Da Pisay Code
May 11, 2007 | 12:00am
A long, long time ago, in a campus not so far away, a Philippine Science High School (Pisay) senior named Arthur pondered his future. It was the year 1982 and the country was on the brink of dramatic change, though no one knew it yet. Walkmans, personal computers (32kb of memory!), and mobile phones the size of fax machines had begun to appear on the market. These were the last days of disco, punk was raging on the sidelines, and the New Wave was about to arrive.
But Arthur had other things on his mind. In a week or so, he would graduate from Pisay. In recognition of a certain talent of his, he had been asked by the school director to tackle a problem on behalf of the various science and technology agencies in the country. Plus he was thinking of his sexy girlfriend Olga, his batchmate, with whom he had danced the Swing and the Metallic Gigolo at the junior-senior prom.
One afternoon, while waiting for Olga at school, he did his assignment.
He took his Bic ballpoint pens and another object out of the pockets of his stretch jeans and got to work, bearing in mind all the science subjects he’d taken in the last four years. Occasionally his mind would wander, and he would daydream about three other girls in his batch that he had crushes on: Trisha, Patsy, and Thea  three more sexy girls in an altogether sexy class. He was a young man on fire!
He finished his assignment an hour later. He was not particularly proud of what he’d accomplished, he was just glad to get it out of the way.
Arthur brought it to the director’s office, but the director was out so he left it on the secretary’s desk. For some reason it didn’t occur to him to write his name or leave a message. He was too busy thinking about Olga. And Trisha, Patsy and Thea.
Unbeknownst to Arthur, someone else was lurking in the director’s office, hiding behind the drapes. It was Ugoy the filing clerk, who twitched uncontrollably whenever anyone spoke to him. Everyone knew Ugoy, and the guys made fun of him when they thought he wasn’t listening. But Ugoy heard everything and filed it away in the fetid labyrinths of his twisted mind. For he was not merely Ugoy the nervous clerk: he was Count Ugolino Visconti-Borgia, descendant of the House of Medici, spymaster of Popes, and guardian of the ancient and most secret Order of the Boboli.
Well, no, actually he was Ugolino Mahiyain, a Pisay scholar who became seriously deranged when his project for terraforming one of the moons of Jupiter did not win first prize at the annual Pisay science fair. But in his mind he was Count Ugolino Visconti-Borgia, descendant of the House of Medici, blah-blah-blah. After his daring escape from a psychiatric institution, he had disguised himself as a clerk in order to spy on the institution he believed had ruined him. So he watched and waited for his chance to exact revenge. Revenge! (Put maniacal laughter here, then thunder and lightning effects, etc.)
When Arthur had left the room, Ugolino pounced on the object lying on the desk. What he saw caused his eyeballs to roll in their sockets like a particle in an accelerator. He vibrated so violently that he nearly teleported himself to the other side of the room. Then he put the object in his pocket and ran off to contact the other members of the Order of Boboli, all gifted students who had dropped out of Pisay for mental health reasons.
It would be years before Arthur saw his handiwork again. By then he had parted ways with Olga, tried his luck with Tricia, Patsy and Thea, and tasted dismal failure. He had gone down in flames, or as he puts it, "Puro sablay." To this day he swears that they were all his true loves, stressing that the periods of courtship had never overlapped with each other. As for his lost creation, he nearly did not recognize it when it was staring him in the face. But there it was, just as he had made it, only there was no mention of him at all. It was attributed to a different person, with long, esoteric explanations as to its origins, including the intrigues in Firenze during the Renaissance, the empty tomb of Dante Alighieri, the premiere of La Traviata in Venice, and something called the Order of Boboli.
For some time Arthur thought of seeking credit for his work, but who would believe him? It seemed such a minor concern when the nation was in turmoil following the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr. Perhaps his heart had been incinerated too many times for him to remember the hopeful, dreamy boy he used to be.
Now it’s 25 years since Arthur left Pisay. He’s stopped doing the thing he used to love and moved on to another field. He’s doing well today  despite having spent more than 13 years in prison, but that’s another story. He’s married, but not to any of the girls mentioned above. Arthur has decided to come back to his old school for the Annual Alumni Homecoming on September 1. He wants to celebrate with his classmates, remember the good times, and finally lay claim to what he’s done. So many years have passed, surely there’s no harm in trying...
Will the fire still be there? What did Arthur actually create in 1982?
What was the object that he used? Does he still have it? Do you want to know? Then follow the steps to crack DaPisayCode.
