September 26 (Thursday)
4:22 PM
As most of the cohort were already home recovering from their physical exertions, the Vice President, Princess Cleria, was executing a heavy administrative negotiation.
She reached out to their newly assigned ETHICS professor, Mr. Lanny Sariba, attempting to alter the timeline. She respectfully asked if his schedule could be adjusted or shifted to an online format instead of a Saturday face-to-face class. A 5:00 PM dismissal on a weekend was a literal survival hazard for the Talim Island Commuters. They risked missing the last motorbancas, forced to wait for hours in the dark for scarce jeepneys bound for Pritil, Binangonan instead of Morong, right in the middle of the brutal weekend rush hour.
But as usual, the absolute rigidity of the institution won the exchange.
It turned out that Mr. Sariba was another part-time instructor. He wasn't on the campus during the other days because he was teaching at a high school full-time every weekday. He frankly admitted he had no problem conducting an online class, but as per the University's strict protocols, instructors weren't allowed to freely convert face-to-face blocks to online formats without an official memorandum, or they simply wouldn't get paid.
The negotiation reached a stalemate. They had no choice but to accept the inevitable: ETHICS class every Saturday from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. That meant the Binangonan students were locked into facing another brutal Raging Road commute, and the Talim Island commuters had to accept a very slim chance of making it home smoothly.
Shortly after, Princess created a new communication channel, ETHICS (BEED 1-A). She added Mr. Sariba and forwarded the link to their main section group chat. Eventually, the rest of the cohort mobilized and joined the new digital room.
Around 5:10 PM, the PATHFIT 1 (BEED 1) group chat made a rare buzz after being dormant for weeks. It was Mr. Edwardo Casto.
He dropped a new physical objective for the class: a Zumba Dance activity to be performed next Thursday. The parameters were strict. It had to be a contemporary dance, three minutes minimum and five minutes maximum. They needed to form groups of six to seven members.
The cohort immediately noted the impending energy drain. They would have to deal with numerous grueling practice sessions within a single week.
7:45 PM
The COF group chat, Peepeeps, began to light up with post-PE conversations, mostly laughing about the random videos they had taken earlier. Suddenly, Cicille Masha recalled a specific detail regarding the second mother of the BEEd 1-A cohort, Sayra Bresa, who had been randomly assigned to their group during the PE 1 activity.
Mona Patori and Cicille had engaged in casual talks with Sayra during their Zumba practice. Mona had asked how old her toddler was, and Sayra warmly responded that her child was three years old.
But both Ivyn Giron and Jiro Sanata were completely out of the loop.
Ivyn Giron: "Who is Bresa?"
The Rogue Editor, Niewi Voeliè, stepped in to clarify the confusion. She simply replied,
Niewi Voeliè: "The mother, the one in our group earlier."
Ivyn eventually connected the dots and familiarized herself with the name. But the Apex Strategist, Jiro, experienced a massive blindspot failure when Niewi confirmed Sayra was another mother in their cohort aside from Reo Bairo.
Jiro Sanata: "The mother???"
As usual, Ivyn replied to Jiro, having just secured the intel herself.
Ivyn Giron: "Yeah. She already had a toddler ee, she said it was now 3 years old 🥰🥰"
It was a jarring moment for Jiro's observational tracking.
WHAT??? THERE WAS ANOTHER MOTHER ALL ALONG?? Jiro's internal monologue screamed in pure shock while he sat comfortably on his mattress, his thumbs flying across his screen.
Jiro Sanata: "Omg, I am still not familiar with all BEED 1-A, even their names."
Ivyn was equally shocked that Jiro, the quiet observer of the class, couldn't believe they had a second mother operating in their cphorts.
The night passed through a rare, peaceful silence without further chats or sudden announcements. The PATHFIT 1 Zumba activity had effectively drained their collective energy reserves. But Jiro couldn't sleep just yet; he was still heavily reviewing his notes, preparing for Group Falcon's remedial exam in MMW the next morning.
September 27 (Friday)
It was finally here. The official 18th birthday of the Apex Strategist, Jiro Sanata. He was the very last member of the BEEd 1-A cohort to cross the age threshold. Welcome to the 18 club.
But the institution decided to celebrate his birthday by deploying a new task in the very early morning.
5:34 AM
In their newly-created group chat, ETHICS (BEED 1-A), Mr. Sariba dropped a message before most of the cohort even opened their eyes.
Mr. Lanny Sariba: "Good day. Please kindly prepare for me the ⅛ index violet… on Sat."
It was another piece of starter inventory. The infamous index cards, universally known for logging attendance and trapping students in recitation phases. But this time, it required a highly specific, rare color variant: Violet.
An hour later, at 6:41 AM, another group chat buzzed. The MMW/NSTP 1 channel.
