Chapter 52: Gone Fishing
A day earlier. Jacob was starting out on a fishing trip with his team. Just as they were leaving the docks, one of the crew members noticed something strange floating in the water. Jacob instructed him to pull the find onto the fishing vessel. The crewmembers threw out a large net to capture the finding. They pulled it towards the vessel and raised it up.
It was the remains of a Water Sape. It appeared to have been mostly eaten. There appeared to be a few huge teeth marks on the remains.
‘Have the Sapes gone mad killing each other?’ asked one of the crew.
‘It doesn’t make sense,’ said Jacob. ‘Water Sapes have no natural predators. The bite mark is many times bigger than anything I know of that could be out there.’
‘What should we do?’ asked the second in command.
‘Take some photographs,’ said Jacob. ‘I’ll send them through to head office.’
‘There are more of them,’ called out another crewmember.
‘Bring them in too,’ said Jacob.
Jacob sent several photographs of the severely mutilated Sapes to the head office. He waited on their response before heading out to fish. The crew remained on the lookout to see if they could find more Sapes.
About two hours later, the head office responded. Their message read, ‘No need to worry. Just some Water Sapes were affected by contamination from the wastelands. Other areas have a similar problem. Go out further to fish. It’ll be safer there.’
Jacob was reluctant to believe the message. He knew from the bite marks that these Sapes were not attacking each other. However, he decided to follow the guidance offered by the head office. He informed his crew that they were going out further to fish. He told them that they would need to work an extra day.
The governors in the Capital Region were aware of the killed Water Sapes just off the coast. They had been receiving reports from various fishing areas. The number of deaths reported this time was much higher than usual. Several governors believed the problem was serious enough to discuss in private.
A group of governors and business owners agreed to meet in the afternoon. The group included Lily, Collingswaggle, Pardi, and the business owners of the technology and water agriculture companies. The meeting was held in the top-floor office of the Carvaress building.
‘We have tentatively stated to our employees that the Sapes have attacked each other because of contamination from the water flowing from the wastelands,’ said Guppy, a business owner from Carp Company.
‘It is never good to divulge too much information,’ said Pardi. ‘Sapiens have a tendency to talk. We don’t want the wrong message getting out.’
‘Do you draw another conclusion from the current findings?’ asked Guppy.
‘We have examined the remains of three Sapes from other incidents that occurred around two weeks ago,’ replied Pardi. ‘We initially believed the contamination originated in the water. However, upon studying the remains, we found traces of a substance that becomes highly toxic once dissolved in water. It causes hallucinations and is a highly aggressive form of psychosis. This substance is becoming rapidly more prevalent in the southern wastelands due to ground flaking. This substance has a lower density than most other contaminants, and the particles are considerably finer. Therefore, it can be more easily carried by the wind. Most likely, a large quantity of this substance was deposited in the river flowing into the ocean near where the Sapes were swimming.’
‘What difference does this make?’ asked Guppy. ‘The outcome is still the same.’
‘For the Sapes, maybe,’ replied Pardi. ‘The implications for the region’s water supply are different.’
‘All the water entering the regions is treated and thoroughly tested before it enters the main water supply,’ said Guppy.
‘Your water treatment process is excellent for eliminating all insoluble contaminants. However, your process only partially removes soluble contaminants. This has never been a problem, as the residual contaminants pose no threat in very small quantities. This substance is different. Any amount of it should be considered harmful,’ said Pardi. ‘Even if your treatment process could completely remove the substance, it could still enter the water supply post-treatment. Remember, this substance could get anywhere, even inside the regions.’
‘That’s highly unlikely,’ replied Guppy. ‘Besides, we could just cover the...’
‘Highly unlikely is not impossible,’ interrupted Pardi. ‘Are you willing to take that risk?’
‘I agree with Pardi,’ said Collingswaggle in quick succession to Pardi’s response. ‘It doesn’t matter how unlikely the chances of contamination might be. The outcome, if it occurs, would be disastrous.’
‘I can develop a solution that can be added to each region's water supply post-treatment,’ said Pardi. ‘It would completely neutralise the toxic substance.’
‘Would it be necessary for all regions?’ asked Lily.
‘Scientifically, no. Politically, yes,’ said Pardi. ‘We don’t want some representatives complaining about their regions not getting protection. Still, we will need to prioritise regions closest to where the incidents are being reported.’
‘How long would it take to develop and mass-produce this solution?’ asked Lily.
‘Development will be quick,’ said Pardi. ‘Mass production will take time.’
‘I propose we bring forward a bill prepared jointly by governors and representatives from both the Business Sector and the House of Divine Knowledge at the earliest possible date to get this process going,’ suggested Collingswaggle.
