Chapter 16 – Sing Speaks begins in the heart of the jungle, where thick canopies mute sunlight and every sound carries tension. For days, Professor Maxon, von Horn, and Sing pressed on through tangled vines and muddy trails, trying to locate Virginia. Yet despite their urgency, no help could be mustered from local tribes, who feared Muda Saffir’s retaliation. Complicating matters further was the silent threat of a vengeful band stalking their trail, seeking retribution against von Horn. Each return to camp brought no news, only exhaustion and growing mistrust. Unknown to the professor, von Horn wasn’t solely motivated by the girl’s rescue; his hidden agenda was the treasure buried not far from their base. Sing, attentive yet quiet, observed the layers of greed and ambition with care, waiting for the right moment to reveal a truth he’d long kept guarded.

In a remote shelter away from the expedition, Virginia had remained beside Bulan, who was gripped by fever and delirium. His incoherent murmurings often repeated a phrase—“Nine ninety-nine Priscilla”—which puzzled Virginia, but it was the sincerity in his tone that struck her. Through his weakness, he confessed his love, though the shadow of his origin as a supposed experiment lingered heavily over both their hearts. When Bulan’s fever broke, he awoke to the sight of Virginia, but their moment was shattered by the sudden arrival of von Horn and Maxon. Von Horn, obsessed with destroying what he saw as a creature and an obstacle, raised his pistol. Before the shot could be fired, Sing intervened, displaying courage and clarity, disarming von Horn and leveling a startling accusation. He claimed Bulan was never one of Maxon’s creations but a shipwrecked man suffering from amnesia—someone Sing had secretly placed among the others to protect him and to offer Virginia hope.

The tension thickened as Sing’s revelation left the camp in shock. Von Horn’s threats grew more intense, and he denied Sing’s claims, calling them fabrications meant to disrupt the group’s unity. But Sing, usually silent, stood firm, reminding Maxon of von Horn’s manipulations and thirst for the treasure. The professor, grappling with decades of ambition and a crisis of conscience, demanded proof and questioned his own role in shaping a man’s fate. As Maxon hesitated, Virginia stepped forward with unwavering conviction, declaring that Bulan’s soul—not his origin—defined him. Her statement shattered the remaining wall of prejudice. Her loyalty to Bulan wasn’t based on logic or certainty, but on the man’s actions, his respect, and the purity of his love. The emotional weight of her words made Maxon pause and consider an alternative truth.

For the first time, Bulan was given room to speak for himself, and though his past remained unclear, his honesty was evident. He offered to distance himself from Virginia, knowing the circumstances could breed more turmoil. Yet Virginia would not allow it. She insisted that love was not conditional on heritage or memory, but on character and trust. Her words challenged every convention Maxon had built his work upon. This exchange shifted something in the professor—an understanding that love and loyalty were more valuable than science unchecked by ethics. Though not fully convinced, Maxon agreed to treat Bulan as a man deserving further consideration, with the condition that they return to their base and investigate Sing’s claims thoroughly.

Their return marked a turning point in the narrative. Not only had the mystery surrounding Bulan’s identity begun to unravel, but old alliances had started to fracture and rebuild under new terms. Sing, who had long played a quiet observer, had now become central to the story’s moral compass. He had seen through von Horn’s deception and had risked much to tell the truth. The group’s decision to reconsider Bulan’s place among them wasn’t just a shift in attitude—it was a dismantling of long-held assumptions. The jungle, once a place of chaos and violence, had become the backdrop for a more profound transformation: from distrust to trust, from uncertainty to understanding.

As the group moved forward together, uneasy but resolute, they carried more than just supplies or questions. They carried the seeds of reconciliation and the beginning of healing. Bulan, still unsure of his name or past, stood taller, no longer bound by the label of “creature.” Virginia’s faith in him had given him identity. And Professor Maxon, who once viewed the world through the narrow lens of scientific pursuit, now found himself navigating the far more complex terrain of human emotion and redemption. This chapter does not resolve every mystery, but it reframes the journey—away from invention and control, and toward acceptance, forgiveness, and the idea that humanity cannot be manufactured; it must be lived and proven.