The room is full of abandoned TVs and other electrical equipment. A group of aswang are staring at a TV watching a debate where two politicians are in an argument over some matters involving a corporation. An aswang witch and a human thug sit together closely seeing what may impact the whole of the Philippines.

  Even though the aswang are monsters, they do have humans that ally with them, whether through greed, opportunity, or coercion. Usually the mixture of the three. The reporter on the TV makes an announcement.

  “Kasalukuyang mayroong debate kasama si Jose Garza at Juan Reyes tungkol sa mga papel na ginagampanan at mga plano sa pag-unlad ng Pinnacle para sa konstruksyon at imprastraktura ng Maynila. This may impact the initiative to pass the bill to give Pinnacle more resources in---”

  “Hay, jusko, ito no naman,” the witch says in frustration.

  The thug responds, “Let’s just see what they have to say.”

  I see a figure walk to the podium on TV. I recognize him as Senator Jose Garza, as listed in the lower third title of the broadcast. He starts speaking.

  “Senator Reyes, Magnus’ projects have revitalized the economy and cut down the unemployment rate by half in 5 years. To not pass this initiative would go contrary to the values we stand for to ensure na lahat ng Pilipino ay may magandang kinabukasan.”

  The lower thirds switch to the name Senator Juan Reyes, as the shot cuts to another senator who says the following in response.

  “With all due respect, Senator Garza, ang pagbibigay ng higit pang mga konsesyon kay Magnus at sa Pinnacle sa magpapalakas ng kanilang impluwensya sa buong bansa. There is always a price when you allow such powerful entities like these companies to go rampant in our society. Do you not remember how much we sacrificed to end foreign interference in our affairs?”

  Garza fires back. “They already transformed half of Asia with groundbreaking technologies. We have to compete, o maiiwan tayo sa ere.”

  Reyes replies, “I won’t deny that. But look how powerful they have become. We will be at their mercy. Hindi sila aalis. I would go as far to say a lot of their policies are close to neo-colonialism.”

  Garza scoffs, “Mga korporasyon bilang mga colonizer? Sinisiguro ko sa iyo na--”

  Reyes interjects. “Look at what happened in history. Like in Indonesia or Thailand for example. They basically now own those countries. We must at least limit foreign control in these projects.”

  Garza adds, “But the nanotech used to build these skyscrapers---”

  Reyes slams hand on the podium, “That’s exactly what I am afraid of! Doesn’t matter in construction, communication, or even sanitation, they have control of that tech. Alam nating lahat na maaari nilang itigil ang konstruksyon ng parehong teknolohiyang na ginamit nila upang itayo ang mga ito. Holding the country hostage.”

  A moderator shouts back, “It isn’t your turn to speak! You need to allow decorum.”

  Reyes leans forward, “Decorum means nothing when you know who is in control!”

  A huge commotion can be heard from the overall national legislature.

  Reyes shouts, “We let them go too far. NO MORE TO THIS CORPORATE IMPERIALISM!”

  Arguments start breaking out from numerous politicians over the debate. The aswang continue to watch the mess on TV unfold.

  The thug crosses his arms. “I’ll admit, Reyes is bold but he will definitely be pushed aside or ignored. Tiyak na makakahanap ng paraan ang Pinnacle para mapahiya siya.”

  “Or have him killed,” She looks at the thug.

  He looks back at her, “They wouldn’t be so obvious, right?”

  She shrugs, “A politician from Davao disappeared after he openly denounced Pinnacle’s operations in Mindanao. Everyone down there knows they are responsible, but what are they gonna do? Wala.”

  He nods, “A shame. Fucking corp shitting on the rest of us. So about the shipment.

  She responds, “Ate Dalisay wants them moved in a few minutes. We can’t keep our client waiting.”

  “Sige, oras na para umalis.” He nods to the rest of the group to get moving.

  I was hoping they wouldn’t start now. I could try to sneak the abducted victims out, but the security layout of the base is similar to the warehouse, since I nearly triggered an anti-metaplasmic field as indicated by a subtle green glow if one looks closely at the surface. They will be alerted if I phase through any of the walls. I guess I have no choice. I have to subdue the gang first.

  One of the thugs attempts to turn off the TV. I make my move. I use my hand to reach out through the screen grabbing him by the collar. Then I pull him with all my strength slamming his head into the TV knocking him out. The sound of his skull hitting the edge alerts all the rest. The others are quick to draw their weapons and shoot at the TV.

  After they stop unloading, they still aim at the TV guns trained. Some already are reloading. One of them walks closely but cautiously to check.