By the way, this is a true story. Well, most of it. It contains the information you will need to decrypt Da Pisay Code. Text PISAY to 2299 (P2.50 per text) or go to www.pisay82.org for details. Genius is not enough.
Send e-mail to http://jessicarulestheuniverse.com
But Arthur had other things on his mind. In a week or so, he would graduate from Pisay. In recognition of a certain talent of his, he had been asked by the school director to tackle a problem on behalf of the various science and technology agencies in the country. Plus he was thinking of his sexy girlfriend Olga, his batchmate, with whom he had danced the Swing and the Metallic Gigolo at the junior-senior prom.
One afternoon, while waiting for Olga at school, he did his assignment.
He took his Bic ballpoint pens and another object out of the pockets of his stretch jeans and got to work, bearing in mind all the science subjects he’d taken in the last four years. Occasionally his mind would wander, and he would daydream about three other girls in his batch that he had crushes on: Trisha, Patsy, and Thea  three more sexy girls in an altogether sexy class. He was a young man on fire!
He finished his assignment an hour later. He was not particularly proud of what he’d accomplished, he was just glad to get it out of the way.
Arthur brought it to the director’s office, but the director was out so he left it on the secretary’s desk. For some reason it didn’t occur to him to write his name or leave a message. He was too busy thinking about Olga. And Trisha, Patsy and Thea.
Unbeknownst to Arthur, someone else was lurking in the director’s office, hiding behind the drapes. It was Ugoy the filing clerk, who twitched uncontrollably whenever anyone spoke to him. Everyone knew Ugoy, and the guys made fun of him when they thought he wasn’t listening. But Ugoy heard everything and filed it away in the fetid labyrinths of his twisted mind. For he was not merely Ugoy the nervous clerk: he was Count Ugolino Visconti-Borgia, descendant of the House of Medici, spymaster of Popes, and guardian of the ancient and most secret Order of the Boboli.
Well, no, actually he was Ugolino Mahiyain, a Pisay scholar who became seriously deranged when his project for terraforming one of the moons of Jupiter did not win first prize at the annual Pisay science fair. But in his mind he was Count Ugolino Visconti-Borgia, descendant of the House of Medici, blah-blah-blah. After his daring escape from a psychiatric institution, he had disguised himself as a clerk in order to spy on the institution he believed had ruined him. So he watched and waited for his chance to exact revenge. Revenge! (Put maniacal laughter here, then thunder and lightning effects, etc.)
When Arthur had left the room, Ugolino pounced on the object lying on the desk. What he saw caused his eyeballs to roll in their sockets like a particle in an accelerator. He vibrated so violently that he nearly teleported himself to the other side of the room. Then he put the object in his pocket and ran off to contact the other members of the Order of Boboli, all gifted students who had dropped out of Pisay for mental health reasons.
It would be years before Arthur saw his handiwork again. By then he had parted ways with Olga, tried his luck with Tricia, Patsy and Thea, and tasted dismal failure. He had gone down in flames, or as he puts it, "Puro sablay." To this day he swears that they were all his true loves, stressing that the periods of courtship had never overlapped with each other. As for his lost creation, he nearly did not recognize it when it was staring him in the face. But there it was, just as he had made it, only there was no mention of him at all. It was attributed to a different person, with long, esoteric explanations as to its origins, including the intrigues in Firenze during the Renaissance, the empty tomb of Dante Alighieri, the premiere of La Traviata in Venice, and something called the Order of Boboli.
For some time Arthur thought of seeking credit for his work, but who would believe him? It seemed such a minor concern when the nation was in turmoil following the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr. Perhaps his heart had been incinerated too many times for him to remember the hopeful, dreamy boy he used to be.
Now it’s 25 years since Arthur left Pisay. He’s stopped doing the thing he used to love and moved on to another field. He’s doing well today  despite having spent more than 13 years in prison, but that’s another story. He’s married, but not to any of the girls mentioned above. Arthur has decided to come back to his old school for the Annual Alumni Homecoming on September 1. He wants to celebrate with his classmates, remember the good times, and finally lay claim to what he’s done. So many years have passed, surely there’s no harm in trying...
Will the fire still be there? What did Arthur actually create in 1982?
What was the object that he used? Does he still have it? Do you want to know? Then follow the steps to crack DaPisayCode.
By the way, this is a true story. Well, most of it. It contains the information you will need to decrypt Da Pisay Code. Text PISAY to 2299 (P2.50 per text) or go to www.pisay82.org for details. Genius is not enough.
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