RISING PHOENIX ACT SELECT

CHAPTER 8: GROUP THEORY

The weekend came and went for Marco. By the time Monday came around, he tried to pretend like everything was just fine. However, as he witnessed the flagcem and looked around, he realized that everyone had seemingly moved on from the retake. Aside from a tongue-in-cheek reference by that day’s speakers, it wasn’t talked about in the slightest. He knew people had heard about it, however, as he could hear distant mutterings of “3rd floor Audi” and “fell down” from students nearby. Marco tried to hold in his anger as everyone had seemingly continued on with their day. At one point, he locked eyes with Darren, who saw Marco and realized that he was not alright. Marco glanced downwards in shame, not wanting him to see the state he was in.

Morning classes were unremarkable for Marco, and he bailed right when the bell rang and his lunch period began. He made his way to the library and sat on a table outside close to the entrance. After a few minutes of watching everyone who passed by, he spotted Glenn, just as he’d expected. “Hey, Glenn!” Marco called out, which took him by surprise.
“Marco? Akala ko nasa ospital ka pa…?” he asked.
“I got better,” Marco said smugly as he held his hands up to the air, with Glenn taking a seat adjacent to him.
“What happened? Why’d you just…climb up there?” Glenn asked Marco.

“...it’s a long story,” Marco replied.

“Let’s go to the ASTB…someone’s waiting for us,” he told Glenn. They then both got up and walked towards the ASTB. After a minute, they made it there. This was one of those days where the whole place was surprisingly empty. Glenn then quickly spotted Brianna sitting at one of the tables. “She knows about it all. I told her everything. I also told her to come here while we were on the bus,” Marco explained.
“I need to discuss something important. Those people we saw on the security cameras? They’re part of an…organization.”
“They call themselves…the Rising Phoenix.”
Brianna turned around after hearing their footsteps and waved at Marco. When they got to her table, they both sat down and made themselves comfortable. Marco then gave Glenn a quick summary of what happened to him.

“Alright…now you both know what this is about,” Marco started off.
“Last week, I successfully infiltrated the Rising Phoenix…and they tried to bribe me with my untouched perio papers.”
“Wait, they didn’t burn yours? Why?” Glenn asked.
“No…at least, not back then. They’ve probably destroyed it by now since I refused their offer,” Marco explained.
“They thought I was weak…that they could manipulate me into being a part of their…operation. But they’re wrong. I’m better than that.” Marco paused for a bit to gather his thoughts.
“...we have discovered something major. We stumbled upon a group of highly skilled and intelligent people with nothing to lose. They beat me to a pulp, for God’s sake. They don’t care who or what gets in their way. Their only goal is to bring Pisay crumbling down. And…I fear, if no one stops them…”
“...they’ll succeed…?” Brianna chimed in, to which Marco nodded gently.
“The Rising Phoenix is…as best as I can put it…a ghost in the machine. They’re a danger to everyone in Pisay, and we have to do everything we can to stop them.”

“I want to form…a team…to investigate this. To stop them once and for all. I chose you two because…as of the moment, you’re the only people I can trust with this,” Marco explained.
“What about Darren…?” Glenn asked.
“Don’t you trust him with this?” To that, Marco had a pained look in his eyes.
“You just don’t want him to get hurt, do you?” Brianna replied, to which Marco once again nodded gently to.
“The Rising Phoenix could be anywhere…the students, the teachers…even other school employees could be in on it, I don’t know…!” he exclaimed, letting some of his raw emotion out.
“I also have to warn you too that…this is a very dangerous endeavor. The Rising Phoenix will not show you mercy. I know that firsthand. If you don’t want to take that risk, you can leave. Does anyone want to leave?” Marco asked them.

He waited for a few seconds for them to respond. They continued to stay silent. “Sasali ako, pero hindi dahil sayo. Gusto ko lang masolusyonan ito,” Glenn explained.
“Di ko alam…” Brianna told Marco.
“It’s just a lot of responsibility, and…I dunno. I want to help you, but…yeah.” Marco nodded his head in understanding.
“I get it. You don’t have to join if you feel you’ll be put in danger.”
“Actually, you know what…? I think I’ll join…for now, at least,” said Brianna. “I know you need the help. I promise I’ll try my best.”

While Brianna was deciding, Marco noticed someone from the corner of his eye. It was Prairie, who was sitting all by herself in the corner writing on her notebook. “Thanks, Bri. I knew I could count on you,” he told her.
“I actually have another idea. You see Prairie over there…?” he asked as he pointed to her.
“Di ko inakalang kilala mo yung mga batchmates natin, Marco,” Glenn remarked.
“You think I should invite her to the team…? She could be really useful…”
“Can’t be any worse than your other ideas,” Glenn joked.
“Sure, go for it. As long as you can trust her, that is,” Brianna told him. Marco solidified his decision and got up to approach Prairie.

