03

Three months ago, Carigta was a country of disaster. Corruption among the government officials caused poverty. Poverty, in turn, pushed the desperate into crime. And crime led to all sorts of tragedies, in Selina's opinion. The country was begging for change.

Elections came, and a candidate from a humble province showed up and promised just that. Change. He was an honest-- almost brutally-- and down to earth man with lots of supporters. He ruled his hometown with an iron fist and swore to do the same as President.

Even when there was unrest, his hometown did seem prosperous. The Carigteños thought maybe this man was exactly what they needed.

So he won. Change came...

And wouldn't you know it? The situation got worse.

Selina shakes her head, walking through the metal ground of the tunnels. Carigta just isn't a place for iron fists.

"Juan, it's getting stuffy down here. Are we any closer to the exit?" she asks the man who is slightly behind her and using a heavyduty flashlight to light their way. Selina's glad he thought to bring that along. Her flashlight was far inferior.

"I can't believe it," Juan chuckles. The sound of it bounces off the walls. "You're just a kid! But you saved me! You saved me with a bunch of toys!"

Selina harrumphs, feeling upset at the fact he didn't seem to hear her question. Why do people keep pointing out I'm a 'kid'? I'm already eighteen-- a legal adult!

Selina harrumphs. "I'm not a kid. I'm as old as you," she lies.

Juan scoffs. "That's a bunch of balder, that is. You look as young as my niece."

Selina goes quiet, thinking about how Juan had a niece. How an accused drug lord in the President's blacklist had a niece. Something about the details sounded funny. Plus Juan had been nothing but nice to her this entire time. Him? A drug lord? That's silly!

But then, Selina considers as she listens to her footsteps resounding against the cold metal floor, why would a guy like him know about a shady place like this? That's suspicious.

She's about to ask him straight when she figures he could outright lie to her. She had to be discreet. "Come here often?" she asks nonchalantly.

He stiffens. Then groans. "Kid. I'm married," Juan stresses.

"What?" Selina asks, puzzled. Realization dawns upon her. "No! I wasn't flirting-- That was a literal question! I meant if you went down here! In the tunnels! I'm not--" she continues stammering.

She's glad it's dark, otherwise Juan would see her face burning. I don't deserve this! she thinks, flustered.

Perhaps to save her from her tribulations, Juan disregards the misunderstanding and answers the question. "No. I don't come here often. Hell no. This place gives me the creeps. I used to sneak in from time to time when I was a teen. I wasn't very smart back then. I thought it would be really cool to brag about infiltrating the military's secret tunnels."

Selina jumps at that. "Is this illegal?" she squeaks.

"I don't think so," Juan shrugs, walking ahead of her. "The military hasn't used this place since the Forgotten War."

Right. Selina thinks of a history lesson back in grade school. I forgot.

A huge rat scampers past Juan, sounding like it was threatening to get a restraining order, except in rat language. Juan ignores the grumpy animal, then shines the light on the wall it came from. The beam hits some metal wires curved to become steps on a ladder. "If I remember correctly," he says, "this is our way out."

Juan lets Selina climb up first. The steps lead to a rusty square hatch. Selina pushes it open with some effort, straining her muscles at its weight. Slowly, it lifts and a ray of light sears at her eyes. With a grunt, she throws the hatch back completely and finds herself on the spiky grass of a deserted playground. She inhales the fresh air with a contented sigh and helps herself all the way through.

Juan places his heavyduty flashlight on the playground floor before he gets up with both arms. "Ah," he exhales, squinting at the sun. "Praise the Lord. It's still morning."

"Yeah," Selina agrees, marveling at the azure of the sky, pristine white clouds sailing by. "There's one more thing I want to ask you."

She turns to look at Juan who has just sealed the hatch again. He looks worried, as if she might accidentally hit on him again.

Selina inhales. "You're not really a drug lord, are you?" Just another innocent man who was going to get killed?

Juan's shoulders sag in relief. He shakes his head. "No. Though I use to be… in a bad place a few years back," he confessed with an abashed smile.

Selina's brow furrows. "What changed you?"

Juan looks away, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He laughs, as if recalling a happy memory. "Met someone," he says. A distant look takes place on his expression. "They taught me a lot about how to live."

Selina stares at the strange man. Juan lifts his head to gaze up at the sky. "Well, I'll be going now. Take care of yourself, Kid," he says.

"You too! And if the cops come back--"

"I'll manage myself." Juan Bay shows her a pleasant smile, then starts walking away. She waits until he's out of sight to remove the skull helmet, the hoodie, and the shawl. Another mission accomplished, she thinks in high spirits. She attempts to make her way back home when it hits her.

She doesn't know where the hell she is.

*

Selina is lost. Very lost. She has passed the same humungous rubber tree for about eight times without crossing paths with another human being. She must be trapped in some sort of infinity space-time loop. She thinks of her many victories and impossible escapes... to be caught in an infinity loop by the space cops. On the bright side, she can say an "I told you so!" to Rhoda, who ignorantly insists that Aliens do not exist.

Silly... Selina thinks, resting on the grass with her back against the tree's rough bark. She figures she has nothing else to do but wait for the space cops. Maybe they'd take her to their planet prison to spend time with pale, slimy, intergalactic criminals.

