October 24, 2019

Pre-Pandemic Times

Dear Diary,

I woke up to the sound of my usual 4 AM alarm clock. It was a brand new but typical day
for me – the morning coffee, the hot shower, the long drive to school, and the usual bonding and
“chikas” with my friends Ange, Nessa, Kishi, and Wow. Ange is the star of our group. He’s a true
girl at heart and loves internalizing his inner Mimiyuuuuh vibe by imitating Mimiyuuuh’s style in
singing that is accompanied by a tiger-like expression while saying “rawr, rawr, rawr”. Nessa is
our art prodigy. Her looks can sometimes be deceiving because she appears to be silent and
timid when in reality she’s full of wit and laughter. Kishi, on the other hand, is the youngest and
smallest among all of us. What’s amazing about her is that she’s a fast learner and a fast
worker. She can finish a ton of school works in a single night and a K-Drama series in just a
day. Next is Wow who is well known for her versatility and talent. Wow is good at singing,
dancing, acting, and doing different makeup looks. What I really love about her is her trait of
being street-smart wherever she goes. Lastly, we have me. I like to believe that I am the cutest
member of our group. I love pets except the reptile and arachnid ones. My talent mostly
revolves around the power of my voice although I do have a hidden talent in singing, which I
would also like to believe. Together, we form the group named Ange’s Angels. 

When the bell rang signaling our dismissal, my friends and I decided to take a short
break from all the class works we have done for the day. We went to SM Naga and rented a
KTV room in World of Fun. As we were about to enter our designated room, a certain game
caught my eye. It was an old-looking machine that was painted military green with a jungle-like
design. It had 5 gaming consoles attached to it, meaning it needs 5 players to run. The graphics
looked old and the machine itself was really dusty. I looked above it and saw that the game was
named “Geomanji”. Since no one was playing the game, I decided to take a quick glimpse of the
machine. As I came closer, I could hear a voice in my head telling me to play the game. Before I
even knew it, I was sprinting towards the token counter to buy 5 tokens. After getting all the
tokens, I quickly called on my friends to play the game. As I was putting the tokens one by one,
the lights seemed to be flickering, maybe because of the fluctuating electricity. When I finished
putting all the tokens inside the game, each of us held on to our respective consoles and
pressed start. As we simultaneously pressed the start button, everything suddenly went pitch
black. The lights were on and off, and as I surveyed the surroundings, we were left alone in the
room. We were no longer in the world of fun; We were in the world of doom! Although I wanted
to panic, I felt very sick and dizzy. My eyes were getting blurry and it felt like the world was
glitching. The last thing I heard was a beating drum and a voice saying “Geomanji!” before
everything turned into complete darkness.

I woke up to the face of Wow above me. She was repeatedly calling my name while
shaking my shoulders. I groggily stood up and rubbed my eyes as I was still feeling very sleepy.
When I have finally come to my senses, I surveyed the surroundings. Everything looks odd. One
moment I was in a city with tall buildings and a busy street but now it seems to be I’m in a
jungle! I tried to find my phone in my pocket when I realized that I was wearing a different kind
of uniform. My friends and I were wearing the same outfit – light brown overalls, boots, a
backpack, and an explorer hat. Now I was panicking. “Where are we?” I said. As I uttered those
words, we saw a helicopter land near us. Yes! Someone has come to save us! We hurriedly
went towards the helicopter and saw a man and a woman telling us to ride the vehicle. With a
smile in our faces, we went inside the helicopter and joined the man and woman. While the man
was maneuvering the helicopter, he said, “Welcome to Geomanji!” We were puzzled with what
he said. Wow replied, “Excuse me, sir. Aren’t you tasked to save us? Why did you welcome us
here?” The man faced all of us with a smile and cheerfully said, “I am Mr. Rodrige Bury and this
is Ms. Jaz Tussay. We have come to fly you, geologists, to your destination. You’re tasked to
look for new discoveries and find the hidden mineral in the world of Geomanji in order to
successfully finish the game.” All of us gasped in shock. “We’re geologists? And we’re stuck in a
game?” Kishi said. “Why yes, Madam. All of you have special skills suited for your survival in
this world. When you find the hidden mineral, raise it up in the air and utter the word ‘Geomanji’
in order to return to your world,” Ms. Tussay replied. Nessa asked Mr. Bury, “Survival? How
dangerous is this world?” Again, Mr. Bury faced us and answered, “The world of Geomanji is full
of traps and obstacles. Stay alive, look for new discoveries, find the mineral, say the word, and
then you’re out. Simple as that! Also, it looks like we have arrived at your destination. Good
luck, geologists and enjoy!” Before we could tell him that we didn’t have any parachutes with us,
Mr. Bury and Ms. Tussay dropped all of us in the air and sent us to the wilderness. We had no
choice but to move into the jungle and find the hidden mineral.