  I use my connection to the Static to activate the TVs randomly in the room. Deception and misdirection are usually my favorite tactics. I quickly crawled out of a TV behind a thug shattering it in the process. As he turns around, I throw up ectoplasm at his face causing him to recoil. I quickly punch him before finding cover from incoming gunfire.

  The witch points in my direction for the others to see. “Butangi ang iyang kilid.”

  The aswang and their human thug allies move to surround my position, while shooting at me. I phase through the TVs to avoid the group. The witch telekinetically throws one of them from the pile at me. I jump through the screen and disappear as the TV hits one of the aswang in the face knocking him out. If she’s smart she could level the playing field by shattering all the screens. I am banking on her not realizing this or this fight might get more difficult.

  The mob looked around anxiously to see where I was.

  Unfortunately for one of the thugs, he gets near a pile of abandoned stereos. Time for some rock music. With flick of a switch, the stereo blares out extremely loud rock music disorienting the thug and causing him to cover his ears in pain. I appeared from behind the stereos and knocked him out with a boombox. More of the mob shoots at me, while I run across the room. Some of the bullets grazed me. Damn.

  I hold my side while I regenerate. The qi present in this room is off, but enough I can absorb the flow to use my powers. If it was a tighter space, it would have been more difficult to fight inside.

  Two aswang with their claws, maws, and melee weapons charge at me. I dodge with moves that one can see from capoeira, something I learned when Finn and I were in Brazil a while ago. I dance around a side slash and a stab from an aswang, who is one of the ghoul variants. I duck as another aswang with the face of a dog tries to bite my face. I draw a combat knife and stab the dog-headed aswang’s chin. He recoils back, while I parry a machete swipe from his associate. The ghoul aswang changes his handle on the machete to reverse grip and goes in a frenzy making a flurry of slashes. I block the first five strikes, and then I have to momentarily phase through the other four. I counter with a roundhouse kick with a follow up strike at his side. He yelps in pain, as the weredog leaps on me. However, I use my legs to push him off over me into a stack of boxes.

  The ghoul pulls back reinforced with two human thugs and a witch attack with range. I contort my body as I try to preemptively dodge more bullets and magic missiles. I had to anticipate the thugs’ aim, but the magic projectiles are slower indicated as purple orbs.

  The witch meets with the wounded aswang ghoul and licks his wounds, healing them. Very odd way to mend wounds.

  One of the thugs drops his gun and reaches for something in a nearby bag. It's an RPG. He aims it at me.

  “真的吗?” (Really?)

  Just as the thug fires the projectile, I take a TV and hold it in front of me. The TV turns on with white noise on the screen and the RPG disappears into the static world within.

  I bet they didn’t see that coming. The human thug lowers his gun and looks at the witch. The witch looks back at the thug.

  The witch yells, “What are you staring at? Kill her n--”

  One of the TVs suddenly turns on with the RPG appearing out of the static abyss going straight for the witch and the other two aswang detonating on impact. I cover my face from the smoke and debris.

  As the smoke cleared, I could see that almost everyone in this group was downed or possibly dead, if that RPG blew that witch up. I can not only bring objects into the Static Realm but also people. I could have dragged any of these thugs in. But, I won’t. That part of my past is behind me. It would have to be some dangerous individual to force my hand.

  Despite what I am, I try not to be a killer. It’s not my place to take a life. It’s better whenever possible to subdue and not terminate my opponents. Not that it is always possible to maintain that code, but I really don’t want to kill anyone. I hope that I didn’t end up killing the witch. However, I heard beings like her are very resilient. An RPG in this case is good enough to down them. Kill them though? Hard to say at the moment.

  I see one of the conscious thugs run away downstairs. I would pursue him but something caught me off guard. It is the human thug that was talking to the witch. I stand in front of him. He drops his gun and raises his hands out. “I...I surrender.”

  I notice that the thug looks rather familiar to the girl I met earlier. And of course, he had a rose tattoo on his right arm. Coincidence? Doesn’t matter. I will take this opportunity if it works in my favor. The thug looks at the fallen.

  I ask, “Where are they?′

  “Look, they will kill me if I snitch,” he pleads.

  I remain silent.

  He asks, “You will kill me if I don’t tell you?”

  I shake my head. “No.”

  He sighs. “Oh....thank you.”

  “It would be easier if you told me for your family’s sake.”

  The thug is taken aback by my words.

  I say, “We know who you are.”

  A bluff, which works. The thug kneels down pleading to me. “Look, just don’t hurt them.”

  “I only mentioned them because I don’t think it would be fair to your daughter to grow up without a dad.”

  I walk over and lay my hand on his shoulder and give him the girl’s watch. “Your family will be protected. I promise.”