‘For once, I agree with you,’ said Lily. ‘A vote on a bill authorising the addition of the solution to the mains water supply to neutralise contamination by toxic particles can be voted on in three days’ time.’
The next day, Collingswaggle was in his office when he received an urgent message about the train crash. Another urgent meeting was called. They were to meet at the Carvaress building again.
Collingswaggle stopped what he was doing and headed over immediately. He was one of the first to arrive at the meeting. Shortly afterwards, all the other governors arrived, as well as several business leaders.
‘The Sapien Loop rail network has been attacked,’ said Locom, an owner of the Sapien Loop Transport Company.
He showed the room, using a computer presentation, the damage that had been done to the tracks and train.
‘That’s insane!’ exclaimed Collingswaggle. ‘What the hell could have caused this much damage?’
‘Flip back to the fifth slide showing the bent pillar?’ asked Pardi. ‘This is the source of the problem. It’s bent in the middle. A sign of insufficient maintenance.’
‘Excuse me!’ exclaimed Locom. ‘We pride ourselves on safety and high-quality service.’
‘Of course, you have done the best with the resources available,’ said Pardi. ‘I’m impressed this hasn’t happened before.’
‘What are you getting at?’ asked John, a governor affiliated with the House of Divine Knowledge.
‘The previous Government focused on “rights”,’ said Pardi. ‘Travelling on the Sapien Loop is a “privilege” for hard-working Sapiens. Of course, it struggled to be funded sufficiently when the Government was pushing funding towards the internal RollerSpheres and local lines.’
‘Well, that does kind of make sense,’ replied Locom.
‘How about we wait until the engineers have had a thorough look at the line?’ said John.
‘That will go ahead, but the media need to report something considering the death toll,’ replied Locom.
‘What is the news on the death toll?’ Lily asked Locom.
‘No survivors, I’m afraid,’ responded Locom.
‘How many were on the train?’ asked Lily.
‘Around four hundred passengers,’ said Locom.
‘Well, you need to make a media statement, and you need to make it fast,’ demanded Lily.
‘Okay, I’ll let them know what happened,’ replied Locom.
‘It’s been four years since any track work or maintenance has been done on that section of track,’ said Collingswaggle as he held up a message he had just received from the Sapien Loop maintenance team.
‘I’m thinking negligence on your part,’ said Lily as she stared angrily at Locom.
‘Your “rights” policies pushed down economic growth,’ said Locom in a panicked tone. ‘That reduced our customers and our revenue. We could not afford more frequent maintenance.’
‘I don’t trust your company investigating this incident,’ said Lily. ‘We need an independent team to inspect it.’
‘I have engineers in that area,’ said Pardi. ‘They could conduct the investigation.’
‘Isn’t your company busy solving the water problem?’ asked John in a slightly agitated tone.
‘Different areas of expertise,’ replied Pardi. ‘Not a problem.’
‘Let’s agree that’ll be the approach we’ll take then,’ said Lily firmly while she stared angrily at John.
‘Sure, fine,’ replied John as he uncomfortably shrugged his shoulders.
Later that evening, the media reported the tragic train crash. They claimed that all who were on the train died when it fell off the tracks. They showed photographs of the wrecked train and damaged tracks. They interviewed Locom. He explained how the train fell off the tracks. However, he would not say what caused the track to twist. He told the media that an independent team of engineers was investigating the incident. He was asked about compensation for the families of the victims. He claimed that was a matter for the Government.
Janice and Darlene sat on their sofa in shock. Janice put her arm around Darlene. Darlene began to cry. Janice was overwhelmed with a sense of loss. She felt like she had now lost both her sons.
Pardi and Lily were sitting on the sofa at Pardi’s apartment when the media reported the news about the train crash.
‘You had to take a shot at my Government didn’t you?’ complained Lily.
‘I needed to win some points with my friends in the Business Sector,’ replied Pardi.
‘Are your “engineers” going to let Locom off the hook, or are they going to throw him under the bus?’ asked Lily.
‘They will find the obvious. The track failed because of the weakness in the pillar,’ said Pardi.
‘The pillar may have been a little compromised, but it didn’t just buckle on its own, did it?’ asked Lily.
‘There could very well be a little more to it than bad maintenance,’ replied Pardi.
‘Please, don’t tell me you’re involved with this somehow?’ asked Lily in a slightly raised voice.
‘Not this time,’ replied Pardi. ‘I actually don’t know what other factor was involved.’
Lily rested her head on Pardi’s shoulder. ‘Sorry, I had to ask. It’s just that you’re so awful. I feel that you could be capable of almost anything.’
‘The crash works well for us,’ said Pardi with an evil grin on his face. ‘It stokes fear. It’ll make it easier for us to implement the water project.’
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