It was a good thing that we were given a GPS device for our whole journey. Wow
showed us the way since the special skill given to her was reading the GPS device. As we
continued our escapade, I kept on noticing how much the jungle was full of varying flora and
fauna. Flowers were present in different shades and hues, the trees came in different sizes and
shapes, and the animals were really so small that you have to use a magnifying glass in order to
see them clearly. After about 3 hours, we saw a stream nearby. The scorching heat of the sun
made us feel hot and dehydrated which is why we decided to take a short break near the
stream. While we were collecting some water to drink and resting, an idea popped in my head.
“Hey guys”, I said, “Stream sediments can help us in our mineral exploration. We could use a
pan to collect a sample and find a placer mineral.” All of my friends looked at me with a
questioning look. “How did you know that?” said Ange. “I didn’t know this until now. Maybe it’s
because we’re geologists in this game so technically we know much about geology!” I
exclaimed. All of us looked at each other and were amazed. “But we do have one problem. We
don’t have any pan to use,” Kishi stated. “Say no more, my friend,” Ange said, “I have finally
discovered my special skill. I could get anything I want using my backpack.” While telling us his
skill, Ange pulled up pans that we could use for our mineral exploration. As we received our
equipment, we hurriedly went to the stream and collected stream sediments. We then swirled
the pan so that the lighter material will be washed over the side and the mineral will be left out of
the pan. Alas! I found a small nugget in my pan. It looked like gold but it was too brittle and
bright in color. This is a new discovery! I called on my friends and showed them the mineral I
found. This could be our ticket out of this world! With all the confidence I have, closed my eyes,
raised the mineral in the air, and shouted the word “Geomanji”. As I slowly opened my eyes with
enthusiasm, I saw my hands still holding the mineral. My friends were looking at me and
shaking their heads in dismay. We were still in the jungle and trapped in the game. With a heavy
heart, we returned the nugget and sediments back into the stream and continued our journey
towards the hidden mineral.

As we were following Wow who was holding and reading the GPS device, we did not
notice that we were already out of the jungle. We were in a new terrain surrounded by low land
mass ranges that could pass off as hills. “It seems that the mineral could be in one of these
hills,” Wow told us. “Well, gravity is not the same everywhere. It changes depending on the
density of the rock. So, using a gravimeter, we could find the part with a higher specific gravity
then map out the numbers we collected,” I explained. Kishi replied, “That could work but we still
don’t know where to look. If we measure the gravity on each land mass, we might as well live in
this crazy world.” Kishi was right. We needed more evidence of the presence of minerals. We
were all thinking when Ange blurted out an idea. “Metal enrichment!” Ange supposed, “When
enrichment occurs, soil and rock discoloration happen. We should find the hill with a different
soil color!” After hearing Ange’s idea, we looked at the hills and further observed the place using
range finders. “Look! Over there!” Nessa exclaimed while pointing at the land mass in front of
us. Upon seeing the hill, we swiftly directed our quest towards it. As we reached the top, Ange
gave all of us a gravimeter, flagging tapes, and surface markers from his backpack. All of us
worked at different parts to make it easier for us to survey the hill. We put flagging tapes and
surface markers on the places we have already gone to. Nessa made a gravity map for the hill
so that it would be easier for us to find the mineral deposit. After a few hours of measuring,
Nessa informed us that she has finished the gravity map. “Now that we know where the mineral
could be located, what do we do to obtain the mineral?” said Wow. “I do know this method
called window sampling wherein steel tubes are drilled into the soil using a mechanical hammer.
It’s also suited with the hill since it’s not that tall and easy to be excavated,” Kishi described. “I
actually can’t get something that big from my bag,” Ange said. “What are we going to do now?” I
asked with a worried look. Nessa looked like she was searching her bag. While we were
contemplating about possible alternatives, Nessa showed us an ordinary pencil in her hands. “I
think I can do the work,” Nessa happily stated. As I was about to ask her how she could, Nessa
started to draw steel tubes using the pencil. So that’s her special skill! She can draw anything
using her pencil. As we watched Nessa put her art into reality, we can’t help but to be awestruck
by her amazing talent. “I’m done!” Nessa announced. “Okay, we need two people to operate the
equipment,” Kishi instructed. Ange and I volunteered to do the work and immediately started the
window sampling. It wasn’t really that hard to do since the equipment were relatively lightweight.
As we removed the steel tubes out of the ground, we were able to collect underground soil
samples. We removed the soil from the steel tube and looked for a mineral. “Look! There’s a
mineral!” Ange excitedly told us. The mineral was unique. It was green in color and possessed
so much luster. He grabbed the mineral from the soil and raised it in the air while uttering the
word “Geomanji”. All of a sudden, I heard the beating drums I last heard at the arcade. We were
still in Geomanji and the ground felt like it was moving. Then, the hills including the one we were
in, started to move rapidly. Kishi almost fell of the hill but Wowie got her hands and saved her.
We were all screaming in fear as the movement of the landmasses became faster and faster.
“Hold on!” Nessa cried. She then drew sharp picks that we could use to stick at the ground and
hold on. She first drew one for herself to hold on while she was drawing other picks for us.
Thankfully, she managed to give all of us one without any mishaps. We tightly held on each pick
until the hills stopped on moving.