Days pass by. Okay, maybe just minutes. It's hard to tell in a time loop. But the space cops do not come. "Where are they?" Selina mumbles, stomach growling in complaint. She looks up at all the vines of the rubber tree. It must be very young, because the vines don't reach the ground yet. "Maybe I'll see their spaceship if I climb up," she muses.

Without further ado, she hops to her feet and begins to climb. She's good at it, or at least she likes to think so. She's been climbing trees since childhood, winning races against playmates. Of course Rhoda would always have her one-upped. But that didn't count. Rhoda is older.

Selina lifts herself onto a sturdy-looking branch with little to no effort. She's a good ten feet off the ground. She looks at the sky to see-- Nothing. No spaceships. No aliens.

She sighs. Perhaps this is their prison for her. To be trapped in the same place and moment forever.

And ever...

And ever...

“Do you ever comb your hair?”

Selina jolts up. She looks for the source of the sound, but there are only leaves, branches, and vines.

"You look like you haven't taken a bath for months," the voice of a lad says once more. Selina looks down and there he is, sitting on a branch not far from hers.

What strikes her first is his neat, bright blue hair, close-cropped on one side. Then his shiny earrings that look like they're made of silver. Then the blue denim jacket that doesn't even look sweat-stained, despite how hot it is and the fact that he climbed up a tree. And last, the designer jeans. How had she missed him?

This guy must be some wannabe fashionista, Selina thinks.

But back to the hair, something about it looked familiar. "Dyeing your hair will shorten your lifespan," she tells him.

The lad who looks about her age grins. "Maybe I'll die before enduring its effects," he replies.

Selina stares at his face. "Do I know you?"

The lad nods. "Yeah. Well, no. We're not on first name basis, but I see you in school."

"Blue hair isn't allowed in my university," Selina says, suspicious.

"Which is why I'll be dyeing it back to dark brown by Sunday," the lad says without missing a beat.

"Huh. That's a lot of effort, don't you think?"

"If that's what it takes to express my individuality."

Selina laughs. This guy is a really hardcore wannabe fashionista. "What's your name?"

The lad shifts on his branch, averting his gaze to the expanse of the park in front of him. "Depends. What day is it today?"

"Aww c'mon!" Selina smiles, forgetting her aching hunger and her tired feet. "Your real name!"

"After you."

"Selina Andoque," she replies proudly, showing off how she's not afraid to give her name to strangers.

"Don," the lad relents. Selina can't see his face, but he sounds amused.

"Don...?"

"Just Don," he says in a singsong manner.

Selina raises an eyebrow at 'Don'. What harm would be done in giving a name? It's not as if a full name comes with an address and a contact number. The Carigtan government isn't that hi-tech yet. Despite all her thoughts, she drops the topic.

"Where are we? I got lost," she instead settles for. She looks straight ahead because facing Don is kind of disturbing her balance, and he isn't looking back up at her anyway.

"I figured," Don says. "You've been walking in circles. You passed by me nine times now."

Selina feels her face burn. "So I wasn't in an infinite loop installed by the space cops?"

Don bursts into laughter, his blue hair bouncing a bit, reminding Selina of some shampoo commercial. "No, no," he sighs. "The only loop you're trapped in is the one you made for yourself."

Selina chuckles. "Deep, man. Deep," she nods.

"I would've thought that the famed Sidapa would know her way around."

Selina freezes, no trace of mirth on her face anymore. Her heart pounds hard against her chest. "I--"

"Or was it Haliya? It’s hard to keep up with media these days," Don cuts through her.

"Uh, no--"

"Come now! You didn’t think I hadn’t noticed those,” he points to the miscellany she tried wrapping up in her hoodie. “Plus you crawled out of the Forgotten Tunnels. I saw that part too. You're the right age and build, and I'll hear all about what you've done later in the news."

Selina opens her mouth. Closes it. Really, she should’ve seen this coming. "How do you know about the Forgotten Tunnels anyway, Don?" she demands.

He raises an eyebrow. "I remembered." He puts a hand on his heart, then says in a sincere tone, "I won't tell anyone, I promise. We’re uni-buddies! Besides, you’re a hero around these parts," he says.

Selina looks back at him and almost smiles.

"Albeit an amateur one."

"Ugh. Whatever. I'm getting down," Selina says.

"Wait!" Don says so urgently that she nearly falls off, turning to look at him. "I-uh..." Any semblance of pride fights to stay on his face. "Could you perhaps help me get down from here?"

"What?" Selina snorts. "Can't you do it yourself?"

"Um… Not exactly?"

"Then why ask an amateur?" she shoots.

Don gives her an irritated look as she jumps down from the tree. "Good luck, Don!" she says. "Nice shoes, by the way!"

"Wait! Hey, come on!" Don protests as she walks away. "Please?"

"What was that?" she calls back loudly.

A pause. "Please?"

Selina giggles. Wait a second... Isn't there class today? Why isn't he in...?

Selina hears something like a deep thunderclap. The noise reverberates through the park, followed by distant screams. She lifts her eyes to see a thick tail of black smoke whip in the sky. Without stopping to look back at Don, she runs to the scene.