Project LOKI ③

Chapter 45: The Scarlet Thread III (Red Queen)

"You've made it more confusing," I replied. Bakit ba kasi gumamit siya ng gano'ng comparison? Mas pinakomplikado niya lang ang interpretation namin. "Are you the queen or not?"

"I'm the queen piece in the sense that I can move freely on the board. I can cover more ground. Get it?" she clarified as she spoke slowly. "But I'm not the queen in the traditional definition of the word, which is the wife of the monarch. Pasensya na kung medyo naguluhan kayo. Maybe I shouldn't have used queen as an analogy."

Medyo nakukuha ko na kung ano ang ipinupunto niya, pero may ilang parts pa rin na nakakalito sa akin. Jamie used the term "social butterfly" to describe Rosetta, so I guess her being friendly to almost everyone in the campus supports what she said that she can "move freely" and "cover more ground." Kung iisipin, that's an asset, especially in an organization that uses people's secrets to extort from them.

"Did you know that the queen used to be one of the weakest pieces in chess? The queen back then wasn't the queen that we know today," Rosetta blurted. I didn't expect that sort of trivia from her. "But thanks to female monarchs rising to power during the medieval times, the queen piece was greatly influenced and thus given more power."

Wait a minute. That sounds familiar. Saan ko nga ba nabasa 'yan? Ah! Noong wala ang instructor namin sa World History tapos binigyan kami ng babasahin sa period niya. I read about Queen Isabella of Castile I being the inspiration for the figure of the queen in modern chess. Naalala ko pa, habang nagbabasa ako noon, inistorbo ako ni Rosetta para i-consult ang natanggap niyang email mula sa isang anonymous sender.

"I've also read that the queen was originally an advisor and it could only move one square diagonally," Alistair added, to which Rosetta nodded. "But history took some turns during the 15th century, changing the way see the game of chess today."

"Talaga?" pabulong na tanong ni Jamie. "'I've never read about that."

I wasn't a chess enthusiast so I didn't care that much about the game. Sana'y may koneksyon itong queen piece sa sasabihin ni Rosetta kaya niya nabanggit sa amin.

"I appreciate the trivia," Loki said impatiently. "But I highly doubt that you agreed to meet us here, in a place where no one could overhear us, to talk about chess fun facts. Please go on with your point."

"Like the original queen, I didn't have the power and influence. Mas malakas ang bishops, knights at rooks kaysa sa akin," Rosetta continued. "But as time went by, I gained more influence. How? By meeting people, talking to them, knowing what they want, and learning about their secrets."

"Now you're a big deal in your cabal?" Loki asked.

"Well... sort of," she answered with a bit of hesitation. "Siguro mas accurate ang analogy kung sasabihin kong nagsimula ako sa pagiging isang pawn. Habang tumatagal, palapit ako nang palapit sa kabilang side. When I reached the other end of the board, I kinda got promoted. Gano'n naman sa chess, 'di ba? A pawn can be promoted into any piece, except the king. Since mas appropriate sa 'kin ang queen dahil babae ako, I chose that piece."

So she called herself "queen" because it's the only piece identifiable as female? I thought she outranked the others.

"Tell me, how did someone like you become a pawn?" I asked. That's really what I wanted to know. "How could an easygoing student like you become part of a group that brought nothing but tragedy in our school?"

"You still can't believe it, can you?" she smiled.

"That's why I'm asking," I replied. In order for me to fully form an opinion about a person, I needed to know their background, motivations, aspirations, et cetera. I could judge Rosetta right now as a monster wearing a human's skin, but I would do her a great disservice if I don't get to hear her side of story. I prefer ask questions before I shoot her with my bullet of judgment.