When I opened my eyes, we were again on a different place in Geomanji. This time, you
could barely see any plants or animals. There was only an empty ground with soil and a
volcano. “Wow, did we lose the right track?” I asked her. “Upon looking at this GPS, it looks like
we’re at the last destination,” Wow answered. “This is our only hope now but the place looks
empty,” Ange said with a hint of anxiety in his voice. Kishi, however, looked like she was full of
hope. “Maybe we have to ‘dig deeper’. Get it?” Kishi uttered. “Kishi is right. Look, we’re near a
volcano. Magmatic mineral deposits could be abundant here,” I told my friends with all the hope
I could muster. Ange again experienced a state of enlightenment and said, “Induced
polarization! We could measure the resistivity of the ground using two electrodes and a
generator. There could be metallic elements in the ground if it becomes charged by the electric
field.” While Ange was telling us the method to be used, Nessa was already making the
equipment we need. As soon as Ange finished talking, she was done drawing the electrodes
and generator. Kishi then quickly grabbed the equipment and started the process. “We need an
electric tester,” I told Ange. Ange grabbed a tester from his magical bag and put the pins of the
tester into the ground to see if it became charged. While we were finding the mineral, the loud
beating drum was again heard in our vicinity. The volcano was about to erupt and an
earthquake came. “The ground is charged! Nessa, make a diamond drill!” Ange ordered Nessa.
Nessa quickly grabbed her pencil and drew a diamond drill. When Nessa was finished, Wow
positioned the drill into one site and the drill extracted drill cores from different directions. “Hurry!
The volcano is about to erupt any moment now!” Ange said. Because the drill took many drill
holes, it became hard for us to find any sign of the hidden mineral. “We’re really doomed! We’re
going to die in a video game!” I blurted out while crying. “Wait… I think I know what I’m capable
of,” Kishi said. Kishi unexpectedly became The Flash! In just 5 seconds, we could already see
the shiny, translucent mineral that was on one of the drill cores. Suddenly, the volcano erupted.
We walked as fast as we can towards Kishi, held on the mineral together, and simultaneously
shouted the word “Geomanji”. The mineral was shining and then everything went dark again.
 I slowly opened my eyes and saw my dog greeting me with a smile. “Anne, wake up.
You’re going to be late to school,” I saw my mom walk into my room while holding my dog’s
breakfast. I asked my mom, “What day is it today, Mama?” My mom answered, “It’s October 24.
Get up or you’ll be late.” Oh, I think it was all just a dream. So, I just did all the usual things I do.
Breakfast, shower, travel, school, and time with friends. It was a normal day. I was not going to
overthink it when suddenly Ange said, “Hey mamshies, do you want to rent a KTV room at
WOF?” Wait. This looks familiar. “Sure! Let’s go together after our class,” Nessa replied. When
dismissal came, we all went to SM Naga to rent a KTV room. When we were about to enter the
room, I saw it again. My eyes went into the game that appeared in my dream. Oh no. “Hey! That
looks interesting. Let’s see!” Wow exclaimed. I quickly grabbed Wow’s arms and said, “I don’t
think that’s a good idea. Besides, it’s more fun to sing, right?” Wow excitedly agreed and went
inside the room. Before I entered the KTV room, I took a glimpse of the game and surprisingly
saw two familiar faces waving at me: Mr. Rodridge Bury and Ms. Jaz Tussay. Oh boy, so it
wasn’t a dream after all. I’m hoping we would never come back.

Love,

Anne Mae