Chapter 79: Not in My Water
After travelling all night, Demarcus arrived back in Adoy. He went home to tell his family about what he had learnt in West. When he got home, he was shocked by what he saw. The apartment was in a terrible state. He knew immediately that only the enforcers could have caused this much damage. Darlene was sitting on Demarcus’ mattress. She got up and ran over to give him a hug.
‘What happened?’ asked Demarcus.
‘The enforcers took Mum and Dad,’ replied Darlene.
‘Why would they do that?’ asked Demarcus in annoyance. ‘They have done nothing.’
‘They know you’re alive,’ said Darlene.
‘This must have been on Vulay’s orders,’ said Demarcus. ‘We can get help from Rednik.’
‘He’s dead,’ said Darlene. ‘He crashed his vehicle into the region’s outer wall.’
'Whaat!' exclaimed Demarcus as he flopped down on his bed. ‘We are going to have to do this ourselves,’ he said to Darlene as he quickly recomposed himself.
‘I have something that might help,’ she said as she handed Demarcus a box.
Demarcus opened the box. It contained Darius’ prohibited items. There were a few curry bombs and firecrackers.
‘I suppose this is something,’ said Demarcus. ‘I have a secret that will be even more helpful to us.’
Demarcus disappeared. Darlene shrieked in surprise. Demarcus reappeared in the doorway. Darlene was shocked. ‘How did you do that?’ she inquired.
‘A little trick I learnt from Lily,’ replied Demarcus smugly.
‘That’s so awesome. Teach me. Please, teach me,’ insisted Darlene.
‘It takes some time to learn, and you might not have the gift anyway,’ replied Demarcus.
Darlene pulled a frustrated face.
‘I know someone else who has this gift, and that’s Polly,’ said Demarcus.
‘I haven’t seen her since you left,’ said Darlene.
‘You wouldn’t have seen her. She’s in hiding,’ said Demarcus.
Demarcus and Darlene headed over to see David. They climbed the fence to enter the Agriculture Zone.
‘I expect David and Polly are with Hamlet and Darius,’ said Demarcus.
‘You mean the shell of Darius,’ said Darlene as she frowned.
‘We will find a way to fix him,’ Demarcus told Darlene.
David was with Hamlet and Darius. They had collected a large pile of fruit. There was no sign of Polly.
‘Where’s Polly?’ asked Demarcus.
David shrugged his shoulders. ‘She hasn’t been around in several days,’ he said.
‘That’s strange. I’m not sure where she could go. I presume she is still considered dead,’ said Demarcus.
‘Maybe she’s just staying home,’ said David. ‘I have her parent’s phone number.’
‘Let’s call them from outside the Agriculture Zone,’ said Demarcus.
David nodded.
The three of them headed back towards the Residential Zone.
Meanwhile, the train carrying the solution to protect the water from contamination had arrived. Vulay, through Jennifer, saw the train stop at the station. She headed over to welcome and question them. The technicians called the Industrial Zone operators to come and unload the solution tankers. Large mobile cranes departed from the Industrial Zone.
Vulay, her new commander, and a few other enforcers arrived at the entrance of the station. Vulay approached the Head Technician.
‘Explain to me what’s happening now?’ asked Vulay.
‘It’s all been authorised by the region’s representatives, as you would have seen in the message you were sent yesterday,’ replied the Head Technician.
Vulay grabbed him hard by the collar. ‘That wasn’t my question,’ she said in a firm tone.
‘Okay, okay, calm down. I’ll explain everything,’ he replied in a slight panic.
Vulay removed her hands from his collar.
‘Tankers will be transferred to the region’s water supply treatment area, which is located in the Industrial Zone,’ said the Head Technician in a stressed voice. ‘Four tankers will be immediately released into the water supply. The remaining tankers will be gradually released based on the rate of water entering the region. We aim to keep the concentration of the water at the optimal level to ensure the water is safe to drink.’
‘What’s in the solution?’ asked Vulay.
‘I don’t know,’ replied the Head Technician. ‘It’ll keep you healthy.’
‘I want a sample. I’ll test it myself,’ demanded Vulay.
‘Sure, you can test it once we’ve put it in the water,’ said the Head Technician as he grinned.
‘It goes in the water after I test it,’ said Vulay forcibly.
The Head Technician angrily showed the digital authorisation form, which had been signed by both Adoy representatives.
‘Like I said before, it has all been authorised. You have no grounds to stop me,’ he said in a frustrated tone.
The newly appointed commander, Wiggly, approached Vulay. ‘There is nothing much we can do. He has authorisation from the representatives,’ he whispered in Vulay’s ear.
‘Fine, you can transport your tankers to the water supply treatment area,’ said Vulay begrudgingly to the Head Technician.
All the tankers were delivered to an area where they could be connected to the water supply. The technicians connected the tankers and turned off the inflow of water to the region’s main distribution pipes.
‘Would you like the honours of turning on the juice?’ said the Head Technician to Vulay sarcastically.
‘Just show me what to do?’ asked Vulay as she sneered at him.
‘Turn this valve to full, and away we go,’ said the Head Technician.
Vulay turned the valve. The solution started pouring into the giant water pool.
‘Try some,’ said Vulay forcefully.
‘It’s a bit concentrated. Needs a good stirring up first,’ said the Head Technician.
Vulay pulled out her gun. ‘Try it or I’ll shoot you in the face,’ she said with a slight smile.
‘You want me to scoop it out with my hands,’ said the Head Technician in a raised voice.
An enforcer took a mug from one of the technicians.
‘Use this,’ said Vulay.
The Head Technician climbed down a ladder to get closer to the water level. He scooped out some water with his mug. He selected a spot he believed the solution had not yet reached. He climbed back up the ladder. In front of Vulay, he drank the contents of the whole mug.