Dr. Ricky Manazaki sent an important announcement. He explained that he had to attend a continued event in Morong later that day, so he was officially transitioning their block to an asynchronous class.
He dropped a batch of screenshot typewritten notes into the chat. It was a brand new MMW topic for their Midterm: Arithmetic Sequence and Geometric Sequence. He tasked the class to study the new topic, create a summarized Canva group presentation, and submit it by Monday, September 30, via Google Drive.
For NSTP 1, he deployed another presentation module with the exact same objective: study, summarize, and create a Canva group presentation.
However, at the very end of his message, he dropped a specific mandate for Group Falcon. They needed to report to the campus before 9:00 AM today.
It was a Final Decision. Jiro's squad needed to brave the morning commute solely for their remedial exam.
Jiro arrived at the campus around 8:20 AM. He bypassed the bustling areas and waited in the hallway, leaning heavily against the concrete corridor fence right in front of the Faculty Room on the ground floor.
He messaged his group, MMW (F - Falcon). Nica Rosa, Mekayla Sano, and Windy Viyago replied that they were on their way, while Niewi and Lindsey Soliko confirmed they were already on campus, currently hanging out in the open-air BSN Hangout house. He directed them to rendezvous at his coordinates in front of the Faculty Room.
They waited for a few tense minutes until the remaining three finally arrived at 8:38 AM. United, they marched down the ground floor hallway toward the extreme left wing of the building, stopping right in front of Dr. Manazaki's office—the GAD/OPA Office, situated just beside the Boy's restroom.
They stood in front of the closed door. The group was noticeably nervous, aggressively pointing fingers and silently debating who should execute the knock protocol. Nica, Mekayla, and Niewi all pointed at Jiro, urging him to initiate contact, but Jiro firmly shook his head, refusing to break his stealthy observer status.
Lindsey, however, just shrugged off the hesitation.
"Lah, fine, I'll go. Shut up guys bruh," Lindsey muttered, ignoring the mini-conflict. She bravely raised her hand to start their exam early.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The mandatory three knocks were delivered. Lindsey carefully grabbed and twisted the doorknob, pushing the door open.
As they peered inside, they saw a woman sitting just beside the door. She was a modestly aged woman with golden highlighted hair and glasses, and the nameplate on her desk read: Prof. Lysa Birisu, BSED English Program Head.
Lindsey immediately deployed a polite greeting. "Good morning po, Ma'am, where is Doc Rick po?"
Mrs. Birisu smiled warmly and pointed out that Dr. Manazaki was currently in the room. She called out to him, and Dr. Manazaki responded from the back. The office layout was incredibly messy and cramped. Dr. Manazaki's desk was located on the far side, obscured by a half-divider cubicle wall. There was even another door behind that divider acting as his private entrance, so he could only gesture at Lindsey from a distance.
Lindsey respectfully announced their presence. "We are now complete po, Doc, Group Falcon BEEd 1 po."
He instructed them to find an empty room and warned them that they should have studied thoroughly before taking the remedial exam.
"Doc, room 407 po," Lindsey confirmed the coordinates.
Dr. Manazaki stood up. "Okay, okay. Uhh, I will now go upstairs ah. I will just prepare my belongings."
The group thanked him and Mrs. Birisu, closed the door, and immediately navigated to the stairs. They ascended to the fourth floor and entered Room 407. It was open and completely empty. They occupied the wooden armchairs, frantically flipping through their yellow papers and notebooks for one last desperate review session.
A few minutes later, Dr. Manazaki finally arrived. The red-haired idol professor once again radiated his commanding aura upon entering the deserted room.
"Oh, good morning. Uh… Group Falcon. Are y'all ready? Hehehe."
His vibe was incredibly light and friendly. The group just laughed nervously, quickly hiding their phones and notes deep inside their bags to comply with the testing parameters.
Dr. Manazaki picked up a marker and began to write three new worded problems on the whiteboard.
Meanwhile, the group sat one seat apart, creating a secure testing formation. They began frantically writing solutions on their yellow papers, their scientific calculators tapping rapidly in the quiet room.
Jiro looked at the board. He processed the logic. Wait... this is much easier. He grinned silently as his pen flew across the paper, the formulas clicking perfectly into place without the confusing linguistic traps from last week.
The room remained quiet and focused until the remedial examination concluded at 9:42 AM.
They submitted their papers and exited the room, leaving the door open. As they descended the stairs, ready to go home, their phones buzzed. Mrs. Talashiro had just sent a message to the UTS BEED 1 group chat, officially deploying an asynchronous activity instead of a face-to-face lecture.
Mrs. Giany Talashiro: "sent an image. Activity today. Send via Gclass."
She dropped the Google Classroom link. The task was straightforward: write the activity on a yellow pad, take a clear picture, and submit it before 11:59 PM today.