  The thug tears up and nods, taking the watch. “Basement. Fourth door. Combination 2548.”

  “Thank you. Go to them.”

  Sniffling, the thug stands up. I nod to him and he nods back, before running away.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  One of the aswang groans and reaches for his gun when a spear appears through the ceiling and impales the aswang’s hand. The aswang cries in pain as the spear disappears. I kick the gun away just in case.

  I could hear the sound of familiar footsteps. I turn to see a Caucasian man with red hair and a beard with a long beige coat and a white dress shirt walking through the doorway. He walks like how warriors of old would walk, which was with confidence and certainty but also with vigilance. His features are middle-aged but there's something...ancient about his visage. When I first met Finn, it was very apparent that he was from another time. He saw much....that I understand. One can easily tell from his dark-green eyes. He holds up his spear, which already teleported back to his hand.

  Finn walks over to me and shakes his head. Disapproval? Naturally.

  “Lass, what did I say about giving promises that we can’t possibly keep?”

  “I was only bluffing so he could tell me the location.”

  “Yet, you also let him go.” The spear in his hand disappears in a flash of light as he puts his arm down.

  “You said everyone deserves a second chance. I’d rather not have someone resent us because we took someone’s dad away,” I said standing my ground.

  Finn groans, “That’s not up to us. Look, I get it. It’s not easy, but you must know we can’t help everyone.”

  “You helped me, remember,” I answered with an appeal to his sentimentality.

  He scoffs at my words, “Aww, it’s because you were foolish back then. Shite, you are being foolish now letting suspects go.”

  “Then, I’ll be foolish and proud of it.”

  Finn sighs and scratches his head.

  “We’ll talk about this later. C’mon...let’s find the captives.”

  I’ll admit as we leave the room, I feel a bit embarrassed about what I said. Foolish and proud of it? It sounded so much better in my head.

  —--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  I enter the code given to me by the girl’s father and open the door revealing a group of men and women both young and old locked inside. They look like they have been stuck here for days considering how haggard they looked. I look at one of the abducted. She's a girl in her early 20s, she looked starved and severely beaten. I stare at her for just a moment. The chains she had around her wrists. The scars and bruises on her skin. The look of fear and helplessness in her eyes. In another time.....I knew it well. I can feel…nausea or at least whatever sense of discomfort I can feel as undead.

  Should I feel rage towards her captors? Sadness for her going through such trauma? Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time I saw such things, and I know it won't be the last. It's not prudent to let such sights guide my feelings, since they could guide my actions. And those actions would result in mistakes I can't afford to make again. I just have to do what the job only allows. While there is catharsis in punishing the wicked, I find more solace in comforting the survivors.

  As I approach the group, they seem scared to come close to me due to my appearance. However, the young woman slowly crawled towards my feet, as far as she could. Her chains didn’t allow for full mobility in the room. I crouch down and gesture to Finn to throw me a canteen of water he has with him. I catch the canteen he tossed, uncap it, and offer it to the woman. She slowly drinks from it and shows gratitude by hugging me. I use my powers to phase the chains through her limbs releasing her. The prisoners are astonished. I approach each person and do the same to their binds.

  The others crawl or limp towards us crying and thanking us for rescuing them from this horrible ordeal. It was not necessary, but it was a bit of a welcome change from earlier. The most I can gain from these moments is that even after all that has happened, we at least came in time to save them from a worse fate. I smile at them, but deep inside, I just...wish...someone tried to save me when....I......nevermind....that was long ago. Besides, at least they didn't end up like me.

  Finn helps those too weak to walk by helping them up. We slowly but surely help everyone out of the basement.

  Dawn rises over Cebu as a special task force consisting of medical workers and police aware of the secret world, compliments from AGON, treats the abducted. The human thugs and the aswang gang members are taken into custody, though I am curious how the authorities will treat them afterwards. I can only trust what AGON is gonna do with the perpetrators. The gangs have a lot to answer for, but I know the heart of the evil behind these things is always from the demand. You can only do so much to cut off the supply. Makes me wonder how much of the world must change to end such cruelty.

  I notice the witch has survived but is in intensive care. It eases my guilt a bit, but I remember the survivors. Maybe an RPG to the face is warranted after all. Finn and I watch an image of Yazmin speak to us through a screen. She wears her hjiab that is woven in holographic silk alongside a plain sweater and sweatpants. Her brown hair is normally concealed when she's at work. She also looks irritated. A sign that I made her work more difficult, since I did cause a mess.

  “So let’s go over this. Let’s talk about last night first. You got the manifest. And you also got attacked by cyborg zombies?”

