4th Door

It may be roundly asserted that human ingenuity cannot concoct a cipher which human ingenuity cannot resolve.

-Edgar Allan Poe

***

"Zyril, please don't go." Vlad was half screaming - half crying as held Zyril's dying body. Tumagos na ang masaganang dugo mula sa katawan nitong tadtad ng bala.

"Vlad," umubo ang babae at bumulwak ang dugo mula sa bibig nito. She was panting. Hardly. "My t-time is finally o-over..." her eyes weakened as she continuously sobbed for her last breath.

Napakuyom ako ng daliri. It was all my fault. It was all our fault why Zyril had to go through this. She could have enjoyed her life as an innocent girl but the Scorpions saw her special skills and took advantage of her dad's situation as a barter for her joining the team. Scorpion freed his dad, made some arrangements to better their life in exchange to Zyril's once peaceful life -become one of our assets.

It was all my fault. But, why am I still alive?

"A-are you a m-mafia Zy?" Vlad asked without any hesitation. He needed to hear it from his friend.

"I'm so sorry Vlad." Zyril cried. Pero mas lalong bumulwak ang mga dugo sa bunganga nito. Her grip to Vlad's arm tightened. She's going. "I'm sorry for k-keeping a secret, but it was all for your safety. I did everything t-to p-protect you... my f-friends."

Hindi na umimik si Vlad. Pigil ang mga hikbi nitong hinigpitan ang mga yakap sa kaibigan. Natas was trying to control his emotions. Mina and Bella was crying beside him as well. Both could relate to the situation. They've all lost their friends, maybe in different ways, but with the same degree of lost and longing and pain.

"P-please live my dear Vlad. P-please make Satana, Kid and my death worthy. M-may w-we meet again?"

Humagulgol si Vlad pati na rin si Mina. His tears fell on Zyril's death. Mas hinigpitan nito ang yakap sa kaibigan bago nito sinambit ang pamamaalam kay Zyril, "M-may we meet again, Zy."

Then.

With a gust of the wind, Zyril's grip let go of Vadimir's arms. Zyril's was gone. She died trying to cover our secret. She died protecting my identity. She died remembering and standing with her oath: protect her brother's identity even on her last breath.

As Vlad cried for the last time he's holding his friend, everyone in the room sniveled silently.

May we meet again, Zyril. I uttered in my head.

Pagbitaw ng utak ko sa mga salitang 'yon, nagulat ako sa isang paparating na kamao mula sa pasugod na si Vlad. The guy knocked me out with his powerful knuckles. Hindi ako kaagad nakapalag.

He had all the right to kill me. Afterall, it was all my fault.

Sinundan ng malakas niyang suntok sa kanan ang isa pang tadyak sa sikmura. Halos sumuka ako sa sobrang lakas no'n. I glared at him as my form of defense, but his stare was far more dangerous that I could have imagined.

Vlad was ready for the kill. He knew what was going on. He knew who Zyril was, who I was and who we were.

"You put her into this! You put us all into this! You killed all our friends! You must die!" He hissed. Pasugod pa sana ito pero kaagad siyang napigilan nina Natas, Mina at Bella.

I tasted my won blood. I spit them instantly as I try to recover myself. "Go on! Kill me, Vlad. Kill me and end every pain, every guilt and all the lost I've been feeling! End it!"

"You're the answer to the riddle. The riddle is 'Choi'! I have been keeping this I realized it was you who put us all into this. I will kill you!" Pumalag ang lalaki mula sa pagkakahawak nina Natas, Mina at Bella. Nakawala ito at mabilis akong sinunggaban. His criminal instinct just raised his skill.

Wala akong balak manlaban sa oras na 'yon. He deserved to kill me. I deserve to die.

His right hand managed to hold my neck. He tightened his hold and choked me with his glaring eyes on me. "You deserve to die!"

I lay there. Waiting for my death. Waiting for him to give me the most satisfying death I deserve. Hindi na ako makahinga dahil sa pagkakasakal ni Vlad saakin. He punched me strongly straight right on my left eye. My visions blur. Pakiramdam ko'y naalog ang ulo ko sa lakas ng suntok nito.

I felt a warm fluid burst out from my eyelid. Pumutok na siguro iyon dahil sa lakas ng suntok ni Vlad.

"Vlad, you can't kill Andreas! We need him!" Sigaw ni Mina na pilit hinihila ang manggas ng damit ng lalaki.