Lindsey looked at the group, a massive smile breaking across her face. "Uy, we don't have class in Self later. Let's go home, besh hahaha."
As they walked toward the campus gates, Niewi sneakily drifted closer to Jiro. She whispered a secret "Happy Birthday," leaving the other four members completely unaware that today was his actual birthday.
10:49 AM
Once Group Falcon had securely returned to their respective homes, they immediately initiated the digital collaboration for their Canva presentation task. The MMW (F - Falcon) group chat blared to life.
Meanwhile, the exclusive Peepeeps group chat was in full celebration mode. The four girls—Cicille, Mira, Ivyn, and Niewi—flooded the channel with birthday greetings for Jiro, while the rest of the BEEd 1-A class remained entirely oblivious to the milestone.
A few hours later, a completely different type of chaos erupted in the main section group chat, KSU TAYTAY BEED 1-A.
The Lore Master, Reo Bairo, was aggressively questioning the logic behind Mr. Sariba's inventory demand. She wanted to know why they specifically needed a violet index card instead of the standard blue. She even joked that Mr. Sariba might secretly be a massive BTS fan.
Realizing the scarcity of the item, she smoothly transitioned into her merchant persona. She announced she would hold a pasabuy session for the entire section, offering to hunt down and purchase a full pack of ⅛ violet index cards for anyone who needed them.
The topic eventually shifted. Lindsey, Princess, and Aprille started a negotiation campaign in the chat, desperately trying to figure out if there was still any viable way to adjust their impending ETHICS schedule tomorrow so they wouldn't be tortured by the late dismissal.
Before the rebellion could gain momentum, the Commander appeared. Hidy Medona respectfully, but firmly, shut down the operation.
Hidy Medona: "Guys, be mindful ah, I know your concern is just the time for everyone, but let's also consider that this is the available time that fit our schedule. We might get on his bad side since we haven't even met him yet, he might find us annoying."
It was the ultimate diplomatic reality check. Do not provoke the boss before the battle even begins.
For the rest of the afternoon, the cohort hunkered down to execute their triple threat of tasks: the handwritten UTS activity due before midnight, and the two massive group Canva presentations for MMW and NSTP 1.
At 8:46 PM, Dr. Manazaki sent another message to the MMW/NSTP 1 group chat. He casually flexed that he was now the officially designated adviser for the BEES Organization. The BEEd 1-A cohort flooded his message with heart reactions, paying proper respect to his expanding authority.
September 28 (Saturday)
The Saturday Curse had returned in full force. Even though Mr. Shono was absent from the campus today, the cohort still had to mobilize and report before 2:00 PM to attend their very first ETHICS class with Mr. Sariba.
8:51 AM
It was still early in the morning, but the Class Treasurer was already active. Lindsey carelessly dropped an aggressive announcement into the BEED 1 UPDATES channel, demanding that the stragglers pay their class fund debts immediately. To justify her aggressive collection, she proudly announced that she had already secured crucial classroom hardware: an extension cord, a whiteboard eraser, and markers. They were waiting to be delivered, permanently eliminating the need to borrow equipment from the storage room, proving exactly where their class funds were going.
1:33 PM
As most of the BEEd 1-A cohort had finally arrived at the campus, they migrated into Room 407, since their usual classroom, Room 406, was currently occupied by BSED English 2-A.
They settled into the armchairs, waiting for Mr. Sariba to make his entrance. Meanwhile, Reo executed her merchant duties, walking down the aisles and distributing the rare ⅛ violet index cards to everyone who had joined her pasabuy list. Princess quickly messaged the new professor to confirm their exact coordinates in Room 407.
The room was buzzing with loud chatters when a modest, young-looking guy suddenly appeared in the hallway. He had dark green spiky hair and was wearing a highly casual wardrobe: a simple shirt, denim pants, and runner shoes.
He stepped through the open front doorway, walked casually to the teacher's table, opened his laptop, and greeted the room.
It was Mr. Lanny Sariba.
He looked around the room and immediately assigned a fetch quest. He asked the class to secure a remote and an extension cord. Jesper instantly bolted from his chair, sprinting out of the room. He returned a few minutes later, successfully carrying the required loot. Mr. Sariba powered up the Smart TV and established the screencast connection with his laptop.
With his presentation finally loaded on the screen, he decided to initiate the standard Phase One protocol: Introductions.
He introduced himself first. He was twenty-seven years old, a part-time instructor juggling a full-time high school teaching job, and he radiated a profoundly chill, low-pressure aura.
Then, he turned the spotlight on the class. He went down the rows, starting with Jesper Arufe dropping his usual comedic routine, followed by Aprille Bolente.
After clearing the first row and half of the second, it was finally Jiro's turn.
Jiro stood up. He wanted to execute his introduction as fast and efficiently as possible to avoid any unnecessary attention. He rattled off his name and location... until he hit a severe dialogue glitch.
