardly.

WHAT THE HELL ZERO?!

"Take the Taured Man, as an example," Zero said.

"Oh," Axes said. "A great point you got there, Zero," he added.

"Anong Taured Man?" tanong ng class secretary namin.

"On one of spring days of Japan in July 1954, as mentioned in the books namely The Directory of Possibilities (1981) page 86, and Strange but True Mysterious and Bizarre People (1999) page 64, a man reportedly arrived at Haneda Airport, also known as Tokyo International Airport," Axes started to narrate.

"Wow," bulungan ng ilan kong kaklase. "Pati page numbers kabisado niya."

"You can't expect less from Axes," sagot ng katabi nito. "He will exceed any expectations you'll set. No wonder why I like him."

They giggled.

"The Taured Man was described as Caucasian with a beard, and wearing a really formal attire as if he was travelling overseas for some sort of business-related agenda," Axes followed.

"He speaks French and many other languages. Nagsimulang mapansin ng mga tao na weird ang lalaki no’ng time na nasa airport na siya at ibinigay ng Taured Man ang passport niya for authentication process. The thing is, mukhang authentic yung passport n'ya pero 'yong country na nag-issue sa kanya nito, ang bansa na mismong pinanggalingan niya, ay hindi nag-e-exist. Nang tanungin siya, sabi ng lalaki, nagmula raw s'ya sa bansang tinatawag na Taured. The officers, of course, did not believe him because there's no such country as Taured."

Lahat ay interesado sa kwento. Bukod kasi sa maganda ang topic, ang malalim ngunit kalmadong boses ni Axes ang isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit ang sarap makinig. Para kang hinehele sa duyan.

"Pero siyempre, the Taured Man proved that such country exists. Nag-presinta pa nga siya ng mga dokumentong nagpapatunay na mula siya sa bansang iyon at totoong nag-e-exist ang bansang iyon. That confused the authorities because his documents were authentic—it means, the seals and everything were real. Sa katunayan, ilang beses na nga raw s'yang pabalik-balik sa Japan for business trips pero ngayon lang s'ya hinarang at kinuwestyon."

Huminto si Axes at tiningnan ang klase.

"Isa pang ikinabahala ng mga officers ay ang mga stamps sa passport n'ya na nagpapatunay kung ilang beses na s'yang pumunta sa Japan at sa iba pang mga bansa. All was real. It means it is true that the Taured Man kept coming back and forth. Nang i-validate nilang muli ang mga stamps, they were all proven authentic."

With all eyes were on him still, he continued.

"With that, the man was reportedly taken away for questioning. He tried to convince the immigration officers that Taured actually exists. Ayon sa kanya, Taured was located between France and Spain, and would have existed for a thousand years. Siyempre, hindi convinced ang mga awtoridad kaya kumuha sila ng mapa para hanapin niya roon ang sinasabi niyang bansa."

Axes stopped and put his glasses upward.

"Nang makuha ang mapa, the Taured Maan pointed out the area occupied by the Principality of Andorra. Nang makita ang pangalan ng Andorra ay naguluhan siya dahil Taured daw dapat ang naroroon at hindi Andorra, dahil ang Andorra ay hindi naman daw nag-e-exist. The officers still didn't believe him, and he himself didn't also give in. Because of the conflicts, the officers decided to take him to a nearby hotel for the night while they were conducting an investigation. To ensure that the man would not try to escape during the night, two guards were placed outside his room to guard him. They confiscated his documents and belongings as well for their investigations."

I gulped. This one's getting intense!

"However, the next morning, when the officers wanted to talk to the man, they opened the guarded room and they realized that the man had disappeared, and there was no sign of his escape. He literally... vanished."

"WHAT?!" one exclaimed. "So he just disappeared out of nowhere kahit may bantay sa labas ng room n'ya? How about his documents?"

Axes smirked. "They disappeared as well..."

"Paanong... nangyari 'yon...?" bulong ko.

"Some say the man is from the future who travelled to that current time," paliwanag ni Axes. "Some also say the man unconsciously placed himself in another dimension and the man himself is from the paralleled universe near yet different from us, like for reference, the famous Kimi No Nawa."