"Please stop it Vlad. Andreas can help us get through this! He knows what we're up against! If you kill him, it will complicate our situation! Bitawan mo na siya!" Singhal ni Bella na nakahila naman sa braso ng lalaki.

Natas was trying to pull the guy away from me as well. Ilang saglit lang ay nagawa na nilang ilayo ang lalaki mula saakin.

I gasped for an enormous air to fill my empty lungs. I almost died. I almost had it. Almost.

Hinahabol din ng gigil na gigil na si Vlad ang paghinga nito. There were only four of us, but it felt like all our anger and released emotions filled the room.

"I know you killed Karen; I just don't know how you did it but I am very sure you did it. Larryson and his army of demons, they avenging her death. They're using us as an accessory for this vengeful play. Tama ba ako?" Vlad howled like a fool.

"There is more to that which you don't know. Hindi ko pinatay si Karen. Hinding-hindi ko magagawa 'yon!"

"Yes because you're madly inlove with her. You're madly inlove with my fiance." He striked back.

"Yes! Oo. Dude, I didn't know he's engaged. Saka ko lang nalaman no'ng nagkagusto na ako sa kaniya. I did some digging, and I found out that one of our employees, you, is her fiance."

"Yes you did. Ofcourse. A spy knows everything and is sure about everything except from his emotions." He said with sarcasm.

"Larryson and his family of Infinite brought us all here. He will take all of us be cause we passed their shitty recruitment experiment. I may have put you all into this by being there during Karen's death, but I swear, I did not want this to happen; neither did I want Karen to die."

"Andreas, a-are you trying to say that we're in the middle of a mafia war? A mafia recruitment? That's why every floors have a set of tests? Are we being assessed?" Mina looked terrified at the thought.

Hindi ako umimik. Tumango ako.

Mistulang pinagbagsakan ng langit at lupa ang mga mukha nina Vlad, Bella, Mina at Natas sahil sa kompirmasyon ko. Ngayong alam na nila ang lahat, mas lalong nadagdagan ang takot ko para sa mga buhay nila. The more that they know about us, the risky their life is.

We were all dying. I was supposed to protect them from the danger of knowing the mafioso's secrets, but they deserve to know everything. They must know what was killing them. By knowing what was beyond all of these, they might survive it.

"Hindi pa tayo tapos, Greyson Andreas Choi. Hindi pa." Vlad warned. Tumakda na ito upang tunguhin ang bumukas na pintuan. His fists still gathered, his shoulders tightened and stiff.

"Vlad, watch out for the muzzles. B-bullets." Singhal ni Mina na mabilis na nakasunod sa lalaki.

"They've taken Zyril on this floor. As I see it, every floor needs blood in order to open. Kung papatayin nila ako, tayo, sana'y hindi na tayo umabot lahat dito."

The guys made sense. Humakbang ito palapit sa tila isang lagusan pababa ng fourth floor. Nasa likuran nito sina Bella at Mina habang si Natas nama'y sinusuri kung maayos pa ang kalagayan ko. He gestured to offer a help but I refused. Nang makita nitong nagawa kong bumangon at maglakad ay saka ito sumunod kina Mina.

***

When I was younger, before my father put me into the realm of the Scorpions, I had a copy of several ciphers and codes. I used them to send messages to a friends that no one else could read. I remember most of my childhood, aside from witnessing deaths and betrayal; using special symbols to write notes to my class.

Growing up I learned that codes and ciphers are used by military, diplomatic forces and secret alliances to keep confidential information from unauthorized eyes. Businesses also send data that has been encoded to try and protect trade secrets and back-room deals. Mafias use codes: modified codes, to kill each other.

The study of enciphering and encoding and deciphering and decoding is called cryptography. It was a part of the training I once had before I became a scorpion. I was good at it. I have mastered it over the years.

Hindi ko alam na may mas hihirap pa palang secret code kumpara sa mga napagdaanan ko na.

"Cipher, great. They're actually training us now to spies?" Sarkastikong utas ni Mina habang nakaharap kami sa isang pintuang gawa sa metal na may digital monitor sa gitna nito.

"Maybe it's a good decision to let him live. He's one of they anyway." Said Vlad na nakatanaw sa mga numerong nasa pintuan.

My father's voice, once again echoed in my head as I view the secret code. "For a cipher to be useful, several things must be known at both the sending and receiving ends: algorithm or method used to encipher the original message or the plaintext, the key used with the algorithm to allow the plaintext to be both enciphered and deciphered, and the period or time during which the key is valid."