"I am now 18 po but yesterday, I was only turning 18… or uh… uhmm… 17," Jiro muttered, his brain completely stuttering over the simplest chronological fact of his own existence.
Mr. Sariba paused. He leaned his back against the teacher's table, crossing his arms in a relaxed pose, a highly confused smile breaking across his face.
"What??? Huh? 17 yesterday and now 18? Hahaha," Mr. Sariba laughed, thoroughly amused by the chronological paradox Jiro just created.
Jiro winced internally, realizing how heavily he just fumbled the dialogue option. He quickly recalibrated to clear the confusion.
"Uhmm… Sir, my birthday was just yesterday po," Jiro finally stated clearly.
"Ohh… it was your birthday yesterday?! Uhh… Happy belated birthday ehehhee," Mr. Sariba greeted him warmly.
The revelation triggered a chain reaction across the room. The rest of the class immediately caught on. In flawless, impromptu synchronization, the cohort began singing Happy Birthday out loud. Jiro stood there, feeling incredibly shy and awkward as the spotlight burned into him. He thanked everyone quickly before sinking back down into his seat, eager to escape the attention.
Right in front of him, Hidy turned around with a playful smirk.
"Uy, it was your birthday pala. Why didn't you say it on the GC hahaha, joke. Happy birthday beh, welcome to 18 hahaha," Hidy teased, dropping a lighthearted greeting.
Lindsey and Aprille, also seated nearby, couldn't resist jumping in to exploit the situation.
"Uyy, beh, do you have any leftovers hahahaha please please, just kidding," Lindsey joked, eyeing him expectantly.
Jiro just shrugged off their banter with a dry smile. The self-introductions resumed their normal flow until the Lore Master, Reo, finally dropped her mic, officially concluding the roster reveal.
3:13 PM
Mr. Sariba instructed everyone to pass their violet index cards to the front. With the administrative inventory secured, he launched into their very first topic in ETHICS.
He broke down the core definition of Ethics, navigating through its various philosophical interpretations. He tackled the strict differences between Ethics and Morals, the relation of Ethics with other Sciences, and explicitly detailed why only human beings possessed the capacity to be ethical.
Throughout the lecture, he threw out multiple recitation prompts. As expected, the active members took the frontline. Reo, Gracie, Cristel, Hidy, Jiro, and Anila dominated the session, effortlessly farming participation points. Before wrapping up, he announced a mandatory review session: they would have a quiz next meeting.
The lesson officially ended at 4:33 PM. Group Enigma stayed behind to execute their duty to sweep the room, while the rest of the cohort mobilized for the exit.
Meanwhile, Jiro's COF didn't head straight home. They walked out of the campus right into the golden hour, heading toward the Municipal Hall because Mira insisted they needed to practice their Zumba routine.
They arrived at the Municipal Hall grounds at 5:10 PM.
Mira took the lead position. She held a handheld portable wireless speaker close to her ear, rehearsing the beats before she started drilling the steps into the squad. And then, she dropped a horrifying choreographic requirement.
She told the circle that for their intro... they had to lie down flat on the ground.
The entire group groaned in unison. They called her crazy, violently protesting the idea of dirtying their clean KSU uniforms just for a practice run.
But Mira was relentless. She demanded they just do it, explaining that she had high standards when it came to dance activities and that the ground-floor intro was absolutely essential for their final grade.
Jiro just stared at the dirt, deploying his absolute deadpan expression. Ewww. Are you serious? I am not putting my bag on the bare ground, let alone my pants and my body. Is this even a Zumba dance or a survival drill???
Despite the protests, they continued practicing. They repeatedly sat and laid down on the hard ground, their pristine COE Blue uniforms slowly accumulating a thick layer of street dust as the sky above them steadily darkened. They drilled the movements until they finally mastered the synchronized intro.
They finished around 6:43 PM.
It was completely dark now. Exhausted and covered in dust, they walked alongside the busy street, dodging passing vehicles under the lined trees until they reached the Taytay Tiangge and finally split up to head home.
And then, the Raging Road commute struck with full force once again.
The Island Trio and other students from Binangonan faced an absolute nightmare during the weekend rush hour. They stood stranded on the curb for almost two agonizing hours just to catch a jeepney.
The Island Trio finally arrived at the Pritil port in Binangonan at 6:20 PM, barely managing to catch the very last scheduled motorbanca. It was already pitch black, and to make matters worse, the lake was acting up, tossing the small boat against high, aggressive waves.
The weekend had returned, but rest was an illusion. The cohort still had to prepare for their rescheduled RPH Preliminary Exam with Mr. Brackin on Monday, while keeping their muscles ready for their PE 1 group Zumba performance on Thursday.
END OF THE HUMBLED ASSESSMENT