  I scratch the back of my head. “Well, I am not sure how to describe them any other way. I know they shot lasers at me.”

  Yazmin replies sardonically. “Great. As if this whole mission wasn’t complicated enough. Romero zombies, fine. 28 Days Later Ragers, okay but pushing it. Zombies that can shoot lasers? That is definitely not the work of a virus or some stupid necromantic curse.”

  Finn muses for a moment. “I don’t understand what the aswang’s end goal is. They usually target certain types of people in small quantities for specific reasons. Now they are doing it with reckless abandon. Seems to me they are quite the chancers going about it this way.”

  I look at Yazmin, “I asked the captives if they overheard anything after we released them. But they told me they were going to be sent to the harbor last night.”

  “Til’ you decided to crash the party.” Seems Finn is not the only one to chastise me for my decision.

  I try to explain myself, “Well...I wouldn’t say that is a bad thing. I gave you time to send the task force here.”

  Yazmin only looks more agitated. “I had to cover your ass with the higher-ups. I had to explain why you didn’t wait for us before we made a move. AGON is already trying to help the local government sort out the NDAs and settling with the victims and their families to make sure word doesn’t get out that fucking monsters and ghouls exist. We really don’t need more complications.”

  “You have to admit…” Finn puts his hand on my shoulder. “...she made the right call. It bought us time.”

  I smiled at Finn’s comment, but remained silent on the details regarding my strange encounter with the American, if he was American.

  I could see Yazmin rubbing her temples. She still looks annoyed with me. “Fei, could you have just snuck into their basement and phased all the captives out without having to alert their entire group? Could have made this whole operation much more orderly.”

  I shrug, “Sorry, Yaz. But they warded the exterior of their lair just like back in the warehouse. They would have found out what I was up to and that would have put the captives in danger. I had to make a decision quickly. Look, I’ll take the heat and accept the consequences from the higher-ups.”

  Yazmin scoffs, “You are already on thin ice after Brazil, but sure. I guess. Anyway, I heard from the higher-ups that Pinnacle, the company in charge of the developmental construction plan in the Philippines, is very concerned about what is going on in Cebu. Sinulog is still in full swing with its processions and parades. Something that will be ripe for the aswang to go abducting people.”

  I reply, “And we can’t let that happen. They should cancel or at least postpone the event.”

  Finn adds, “That won’t happen. The news mentioned the local government doesn’t want to cave into fear by altering the event. They say doing so will demoralize the city. They might just add heavy security.”

  Yazmin thinks for a moment, “I have a feeling there is more to this. Fei, plug in the USB drive. We need to know what Manifest 64 is.”

  I look at Finn and then plug in the USB drive in the port indicating the connection with a click. The screen split into two revealing to Yazmin what seems to be a schematic of a bomb.

  “Typical. Bombs? Really? Oh shit, this design is pretty elaborate. Would be a pain in the ass to disarm.”

  I am quick to show my concerns. “I thought they were kidnapping people for ransom. Bombing the city would be against that plan.”

  Yazmin says, “Or they were kidnapping them to drink their blood as they are known to do. Though I am not sure bombing people is conducive to that approach.”

  Finn chimes in, “Do the aswang even have tech to create these devices?”

  Yazmin replies, “Not at all. Someone HAS to be backing them up.”

  I made a speculation then, “What about that Pinnacle company?”

  Yazmin shoots that down quickly. “Would make absolutely no sense. Why would they risk relations with the Philippines by working with what is currently the cause of a lot of strife in the country? The huge majority of people CANNOT afford to know this.”

  Finn asks, “Fei, you were attacked by ghouls, right? You said they were cyborgs?”

  I nod, “Yeah.”

  Finn replies, “Describe what they looked like exactly. I think the aswang may be just the tip of the iceberg.”

  I start to elaborate more on the undead that attacked me. I also mention the sniper involved. Yazmin makes notes, while Finn already seems to have an inkling that the cyber undead may not necessarily be part of the aswang. This means there could be another faction at play in this plot.

  —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  (???????’s Perspective)

  A thug bursts through the door and runs over to me, while I am taking a smoke. He would see me with my purplish skin, leathery bat wings, long clawed hands, and a detachable jaw. Half of my lower body is missing beneath my waist with intestines hanging out. My wings, which are large in wingspan, can also serve as a way to stand still, while my lower half is wandering about.

  My lower body is walking over to reattach itself to my upper body after patrolling the interior of the warehouse. Funny. If it was any earlier time, my lower half wouldn’t be able to move at all after detaching myself. A combination of a spell from a local bruha, as well as an implant to allow my legs proper sense of awareness and movement does much to do more than any other manananggal could do by their own means. The price, however, took my ability to shapeshift back to human form. As a result, my appearance is going to always be a monster. But looks never mattered to me. Only results.