‘Happy now,’ said the Head Technician in an angry tone.
Vulay put her gun away. She began laughing. The other enforcers joined her.
The Head Technician mumbled several vulgarities under his breath as he returned to his team.
Vulay called over one of the enforcers. ‘I want you to watch him,’ she told the enforcer while gesturing in the general direction of the Head Technician.
Vulay climbed down the ladder to collect a sample of water. She took the sample from as close to the source as possible. After climbing back up, she told Wiggly to observe the process while she had the water sample tested.
Wiggly was highly suspicious of Vulay’s behaviour, but he did not question her. Vulay walked to the medical centre. She entered the enforcers’ laboratory testing room. She ran several quick tests on the water. She was unable to determine what chemicals were in the solution. She ordered several more tests to be conducted by the laboratory technicians.
She returned to the Industrial Zone. She approached the enforcer, whom she told to monitor the Head Technician. The enforcer told Vulay that the Head Technician had returned to the train. Vulay headed towards the train station.
On the way, she accessed the cameras at the station using Jennifer. A camera captured the Head Technician boarding the train. He appeared a little wobbly on his feet. Vulay went up to the platform. She was going to board the train to check on the Head Technician. Before she could do that, two technicians met her.
‘Can we help you?’ asked one of them. ‘I would like to speak with the Head Technician,’ replied Vulay.
‘I’m sorry, he’s unavailable right now,’ said the technician. ‘I can address any questions you might have.’
Vulay ignored his response and pushed him aside while she boarded the train. She walked down the aisle of the train. The carriage door connecting to the next carriage opened. The Head Technician stood in the doorway.
‘How may I help you?’ he asked in a slightly croaky voice. Vulay noticed that his eyes were watering and that he was drooling a little.
‘You seem a bit off. What have you been doing?’ she asked bluntly. ‘Shoving tubes down your throat!’
‘So many suspicious questions,’ said the Head Technician as he coughed a little. ‘It’s like you think we are trying to poison everyone.’
The two technicians who were now standing behind her laughed. The Head Technician picked up his phone and called Representative Dratsab. He spoke with him for a few minutes. He handed the phone to Vulay.
‘You will stop getting involved, and you will let these technicians get on with their task,’ demanded Dratsab angrily.
‘No problem, sir,’ replied Vulay.
Vulay got off the train. Vulay knew there was something wrong with the solution being added to the water supply. However, she still needed to prove it.
A train would soon be arriving in Jeed. Dr. Cortex was visiting Jeed as a consultant. He was there to advise the remaining Ripe Company staff members on how to continue the work done by the late Dr. Crane.
Despite the destruction of laboratories, he would be able to test the solution more rapidly than she could.
Vulay through Jennifer caused a power outage in Adoy. She wanted to delay the technicians for as long as possible while she waited for proof. The loss of power did not stop the solution from being added to the water supply, but it stopped it from being mixed in; therefore, it delayed the solution-treated water from entering the mains to be distributed throughout the Adoy Region.
Meanwhile, David, Darlene, and Demarcus had returned to the Residential Zone. David had called Polly’s parents. She had not been home in days, and they did not know where she could be.
‘I fear it is likely that the enforcers have taken her,’ said Demarcus.
‘They took Mum and Dad,’ said Darlene as she turned to David.
‘That is so terrible,’ said David. ‘The enforcers are still no good.’
Demarcus looked over at the train line. He could see a large industrial train. The tankers it had been carrying were gone.
‘We have to put our search for Polly on pause,’ said Demarcus.
‘Why would we do that? We need her,’ said Darlene.
Demarcus pointed to the train and said, ‘That train was carrying toxic chemicals, and now they are being added to our water supply.’
Both Darlene and David looked at Demarcus in shock.
‘Sorry, I can’t explain right now,’ said Demarcus. ‘You’ll have to trust me on this.’
The three of them headed over to the water treatment centre. The technicians had decided to stop adding the solution as the mixers were not working.
‘The power is out everywhere,’ said Demarcus. ‘Something is going on. Maybe someone else knows about the plan to poison our water.’
Darlene and David shrugged their shoulders.
‘I think I need to work my magic,’ said Demarcus as he became invisible.
‘Wow, how did he do that?’ exclaimed David.
Demarcus planned to impersonate one of the technicians to stop them from adding more chemicals to the water. His plan was suddenly interrupted when a garbage truck carrying chemical waste smashed through the outer gates of the water treatment centre. It headed straight to the area where the chemicals were being added. The truck stopped at the edge of the water storage. It emptied all the chemical waste it was carrying directly into the water supply. The enforcers pulled their guns out and shot at the truck. It made no difference. The truck had no driver. It was automated.
All the water in the giant water pool was contaminated and unusable. The technicians were shocked. Vulay and the Head Technician had just arrived back at the water treatment centre.
‘This is certainly not safe,’ said Vulay to the Head Technician.
‘We will have to drain out the entire water reserve,’ said the Head Technician. ‘All this water and solution is wasted.’
‘Good, you do that,’ said Vulay as she smiled slightly. ‘I’ll get my team to investigate what happened with this truck.’
The Head Technician was struggling to breathe. He sat down by the tankers as his team began to drain the water.
Demarcus headed back over to David and Darlene.
‘What happened?’ asked David.
‘Someone else is sabotaging the attempt to contaminate the water supply,’ replied Demarcus.
‘Didn’t they just contaminate the water with the toxic waste from that truck?’ asked Darlene.
‘Quite clever. They caused obvious contamination, which will lead to the removal of hidden contamination,’ said Demarcus.
‘Who did it?’ asked David.
‘Someone who is able to hack a garbage truck’s computer,’ replied Demarcus.
Suddenly, the power came back on.
‘I’m guessing they also caused the power outage,’ said Demarcus.
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