"70 101 76 73 88," I uttered as I moved closer to the digital door.

"If that is an ASCII code, I guess 70 and 101 stands for 'F' and 'e' respectively." Dinig ko namang sambit ni Natas na kanina pa nakatitig sa pintuan. "But 'F' and 'e' are not available on the digital keys. We only have these letters: a, b, i, o, x, z, r, o, m, s, n, y, 5, 8, 9, 2, 7, and 1."

Napalunok ako. Gamit na gamit na ang utak ko kanina pa. Natas was right. 70 101 76 73 88 is an ASCII code which stands for FeLIX, 70=F, 101=e, 76=L, 73=I and 88=X. But there are no f, e, l, i, and x on the digital keyboard.

Napaisip ako, wala naman ibig sabihin ang pangalang 'Felix' base sa nalalaman ko. No Felix was ever related to the Scorpions nor with the MOS tower.

"This is a substitution cipher," I started explaining. Kumunot ang noo nina Bella at Mina. "Natas is correct, these are ASCII codes which stands for FeLIX. 70=F, 101=e, 76=L, 73=I and 88=X. But there are no f, e, l, i, and x on the digital keyboard so the problem is their other equivalent with the keys a, b, i, o, x, z, r, o, m, s, n, y, 5, 8, 9, 2, 7, and 1."

"H-how can we even know kung sino ang may nakaraan kay Felix or who even know Felix?" bella started to panic. Mukhang wala din itong maisip na ibang koneksyon ng pangalan Felix sa mga available keys sa digital keyboard.

"Our time is running out. We only have less than 12 hours to the ground if I am not mistaken." Natas said saka bumalik sa pagtitig sa digital door. Vlad looked at him intently. Napansin niyang napansin ko iyon.

I sighed in dismay. Pilit pinoproseso ng utak ko na may katumbas ang pangalang Felix sa keyboard. I have done all the methods in the substitution process, recalled all algorithms and all the training I had, pero halos dalawang oras na ang nakalipas at wala pa ring sumasagi sa utak ko.

"Mina, anything in mind?" I asked.

She shook her head vehemently.

Mina moved closer to the digital door. She raised her hand and keyed in 's,o,s, 9,1,1'.

The monitor showed a large 'X' mark after. Then, in three seconds, a digital clock appeared and started counting 3 minutes down.

"Oh my, Mina. Your wrong answer triggered the timer!" Bulalas ni Bella.

Nabahala kaming lahat. Pakiramdam ko'y timer iyon ng isang malakas na bomba na hindi sinasadyang paandarin ni Mina.

"A-anong gagawin natin? Akala ko lang tama ang sos911 and Felix is our saving key!" Mina explained with a terrified look.

Bumilis ang kalabog ng dibdib ko. I started sweating tiny cold crystals in my body. Mukhang katapusan na ng lahat. Hindi na gumagana ang utak ko! I wanted all of these to end!

"Two minutes!" Vlad shouted. "Damn we only have two minutes!"

"T-try 911!" Bella shouted. Pipindot na sana ito sa digital keys nang hinarangan siya ni Natas.

"Guessing is never an option if you want to survive, Bella. Never!" Tila dismayado nitong sambit.

"One minute!" I screamed. Napasabunot ako sa ulo. Pinilit kong paganahin ang tuliro kong isipan. Walang tamang sagot ang lumabas.

"Thirty seconds. Oh good Lord!" Bella growled.

"Twenty!"

"Holly f-" pigil hininga kong tinitigan ang nalalagas na orasan. The word 'Felix' reverberated in my brain. Pakiramdam ko'y hinahanap na ng mga ugat sa utak ko sagot nang mabilis na humarap sa digital door si Natas.

He keyed in, 'Iron59'.

The timer stopped at 4 seconds remaining on clock.

Natigilan ang lahat nang bumukas ang pintuan. Iron59... inulit-ulit iyon ng utak ko.

Hanggang sa nagsalita ang lalaki. "FeLIX means Iron59. Since substitution cipher nga 'yan, the chemical symbol for Iron is 'Fe' while the roman numeral equivalent of LIX is 59. Good thing I remember my basic math and chemistry."

"Iron59..." I reechoed the answer as my eyes shifted towards Natas.

Could he possibly be the...

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