A RIDDLE, WRAPPED IN A MYSTERY, INSIDE AN ENIGMA

Sean knows that the only people who keeps too many plants in the building next to them were the Del couple and those were the sounds of several potted plants shattering all together. Sean immediately opened the door, Emma’s voice calling out to him as he ran the apartment corridor towards the closest room to their left.

He knocked, calling out Mrs. Del’s name but instead of an answer, he heard someone crying inside. He quickly turned the doorknob and pushed open the door. The room was in disarray – the huge wooden plant shelf besides the couch were knocked over. A chaotic mess of plants, ceramics, cactuses and soil scattered the tiled floor of the living room. Along the way, he picked up a toppled lamp on the desk that gives the room an eerily orange glow.

As he crossed the mess, he finally saw Mrs. Del crouching on the floor by the couch, phone in hand. She looked up and saw him, her chest heaving as she continued to sob. Sean slowly knelt down and took her wrinkled hands to help her up but instead he was pulled into a tight hug. “He’s gone, Sean. Chris is gone.”

Sean’s heart dropped for a second as he slowly pulled away. “Wh-what do you mean gone, Mrs. Del?”

“Called him today,” she said in between heaves. “Th-the operator said my husband is not there to answer anymore ‘cause he’s unavailable…he said, he said he’s gone and then the line was cut. I tried calling again but nothing.” She slapped the phone to her thigh.

Sean brows furrowed then took her hands again and carefully assisted her to sit on the couch while Emma was heard shouting his name in the corridor.

“I’m right here,” he called out quickly. He heard her running the halls.

“Emma, don’t run! Enter slowly and watch your step!”

A paused then slow, small steps came in. “What happened?” Emma gasped, her mouth gaping as she scanned the room.

She skipped through the mess as Sean crossed the room to the kitchen and filled a glass of water, then stride towards the living room and assisted the old woman to drink. She had already calmed down but her eyes were red and distant.

Sean pondered about the call for a second and worry rushed through him as he thought of his parents and brother. “Em, stay right here, I’ll just get my phone.”

Emma nodded and sat beside Mrs. Del.

As soon as Sean got his phone, he dialed a number then jogged back. He sat beside Emma. The phone rings for seconds then a voice-over spoke:

“This is operator six-one-three. How may I redirect your call?”

“Redirect call to Amanda Luisa Rien,” Sean replied, carefully pronouncing every word. “Sector 32. Age 47. Birthdate: 1978 May 3.”

“Your code is . . .”

“0-2-1-4-2-0-0-4.”

“Your full name and sector.”

“Sean Liam Rien, Jr., Sector 18!” He was getting impatient, his voice rising.

“Age.”

“21! Damn it!”

“Sorry, I did not get that. Could you properly enunciate –“, the voice continued monotonously.

“Twenty. One.” he replied in gritted teeth, his hand balled to a fist.

“Sean,” Emma’s voice was soft as she touched his free arm and Sean gently tapped her hand back, a signal that he was alright.

“Processing your information,” the voice said. “Please wait while I connect your call.” The phone rang again as they waited. It felt like an eternity.

“Hello?” A woman’s voice finally picked up. “Sean?”

“Mama!” Sean’s voice was shaky and fast. “Are you alright? Where’s pa and Eli? How are you there?”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down, darling," her mom gently replied. "We’re fine. Your papa’s still at work and Eli’s in his room studying. What’s wrong? You sound so scared.”

Sean gulped. “Well, I-“ He was unable to find the right words to say. He looked over at Mrs. Del who was crying again, hands on her face.

“Ma, do you know where Mr. Chris Del is?” he asked in a low voice.

“Hmm, no," she answered. "He was transferred in a different sector last week though we don’t know where. I hope Martha knows. Why?”

Sean stood up. “I think she knows. She called him today and the operator told her that he’s unable to talk anymore because he’s gone? I don’t know what that means, it sounds so vague to me. You don’t think they mean that he’s –“ He swallowed. “He’s dead?”

“Oh my!” his mother gasped. “I hope not, goodness!” There was a pause then her voice turned low. “Though something’s been off lately. A week after Chris and many others were transferred, we were unable to communicate with you yet you were able to. The officers said the signals were jammed or something. They’re still working on it. That’s really odd, how were you able to contact us all this time?”

“I’m not sure,” Sean frowned at that, hand on his mouth while he paced the room. “Ma, I planned to go there at your place this weekend with Em but now that transportations are limited, it might be difficult now.”

“Sean,” she replied, her voice firmed. “You know that we’re not allowed to go out of our designated sectors, right? That’s one of the things the Leaders were specific about. Soldiers and police officers roam almost everywhere and we are being surveyed every perimeter. If you’re caught, you’ll be locked away.”

The cities of every countries were divided into large Sectors which was organized by the world government. It was mapped out to all countries a week after Christmas last year when the first Ordinance was laid down for the world to follow. It happened so fast as if everything was planned for years and the Leaders only needed something big to pull it all off.