  The thug frantically yells out to me. “Ate, we were attacked by—”

  I glare back. “Tanga, abi nimog wala ko kabalo?”

  He cowers, “Pasaylo-a ko. Dili man siya tawo. Makalusot-lusot siya sa mga makina na murag-”

  “Ungo? That bitch. Kana ang nagbungkag sa bodega. Gi pusil jud unta to nako sa ulo.” Seems the little troublemaker from last night that broke into the warehouse we claimed decided to undermine one of our other operations, which means she is not just some thief for a one time job.

  “Mu-padayun pa gihapon ta sa plano, Ate? Pwede nako adtoon ang uban para-” Ah shit. Have to be quick. I grabbed the thug by his shirt collar and threw him behind me just before a large maw in the shadows would have gnashed him to pieces with its teeth.

  The thug reeling from the throw regains his senses. He sees that I saved him just in time. His eyes widen as he sees a monster far more twisted than I am. Herodotus, an anthropophagus, is a creature that had no head. Instead, its grotesque face is on its chest. His eyes are heterochromatic. Teal on the left. Gold on the right. His mouth is sideways full of pulsating gums and crooked, jagged teeth. Surrounding him are his cyber-ghoul thralls, who had implants and collars on them, completely subservient to his will. The way he breathes was enough to even put me on edge.

  I saved my own this time. I quickly glanced at him. “Pahawa.””

  The terrified thug nods and runs away. But I glare back at Herodotus. All I know about him is that my superiors sent him as outside help for the operations here. I don’t know why we need him. He is not trustworthy. A mercenary, a trafficker, and a necromancer, he has no sense of loyalty to anyone. His minions are nothing more than mindless slaves. At least, I have some regard for those under me, aswang or even humans.

  “You should have let me rend that fool to pieces for his failure,” he said in his guttural speech.

  I point at him. “You may be in charge of this operation, but it is NOT your call to devour my men.”

  He jeers back, “No wonder your kind needs outside help. Your mercy invites weakness to your...organization.”

  “Says the beast that only uses mindless thralls to do his bidding.”

  “Nothing wrong with that. Most creatures are thralls by design, humans or otherwise.”

  I quirk a brow. “Do you want to get shit done or not?”

  Herodotus pauses for a moment, while petting one of his ghouls. He then grabs one and devours the ghoul whole in front of me. His backside convulses to have some tumor like growth appear before reasserting itself back to normal. Green energy flashes around him while his flesh ripples around his body.

  I am not very impressed. “Is that supposed to be a statement?”

  “No. Personal nourishment. Are the bombs ready yet?”

  I whistle for a group of Aswang to deliver one of the bombs to me. They carry it to me and set it down. I set a code on a keypad while green energy swirls within. The tech looks familiar. Dangerously familiar. No...got to stay the course for now.

  “Looks like they are all primed and ready.”

  “Set the bombs at the coordinates provided before the parade on Sunday. I can guarantee you that all of Cebu will be a domain for your kind.”

  “And this is what my bosses planned?”

  He nods. “Yes. And the amount of people caught in the radii will be enough for me to be swarmed by offers by necromancers all over the world. The zombie trafficking trade will reach its apex.”

  “Sure. I already sent you enough bodies from abductions and grave robbings, but I am getting too much heat from the locals and now international authorities.”

  “What you sent me is enough, the bombs will take care of the rest. As for those seeking to stop us,” he twists his sideways mouth into a smile, “I’ll take care of them.”

  Hmph, he will be useful for now. All I can hope is that my kind can carve out a new home after all that has happened. Perhaps, also for revenge on the government for pushing us too far. Still, Herodotus’ plan will kill and damn so many. Excessive? Definitely. But it’s either us or them. Hesitation would make everything we worked for all for nothing. Nevertheless, something in the back of mind tells me this: Is it going to be worth it in the end? I walk away as I hear the buzzing of flies far above the rafters.

  —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  (Riz’s Perspective)

  I look at my phone with the images of those known as Ate and Herodotus. Special thanks to a robotic fly my uncle made. Some say he’s a mechanic but he can also engineer some cool stuff. His tinkering days go way back to before even the Industrial Revolution. He’s that old. A tikbalang that mentored many a babalyan. These days, however, he prefers to stay low-key and play around with his cars and tech.

  I listened to what was said. Great, I am going to need some help.

  I took out a picture of a pale woman that I spied on when she was infiltrating one of their warehouses in the industrial zone. Time to see if she could be useful.