“Hey Prairie…remember me?” Marco told her, which made her look up and stop writing in her notebook.
“Ay, naalala kita. Ikaw si Marco, diba?”
“Yeah, that’s me. Sorry about the whole frisbee thing, by the way. I put a little too much force in it.”
“Ok lang yan. Teka, hindi ba ikaw yung nahulog sa 3rd floor Audi?”
“If you’re wondering, I’m fine. I’m all healed.”
“Sige…anong kailangan mo? May natuklasan ka ba…?”
“Yeah, about the camera thing…long story very short, we discovered a secret society in Pisay called the Rising Phoenix and I’m forming a team to take them down.”
“Wow…dati na akong may hinala na may secret society dito sa Pisay. G ako,” Prairie quickly replied.
“Oh! Well, that’s great…! The rest of us are over here…” Marco told her excitedly as he motioned to the table where Brianna and Glenn were sitting.

Prairie quickly took a seat at the table while Marco came back to his. “So…welcome to the team!” Marco told Prairie.
“So, this is - ” Before Marco could finish however, Prairie chimed in.
“Ikaw si Glenn Arnold E. Duranca, at ikaw si Brianna A. Garcia,” she said as she pointed at both of them respectively.
“Brianna ang kaisa-isang pangalan mo, diba?” asked Prairie, which Brianna confirmed.
“Oh…I guess I don’t need to introduce you to them then,” Marco remarked surprisingly as he laid back on his chair.
“Don’t know what I was expecting, since you’re a detective and all.”

“Do you all know each other…?” Marco asked as he motioned towards the three of them.
“Alam ko si Prairie, nasa Eme tayo noong Grade 7,” Brianna said as she looked towards her.
“Pero si Glenn…hindi ko siya masyadong kilala. Yun lang.” Glenn readjusted himself in his seat and began to talk.
“I don’t really know these two, but I hope we get along well. I’ll try at least,” he said as he looked at both of them.
“Well, as for me, Brianna’s been my best friend since Grade 7, Glenn is someone I’ve…had a past with…” he said as he gave a discomforted glance towards him,
“...and Prairie is someone I just found out about two weeks ago. So, yeah.”

“So…ano na ang nalaman natin…?” Prairie asked excitedly as she opened her notebook and clicked her pen.
“Ok, here’s everything I know…” Marco explained.
“When I infiltrated the Rising Phoenix, I learned a few things. One, they’re looking for some kind of flash drive they lost a long time ago. Two, this drive is in the possession of a certain person codenamed ‘Radium’. That’s all I’ve got.”

“Flash drive? What’s on it?” Glenn asked.
“I don’t know what it contains, but it seems like they need it to continue their plans,” Marco replied.
“USB, I assume. Sige.”
“Teka, na-infiltrate mo sila…? Wow…” Prairie said, bewildered.
“...naaalala mo ba ang mukha nila…?” she asked.
“No…they were all wearing balaclavas, I couldn’t make out any features,” Marco explained. “Besides, even if I could see their faces, I wouldn’t remember it. I swear to God, I have protopriogenia, or whatever it’s called.”
“Prosopagnosia,” Brianna blurted out.
“Sorry…I felt like I needed to contribute somehow. Parang nandito lang ako eh.”

“Ok…that’s the absolute basics of what you all need to know. Now we proceed forth…as a team,” said Marco.
“Kung tayo’y magkakaisa,” Prairie asked, “...ano ang magiging pangalan ng ating grupo…?” Marco put his hand on his chin, not anticipating the question.
“Um…I hadn’t really thought about that. Do you guys have any ideas?” he asked them.
“Let’s call ourselves…The Destroyers of the Rising Phoenix,” Glenn suggested.
“That’s way too on the nose, Glenn…” Marco replied, to which Brianna and Prairie silently nodded. Glenn pouted and slumped in his seat after that remark. Prairie motioned to Marco to give her more time to think, leaving only Brianna left to give a suggestion.

“What about…Dexterous Detectives…?” Brianna suggested.
“Hm…I like that,” Marco said gleefully.
“Are we going with that?” he asked Glenn and Prairie, to which Glenn gave a reluctant thumbs up while Prairie gave complete approval.
“Alright, everyone…this is it,” he said in a serious manner.

“Dexterous Detectives…we’ve got work to do.”