“I know that well, ma,” Sean sighed, frustration in his voice. “These ordinances are just plain stupid. How in the world will these laws save us from the upcoming end of the world? I don’t even believe that for a second I saw it on the news. The World Leaders united together and used that lie of an asteroid to have the world for themselves. What was the point of separating us? They’re making us follow and do things we don’t want to, taking away our needs one by one even our time.”

He didn’t notice that he was already speaking loudly, both Emma and Mrs. Del were looking up at him. He looked away and said in a whisper: “I just want to graduate.” His heart ached at the thought of it never happening.

“I know, dear,” she sniffed. “Everything doesn’t make sense anymore. Your father is also furious about it and Eli doesn’t talk much anymore, we miss you and Emma so much.” She was crying now.

Sean sat again and handed the phone to Emma, mouthing that their mother was crying. Emma took the phone, her lips downturned. They talked for minutes and Emma began to sob as Mrs. Del stroked her hair and when she finally said goodbye, Emma quickly hugged Sean, burying her face on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and slowly carried her up. Mrs. Del stood up and walked them out.

“We’ll find out what happened to Mr. Del, Mrs. Del,” Sean said by the door. “Don’t rush to any conclusions yet.”

Mrs. Del nodded slowly, smiling a bit.

Sean looked past her. “I’ll help you clean tonight, I’ll just put Emma to bed then I’ll come back.”

“No need. I can manage. You go rest now and eat that cake, alright?”

“But—“

She waved weakly and closed the door.

“Happy birthday, Mrs. Del,” Emma said in a whisper, her cheeks leaning on Sean’s shoulder – tears and snot staining his shirt. Sean then walked away to their room as the curfew alarm rang behind them.

__________

“Gone? Like poof, vanished?” Angelo said, his voice too loud as he changed the dressing of a young boy on the next bed. “They didn’t mean unalive, right?”

Sean put a finger up to his lips. “No. Well, according to Mrs. Del the operator told her that her husband is unavailable to answer the call because he’s gone. Just gone.” He was inserting an IV catheter on one of the patient’s median vein by the forearm, taking adhesive tapes sticking on his arm as he carefully attached the tube in place. He then remove the tourniquet and applied alcohol cotton ball to the skin.

“Don’t move carelessly now, Sir Lisbon. We don’t want your veins bulging and arm swelling again if the needle moves out of place,” Sean said gently. Sir Lisbon grumbled to himself and only kept his eyes on the TV across the room. Sean wrote something on his clipboard, stood up and walked out of the room.

“Mystery after mystery,” Angelo said walking beside him. “Wait, you haven’t told me about the robot incident, y’know.”

“That feels like a nightmare now,” Sean shook his head. “And what makes you believe me now?”

“I believe in aliens, man," Angelo shrugged. "Robots are not by far fictitious, too. A.I. has developed through the years though they got debased enough to steal jobs from artists.” He blew a raspberry and made a thumbs down. “I mean we’ve seen scientists invent robo-humans and make them talk like us on the net so if they started popping out of nowhere, I’ll only be slightly surprised.”

Sean wanted to point out that there were no solid evidence of aliens but shrugged it off as to not lose track of the conversation.

“It all happened too fast,” Sean began as they turned a corner and stopped at a counter. He took a mesh tray containing assorted medicine pills and tablets. He scanned through the prescription paper and placed it back on the tray. Angelo took his set of tray, reading through his paper as they walked away.

“After I dropped off Emma,” Sean continued. “I went to one of the shops next to the university to look for a peanut butter and coincidentally saw one of the huge trucks parked behind that shop. Piles of boxes were stacked by the open door and I checked to get a closer look and as luck would have it, one of the boxes was peanut butters.­­”

“You even journeyed to the uni for that." Angelo shook his head in disbelief. "I didn’t know you were that obsess with it.” 

“That wasn’t for me," Sean grunted. "That was for Emma. She likes those spreads, she even loves it with jam, anyways, no one seemed to be around and the box was already open so I took one jar and was about to went inside to pay for it when someone gripped me by the shoulder. I turned and there it was, a white, tall humanoid robot.”

They stopped in front of an elevator.

“Whoa! Did it speak?” Angelo said, pressing the up button.

“Yes,” Sean replied grimly. “It said, ‘put the jar back or be terminated.’"

“What!” Angelo’s free hand went to his hair. “Termination just for a spread, that’s crazy! It’s either there’s something important in that peanut butter or they developed a keen addiction over it, or maybe it’s their fuel or somethin’."

“I didn't know what to do," Sean ignored him. "I pulled myself free from its grip and ran fast and it chased after me.” The elevator arrived and they both went in. Sean pushed a floor button as the door closes.

“That means that other people may have seen it.” Angelo concluded.

“No,” Sean shook his head. “It transformed instantly into something more human, the metallic skin and electronic components dematerializing."

“Gee whiz!" Angelo gasped. "What did it look like?”

Ding! The elevator's door slid open. Sean’s glasses were shrouded by light, his face impassive.

“Me,” he finally said, almost in a whisper.