It yielded excitement from class.

"And that's what Multiverse Theory is," paliwanag ni Axes at pagko-konekta nito sa report niya. "It suggests that there are infinite universes around us and there might be a paralleled self of us in another dimension. There are instances that two paralleled universe, close yet not similar, tend to overlap and that's when a connection is probably linked. And that, ladies and gentleman, is the content of my report."

The class clapped.

"Grabe, idol talaga..." bulong ng ilan.

Pati ako ay nakipalakpak na rin.

"Nice job!" bati ng professor namin.

Axes never really disappoints...

"So before I totally end things, just to buy some time since we have three minutes before our dismissal," sabi ni Axes. "You know, class activity lang kasi ang required."

Natawa ang iilan maging ang professor namin.

"In case, like the Taured man na napunta ka sa parallel world na kung saan kaparehong-kapareho ito ng mundo natin at nakita mo ang paralleled self mo o ang bersyon mo sa mundong iyon, anong sasabihin mo sa kanya?"

That rendered amusement in everybody's eyes. Some answered as if they were talking to their younger self. I was having fun hearing their thoughts until I heard something that made me deaf for a while.

"Miss Maxine, mind to cooperate and answer since you are so good and all?"

Some of my classmates laughed. Maging si Axes ay napatingin sa akin.

Simula nang awayin ng paralleled self ko ang prof ko five months ago ay ako na ang naging target niya sa klase. Kaya nga minsan pinipili ko na lang manahimik para 'di ako mapag-initan pero wala, eh.

Napalunok ako.

Kaya mo 'yan, Maxx!

"W-What was the question again?" I asked, confused.

The class continued to laugh and tease me.

"In case you are the Taured man," Axes awkwardly re-stated while his eyes were looking at mine. "...and you tuned into a parallel universe and you met the version of yourself there, what will you say to her?"

"Why naman ganyan ang tanong..." bulong ko at gusto nang lamunin ng lupa.

"Just a phrase," the professor said. "What will you say if you encounter her right now, in front of you?"

Yet, I couldn't think of anything. I can't think of anything to say. My goddamn ears were even burning red!

"Imagine I am your paralleled self," Axes said. "What will you say to me?"

I looked at him, and everyone's laughing voice faded.

Uhm... Thank you kasi inaway mo ang prof at ako napag-iinitan ngayon. Shuta ka?

I bit my lip. Ayun siguro ang masasabi ko talaga.

"Aren't they exes?" I heard one ask.

My eyes widened.

"Oh shit. We forgot!"

"Awkward!"

When I met Axes' eyes, nakatingin pa rin siya sa 'kin. Halos manlambot ang mga tuhod ko.

Shit. WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT SHOULD I DO? AAAHHH!!!

"No thrill," Zero suddenly meddled. "How about what will the reporter say if he encounters his paralleled self? Sounds good, right?"

Everyone made a noise.

I looked at Zero and our eyes met. He smiled and gave a wink.

Ugh, I really love this friend of mine. He's always been like this—saving me from my mess.

Axes cleared his throat. "Is that even necessary?"

"Yes," Zero said. "To buy some time, right? How about imagine Maxx is your paralleled self. What will you say to her?"

My eyes grew bigger. Everyone giggled and made a noise.

"MULING IBALIK," pang-aasar nila.

WHAT THE FUCK ZERO?!?!

Sometimes, he really likes saving me but sometimes, he drags me to mud as well.

THAT MAN IS A LIVING DICKHEAD!

"O-Okay," Axes said. "Sure. I'll start."

I gulped.

Oh shit, oh shit. He doesn't need to do that!

He looked at me, as if I was his paralleled self and suddenly, he gave a sad yet melancholic smile.

"One cold day," he started, "You gonna wake up alone, craving for her touch, seeking for her presence, looking for her traces and will then realize how special she is."

Suddenly, Axes looked down and smiled so weak.

"...and when that day comes, she'll be waking up next to the guy who has long known…”